“Maybe the southeastern one will be like this too.” Clara sat beside him as they rested. “So then we’ll just have to deal with the spiders.” Her voice was filled with hope.

  “Maybe.” I don’t think so. He couldn’t say that to her. Not now, when she spoke with such hope and such a bright smile. He watched her scratch the back of Luna’s ears. “I hope so too.”

  Clara chuckled. “I know you don’t think so. But we came here for a fight too, and we didn’t find one.” She glanced at the spire slumbering in the distance, behind the narrow treeline. “So I hope the next one is as simple as this one.”

  “I mean,” Alaric glanced at the distant Fairford wholly enveloped in fog. “I certainly prefer this to some disgusting centipede creature.”

  “Oh yeah, definitely.” Clara laughed.

  After they were rested enough to continue, they set off. The camp was about an hour away on foot, so they didn’t rush. It was a few hours before dusk when they arrived and were met by Charles.

  “Good job,” he hugged Ava, then turned his gaze towards the others. “What were you up against this time?” His gaze scoured the group, then turned to Alaric with a scowl. “You didn’t take anything?”

  “There was nothing to take.” Ava’s dry voice seemed to surprise him. “There was no battle. Just an empty tower. The damn stairs were the biggest challenge.”

  “They were very steep and very narrow.” Lochlan nodded with a completely serious expression.

  “Like they were made for people with very small feet.” Avery added.

  “With very long legs!” Reuban chimed in. “Odd, right?”

  Charles raised an eyebrow. “…It does sound odd, I suppose.” He glanced at Alaric again, then shrugged. “Hopefully you’ll find some creatures to take next time.”

  “Hopefully it’ll be calm and eventless next time.” Sarah’s sharp voice startled the man. She brushed past him and marched towards the church. Harriet was already waiting outside with Arthur. She kneeled and hugged her son.

  “Of course, that would be ideal…” Charles’ voice trailed off as everyone walked off. Victoria, Elizabeth and Clara hurried towards Harriet, while Jason and his friends scattered to check up on the other people and start helping with dinner.

  Alaric headed to the river behind the church. The wolves dashed ahead of him and leapt into the stream. Their low barks pulled the attention of a few people. As they played in the water, Alaric washed his face, then took a cup of boiled and cooled water to drink.

  “Where do we go tomorrow?” Ava stood right behind him. “Spiders, or the unknown?”

  ***

  The once green forest was now a mix of grey, crimson and black, with a little bit of silver mixed in.

  The thick tree trunks were a light grey and laced with crimson veins that pulsed with a dim glow. Even the black leaves bore thinner strands of red. Grey and silver-leaved plants grew in clusters around the barks of the trees. Some were already threaded with crimson veins, while others were not. Yet.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  White webs created a gigantic and sturdy web way underneath the forest canopy, stretching from tree to tree and branch to branch. Some tree trunks were laced with webs from the very bottom to the very top. Occasionally they spotted a vertical web spun between two trees, fully blocking the path forward. Even the ground was somewhat sticky, though it seemed to be more because of all the small web pieces that fell from above.

  The decision to come here instead of going to the southeastern spire ultimately was his. Only because everyone else refused to make any choice. He regretted coming here already, and they had only taken half a dozen steps into the forest.

  “I think I’m a little bit afraid, actually.” Clara mumbled, looking up.

  “I wish we could just burn the whole thing down.” Sarah visibly shuddered. “What’s our plan?”

  We can’t just walk in there. But what else could they do? “Give me a moment to think.” What do I know about spiders?

  They were solitary creatures.

  Yeah, no. They had fought off a good half a dozen of them before. There was nothing solitary about that.

  “I don’t think we have much of a choice, really.” Jason piped up. “We need to destroy the mana core, so we need to somehow get through here. Spiders usually don’t kill their prey immediately – just look at Lochlan and the others.”

  “It broke my arm!”

  “Only because you stabbed it in the leg. It was just webbing you until you did that.” Jason retorted.

  “As if that’s a good thing…” Lochlan visibly shuddered.

  “Well, it’s not. But better than immediately having your head bitten off, right?” Jason quickly turned towards Alaric. “Look, when we first came here, they didn’t attack us to kill. They tried to web us and carry us off – that’s how Ava was able to kill so many of them. They didn’t care about her till she’d already killed a few of them.”

  “What are you getting at?” Sarah folded her arms.

  “We bait them to come and… well, we kill them then.” Jason pointed at one of the webs spun between two trees. “Spiders are supposed to be able to understand when something touches their webs, right? So I’ll just go and touch the web, and you guys will kill all that come here.”

  “You’d do that?” Alaric raised his eyebrows. “It’s dangerous.”

  “Less than walking in and falling into a worse trap.” Jason forced a smile, though it certainly didn’t reach his eyes. “Besides, it’s my idea. And I’ve got the shirt with the long sleeves.” He pulled his sleeve all the way down and waved his arm. “I can just cut off the part that got stuck if need be.”

  Any piece of cloth would do, actually. “We need to make sure we’ve got all sides covered then. Ava, you’ve still got the bow, right?”

  The young woman nodded. The bow appeared in her hands. “I can hide here,” she suggested, quickly moving towards a large tree. It was just across the web Jason suggested they use. She leaned her back against it and crouched between the leafy plants around its roots.

  Everyone else did the same, hiding in large, leafy plants, surrounding Jason.

  “Here we go.”

  Jason pulled his sleeve all the way down, then pushed the back of his hand against the thick, white web. When he tried to pull his hand away, the web extended a little bit. “Now we wait.” He muttered, holding his sword in his other hand. It was clearly shaking.

  The first spider arrived before a minute had passed. It scurried over the web way beneath the forest canopy, only to get shot by Ava as soon as it entered her field of view. The creature fell down, still alive, only to have its head smashed in by Avery. Lochlan helped Avery throw the body down a small slope, then they returned to hiding.

  Jason again pulled his arm, sending vibrations across the web way. They didn’t have to wait for long at all.

  “Thank god they’re not smart.” Clara whispered as Lochlan stabbed the tenth spider to death. The man gagged with disgust, threw the body downhill, and quickly returned to hiding.

  “Yeah.” It was going smoothly so far, with the greatest casualty looking like Jason’s shirt sleeve. We have time, so be patient. He told himself that over and over again. There had to be an end to them. And this was the safest way.

  “I think we got all of them.” Jason said after tugging the web a few more times as strongly as he could. It had been a good fifteen minutes, and no more spiders had turned up.

  “Or they’re onto us.” Ava stepped away from the tree she was hiding under. “Either way, we should keep going.” A sharp knife appeared in her hand, which she used to cut Jason’s arm free. “There, your shirt isn’t completely torn.”

  Jason chuckled. “Thanks for the help,” he stepped away from the web and stretched his legs. “Do we approach the spire now?”

  We don’t have a choice. “Yeah.” Alaric stood up, prompting everyone else to come out of their hiding places as well. Luna and Sol remained hidden somewhere ahead, watching for more spiders. “If we turn back now, it’s likely we’ll be met with even worse things tomorrow.”

  Ava nocked an arrow. “Let’s go then.”