Buddy’s bark split the air, sharp, furious, everything-you-need-to-know-in-one-note.

  Alistair paused mid-argue. “What now, disaster on four legs?” he said.

  Buddy had already taken three cautious steps back, ears flattened, hackles up. Then with a single, obscene bound he cleared the river. Gone.

  For a beat there was only the whisper of water. Then a new sound, ripping, angry, the slap of something huge colliding with something else. Growls. Hissing. The unmistakable chorus of a fight.

  Kael’s face went very still. “What is that monster of yours doing?” he asked.

  “At least now we know one way across,” Alistair said, voice flat as stone. “If nothing else, he scouts like a very loud, very smelly ferry.”

  Brimma’s reply was an auto-no: “Oh no no no no.”

  Kael shook his head. “I am not getting on that monster.”

  Buddy reappeared on the opposite bank with practiced theatricality, tail sweeping the air, chest heaving. Between his teeth there was something huge and chewed half to death. He dropped it with a proud plop and then, because hellhounds apparently had a flair for showmanship, leapt the river again, landing in a splash that spattered everyone.

  Alistair laughed, the sound half-relief, half-ridiculous pride. “Good boy,” he murmured, stepping closer. Buddy’s tongue lolled out the side of his jaw; steam curled off it. He looked absurdly pleased with himself.

  Alistair looked at Brimma, then at the log, then at the bank. “Buddy carry us,” he said.

  Buddy barked like the order was the best thing he’d heard all day.

  Before Brimma could stab him with a glare, Alistair swooped. He grabbed the gnome under the arms, shoved her, violently if ungently, between Buddy’s massive shoulder blades and planted her there like a cursed hat.

  “Not again! I will kill you, leech!” Brimma shrieked, claws scrabbling for purchase. Her rant cut off as Buddy launched, the valley air taking her voice and carrying it halfway to the next tile.

  Alistair winced. “Sorry? Sorry?” He waved distractedly.

  Buddy landed across the river with the kind of grace only a hellhound could manage. The current steamed where his paws hit. Brimma’s hair streamed behind her like a stormcloud in revolt, her tiny fists shaking at the heavens. She was sputtering curses, glaring, and most importantly, still alive.

  Buddy bounded back, tail swinging happily, his tongue rolling out like he’d just invented a new game.

  Kael took one look at him and crossed his arms. “No. Absolutely not. I’m not riding that thing.”

  Buddy’s ears flattened. A low growl rippled out of him, smoke curling from between his fangs.

  Alistair crouched, wagging a finger at the beast like a misbehaving pup. “Hey. None of that. He’s an idiot, not dinner.”

  The hellhound huffed. A puff of heat rolled over them.

  Alistair turned back to Kael. “Come on. It’s either this or we swim across a river that looks like it eats rocks for breakfast.”

  “I’ll swim,” Kael said flatly.

  “Really? You, water, that hair? You’d sink faster than a sack of wet arrows.”

  Brimma cackled from the other bank, voice echoing over the rushing water. “Throw him, bloodboy! Do us all a favor!”

  Kael glared. “Not happening.”

  Buddy leaned forward, sniffing Kael’s boots. Another low growl rumbled.

  “See?” Alistair said sweetly. “He likes you. That’s practically consent.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “Insanely practical,” Alistair countered. “Now, get on the murder puppy before he decides you’re crunchy.”

  Kael muttered a string of words not even Brimma would repeat and, with all the enthusiasm of a man climbing into his own coffin, swung onto Buddy’s back. The hellhound barked once, gleeful and leapt.

  Kael’s scream stretched across the river, ending in a thud and a curse that even the water hissed at.

  Buddy reappeared moments later, proud as a king, tail wagging so hard it nearly knocked Kael over.

  Alistair clapped. “Good boy! Who’s the best fiery nightmare hound? You are.”

  Finally, he climbed on himself. The world blurred in a heartbeat of searing heat, and then they were across. His boots hit the other side of the river.

  A ping filled his vision.

  [Settlement Quest Unlocked]

  Objective: Conquer the Next Tile.

  Clear the area of monster infestation.

  Progress: 0% → 100%

  Reward: Tile Claimed. Resources Revealed. Bonus XP for completion.

  Alistair grinned, baring fangs. “Now we’re talking.”

  “Buddy,” Alistair said, patting the hellhound’s scorched flank. “Take us to whatever you were mauling earlier.”

  The beast barked once and trotted off, smoke curling from his paws.

  Alistair moved to follow when the corner of his eye caught something on the ground where Buddy had been so proud before. A severed, twitching limb, still oozing black ichor.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Oh… oh,” he muttered under his breath.

  Kael narrowed his eyes. “What was that?”

  “Nothing,” Alistair said smoothly, flashing him a grin. “Just thinking about how magnificent you looked, screaming like a girl while riding Buddy.”

  Kael’s ears reddened. “Uh-huh.” He was unconvinced, which only made Alistair’s grin widen.

  They didn’t have to walk long. Buddy led them straight to the mangled corpse of his earlier playmate.

  Alistair burst out laughing. A spider, no, a giant spider, its abdomen split open, legs splayed like snapped spears. “Look, Brimma! Your cousin came to visit.”

  The short gnome scowled, stomping closer. “Hilarious,” she muttered, circling the husk with her staff. She gave it a poke. The thing oozed. “I don’t even know what species this is. Not one I’ve seen.”

  Kael crouched beside it, eyes sharp. Alistair leaned down next to him, squinting at the thick, serrated fangs and the way its chitin gleamed faintly purple. Buddy happily gnawed on one of the broken legs in the background, crunching like it was a bone.

  “Anything worth harvesting?” Alistair asked.

  Kael nodded slowly. “Chitin could be useful. Venom sacs too, if they didn’t rupture. Might even be able to salvage the spinnerets.”

  “Delightful,” Alistair muttered. “Dinner and craft supplies all in one.”

  Buddy suddenly froze. His ears perked, hackles rising. Then, without warning, he bolted forward like a comet of fire and smoke, snarling deep enough to rattle their bones.

  Alistair straightened, redcrystal blade already sliding free. His smile was sharp, hungry. “Guess the homeowners are here to greet the visitors.” He bared his fangs, the bloodsong already singing in his veins.

  “Let’s go,” he barked, and charged.

  Buddy tore through the brush, smoke curling from his paws, until the forest opened into a wide clearing.

  Alistair froze.

  Web.

  Not a few strands, not a messy corner-cobweb. A full lattice, thick as ropes, spanning the entire clearing. The strands were anchored to the crowns of the blackened trees, forming a canopy of silvered lines that shimmered faintly in the dim light.

  At the center, a monster waited.

  Eight legs moved with awful precision, the body plated in jagged, dark chitin that glimmered like hammered steel. Its mandibles clicked, dripping a mixture of venom and shadow. A faint violet glow pulsed under its armored plates, veins of corruption feeding its bulk.

  Corrupted Steelweave Widow – Level 18

  Type: Corrupted Beast (Arachnid)

  Threat: High

  Traits:

  ? [Steelweb Lattice] – Webs resist slashing and fire damage.

  ? [Venom Crush] – Attacks inflict stacking poison (?5 HP per sec).

  ? [Broodcall] – Nearby arachnids respond to distress pheromones.

  Drops: Chitin, Venom Sac, Silk Strand (Rare).

  Alistair’s grin was humorless. “Lovely. Just what I wanted. Giant armored knitting project from hell.”

  He shifted his grip on the redcrystal sword. They had it, element of surprise, positioning, Buddy itching for blood. They could do this.

  Then Brimma stumbled.

  Her boot snagged, she pitched forward, and when her palms smacked the ground the sound wasn’t dirt, it was sticky.

  “Oh no,” she whispered.

  Alistair’s head snapped down. His stomach dropped.

  There was a second web.

  Not overhead. Underfoot.

  A mirror of the canopy above, spun across the ground like a trapdoor waiting to spring. Every step had been walking a razor’s edge, and now it clung to them, dragging at boots, staff, sword hilts.

  Kael cursed, yanking, but the silk didn’t break. Buddy snarled, flames licking his jaws, yet even his claws only scraped shallow burns into the sticky strands.

  The great spider froze mid-crawl. Its eight eyes all focused on them. A low vibration thrummed across the web, traveling up legs as thick as Alistair’s torso.

  Then came the sound.

  Skittering.

  Dozens of them, all around the clearing. Shadows detaching from trunks, bulbous bodies sliding down ropes, more legs clicking against bark. The air filled with hissing, the forest floor alive with movement.

  A system window flashed bright red in Alistair’s vision:

  [Combat Event Triggered: Brood Nest Discovered]

  Hostiles Detected: 1 × Steelweave Widow (Alpha), 12 × Broodspawn Widows (Lv. 12–14).

  Hazard: Dual-Web Trap (Mobility reduced by 50%).

  Reward: +8% Tile Cleansing on victory.

  Alistair tugged at his blade and laughed, sharp and thin. “Caught in a web, surrounded by spiders. Well. At least it’s thematic.”

  Brimma snarled, struggling to free her staff. “Leech, if we live through this, I swear I’ll...”

  “Add it to the list,” Alistair muttered. His bloodsong was already rising, heat and hunger thrumming through his veins.

  The brood was closing in.

  Alistair slashed, then cast.

  [Scorchpulse] flared in a burst of heat, charring the silk black. [Serpent of Cinders] coiled into being, lashing fire against the sticky strands.

  The web darkened, hissed, curled. But when the flames guttered out, the lines still held.

  Alistair yanked and swore. “What are these things made of? Gods’ shoelaces?”

  Kael didn’t answer. He was too busy firing. One arrow, then another, each perfect. Two spiders shrieked, falling from the canopy to hang limp in their own threads.

  Buddy snarled, bounding forward. The web dragged at him like chains, slowing his furnace charge, but the hellhound kept tearing toward the nearest arachnid.

  Brimma was still on all fours, hair a mess of leaves and curses. Her staff lay just out of reach, tangled a few paces away. “Damn it,” she spat. “I was hoping to unveil my new spell in a dramatic fashion, not while I’m crawling in dirt like a drunk hedgehog. How am I supposed to inspire awe and terror like this?”

  Alistair stared at her, incredulous. “What are you even...”

  Movement. Fast.

  A spider dropped from above, all fangs and twitching legs. Its descent was graceful, unnatural, terrifying.

  Brimma snarled, eyes flashing.

  Green magic flooded her body.

  Her form wavered, bones warping, flesh expanding. She grew. Bigger. Bigger still. Bigger than her spider form. The air itself groaned as her shadow swelled across the clearing.

  Alistair’s mouth fell open. “What the hell...”

  Brimma slammed down on all fours. A massive, furred body hit the web with a quake. Tawny hide, thick as armor. Her head tilted back, and a beak like a war-axe snapped open, wide enough to take a spider in half.

  She screeched.

  The sound ripped through the clearing, so primal and violent the brood staggered on their webs.

  Alistair gawked, his blade slack in his hand. “Is that… is that a fucking owlbear?!”

  Buddy barked once in agreement. Or maybe laughter.

  System pinged helpfully:

  [Shapeshifting Form Unlocked: Dire Owlbear]

  ? Type: Beast Form (Epic)

  ? Duration: 3 hours

  ? Abilities: [Beak Rend], [Feather Quake], [Predator’s Roar]

  Warning: Exceedingly unstable form. Extended use may induce exhaustion.

  Kael loosed another arrow, not even blinking. “You’re only surprised now?”

  “Excuse me,” Alistair snapped, voice rising with the bloodsong, “but my teammate just turned into a taxidermy nightmare!”

  Brimma, no, the owlbear, roared again and charged.

  The brood screamed back.

  The clearing erupted into chaos.

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