Spears of ice flew from Talon’s grasp, impaling four other creatures. They clawed at their wounds, screeching so loud Arianna grimaced and fought the overwhelming urge to cover her ears. Saoirse’s vines grabbed several still using the trees for shelter, her greenery rising up to wrap around their legs. The creatures thrashed and clicked their fangs, but the plant life tore them apart, leaving limbs wriggling on the ground. The Demon’s magic simply engulfed several all at once, leaving their bodies in tiny tombs that blended with the hard earth.
The wind whipped at Arianna’s hair, and she spun Ellie around again, launching her own spears of ice out to impale two huge arachnids charging her sister. Arianna saw Gavin at one end, arms lifted. Zylah was on their other side doing the same. The spiders flew in unnatural directions, spinning midair beforebeing slammed into the tree trunks. The impact rendered them immobile.
Another lunged, but a thin branch slipped through its hide, suspending it above the forest floor. Looking up at the writhing creature did Arianna no favors. Because behind it, in the sky above, the branches weren’t just branches anymore. Instead of white stringy wisps, the spiders had coated everything in a silky white mass that blotted out the sky entirely.
Another web shot from the darkness, splattering around Saoirse’s arm before pulling taut. The Lady of Brónach planted her feet and yanked back. She cursed again, then ground out from between clenched teeth, “This is not how I wanted to spend my evening.”
A rush of wind swept through the area, and a blade of condensed air sliced the web clean in half. Zylah positioned herself beside Saoirse, glancing over the female once before focusing on their enemy again.
The fighting never ceased. They moved, rolled, and dodged sticky threads launched their way. None showed mercy to the disgusting crawling things intent on making them their next meal. Arianna would hate spiders for the rest of her life after this.
A thread snatched Raevina’s leg and yanked her down, dragging her rapidly across the ground. Talon roared, but the female loosed a devastating war cry, and flames ignited around her entire body. The fire already licking up the trees blazed, spreading further, consuming the sticky woven filaments and whatever was attached to them.
Arianna dodged one strand only to have another envelop her arm and nearly yank her off her feet. She let ice cascade down her skin, then used her other hand to bring her sword down on the frozen line, shattering it into a million pieces. Thelingering silk burned her skin. Not like fire, but like a thousand invisible thorns digging into her flesh all at once.
The spiders closed in, and The Demon’s magic burst outward. It encased each of them in a deadly prison before crushing them to dust. More crawled over the graves of their comrades undeterred, and within seconds it was as if he’d done nothing.
More webbing flew, hitting the ground, their weapons, their bodies. Arianna stepped straight into a thick bundle and nearly lost her balance. She cursed, tried to pull her foot free, then stumbled again. Raevina’s flames covered the ground a second later, burning all the threads away. Arianna could feel the heat, but it didn’t singe her skin. She looked up at the warrior, but Raevina didn’t look back. She was too focused on the enemy. Everyone was. It was protect one another or die.
Another silken strand shot out, catching Ellie right in the torso before anyone could block it. Talon grabbed Ellie’s wrist before she could be carried off. He brought his sword down on the sticky strand, but instead of cutting through, the material swallowed the blade, rendering it useless. Ice coated the strand at Talon’s bidding and he shattered it, saving his weapon.
“I do not want to spend the entire godsforsaken night fighting off giant arachnids,” Saoirse screamed over the chaos, her magic still striking out and catching the creatures as they lunged again and again and again.
“We need to move,” Talon called out. He was right. The spiders’ numbers were too great. The longer they fought, the more apparent it became there wasn’t an end to these creatures. Had they unwittingly stumbled directly into the nest?
The webbing was only growing thicker the longer they remained in one place.
Arianna searched for a path that might allow them to run. She’d lost her sense of direction in the chaos. Should theymove right or left? Did it matter at the moment? So long as they escaped with their lives, they could find a new route later.
Arianna briefly looked for the horses, but the animals were nowhere to be found. Grief clawed through her, then two tendrils shot straight for her again. Arianna blocked both with her magic, spinning to grab her sister only to realize Ellie was being dragged off into the darkness.
“Talon!” The male spun and was moving, Raevina close behind him. Both carved a path through the creatures, but the enemy was quick to fill the space, separating them with a wall of bodies and silk.
Arianna pursued, cutting through the beasts with renewed vigor. Her foot hit a thick pile of silk and she nearly tripped, but The Demon’s magic righted her. She didn’t look back, didn’t even question his help as the ground before her parted, shoving the creatures to either side, affording Arianna a straight path toward the orange glow just ahead.
Saoirse’s magic rose atop the mounds, preventing the creatures from immediately climbing back into the valley. The vines whipped out like vipers, impaling some and shoving away others. Violent wind tore through the space, shoving them back as well. Arianna didn’t have to look back to know both Gavin and Zylah were responsible.
Arianna’s heart was in her throat. This was exactly what she’d feared, what they’d all feared about bringing Ellie along. She was the only one who couldn’t defend herself. The only one who could die without a fight. And if she did—a sob caught in Arianna’s throat. She couldn’t lose her sister. Not like this. Not ever.
A large spider dropped from the trees above and Arianna let her magic surge out in an icy wave that eviscerated the creature on impact. Smaller ones that barely came up to her knees followed, all charging straight for her. She refused to stop,ignoring the small webs as they clung to her body. She could feel barbs digging into her flesh, but she pushed through the annoyance, using her magic to eliminate all that stood in her path. The ground swallowed everything she missed.
A large tendril shot toward her feet and Arianna jumped, rolling across the ground before righting herself again. She cast a brief glance upward and horror swept through her. She’d hoped by running that the webbing would begin dissipating. It had done the opposite, and she realized they weren’t moving away from the creatures at all. They were entering the heart of their territory. She didn’t even want to imagine what might lie at the center.
Arianna locked onto the orange glow before her, the distance ever increasing. It felt as if they’d never catch up. The flames burst out, catching everything surrounding the wielder in a sea of fire. She had to hurry. She had to get to her sister.
Arianna’s heart caught in her throat as a massive spider dropped directly in her path, the ground shuddering beneath its weight. Arianna skidded to a stop, narrowly throwing up a wall of ice as the Arachnid shot a huge ball of webbing straight toward her. The impact sent her skidding back and a fraction of a second later, two more thickened strands collided with her body. The ground fell away as Arianna soared through the air, torn away from her group entirely.
Arianna ground her teeth, anger and determination flooding her body. She twisted midair, summoning her magic and sharpening it to surround her body in a violent spiral that cut the two thicker strands and the half dozen others that had already latched on.
She plummeted toward the ground, but she’d fallen from higher before. She supposed all those times jumping from Levea’s waterfalls weren’t a waste after all. She’d be sure to tell her father as much.
Arianna summoned her magic, ready to catch herself, but the earth itself rose to greet her. Again, she didn’t question it and used the first rising bit as a foothold to launch herself toward a tree. Arianna landed gracefully and sprinted across the branches, ducking and dodging smaller bodies that scrambled toward her.
Sharp barbs dug into her legs and Arianna glanced down to find several fist-sized creatures climbing up her pants. She quickly covered her body in frost, sending them to the ground in small icy heaps. Arianna kept her gaze locked on Raevina’s fire as she moved between the branches. There weren’t many large spiders up here. It seemed they were focused on the ground below.
Arianna turned her head for a brief second, searching for Zylah and those she’d left behind, but another sticky tendril caught her by the ankle and yanked her from the branch. The side of Arianna’s head slammed into the tree. Stars shot across her vision and the beast responsible rapidly crawled up the trunk, its pincers clicking in anticipation. Spittle dripped from its mouth and for a split second, Arianna feared those fangs might incapacitate her completely. She couldn’t let them touch her, couldn’t—A roar echoed through the space, drowning out all thoughts of fear.
Rion was here.
