Thousands of spiders ascending the cavern walls, attempting to escape the rising water, shrieked. Their beady red eyes blinded by the bright orange glow illuminating the cavern. They scattered away, fleeing to the darkest crevices and corners they could find.

Amidst the chaos, the massive spider had finally flipped itself back over, a necrotizing welt the size of a bowling ball on its chest.

Its red eyes stared daggers into Rue, but it soon found its legs could no longer find purchase on the ground, the rising water dragging it up. Brought to a disadvantage, the spider clacked its fangs as its long, spindly legs attempted to swim away.

That was its intent, at least. It didn't get far before a glowing man fell from the cavern ceiling. Sharp projected claws jetting out from his fist, slamming into the spider's skull. Shocked from the unexpected impact, the spider thrashed, attempting to buck its new rider from its head. Even with its skull pierced, it did submit, sending the man flying.

The man with an ungroomed beard and blazing brown eyes soared through the air. Waving his hand, the incoming wall became elastic, preparing to send him flying back towards the floating spider.

When he made contact with the wall, bullets of stone formed from the cavern wall, rapidly pelting the spider and overwhelming the arachnid's senses.

Soaring from the wall, the man sent a clawed punch to the side of the spider's head, submerging it underwater. Unwilling to go down with the beast, the man hopped from the spider's chitin armor, grabbing Rue. "Are you okay, Rue?" The man who happened to be Jerimiah asked, his tone a mixture of care and focus.

Rue nodded, his body and mind trembling so much he couldn't talk. Relieved at the favorable response, Jerimiah shot back up the cave walls, his steps finding purchase amongst the jagged rocks. He held Rue with one arm around Rue's lower back and another holding his head, giving Rue a great view of the cavern he was lucky enough to escape.

Ascending, Rue observed the empty cavern; the thousands of spiders had now fled, while the biggest quickly disappeared into the rising waters, its shadow fading amongst the choppy surface.

Leaping up to the cavern entrance, they landed softly. Two men guarded numerous children, their bodies on full alert. One was a young man with blonde hair and green eyes. In his hand was the fire that illuminated the cavern. The other was a middle-aged man, with a stern gaze.

Noticing Jerimiah's successful return, they all nodded.

"Is it finished?" Keller asked.

Jerimiah shook his head, worry abundant in his eyes joined with ample exhaustion, "The Beast was a lot tougher than it looked. I believe it tried to fake it's death, but the flooding had interfered." Sighing, he glanced at the group of now-awake children.

All his children had been 'victims' to this creature. Jule had been found slamming on the earth wall that was blocking the cave. If it hadn't been for her directions, they wouldn't have known a cavern was on the other side.

Nearby, Gabe had been scratching at the wall in a trance, his nails peeled off, scattered amongst the blood on the floor.

By the time Jerimiah, Keller, and Ethan arrived, blood practically soaked the wall, each of the grouped and hypnotized children attempting to enter the cavern through any means possible.

Luckily, before they opened the wall, the children came back, too. Their eyes moved from cloudy and absent to awake and scared.

In an attempt to calm them down, Ethan grew flowers along the cave's walls, picking them and giving them to each child, reassuring them that everything was going to be okay.

Noticing Rue's absence, Jerimiah was the first to jump into the cavern. Two possibilities were going through his mind. Either Rue wasn't affected, or he was inside the cavern. Anxious, he practically leaped head-first off the edge. Within his vision, a spider floated in the water , its claws about to tear his little boy to pieces.

Luckily he had gotten their on time.

With everyone tired, Ethan was the first to recommend they begin heading home. The spiders had escaped and the largest one dived into the water. None of them were equipped to fight in the rising waters. Calling it a day, they all began to march out of the cave.

The children followed behind Keller and Ethan, and their behavior was like that of little ducklings, with Jerimiah bringing up the rear. They swiftly exited the cave, their bodies not exhausted enough to overwhelm their fear.

The march through the forest was also much quicker. Now that everyone was wide awake from the attempted killings, they were more than ready to march through anything to get back home.

Lucky for the exhausted children, the lights of the Hamlet soon began to peek through the trees. Tens of families, each awake, gathered in the center square, discussing the event, most attempting to comfort the many affected families.

As the children paraded in exhausted, scared, and bleeding, the parents of each family practically ran forward, scooping up their kids and embracing them in hugs. Shouts of joy quickly filled the Hamlet.

But as the majority of families embraced their lost children, a few families looked and looked and looked, but found nothing, their expression descending from hope to despair.

Rue watched a particular mother who looked just like the blonde girl who had thrown herself off the cliff; she had just begun to weep, her hands covering her bloodshot eyes.

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Her husband was sitting nearby, a vacant stare on his face, his gaze fixed on the group of returned children. As Rue watched in silence, his mother, Eliza, appeared from the crowd sprinting towards him and his siblings, bringing them in a bear hug. Obvious tear marks stained her face.

Only after a full minute did she let them all go, looking at Jerimiah.

Jerimiah back, then at the crowd. He had thought of speaking up and announcing the happy return of the children but decided not to. As much as this was a moment of joy, it was also a moment of grief. Families had been reunited but also broken. Looking towards his children, Jerimiah patted their heads. He whispered, "Lets head home kiddos."

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The following day, Cain wore his best attire: a tailored brown suit with green embellishments. His demeanor was sharp, but his face was stuck in a scowl. Entering his small office, he approached his desk. Pulling back a particular floorboard, he removed a safe from the ground. Taking the key from his pocket, he unlocked it.

Click

The safe door opened wide, and inside, a bronze horn rested on a pedestal. Silver and Gold patterns engraved along the horn's bell.

Taking the object in hand, Cain held his thumb onto an indent along the horn's bottom. Only waiting briefly, the horn hummed to life, a voice resonating from within. "Whom is this? and what is the emergency?" The voice was feminine, quick, and no-nonsense.

Discerning that this lady on the other side of the communication relic wasn't too keen to have a conversation, Cain got right to business. "This is Cain, the mayor of Verdant Hamlet. A Spider Beast controlled and dragged Half of our children into the forest last night. We are unsure of its species, but it is unlikely the creature is dead after we had attempted to deal with it. There are also thousands of smaller but similar creatures in its control."

There was a clear pause before the lady spoke again, "Please describe this 'Spider' to me."

Cain went into detail, describing what Jerimiah, Keller, and Ethan had seen fit to tell him. By the time he finished listing all that he had collected from the trio, Cain was a little winded; taking a deep breath, he finished, "That was what it had looked like."

There was another pause. Either the lady was thinking, or the relic had some sort of delay; Cain wasn't sure which was which, so he patiently waited.

This time, when the lady spoke a flicker of interest laced her voice, "Hmmm, interesting indeed. I will notify the Count to take countermeasures to neutralize the threat. We will be there within the week. Goodbye." There was a loud tick before the room descended into silence. Closing his eyes, Cain massaged his temple. "Shit, they better come sooner than later."

Kicking a nearby wall, he walked out. His scowl deepened as he thought of the situation the Hamlet had found itself in. Grunting goodbye to Sola, he left his small office in the Hamlet's square.

Taking a stroll down the road, his exhaustion shone through. His feet dragged on the dirt, and his eyes red with fatigue. Looking around, he noticed the streets were empty. No children were out playing like they usually would. No little boys ran around tossing pinecones or balls at one another. No little girls happily played dolls on the front porches of their homes.

Nodding to a passing man pulling a cart of purple corn, Cain arrived at an inconspicuous home. Walking up the dirt path that led to the door, Cain glanced at the lawn. Toys and flowers were strewn about, some dolls were set up as if they were playing out a scene. A specific pair of dolls embraced each other in a hug.

Arriving at the door, Cain stood silent, gazing at the wood. After a few minutes, Cain raised his hand and knocked on the door.

It didn't take long before a young woman answered. Her whole body radiated exhaustion; her eyes were puffy red, and her blonde hair was tangled. Her dress had dirt on the bottom and a large splotch on her knees.

As Cain saw the distressed mother, he tried to comfort her, "Kella. Is there anything I can do?"

Kella stared at Cain in a daze, then her red eyes turned to anger. Stomping up to Cain, her eyes came level with his chest.

She threw out a punch, hitting Cain's stomach, the anger turning to sadness, tears welling in her eyes. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT CAIN." She yelled with what little energy she had left.

Landing one more punch, she fell to the floor. Between sobbing and hiccups, she spoke. "If you never would... have convinced us to join this god-forsaken Hamlet... my Gwen would still be in my arms."

Kella wept.

---------------------------

Rue lay in his crib, still processing everything that had happened last night. Never in his life would he have imagined the spider infestation was that bad.

Turning onto his side, he thought back to the smashed bodies on the cavern floor and the giant spider that feasted on their flesh. He shivered, curling up. Last night was a rollercoaster he never wanted to ride on again. He had a lot of firsts. First time seeing a dead body, first time using his magic in combat, first time something had tried to 'Tame' him. He was exhausted, mentally drained, and wanted to sleep for the whole day and maybe even a little bit of tomorrow as well.

As Eliza and Jerimiah awoke, Eliza wordlessly made breakfast. She made an omelet dish, packing lots of yummy meats and vegetables within the folded eggs. Giving each of her children a kiss on the forehead, she placed the omelets on the table before she opened the door and sat out front. She understood that they were all tired, and she didn't want to keep them up while she sewed.

On the other side of the room, Jule was curled up in her bed; a strange look was on her face. She stared at Rue's back, memories of him raising and shaping earth fresh in her mind. Her youngest brother had always been smart, catching onto things faster than most people, but she never imagined he was awakened.

Connecting the pieces, Jule couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't told anyone. She saw awakening as a moment of celebration. Curious, she got out of bed and shuffled over to Rue, sitting on the edge of his bed.

Fidgeting with her hands, she glanced at Rue. He had previously turned to look at the new arrival sitting nearby. "What?" Rue asked, his eyes squinted teeny bit.

"I saw what you did, trying to save Gabe in the forest." Pausing, she looked back down at her hands, "Why are you hiding?"

Rue's eyes widened, a look of panic flashed across his face.

Observing the panic, Jule waved her hands, trying to calm Rue down. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

Rue glanced around the room, his heart rate rapidly increasing. Making sure Gabe was asleep, he mentally prioritized coming up with an excuse in the future so he wouldn't be caught off guard.

Looking into Jule's eyes, he decided to tell a partial truth: "Nobody my age is awakened; I do not want to be different."

Jule's eyes widened. She began talking quickly, not able to believe what Rue was saying. She would be bragging to everyone if she was awakened, "But awakened are so cool! They can do magic and fly and, and, and even tame Beasts!"

Then Jule narrowed her eyes, an idea popping into her mind, "Can you help me awaken?" Pausing, she added, "Even if you can't, I still will keep your secret." She reassuredly whispered.

Rue relaxed. Now, he understood what Jule wanted. Though he was still cautious, he also was reluctant to have his secret spread like wildfire amongst the kids, eventually leading back to the parents; Rue sat up, looking her in the eye. "Sure, but only if you promise me. No matter what, you won't tell anyone about our secret. Okay?"

Jule beamed, a broad smile on her face. "Yes! I promise! Let's try tonight."

Rue nodded, laying back down. He was tired and just wanted to sleep.