Nox pinched himself, and it hurt.

When he opened his eyes and found himself standing in a library whose book-laden shelves went on forever, he assumed the spider had pulled him into the spirit realm. Since he’d only been to the parallel realm while dream walking, he had never felt pain. Now, he couldn’t tell for sure where the spider had brought him or Joey.

The floating lanterns cast a bright gold light, but they didn’t go far enough to reach the roof and ceilings—if either existed. It was mostly the odd entity standing next to Perry the Spider that still left Nox thinking they were in the spirit realm.

“Nice to officially meet you Jitendra Pal,” the pint-sized man said. His giant feet seemed hairier on the polished white marble floor. “I’m Peregrin Kanooks. Some call me Perry the Spider. I’d rather the pair of you just call me Perry.” He nodded to the alien entity standing next to him. “And this is the Keeper of Knowledge.”

The Keeper of Knowledge didn’t resemble any dungeon creature or magical beast Nox had seen drawn in the many libraries he had scoured in his twenty-something years of life. At first glance, the entity looked like an excellent imitation of man but like sugar candy stretched to its elastic limits. Everything about him was narrow and long. Then, the longer Nox looked at him, the more irregularities became apparent. Besides the otherworldly dimensions, the Keeper also had an extra pair of arms and legs. Nox had only seen such entities in the spirit realm and one other place, but Nox couldn’t quite remember where.

“Are you an Arachne?” Joey asked.

It all came flooding back to Nox. The Keeper of Knowledge roughly resembled the dying Arachne queen in the last rift he and the party completed. Almost a year and a half had passed since. Unlike what his friends assumed, the Sigil of Artisan didn’t improve his overall memory. A lot had happened since then, and delving with the Beauforts and having Kris around felt like a long-gone era.

“No,” the Keeper of Knowledge answered, sounding curt. “We’re born from the same mother, though.”

“She is also the entity I serve,” Perry said. “Maka Dee. Some also know her as the Cosmic Spider.”

“Makree?” Joey raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what they call spiders in Daksinsthan?”

Nox shrugged. “I never really got the hang of Devanagri. The script, genders, and inflections never made much sense to me. It's also possible that I didn’t give it much time or attention.”

“So, this network—”

“Spider web,” Perry corrected.

“—is run by Maka Dee?”

“No. The godfall cut her off from this dimension.” Perry conjured a string instrument out of thin air and picked at the strings. Nox struggled to tell whether it was Shaping magic that came next or magic beyond his comprehension. The instrument gained mass and size before morphing into a mossy leather armchair. “I’m here to ensure the old tyrants don’t take over again and reconnect the realm to her network.”

“I run the spiders,” the Keeper of Knowledge said. “They’re my Seekers. As someone with centuries of experience under Maka Dee, Perry is currently serving as their leader.”

“Lot of jargon.” Nox struggled not to roll his eyes. “Very few answers.”

“We get it,” Joey said. “You’re otherworldly entities, know worlds greater or beyond our own, and run a secret intelligence organization. Mystery and intrigue are a significant part of your existence, but we don’t have the patience for it. Can we just talk shop?”

Perry sighed. “And Kris told us you were interesting.” He grinned when Nox stiffened, and Joey’s eyes widened. Now that he thought about it, he recalled mentions of the Keeper in Kris’ journals. “That’s right. She was one of us.”

“The best of us,” Keeper added. “She told us that the pair of you would make excellent Seekers someday.”

“She wanted us to become spies?”

“We’re more than just spies,” Perry replied. “The spiders work behind the scenes, ensuring human civilization prevails. Part of our responsibilities include ensuring dungeon lords and their cults fail in their endeavors.”

“The perks are worthwhile,” Keeper added. “Rank and performance grant access to my library. The longer you serve, the better you do, and the more you do to add to my shelves, the more you can read and access. Your late mentor left you an inheritance too. It's contingent on you becoming one of my Seekers, of course.”

“I’m afraid I don’t trust you yet,” Nox said. “We need to be sure you’re not involved with the cultists or everything that’s been happening in the City of Ygg before we even consider cooperating or accepting any gifts.”

“Any involvement with the Cabal is a big dealbreaker too,” Joey added.

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Perry frowned, glancing at the Keeper of Knowledge. “How much do you know about the Cabal?” His eyes focused on Nox. “I’m almost sure Kris didn’t get the chance to tell you about them, and I wouldn’t trust other sources.”

“I trust my source far more than you,” Nox answered honestly. “But why don’t you enlighten us.”

Pages exploded from the shelves and flew around the circular area where they stood. Perry played a soft and slow melody, reminding Nox of a gleeman’s introductory tune. The countless sheets joined together, forming a seamless piece. Countless spider shadows danced across them before converging as five looming humanoid figures.

“There’s five of them,” Perry said. A hornet appeared under the first shadow. “The Cabal’s ruling seats represent the five most significant threats to life. You already met Pestillence. The role specializes in spreading disease.” Four more symbols appeared under the remaining figures. The first resembled dry fields and a shriveled man. “Famine.” Perry pointed at the scythe next to it. “Deathwalker.” He moved on to the mound of corpses with a child standing at the top. “Warmonger.” The final crest involved a cracked planet covered in mushrooms and spiraling clouds. “And that’s Calamity. You’re right about them being involved in everything that’s been happening in your dear city. Most of our efforts go into tracking the Cabal and foiling their plans.”

“What do they want?” Joey asked.

“The Cabal’s motive isn’t clear,” Nox added. “What was the point of taking over a titan and having it pollute the continent? Is death and destruction their only goal?”

“They want chaos,” the Keeper of Knowledge replied. “As far as we can tell, destabilizing the world so the gods can return is their prime objective. Hence, Deathwalker is trying to cause an undead plague in Daksinsthan, and Famine has been attacking Han and Alkebulan with droughts and floods, respectively. However, they’ll never complete their primary objective while Ygg still stands. The All Father cult, Terrastalia, the rituals, they’re all for the sake of destroying the world tree or perverting it.”

“We don’t know where Calamity is or what she’s up to, but I’m pretty sure she’s preparing something big,” Perry added. “However, we know for sure that Warmonger is in the City of Ygg. We don’t know what kind of ritual she’s up to, but they’re meant to hurt Ygg somehow.”

“She’s also in the city to recruit the next Pestilence.”

“The next Pestilence?” Nox raised an eyebrow, looking up at the Keeper. He recalled how they had said there were five roles.

“I’m not sure I follow,” Joey said, shuddering as six extra eyes opened on the Keeper of Knowledge’s face. They all focused on Nox. “You can’t just find a disease mage. Do you have any idea how rare and tabooed they are?”

“They don’t have to find one,” Perry answered. “The Cabal can create one. We don’t know how they do it, but the ruling positions come with a unique spell. As long as it matches the mage's personality, skillset, or current magic, they’re a good candidate.”

“Deathwalker is an ancient necromancer, and his magic assists in the creation of undead and grants them sentience,” the Keeper explained. “I’m sure you’ve personally encountered the Well of Pestilence. Famine controls the rain.”

“Unfortunately, I have little information on Calamity and Warmonger,” Perry said, looking up into Nox’s eyes. “But my spies know for a fact that they have marked you as the next potential Pestilence. Your medical knowledge and talent for alchemy make you perfect for the role.”

Joey placed a hand on Nox’s shoulder. “Caitlin won’t believe this. You’re not mad and paranoid, after all.”

“I always knew I was right,” Nox struggled to get his words out. “I just underestimated how right I could be. Kill me for ruining their plans? That makes sense. But recruit me? My magic isn’t even close to what Pestilence did.”

“You just need room for a planet,” Perry told him. “It's why I invited myself to the Oakheart’s soiree and sought you out. My spiders have been keeping an eye on you and your party, Nox Ratra. We want you too.”

“This is a lot to process,” Nox stated, slumping down on the hard marble floor. His mind immediately jumped to Liesel Wyrd, but she seemed like too obvious a candidate. Hinata also came to mind. However, when he thought of a cabal member, he imagined something old, if not ancient. He also expected an individual with an ominous title like Warmonger to possess powerful destructive magic, and neither of his suspects had either. Their magic made them come across more as spies or assassins than warriors. “Do you know any clue of who they might be?”

“Our intelligence is all over the place.” Keeper waved a hand, and all the figures on the cylindrical sheet exploded into countless coin-sized spiders. “Some sources say Warmonger is young and male. Others have pointed us toward old crones. One spider told us they’re an artillery mage capable of causing lightning storms—another marked Warmonger as a summoner capable of conjuring armies. We don’t know which lead to follow.”

“There's been no evidence of such magic in the city,” Joey said.

It took the Keeper of Knowledge and Perry another hour to convince the pair to join the organization. Both wanted a lot more information, assurances, and clues regarding their inheritances before agreeing. The pair would need to commune with Perry once a month and investigate signs of Cabal and cult activity in their vicinity.

The inheritance only left the pair missing Kris. She had used a fraction of her dues from the Keeper to pick out rare tomes from the library. Apparently, it would’ve taken the pair several years of service and several shelf additions before they earned access to the relevant sections. Joey received a stack of tomes on djinns, djinn fire, and their magic. Meanwhile, Nox earned an assortment of journals and books. The subjects included essence, rare alchemy, and ancient Spell Weaving. Nox recognized one of the names in the last category: Udit ‘Diya’ Sen. He knew the name well. It was Professor Diya Sen’s late uncle.

Nox couldn’t help but peek at the journal. He was pleased to discover the contents were written in the common tongue instead of Devanagari. The man was an ink mage, too. Nox found the most elegant Spell Weaving he had ever encountered within the pages. He could tell at a glance that the man’s magic involved creating ink constructs and inscribing them with additional arcane effects. Nox doubted the magic was compatible with either of his planets. However, he got some ideas for new arrows while flipping through the pages. The ancient Spell Weaving techniques seemed the most valuable.

The library and its two mysterious dwellers disappeared once the meeting ended. Everything simultaneously exploded into shadow spiders before receding into the edges of their vision. Nox and Joey found themselves in the Galleria’s training room again. The pair went out hunting for their companions immediately, eager to share everything they had learned. It took some effort, but Nox convinced his companion not to tell April or Brianna yet. Much to his relief, the man didn’t protest. Sharing it with primary party members and trusted authorities took priority.