“Kanin!” Zyneth throws an arm out behind my back, grabbing my shoulder and stopping me from careening over the ledge. A spark of magic jolts from my glass to his hand and he sucks in a breath, but doesn’t falter.

Holy shit. I feel overcharged. Brittle. My hand is shaking, the void vibrating with magic. I grab my wrist to still the movement, only now noticing the magic there is… denser. Darker. Less shadow and more physical than I’m used to seeing. Why?

[Mana: 56/56,] Echo says. [Bonus Mana: 25. Predator Time Limit: 12 hours. Predator Influence: 6%.]

Figures. It might have topped up my tanks, but it took a bigger cut for itself. And its influence crept up one percent… that’s not good.

“Kanin,” Zyneth says again. “Talk to me. Sign or speak—whatever you’re capable of. I swear, if you don’t say something, I’m getting us both out of here. In fact, we should do that regardless.”

“No,” I say, pulling the void back into my joints. Giving them something to do helps lessen the pressure. “I am okay. The predator was just being difficult.”

“The predator,” Zyneth repeats, alarmed. “Is it acting up? Will you be alright?”

“Ah.” I head back over to the wall, sheepishly avoiding his concerned stare. “Yes, I will be alright. I have been…” I pause, trying to think of the right words that won’t alarm Zyneth. “...collaborating with the predator.” Nope, that wasn’t it.

“Collaborating?” he cries. “What do you—”

“I am just using it!” I explain. Hm, that also sounded better in my head. “Or, learning from it. Expletive, I am really not explaining this right. Look, I have it under control. I am stronger. It is still only a sliver of what it was.”

Zyneth’s jaw is clenched. “Start explaining better.”

“It lent me some of its abilities,” I say. “Well, I sort of threatened it into helping, or we would not have gotten as far as we have. But I promise, it is fine. I am in control.”

Now that the magic has settled somewhat, I activate a quick Inspect: the magical circuit powering the barrier jumps into view inside the nearby wall. I head over to the stone and place my hand over the narrow channel of magic that was feeding the rest of the field. I feel the predator perk back up, but I shove it away. I don’t need you for this.

I do, the predator insists. I need its help.

I snort. It’s just sucking up magic. An idiot could figure this out.

The predator rumbles with irritation, pressing against my mind, reaching for the void, but I brush it away.

“Nothing about this is fine, Kanin,” Zyneth says. “In fact, it’s extremely concerning. Would you be bargaining with this monster in any other circumstances? After what it did to you?”

His words dig into unhealed wounds, and regret washes through me, quickly followed by a flare of indignation. “You do not need to remind me what happened.” I hate myself for working with it. But I need to use every advantage at my disposal if I stand a chance at getting my body back—and leaving this thing trapped Between.

Zyneth presses his mouth into a line, but he does back off. “You’re right. That’s not my place. So I will only say it once: Giving that beast any amount of power is a mistake.”

“Noted,” I say. “Now are you ready to get through here? I may only have it open for a moment.” I brace for another lecture.

Zyneth stands there for a moment, silently watching me. Then he sighs. “Alright. Let’s get on with it.”

I watch him with surprise and more than a little bit of suspicion as he steps up to the barrier then nods to me, waiting. Somehow, him cooperating instills me with guilt rather than confidence.

We’ve been out in the open long enough, however. That’s a conversation for later.

I summon the tendrils of void, imitating what the predator had done, but I add more lines of magic than I’d given the predator access to. I can feel the mana circuit thrumming just beneath my touch.

“Here we go,” I tell Zyneth, then I plunge my magic in.

If I was hooked to a live wire before, I’m being struck by lightning now. The magic is ten, a hundred times more potent, too late realizing the predator had been filtering out most of what I’d experienced. My mind goes blank with white noise, sight and sound and sensation drowned beneath the deluge of energy.

A voice says something from far away. [...sustained…]

I can’t let go, but I don’t even want to. I’m invigorated. I’m ecstatic. I’m powerful, growing stronger, approaching some looming, irreversible brink—

Disdainful amusement saturates my mind. Fool. Arrogance. You don’t need us? You are going to get us killed.

A familiar voice floats back again. I feel like I should understand it, but I can’t concentrate on the words long enough for them to make sense. [...damage…]

We need our anchor. We can’t allow it to be destroyed.

We absorb the torrent of magic in the void, lessening the buildup of mana that was about to shatter our soul. Pulling our hand from the wall, the void disconnects from the circuit, and the energy that was holding us upright and rigid vanishes in an instant.

I collapse against the wall, mind reeling, as my glass briefly slips from my grasp, too overwhelmed to remember to hold on. I belatedly try to catch myself before I hit the ground, scrambling to keep my body from shattering to pieces. My hip strikes the floor with a sharp crack, and I throw an arm out to the side to brace myself, the void finally catching up to cushion the blow.

[7 points of points Fall Damage sustained.]

And then it’s over. I’m on the ground, tense and still, trying to understand what the hell just happened.

Did the predator just… save me? Its mind lingers nearby, a swirl of smugness and scorn.

Fuck. I hadn’t even realized I was in danger. It did save me—not that it was doing it for any altruistic reasons. My soul feels tight and uneasy.

“What happened?” Zyneth is crouched beside me. He reaches out a hand. “Your leg—”

I activate a Sculpt, already stitching the broken glass back together again. “I am okay,” I lie, shooing him away as I pull myself to my feet. I’m still dizzy with disorientation, jittery as if electrified, but there’s no sense in letting Zyneth know what I—or the predator—just did. I'd only worry him more. “Just got a little overwhelmed. Forgot to hold onto my glass. I guess we will have to find some other way in.”

Zyneth looks at me strangely, stepping aside to gesture toward the field. Or at least, where the field was supposed to be. The hallway now stands open and ready for us to stroll inside.

“You took the field down over a minute ago, then I stepped inside and disabled the system from within,” he says. “You sure you’re alright?”

A minute? I mean, that’s not a huge space of time, but it sure feels longer than the couple of seconds I was hooked into the circuit.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Am I alright? I Check myself over.

[HP: 3/10]

[Temp HP: 340]

[Mana: 56/56]

[Bonus Mana: 785]

Yikes. My temporary hit points are fine—I’ve already mended the crack in my leg—but that damage to my direct HP worries me. Was that all from the magic I was absorbing? It looks like it went right to my soul. That didn’t happen when the predator had been pulling from the field the first time. I’m not excited to admit it, but maybe it knows what it’s doing.

A smugness echoes from the predator. I shove it away.

The bonus mana also jumped. Probably explains the… overcharged-ness feeling I’m experiencing. Which means…

I Check the Predator as well.

[Predator Influence: 8%]

[Predator Time Limit: 25.4 hours]

Oof. I’d sort of given up on the idea of starving the predator out of mana, once I realized I’d need it for Emrox, but that Influence stat is not filling me with comfort. Still, at least it’s pretty low. I start to pull the void that had cushioned my fall back into my joints, then stop.

Zyneth notices it too. “Has it always been that… physical?”

No longer mistakable for shadows, all its previous elements of intangibleness are gone. This ink is impenetrably dark and real, more solid than I’ve ever seen it—at least, not since the predator was summoned in full.

“It is the extra magic I absorbed,” I guess. Similar to the Void Whip spell, which makes the void more concrete and physical when charged with mana. I’ll need to be careful about letting the predator do something like this again, no matter how useful it might be at taking down barriers.

I can feel the predator lingering at the edge of my mind, watching, but nothing more. If it is stronger, at least it isn’t acting on it. For now.

I clench my fist, pulling the void back into place. “Come on. We need to get going before we are caught by one of the spiders.”

Zyneth hesitantly follows as I lead the way into the chamber.

“The arcana crystal you found appears to be uncharged,” Zyneth says, back to business as I approach the window. He seemed to have managed to keep the field down for the main entrance to this area, but all the barriers for the individual items are still up. “I suspect it was the last crystal that was used to power the library; it won’t be sufficient for Gillow’s needs.”

“There are other ones further in, you think?” I ask.

“Possibly,” Zyneth says. “Given the extra security and presence of the expired arcana crystal, this seems the most likely place to start.”

We wind our way through the passage, which appears to follow the same circular pattern the rest of the library had. This time, though, we’re heading back up. We’re either on the right track, or getting much further from it.

Interestingly, many of the windows here are empty, their contents removed. There’s still plenty of bizarre and sketchy magical items, however, including a scroll which contained a spell circle that could turn someone inside out, and a treasure chest decorated with a teeth motif and red leather strap that looks suspiciously like a tongue.

The magic on Zyneth’s spider sentry abruptly turns red, and Zyneth whips a hand in front of me, causing me to stumble to a halt.

“What—”

He signs, “Quiet,” and wordlessly moves forward. Another spider appears from around the corner, only feet away.

Zyneth pounces as the sentry flashes red, snatching the spider from the wall with an electric flash. The color fades from the construct until it’s just a gray stone husk.

“Keep moving,” Zyneth says as he tosses the dead sentry aside. “Quickly now. I might not have cut its signal off in time.”

“You are not going to repurpose it?” I ask, hurrying after.

He shakes his head. “Didn’t have time to set up new instructions before I had to sever its circuit. And I’d rather not waste more mana than I must. We might not have much time now.”

The path continues to circle upward. Despite that initial dead arcana crystal, I’m beginning to suspect we’re on a wild goose chase. What if the other charged ones are stored elsewhere? What if the library only has the two? And even if we find what we’re looking for, how will we get it out? I’m not sure I’m ready to tackle another one of those barriers.

After several more minutes of tense silence, we round a corner and a new floor of the Athenaeum comes into view.

It’s literally crawling with spiders. The floor is practically carpeted in the lines of magical web, equally woven over the walls, windows, and even strung through the air like some kind of goddamn Mission Impossible room full of lasers. One thing is certain: Zyneth and I won’t be able to set a foot in there without tripping the whole system.

“I don’t suppose it’s stored elsewhere?” Zyneth suggests, resignation already set in his tone.

I flick an Inspect spell on and off, unwilling to eat up too much of my mana. The lines from the arcana crystal are strongest in here—much stronger than anywhere else. “Unfortunately, I think we have found it.”

Zyneth grumbles, crouching down to check the floor. “I could possibly send my enchanted sentry through here to scout. The threads might not recognize it as an intruder.”

I’m not wild about that might. Besides, I have a better idea. “I could scout, too,” I say. “In my small form. You will have to take care of my body, move it out of the way if anything comes nearby. I will be more careful at avoiding those lines than your sentry would be.”

One look at Zyneth’s frown tells me exactly how much he likes this idea. “And if you get caught?”

“I will not.”

“And if you do?” he insists.

I’m already sitting down, undoing the pouch around my core. “I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.”

“Even if you do find it in there, how will we get it out?” Zyneth asks.

I shrug, summoning my signing glass around my core as I shut off my vision in my head piece. “Sounds like something for you to figure out while you wait. And a quick escape route would be nice.”

Zyneth sighs. “Are you expecting us to get caught?”

I do a practice lap on the ground, getting used to the feel of walking on four legs again as I look up at Zyneth and my body looming above. This must be how the spider sentries feel. “Well I would not say expecting it, but I am somewhat unconvinced of our abilities to be sneaky.”

“I am literally a master of stealth,” Zyneth says. “If anyone here is going to lead us to being discovered, it’s you.”

“Hey, I got us this far, right?” Finally, I take the translator off my body’s wrist and loop it around my core instead. If it gets too far from my soul, it won’t work anymore, and I am not convinced Zyneth would be able to understand my tiny signs from across the room. Hopefully he’ll at least be able to hear me if I speak loud enough.

Zyneth sighs—that seems like it’s becoming a habit—then gives a stiff nod. “Alright. Be careful. I’ll work on figuring out how far we are under the surface. Based on the trek back up and the shape of this room, I think we may be below the water room. If so, we might be able to slip out of here through there. Otherwise… well, I’ll figure something out.”

I have the utmost faith he will. I give him a glassy salute, then turn to face the spiderweb. The room is a whole lot more daunting from this vantage point, twitching with the constant movement of the sentries, but the gaps in the web also seem a lot more manageable. I cautiously step over the first line, then begin tip-toeing my way into the room.

Hey Echo, I say. Can I ready a Refraction spell? If anything other than Zyneth so much as looks like they’re glancing my way, I want you to turn it on. Especially those spider sentries.

[Affirmative,] Echo says. [Refraction spell cost: 1 mana/second. Is this acceptable?]

Yep, I say. And given the bonus mana I currently have, I can keep that spell going pretty long if I need to.

[Spell readied,] Echo says.

A spider skitters across a line a foot above my head, and I suppress a shudder. Yedzaquib could not have come up with a creepier-ass design if he’d tried. I mean, I guess it makes sense you’d fashion something after yourself. And I might have some Earth-based biases here. But yeah, no. Too many legs.

The first window is open and empty—nothing inside and no barrier protecting whatever is supposed to be kept there. Maybe it’s because I’m in my vial form again, but that opening sure looks a lot bigger than your typical trinket storage unit. I tiptoe to the side, skirting around an area where a thread narrowly passes overhead, and continue to pick my way over to the next window. This one has a field up.

And when I see what’s inside, I freeze.

“Holy Expletive.”

“What is it?” Zyneth asks. His voice is low, but it carries easily without any other sound in the room besides the faint rustle of the spider sentries.

I stare a moment longer. “Um. I think I know what happened to Gillow’s thug.”

[Check: Ossina, Nereid, level 28 Aquatic Rogue. Captured after breaking into Yedzaquib’s personal collection. She is suffering from the status effects Restrained, Poisoned, Mana Drained, and Memory Mined.]

The nereid looks a lot like Gillow, though this one’s scales are a dull blue and her frills limp. She also has a huge-ass spider clamped around her head like some kind of macabre crown. The spider looks a lot like a bigger version of the sentries. It’s hanging from a magic thread, and though Ossina appears to be sitting, it’s clear she’s only being held up-right by the spider grasping her skull. Her eyes are closed.

Horrified, I relay this information to Zyneth.

Zyneth swears. “Of course. I bet she was sent to steal this crystal, too. I should have known Gillow would have already tried to get their sub back up and running before we came along. This is bad. We need to leave.”

“We need to get her out, first,” I say. The idea of being kept in this place, having your mind harvested by a giant spider creature is beyond disturbing. Beyond horrifying. Just trying to wrap my head around it shocks and angers me in equal parts. This isn’t right. No one deserves for their autonomy to be taken away like this. No one deserves to have their mind invaded. “Even if she does work for Gillow. We have to help her. Can we tell anyone? The City Guard?”

Zyneth appears uneasy. “Perhaps, but I am not sure they would have the authority—or ability—to challenge Yedzaquib.”

“No authority?” Fuck that. “Then we will be the authority.”

“Who’s there?” a voice asks.

I jump. The voice came from the next window down. Of course. Of course there are more prisoners. Strangely, however, this one’s voice sounds faintly familiar.

I creep forward, trying to catch a glimpse of who’s inside. Even as I round the corner, Echo stirs. [Activating Refraction.]

My glass shimmers, then goes transparent, like a chameleon. Even so, I don’t feel very protected when I catch a glimpse of who’s trapped in cell number two.

“Raz,” I say, as the fire mage glares out through the barrier.