Gripping my sword tighter, I watched as Clover lifted her hand, magic thickening the air around us. Light stretched into a lance, and once the spell finished preparing, she yanked open the door and hurled it with a shout.

“Illuminating Lance!”

The burning light spiraled into the room, tearing through everything in its path. Webs and sacs just outside its range caught fire, bathing the space in a yellow-orange glow. The lance collided with the far wall, leaving a nearly perfect cylinder where it had cleaved through the web. Fire quickly spread, consuming the remaining webs and sacs like a ravenous beast.

I ran the second the lance dissipated, heeding Clover’s warning. The monsters left alive would be Enraged, and I didn't want to face their retaliation. I stopped in the trapped room, breath ragged from the sprint, and noticed the distinct lack of footsteps behind me.

I spun, heart lurching. Clover hadn't followed.

Tearing back through the archway, I caught sight of her. She leaned against the door, unable to hold herself up. Even from across the room, her skin looked pale in the firelight, sweat shining on her forehead. Her mace pointed at the floor, her arms trembling as it almost slipped from her grasp.

She couldn't move if she tried. Anger tore through me like a rabid beast.

Had she seriously thought she could run away in that condition?! I sprinted back to her, ignoring the fear-fueled wrath burning through my veins at her recklessness.

Once we were safely away from the spider den, I'd give her a lecture that'd leave her ears ringing for days, but now wasn't the time.

I slid next to her, eyeing the room warily as the silence stretched. Nothing moved, not even the untouched sacs nestled underneath the first layer.

Every hair on my body stood up as if electrocuted, and instinct screamed that we needed to move now. The eerie pause wouldn't last long. The Adult Giant Spider had to be close by, and I didn't want to be here when it announced itself.

Then, as if in response to my thought, all hell broke loose.

A pile of scorched and flaming sacs shuddered, the Adult Giant Spider throwing them off with an ear-splitting shriek. Its armor-like skin was unaffected by the flames, and long, hairy legs splayed to cover nearly the entire room.

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It spun around, taking in the carnage, before finally, before spotting us. Beady eyes burned with rage, and it shrieked again. The remaining sacs broke open, and my heart dropped as spiders poured out. A dozen had survived the lance. When they raced for us in unison––a wave of scrambling legs and red eyes––I picked up Clover and ran.

The scrape of their feet thundered behind me, but I didn't look, focusing entirely on reaching the spike room.

They were closer now, the gap between us shrinking. Just as one brushed my neck, I cleared the threshold of the spike room and raced for the pressure plate.

The spiders poured through the doorway en masse. When the last one trickled in, all twelve of them surrounding us with clicking teeth, I pressed Clover behind me and slammed my foot onto the correct stone.

“Bolster!” I cast, throwing the spell over both of us as adrenaline surged.

The click from earlier echoed in the room, and just as the first spider lunged, the spikes shot up, forming a sharp, metal wall.

A wave of blood splattered the floor as shrieks rang out, echoing off the walls. The sound was piercing, driving nails into my ears, but I ignored it, watching the skewered bodies twitch.

When they stopped moving, hanging limply from the spikes, I eased off the pressure plate. The spikes sank back into the ground, leaving a new layer of corpses. None of the spiders moved, and I shuddered, riding high on adrenaline and relief.

Clover eased out from behind me, thankfully unscathed, and ran a trembling hand through her hair.

“Well, that could have ended badly,” she said, her tone flippant, as if her recklessness hadn’t nearly gotten her killed.

Her casualness sent a bolt of white-hot anger through me. She had almost died. If I'd stayed back like she wanted, I wouldn't have made it in time.

I hadn't known her long, but the thought of those spiders tearing into her, for that honey-gold hair to turn red, made my stomach heave.

And she didn't seem concerned at all.

The leftover adrenaline surged, demanding release. When it filled my lungs to the point I felt like I was drowning, I snapped.

I spun and slammed a fist into the wall.

Pain blossomed from my knuckles as the wall cracked under the force, but I barely noticed it. All my focus was on the reckless woman now staring at me with wide, surprised eyes.

She shook off her surprise quickly, scowling and planting a hand on her hip. “What the hell's wrong with you?”

I laughed, the sound rattling in my chest, harsh and jagged like shattered glass. “What's wrong with me? You could have died, Clover! If I'd stayed back here like you wanted, I wouldn't have made it in time. I barely did as it was!”

I itched to pace, to move, but we were still in the trapped room, and the last thing we needed was for me to accidentally trigger another pressure plate. The holes were covered by spider corpses now, and I refused to risk hurting one or both of us just to vent my frustration.

Instead, I stormed past her, cutting around the edge of the room, back toward the way we'd come.

The Adult Giant Spider hadn't followed us, so we were probably safe to talk here. Even if we weren't, I'd promised her a lecture, and by all the spirits of Nexus, she was going to get one she'd never forget.