“I’m coming with you!”

“Oh, yeah?” Ike said, a little surprised. Then again, she did tell me she was originally from outside the Abyss. It’s not too surprising that she’d want to leave.

“Yep. I’m done here. Too many people know my face. As a predator… as a monster, that’s a problem,” Wisp said.

“You do have a reputation,” Ike agreed. The way Ket and Tana had reacted to her name was enough to drive that home to him. It was as if they’d heard he was hanging out with the boogeyman.

“It’s not fully deserved. They’re the ones who kept throwing their unwanted mages into the spider forest. Is it my fault I ate a few of them?”

Ike tipped his head back and forth non-comitally. He ducked a branch and hopped another before responding. “Eh, well, yeah, you know.”

“You eat monsters. I eat people. We’re the same, you and me,” Wisp asserted.

“I don’t know about that,” Ike muttered.

“Anyways. I don’t eat a lot of people. They taste bad. After a while, I just killed the mages and left them to the other spiders. Didn’t want them killing all the spiders I worked hard to cultivate,” Wisp said.

Ike frowned. “I thought you didn’t care about the spiders.”

“I don’t. But I do want some of them. They do convenient things for me, like keeping the spiderweb thick over the whole forest, and keep out stupid weak mages who might stumble into my lair and cause problems otherwise.”

Ike’s eyes widened. “Oh! I get it. I killed one or two spiders, but they were killing all the spiders.”

Wisp pointed at him. “Exactly. I don’t mind people killing one or two particular spiders. I just mind if they come in and start exterminating my entire forest.”

“Right, yeah. I get that,” Ike agreed.

“So it should be fine if I kill a few mages, as long as I don’t exterminate the whole city,” Wisp said.

“Well…” Ike shrugged. “I mean, I guess as long as you’re willing to deal with the consequences.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m not stupid,” Wisp said.

They darted through the trees. Leaves danced around them. The branches vibrated as they passed. In the distance, Ike heard a howl.

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He peeked up. “Is that Loup?”

“Could be. You’d know your wolf better than me.”

“We’re close, then?”

“Close to the flats. Wolf territory.”

Ike blinked. “Wolf territory?”

Wisp snorted. “You’ll see.”

Ahead, the trees grew sparser. Sunlight reached the floor, and brambles, bushes, and grasses covered the ground. Wisp attached a thread to a nearby branch and lowered herself to the floor. Ike followed, hopping from branch to branch down to the ground level.

He looked back up. The trees towered overhead, reaching seemingly to the sky from this vantage point. And yet, seconds ago, he’d been up there. In the sky, up among the treetops.

The slumrat me would have never been able to imagine this life I lead now. Hopping from tree to tree. Chatting with spider monsters. Looking for my lost wolf on the way out of the Abyss.

Compared to the life I used to lead, this is so much better. So far superior. Beyond even my wildest dreams.

Smaller trees grew around them, now. A meadow spread across the earth, interspersed with small clusters of trees. Tall golden grass swished across the land. The wind blew it into a flurry, scaring up a cluster of small birds and insects. The grasses rustled, as if hiding monsters within their depths.

Ike walked down into the valley. The closer he grew to the grasses, the larger they appeared, until he found himself walking into grass so tall it stretched over his head. He raised his brows, surprised. “Does it always grow this long?”

“It’s not uncommon,” Wisp commented from behind him. She glanced all around. “I landed here when I first fell in. It was much taller than the tiny spider I was back then.”

Ike gave her a look. “How small were you back then?” He pinched his fingers together, then held his two hands a little apart, then stretched his arms out wide.

Wisp gave him a look. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Eh, not really,” Ike admitted.

“That’s right. You’re afraid of spiders, aren’t you?” Wisp muttered.

“No,” Ike said, too quickly.

She chuckled under her breath. “Hmmm…”

Another howl. This one came from the other direction. Ike whirled, but nothing could be seen through the thick grasses. “That’s not Loup.”

“I don’t know. All wolves sound the same to me,” Wisp opined. She hopped up into the air and quickly constructed a webbing platform, with long supports trailing out to the trees on the outskirts. She crawled along the thin strand, clutching it with her fingers and toes, stretching out her arms and pulling up her legs one step at a time. The thread trembled as she walked, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Can you see anything from up there?” Ike asked.

“Probably. I’m not trying, though,” Wisp said leisurely. She looked down at him and gave him a smug grin. “It’s just easier to walk when I’m not shoving my way through nasty, long, bug-infested grass.”

“Yeah, well, you’re the bug infesting that spider thread, so,” Ike muttered to himself.

She laughed. In the next moment, she sat up, then stood. Her toes curled around the thread, gripping it tight beyond the level human toes should be able to curl. “Look smart. They’re coming.”

“The wolves?” Ike asked. He drew his sword and faded back, changing his direction to throw off tracking. He didn’t think it would do much, but it was better than doing nothing.

“I think so. Hard to see, with all this grass in the way,” Wisp commented.

The grass shivered. Low shapes appeared against the grass, only to fade away again. Shadows edged around him, closing in, then darting away. He couldn’t make out their proper shape, only the general form. Four-legged. Swift.

Head on a swivel, Ike turned. He held his sword at the ready. His eyes narrowed. As a shadow closed in yet again, he lunged. Now!