So far, all the corrupted creatures Marvel had faced had exhibited only their savage nature—their eternal will to devour everything living in their wake. However, this time, their tactics seemed slightly different. They weren’t simply throwing themselves at everything in their path. No, it was more calculated.

Something had changed. The monsters had chosen to evade the male counterparts of her clan, channelling their whole aggression towards the fledglings. Marvel didn’t believe these abhorrent creatures had simply grown wits overnight.

Nor did she think it was merely because they found the fledglings to be easier prey. After all, they still had to face the Guardians before reaching the younglings.

Don’t engage. Elegy’s voice echoed in her mind as Marvel became entangled with the Cursewalkers.

She was about to complain about being surrounded by those demonic creatures when most of them suddenly froze, entrapped by Elegy’s mental assault.

Quick, Elegy said again, as if she needed another reminder.

Marvel shot forward as the barrier of darkness opened for her. Inside, the air was thick with solemnity. Although the Veil of Darkness concealed most of what was happening outside, it hardly stopped the fledglings from being frightened. To be fair, most of them had never even experienced Midnight’s power before. The all-encompassing darkness was already terrifying enough for them.

Well, it could have been a lot worse than this. Marvel joined the hundreds of her clan already in motion. They could have broken into an uproar.

The thought had barely passed when piercing screeches echoed through the fold of darkness, followed by turmoil rippling through the ranks of her kin.

Barely a handful of enemies had broken through Midnight’s defences, but all were Iron Rank at worst—still more than enough to push every one of the younglings into panic.

Marvel might not have been the best fighter in her clan, but her training was solid enough to hold her own against a low Iron Ranker.

Besides, I've been itching to kill a couple of Iron Rankers anyway.

With that thought, she sent waves of empathic assault, slowing them just enough for her to shield the fledglings at the forefront of the attack.

"Marvel!" Serenity’s voice thrummed into her mind before the elder spider’s figure thrust into the midst of the vile spawns. "Do not let anyone come to harm."

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****

“Javi!” Isla called, running towards the hole where her half-brother was kept.

His prison was a simple pit in the ground, with makeshift metal bars and formations blocking the way out. The youth lifted his head and found her, a look of faint recollection appearing in those troubled eyes.

His appearance was dishevelled, though in far better shape than she had dared to hope. The spiders hadn’t tormented him much, even if they had kept him imprisoned.

Isla thanked Mother Augur for leading her way back to him, clasping both palms on her chest as she knelt on the ground.

“Isla?” Javi blinked a couple of times, wondering if he was seeing things—if she was really there.

“It’s me,” Isla said, putting her arm on the bars and trying to reach out, only for the formation within them to flare up, creating an opaque barrier. Tier III, from the look of it.

She could have destroyed it, though it would have taken some time. Enough to alert the spiders.

Although they hadn’t imprisoned her on account of the treaty and her aid to a member of their clan, she was sure they wouldn’t be accommodating if she tried breaking him out of here. Besides, they had only allowed her to see him. She would have to refrain from making a spectacle of herself.

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“Isla,” her brother said, the gloomy barrier not helping his case, “is that really you?”

A lone tear dripped from his eye as he stood to meet her. Their relationship had always been complicated—more of a competition than a familial bond—yet Isla felt at ease looking at him, finding him relatively safe.

“Did those spiders capture you too?” her half-brother asked.

“No,” she said. “No, they did not. It’s… complicated.”

She couldn’t find the right words to explain everything briefly. In the end, she sighed and said, “Don’t worry too much. I’ll get you out of here. I promise.”

It was at that moment a familiar voice decided to reveal itself.

“It’s you again.”

The voice was commanding and pressed against her mind like a mental attack. If not for her mental defence training, Isla would have been on the ground. Still, it froze her in place.

It took a moment for Isla to organise her bearings as her eyes shifted all around.

“You are the one who dismissed us before,” she accused.

“And yet, you still find your way back here.” There was an edge to the voice, making it clear that it did not like her presence. “I thought I made myself clear.”

Isla steadied herself, her palms clenched tight. “You alone are not enough to decide for the whole of your clan,” she said, turning back—though she saw no sign of the spider. “The treaty still holds. We can help each other. I know we can.”

The other two spiders she had met during her journey had proven to her that they had more in common with her people than she had initially believed. At least on the emotional spectrum. These empathic spiders felt the same way humans, elves, demi-humans, or any other intelligent races did.

“The treaty only holds in name,” the voice retorted sharply. “Where were you when we asked for help two winters back?”

Isla had no recollection of what it was talking about. Her mother had never mentioned any history between their races, merely sending her here on a vital mission. But considering the spider’s distrust, perhaps there had been a miscommunication. Although the empathic spiders were an intelligent race, vast cultural differences still existed between them.

“Please,” Isla begged. “I don’t know what happened or how my mother treated you. But we can still help each other. We can do better.”

“Perhaps,” the voice lamented. “The time for reminiscence has ended. We are under terrible constraints—we cannot afford to care about some treaty you chose to follow through on only when it benefits you.”

“We can help you. Give us a chance!” Isla cried before the voice could recede completely. “I know it isn’t much, but I can tell your people do not have enough healers to mend physical wounds. My friend and companion, Zael, could help with that. And if there’s—”

“I don’t have time for this,” the voice interrupted, cutting her off. “You can try to be useful, perhaps even win back our trust. But I will hold no authority over the treaty going forward.”

With that, the connection broke.

“What was that about?” Zael asked, frowning.

“That spider just talked to me telepathically,” Isla said, noting that it had spoken only to her.

“What did it say?” Zael asked.

“The same thing again,” she sighed. Though not entirely discouraging. It had listened to her, even if it had dismissed her in the end.

“So, all this journey for nought,” Zil said, his shoulders slumping.

Isla clenched and unclenched her jaw. If they lost the assistance of these empathic spiders, perhaps they wouldn’t lose anything. However, if she could bring them along, the value they might provide would be immense.

Ignoring their mental capacity for attacks, their ability to distinguish between the corrupted and the uncorrupted mind alone would be invaluable. Perhaps enough to shift the tide of battle.

Countless chilling shrieks reverberated throughout the tunnels, pulling her out of her stupor. A cloud of chaotic aura encompassed the zone as she exchanged a glance with Zael.

“Looks like we are under attack,” he said.

Or rather, it was the spiders who were under attack, she thought. They were merely bystanders in this conflict. Not according to the accords of the treaty.

“Perhaps we could still get out of here, taking your foolish brother with us.”

She hummed in thought. The spider community was already facing more trouble than they had the power to withstand—at least, that was the impression she had gathered from what the elder spider had told her. As far as she could see, they wouldn’t notice if a few disappeared in the midst of chaos.

Nobody would blame her if she chose to do exactly that. Not getting the spiderling to cooperate was understandable.

“Isla, you need to get out of here,” her brother said.

She closed her eyes and considered the choices before her. She could either flee in the chaos and return home without help, or she could fight it out—help the spiders, as had been agreed between her monarch and the spiders.

In the end, the decision became so much easier when she thought about her people. Each day, they fought. And each day, their numbers dwindled. Villages disappeared, towns fell under siege by the scourge. They fought back, freeing the land from the scourge year after year. And yet, the abominations returned, each time stronger.

“I have to do it,” she muttered, turning her gaze to her companion. “We have to fight. Even if it doesn’t convince the empathic spiders to join our cause, we still have to fight. We are facing the same enemy.”

With that, she ran towards the conflict, the shout of her brother ringing behind her.

But Isla didn’t look back. She believed he would be safer there.