So I hope you will believe in these simple words, we are not to blame. The arrival of humanity is not of our making. And even if some of my people have sided with them out of opportunism, the vast majority of us do not wish to be part of this conflict...

Extract from a letter, hidden in the secret archives of Irvanon

The night was hell. Mat woke up several times, hearing the sound of multiple paws running through the foliage near his hiding place. Each time he remained attentive to the noise until it moved away. Only then did he allow himself to close his eyes. Finally, he decided that he had rested enough. He used his magic again, hiding from the spiders' eyes and their senses.

Slowly he emerged from his hiding place, his body aching from being in such an uncomfortable position for the duration of his rest. Once outside he looked around. The nearest spider was twenty yards away, he could see its legs behind the thick leaves of the tree.

Raising his head to the sky, Mat tried to gauge the time of day. Given the number of times, his sleep had been interrupted he had decided to lie in the morning. His situation and position in this area had the advantage that he had little reason to keep up with the pace of the day, in fact, the darker it got the better it was for him.

However, after assessing the little light that managed to get through the foliage and the darkening of the domain Mat thought that it was not quite midday yet. At this thought, his stomach growled.

He had to continue. Mat body is stretched, stiff, he was taking a risk of not being flexible in a place where he could not afford to make any mistakes. Glancing at the spiders around him Mat smiled in amusement. There he was, hiding, next to a bus-sized monster that would devour him with relish, doing stretches. Mat loved his new life.

Once he was comfortable in his body, feeling like a man on the edge of a precipice leaning forward to see the void, he took out his weapon and carried out the maintenance on his sword, which he had not been able to do day before.

Satisfied with these preparations, Mat sheathed his weapon and climbed the tree again, even closer to the power nexus. Despite the distance, which was no longer great, Mat took his time. He didn't know if the spiders, being closer to the nexus, had a greater sensitivity to the shadow domain. And especially if they could pierce its veil.

Finally, Mat reached the nexus. All he had to do was climb between the branches along the length of the giant tree. Where the branches were thinner and where only the spider webs reigned. It was going to be difficult. Getting closer to his target Mat stopped.

The smaller spiders might be able to survive without prey but not all of them could. Right in front of him, Mat could see a cocoon, the beast wrapped in silk was still alive, he could see its eyes, which though motionless still had a trace of life. It was some kind of reptile, and Mat felt sorry for it, it was a terrible way to die.

This meant a lot to Mat. Spiders hunt outside their territory, bringing their prey home, why? Mat assumed it was for the Being of the domain. If this one was some kind of spider, then perhaps it was using its offspring for food, hunting for it.

Circling the poor trapped animal, Mat stepped forward. The advantage of a Mage over a Weaver was that he could passively increase his power when he was near a power nexus. While the Weaver was forced to let his colours grow naturally, the Mage could take the nexus' colour and add it to his prism. After his night in the tree Mat could feel his power growing, and the closer he got, the stronger his passive absorption became.

Of course, such a method had its limits, if a Mage was unprepared, he could break his prism, such an influx of power tended to distort the shape of the prism. With his prism already broken, Mat didn't have this disadvantage, although it made him realise that a prism in this state must have consequences that the Eldar had hidden from them. According to the scroll he had read, a Magus who had his prism broken would eventually die, quickly. Mat was still alive, as were the rest of his human companions, he didn't know what that meant.

The Eldars had been telling them over and over how special they were, if Mat hadn't doubted it, given the relative ease with which each of them had absorbed their teachings, he was beginning to realise how different they could be from the natives. But if life had taught Mat anything, it was that no gift came, without a price. He wondered what price he would have to pay for such easy access to power. Thought for later.

Mat eventually came to the thinner branches of the tree, if they were still tall enough for him to walk on, they would quickly become difficult to access. Fortunately, Mat had a fairly good balance.

Gently pushing back a tree branch full of leaves, Mat finally had a clear view. The spider webs were everywhere, clinging to the branches, making a silken bridge between the two giant trees. But that wasn't what froze Mat. He finally had a view of the guardian, the Being.

He had thought the Being would be a giant spider, he was partly right. Almost twice as large as the largest spider Mat had ever seen, the Being had the body of a spider, but where its head should have been, a woman's torso rose. Tall and slender, its female body was topped by a half-human, half-spider head. It had black hair, eight spider eyes where it should have had two, and a mouth with two small claws that hid a chasm.

The monster was awake, walking along with the largest spider web between the two trees, watching, touching, the prey trapped in the silken cocoons around it. Under its abdomen, Mat could see an egg sac.

If Mat had kept the crazy hope of being able to defeat the Being, he had to quickly accept the reality when he faced such a monstrosity. Yet he couldn't help but lean forward with glowing eyes. He did not know why, but seeing such a monster, a Being of such power, brought him a powerful excitement and desire. He had to stop himself from letting out the crazy laughter on his lips, even though his bubble of silence was still active, it didn't mean he could be loud. His power only hid the noise by a certain amount, if he was less careful he could still be heard.

Using the weave to perceive the nexus of power Mat... The guardian moved, faster than was possible for such a mass.

- Who...?" Mat heard.

He immediately stopped what he was doing, as the monster spun on its web, its long legs giving it an impressive grace and speed, Mat quickly retreated behind his tree leaf. He backed away quickly, away from the monster. No sooner had he begun his retreat than he heard a shrill cry.

Suddenly the trees awoke, he heard a cry full of hissing and squealing words

- ... THERE'S SOMETHING HERE!

Mat winced, the branch he was standing on was shaking. Looking around, he saw that all the spiders had awakened. They were scouring the tree for something. Him.

A spider was approaching fast from behind, Mat couldn't afford to jump on the branch in front of him, he might be heard. Using his magic to strengthen his veil Mat let himself slide off the branch. Looking for a notch in the bark he let himself hang from the tree. Bringing his boots up to a hollow in the branch he stood with his back to the ground. His hands turned white, he arched his back forcibly, his legs stretched out to remain as stable as possible. That bloody Being was going to pay for this.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

As a large spider passed over his branch, in reflex Mat held his breath. One of the monster's legs came uncomfortably close to one of Mat's hands, the one he used to hold the top of the branch. Fortunately, the spider did not stop. It kept running towards its mother. Soon others passed by, big and small, the whole tree was covered with thousands of hairy legs, looking for him.

If he was the praying type Mat would have done it, but he wasn't, so gritting his teeth he concentrated on not falling from the precarious perch he had chosen to hide in. Waiting. Preparing to fight if he was found. He couldn't die, he wouldn't allow it.

With a crazed grin on his face, Mat waited, as the tree shook with activity his grin only got bigger.

Slowly, as the minutes turned into eternity, the area he was in calmed down. The rest of the tree was still in full activity. Fearing that he would not be able to hold on, Mat risked coming out of his hiding place, climbing back onto the branch, his body aching and sweaty. Slowly he moved closer to the tree trunk, he had to find another hiding place, one that was easier to access and preferably one that didn't make him dangle in the void. Especially since spiders walked on a branch as well as under it, he couldn't beat them at acrobatic feats.

For hours Mat hid, regularly changing his hiding place as the spiders searched. They weren't very good at it in his opinion. Finally, after an indefinite time, the forest became quiet again. Mat even dared to approach the nexus once more, even though he understood that he shouldn't try to perceive it anymore, at the risk of attracting the guardian's attention.

As he approached the centre of the domain Mat could see the Being again. It was back in its previous position, perhaps a little more agitated. He could hear it mumbling, though he couldn't understand what it was saying from where he was. It had been Eldar language, and not the Eldar he had learned when he arrived in this world, no it had been the old Eldar language, the one that was written in the scrolls hidden in the ruin. Did this mean that it had had no contact with the Eldar at that period? That seemed unlikely, even if the forests of the Emerald Kingdom were largely wild, the Eldars were present on a large part of them. It would probably not have escaped their notice that there was a power nexus here. Still, if it spoke ancient Eldar, it meant that it had been in contact with that language and that it had had enough of an impact that it was the first language that came to its horrible mouth when it spoke.

Has it been around since ancient times? Could a guardian live that long? As intrigued as Mat was by this mystery, it was unlikely that he would be able to find an answer to it. Mat had the strange sensation of being watched with amusement when he had this thought. What part of this was real, and what part was his paranoia?

Having no answer, Mat watched the Being. It was feeding, and it was an image he did not want to see.

Suddenly Mat had a wicked thought, and a wicked smile came with it.

He might not be able to make this nexus of power his own, with such a dangerous guardian, but if he couldn't have it for himself then he was going to make sure that every spider here knew the consequences of getting in his way.

Mat stepped back, he hoped his plan would work, but if it did he would have to run away at high speed. First Mat, retraced his steps back to the tree branches over there, spotting his escape route. That would be the easy part. Once against the bark, he would have to get down quickly while avoiding the spiders as much as possible.

To set up what he had in mind Mat would have to reveal himself. He set up a new hiding place where he could sneak in while he reused his spell, which would allow him to hide in the shadows. Very late in the night, having set up what he could to ensure his escape, Mat approached the central web.

Mat placed all the torches he had prepared against the tree branch where he was perched. He was going to set fire to the giant fucking spider web, and the whole tree if he could.

The guardian was silent, perched on his web, it was motionless.

Mat ducked, once the torches were lit it was unlikely his spell would hold, he would have to hide quickly before he could cast it again. As long as he was close to the nexus his veil was strong, but in the harsh light, it would quickly lose its effectiveness. He now had enough power in his prism that he could blend into the shadows if he wanted to. Unfortunately, he was still unable to do so, the complexity of the spell was such that it was impossible. He had the resources but not yet the skills to use them.

Yet his presence here had advanced him several months of accumulation through the practice of his magic, perhaps several years. Staying longer would be counterproductive, having too much magic in reserve, but no control over it would only make it harder to master. Mat was satisfied with what he had, even if he regretted not being able to devour the nexus of power for himself. It was one of the methods one of the prisoners the Eldar had tortured had used to increase his power. It wasn't the only one, and Mat had held them all back, he would find a use for that knowledge in time.

The nearest spider was hidden by the branches and leaves of the tree, this should give him time, albeit very short, to light the torches and throw them at the spider web. Once the flame was lit he would soon be spotted.

Using his flint Mat lit the torches. Quickly blowing on it he spread the fire over all the torches. As he stood up, Mat heard a scream.

Not hesitating Mat threw some of the torches at the guardian, then the others all around him, on as many different spider webs as he could.

- NO! WHO?!!!

The Being had woken up, it turned to him.

- YOU! MY BABIES! CATCH HIM!

Mat took the time to give it a wry smile before running off, the cobwebs flaring up behind him. Mat heard a terrible scream behind him, reverberating throughout the estate. Once again the trees awoke, but with a frenzy unlike before. Screams echoed everywhere. The whole forest shook at this, and behind him, the fire spread. The chaos of flame, screams and pain.

And Mat was running, running for his life, he could hear the guardian behind him getting closer. But before he could reach branches capable of supporting his weight the web burned, and the monster fell with it, only catching himself with the silken threads it threw against the trees and the spider webs below. Yet the fire did not stop, it continued to spread to more and more webs, attacking the leaves of the trees, even burning some of the branches that were covered with the particularly resistant bark of these primordial trees. And Mat ran.

Dodging a spider that jumped on him in rage, he slid down a branch. Passing through a small tunnel of branches that he had planned he used his magic as he fell, reactivating his veil. It wouldn't last long, but it should allow him to avoid some of the attention.

Slaloming between the spiders' frenzy, the flames spreading, Mat descended quickly, throwing caution to the fire coming up behind him. Leaping from branch to branch, he even used the back of a spider to reach one of the lower branches, pushing the spider into the void, who screaming with hatred.

Reaching the end of the branches, his veil still holding, Mat observed the tree trunk. The spiders were coming in droves, even though the fire behind Mat must have terrified them, the spiders were coming in droves at the screams of their mother, higher up in the tree. They threw themselves into the fire with cries of hatred that quickly turned to pain.

Throwing herself from its branch Mat fell. Using his shadow claws to slash the rising spiders and slow his fall. The noise of the fire and the screaming spiders was so loud that Mat's laughter as he fell lower and lower, jumping from spider to spider was inaudible. Each time he used the spiders to slow his fall, the spider fell from the tree in pain. Mat then used it as a springboard to throw himself against the tree again and hit a new spider, sometimes the bark of the tree.

He should have died, his fall was such that he felt as if his arms were going to fall off his shoulders, even though he was using the augmentation as he had never done before. And yet he survived. Crashing to the ground against the last spider he had used as a springboard, he slashed at it with his claws until the spider stopped moving.

He couldn't stop, the fire above him was still going strong, lighting up the area like it hadn't been ever since he'd come here. It had spread to the whole estate, the cobwebs were everywhere, they were acting as a conduit for the fire, setting fire to the leaves of many trees. It was like a vision of hell, tall trees lit up, serene in the face of the flames if not the burning foliage. And the shrill cries of dying spiders everywhere, a concert of suffering that spread through the forest. And on top of that the screams of rage and promises of death from a powerful Being.

Grabbing the last spider he'd killed, Mat dragged it behind him, and as burnt spider carcasses rained down from the sky, he reached his hiding place. Sneaking behind the roots he entered the staircase, he was to make himself some roasted spiders for dinner.

Even as he passed through the barrier, the smile he had always had on his face had not yet faded.