"Come now, little cub, let's see how you bite now that your pet dragon is no longer here to chew your food for you." The eerie dryad brilliantly taunts with her mastication knowledge.

"You silly fiend. Do you think I was dependent on Fury for my power? Let me teach another Hangorian what real power feels like." Gene's calm voice is bolstered by absolute confidence. Fear leaks from the demons piled around me who cannot flee for their lives. "Now I will show you why your people were wrong to think we would be an easy feast. You will learn the true meaning behind deceit."

Outclassed and out taunted, the dryad tries to abandon its slow-moving trees and flee, forgetting that it's slow-moving because it is in the grasp of Gene. "Now shadows, fill your sorrow." At once, the shadows come to life. The smooth, enticing mana turns violent as hideous shapes grow uncomfortable mouths and begin slaying the shadow-locked demons.

Though I can't see them, I get the sense that three strong arachnoids are near, and I feel the energy flow from them as they aid Gene's shadows. Cher is manipulating shadows of her own. Her monsters make quick work of the rock golem that has us pinned down. Apper is using the earth to smash and tear demons apart. Not displaying any powers of her own, Noth is firing arrows nonstop and occasionally hits her mark. Or a mark. It's hard to know if she's aiming.

Together the wolf and the spiders make quick work of the giant demon force. Before long, we are free from our demon prison, and the three spiders are taking care of their own. Noth takes Fen into her arms, while Cher grabs Tress, and Apper carries Kelly. The four say nothing as they move back into the clearing not too far away.

"Of all the dryads, the Hangorians are the nuttiest. That's the third one I fought today, and each one seemed borderline unhinged," Gene says as she appears from the shadows. Covered in shadow armor much lighter than Booters, the shaman is in pristine condition yet looks utterly exhausted.

"You alright?" I ask as I drop my active barrier, relieving some of the tension tearing up my mind.

"By the looks of it, I'm doing much better than you."

"Aye," is all I try to say. "We failed them, Gene… I failed Nette again."

Gene's sympathetic expression says more than her words. "It's easy to forget when you feel so powerful that those around you are not. It is the same lesson I can never learn. It's never enough power. We could have been more careful, sure. The spiders were hungry, and we overestimated our strength. We made mistakes, and it will hurt. We just keep trying. That is all we can do.”

"The Hangorians going to be a problem in the future?" I ask, using her advice to push past guilt and failure. Even if I want to allow despair its dues, we don't have the time. I can already feel the dungeon core wanting to be released.

"Yeah, the two I fought were of shadow and earth, both templars ranked. The earth templar was an easy fight until the shadow dryad ambushed me. It should have taken less time to defeat either one of them. To say that I am still rusty is an understatement. We were able to use their cores, though, to expedite Apper and Cher's cultivation."

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"The shadow templar the reason why I couldn't use shadow fully?"

"Yeah, she had a firm grip of shadow for a couple miles. The templar is a domain expert, and that will make things tricky when they return. Not that there should be any problem while I'm around."

"We can't bring the children into this mess. They will be livestock." I'm voicing frustration more than anything.

"No, we can't. Even if some of them can fight, it won't be enough. Still, they are coming soon. Aren't they?"

I nod my head. "I can feel the dungeon core awakening. It wants out."

"How much time?"

"I don't know. Maybe a day or two. Three if I try to resist."

"Shit," Gene curses.

"Agreed."

The lycan's pace slows as we near her temporary camp, and her thoughts get heavier. I slow down my walk to match hers as well. We can see the spiders clearly. The arachnoids, content to tend to themselves, leave Gene and me to our conversation.

"So instead of nursing our wounds," Gene is the first to speak. "We are forced to clear out the demons."

"We won't have enough time to clear them all."

Gene agrees with a single nod. "More than that, we will need infrastructure to support the children. There is no way we can contain them in the wild."

"So, we clear out a small plot easy enough to defend and start building?"

"Fortunately, the dryads left us with an earth lancer. And I know some rituals that can repel unwanted guests."

"You going to be able to do some more shadow domination?"

"Unfortunately, that spell greatly affects me, especially when I mix it with shadow summons. And I am not fully recovered from the years spent living as a spirit."

"How long before you can do it again?"

"Probably a day.

"Dang."

"Agreed."

"So, I guess that means we will do it my way."

"Which is?"

"Punch things in the face. Really hard… with swords and mana."

"Shit."

"Agreed." My resolve is firm. We have a job to do, and it needs to get done. It's as simple as that.

Nothing else to say or plan; we join the spiders as they lower their deceased sister into their earthly tomb. No words are spoken. It's only quiet sobs that sing the departed to rest. Earth reverently covers the two graves, which are then covered with two large stones.

We sit in silence. None of us have words to say that the silence isn't already saying. Neither Gene nor I break the silence, allowing the spiders to speak when ready.

Fen takes the initiative. "So, what do we do now?"

"We fight." I don't catch who says the words. All I know is that everyone agrees. It's time to claim our lands.