The Crimson Weaver screeched as it fell toward Mary. Just as Mary’s life was flashing before her eyes, a thunderous crash of wind slammed into her, sending her and the rest of the heroes flying into the forest. Rocks and debris crashed into her body, and for a moment, she thought she died.

“Jesus Christ,” Sara yelled from a distant place. “Move!” Mary couldn’t tell how far she was, and she couldn’t see. Her world was spinning, and she felt like she might puke. She was going to die here. She was actually going to die—

Suddenly, the Crimson Weaver screeched as something snapped, and then it started scuttling off at high speed.

“Wha….” Mary groaned. Then a hand grabbed her hard, waking her up with pain as it yanked her to her feet. “W-What—“

“Wake up!” Raul yelled. Another blast rocked the forest, making the pine needles rain down on them. “We got to go!”

“O-Okay!” Mary stammered. “What about Jason?”

“Daniel’s got him!”

Mary turned with blurry vision and saw that Daniel had dropped his bow and picked up Jason’s unconscious body. Once again, he was proving competent.

Another flash of light cut through the forest, and trees groaned, falling down in a cataclysmic series of crashes.

“Move!” Sara yelled. “I can’t fight with you here!”

“Understood!” Raul heaved Mary’s body onto his shoulder like she was a sack of flour and then burst into the forest. Every step made Mary want to hurl.

Raul fucked up. He fucked up bad. Somewhere along the way, he had let his raw power get to his head. Now, he regretted it. Sara was in serious trouble, and it was all his fault. No one else would feel that way, but he did. If he would’ve been persuasive, he could’ve gotten Emma to stay back and convinced Edico to shut the doors on participation—he had the clout to do that. But he didn’t. He wanted to go. To be a hero. Regret didn’t come close to capturing his feelings.

Mary struggled to break free from his arms as he ran, making him hold her with an iron grip until she yelped. He didn’t have time for her shit. That said, once they got to a safe distance, he threw her down, making her fall onto her butt.

“What the fuck was that?” Mary asked.

“That’s the result of you struggling,” Raul said. “Now stop complaining. You guys almost got us killed.”

Mary stared at him with her mouth open. “Wait? Did you just say I almost got you killed?”

Raul scoffed. “That’s what I said.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Mary yelled. “If Sara hadn’t shot that fireball, we wouldn’t have been in that position! Or have you forgotten?” She stood up, puffing out her chest, convinced—truly convinced—that this was all Sara’s fault.

Raul stared at her in disbelief. Somehow, she had filtered out Edico warning them that they would die, Sara telling them not to go, Sara’s strategy meeting with Edico, and the back and forth after the blast of steam. Now, Mary truly believed that her freezing up with Jason in the forest, holding everyone back, didn’t threaten any of their lives—and resented Raul for saving her.

Mary was psychotic. Absolutely psychotic. A pathological liar who truly believed her lies. That was the most dangerous type of person. Raul was now certain of it.

More blasts went off in the forest, followed by shrieks from the Crimson Weaver. The pitch of the cries was different, weaker, and guttural, as if the spider was seriously wounded.

Emma turned to her. “Mary. That isn’t how it happened—“

“Yes it is!” Mary yelled. “Edico told her not to send that fucking fireball into the forest. But she did. Then what happened?”

Jason groaned, and Daniel laid him on the ground.

“No one?” Mary asked when the area turned silent. “Well, I’ll tell you what happened. She blinded everyone with steam and left a clear path for it to attack us! So don’t you dare say that this was my fault! That bitch almost got us all—“

Emma slapped her in the face—hard.

Mary’s eyes widened as she touched her cheek. The mark was bright red, and Emma’s fingernails drew blood.

“Sara told us not to go!” Emma screamed. “She told the king not to let us go! And unless you’re blind, Sara sacrificed her hand to save Jason’s life! So stop treating her like she led you to a trap when she’s the only reason you’re still alive!”

Mary’s body trembled, and her face became nearly purple with rage. “Don’t you dare say that! Sara saved us from herself, and we’re still in this fucking forest! We could die any minute now!”

Emma growled, stepping forward, and Mary grabbed her sword handle.

Raul stepped in front of Emma. “Put that down, or I’ll break your arms.”

“You too?” Mary yelled.

“You’re the one out of line. I’m not sure what happened to you, Mary, but you’ve lost your goddamn mind. Now take your hand away from that handle, or I’ll force you to.”

Mary turned to Daniel and saw he was surreptitiously reaching for his dagger, and she looked away, pointing her nose to the sky and taking a deep breath. “You sneaky fucker.”

“Shut up, Mary,” Daniel said.

“Don’t you dare—“

Suddenly, there was a piercing gust of wind, and a dozen trees crashed in a hailstorm, making the group cup their ears. A sickening screech followed, and a final blast rang out, silencing the entire forest.

The group listened in dead silence, like a jury awaiting the Reaper’s verdict. Ten minutes passed before a pair of footsteps echoed through the forest. Every one of them caused Raul’s heart to hammer in his chest, pumping harder as they got closer. Then, when the sound became unbearable, he saw Edico. The man was exhausted, bloody, and limping. He had a gash on his thigh from the battle and was bleeding. That was only natural—

The healer died.

“Good. You’re here,” Edico sighed. “We killed the weaver. But we haven’t confirmed that there isn’t an assailant, so let’s regroup.”

“Where’s Sara?” Emma asked.

“She’s healing herself,” Edico said. “Now let’s go.”

Raul’s body cooled. It felt like he had just drank Gatorade after finishing a Five K, and he took a deep breath. “Okay.”

Raul returned to the battleground with Jason on his shoulder. Once they got there, Raul put Jason on the ground, taking a step forward as if he were in a dream. A quarter mile of trees had fallen to the north and west, and there were swathes of frozen tundra that sparkled in the open sunlight. On the ground was the mangled, sliced corpse of the spider, sizzling and smoking as its acidic green blood burned through the foliage.

Sara was sitting on a boulder, healing her hand with a frustrated expression. She wouldn’t look at them.

“Why the hell would you take us to fight something like this?” Mary asked.

Edico sat on a boulder, exhausted and bleeding. The strongest guard was down, and no one failed to notice. “This wasn’t a normal Crimson Weaver,” he said. “This wasn’t like anything I’ve fought before…. No one could’ve anticipated this.”

“You couldn’t have anticipated this?” Mary scoffed. “Weren’t we here to investigate weird shit?”

“What part of ‘prepare to die’ didn’t you get?” Raul asked. “He told you that this wasn’t a scouting mission anymore.”

Mary turned to him. “Shut up, Raul. You’d take Sara’s side no matter what.” Raul loved Sara—he loved her since middle school. He didn’t exactly hide that, but it didn’t change anything. “So I don’t want to hear—“

Mary abruptly stopped talking when Sara threw something at her. She put up her hands to block, but it was only a toss, and the object landed in front of her boots. Mary looked down and saw a glowing black stone that looked like it was forged of volcanic glass. “What’s this?”

“It’s a stone that makes shit stronger,” Sara said, turning away.

“It’s a mana amplifier,” Edico clarified. “It makes mana-based attacks stronger. That’s why Sara’s spells increased in size and the reason the weaver was so strong.”

Emma’s eyes trembled, and then she looked over to Sara and jumped. “Wait! You’re hurt! Let me heal you!” She rushed over to Sara. While Raul thought that Sara would refuse her, she hesitantly nodded. It must’ve been bad. Luckily, Emma was a god at healing by Reemada’s standards. Healing magic was a miracle, but it usually required surgery to figure out what major bone fragments fit and where to piece it back together like a jigsaw puzzle, mending just enough to fill in cracks and heal it. That said, most people didn’t understand the vein and nerve networks, so while they could fix the structure, it was never the same. Emma was different. She could heal Sara completely, but it would take a few days of rest and multiple healing sessions.The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Suddenly, there was a sickening shuffling of bones as Sara’s hand was patched back together, making Raul grimace. By contrast, Sara pulled out a flask from her utility belt and took a swig, silently accepting the treatment without complaint. It gave him goosebumps.

“Who do you think laid the trap?” Daniel asked.

“We’re not sure someone did anymore,” Edico said.

“Why not?” Jason asked solemnly, staring at the ground.

“Over there.” Sara took over, pointing to a rock bluff. There was a large rock face they could see from the now-cleared trees, exposing an ominous cave. “There’s an immense amount of mana coming from that cave. Whatever’s in there probably attracted the spider.”

“And the fire?” Daniel asked.

“Citizens might’ve started it,” Edico said. “And it’s rained recently. That could’ve put out the fire.”

“I see….” Raul said, looking toward the cave. “What do you think is in there?”

“I don’t know,” Sara said. “But considering I got a prophecy to come here, I’m guessing it’s something I’ll need to defeat Agronus.”

Mary’s lip curled, and she took two steps forward. “You need? Do you really think you can take on the demon army alone?”

“That’s not what she said, Mary,” Daniel said. “She’s talking about fighting Agronus. We’re all fighting the demon army, but she’s the one that will be fighting—“

“Are you an idiot? Do you really think she can fight Agronus—”

Sara threw her flask into Mary’s chest, knocking her backward. “Shut the fuck up, you cunt! Unless you’re deaf, blind, dumb, and delusional, you’d know you almost got everyone killed! My hand’s fucked up because you two are trying to play hero. But here’s the thing. You’re not ‘heroes.’ You’re not strong. You’re not useful. And if Jason didn’t try to show off, Titus wouldn’t have died!”

Titus rarely spoke, and none of them knew him well. But it was a heavy loss all the same, and Raul could tell that it was weighing on Sara’s mind.

Jason looked away, pissing Mary off. “Whatever bitch.” She scoffed and turned away, and for the first time, Raul hated someone. Absolutely hated someone. He wished she’d die.

Mary had never been so angry before. King Escar ordered them to join Sara, but she could tell it was by request. Team building to bury the hatchet. That was the rationale. But Sara just admitted that she never wanted them as part of her team. She orchestrated this event for a reason, and that reason was to save their lives. Why? Because when they went back, Emma, Raul, Edico, and sneaky-fucker-Daniel would tell everyone about how unreasonable Mary was and how Sara saved her life.

Mary could already hear it: Sara’s trying to ruin you? Shut the hell up, Mary. Sara saved your life! It was the ultimate argument, the end-all-be-all. But the simple fact was that Sara was trying to destroy her. She was out to get her from day one, and now she couldn’t even enter King Escar’s audience chambers without the man sneering at her. Hell, even the guards hated her. Everyone hated her, and it was all Sara’s fault. But now, Mary couldn’t say shit to defend herself. It would always come down to Sara saved your life. It was cruel.

This was Sara’s plan all along—and it was fucking effective.

Mary turned to Sara to glare at her, but what she saw made her blood run cold. Sara was playing with a ring as she stared at the cave. It wasn’t just any ring. It was a spatial ring that her investors gave her. The sneaky bitch was going to get the treasure and put it into a spatial dimension. Then, no one would ever know!

Mary turned to Edico. “We should go into the cave together.”

“No,” Sara said coldly. “I’m going in alone. The last thing I need to worry about is protecting children.”

“Hold up,” Edico said. “If it’s a labyrinth, we need reinforcements.”

“I’m just taking a look,” Sara said.

“Just a glance,” he said.

“Understood.” Sara got up, taking her hand off her spatial ring for the first time. There was anticipation in her eyes.

Mary took a breath so deep it felt suffocating. Then she turned to Edico. “Wait…. What? You’re seriously going to let her go alone?”

“Just shut up, Mary,” Daniel said, leaning against a tree. “Sara’s a time traveler. A reincarnation. An Oracle. Take your pick. She’s way stronger than all of us, including Edico. He gets that. Now let it go.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Mary asked. “Sara’s a time traveler with a fucking agenda. She’s not listening to the king!”

Edico turned away.

“She refuses to join a party.”

Daniel snorted but averted his gaze.

Mary turned to Jason and then Raul. “And she’s sowing discord between our friends. And what’s next? Once she gets the power to fight Agronus, who the fuck’s going to stop her? Look at this!” She spread her arms and swiveled, presenting a quarter mile of fallen trees and frozen tundra. “Are you fucking kidding me? If she won’t listen to King Escar now, what the fuck’s going to happen when you don’t have the power to stop her?”

Edico took a deep breath, looking at Sara, who had stopped to listen. Then he turned to Mary. “What do you want from me? To brand her a traitor for being strong? She just saved your life. Now you want me to lock her up?”

Mary’s entire mouth curved into a grin, and her blood boiled. There it is, she thought. There it fucking is.

Sara started walking again, nearing the mouth of the cave. Seeing her getting so close to stealing the treasure and obtaining absolute power made Mary’s heart start pounding in her chest. “I’m not asking you to lock her up. I’m just asking you to have some common sense! You know Lady Serok gave her a spatial ring, and yet you’re just going to let her pick up something outside your watch? Are you insane? Sorry guys. I didn’t find anything. It must’ve been this amplification… whatever,” Mary acted out in a deep, manly voice. “Meanwhile, she’s holding a nuclear fucking bomb in her ring!”

“That’s not how spatial rings work,” Edico said, gripping his thigh. “And if you weren’t here, I would go with her. But right now, I need to watch over you. If you want someone to blame, blame yourself.”

Mary’s face contorted in rage, then she looked at his thigh wound.

“Don’t do it,” Edico warned.

Without answering, Mary burst after Sara in a full sprint. Edico immediately gave chase. He was fast, but Mary was faster, and he was wounded, his off-kilter footsteps thudding like a weak heart. Raul and Daniel’s footsteps followed next, but Mary got a head start. She would make it.

Mary ran into the cave, entering the jaws of hell—

—a place she would’ve later wished she had never entered.

“Don’t, you fool!” Sara screamed, her voice echoing on the cave’s walls. “Get back!”

Suddenly, Mary got a bad premonition and skidded to a halt. It wasn’t a deep cave, ending about fifteen feet in. But Sara wasn’t moving back. She was staring… at something.

“What is it?” Mary asked, cautiously approaching.

“Stay back!” Sara yelled.

“No! What are you looking at?” Mary moved closer as Sara slowly turned around. Then she saw it. The wall. The cave ended, but…. Right behind Sara, there was a hole. It was pitch black as if there were only a few inches holding it up, exposing an endless cavern in all directions. It looked like the gates of the underworld. “What is that?”

“Don’t move, it’s too narrow in—wait!” Sara screamed. “Mary, what are you—”

It all happened so fast. One second, Sara was standing in front of her. The next, Sara took a step backward, letting herself drop into the abyss, screaming like a little girl, shrieking as her voice became more and more distant in the darkness.

For a moment, Mary couldn’t believe it. She just stared blankly at the now exposed hole, unable to process that Sara had just jumped into it. Wait… what? she thought. What just—

Suddenly, something shifted behind her, and Mary whirled around. In front of her was Edico, his face white as a sheet.

“What have you… done?” he whispered.

Mary couldn’t answer. Sara… she set her up. She set her fucking up. And there was no way in hell she’d be able to survive this. “That bitch…” she murmered. “That fucking bitch….”

Sara released a massive gust of wind below her, guiding her body to the ground. Once she landed, she pressed her back against a wall and let her slide down. Aside from her hand getting mangled, her plan was working well—really well. Sort of.

Not really.

Originally, Sara expected the weaver to be only slightly stronger. Then, with any luck, she could’ve jumped in front of an attack, martyring herself. With her tempered body, she should’ve been able to catch that web without issue, at most leaving with a numb hand. Then, she’d win over all of the heroes by saving Mary and Jason’s lives, shattering Mary’s arguments and complaints for good. That’s what happened, but….

Sara looked at her hand. That fucking idiot… she thought. Emma had mended it correctly, but healing magic only went so far. It needed time to heal naturally. Until then, it was a glass cannon. At least I got my bonus.

While she’d do her best, there was no way that she could guarantee that she could frame Mary. She imagined she’d have to request Mary’s presence, have her go in first, or just walk beside her with the group and act like Mary tripped her. And even then, the odds of pulling it off were at most 20%. So she didn’t count on succeeding on that front. It was just a bonus.

Still—

Neither winning over the heroes nor framing heroes could make up for seriously damaging her hand before the battle—and that was all on her. Thankfully, Haligara was over a mile away, and it didn’t leave its shiny nest for anyone. So she was safe—for now.

I should get some rest, she thought. It’s going to be a long day. Closing her eyes, she let herself drift off for a few hours, sleeping with one eye open.

Brandon Torres was in a foul mood as he rode alongside Aelia, who was keeping her eye on him. No matter what he did, she always treated him like a villain. It pissed him off. She was smart enough to realize that Sara had set up a trap in the forest, but she still thought that he was the bad guy. She lumped him in the same category as Sara, and that really pissed him off.

Sara was right next to the God Slayer sword, and if she got it, he wouldn’t be able to defeat her and Agronus’s forces. The world would be fucked, permanently this time, and Brandon was the only person standing between them and thermonuclear destruction. The irony of being treated like a villain was tragic.

That said, things were going to plan. If he played his cards right, he wouldn’t need to rely upon his contingency plan. Brandon rubbed his right forearm as if to reassure himself that he could go it alone. Then he turned to Aelia.

“Wait up. Shouldn’t we at least camp here? If they need reinforcements, they’ll probably send a messenger or something. The further we go, the longer it’ll take.”

Aelia looked at their surroundings. They were in an open clearing on a rocky bluff. They had the high ground and full visibility. They couldn’t be ambushed. “That’s a good point. Let’s set up camp.”

Bingo.

Aelia shot him a glance that made his neck tingle with fear, dampening his excitement. He couldn’t get cocky around this woman. Things were going well, but one wrong move would fuck everything up. Aelia wouldn’t fail to notice.

Edico sat on a boulder in front of the cave, weaving his fingers through his hair. He was supposed to be thinking, but there was nothing to think about. Mary pushed Lady Reece down a three-hundred-foot hole (or deeper—that’s just how far his divination pulses could reach), and she was probably dead. Probably was the key term. If he fell down there, he’d be walking with ghosts, but something was telling him that Lady Reece was alive. Still, that didn’t do him any good. He couldn’t do anything to help her.

As for Lady Jansen…. Edico tried not to think about her, but the scene from ten minutes ago replayed in his mind over and over again.

I-I didn’t push her! Lady Jansen had said.

Edico snapped and seized her by the throat. You didn’t push her? he asked.

Mary grabbed his hands as he lifted her up, standing on her tiptoes, trying to breathe. I-I didn’t… I swear. S-She jumped.

Edico lost it, swinging his arm so that Mary’s body was dangling over the crevasse. She jumped? She must’ve been excited to go down there. Tell me, Lady Jansen. Do you also want to “jump” into this crevasse?

Mary’s eyes widened with terror as her hands clumsily gripped his wrist, looking down and trying to scream—but failing under Edico’s choking grip. She looked so fragile, like a bug caught in a spider’s web.

Well? Edico asked. His blood boiled. His mind blanked out as his fingers squeezed and then let up to hear her answer.

Sara awoke to a loud thud.