Ravyn led me back through the marketplace without a word, then past Keke and Cannoli’s silent houses, continuing south. As we walked, I couldn’t help but notice the whispers behind cupped hands and fingers pointed at Ravyn. But it was clear she was making a point to ignore them, so I did my best to follow suit. Ball flew over us all the while, reciting vulgarities that made even me duck my head and avoid the shrill gazes of the nearby girls.

Once we were standing in the field where I’d sang for the palm civets, Ravyn stopped.

The uncomfortable feeling in my stomach was getting worse by the minute. I had to see them again. Hear Cannoli’s reassuring voice. Feel Keke’s lips on mine…“So, where are they?” I asked, digging at one of the ditches where a palm civet surely dwelled.

Ravyn crossed her arms over her chest. “I only know where Keke is. Cannoli could be ditzy-ing around anywhere.”

I frowned. “Where’s Keke, then?”

“Put me down!” Keke’s shrill cry echoed through the cattails.

Ravyn pointed. “She’s over there.”

“Keke,” I breathed and dashed through the cattails. “[Combat Mode]!” The iPaw activated from my pocket and my gear shifted from my casual clothes to my combat attire. The weight of the axe felt familiar and sure in my hand.

Ravyn jogged next to me and chortled. “Pffft. What a stupid hat.”

Well, at least it was one more point of Resistance. “Says the running dominatrix.”

“Hey! Stop it!” Keke’s voice was closer. We were almost there.

“Let her go!” Cannoli trilled. “Or I’ll— I’ll!”

“Hey, two for one. Whaddya know?” Ravyn grinned.

A third, unfamiliar voice joined the fray. A smooth, silken timbre that weaved through the air and stroked my skin. “Or you’ll what, darling?”

“Eeee! No!” Cannoli screamed.

“Ah, shit,” Ravyn murmured.

“What?”

“It’s a Defiled.”

We broke through the cattails into a clearing with golden grass set against a mountainside. Cavernous entrances and black pocks covered in silver threads were carved into the cliffside, elevating the terrifying scene before me.

My dream version of Keke had nothing on this monstrosity. Eight thin, spindly legs twice my height carried an enormous black abdomen covered in long, fine hairs that ended in an undulating tail. The attached carapace blossomed into a slender, feminine back and two very human arms. She had ebony skin and jet-black hair that fell over her shoulders, partially concealing naked breasts. Pierced, black cat ears stood tall against her head and a wide grin adorned her face. Keke and Cannoli’s feet dangled free in the coils of two of its legs, but her attention snapped to Ravyn and me when we were free of the cattails.

“A catgirl drider?” I whispered.

“No. A Defiled. God, do you even listen to yourself?” Ravyn snapped.

“Oh, hello there.” The drider smiled, her brilliant white teeth sharp in the sunlight. “Have you come to join the feast?”

“Only if you’re on the menu!” I yelled, sounding way more confident than I felt. It didn’t take a moron to realize how powerful this thing was just by looking at it.

“Matt!” Keke cried. “Run!”

Keke and Cannoli squirmed and kicked. The drider brought Keke closer to her human form and caressed her cheek, eyes glittering with excitement. The nails on that hand looked sharp enough to slice skin with minimal effort.

“You found a man, then. Lucky for you, sweet girl,” the drider purred. “Too bad your lives will end here, hm?”

Rage pumped wave after wave of adrenaline through my veins. It pounded in my ears and framed my vision in red. I couldn’t run. I would never leave them behind. “No!” I bolted forward, concentrating on the drider. “[Provoke]!”

“Matt! Hang on a sec!” Ravyn called.

But all I could see was the monster’s hand on Keke’s face. The look of desperation in Cannoli’s eyes.

What the hell? I knew that [Provoke] had activated; I could sense the cooldown still recharging. But the familiar sense of enmity wasn’t there. I had her attention, sure, but she continued to toy with the girls.

The drider laughed. “You’ll have to do better than that, boy.” She twisted Keke’s hair in the fingers of one hand and traced the length of her throat with a slender, pitch-black tongue. “You are delicious.”

Keke moaned—a desperate, helpless noise I’d never heard out of her before. Something inside me snapped. I curled back my arm, aiming at the base of the leg holding Keke, and hurled the axe with all my might. It spun blade over handle in the air until, to my surprise and immense relief, it chopped halfway through the femur.

The drider screamed and dropped Keke, who rolled in the grass safely to the left.

And now I needed to get my axe back.

“How dare you! You insignificant morsel!” Cradling her bleeding leg between two others, the drider pulled the axe free with her human hands. “You’ll pay for this!” She brought Cannoli close to her chest and raised the axe.

“[Pinpoint Weakness]!” Keke was back on her feet, bow drawn and arrow nocked. She let it fly, then drew another with lightning speed. One pierced the leg cradling Cannoli, the other into the arm holding the axe.

With another ear-piercing howl, the drider released Cannoli and the axe. Ball flew in from behind, snatching the handle of the axe as it fell from the drider’s hand. The monster snarled and charged for Keke, limping on her wounded legs. Keke deftly dodged and kited the oncoming attacks, releasing her arrows at every opportunity.

Ball flapped vehemently and changed his flight path toward me. The weight of my weapon made his trip awkward and warbled, and I worried he was going to drop the damn blade on my head. I met him in the middle, reaching up to take the handle straight from his claws.

“Get that axe to stupid Matt, squaawk! Stupid Matt!”

Thanks, Ravyn.

“Keke! This way!” Cannoli squeaked.

Keke pivoted on her heel while shooting another arrow. She dodged one swiping leg, then another, diving beneath the drider’s body and skidding through to the other side. She readied and fired another arrow, charging toward Cannoli.

Well. I will never do anything that awesome.

“Close your eyes!” Cannoli cried.

I slammed my eyes shut just as [Blessed Light] activated.

“Squawk! What the hell?” Ball screamed, blindly swirling to the ground.

“Argh! You truly think you can defeat me? With these little tricks?” the drider cackled, and another pair of glistening eyes opened on her face.

“That was unexpected,” I mumbled.

The drider raised her arms to the sky. “Come, my children! We shall all feast!”

“That’s probably not good.” Ravyn and Cannoli had joined my side. Keke lowered her bow, and her ears tilted toward the mountain.

The sound of hundreds of legs pitter-pattering against stone sounded from the caverns. Spiders ranging from the size of footballs to human adults trickled from the darkness and straight for us.

“Oh shit,” I breathed. My blood froze in my veins and the first prickles of fear overtook my adrenaline. One Defiled was hard enough. One Defiled and her league of terrifying children was a whole different story.

“Get behind me! Get behind me right fucking now!” Ravyn called.

Keke dashed to where we stood, and we grouped up behind Ravyn. The spiders funneled from the mountain and into a swarm, pedipalps oscillating in front of curved black fangs. The drider laughed as the mob approached, watching with keen interest.

They ran so goddamn fast. In no time at all, they were a stone’s throw away from our group. “Ravyn—” I began.

“Shut up!” Ravyn raised her hands and focused on the grouping spiders. “From the deepest caverns of fire and molten iron, rise forth! [Fire Pillar]!”

A circle of blinding flames erupted from the ground, lapping hungrily at the spiders within it. I instinctively threw an arm over my eyes and moved my body to shield the girls. The heaps of spiders hissed and crackled in flames, their bodies dissolving to ash in the oppressive heat.

“No! My babies! No!” the drider screeched. “How dare you?”

“Fuck off, bitch!” Ravyn retorted and shifted her arms toward the drider. “Oh flames of life, grant my enemy misery! [Fire Ball]!”

Another brilliant confluence of fire formed at Ravyn’s fingertips before she released it, sending the spell blasting forward. It struck the core of the Defiled and exploded, searing her skin and melting her abdomen. Her screaming vanished in the blaze while the smoke rose to the sky. Keke, Cannoli, and I stared in wonder at the torched battlefield, none of us speaking a word.

“Yeah, So. I don’t really think you’ll be able to carve anything good off those crispy corpses.” Ravyn shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Ravyn, thank you,” Cannoli choked in tears. “Thank you so m—”

“No. Gross. Don’t get mushy on me. Just… carve your shit and buy me a drink.” She gestured for Keke to move forward. “Let’s go. Chop chop. It smells like a Kitten Scouts campfire out here.”

I had a lot of questions. For all of them, really. But I watched Keke carve in silence, and we headed for the tavern.

---

“You lot look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Frida, the tavern’s primary waitress, greeted us at the table.

“Something like that,” I mumbled. “Just the usual for me. And whatever they want.”

It was awkward while we waited for our drinks. Cannoli took a newfound interest in her fluttering fingers. Keke tapped the table and refused to meet my gaze. Ravyn snuggled Ball and fed him cookies, whispering words of endearment often ending with “Ball Gag.”

Frida passed out our wooden mugs, and I drained half of it before I could stop myself. Ravyn had emptied hers by the time mine hit the table, and she ordered another one. Ah, hell, this is gonna be expensive.

“So, Keke, what were you doing out there?” I asked at last.

Keke chewed her lip. “U-um. Well, Ravyn told me—”

“Hey, don’t throw me under the wagon,” Ravyn snarled.

Keke’s eyes narrowed, and her ears bent forward. “I’m not. I went to that field in search of… something. It drops off of a low-leveled roach, and Ravyn told me they were out there.”

“So you weren’t hunting the Defiled?” That was a relief. Keke trying to solo a Defiled was a suicide run; I’d watched as it nearly killed her. My stomach twisted just thinking about it.

“No. I wouldn’t do something so stupid. I wish I’d known a Defiled was there, too. I would have been more careful.” Keke traced patterns on the wooden table, shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry.”

Why didn’t she want to go in a party? “I could have helped you, you know.”

Keke nodded, a blush hueing her cheeks. “I know.”

“She’s making a present for you, jackass,” Ravyn cackled. “You going would have spoiled it.”

“Ravyn!” Cannoli squeaked. “How could you tell him?”

My heart skipped, and I cleared my throat. She was out there for me? Keke’s hair fell over her shoulders, concealing her face. “I see.” But, my present aside, I still had more questions. “Cannoli, what were you doing there?”

“Oh. Well, um. I was worried about Keke and, uh, someone told me where she’d gone.” Cannoli toyed with her hair. “I was hoping I could help. But, I think I just made it worse.”

“Squaawk! Made it worse! Stupid Cannoli!”

Cannoli flinched.

They both looked so sad. “Regardless, we did pretty well together, I think. Like a real party,” I said, hoping to lighten the mood. “We’ve come a long way from our first battle together.”

“Yeah, like getting a level 10 [Sorcerer] to help you,” Ravyn laughed. “You’d all be spider-food right now without me.”

“Probably. Thanks,” I said. So much for making them feel better.

But Keke’s eyes glittered. “No, you’re right. That axe throw was amazing, Matt! I didn’t know you could do that.”

I chuckled. “Me neither. I think [Axe Mastery] helped out. Or maybe sheer luck.” I’m just glad I didn’t hit you instead. “And Cannoli, thanks for the warning on the light.”

“Yeah! I hope that it will stop affecting you when I level it up!” Cannoli said brightly.

“I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t. Really, though, we’re getting much better with practice,” I said.

“Alright. I’ll stick with you guys,” Ravyn said suddenly.

The three of us froze and turned to look at Ravyn.

“What?” I asked.

“I said, count me in your party,” Ravyn repeated, happily accepting her second mug. “You need me. Obviously.”

“Count me in! Drink ‘til we’re dead! Squaawk!”

New Notifications!

Matt is now: Base Level 3!

Matt is now: Warrior Level 3!

Matt has gained: 1 Stat Point!

Matt has gained: 1 Class Point!

Keke is now: Base Level 4!

Keke is now: Scout Level 4!

Keke has gained: 1 Stat Point!

Keke has gained: 1 Class Point!

Cannoli is now: Base Level 4!

Cannoli is now: Acolyte Level 4!

Cannoli has gained: 1 Stat Point!

Cannoli has gained: 1 Class Point!

Ravyn has gained: 250 XP!

Now accessing system memory…

...building was my life. Sometimes two hands didn’t feel like enough.

Did I do enough?

Was I enough?

Memory storage successful.