Just in case someone might be curious about what was happening to Ethan, the young man was just done floating, or better, sinking, into the sea of shadows and had touched some kind of bottom.

In his mind though, he was still swimming, free, against the current, breathing in the vital dark water, kinda surprised of how long this process was taking, yet very at peace with the whole, smiling in a very silly way.

The silence he perceived was mesmerizing, leaving him deeply connected to the shadow energy: he really could feel it becoming part of his being, sustaining him more than food or even air.

He had to wonder how he had survived until that moment without it. If only it wasn't for an annoying clacking sound that had started thumping at his ears, he would have wished that experience to last forever.

Thinking still about sounds, he noticed all the birds, had disappeared, which wasn't normal... Opening his eyes seemed like a crime, something blasphemous that would ruin everything, but he had to see what was going on.

Before he could get anything in, he felt a very sharp pain coming from his right arm: looking at what it was, he almost wished he hadn't.

There was another forest around, all colored in tones of sepia, wilder and more peculiar in shape than the one he was before and, of all the places, he had landed on top of a gigantic centipede's nest, a creature way longer than Ethan's current height.

If that wasn't enough, while the "cute little animal" was trying to nurse her eggs, Ethan was shamefully resting his head on top of them, to which, big momma centipede had reacted by stinging him in the arm. The limb was bleeding and felt already very numb. Ethan could also feel something crawling uncomfortably underneath his clothes; probably several of the centipede's kids.

Slightly terrified, Ethan had to resist the impulse of peeing himself, followed by that of panic and tears; he wanted to scream, but having already seen other very possible predators around, he tried to stop himself, breathing out a very long yet soft “ahhh”. Noticing Ethan's lack of movement, the shiny centipede was now slowly going for his neck, crawling on top of him fast. It took a deep breath and hissed heavily, coiling back before attacking the poor man.

Without having the luxury to care about the other predators or what was going to happen, Ethan flexed the muscles in his abdomen, clenched his fist tight and from the diaphragm, he “vomited” a scream which was the same as his “Intimidating Croak”, yet quite different. He tried to distract, maybe harm the centipede, or somehow making it back away, charging his voice with what he thought was the mana energy he felt had sipped into his body.

While all of this happened, Ethan was thinking “I don't want to be eaten! I want to survive and get stronger... I don't want to be food!”

Once the voice and energy left him, Ethan felt all of his muscle burn for a moment and then drop to an icy coldness, understanding several muscles in his torso were damaged due to the immense pressure the spell had applied to them.

The sound he emitted was thunderous and angry, able to shake the ground and make lesser beings faint on the spot. Later, he would decide to name this new advanced skill “Demons' Croak”.

He had acted on instinct, not even stopping to wonder if a centipede had ears... Which it didn't.

Yet the skill was way more than a sound: it slipped in with ease through the cracks of the beast's chitinous skin, through its comparatively small mouth and shook it wildly, creating severe damage and paralysis.

A few seconds later, the gargantuan body, trembled a little, spewing some nasty gray body fluid and then flopped down on top of Ethan. It was still slightly twitching, but the centipede was clearly unconscious.

Ethan was struggling to breathe, so heavy was the beast on his chest, exhaling rancid and probably dangerous vapors on his face. The boy struggled for a little while, but eventually broke free.

Ethan rolled out of the nest, which was inside a circular hole level with the ground, and went back to his feet. Still feeling troubled by what he knew was under his clothes, he slowly jumped on the spot, while whipping his head and arms like a wet dog.

When at least five centi-kids fell to his feet, he shivered with disgust.

Ethan reached for his left pocket while backing away from the nest some more and pulled out a tissue, together with another small hatchling, which he gently flung back where it belonged. Swearing under his breath, he tried to stop the bleeding onto his arm with the tissue; with a few attempts, he had more or less managed, but he really couldn't feel his right arm at all, not a good sign.

He decided to keep moving, even though it wasn't a very easy task, with the “air” around there being really as thick as water.

Ethan was sweating and he had difficulty swallowing, but he wanted to get to somewhere he could be a little safer: he didn't know what effect his “Demons' Croak” had had on the other animals around, but he rather not find out from up close.

All he could see around though was forest, in all directions. He decided up was probably the only way to go: he vaguely remembered falling after all. He trudged to the biggest tree he could see and looked for some spot with enough nooks and crevices for him to climb up.

When he found the right place, he started going up a root, careful not to slip and fall. It wasn't too arduous a task, but he had to keep going with just one arm and, as soon as he had reached the vertical part of the climb, he started feeling dizzy and a little feint, breathing harder than he imagined. He tried to keep on going, but for all his efforts, after a good minute he had only gone up something shy of a meter.

-Need a hand?

A powerful old voice hissed all of a sudden, giving him a startle.

-Who are you? And where are you?

Just as he had started looking around for this mysterious man, from higher up, an enormous spider had appeared, inching down with the help of a silky thick thread. The difference in size between this spider and mother centipede was the same which ran between a basset hound and a great dane. Ethan didn't know really a lot about spiders, except that they always walked on top of him when he still lived in the wild and that once, a small one, had deposited its eggs in his ear.

He used to eat the big ones too. He hoped this one didn't know about that habit of his: he wasn't ready to be anyone's meal, but probably neither were all the tarantulas he had munched on...

They sure didn't taste bad, he recalled... But he had to force himself out of the “kitchen” and into the now. This spider was less than three meters away and Ethan didn't want to have to dodge another bullet, nor he thought he had the energy, so he whispered once more

-Where are you? Can you help me... Please?

-Why, can't you see me? I am coming, be quiet. Oh, and be very, very still, alright?

The only reason he could think of why he had to stand still was probably because that particular spider had trouble seeing unmoving targets, yet the giant seemed to go right for him without any problem.

“What is with me and big damn crawling beasts?” Ethan wondered, breathing heavily, in spite of what his brain demanded. The spider's butt was in his face, and very much so; the animal stopped his descent and planted six of his eight legs on the tree trunk, turning his majestic bottom and revealing a dangerous, heart stopping, line of eyes and teeth, all suddenly pointed at little Ethan.

-Absolutely, don't move now...

The rasping voice said once more, and an instant later the spider spat a small web on Ethan's forehead.

-There you go! You should hear me way better now, right?

He did hear it loud and clear indeed, nor rasps, no hisses; just a happy, nice manly noble voice. To say Ethan was confused wouldn't really suffice, but he didn't dare remaining speechless in the face of this unknown situation.

-Yes... Sorry for the stupid question: are you by any chance the big ass spider in front of me?

-No need to be rude, young man. I am on a diet...

The spider frowned turning all of his eyes a little down.

-Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it like that... Is that... I don't feel well.

-Yeah, I can smell the Gruepaa's toxin on you. Is there someone who can help you with that?

-My friends are probably looking for me, Mr...

-Darrel, and no last name or Mr. needed. Now, where should this friends of yours be?

Darrel asked looking around.

-Up, I think. That is why I was... trying to climb...

Ethan was fighting with his brain and eyes to stay awake.

-No need to add anything else, little man. I'll take you as far up as I can.

-Thank you.

He said, really meaning it and feeling a small amount of regret for all of his previous eight legged meals.

Darrell walked behind Ethan, not hitting him once with any of his skinny legs, and pushed his head between the man's legs.

-Try and hold on...

-Ethan.

-Right, nice to meet you. Here we go!

Darrel let go of the tree trunk, but instead of falling he climbed up, emitting mana from all of his legs' tips and swiftly, walked up. In no more than five seconds they were already above the treeline. Darrel looked up once more, seeking for some trace...

-I think I see them!

In the sky was a white hexagonal rune, moving back and forth, but Ethan didn't answer. Darrel noticed he had stopped moving and his legs felt weak on his waist, like they had no strength. The spider rapidly tied a thick web around them and up the man's waist, before rushing up. When he was in range, he spat another thread, in the direction the rune was, hoping for that to be his actual goal.

On the other side, Tommy was still busy waving his stick on top of the slowly boiling shadow puddle, when some white stuff, hit the branch hard and started pulling.

-What the heck is that?

He gasped.

-Good news, I hope... pull now, remember...

-Horizontally, yes! Here goes!

-Slower, don't break the thread.

Cautioned Simone, not expecting that three seconds later, she would have found herself up close and personal in the face of a very big spider. She almost did let go of the shadow pool, when a hissed raspy voice told them

-Hi, I am a spider, my name is Darrel, he is Ethan, and I hope for him you are his friends. He got stung by a nasty one, a Gruepaa, a poisonous centipede of my kingdom.

Simone slowly nodded.

-You are... A king?

Asked a very incredulous Tommy.

-Among other things... The toxin should be harmless if heated up, but I am almost sure it has already reached his heart. Good luck! If Ethan survives this, tell him to come and say hi next time he is in my realm.

Simone nodded once more and hurried to Ethan's side as soon as the spider had gone back through the “Trap”. She would have liked going to her operating chamber but she couldn't take the risk of moving Ethan and let the poison in his body for even a single second more.

They had to take action.