“Is she really a Tag Hunter?” Chandra said. She was kneeling next to the woman Hitori found. The stranger had dark skin, the mark of a Southerner. Her hair was a deep shade of blue with the tips dyed to look like fire. Chandra touched it and added, “Do you think this is a normal color down south?”

“I’m not certain there is anything normal about her,” Hitori said, scrunching his nose. The woman seemed a little too grungy for a few days in the forest. He silently cursed whichever Nova founder decided to train even the students’ sense of smell. There was such a thing as being too thorough. Maybe that’s why the spiders saved her for last? “Better wake her. Hopefully she can pull her own weight.”

Chandra lay a hand over the woman’s shoulder, a faint glow radiated from beneath her fingertips. After a second the woman shot up, head butting Hitori, and yelling in the Southern language. Hitori only studied it briefly, so he wasn’t able to make it out. She seemed to be swearing, at least. She backed away, before locking eyes with Hitori.

“Ah, you. Not spider?” The woman said in the Seitojin language.

“We’re mercenaries from Nova,” Hitori said in a different language. Mairtalan, from the city of Mairtala which shared a continent with Nova Academy.

“Oh, good,” The woman responded in kind, her words more confident. “Just to let you know, I can’t pay for my rescue.”

Hitori laughed. “I think it’s too late to discuss the terms.” He smiled. “This one’s on the house. I’m Hitori, by the way.”

“Newton.” She held out her hand. “Newton Tuem.”

Hitori helped her to her feet, and very quickly shared the names of the others in the clearing.

“Aaah, I’ll try to remember them all,” Newton said with a sheepish grin. “And double special thanks to you Chandra.”

“Oh good, all you chumps are finally awake,” Bridget said. She had been checking on his other teammates and approached when Newton started yelling.

“It took like a minute!” Hitori said.

“A minute we don’t have. The metafauna backed off for now, but they’re regrouping outside the clearing. At any moment they’ll launch a final assault. Judging by the sound, I can’t hold them off and keep you alive at the same time.”

“Then we’d better get out of here. Is that hole where I came in still open.”

“It is, so it’s a great place to get ambushed.”

“True, but if we have Protius punch through right next to it, we’ll catch them off guard.”

“That would be a great plan, if your Arteficer hadn’t shed his whole malhahonic web when he got knocked out.”

Hitori frowned.

“That’s what you get for going easy on him,” Bridget said. “Hell, on your whole team. No spare weapons, burnt most of their VF from the venom—“

“Yeah, yeah, save the lecture for later.”

“Hey, I brought a spare,” Gordon said. He remained nearby after Chandra resuscitated him, keeping watch on the canopy above. “Can even handle making that hole.”

“Gordon,” Bridget said. She made it sound like an insult.

“Princess.”

“Will you two stop glaring at each other,” Hitori said, rotating Gordon away from Bridget. “You have something.”

“Sure, remember Andi?” Gordon said, holding up a strangely decorated pistol. It was the one he stirred up trouble with last night.

“There is so much wrong with— never mind. Just get ready, we’re going to bust out of here.”

“Ah, well,” Gordon laughed weakly. “Takes about a minute to charge.”

“Then get on it! Bridget, can you and Ms. Athens take the lead.”

“I think she should take an orbital,” Bridget said.

“Fine by me,” Hitori said. That position would have their instructor patrolling in a wide circle around their formation. If he was being honest, he would be even happier if she took a position back at school. The murky forest gave her an air of eldritch horror, of sudden, inescapable death in the shadows. Hitori was scared enough of her already.

“Then form up!”

Hitori left Bridget to handle her end and set out to arrange his own teammates. Gordon and Elvira would take the flanks, protecting Chandra and Protius in the center. Bridget at the front meant Hitori would watch behind. He wasn’t sure where to put Newton.

“Are you any good in a fight?” Hitori asked her.

“I was a volunteer in the militia,” Newton said, then smiled. “It was a great place to test my inventions.”

“Good? So, are you armed? Do you have all your techs in order?” Hitori said.

“Um, no?” Newton said. Hitori eyed her warily. “I mean, I am armed, but I don’t know what a tech is, to be honest.”

“Can you fight or not then?”

“Yes, I can fight!” Newton stomped her foot. “I have my artificial… hard light? Crap, words. Stars, never mind. It’ll be easier to show you.”

Newton pulled a silver stone from a pouch on her suspenders. Its surface was smooth, and a shimmer escaped from deep inside. She tapped the device on one of her bracelets then tossed it on the ground. The light intensified, and the stone bubbled up as it melted into a small puddle.

Rather than pop, the protrusions took on a definite shape and the whole thing ascended into the air. In a few seconds, it finished its transformation into a pudgy little pugilist. It resembled a stuffed animal. Newton tapped her bracelets together and struck a boxer pose. The figure matched her stance.

“Check it out!” Newton beamed, throwing a few jabs with accompanying punch sounds. The toy fighter imitated her strikes. “Pretty cool, huh? I’m thinking of calling it a Summon Arte.”

“Can you guard someone with that?” Hitori asked. Newton nodded, forcing her face into a serious shape. “Good, then hold the center with Chandra and Protius, and cover Gordon on the right.”

“Yokay!” Newton pirouetted once and saluted, in synch with her chubby battle companion. She bounced off to join the center group.

That was everyone in position, so all that was left was for Gordon to finish whatever he was doing with ‘Andi’, which appeared to be whispering sweet nothings to it while he cradled it in his hands, then they could finally get out of here.

Hitori was concerned he had no idea why the Canopy Weavers went to such lengths to attack his team. They didn’t usually hunt near the borders of the Wychwood. Hitori was about to yell at Gordon to hurry when he was struck by a thought.

Why did Bridget imply the creatures were targeting him specifically?

“Hitori!”

He reacted without thinking, diving left and farther from the tree line. He turned in time to watch one of the blade like front legs of a Weaver slide past his face. It connected below his ribcage with enough force to shatter a few myriaite plates and drive him into the ground. The spike wedged itself into the other side of his armor.

Looking up, Hitori saw the giant spider attached to the sword. Its body was tense, with beady yellow eyes fixed on his own with animal ferocity. He was locked in the moment, a split second away from the next strike that would surely aim straight for his head. Behind the first Weaver was a half dozen others, each bearing down with glowing eyes.

A glimmer of red shined from out of sight, a lance of crimson flame stretching across his vision towards the lead attacker. When it connected, a massive explosion of fiery mist erased the spider with overwhelming speed and a terrible roar. Three more followed in half as many seconds, rupturing the canopy above. The smoke dispersed to reveal a clear path to the sky. The sudden influx of sunlight was blinding.

Hitori looked up to see Gordon standing, his pistol in hand with wisps of red mist lazily smoldering from patterns on the side. A Canopy Weaver dangled above him, desperately trying to scramble past the floating silver figure that held it aloft. Newton was kneeling over backwards, orientated the same as her summoned fighter.

Before Gordon could deal with his own problem, the spider slipped enough through to get an attack in. Gordon was run through the shoulder then tossed aside like a rag doll. The rest of the party was engaged with a mix of Canopy Weavers and a pack of Lupins.

Hitori couldn’t afford to sit around. He yanked the jagged spider leg from his abdomen and tossed it aside. His Vital Net only slowed the bleeding, saving the last vestiges of energy to maintain itself. If it collapsed it would be days before it reformed.

With his body on the brink, Hitori wouldn’t be firing off techs any time soon. Which was a shame, he could use a half dozen Blitzes about now. Newton still hadn’t dealt with the spider that tagged Gordon, and the rest of his team was struggling with a handful of opponents. Bridget was in a standoff with almost a dozen creatures, whereas Ms. Athens was nowhere to be seen.

Hitori spent a second scanning the ground in hopes he’d see the Dragon Stims he lost earlier.

No such luck. It was hopeless, but he had to try something. He struggled to his feet, ignoring the splatter of blood on the ground, then lurched towards Elvira. Perhaps she could borrow an arte from Protius. Before he made it two steps, Hitori felt something dragging him backwards.

For a panicked moment he thought a Canopy Weaver dropped in when he turned away and hit him with its webbing attack. But, actually… the feeling was entirely within his mind? Had he forgotten something? Perhaps discovered something in his subconscious?

He turned around and gave the scene behind him a thorough look. There were the dead metafauna he inexplicably killed earlier, the row of cocoons his team was trapped in, and—

Wickham.

Right now the hideous half spider statue had the same hateful glare as the Canopy Weavers. The same hateful, yellow—his heart jumped in his chest, tension clawed through his body.

Their eyes were supposed to be black.

Studying Wickham, Hitori was struck by an uncanny sensation. Like there was a subtle shift in a scene once burned into his soul. Was something different from when he’d been dragged in front of that terrible spider the first time?

He couldn’t think of anything substantial, but nevertheless his gaze was drawn to a wooden limb growing from Wickham’s shattered body. It was the only one stretched out, like it was reaching for something.

Hitori slowly approached the grasping arm and studied the point where it touched the ground. It gripped a large stone buried in the ground. A hairline fracture could be spied in a gap between the twisted fingers.

If he severed the branch, would the metafauna stop attacking?

A crazy idea, but oddly compelling. He began to hack at the root, chipping away the hardened bark. If he could muster the energy for even one tech the job would be done in an instant. Instead he worked with frantic slashes. Hitori wondered if he lost his mind.

His arms burned with effort, a rare sensation on Esper. The sense of futility increased in equal measure to the pain in his limbs. Hitori drew another ragged breath, was he making any—

A silver shape blurred across his vision, and the root exploded into a shower of splinters. The clawed end of the false limb dragged a chunk of crumbling earth and stone into the air, then tumbled apart on the ground.

Hitori toppled forward, twisting to face behind as he fell, landing on his butt. His hand bounced off a piece of loose wood. Newton was standing a moderate distance away, poised at the end of a powerful haymaker. Her clothes had several gore stained gashes, a line of blood ran down her cheek and neck, dripping onto the dirt.

Ah, I like this one. Why don’t you team up with her?

The metafauna backed off, an air of concern and confusion permeated their ranks. They looked to have woken from a nightmare, only to find the waking world no better. A low growl from Bridget sent them scurrying into the forest.

“I guess you did know what you were doing,” Newton said, limping toward Hitori. “It seems I have much to learn if I hope to survive up north.”

Hitori laughed, an awkward smile fighting the exhaustion on his face. “That was a lucky guess, not sure it’ll be useful in general.”

“Alright you little shits, looks like you live another day,” Bridget yelled up ahead. Hitori wasn’t sure if she was addressing the metafauna or his team. Ms. Athens reappeared near her, covered in blood. It didn’t seem to be her own. She was wearing the same button up blouse and skirt she wore in class.

Doesn’t she have any other clothes?

“Enough standing around,” Bridget said. She jumped through the opening Hitori made earlier, scanning for a potential ambushe. After a second she motioned for everyone to follow. Hitori nodded for his team to move out when they looked at him. Newton stepped forward to help him to his feet.

As he was pushing up, Hitori felt the wooden piece he touched earlier. One end was attached to a chunk of stone. It crumbled apart in his hands.

I wonder what he was holding on to.