“Malakai!” I ran closer.
His head shifted at the sound of my voice. His eyes found me through the strands, sharp still, but dulled around the edges, like a blade worn blunt.
“I hope you’re mad, kitten, because we have a parasite that needs to be burned out of existence,” he panted, with a faint smirk playing at his lips.
Suddenly, he hissed as a red glow appeared around the webs that trapped him. It spread, swirling around the tree and lighting up…
Oh Gods.
There were even more eggs here, she had spread them out across the forest. But these seemed… alive. They weren’t just pulsating, they were moving, like they were about to hatch.
“The demon is using his power to feed her eggs,” Jaden stammered, fear coating his voice.
The branch above Malakai dipped, from sudden weight.
“Oh shit—!”Jaden shouted.
The spider-demon didn’t fall; she descended gracefully, controlled, as silk held her weight. She landed between us and the tree, her legs forming a wide circle, fencing us off from Malakai in an instant.
“He is mine now,” she hissed, voice inhuman.
Her eyes set on me and I jolted in response, taking in her horrifying visage once more. My fire flared on instinct.
Jaden’s foot burrowed into the sand, preparing the ground for an attack as his eyes locked on the creature. He seemed paler but not fear-struck.
Flames roared from my hands and stone spears burst from the earth beneath her as we both tried flanking her with our abilities.
She opened her mouth, but not to scream… She inhaled deeply and my fire bent.
My flames didn’t strike her, they curved, drawn inward like sparks up a chimney, slamming into her abdomen and vanishing. The stone Jaden raised cracked mid-rise, crumbling into dull grey dust that spiraled towards her the same way.
Her skin began to glow, and she shuddered. Not in pain, but in pleasure.
“Such delicious magic,” she sighed raspy.
“Oh, this is bad,” Jaden breathed.
I pulled out my gun and took aim at her, but before I knew it, one of her legs slammed into me and I lost my grip as the gun was sent flying. It landed behind her, at the base of the tree.
Shit.
Another of her legs shot forward and Jaden barely had time to dodge it. I switched targets and took advantage of Jaden keeping the demon occupied. My fire blasted at the webbing around Malakai.
Same result.
My flames thinned, drained of color before they could even blacken the silk. The strands tightened around Malakai, absorbing the heat like thirsty roots drinking rain.
“No, no, no—” I threw myself up a few branches to reach him and grabbed the web with my hands.
It burned me.
Not heat, resistance. The silk constricted like muscle, biting into my palms when I tried to push my hand between it and Malakai.
“Malakai, we need to get you out quickly!”
“I’m trying,” he rasped. His voice was rough, thinner than it should have been. Dark lines of his blood-magic flickered under his skin, then snuffed out like torches doused in a bucket.
Behind me, Jaden grunted.
