I turned just in time to see the spider rear back, front legs lifting high before slamming down where he’d been just moments before. The ground exploded; sand and dead roots burst upwards.
He rolled, came up on one knee, and drew the short blade from his belt. I stared, almost stunned in disbelief.
I had never seen a mage use a weapon; they were usually far too proud. The fact that he even had a blade was astonishing.
She went for him again—fast, stabbing. Not caring whether she killed him or merely herded him away from the tree at this point.
“She’s separating us!” I shouted.
“Not helping!” he shot back, ducking another strike. The blade scraped along a leg as he deflected it. She hissed and black ichor trickled down the leg, the first sign of vulnerability.
My gaze snapped to the knife: metal, not magic. I ripped the dagger from my own thigh sheath. The moment I let my fire drop, the air felt wrong, naked. My instincts screamed to bring the heat back, my flames hissing from the betrayal of withdrawing them.
But the spider’s glow dimmed a fraction and she noticed instantly. Her head turned towards me.
I slashed the web.
It didn’t cut through entirely, it resisted like thick and sturdy rope, but the blade bit, fibers snapping with a wet, sticky sound.
“Malakai,” I breathed. “I’ve got you.”
“Watch out,” Malakai said through his teeth, his eyes sliding to something behind me.
The spider shrieked—sharp and furious and when I glanced back, two legs lunged for me.
Jaden thrust his blade into one of her other legs jamming it between joints. The demon-spider staggered from the pain, and the two legs that had been aiming for me curled back towards her.
“Cut faster!” Jaden shouted.
“I’m trying!”
Another thick strand gave way and Malakai dropped an inch, still held by other threads. He sucked in a tight breath, trying to twist, but he was quickly turning paler.
The spider’s abdomen pulsed bright again. She thrust one leg past Jaden, and it speared straight towards my chest.
I didn’t have time to move, but Jaden did. He jumped after it, blade up, burrowing into the leg and throwing it off course. Her leg slammed into the trunk beside me and I swallowed hard. Jaden landed on the ground, now without his blade and as she pulled her leg out of the tree, she swept it against him.
This time she hit, he was thrust backwards, tumbling across the sand, kicking up a dust cloud along the way.
He didn’t cry out, just grunted as he stilled for a few seconds, trying to recover.
“Don’t stop!” he barked, weakly.
I hacked through the last thick strand across Malakai’s torso.
The web above him finally gave in and he fell. I lunged and barely caught his weight before we both hit the ground. He was heavier than he looked, breath shallow, skin cold under my hands. He pushed up to his elbows, reaching for my hand and gripping it firmly as if to make sure I wouldn’t disappear out of his sight again.
My eyes locked onto something next to his knee—my gun.
The spider reared once more, towering above us. She stood between us and any hope for escape, her skin glowing stronger.
We had fed her well.
CHAPTER
20
“Stupid humans,” the spider-demon hissed furiously. “I saved you; you don’t know his nature. But I… I can make use of him. I can drain him of his abusive powers and put them to better use.” She closer to us, slowly as if not to scare us away, like a predator.
