Page 93 of Maleen

We settle into our delicious meal. Maybe once things calm down, I’ll make trips to visit her often, so she isn’t as lonely. If we survive all this.

“So, what is this creature we are going to fight?” Aemon asks, always wanting to be prepared.

“I can’t tell you,” shrugs the old lady.

“You won’t tell us anything?” Killian asks, his fists gripping his cutlery hard enough to bend it until I nudge his leg under the table.

“Now, I didn’t say that. It has a stinger—make sure you avoid it! The venom causes a horrific death. It’s not instant, but you’ll wish it was.”

“Is there a cure?” Aemon asks.

“Well, the best cure is not to get stung in the first place! Good luck getting back here to ask me for one when the venom has disabled all of your magick.”

I notice Killian’s expression, like he’s busy mentally checking every book in the library. He asks, “So it’s some sort of manticore?”

Talyn pauses in eating to ask, “What in the Fates is a manticore?”

Celeste is waving the idea away. “No, no. Their hide is rubbish. And don’t waste your energy using magick to kill it, either. The reason it’s good for our plan is its resistance to such things.”

Now Talyn is also gripping his cutlery hard. “Then how are we supposed to kill the thing?”

Celeste dabs at her face with a napkin after eating some berries. “Have you forgotten that you are good fighters? Ha! And you’re supposed to be the young ones with good memories. You’ll need courage—keep your wits about you. Oh Aemon, and Ravina dear, take these.” She hands us each a bracelet with intricate beading and braids with a singular opal charm on them. “These will let you blink directly here next time if you need my assistance again. I have my home warded against all sorts of unwanted entries.”

“Thank you,” I murmur gratefully as I slip the bracelet onto my wrist and Aemon does the same.

The rest of the meal moves quickly after that, and before I know it, we are outside the cottage, waving goodbye to our new witch acquaintance.

“Alright,” Aemon starts. “Everyone hold hands; I’m going to blink us to the beginning of the canyon. Ready?”

I take a big deep breath, trying to center my nervous system for the feeling I know is going to happen. “Ready,” I state, trying to sound sure. Celeste wouldn’t budge on telling us anything more about the beast. Shadows pulse around us and I relax in their embrace as they pull us through the shadow realm. The moment we have our feet firmly planted on the ground again, the feeling of despair hits while the call to go down the path takes over. This time we let it, and step off the trail.

I KEEP GOING over the plan in my head. Kill the beast, however we do that. Then while Killian and Talyn remove the hide, Aemon will blink back to the castle and then to the witch to grab the stones, then meet us back here to wrap them.

I need this to work.

This part of the forest seems darker, more haunting, and I find myself drifting closer to Killian to the point I’m nearly tucked under his arm.

“Are you okay, Little Warrior?” he asks.

My chin dips jerkily. “I just have the creepy crawlies. I’m okay though.”

He takes my hand in his, and I find myself relaxing. That is, until Jesper walks into a sticky webbing.

“Oh, what the fuck is this shit?” He struggles to free himself but just gets more tangled up in it.

“Stop moving!” I hiss, my eyes widening and my heart racing as I piece together what we just walked into. I burn the web, freeing Jesper, but it might be too late.

“The beast is a fucking spider,” Talyn grumbles as he rolls his shoulders, coming to the same conclusion I do.

I gulp. I’m not a fan of even little spiders, and judging by the size of these webs, I don’t think we are dealing with a tiny one. I understand now why Celeste didn’t forewarn us—because I don’t know if I would have come… I might have even saved this as a last resort. Fuck. No. I’m a badass Galallaus Fae Queen, and I can kill a giant spider. It’s fine, totally fine. How hard could this be?

The ground shakes once, then again, before it stops and the forest goes completely silent. I glance around looking for any sign of movement but there’s nothing.

A screech rents the air and a massive spider appears, even bigger than I’d imagined, crawling down the web through the canopy right towards us, the whole group of us reflected in its many beady eyes. Its pincers click together and what looks like saliva drips from its mouth.

Oh Fates-fucking no. Nope. Burn it all with fire.

“So many eyeballs,” Nero whispers in awe.