text: Two of the dog-sized spiders came to guide us to the queen's lair. They led us down a path where the webbing dissolved before our very eyes. As mentioned before, it proved to be the only path before our eyes. Alum had warned me that it would be like this going deeper, but the sheer density of webbing all around us overwhelmed my eyes. It would have taken all of my mana just to burn a hundred square feet of it, and there were thousands upon thousands of square feet in my way. But it collapsed directly before us as if someone had yanked the exact thread needed to completely unravel it. Which was probably what was happening.
  
  Eventually, though, the walls of webbing parted, like we had come through the other side of a castle wall. Here the trees were actually free of stony covering. Their bark was a discolored purple, similar to the glow of their poisoned glyphs. I got the impression that these trees were fed on more frequently, while the trees on the other side of the web wall were kept in stasis.
  
  More carapace-armored Arachknights met us as we went deeper into the underground woods. Unlike the jackass I met and killed earlier, these actually tilted their heads in respect. As we kept walking deeper, they fell in behind me. From the low-hanging branches of the tree I could barely make out other shapes tracking our movements and following behind us. Eventually I felt enough presence behind me to know our escape had been cut off.
  
  She was surrounding us with her every last pet and warrior.
  
  I wanted to sigh in relief that the plan was working. Then the number of noises behind me kept increasing, and I began to wonder if the plan working was a good thing.
  
  Eventually, after hearing over a hundred voices chitter behind me for far longer than I was comfortable with, we reached our destination. We stepped into a giant circle of Woadfathers even larger than the others.
  
  Larger still, though, was the arboreal tower in front of my eyes.
  
  A Woadfather that put national monuments to shame loomed in front of me. I could have fit one of my high school classrooms inside a tree that massive. Maybe even my school cafeteria. At its base was an opening large enough to be a cave of its own. There were large knobs curling upward and around the base, which gave me the impression that the tree had tried to grow steps at one point. On purpose. About a hundred feet up limbs big enough to be support beams for a bridge jutted outward, curving directly up to whatever ceiling existed over our heads. They gave the impression that they were supporting the entire invisible expanse directly over our heads.
  
  Breena gasped next to me as she looked at the sight.
  
  "A Woadfather Monarch," Breena gasped. "I don't believe it. There is still one left."
  
  <What is this exactly?> I asked, noting her awe. <I gather it's something more than a very large or old Woadfather?>
  
  <Wes,> Breena answered. <Woadfather Monarchs are to Woadfathers as to what Woadfathers are to other plants. A Monarch by itself can revive a desert, create a forest, end a famine. Usually all at once. Woadfather Monarchs can produce the kind of golden age for a world usually only seen after clearing a successful Tumult. The fact that we have one here is nothing short of a cosmic miracle.> She looked at it sadly. <If only it weren't dying.>
  
  I was afraid she'd say that.
  
  The colossal plant had glyphs like the Woadfathers did, massive symbols too big to fit on even the widest of banners. But they neither glowed a healthy green like the revived Woadfathers nor a sickly purple like the poisoned Woadfathers. Instead, they were black, and they pulsed as if the entire tree was choking.
  
  <It's in agony,> Breena whispered softly through the mindlink. <And it's been this way for untold millennium.>
  
  I repressed a brief, sympathetic shudder as we walked the rest of the distance to the tree. The chittering spiders and Arachknights remained behind us, surrounding the clearing instead of entering it with us.
  
  My boots crunched on the pebble-strewn cavern floor as I stopped about a hundred yards away from the tree. The two spider guides with us suddenly chittered in unison, then departed.
  
  Again, the rich, melodic voice washed out. This time I could tell it came directly from the tree itself.
  
  "The Mistress of the Keepers greets the Lord of Avalon, and welcomes him to her abode."
  
  The sultry maturity of the voice probably could have given Guineve a run for her money. Or it least it could have if it wasn't trying so hard. At any rate, though, I wasn't going to let us start off on the wrong foot.
  
  "The Lord of Avalon contests the Keeper's unlawful claim to any part of his territory, and commands that she come forth in person to defend her actions, on pain of continued war."
  
  There. Now we could properly negotiate.
  
  Assuming the chittering horde all around us did not take issue with my words.
  
  <Stay calm,> I reminded myself. <This is part of the plan.>
  
  For a moment she didn't answer me. Then she conceded, and on a level that surprised me.
  
  "The Mistress of the Keepers apologizes for her poor choice of words, and concedes to the Lord of Avalon's request."
  
  A large shape slowly detached from the ceiling inside the tree's cavern. The center of the mass was a blur, and it somehow threw enough shadows to look like a shapely woman with Guineve's figure and a giant, bristly arachnid that twitched its legs in a thousand different directions. Gradually the shadows converged enough to make the woman the dominant shape, though something still made the shadows dance behind her. Gradually, the shadows condensed into a thin black thread that the woman used to lower herself gracefully to the floor like an acrobat.
  
  Then she strolled out from the entrance, her feet clicking on the stony soil. Her figure swayed as she approached me, almost sensual, except for a hint of something else that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. In the dim light, I could tell that her body contrasted between albino-white and chitin-black. As she grew closer I realized she actually had skin, and skin smooth like a baby's. The two colors swirled between each other in a marbled effect, with her face and neck the milk-white color, but her bare arm and shoulder glossy black, as well as the torso covered by the not-quite-opaque-enough red toga. Her legs, though, became white as soon as they were visible from the toga, going black again at the shins, ending in oddly jointed heels. Silky, blood-colored hair framed her oval face, twitching out of the way of her vision as she walked forward. Her pair of eyes were a red-colored almond slant, but when she stopped to look at me, four spots on her forehead twitched as she blinked.
  
  "Earthborn," the potential woman said. "The Lord of Avalon is an Earthborn. And a young Earthborn at that."
  
  Her army chittered all around us, then went silent.
  
  She took another step forward. "The warriors of your race normally tower over us. By the time they leave their world to battle on another, they already have decades of experience in both magic and combat and wield artifacts even the ancient races on the Council fear." She sniffed, twitching her back and right leg strangely as she did so. "Yet, despite your young age, I smell the blood of dozens of my children on you. Even the blood of my emissary, a veteran of Avalon's conquest." She cocked her head at me. Her children chittered briefly again, in a hushed voice. "In fact, you tore your way through all of my warriors. Raiding our webs and nests. Taking our prey from us." She looked up again, sniffing and rubbing the small hairs on her otherwise smooth arm. "Taking even the trees back from us."
  
  "It is the Lord of Avalon's job to defend the world against invaders," I answered calmly.
  
  "Yet we came to this place before you did," the Keeper queen pointed out. "Would that not make you the invader, Earthborn?"
  
  "You already acknowledged my lawful claim when you called me lord," I answered without missing a beat. "The order of arrival is irrelevant, and I believe you already know that."
  
  "Fair enough," the spider queen said, shrugging her bare black shoulder. "Your wit is impressive, young lord. As is your might. Keepers are supposed to be invulnerable within their homes. Yet you," she said, stepping forward, "with barely any help or equipment, made short work of every one of my children that you encountered. Who are you, young and mighty Earthborn? How do you have such might at your young age? Such power? Such… presence?"
  
  <Is she coming onto us?> Teeth asked in my mind. <And is that a bad thing?>
  
  I chose not to consider that issue.
  
  "It is more important that we discuss your current involvement in the occupation of Avalon," I answered, crossing my arms. "I am offering you the opportunity to surrender, lay down all artificial weapons, and surrender all hostages."
  
  "Oh?" She cocked her head again, and this time I saw four lights on her forehead blink with her eyes. "Wouldn't I require your name in order to surrender to you, mighty Earthborn? Per the ancient traditions?"
  
  "You are already aware of my title," I rebutted. "But I will provide my name with the expectation of hearing your own. I am Lord Wes Malcolm, of Earth and Avalon."
  
  "Queen Prodonti of the Keepers," the woman said as she bowed from the waist. I blinked to avoid discovering what spider cleavage looked like, and also to postpone discovering how I felt about it. "I hereby state my desire to surrender to Lord Wes Malcolm of Avalon."
  
  <Huh,> I thought. <Wasn't expecting her to go that far, that fast.>
  
  <Does it mean we won?> the Freaking New Guy asked.
  
  <Don't count on it. In fact, so far 'I surrender' has just meant 'I'm about to get extremely disgusting right now, and make you want to kill me.' Take it as a bad sign whenever an enemy does it.>
  
  "Do you surrender unconditionally, or are you still trying to negotiate?" I asked carefully.
  
  It was a stupid question. But I had a reason for it.
  
  "I would naturally take as much mercy as the mighty lord is gracious enough to give," Prodonti replied, her voice taking on a more musical tint as she spoke.
  
  "Concessions are possible, but dependent upon the level of good faith you and your people demonstrate," I replied firmly.
  
  "In that case," the spider-woman answered, "I humbly ask for the honor of knowing more about my lord."
  
  "Your lord?" Breena asked, sounding offended. "When did you start calling him your lord?"
  
  "When I agreed to surrender to him, naturally," Prodonti answered smoothly, but she gave my fairy friend no more than a brief glance. "I would like to know what the Earthborn have become, that they would sweep my own children away so easily."
  
  "As an act of good faith, I require the remaining Gaelguard, as well as any other people of my planet currently being used as prey," I answered without missing a beat.
  
  "Certainly," the bi-colored woman replied, though I heard a click in her mouth this time as she spoke. It threw off the otherwise musical quality of her voice. "How could my surrender have any meaning if I did not give up what was my lord's?"
  
  <Wait, what?> Breena asked through the mindlink. <I don't like this, Wes. That's her biggest bargaining tool. She gave it up way too quickly.>
  
  <No she didn't,> I answered. <She didn't give it up at all, remember? She's a Keeper.>
  
  <Still…> Breena trailed off. But that was okay.
  
  I had a pretty good guess as to what was about to happen.
  
  A shadow flickered behind Prodonti, and I heard something scrape against the ground. Her chitin-clad hand rose up and toward her chest, as if she was pulling on an invisible thread. She brought her second hand up to pull as well, dragging a large mass of objects out from the tree from behind her. Lined up in a neat row were about fifteen bundled forms, covered in web and stone.
  
  "I swear by my power and name that these are all of those directly under my power. There are a few others still in other parts of the cavern. I have sent for them. They should be here shortly. I pray that is sufficient for my lord to answer my question?"
  
  "I expect their delivery to be prompt, but yes. I will answer your question." I needed to appear confident, so I risked taking a step forward, watching her face as I did so. She was still over a dozen yards away, but I saw something on her face flicker for another moment. I could have sworn her forehead was trying to blink again. "Your children are out of practice. They have had no real combat for the entirety of their time down here. I suspect they have been itching to fight each other over the remaining food, and that you have often been forced to eliminate some of them on several occasions."
  
  "My lord is wise and correct." Prodonti smiled. Her teeth were a milky-white, almost human-looking. But again, I heard something click coming from the back of her throat. "Food has been scarce for all of our entire race. It was part of the reason I agreed to take my children to Avalon to begin with. The ones who bargained with us promised an end to our famine, a sure path to survival for all of eternity. A place where I could grow my own brood in peace, if I were to just help them battle their own enemies. Please, my lord, stay your anger as I speak. Understand, how could I say no to a sure future for my children? What mother could? I beg mercy for those that are still left."
  
  "And mercy for yourself, so that you can make more," I said with a deadpan face. Because I was not getting a strong vibe of attachment from this alien creature.
  
  "My lord is gracious," the spider queen sang-clicked, lowering her head submissively.
  
  "As the next act of good faith, I demand that the captives be delivered directly to us," I continued. "They are to be transported to the Gaelguard directly behind me. You may use no more than four creatures to carry out my demand. I am confident that will not be a problem."
  
  "My lord is correct." The monster-woman bowed her head once again, and four spider-pets scurried over, these large enough to come up to my waist, and with gray, blade-like legs. They scampered quickly over to the web-statues, moved their abdomens to attach some webbing of their own, and began dragging over the bodies one by one, depositing them to the six Gaelguard standing behind me.
  
  "Apologies, great lord," Prodonti said in a voice that was almost a purr. "Your command will take some time to complete in this manner. May we continue to talk?"
  
  "Naturally," I replied calmly. "State your next requested condition."
  
  "A stay of my execution," the woman-thing said in a soft voice. "As well as an opportunity to convince you to allow me to retain my life."
  
  "You have committed murder inside my kingdom," I said firmly. "That will not go unpunished."
  
  "Nor should it," the queen said without missing a beat. "But I beg that my lord hear my defense. You had already heard how my people were starving. Know that the Stellar Council had knowledge of our invasion, and did not condemn it, despite your own race's objections. This war was not illegal."
  
  I couldn't be sure, but I thought I had heard the first real plea she had made.
  
  This ancient queen. She feared my anger.
  
  "Does that change the fate of those who died?" I countered sternly. "Did you have the prior lord's blessing to come to this world and make war?"
  
  "I killed as few as I could," the spider-queen whispered. "For our lives depended on their own. And there was no true lord of Avalon at the time, great one. No one with the authority to deny us passage to your world. The last planetary lord had vanished thousands upon thousands of years prior to our coming. I swear we would never have dared otherwise."
  
  "But you did dare," I answered mercilessly. "And there is a lord here now. It's time to discuss what you've done to my people," I glanced upward, at the dying Monarch behind her. "And to the life of my world itself."
  
  "I have no choice to agree with my lord's demands." The spider-woman bowed her head again. "Yet I beg that he hear my defense. I have already suffered through untold ages of imprisonment. Most races would have long been driven mad. And as for the lives lost, I have already paid. My people have slain little more than a dozen Woadborn Avalonians. But my lord has already slain over double that number of my own children, and tenfold the number of pet-kin. And as the Woadfathers themselves," she added quickly, noting my second glance at the wooden monolith behind her, "understand that my Keepers have never slain, and never would slay, such excellent marvels. The damage done to the Monarch behind me was not caused by us."
  
  "Who was it caused by?" I asked slowly.
  
  The arachwoman blinked again. This time I was certain I saw four orbs open and close in rhythm with the eyes below them.
  
  "You do not know?" the woman asked softly, her voice clicking again. "I would have thought my lord had dealt with him by now."
  
  "How would I know whether or not I had dealt with him if you hadn't revealed his name?" I countered calmly.
  
  "My lord is wise," Prodonti nodded, conceding my point. "If my lord will but consider sparing my life and that of my remaining children, I promise to tell you all I know."
  
  "I'll go ahead and entertain the idea," I granted dryly. "Now tell me who tried to take my world."
  
  "Gladly, my lord." The woman bowed again, placing her chitin-hand over her chest. "I will be forward in acknowledging my knowledge gaps. I pray that my lord not hold them against me." She shuddered at the end of the last sentence. "Know that the Usurper hid much of his identity from each of the eight armies that served under him."
  
  "Eight?" I asked, then frowned as I let my surprise slip. "Continue."
  
  "Certainly, my lord." Prodonti smiled. "But since you were not aware, know that the Usurper brought with him an army of another race, for each of Avalon's daughter-worlds, including Avalon herself. We were to share the world, form a council of our own under his blessing."
  
  "Who was he, and why did you do such a thing?"
  
  "Because we were desperate, my lord," the Keeper queen answered simply. "All of us were starving. All of us were struggling to adjust to the new universe the Earthborn were forming. One where having prey was no longer a sign of power, and being a predator was no longer a form of safety. We were hungry and frightened, and the Usurper offered security. Let us take Avalon, he said, and show that the old ways can still work. The Council agreed, though not publicly."
  
  "Who was he?" I asked again. "What was his name? His race?"
  
  "He was frugal with his name, and his race was unknown," Prodonti continued. "His body was covered with the cold shadows found between stars. I could see him not, save for his mouths and his many limbs. The worlds around him were barren, yet his people did not starve, did not freeze. They drifted in the space between stars, content, but whispering, ever whispering. One sunless moment, while traveling the pathways to find a new home for my children, I heard him. He claimed to have the blessing of the cosmic wyrms. If we would just submit to him, he would show us the way. He was a race the Council had not seen before, found in the far reaches of the lifeless part of the Expanse. He said his race had perfected the method of consuming prey without losing it. He said we could show the Council and the Earthborn another way to live, instead of one where the cravings of the strong must always submit to the desires of the weak." Her words intensified as she spoke, and she closed her eyes, as if she was still reminiscing of the other's promise.
  
  "Why would he need this invasion or your submission, if he was full?" I asked carefully. "And why would he not give you his name or the name of his race if he was truly sincere?"
  
  "Those are questions the starving and the desperate do not ask, young Earthborn," the arachwoman said with genuine sadness. "I grasped at his promises because they were my only choice left. And when he said he had the Council's favor, how could I still doubt him? Back then, I had a great multitude of starving children to feed."
  
  "Why?" I asked softly, in spite of myself. Her story was compelling, and it was hard to fault her choices. Now yes, she shouldn't have gone around eating people, but if she was telling the truth, she had gone out of her way to do as little damage as possible. She kept the woadfolk and trees alive. And as far as I could tell, the venom used sedated the victims and prevented them from feeling any pain. All that together felt like a level of consideration above even making sure that hamburgers came from organic, grass-fed, and free-range cows. The fact that it was done to people was probably a fact that a lot of PETA members back home would actually be happy with.
  
  "Why what, my lord?" Prodonti sang-clicked, tilting her head in confusion.
  
  "Why was that your only option?" I asked, as the spiders dragged another stone form to rest behind me. "Do you have to eat other people? Did the Earthborn say you couldn't get anything you needed to live, ever?"
  
  "They did not," the Keeper woman clicked. "What your people asked was even more terrifying." Her gaze on me intensified. "They asked us to change. They asked the Keepers to give up their ways. No more abductions. No more claiming unwary wanderers. No more taking from worlds without permission."
  
  "And in the face of certain starvation, your people still said no?"
  
  "At the time, we all felt we had too much to lose," Prodonti said simply, but sadly.
  
  That, more than anything, made me empathize with her.
  
  <Wes?> Breena said in my mind. <You can't save her.>
  
  <I know,> I sent back, still staring at the fallen queen.
  
  <I mean it, Wes,> Breena sent. <She'll trick you into thinking you can change her. They've done it before. I know that much of them.>
  
  But that didn't make sense, because until now Breena hadn't shown any recognition about the Keepers yet.
  
  "But now I have no choice," Prodonti finished. She stepped forward, and I didn't react. "A Lord has returned to Avalon. My children have fallen like cobwebs before him. And I am trapped down here, with food that is enough to keep me alive, but nothing else." She looked down. "Your observations were flawless, my lord. The Usurper betrayed us. He promised trees to build our nests and colonies in, and all the different kinds of food we could ever eat. Instead—" she gestured all around her—"I am trapped in what may be the only underground forest in all the Expanse, with trees that can only sustain me if I am careful in extracting from them, and less than a hundred Woadfolk that I must still divide among my children while making sure none of the captured prey dies. For if they do, then I will be forced to slay even more of my children, lest they turn on each other and myself en masse. So I hereby surrender, Lord Wes Malcolm of Earth and Avalon. I have no other recourse. Not in this underground hell."
  
  The spiders dragged another form over.
  
  "Alright," I said after they scampered back to pick up another body. "So you wish for me to stay my wrath, allow you to leave these caverns you've been trapped in, and travel to another world instead of Avalon?"
  
  I didn't volunteer any information about our non-functioning portal network, or how I needed to resolve the Rite in this place before any of us could leave, not just her.
  
  Or the fact that I was trusting a woman with an army of giant spiders to keep her word on her way out of my house.
  
  Her face fell slightly at my words.
  
  "I will accept that judgment if my lord wishes. It is generous and I have no right to ask for more." But I noticed the calculating expression in her almond eyes.
  
  "Explain your concerns with that ruling," I demanded as another body was dragged over.
  
  We were up to four. I was hoping to get the rest over before the pessimist in me proved right.
  
  Her eyes gleamed as she answered me.
  
  "My lord, my people have been down here for ages. We would not even know where to go. We do not even know if our homeworld still exists. Furthermore, we have become weak from isolation. We would be prey ourselves if we left, and easy ones at that. Our odds of survival under this ruling are only slightly greater than if we had all died here and now under your own hand."
  
  "You're saying that you wish to remain on Avalon," I clarified.
  
  <Wes, no!> Breena chattered through our link. <That's a terrible idea!>
  
  <Easy, Breena,> I sent back. <Remember the plan?>
  
  <I know, Wes! But you can't listen to her!>
  
  I wasn't sure where that came from. I couldn't figure out any reason for Breena to feel this unsettled. I turned my focus back to the Keeper queen.
  
  "My lord has stated the very plea I feared to voice, and I praise him for it."
  
  "Your lord happens to remember your earlier insistence on clinging to your predator nature," I answered dryly, "and has trouble seeing how the act of bringing your brood right to my doorstep would be wise."
  
  "Avalon is a large planet, my lord," Prodonti countered. "You would not even know we were here."
  
  "Yes I would," I replied. "My subjects would remind me every time one of their livestock or children disappeared. My initial answer is 'no.'" Another body was brought over. "But go ahead and sell me on the idea."
  
  Once again, her eyes and four other spots on her face blinked.
  
  "You would even consider the idea?" she asked, her voice clicking in disbelief.
  
  <Wes!> Breena complained again. <We're going off script!>
  
  <What?> I asked, confused. <No we're not. Stay cool, Breena.>
  
  "You would have to work very, very hard to convince me to let your people be tenants here," I said as another stone form was dragged over to the Woadfolk behind me. Thankfully, the Gaelguard were all still holding position, and not losing their temper over confronting an ancient enemy.
  
  "Subjects," Prodonti corrected fervently. "We would be your subjects. Your soldiers, your servants. Your slaves, even, if you but ask." A lock of red silken hair danced across her face as she spoke, waving in front of her right eye. She brushed it out of the way. "Are you not mighty enough to merit a Keeper queen as your slave, my powerful Earthborn lord?"
  
  <Wow,> Teeth said. <That escalated quickly.>
  
  <Please tell me you're not considering this, Wes,> Breena begged. I was a little offended that she bothered to even worry about this.
  
  "Let's leave the title your people would hypothetically be called for the last part of this discussion," I replied, trying not to sound too uncomfortable, or God help me, too interested in that last idea.
  
  <Wait,> the Freaking New Guy spoke up. <Are we interested in having—>
  
  <NO,> I said firmly. <AND BREENA IS PROBABLY LISTENING SO SHUT THE HELP UP.>
  
  "Instead, let's talk about what benefits your people would bring to Avalon as new inhabitants. Other than unnecessary population control," I added.
  
  "We would eat only what food our lord deigns to give us," the Keeper woman said without missing a beat. "If your lord wishes us to eat only domesticated animals, we would comply. If our lord wishes us to hunt in certain areas, and only those areas, we would comply. We would even comply if our Lord insisted that a part of our diet always stay plant-based. My children can all go weeks without eating meat if they must. We would comply, and I would ensure it. As long as we receive the kind of nutrients we can no longer get down here. In return, we would swear fealty. You would be able to summon our people for war—and we promise to regain our old strength, so that we may be useful in your battles. My people are weavers as well, and we could construct whatever garments you wished. Our silk has been sought by races in the past. We would even surrender the secrets of our chitin-craft, to build you tools and structures the likes of which have not been seen since our people went into decline."
  
  "What kept you from building such structures here?" I interrupted calmly. Two more bodies had been brought over.
  
  "Proper nutrients," she replied without missing a beat. "Proper materials to help us shape them. Insufficient numbers of true Keepers to produce the required amount of spare chitin. But feed us properly, and all of this is yours, my Lord Earthborn. Let us build you weapons light and strong, buildings sturdy and graceful. Your empire will be a marvel to gaze upon."
  
  "I currently do not have a pressing need for weapons and architecture," I said calmly. And I wasn't sure my citizens would ever come around to living in buildings made out of bug parts.
  
  "What of your sick?" Prodonti said quickly. "What of your ill? My people know poison, and because we do, we also know medicine. We have been refining, altering, and countering our own venom for as far back as my people remember. Your healers would have all of our knowledge, all of our oral and genetic records. We would even lend part of ourselves as components for your medicines. In my body alone, I have enough wonders to fill a royal apothecary's treasure trove. Your doctors would beg for a drop of my blood. Your chemists would wage wars for but a thimbleful of my venom. The wizards of every race would pay a fortune for any part of my body, my lord. But let us survive…" The pitch in her voice became lower, and more dulcet. "And all of this body is yours alone, Lord Earthborn. To do with as you wish."
  
  <She went there,> Teeth spoke up. <You caught that, right? Right?>
  
  Breena chimed in through mindlink less than a full second later.
  
  <Oh-my-gosh-I-can't-believe-she-even-went-there-and-there's-no-way-you-would-ever-I-can't-believe-we're-even-talking-to—>
  
  <I agree!> I sent back quickly. <We should totally change the subject on her.>
  
  I mean, seriously. There were like twelve other people witnessing this. If there was ever time to volunteer herself as a sexy biology experiment, this wasn't it.
  
  "Change of plans," I said firmly. "We're moving any discussion involving your body to the end of the conversation too. But let's talk about how we can guarantee your people not rising against everyone else after you've been put in charge of all the weapons, buildings, poison, and medicine. That's still my largest concern."
  
  "Our lord would set whatever boundaries on our population that he wished, and we would ensure that we complied with them on that very day. Even if he wished to cut our numbers by half."
  
  "That… sounds like a rather drastic decision," I said carefully. "Are you really sure you'd be okay with waking up one morning and finding out I've decided half of your children need to die?"
  
  "I am a mother," she answered simply. "I would do anything possible to save a single child of mine. Even if that meant feeding him the rest that were already doomed."
  
  <Holy shit.>
  
  "But my Lord," she continued. "Dare I suggest a better way? Would you have my children be bound to you, completely? I swear by my power and soul I can ensure it."
  
  I didn't like the new direction she was taking things. Her comment had 'bloody pagan sacrifice' written all over it.
  
  "Just so we're clear, we're done talking about familicide as a means of social compliance? We're now talking about a better option, one that we didn't bring up before for some reason?"
  
  "Yes, my lord Earthborn. I would have proposed this better way sooner, but you commanded we discuss this matter after all else."
  
  <Oh,> I realized. <Oh, fuck.>
  
  "You see, my lord," the alien woman said quickly, misreading my expression. "My lord is wise and has already grasped the matter. Let me assure you, my children will all be completely compliant, if but some of them were also your own."
  
  <God damn it>, I thought as the conversation finally, but inevitably, crossed the line. <Every. Fucking. Time.>
  
  A gasp much like the first breath of a once-drowning man came from the tiny body hovering next to me.
  
  "I can't believe it," Breena finally said. "She went there. She full-on went there."
  
  <I'll kill her,> Breena sent me privately. <I mean, never mind. You heard nothing.>
  
  It was still too soon to act, so I had to suffer through another one of these disturbing offers.
  
  "Just to be clear, your best proposed solution is for me to give you babies," I sighed, wishing there was an interplanetary diplomat next to me, so that I could just blame everything on him for this, and then stab him. "You're saying that your people would never betray me if I impregnated you. That doing so would fix everything."
  
  "No it wouldn't," Breena muttered darkly. "It definitely wouldn't."
  
  "My lord is wise to be cautious," Prodonti continued. "But let me allay his reasonable fear. For my Lord is Earthborn—" her voice quickened as she spoke—"your race can link with others and open new bloodlines. In fact, several dying races have been saved just by having a handful of their members seek out compatible Earthborn mates. And the stronger the Earthborn—" her red eyes gleamed—"the greater the benefit his or her genes would provide. You could awaken new variations in my children, my lord. They could inherit your people's natural strength, ingenuity, and affinity for magic. They would also inherit my lord's noble spirit. They would be brave, like he is. Noble, like he is. You wish for my people to change? Make it easier for us. I beg you, give us whatever genes made the Earthborn just and great."
  
  "No," Breena answered. Prodonti did that strange blink of hers and turned toward my fairy companion.
  
  "What?" she asked, the Keeper queen's expression unreadable as she considered the tiny woman.
  
  "No, Wes is not going to save your people by banging you," the little fairy said firmly. "That is not happening. We invite you to offer another solution."
  
  Shadows flickered behind the black-and-white woman. She looked back at me.
  
  "Does she speak for you?" Prodonti whispered. "I am unaware of this one's role."
  
  "'This one' happens to be the Earthborn's bonded familiar," Breena grated, growing larger in the air as she spoke. "So yes. I help represent his interests. And having children right now with the woman who invaded his territory is definitely not in his interests. Right, Wes?"
  
  I swore under my breath. This surrender had gotten weird even faster than they usually did.
  
  "I see," the woman of chitin, flesh, and shadows replied. "I apologize for wronging you, Lady Sprite. Your words and new size makes your relationship more clear. I amend my offer to submit as a secondary wife or concubine. Let my rights and the rights of my children be less than her and her line. I only wish for my own to survive."
  
  "Secondary wife?" I said, whipping my head around to look at Breena. "The hell is she talking about now? And why is she paying attention to your size?"
  
  "That's not important," my pink-haired fairy said quickly. "What's important is that you're not making babies with any spider girls. I mean it. Stell will kill you."
  
  "So this Stell is the first wife?" Prodonti asked with a tilt of her head. "I would need to submit to her, and then the lady fairy?"
  
  "Ye—I mean no!" Breena hissed. "No wives! Not right now!"
  
  <Told ya we should have shared our kills with them,> Teeth muttered in my mind.
  
  "Guys," I raised my hands, closing my eyes to focus my patience. "This is getting ridiculous. I'm not going to have children with anyone. Not any time soon. And Breena? Relax. I don't have a fetish for this sort of thing. This is way outside my comfort zone. In fact, I'd probably draw the line at a girl refusing to shave her legs."
  
  <Liar,> Teeth muttered again.
  
  "My lord," the Keeper woman whispered with another soft click. "Please." She stretched out her hands, and the shadows stretched behind her. "We are doomed. Not just my brood. My entire race. In this new Expanse, where preying on the weak is now wrong, we are doomed to be criminals. Doomed to be monsters. But you can change us, my lord. Give us the instincts that tell us another way to live. So that we may survive in the new universe your race has created."
  
  "Can't we just teach you?" Breena asked. "Just show you a different way to live?"
  
  "I wouldn't know," Prodonti responded. "Not even the Earthborn have ever tried. How would they even do so? My people have aeons of genetic history telling us to take and devour. But what if we had different instincts?" She looked hopefully at me again. "What if we had instincts showing us how to be powerful and…good, like the Earthborn?"
  
  "I'm confused," I replied carefully. "Didn't you team up with a bunch of other races that hated us?"
  
  "I did," she clicked softly. "A bunch of arrogant worms that convinced me they were dragons. That we, together, could at least beat one of your people's allies. That we could make your own people look bad if we beat you on a foreign world, through surprise, treachery, and every other advantage we could gather. My people, and his for that matter—" she pointed to Virtus—"are all worse off. Trapped down here with nothing but barest survival. But you, my lord Earthborn?" Her eyes gleamed, and her voice quickened again with rapid clicks. "You have become far stronger, have you not? Decades younger than the champions that battled here, yet you still tore your way through our fortified nests. You outmaneuvered us, confused us in ambushes, and then took on my children and their pets in pitched combat, all while outnumbered by as much as a hundred to one. Your ancestors would never have done so, my lord Earthborn. Not with your handful of allies. Not merely with the weapons you have obviously looted from your previous opponents. Not even with your deceptively great strength—" her eyes glanced up and down, and Breena suddenly hissed in anger—"yet you have done all of this, and even Avalon itself recognizes your might. Give us the best advantages to survive, my lord Earthborn. A Keeper with the genes of both Earthborn and Avalon's lord would be uncontested among any other. Who better to help teach us the way, than a child of both your race and mine?"
  
  "Berry-blast it, Wes!" Breena shouted. "Stell will fruiting make you a spider-waifu Satellite if you have to have one! But you don't need to get with her!"
  
  Silence swept over the conversation.
  
  "What?" I asked.
  
  "Waifu?" Prodonti asked at the same time, clearly confused.
  
  My little fairy's eyes widened.
  
  "I mean, um…" Her eyes darted around frantically. "Oops?" she finally offered.
  
  <Wes,> Karim sent over the mindlink. <We're ready.>
  
  <Thank God.>
  
  "Alright," I said, closing my eyes. "My head hurts. I've had it. This part of the discussion is over. Virtus." I turned to look at the skeleton standing alongside the Woadfolk. "You took an oath that literally prevents you from betraying me. Was that oath specific to your people, or can other races swear a similar oath of fealty?"
  
  "Full disclosure," my hoplite commander said. "The oath isn't foolproof. I could bypass it if I was determined enough. It would kill me painfully afterwards, though. Very painfully, in fact."
  
  "But other races can swear it?" I persisted, determined to stay on subject.
  
  "Yes. The oath is swearable by anyone, but my company was the only one willing to risk them because they were so dangerous. That's why I was surprised you swore one of your own in answer to mine."
  
  "I did it to ensure trust," I replied, remembering. "Would it ensure trust with her—" I pointed to the spider woman I had come here expecting to kill—"if she swore an oath of fealty, and I swore one of lordship?"
  
  "That would be an alternative, yes." The armored skeleton nodded. "Assuming you haven't already decided to risk interspecial sex at this point."
  
  "Alright then," I said loudly, clearly, and firmly. "Here's my decision. I am rejecting all current spider-waifu applicants," I said, looking at both Breena—who still looked guilty, for some reason—and Prodonti—who still looked confused, for perfectly understandable reasons, "for as long as the idea of freaky arachni-sex gives me a headache."
  
  <I'll go wait somewhere for twenty minutes then,> Teeth said in my head.
  
  <Oh, fuck off.>
  
  I tuned him out and continued. "But assuming I can trust you not to betray me, Prodonti, I have a solution to both of our concerns. Swear a magically binding oath of fealty to me, and I will bring your people under my wing. You will have to work to restore the damages you have caused to the Woadfathers and the Woadfolk you have harmed, but as long as you are genuinely willing to work to benefit my people and my territory I will have a place for you and your children. Do you accept my conditions?"
  
  She hesitated.
  
  "I…"
  
  <Keepers hate giving up their word,> I remembered someone say. <They hate giving up anything at all.>
  
  I hoped that person was wrong.
  
  "I have no choice," the Keeper queen finally said. "So I am willing. I choose unconditional service over extinction." Her face twitched as it blinked again. "This is a way forward I had never even considered. I choose it nonetheless."
  
  I turned and looked behind me again, looking at Alum and the other five Gaelguard standing there.
  
  "Are you going to object to this idea?" I asked, fearing their answer. Especially since they arguably hadn't submitted to me themselves yet. But Alum shook his head.
  
  "The two ways to end tribal feud are through extermination, or peace," he answered me. "Extermination is always the more expensive route. If she ends her grudge with the Woad, we will end our grudge with her. Let both of our people's children prosper."
  
  Once, again, I was reminded that I wasn't on Earth anymore.
  
  <Breena?> I asked. <Are we going to have a problem with this?>
  
  <No, Wes,> she whispered back. <And… I'm sorry I got upset.>
  
  "Thank God," I answered. "Alright, Prodonti, give me your oath so that your race can survive, instead of me having to kill them all."
  
  She gave me a surprisingly human smile, and then stepped forward.
  
  Far above our heads, something groaned, cracked, and boomed.
  
  "What was that?" I snapped irritably, and everyone looked around warily. Prodonti stopped walking forward.
  
  "That was one of the main limbs of the Woadfather Monarch," she said sadly. "Now that the great tree is finally dying, the roof created by its branches will slowly break apart, and the sky will open again."
  
  "You're underground," I answered. "There is actual rock and earth over your heads."
  
  "Not here, Earthborn," she answered sadly, and I caught her omission of the word 'lord.' "This is one of the Shelter's only tunnels that opens up to the stars above." She sighed and blinked. This time the four dots on her foreheads fully opened up to be glowing eyes. "I find myself truly sorry for this."
  
  <Shit,> I thought in realization. <Karim. Now.>
  
  I was already starting to move. Until I realized that I actually couldn't.
  
  The shadows behind the Keeper woman's back became distinct, resembling the limbs of spiders. My heightened mind processed that in under a second, but it still wasn't soon enough. The shadow-legs reached forward and pulled, and I found myself yanked off of my feet. In the dim glow of the Woadfather's light I could finally see threads connecting me to her, so thin that they were almost microscopic.
  
  I yelled in rage as I skidded across the rocky ground over to her. On the way over, I hooked my hands onto a massive root and pulled back with all of my might. Prodonti actually staggered forward, blinking again in surprise over my strength. But then she shrugged, tensed her legs, and bounded the rest of the distance toward me.
  
  "I am sorry this has become necessary," the six-eyed woman said to me as she leaned over my form. The shadowy appendages behind her stabbed forward, and I felt eight points pierce into my arms, legs and thighs. She lifted me up and my body slammed against hers. Her still-feminine pair of hands reached behind me, grabbing at more invisible thread. I felt her begin to try and weave it around me.
  
  Then her head leaned forward as she bit my neck, just above the armor.
  
  Agony swam down my neck and into my body.
  
  The pain lasted only for a moment, then began to vanish.
  
  <I will try and make this quick,> the woman said, her voice sounding in my mind. <You have shown me that much is possible.>
  
  <It will not be,> I growled back, my mind already beginning to resist the intense pain. <You have thrown away your best and only chance at survival.>
  
  <I wish that were true>, she said back as her poison warred with my body. <I swear I was willing to serve you. To fight against my nature and learn your ways. But now my children can escape on their own, and so we must. Our best chance now is to consume the blood and flesh of an Earthborn Lord. Then they would certainly gain your power. Then they would certainly learn your race's path of honor and peace. We will become the people you had wished us to be. My tribute to you, mighty Earthborn.>
  
  I could feel the venom pulse with power, the toxin of an ancient being who had mastered the art of debilitation and paralysis.
  
  Unfortunately for her, I already had far too much experience throwing off pain and debilitation. And that was long before my body had gained the resistance it currently had.
  
  <What?> I heard her ask. <You are resisting. Why are you still resisting? You have lost. And you are surrounded. Do you not hear the cries? Please do not make me doom the people with you.>
  
  Angry chittering behind me told me that her children were finally attacking. I heard shouts further out, human shouts, this time from behind the chittering creatures. I also heard more trees crack.
  
  <You tricked me>, she sent to my mind, sounding surprised. <How?>
  
  <You assumed I brought my full number to the parley,> I sent back. <Largely because we had shrouded ourselves so often, your children were unable to get a proper count of our number, unless they came close enough to fight us. Those that did all died.>
  
  That was why I had sent half of the Gaelguard to trail some distance behind me. I found I was able to extend the shroud over them while still leaving myself visible. The Keepers had become convinced to bring their full numbers against me. When they all began following us, the shrouded Woadfolk hung behind, then snuck off to find their captured brethren and the trees that they were still linked to, since they now had enough power to free their friends on their own.
  
  So now her people encircling me were being encircled in turn by the Testifiers and over a dozen more newly rescued Gaelguard, empowered by nearly a dozen newly restored Woadfathers. Green fire began to burn among the spiders hiding around us, and this time the fire seemed to begin cleansing the venom from the trees around us as well.
  
  <You knew I would betray you>, she hissed back. <Why bother with asking for my oath?>
  
  <I didn't know,> I answered. <I just assumed it was very likely. At the very end, you seemed genuine.>
  
  My mindscreen informed me that my Defiant Heart and Unbowed Bones were engaging, letting me throw off the paralyzing effects of the poison. I began to strain against her webs. She was an ancient creature from a forgotten time, but she had been weakened over the years. She was stronger than me, but not by much.
  
  "Lord," a creaky voice said from one of the nearby trees. "We… awaken. Honoring… pact."
  
  I heard more cracking and groaning, as if something massive was moving nearby. The Woadfathers themselves were awakening to engage their enemies.
  
  <Blast it,> the Keeper queen hissed in my mind. I heard an angry, high-pitched shriek near me, and Breena began blasting into the treacherous queen with her magic. It seemed to have little to no effect, probably because she had to be careful about harming me. <I had wanted to keep you alive if possible. Possibly even convince you into becoming my consort after enough time had passed, and you saw how your blood had changed us for the better. But I can no longer risk it. I will kill you now, Lord Earthborn. But I swear again that I will do my best to learn your ways from your blood. Forgive me.>
  
  <No,> I answered as I unlocked the lid covering my constant rage.
  
  <Battleform is engaging,> my mindscreen noted, and then my world became a blinding screen of elemental power.
  
  I had come to learn that my Battleform was a merger of all of my Ideals inside my body, uniting for the purpose of anger and war. Each element would begin to augment each spell. Meaning, for example, the Journeyman-level Earth spell enhancing my Strength would now be reinforced to the same degree by my Air, Water, Fire, Lightning, and Blood magic each, increasing the spell's power by a factor of five, granting me over 100 additional points of Strength.
  
  The result was me ripping my way through the rest of her webbing, prying back her own shadow limbs, and locking my own arms around her thin waist. I brought my right arm up to grasp the back of her red-haired head and keep her fangs locked into my neck. Then I triggered my signature Outer Current Lightning spell, discharging the full backlash of the spell into one moment.
  
  A muffled scream escaped the spider-woman's mouth as six different Ideals of magic ravaged into her body, but she held on gamely, pumping as much toxin possible into my enhanced body. Even now, after damaging her and augmenting myself, the poison was enough to eventually kill me.
  
  I activated my newest signature spell from the Ideal of Blood, Vein to Vein.
  
  Vein to Vein's first signature benefit is that it can be cast instantly if the two subjects are firmly linked, and right now her fangs had punctured my skin and were injected directly into my blood. At the Initiate level, the spell's second signature benefit is that it can transfer more types of nutrients from one body to the next.
  
  I chose to transfer everything I could use, from her body into mine.
  
  Her body suddenly shivered as she continued to inject venom into me, but now her vital, mana, and stamina pools were flowing directly into my own, matching the damage her poison was doing to my body and letting my own vital guard keep pace. Then other nutrients flew into my body, and I remembered her saying that her body was an alchemist's treasure trove.
  
  I felt her own bloodstream counteract the venom she was injecting into my body. And she began to writhe in my grip. But even if she wasn't slowly weakening, I was still stronger than her now, and I held her body against mine and her fangs against my neck easily. Every now and then one of her shadowy spider limbs would get free enough to strike at me, but the blows just bounced off of my reinforced protection spells. She beat against me anyway, with whatever human or spider limb she could free, however briefly.
  
  <No,> she growled in determination, and tried to drink my blood straight from my body. I let her, because I was still drawing from her faster than she could draw from me. To keep the odds in my favor, I fired my non-signature Lightning Spell, <Shocking Digits>, into her. Breena finally found a good location to lay into her as well, blasting with her most dangerous Water spells. Then the little fairy alternated between attacking Prodonti and casting healing magic into me, trying to reinforce me every way possible.
  
  It worked. Prodonti grew weaker and weaker, and I felt myself grow stronger, gaining more muscle mass. Even my mind felt sharper, and I realized I was gaining knowledge from her.
  
  Still she growled and tried to drink from me, a frightened spider backed into a corner. I felt a tiny bit of my power and memories flow into her, though I gained them back and more the very next moment.
  
  But she suddenly stiffened, and out of the corner of my eye I saw all six of her own orbs suddenly widen.
  
  <Your people,> her mind whispered to my own in shock. <They are like us. They seek to hunt. They seek to consume. Your own hungers are at least as great as mine. Perhaps even greater.>
  
  <We do,> I acknowledged, still holding her tight, still slowly killing her. <And yes,> I admitted, looking at the raging sea of anger, hunger and other urges lurking inside both my human and dragon forms. <They are.>
  
  <But you learned otherwise,> she said, and she seemed more horrified over that fact than she seemed over her impending death. <Somehow. You have other urges. They seem newer, and weaker. Yet you have trained these urges to battle your baser, darker ones and win. I see this, but my draining you doesn't teach me how you did this. How? How did your people manage this? And why? Why did they… why would a single one of them bother?>
  
  <I am not sure how or where we learned it>, I admitted, recalling every theological debate about human morality, as well as the small quiet voice that kept encouraging and raging over me. <But I just offered to teach you the why.>
  
  <And I did not take it,> she said mournfully. <At the last moment I changed my mind, and now it is too late.>
  
  That much was true. From our connection I could feel her insides begin to fail, in ways I couldn't fix even if I was still stupid enough to trust her at this point.
  
  <I went for the older, more certain approach,> she continued, her body now sagging against my own. <But it would not have even worked. Drinking your blood would not have fixed me, and now I am going to die. Perhaps as the last of my kind.>
  
  <As far as I know, you are,> I answered calmly.
  
  <Perhaps that is best,> I heard her physical mouth wheeze against my neck as she spoke. <But, one last plea?>
  
  <Speak,> I granted. <But do not ask for mercy on yourself. Or for any of your people currently battling my own.>
  
  <I won't,> she sent desperately. <But my eggs. Please. Spare them. Teach them to battle their urges, as your elders taught you, my lord. I swear they will be worth your effort.>
  
  <I can grant you that,> I told the dying woman. <If they can learn, I will teach them. They will become my children instead.>
  
  "Thank… you," she gasped slowly into my neck, and her struggles ceased completely. The shadowy limbs behind her crumbled into nothingness, and she sighed one more time as her glowing eyes closed and her human-like eyes rolled upward. The next moment, her body went completely limp against my own, and I felt her die.
  
  I knelt and placed her corpse back on the ground and turned my attention to the remaining battle. The Gaelguard and the rest of my retinue had fought their way over to each other, and were retreating closer to me, letting their woadfire and other magics force their enemies off of the trees. Everyone had formed a protective ring around me as they battled the Arachknights trying to force their way through the wooden shield wall and the dog-sized spiders that kept darting around my people's legs to nip at their heels.
  
  But on the other side of the battle, five healthy-looking Woadfathers were shifting their roots out of the ground and lumbering over toward us, forming a loose circle of their own.
  
  "Wes," Breena asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"
  
  "More or less," I sighed. "Or rather, more and less at the same time."
  
  My Battleform began to put a strain on my body. I needed to end its effects soon.
  
  So I put the next fifteen seconds to brutal use.
  
  Both my agility and my muscles were being enhanced by all six of my Ideals, so leaping fifteen feet straight up and into the air was easy. Right now I was almost as powerful as I had been during the battle against Raw-Maw. My current enemies might as well have been common house spiders. Once I was sufficiently high enough into the air, I began to unleash my signature Fire and Lightning spells. This time, the Battleform caused these spells to be enhanced as well. My normal lightning bolt blasted into a normal Arachman currently at the edge of combat. The six-colored bolt waved streamlike as it whistled through the air, clipping several other Keepers and spiders along the way, and when it struck the Arachman, the monster blew apart in an explosion of earth and fire. The shrapnel tore through the back ranks of my enemies while another bolt arced into existence from the smoking hole of the first. This bolt weaved, whistled, and ebbed its way through even more monsters before it finally slammed into an Arachknight with enough force to blow his head clean off.
  
  The aftermath of that attack had killed most of the Keepers along that flank and had thrown the spider pets fighting there into a confused panic. And it had all happened before I even reached the apex of my jump. I whirled around to face the opposite flank and fired my stored Fireball spell, launching a blood-colored ball of heat that waved, whistled and arced toward another Arachknight lingering at the back of the combat. Once again, the spell's descent clipped and killed a number of other Keepers before it blew apart my target.
  
  The final results were even more spectacular than the previous spell. The Ideal of Lightning focuses on precision-based attacks. More ranks in the Ideal usually just result in better aim, flexible control of the bolt itself, and increased damage. More ranks in the Ideal of Fire also result in increased damage, but since Fire prefers to grow and spread, increased ranks in the Ideal control that aspect instead. My proficiency in five other magics meant that under the Battleform my Fireball was now five times as wide.
  
  So that flank pretty much just blew up. A couple of the Gaelguard even flinched backwards as small shrapnel and embers struck their shields.
  
  At this point most of the Keepers were dead, but we were still facing hundreds of spiders. My allies had expended most of their magic. Despite everything, we were guaranteed to be overwhelmed if we kept fighting.
  
  For now though, the spiders were retreating toward the trees.
  
  "Phase two!" I shouted. "Tighten the circle on me and do not leave!"
  
  More cracking sounded out in the distance. The Woadfathers were now of sufficient number to awaken the dormant trees without help.
  
  The Keepers and Spiders were starting to react to the noise, but they had all left our vicinity. It was time to use another special power. One I had gained back in the tunnels during the first Rite.
  
  I activated my Profession's power and determined the area near the dying Woadfather Monarch to be my place of residence.
  
  <The Challenger has successfully laid claim to an area as a Place of Residence, as no other nearby Leader has contested it. People in the designated area will be reasonably safe from environmental damage and will be hidden and avoided by hostile beings of animal-level intelligence. The duration of this effect is permanent or until the Challenger designates a new location as his place of residence. This ability can currently be used once per month.>
  
  The spiders all chittered and twitched in surprise as we suddenly vanished from their vision. It was an odd sight, as I've never actually seen a spider get surprised. I heard the remaining Keepers hiss commands to attack us again, but as I looked outward I saw one of the Woadfathers creak downward and sweep a giant limb into the closest Arachman, splattering the Keeper onto the floor. Then another nearby Woadfather suddenly stirred to life, wrapping its roots around the last two Arachmen alive. The spider pets fled at the sight of their masters' death, skittering away in droves as trees shifted and smashed into them. The safest area for them was next to us, but thanks to my ability they just skirted around the edge of my designated territory, often getting smashed by another Woadfather as a result. I heard more creaking in the distance, and knew that more Woadfathers were awakening. A moment later, I saw another Woadfather wave its branches around, and a wide carpet of greenfire chased after the remaining clump of arachnids. There was crackling, high-pitched shrieks, and finally silence.
  
  I deactivated my Battleform. Everyone else panted while we realized that the battle was actually over. Somehow we had done it. I had taken twenty people, used half of them to free another ten and some more trees, and then countered a surprise ambush of several hundred nightmare bugs with an ambush of my own. But as I looked down at the human-looking corpse of the woman at my feet, it still somehow felt like a waste.
  
  "Is everyone alright?" I asked, looking around again.
  
  There were about five bodies on the ground, but none of them were my personal team, and they were all still breathing. I saw Breena flutter over each of them, casting Water and Wood magic. Weylin stood behind another group of Gaelguard casting their own healing magic, and as I watched he began singing a song that helped people recover.
  
  <Two or three of them were poisoned really bad, but they should all pull through,> Breena assured me. <I'd give 'em two weeks rest to make sure they're good as new.>
  
  <That's great that everyone's going to live,> I sent back, and then couldn't help adding <everyone who became my people, that is.>
  
  I couldn't help it. I took a second glance at the dead mother lying on the floor.
  
  All of her eyes had closed again, and the six shadowy limbs had disappeared. Her body was still a mixture of different colors, red, black and white, but other than that she looked just like a sleeping woman. I couldn't figure out why, but she reminded of how Guineve looked on those rare times I caught her catching some sleep.
  
  Maybe that was why killing her felt so raw. No, that wasn't right. It was because I had drunk the life out of her, to keep her from doing the same to me.
  
  "Um, Wes?" Val said, walking up. "Are you okay, brother?"
  
  Brother. That word helped somehow.
  
  "Yeah, Val," I answered. "Or I will be. I just wished she hadn't changed her mind at the end."
  
  "What do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head. "Wasn't she supposed to betray us? Didn't we kinda plan around that?"
  
  "Yeah, but it got weird when you left," I answered. I had to remind myself that Val had been part of the team gathering more Gaelguard. I figured they'd need her shadow vision to make sure everything went smoothly. "Good job, by the way. You guys came in at just the right time."
  
  "If you say so," Val snorted. "Bitch tried to freaking drink you. I mean, witch. Sorry," she corrected quickly. Because she remembered the old me, that tried not to curse. "I was going to go over and cut her for it, but then you started glowing and burning, and it looked like you had her under control."
  
  "Yeah, I did," I admitted, remembering just how intense that murder-embrace had been. "We were inside each others' heads right before she died. She almost didn't betray us. If things had gone just a little differently, she would have surrendered, and stayed loyal."
  
  "So you're saying she tried to eat you, because she… panicked?" my adopted sister asked, confused.
  
  "Yeah, basically," I admitted, looking up again. "She thought the sky was falling, and that my blood would help her children survive. Frightened spiders bite and all that."
  
  "Wes?" Val said hesitantly. "I'm…" She swallowed. "I'm sorry you got betrayed again."
  
  "Huh?" I asked, looking down at her. "Wait, are we talking about you, Val?" she turned her head away from me, and I wanted to growl. "Val, you don't count. I saw the video. They were threatening to bash your head in with a hammer if you didn't say what they wanted you to say. Betrayal implies choice, right? You didn't have one. And as soon as you did have any kind of choice, you came back over to my side. That's…" I looked back down at the body by my feet, seeing the dead woman in a different light. I felt my weird, irrational grief over her death begin to change, become something I could handle better. "That's not what she did. She didn't feel trapped, she just felt that she had a better option, so she took it. She regretted it in the end, but no one made her attack me. This isn't on anyone but her." I took another breath, feeling much lighter. "Thanks for helping me realize that, Val. I mean, sis." I smiled at her. She looked up and smiled back.
  
  Then another boom sounded from the ceiling high over our heads.
  
  "Right," I muttered. "The sky is falling."
  
  "Earthborn…" a deep, strained voice echoed out from the dead Keeper Queen's lair. Gray, sickly light flared along the woad-glyph of the Woadfather Monarch in time "Lord… of Avalon."
  
  "I hear you," I answered. "Is there anything we can do for you?" But the nearby woadfolk just shook their head sadly.
  
  "My body…doomed," the monolith of a tree strained. "Come… will save…you." The open den I had seen Prodonti exit suddenly glowed. "Safe… here."
  
  "Everyone get inside," I said, pointing to the opening in the massive trunk. "And don't forget the people we haven't cured yet." I picked up one of the webbed statues. Then, after hesitating another moment, I picked up Prodonti's body as well. "Will the other trees be okay?"
  
  "They'll be fine," Alum nodded. "They're strong enough to withstand the rubble."
  
  I had to take his word for it. We gathered the wounded and those still petrified and ran for the perceived safety of opening at the Woadfather's base. More cracks sounded out above me as we ran.
  
  But we got everyone in. A giant boom sounded behind me as a tree limb wide enough to crush a three-story building fell out of the black sky. I saw it break apart as it fell, and then the awakened Woadfathers moved toward it, striking the large pieces of it with their own massive limbs. The fragments of dead wood broke apart even further, until they were small enough to be caught on the branches of the sequoia-sized trees all around us, then crumbled to the ground.
  
  "Lord Earthborn," the deep voice sounded behind me, and as I turned around I took in the details of the wooden cavern we were hiding in. It was a large space, big enough to accommodate all of us easily. The wood looked far healthier here than it did outside, and the opening itself looked to have happened naturally for the tree. There were a few baubles and items to suggest that this had been a space where someone lived, but the main decorations were doubtless created by Prodonti herself. I saw red silk sheets draped all over the place, some dividing rooms like curtains, some laid down as carpet, and even one serving as a large hammock in a corner by the wall. The center of the room had a large pool of glowing water, but when I came closer to it I noticed it was the same glowing substance leaking out of the trees outside, the woadsap.
  
  "All I have… left," the Monarch's tired voice sounded out. Another large crack rumbled out from behind us. From the opening I saw more Woadfathers shift out of the ground, moving to prepare for the next incoming debris. "I am sorry… Lord Earthborn," the tired voice intoned. "Tried… hold on."
  
  "It's okay," I answered, stepping towards the pool of woadsap, where the voice was coming from. "And just call me Wes. Is there anything at all we can do for you?"
  
  "No… Wes," the ancient voice answered. "You… lord… must serve… you. Please… listen…"
  
  "Okay," I answered. "I'm listening."
  
  <But, Breena,> I sent quietly. <Are you sure we can't help him?>
  
  <I don't think we can, Wes,> she answered sadly. <Wait…maybe…>
  
  "Keepers… vanquished…" the deep old voice intoned. "Woad… free now… our gift… to Avalon…"
  
  The voice kept struggling, and I saw Alum step forward.
  
  "Great Monarch," the tattooed Celt said formally. "Your guard is here. Use us to speak. Save your breath."
  
  "Offer… accepted," the tired voice intoned. The Gaelguard moved to stand around us, and Alum moved to stand next to me.
  
  "Vocal transfer successful." The voice now came directly from Alum's torso, and as it spoke the tattoos on all of the Woadfolk flared brightly. "I thank you for the assistance. Lord Earthborn, I am required to share our purpose with you. Please listen to me in what time I have left.
  
  "My grove has been given to Avalon as tribute, given so that other worlds may benefit from the miracles found in the Woadlands. We hereby offer ourselves to Avalon, in return for aid rendered by Avalon in the past. We further offer the scriptcraft and shapecraft of the woad, so that Avalon's greatest warriors, as well as its Earthborn allies, may benefit from its effects. We gave ourselves to you, so that we may be life to barren worlds, and shelter to unprotected peoples. Yet while we waited for the arrival of the next Lord of Avalon, Avalon was turned into a lifeless world itself, and we did not stop it. Our shame is great. I ask forgiveness from the Lord of the Avalon."
  
  "Granted," I said quietly. "Granted without reservation."
  
  "My lord's—" Another creak sounded out from the massive tree, and the light from every tattoo suddenly flickered. "My lord's mercy is great," the dying tree persisted. "I will persist in offering all aid possible. Know that the old warriors of the Woad have pledged themselves to the Lord of Avalon. They are yours to command in war. I only ask that your wars be just whenever possible, and that they guard our grove when your kingdom is at peace. Furthermore, I give the pool you see before you directly to the Lord Avalon. The last of my healthy woad sap. Use it as you wish, but there is enough to both augment the Lord directly as well as be used for components for improving the Lord's kingdom. I had hoped to save more. Forgive me, my Lord."
  
  "Forgiven," I replied. "Again."
  
  "I would also ask that our lord remember the original purpose for this grove. To bring our worlds under the Universal Law discovered by the Earthborn: Greater things are yet to come."
  
  My body shuddered at the Monarch's words. A heaviness fell over me, sunk into me, and merged with my body and soul until I was part of that same heaviness. I felt my new weight displace the air and essence of the world around me, and in that moment new words bounced in my mind like the inside of a giant bell.
  
  <Greater things are yet to come…>
  
  <I will be more tomorrow, and not less…>
  
  <I will be more and not less…>
  
  The words continued to bounce around my mind, colliding and building off of other words that insisted in certain victory, despite all my defeats. I tried to shake off the overwhelming sensations, failed, and then chose to rest in their heaviness until they ran their course. A gasp to the right of me told me Val was shuddering through the exact same experience.
  
  <You will be whole despite your harms,> the quiet voice whispered into my mind.
  
  <Trust me. I rage.>