Summoner 21 -- Chapter 9 (Patreon)

If spiders weren’t already terrifying enough, this monster certainly did a great job of making them even more nightmare-inducing.

Unlike the small arachnids I’d seen every so often around the house in the corners of bathrooms or near the floorboards of the bedrooms, this spider was fucking huge and had far more legs than I was comfortable with. A quick count of the spindly appendages brought me to fourteen, but the horse-sized creature’s jittery movements made it almost impossible to be sure. Each of its long legs was dark brown and covered with coarse bristles while its furry body was a mousier brown with black and dark green tiger-like stripes throughout it.

A cluster of glittering acid-green eyes stared right at us while a pair of equally green tusks hung down past its salivating mouth, and the shakiness of its small steps only added to the rabid nature of the monster. The spider’s mannerisms reminded me of the fire-eye, which confirmed my theory that all of the monsters from the Shadowscape were experiencing the same strange behavior. I only prayed whatever this monster’s abilities were, they wouldn’t shift mid-battle.

“What the fuck is that thing?” I hissed, and I moved my head just enough to give the Archons a sideward glance.

Each of the monster goddesses, except for Xan, seemed alarmed by the sight of the spider monster, which only added to the feeling of dread that crept up my spine. It wasn’t often they exhibited fear, but it was easy to see the spider creature was not what they were expecting.

“It’s so gross,” Utuni whispered from the back of the group, and I couldn’t help but agree. The insectoid monster really was creepy, and I didn’t have a clue what the fuck it was.

“Xan, do you know what it’s called?” I asked as quietly as I could so I didn’t set off the huge spider creature with the sound. It was moving at a slow pace for now, but that could change very easily.

“It’s called an athenid,” Xan explained in an equally quiet voice. “They’re spider-like creatures with venomous fangs and incredibly sticky webbing. They normally make their nests in caves and caverns, but apparently, they’ve decided to breach the surface and settle here. They must have moved in after everyone left.”

“Over my dead fucking body,” Carth growled behind us as she completely ignored my request to stay quiet. “I will not allow such a disgusting beast to desecrate my home--”

“Your home?” Phi scoffed. “May I remind you how you were merely a squatter at this estate. Claiming it as your own is wildly inaccurate--”

“Semantics, Phi,” the horned Archon growled at the angelic goddess. “The Shadal answer to me. All the monsters that occupy the grounds answered to me--”

“And now they’re acting on their own,” Phi interrupted her. “And it doesn’t look like they want you as their mistress, so unless you want to use your power to influence them--”

“Shhh!” I warned the two as the athenid began to creep forward with slow, disjointed steps. “We don’t have time for a conversation about owners and technicalities. Right now, there’s a big, hungry-looking monster who’s practically drooling at the thought of enjoying a ten-course meal. We need to step back slowly and try to put some distance between us and it.”

“I think that would be wise,” Veopa agreed. “Where do we--”

“Anywhere,” I blurted out. “Literally anywhere in this castle but here.”

“Downstairs?” the succubus Archon suggested. “More space to move about, and besides, we need to keep the monster away from the library. A creature of that scale can inflict a good amount of damage, and we have no clue how long it’s taken up residence here.”

“Right.” I nodded. “I don’t care where we go, but we need to get this thing handled fast.”

The athenid blinked its cluster of eyes, and I watched in horror as its wicked fangs pinched together. I didn’t want to be on the wrong side of those teeth and didn’t want that for the Archons, either. The ancient goddesses were strong, but I wasn’t about to risk their wellbeing on the off chance the athenid was stronger than I knew.

The spider monster stopped in front of us, maybe about twenty feet away, and a sheen of stress-sweat broke out across my forehead. Why wasn’t it attacking us? It just sat there, twitching, as if it were waiting for something, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Still, I kept my eyes on the creature’s and took care to not break my gaze.

“Hey, Gryff?” Xan gulped beside me. “Umm, there’s something else you should know about athenids...”

“And what’s that?” I asked as my heart beat like a drum in my chest.

The spider tilted its head and studied me like I was prey, and I wanted nothing more than to stab into it and wipe the look off its face.

“They aren’t solitary creatures,” the umber-skinned goddess revealed. “They live in clusters.”

“Oh, fuck--” I started to say, and then as if on cue, five more athenids skittered out of the library. The palace was pretty large, but now that the right side of the third-floor hallway was filled with horse-sized spiders, it was no longer feeling so large.

The athenids clacked their tusks together, and after a moment of pause, the group headed straight toward us at an impressive speed.

“Aaah!” Phi screeched as the spider monsters sprinted in our direction, and then she pumped her wings and took off into the air. The ceilings were so high she was able to put some distance between herself and the monsters, but those of us bound to the ground didn’t have that option.

“Everyone move!” I commanded.

The other Archons and I turned in the opposite direction and ran down the hall, and as we got closer to the grand staircase, I reached into my bandolier, retrieved a gem, and then threw down the white, claw-shaped essence crystal that contained Dio. I wasn’t sure what kind of attacks the spidery monsters had, but I’d promised my familiar I’d call upon him in the face of danger, and we were definitely in danger.

What the actual fuck are those that things? my cat-like summons growled as he manifested in front of me. I do not like the look of all of those legs. Gross. And also. Ewww.

“I’ll explain in a sec, but for now, we gotta move,” I said, and the saber-tooth monster immediately lowered himself down until I could easily climb onto his back.

Once I was atop my familiar, I concentrated on the bonds with my bullet bass, my daggerdillo, and my speed slug, and I focused on armoring up my familiar with all of their qualities. I opted to cover myself in the bullet bass coating as well, and I stretched out as the armor spread over my limbs.

Hey, that tickles. Dio twitched as his large, tawny body was coated in a layer of spiky silver armor. He flexed his large paws, and his stubby little tail flicked in excitement. Whoa, how did you do this, boss? Usually, you gotta slap on one of those sticky guys to get me to move quickly.

“You still have the speed slug’s enhancement without all of the slime,” I explained. “Now, we need to put some distance between us and those bugs, so how about you try out those newly enhanced muscles of yours and get us out of here?”

Got it! Dio nodded his large head.

“Gryff, what do you want us to do?” the Archons asked in unison as they caught up to us.

“Whatever you can to get rid of these things,” I instructed the goddesses. “Swords, monsters, whatever weapons you have in your arsenal. We just need to cut them down and get them the fuck out of here!”

“On it!” Hunnah called out, and I watched the copper-haired Archon pivot and then unsheath the gilded sword at her side. One hissing athenid at the head of the group ran right toward her, and she wasted no time in swinging her massive blade straight at its front legs. The monster let out a screech as a thick spray of bright green goo launched out of the wounded appendage, and Hunnah let out a wail of her own as the liquid hit her right in the face.

“Fuck!” the wolf-eared goddess cried out, and she nearly dropped her sword on the marble floor as her entire body trembled.

“Hunnah, are you--” I began to ask, but my question was disrupted by Hunnah’s sudden battle cry. The Archon raised her sword high once again and slammed into the same athenid with so much force it flew down the hall and knocked into the others. The spiders tried to climb over one another, but the more they tried to untangle themselves, the worse they got.

Uh, boss? Dio wondered. What’s going on with that green goo?

I followed where my familiar’s gaze had fallen and noticed the goo that had landed on the ground had plumes of steam rising from the surface.

Fuck.

Was the blood acidic?

“I’m fine,” the copper-haired Archon finally called out as she shook off her irritation. “Everyone needs to be careful, their blood is--”

“Yeah, we figured as much.” Sera cringed as she flicked a small glob of goo off her arm. The blood had left a small burn mark on the Archon’s skin, but my lover flashed me a reassuring glance. “I’m okay. It just stings.”

What should we do? Dio asked as he took a few steps backward. If their blood is acidic, I can’t exactly chew em up.

“We’re probably going to have to rely on your claws,” I assessed. “With the daggerdillo spikes and the bullet bass coating, I don’t think they’d be able to bite you enough to inject their venom. Now, let’s get downstairs before those things can pull themselves back up.”

Without another word, Dio, the Archons, and I turned back and scrambled down the stairs. We made it down to the second floor, and the Archons and I ducked into the hallway to catch our breaths.

“We can’t stay here long,” I said as my heart whirred in my chest. “Does anyone have any suggestions?”

“Can we get them outside?” Carth wondered. “Not because I’m worried about the castle’s decor, but because of the openness. We can hit them all we want in the palace, but leading them out of here is going to be the best move.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” I nodded at the horned Archon. “We need to try to round them up and herd them out to the grounds, past the courtyard. Once there, we can get out some of our bigger monsters if necessary.”

“Good idea,” Quilla complimented me, but then the skeletal Archon’s already huge eyes grew wider. “Gryff! Turn around!”

The urgency of her voice made me whip around just in time to see a stream of green goo suddenly shoot past us.

“Fuck!” I shouted as I spotted an athenid with its abdomen angled toward us. Its friends weren’t far behind, and they began to launch their webs out, too. While the Archons and I tried to hustle away from the spider creatures, I peered down at the marble floor and cringed at the strands of thick webbing, and when I looked back up, Dio suddenly stopped in place as he got caught in the sticky goo.

Ewwwww, Dio growled as he tried to lift his paws up, and strands of the goo lifted up as he attempted to free himself. Gryff, what do I do? This is so gross, and I can’t move.

“Pull harder,” I instructed my summons, but Dio’s movements weren’t enough to free him.

It’s not coming up. The saber-tooth winced. And it’s starting to sting a little.

The athenid that shot the webbing began to move toward us, and its fangs came together menacingly. The huge monster had its eyes on Dio, but there was no way the beast was going to get a hold of my familiar.

I wouldn’t let it hurt my friend.

“Back up, you ugly fucker,” I growled, and I reached into the bonds with my monsters until I came to my faun. I visualized the impressive vine-like whips my half humanoid, half-goat monster used as weapons, and within moments, they appeared in my hands. As the athenid scrambled toward us, I cracked the long whips in its direction and tripped the creature. The spider tumbled over until it was on its back, and its legs flailed in the air as it tried to get back up again.

Thanks, Gryff, Dio sighed gratefully. That was close.

“We need to get you free,” I replied. “I don’t know how, but we gotta get rid of this goo.”

“We’ve got the athenids, Gryff,” Sera called out to me as she and the other Archons carefully shuffled over to us. “Just worry about your monster. We’ll hold them back so you can get him free!”

“Thanks!” I shouted, and the Archons went straight into action once they cleared the portion of the hall scattered with webs. Once I was certain the goddesses were fine, and Dio and I were clear to work on the untangling, I turned back to my summons. “Bend down for me so I can hop off and try to find a solution.”

Okay. Dio squatted down far enough for me to reach the ground without hurting myself, and then I carefully ambled off his back. It took quite a bit of effort to land without getting stuck in the webs below, but I made it happen and managed to find a goo-free spot.

I glanced past the twitching athenid in front of us and caught sight of Hunnah and the other Archons taking on the other spider creatures. The warrior goddess hacked and slashed while Xan, Sera, and Phi made their attacks from above, and I was impressed by how well they were working together.

Once I was sure the others weren’t going to sneak up on us, I turned back to Dio. The sabertooth wore a brave face, but I knew he was experiencing a lot of discomfort that I needed to heal as soon as possible. I just needed a way to get this floor completely cleared somehow.

So, I recalled the faun’s whips momentarily and summoned my water imp’s magic instead. I wasn’t an elementalist, but this was the next best thing, and I soon felt the cooling energy of the tiny monster’s power flow through me.

“Hold still!” I commanded my summons. “I’ll try not to hurt you, but--”

Don’t worry about it, Dio interjected. I’m tough. I just need to get free so we can book it outta here. Do what you gotta do, Gryff. I’ll be fine.

“Alright, just hold still,” I instructed my familiar. With Dio’s blessing in mind, I unleashed a powerful stream of water right at the coating of webs on the ground. Normally, water wouldn’t have been able to do much against such a sticky material, but I concentrated the stream so it was essentially pressurized, and I focused on the space between his paws and the ground.

Dio winced at the harsh blast of water, but he still put all of his effort in pulling his paws free. That method seemed to do the trick and soon, he was able to move from the spot, and all of the green goo disappeared from the marble floor as if it’d never been there in the first place.

“Fuck yeah,” I said, and then I refocused on my friend. “Are you okay?”

I’m fine, Dio assured me. Thanks for saving me. Now, do me a favor and blast that ugly little fucker in front. He’s the one that sent the blast.

“On it.” I grinned, and when I was sure the Archons were out of the way, I sent another pressurized stream of water at the front athenid just for good measure. The spider monster flew backward and slammed right into the other athenids behind it, and the monsters became a pile of writhing, tangled legs once more. It was interesting that even with all of those extra feet, the monsters were incredibly clumsy and could be bowled over so easily.

“Damn it,” Miralea cursed as she emerged from around the mass of spiders. Her hair was soaked from the mist of the water blast, and her mouth was curled into a frown.

“Sorry,” I apologized. “I thought you were all out of the way when I sent the blast.”

“Nope,” the jaguar goddess pouted, and she crossed her arms against her chest.

“Sorry, Miralea,” I apologized again, and when the other Archons scrambled over to me, I inclined my head down the stairs. “Now, let’s get out of here while they’re struggling. We’ll have just enough space to move past them and down the stairs.”

Hop aboard, Dio instructed me as he bent back down.

I climbed atop him with ease and patted his soft fur, and my familiar let out a brief purr of content and then straightened up.

“Let’s go,” I addressed the Archons.

As we all ran past the struggling spiders and down the grand staircase, I tried to come up with a plan. We needed to knock out all of the insectoid monsters, but their size and speed combined with their acidity made things a little difficult. They could be pushed down easily, but I needed a way to completely end them. We needed to get the athenids outside so I could unleash my full power on them without worrying about damaging the inside of the castle. With how many artifacts and texts the castle likely had, I didn’t want to risk any harm coming to the castle, so we had to herd the spiders out.

We reached the first floor and made it all the way to the entryway without issue. Phi, Sera, and Xan flew past us and opened the enormous front doors so we could guide the spider monsters outside, and another rush of adrenaline flew through me.

All we had to do was get them outside, and we’d be golden.

Suddenly, a screech rang out as an athenid launched at us, but Dio managed to raise his huge paw high enough to forcefully knock into the beast in time. The spider creature fell onto the marble floor, and it let out a sound of pain as its abdomen crunched against the hard surface.

“Gryff, look out!” Sera shrieked as another athenid tried its hand at attacking Dio, only a little more successful than the first. It managed to wrap itself around my summons as if the daggerdillo spikes were rounded rather than razor-sharp, and the saber tooth fell to the ground from the effort, which sent me flying off his back.

I thudded against the marble ground, and my arm cried out in pain from the sudden force.

“Fuck!” I shouted as I tried to prop myself up. Even with the protective coating, there was a good amount of pain following the fall, and I had a feeling something was either sprained or broken.

But I couldn’t focus on that while Dio was currently trying to buck off an enormous spider monster.

Boss! the saber-tooth tiger cried out in frustration, and I saw the tawny monster contort his armored body in every direction to keep the athenid from reaching his face. It was the only part of him not covered in bullet bass armor, and all it would take was one bite from the athenid to take my summons out.

“Dio, hold on!” I cried out, and after a quick inhale, I rose to my feet. I needed a way to pry the spider off Dio, but I had no idea how to make that happen. I needed a monster much bigger and stronger than I that could handle it, and suddenly an idea struck me.

I’d borrowed the vines from my faun earlier, but I could use the monster itself to help me out. My summons’ body was made of what appeared to be tree bark, and I doubted it would be affected by the athenid’s bite, so I threw down the yellow-green prism-shaped crystal of the faun without hesitation, and my monster appeared before me.

He was about fifteen feet tall, humanoid from the waist upward. The monster’s broad, muscular chest was wrought with moss and vinery, and his strong legs resembled a curly-haired goat’s. His hooves were made of pure steel, and his winding horns looked like they’d be able to inflict some real damage to these spider monsters.

The athenids let out low hisses in response to my summons, but the faun seemed unaffected, and its yellow-green eyes fell to me as it awaited my orders.

“Pry the spider off Dio,” I instructed my summons, and then the goat man nodded simply before it stepped over to the sabertooth. The sound of its metallic hooves against the marble was impressively loud, and I watched the spider tense up. The faun reached down, wrapped his large hands around the athenid, and then ripped it off Dio like it was nothing.

Thanks, goat man, Dio said through heavy breaths as he rolled over and scrambled to his feet.

As my saber-tooth tiger rejoined my side, the faun held the writhing athenid aloft. The brown bristled spider let out shrieks of agitation that made my skin crawl and tried to get out of the faun’s hold, but the sound was cut out by a crunch when the faun snapped the insect in half and tossed it aside.

“Fucccccck,” I drawled in an impressed tone.

Wicked, Dio breathed, but our excitement was interrupted again by another athenid.

I commanded the faun to use its whips to beat down on the bug, and before it could even get close, my goat-like monster cracked its weapon against the spiders and snapped off a few of its legs.

Gooey green blood oozed over the marble floor, and the wingless Archons and I scrambled to move out of the way, except for Hunnah, who leaped right into the fray and began to swing her sword once more. I had to admire the way the wolf-eared goddess didn’t let setbacks get to her and always insisted on jumping straight into battle over and over again. She was a real warrior, and her fighting skills were incredibly impressive.

With the spiders temporarily distracted by the Archon and faun, I turned to the rest of the group. “Let’s get outside!”

“I couldn’t agree with you more!” Utuni cried out, and the snake goddess practically sprinted to the door with Miralea, Veopa, and Carth at her side.

Dio and I were about to follow suit when I realized Quilla was lingering behind.

“Quilla, we need to go!” I called to the skeletal Archon, but the petite goddess shook her head at me.

“I won’t leave Hunnah!” she shouted.

“Sister, I’ll be there in a moment,” Hunnah called over her shoulder as she wrestled an athenid. “Head outside, I’ll join you with the athenids. Trust me!”

“C’mon, guys!” Phi shouted at us from her place at the front door. “Hurry up!”

I opened my mouth to shout back at the angelic Archon, but a thick stream of athenid webbing flew straight at me, and before I could duck, the sticky material managed to ensnare me in a thick cocoon and forced me off Dio’s back. Everything went completely dark, and the air was suddenly expelled from my lungs as I landed on my back against the marble floor.

Gryff! Dio’s voice flooded my head.

I attempted to thrash around to break free, but the cocoon was so tight around me that my arms and legs were pinned to my sides.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I tried to take a deeper breath, but the cocoon was so close against me that it was nearly impossible to get oxygen. I needed to think fast if I didn’t want to suffocate. I tried to thrash around again, but the web was too strong. I needed something to cut through it.

I felt movement around me and knew that if I was wrapped up like this, the athenid was soon to follow. I was a perfectly wrapped up snack, and while I wasn’t sure if the athenids were carnivorous, their enormous fangs gave me a pretty good idea of their food preferences.

I’d lived through too much to become spider food.

“Fuck!” I cried out, but it was no use. I could hardly breathe, much less speak in this thing. The sound was so muffled it barely qualified as an actual sound. I needed a way to talk to the Archons and give instructions before it was too late. My head was already spinning from the darkness and the tight quarters, but I forced myself to steady and focus. I couldn’t speak aloud, but I could reach out to the Archons telepathically through our bonds.

I closed my eyes and used my magic to reach out feelers to figure out who was around me. I found Sera immediately and called out her name.

Gryff? Gryff, where-- Please tell me you aren’t in that cocoon.

“I am,” I replied. “And if I don’t get out soon--”

Say no more, Sera said. Okay, we need to find a way to break you out of there.

“I need to get out of here fast,” I insisted. “I’m running out of air.”

We could have Hunnah’s sword slash into it, but it might nick you instead, Sera sighed in frustration. Let me try my hand at breaking into it.

Sera’s hand moved against the cocoon, but even her incredibly sharp nails made no difference against the thick webs that encased me.

Fuck, Sera’s voice rang out in my head. Gryff, it’s too thick. Is there any way you could summon the butterfly monster of yours? The one with the blades?

“I can try,” I agreed, and I reached into the bond with my summons and used my magic to borrow the kalgori’s blades, but I realized quickly they were a mistake. My body was wrapped up too tightly for me to be able to slash properly, and what little pressure I could place on the cocoon did nothing. I waited a few moments to make sure it wasn’t a matter of timing, but when the blades didn’t pierce the cocoon, I recalled the blades and nonverbally told Sera the kalgori wasn’t an option.

I have an idea, the Archon proposed. I will warn you, it’s going to sound a little crazy, but it’s clear we can’t cut you out of that thing.

“I’m willing to do anything,” I groaned as my heart sputtered in my chest. I was running out of time to deliberate, so I was open to any suggestion the Archon had, no matter how ludicrous.

Take my teleportation power, she suggested. Teleport yourself from the cocoon.

“Would that even work?” I wondered. “You always have to open portals, and this space is a little small for that.”

It’s worth a shot, Sera said. I don’t think I could teleport you out myself, but if you had my magic, you might be able to make it happen. You have to try, my love. I can’t lose you. We can’t lose you.

“I’ll do it,” I decided without hesitation. “Honestly, It sounds just crazy enough that it might work.”

Okay, the dark-winged Archon replied. Gryff, I’m going to need you to focus on my magic. Drain your mind of anything else, except for breathing, of course.

Even though everything was already black, I closed my eyes and visualized Sera’s magic. I imagined it flowing through my veins like my summoner’s magic, and I immediately felt my entire body tingle.

Oh fuck, was this actually going to work after all?

I refocused immediately and pictured my escape from the cocoon. I imagined my body appearing back in the entryway of the palace, and suddenly, the tingling sensation intensified. It was working.

A rush of cold air suddenly flew past me, and when I opened my eyes, I was outside of the cocoon and back in the foyer. I gasped as the air filled my lungs, and my heart cried out in my chest as it attempted to return to a normal rhythm.

“Gryff, you did it!” Sera exclaimed, and the Archon threw her arms around my neck.

My lungs were still tight from the close quarters, so I sputtered under the goddess’ hold for a moment, but I didn’t care. I was out of that cocoon, and that’s all that mattered

However, now that I was free, I was back in action. Once I was sure I could do it without falling over from dizziness, I stood up and wiped the clear goo and sweat from my face.

“Thank you,” I replied to Sera, and then I turned to Dio, who looked incredibly scared. “I’m okay, buddy. Take a deep breath.”

I was so worried, Dio sighed. Don’t do that again, boss. You were almost spider chow.

“I don’t plan on doing that ever again,” I assured the saber-tooth over the sounds of battle. “Now, back to the original plan. Let’s get outta here. Where are Hunnah and--”

“Right behind you!” Quilla answered, and sure enough, the small goddess was catching up to us. Her golden-brown hair flew behind her as she ran, and her cheeks were flushed. “Let’s get outside!”

“Right.” I nodded, and then I sent instructions to my faun to lead the remaining athenids outside.

The monster let out a sound of agreement, and once I was sure he got the message, I turned and fled.

Quilla, Sera, Dio, and I finally zoomed down the entryway and out the enormous front door, and once we were out on the courtyard, relief flooded through me. We just needed these spiders out here. They wouldn’t have the same advantages they would outside of the castle, and I counted on their disadvantage to work in my favor.

The other Archons were already outside, and together we scrambled out to the grounds.

“Gryff, are you okay?” Utuni asked me in alarm as I joined them.

“I’m fine,” I assured the snake goddess.

“Where’s Hunnah?” Carth wondered.

“Leading the others out here,” I said as I leaned over to catch my breath. My lungs were still sore from being trapped in the cocoon, and my heart continued to race in my chest. When I felt steadier, I raised myself back up and peered around for Hunnah. Where was she with the athenids?

“There she is!” Xan announced in a proud voice as she pointed beyond us.

The wolf-eared Archon calmly walked out of the castle with her head held high, and I wanted to call out and warn her to run, but then I saw that she was being trailed by the athenids.

Her power.

Of course.

Hunnah’s ability was monster taming, and after she and the faun had knocked the spiders down a little, they were probably much easier to control.

The athenids followed after her with glazed expressions, and once Hunnah was only about thirty or so feet from us, she halted in place, outstretched her hand, and fixed her steely gaze on the monsters.

“Settle,” she commanded, and without hesitation, the mass of spiders froze in place. The insects turned their clusters of acid-green eyes toward the wolf-eared Archon and lowered their defensive stances. Hunnah held her chin high in the air, and the amount of power she radiated was almost enough to make me want to obey.

“Whoa,” I breathed. I’d seen Carth’s influence at work, Maker, I’d had it used against me before, but seeing Hunnah command an entire army of poisonous spider monsters like they were nothing more than dogs was impressive.

“They’re all yours, master,” Hunnah prompted me, and she lowered her hand back to her side.

My heart skipped a beat for a moment when I thought the monsters were going to shake off the Archon’s hold, but to my surprise, they remained in their submissive positions even without the goddess’ outstretched hands.

I took a slow step toward them and noticed their many eyes had a glazed appearance, like they were in a trance. I snapped my fingers, but none of them flinched. They were completely subdued.

“Wow,” I breathed again.

“What do you want to do with them?” Hunnah wondered with a curious tilt of her head. “We have quite a few options, master, it’s just up to your preference.”

I hadn’t fully thought about what I wanted to do to the spiders, and heat spread through my cheeks as realization dawned on me.

“Sera, I need you to open up a portal.”

“A portal?” the dark-winged Archon frowned. “To where?”

“Somewhere in the Shadowscape far from here,” I said. “Preferably somewhere they won’t be able to escape. A pit, a pool of fire, anything. Spiders in the human realm have a tendency of containing babies, and the last thing I want is for us to cut into one of these things and have to deal with dozens more of them.”

“I suppose I can think of something.” Sera smirked, and her yellow eyes had a devious glint to them that reminded me once more she was a powerful monster goddess. The Archon snapped her fingers, and a portal suddenly opened up in the middle of the air.

“Now, all of you, head in that direction,” I instructed the athenids, but the spider monsters stared at me blankly.

Hunnah nodded her head at the horde of spiders and then inclined her head toward the portal. “You heard Gryff. Head to the portal.”

The athenids blinked their many eyes, and then they filed one by one into the portal, and with every spider monster that vanished from sight, my smile grew wider. I wasn’t sure if sending them elsewhere was the best idea, but I just needed those spiders far away. The Shadowscape wasn’t a small place, and I knew Sera would be able to figure out the perfect storage place for the athenids that wouldn’t come to bite us later.

Once the final spider creature was gone, the portal closed, and the Archons and I all let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Fuck, I think we finally got them,” I sighed, and my head hung back in relief as I caught my breath. That had been a lot more monsters than I’d anticipated, and I was relieved we were finally rid of those disgusting bugs.

“Good thinking on the portal idea,” Hunnah complimented me with a sincere gaze. “That was smart, Gryff.”

“Thanks, Hunnah,” I replied. “Though, I owe you the thanks for taming those creatures once we left. If it wasn’t for your magic--”

“It’s about time I acted like a team player.” The wolf-eared Archon shrugged. “I’m just doing my part.”

“I appreciate it either way,” I insisted, and after I gave the copper-haired goddess an earnest smile, I turned to the others. “Thanks to the rest of you as well. That was a messy situation, but we all managed pretty well. Now, let’s get back inside. I’ll try to blast the spider goo off the floors as we go so we don’t get stuck again.”

“Yuck.” Miralea cringed, and to my surprise, everyone laughed with the jaguar Archon instead of at her.

“You said it,” Phi chuckled.

We made our way back inside, and as we crept into the entryway of the palace, I kept my hand on my bandolier just in case there were any surprise athenids. With the other hand, I used the same water magic from my water imp as I’d used before, and soon, the foyer was clear of any athenid goo.

Dio hovered at my side, though he shrank down to his mountain lion size instead of his normal one.

Easier to move around, he explained, and I removed the daggerdillo spikes and the speed slug abilities from him. I doubted the saber-tooth would need them, but I kept the bullet bass armor on him just in case something went wrong.

The Archons remained on alert as well, and each of the monster goddess’ eyes darted around cautiously as we stepped over to the staircase.

“I hope they’re all gone,” Utuni noted. “Those beasts were disgusting.”

“Agreed.” I nodded. “If I never see another spider again, I’ll be happy.”

“I wonder how they even got in in the first place.” Miralea shivered as she wrapped her arms around herself. “Disgusting monsters. I usually love every creature, but those were too much of a nuisance to deserve my care.”

“I can fly ahead and check the halls, if you wish,” Sera offered.

“That would actually be great.” I smiled at the dark-haired goddess. “Thank you, Sera.”

“Of course.” My lover nodded at me, and after she gave me an adorable wink, she spread out her black-feathered wings, pumped them, and then took off into the air and soared up to the third floor.

I watched the Archon disappear to the third floor, and my lips curled into a smile. Sometimes it was easy to forget Sera and I were once enemies, especially when she treated me with such kindness.

“I’m never going to get this webbing out of my hair,” Hunnah groaned as she ran her hands through her mane of slightly tangled copper tresses. “I’m going to need a long bath after this.”

True to her assessment, her locks were riddled with long strands of green athenid goo, and I cringed as I thought about my own body. After being trapped in the spider monster’s cocoon, I knew I had to be absolutely coated in all kinds of gunk I didn’t want to know about.

Even more prominent than her tangled hair were the burn marks on her face from the athenid’s blood. Most of them weren’t too bad, but now that I was closer to the wolf-eared goddess, I could see one was dangerously close to her left eye. The wound managed to slice in a perfectly slanted line, and while it looked kind of badass, I was sure by its red hue that it had to hurt. However, the goddess didn’t call attention to it, so I decided to do the same. Xan would heal us up later, and I’d ask her to take care of Hunnah’s face.

“Perhaps once we locate these materials, we could show Gryff the private bath?” Quilla offered me a mischievous grin. “Carth, you didn’t take him there last time, did you?”

“I didn’t have the time,” Carth remarked with a small smile of her own. “But we could arrange that.”

“Only after we make some headway with this mission,” I reminded the Archons before they could get too distracted by the idea. Of course, the idea of spending some quality time with nine absolutely stunning goddesses didn’t seem like a problem to me…

Sera flew back down to us, and she had a calm expression on her face.

“No more athenids,” she assessed. “I didn’t go into the library, but the halls are clear aside from some leftover webbing and remains.”

“Lovely,” I remarked. “Better than more spiders, though. Thanks for checking.”

“Of course.” Sera nodded.

I looked over at my faun, who was awaiting my instruction patiently, and I smiled at the monster. “Thank you for helping us. We wouldn’t have gotten them if it weren’t for you.”

The faun smiled, and I recalled him to my hand. Once his essence crystal was stashed back into my belt, the Archons and I began our ascent to the third floor.

When we made it to the second floor, I went down the hall and blasted away more athenid webs. Of all of the floors, the second was the worst, and I cringed at the sight of so much viscous fluid. Luckily, it disappeared quickly, and while the floor was slick from the water, we no longer had the threat of sticky webbing.

Once it was clear, we ascended the stairs again, and I repeated the same cleanup on the third floor. When every surface was clean, I turned to the exhausted-looking Archons.

“I’m going to go ahead to the library first,” I decided. “I want the rest of you to wait out in the hall until I give you the clear to come in.”

“Master, we can handle ourselves.” Veopa raised her eyebrow. “We are quite old, remember?”

“I know you can,” I replied to the succubus Archon. “But as your master, I’m asking you to hang back. I can also handle myself, remember?”

“Yes, master.” Veopa nodded, and I softened my expression.

Veopa was right. I knew the Archons could get along just fine without me, but after we’d been through such an intense battle together, I felt the same protectiveness toward them that I did toward my Mistral lovers. The emotions surprised me, but they made sense as well. The Archons were my women, too, as strange as it felt to admit it, and I wanted to make sure they were taken care of.

“I’ll be back,” I urged them, and after I gave the goddesses one last smile, I started to head toward the library. Now that the bugs were gone, we were back on track, and I was ready to get some answers about the moon monster.

I’m coming with you, Dio declared as he followed me down the hall.

“Thanks, buddy.” I scratched the top of his head affectionately.

As we approached the door, I had a strange feeling in my stomach, but I couldn’t figure out why. Were there more athenids waiting to come after us?

No, we’d surely defeated them all. If there were more, they would’ve joined the others to battle us. So, was this feeling just leftover nerves?

I shook off the feeling. I didn’t have time to analyze every single thought in my head. I was still on edge from the spider attack, that’s all. I had to remain cool.

But when I walked through the door and finally set eyes on the library, I was met with a sight so surprising that it brought me down to my knees.

“No,” I whispered. “This can’t be happening.”

The entire library was in ruins.