Gramps frowned. “I fear Claire is rubbing off on you. Your sarcastic attitude will not get you far.” His face was a mask of seriousness.
Maria watched him warily. “Gramps?”
Then he smiled and laughed. “Got you!”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
“Ah, Gelbus, I see you’ve found the Eggos,” Gramps said to the Gnome.
There was drying syrup at the corner of the Gnome’s mouth, and more on the front of his borrowed shirt. “Why yes, I have. Delicious, I might add.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Gramps said. He snapped his fingers, and the fridge opened. Out came eggs, butter, bacon, cheese, and bread. The stove came on next.
“Gramps, you’re not supposed to use magic,” Maria said as two pieces of bread floated by her head and plunged into the toaster.
He waved his hand, an innocent smile on his face. “I believe the Order of the Silver Griffins will cut me some slack today.”
“After those dreams, Ignatius, you deserve a good meal,” Frieda said in a low voice.
This piqued Maria’s interest. “Dreams? What kind of dreams?”
Eggs were cracking themselves on the edge of a pan, and the stove’s flames kicked on. A sizzling filled their ears.
“Oh, nothing,” Gramps answered. “Just dreams, that’s all.”
“Tell me,” Maria pressed. “I had dreams of my own.”
“It was a darkness,” Frieda said. The way she spoke gave Maria chills. “A darkness in the world in between that wanted out. I dreamed about it, too.”
Maria’s skin raised in goosebumps.
“The most unsettling part of these dreams,” Gramps told them, “was what happened here. People all over the world were exposed to magic; Oriceran’s secrets were out in the open.”
Maria furrowed her brow. “How did they respond?”
The wizard shook his head. “Not well, I’m afraid.”
“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Maria decided.
A bag of shredded cheese floated behind Gramps and sprinkled over the eggs. The smells were enchanting, and Maria found her appetite again.
There was no more talk of the dreams or the darkness, but perhaps there should’ve been. Maria ate with Gramps and Frieda, watching them stare into one another’s eyes like lovelorn teenagers.
The food was delicious and the mood was light—though Maria knew the darkness was coming, whether she wanted it to or not.
Chapter Five
The Jewel of Deception, the scavenger thought. Now that is almost too good to be true.
Shame he had to walk into where the Arachnids dwelled to get it.
He had never been a fan of the Dark Forest. A lot of hubbub it was, but he couldn’t deny the fact that there was something evil lurking amongst these trees.
Harry wasn’t scared of anything. He was half wizard, half Light Elf, young, and full of charisma; sometimes ignorant charisma.
Still alive, though. Can’t be that stupid if I’m still alive.
The Arachnid soldiers walked in front of and behind him. He was not an enemy of the Arachnids, at least not in his mind, but it seemed the Arachnids thought of everyone as enemies.
“Why the guards?” Harry asked the Arachnid soldiers in front of him.
They didn’t answer—just marched on through the winding path of the Dark Forest. The trees overhead blocked out most of the daylight.
Really living up to the name the Dark Forest, huh?
“It’s not like I’m dangerous…well, not that dangerous, anyway,” Harry continued on. If he couldn’t get them to talk, he’d annoy them to death. “You guys ever been to Earth? They have spiders there, too, you know. Except these spiders don’t walk upright like you guys, which begs the question, what went wrong in the evolutionary process? Why did they get the shit end of the stick?”
“Shut your mouth, scavenger,” one of the Arachnid soldiers said, his voice gruff. Swinging by his side, gripped by one of his many hands, was a big, black sword with a hook on the end.
Harry knew where those blades came from, and it wasn’t Arachnid Country. Those were Orc blades. He wondered if the Arachnids had an alliance with the Orcs, or if they had killed a few of them and taken their weapons.
Probably the latter. Never trust an Arachnid.
“We’re here,” the lead guard said.
They were in a clearing. A few other guards stood in front of an opening in the gnarled branches and crooked tree trunks.
“Where?” Harry asked.
One of the guards nudged him forward.
The guards in front parted. Fear struck Harry hard, but he did his best not to show it. Though it had been rumored that Arachnids could smell fear as easily as Harry smelled the trees and dirt all around him…
It’s worth it, Harry, he told himself. You get the Jewel of Deception, and you can get those people out of the world in between. You’ll practically be a hero. Maybe people will quit calling you ‘scavenger’ and start calling you by name.
He doubted that, but a guy could dream, couldn’t he?
“Go on,” the gruff voice said from behind him. Harry spun around before the Arachnid could hit him.
“I’m going. No need for violence, my giant spider-friend.” Though Harry’s voice was calm, he was not so calm internally. The Arachnid’s features were something out of nightmares: eight red eyes, protruding fangs, stubbly black hair, and a face that looked like it had been run over by a Hummer.
Keep calm, old friend. It’ll all be worth it in the end. Harry the Hero, not Harry the Scavenger.
The guards in front waved Harry on. Reluctantly, he went, entering the black hole that was some form of a crude door. He stopped at the threshold and looked back. The guards watched him with snarls on their faces, and what Harry thought was fear in their eyes.
“What? You’re not coming?”
The guards shook their heads.
“You are called to the Widow, and you alone,” one said.
“The Widow? No, that’s—” He stopped. She is dead, isn’t she? Lost in the Great Spider Wars.
“Go, before we cut off a finger,” another guard said.
Harry hardly heard it. His head was swimming. He walked on. The smell hit him as he entered
