"They'll be coming with us for a short time, but I have to get them back to their home."
"They have a home? Where?"
"The Silvanus Darkwoods."
Shit, really? Well, I guess that explains why no one's seen the arachne in a thousand years. I'm not looking forward to that adventure.
The Silvanus Darkwoods resided far to the south, past the South Kingdom and the Salted Mire. The Darkwoods were shrouded in mystery and terror, and in all my years here, not a single person who entered ever returned, which earned the Darkwoods a much more infamous name.
Slaughter Woods.
An apt name if it's actually the home of the arachne. Given how swift the spiderlings are, I'd hate to fight an adult. The spiderlings were confident that we could pass through unharmed. They assured me—well, they assured Eris, who then assured me—that we would be fine as long as we brought the children with us.
"Do we have to go?" I asked.
"Of course, we do. We have to bring Tegen and Cheira back. Plus, I would very much like to meet the queen."
"The queen of the spiders, color me terrified."
Eris playfully smacked my arm, smiling at me. "Oh, you worry too much, it'll be fine."
Yeah, the spider queen, who kills any who intrude on her territory. Yeah, I'm sure she's a beacon of patience and morality. But I kept my mouth shut.
Can't blame her for wanting to go. She just learned more of the Hive survived. I couldn't imagine how happy I'd be if I found out some of my family survived. The age-old hurt returned to my heart when I thought of them, but it wasn't as painful as it used to be. Maybe I can finally put Micah and Sophia's ghosts to rest. It's been too many years since they died. It's time to move on from my grief. I need to start living in the present.
The days blurred together in a mix of riding and camping. At night, when it wasn't my turn to watch, I crawled into our tent, but we had two new additions, and I was relegated to sleeping by myself while the spiderlings snuggled up to Eris. After an hour of tossing and not being able to sleep, I climbed out of the tent and went to keep watch again.
Charlotte was the one keeping watch tonight while Lyahgos got some sleep.
She looked up with a nod and went back to keeping watch, though her eyes were wasted as she'd hear anything long before we saw it. She's kind of cute, if not very sociable. Eh, I guess we're mostly strangers, I was the same way before I met Eris.
I pulled out my flask and took a few long pulls before I tapped Charlotte on the shoulder and offered her some. She took it and sipped politely, but from the look of disgust on her face, it was too strong for her. She passed it back, and I took another drink while waiting for dawn to break.
When the sun finally rose, I woke the others, and we packed up camp. It went that way for the entire trip home. Ride as much as we possibly could, then set up camp and eat, followed by me trying and failing to get a wink of shut-eye. I'd quickly gotten used to having Eris by my side, and with her absence, I couldn't sleep more than a few fitful hours each night. By the time Castle Gloom-Harbor peeked over the Rolling Hills, I was utterly exhausted.
We rode up to the front gate, and with the passphrase, the man at arms lowered it. I climbed off Lacuna and stabled her before I got the rabbitmen settled. I grabbed the first maid I found and told her to get Amber. She departed with a bow.
I went over to Lyahgos. "Head inside. Amber, our head maid, will get you all settled in and find the best job for you."
"Right, sir!" he shook my hand and left with Charlotte and the others. I was about to head inside myself when a voice called to me. "Greetings, Duran. How kind of the fates to ordain this meeting."
I found Markos walking up from the direction of the gate. His shaggy hair was slick with sweat, and his ordinarily pristine white robes were soiled with dirt and bits of filth. I walked over to the man and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Good to see you, Mark. How goes the Gloom shrooms?"
"Good news and bad news on that front. Our supply of Gloom mushrooms is gone."
"What?”
He held up his hands, backing up automatically—the vein at the base of his throat pulsed with fear. I shouldn't have yelled at him. "Sorry for yelling, you just surprised me is all. Tell me what happened."
"Well," he said, fumbling over his words and his robes. His hands twiddled absentmindedly while he worked up the courage to speak. "When I introduced the Gloam to the Gloom mushrooms, they spread quickly, and assimilated the weaker strain, converting the entirety of our stock to the gloam."
"How is that even possible?"
"I'm not sure, honestly. The winds of chance blew in the wrong direction, leaving us in a mess."
I turned from Markos. I'm no botanist, let him sort it out if he can. "Fix it if you can. Miguel will be sending a ship to collect our next shipment in a few days. If we don't have any Gloom shrooms to give him, let him have the new stuff."
"Of course, I'll do what I can."
"Good man."
I left the mage to his work and went inside the castle. My little chat had gone on long enough that the entire guild was aware that we'd returned. When I opened the door, I was met with
