“What?” Jenny tilted her head.

  Luneira giggled and patted her arm. “I’ll explain it later. Let our lord finish.”

  “Thank you, ladies,” Joel said, turning to those gathered for the meeting. “Now, show of hands. I need volunteers.”

  “This is crazy,” someone at the back said before marching off.

  “Someone find them and put them on patrol. I’m not about to punish them for not wanting to fight a giant spider, but they’re not just going to sit on their arses either,” Joel ordered.

  “I’ll take care of it,” someone at the back called out before heading off with them.

  Joel shook his head. He wasn’t mad. Numbers would help, but only if they were willing. The eaer was rather stationary. It wasn’t breathing down their neck, nor had it threatened anyone. At least, nobody that Joel knew of. There were enough body shaped silken cocoons in the web to know it was eating well. Which was half the problem.

  If it was gaining in strength, that was bad enough. But if it ran out of food. When the prey it was consuming began to whittle away. What then? Would it move on? Would it expand? That’s when the danger would truly start. The eaer was safe because they knew where it was and understood what it was doing. The moment that changed, it was anyone’s guess, and that made it the largest threat in the area so far. There was also the fear that it might start laying eggs.

  “The question is, how are we going to burn it?” Dale asked, crossing his arms. “The fuel in the trucks might still be good, but I don’t like the idea of having to carry and splash it around.”

  “It would react to the smell,” Luneira spoke up. “They are very sensitive to such things. Part of how they hunt.”

  “That’s easy,” Joel said with a grin, before looking at Jess. “And it would be a perfect way to test out that new skill of yours.”

  Everyone looked at Jess, and she nodded. “And what happens when it comes running out of the fire?”

  “That’s easy,” Joel said with another grin. He tapped his chest. “Me.”

  “My lord, this is stupid,” Luneira huffed.

  “Probably, but it needs to happen,” Joel said as he climbed over the fence to lead the way. “With Paradise dealt with, the only other threat back there is the big ass spider.”

  “You don’t think there’s anything to the east?” Jenny asked, appearing at his side, while the others followed behind Luneira.

  “I don’t honestly know,” Joel admitted. “But with the two threats behind us taken care of, we can focus on what else there might be. We’re surrounded on three sides by river. If we can clear most of the town and set up patrols along the southern border near the highway, we can cut off the entire town and protect it.”

  “That… would still be a momentous challenge,” Luneira pointed out.

  “I didn’t say tomorrow,” Joel said. “I’m just saying, before Morpheus, there’s only really two roads out of this town and both follow the highway. We push all the dangerous stuff past the highway. We’ve got a roughly three kilometer stretch of flat road to patrol that takes us from the river on one side, to within a bowshot of the river on the other side.”

  “That’s… a surprisingly realistic goal,” Dale said, as he came over the fence.

  “Thank you,” Joel said with a nod at the man.

  “I agree,” Marlene said, coming over, with Timothy behind her. “We could make this whole area safe. Maybe not today, or tomorrow. But a month from now? Or a year?”

  “Exactly,” Joel said, his voice rising with his excitement. “Nothing’s going to cross the river either. Not with all those shark people and nraabs in there.”

  “What’s stopping them from coming out to get us, though?” someone asked as they made it over.

  Joel looked at them. A middle-aged woman. Someone new he hadn’t met before. “Same thing as now,” Joel said with a shrug. “I’m going off the assumption they don’t leave the water unless they need to. We’ve had problems with them exactly one time, and you could argue that we started that fight. Not the other way around.”

  “They also didn’t follow once we left the area,” Jess pointed out. “They stuck by the river.”

  “Either way,” Dale said, clearing his throat. “Count me in. I’ll take you over a prick like Mitch any day.”

  Joel sighed. “That’s not the compliment you think it is.”

  “Shows you’re not a politician,” Dale joked. “You’re not looking for the power. You’re looking to lead, and power’s following.”

  Joel grimaced and looked around. There were plenty of people staring at him. None of them were denying it. Nor were any looking hostile about the idea being spoken out loud.

  “Alright,” Joel sighed. “Let’s… let’s just get on with this.”

  He led the way. Through the dark and slightly gloomy street, the eaer was a straight shot to the north, right up the main road. In the strange twilight eternity of Morpheus, it was almost beautiful. If it weren’t so foreboding.

  There was a little trouble about. A handful of hellhounds, the cry of an impyle. It made Joel frown.

  “Why do we call them hellhounds?”

  “What do you mean?” Jess asked. “Have you seen them?”

  “Yeah, I just… Think about it. Eaer. Impyle. Nraab. And then hellhound.” Joel shook his head. “Nraab sorta sounds like crab when you think about it. Impyle sounds like imp. Eaer doesn’t sound anything like spider though. But hellhound?”

  “Yeah, it’s a weirdly normal name,” Amanda said.

  Joel glanced over and spotted her. She had kept pretty quiet after going to bed. Their evening in the grass had been lovely. The weird part was when they got back to the bedroom. Jess was nude, for one. It didn’t seem to bother Amanda in the least, who decided to join Jess in their nudity. The part that confused him was that he could swear he smelled sex. Like someone had been fucking, but… there was clearly no sign of anything like that happening. Unless it was the ladies themselves getting up to stuff while he was with Amanda?

  In either case, by the time Joel and Amanda awoke in Morpheus this evening, everyone else was already up and about. They’d been the last to arrive and their meeting had started soon after their late breakfast. Something that Emily wasn’t particularly happy about since she had already finished the dishes.

  Despite that, though. He had a good feeling about her. She was warm and kept close. There was some shyness there, but she wasn’t acting strangely as far as he could tell. Not around him and not around Jess, either. It was almost like she was making it known that she wasn’t a threat to the other ladies, while at the same time, reminding them she was now part of their little… family?

  “You’ve got that look on your face,” Jess said and nudged him.

  “What?” Joel spluttered. “What face?”

  “You get this face.” Jess pushed her chest out and gave the most exaggerated smirk Joel had ever seen. “When you’re thinking about us.”

  “So what if I am?” Joel grumbled. “Maybe I like thinking about you.”

  “I suppose it would depend what you’re thinking about,” Jess replied coyly. “A little moonlight stroll, perhaps?”

  There was a soft ‘eep’ from behind them. Jess turned and gave Amanda a knowing grin.

  “Now is really not the time,” Joel muttered.

  “Then keep your head in the game,” Jess challenged. “If we’re going to get out of this, it’s going to be with your war face, not your ‘oh’ face.”

  “Alright, alright,” Joel chuckled softly. “I got it. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay,” Amanda whispered as well.

  Jess smirked and gave Joel some side eye. He rolled his in response and kept moving. The walk wasn’t very long. A few minutes and the webs were visible in the trees. A few more and they could make out the school.

  “Alright everyone!” Joel called out. “We’re going to split up. Half of us are going up the hill straight ahead, the rest are turning left!”

  “Any preference?” Dale asked.

  Joel thought for a moment and looked at Jess, who was pursing her lips as she weighed her options. “There’s more tree cover up the hill. It’ll make it harder to shoot, even if it’ll give us better defenses.”

  “Then it’s up to you,” Joel told her. “Whatever you choose, I’m going to be standing right by you. Luneira, I’m assuming this thing has some kind of intelligence?”

  “It will be slow to react, but when it does, it will follow the source of the flames,” the night hag said.

  Joel nodded. “If I knew the range of my taunt ability, I’d risk splitting away from you. Right now, I’m going to stick with you.”

  “Wait, if it’s going to chase after Jess,” Dale said, “and you’re going to taunt the fucking thing. Why are we splitting up?”

  “I don’t know the full extent of the ability. It might be temporary, it might be permanent. It might only be effective while I’m shouting at the thing,” Joel listed off. “So, I need people in place to cut it off, if it decides to run. Hopefully if the webs burn away, that might give us a decent chance of flanking it from behind while it’s distracted.”

  Dale frowned before nodding slowly. “Makes sense. Bit of a risk, though.”

  “This whole thing is a risk,” Joel admitted. “We were all there on day one.”

  “This is true,” he said tiredly. “Alright, Jess?”

  “I think we’ll head up the hill a bit. If the trees burn, it’ll make it hard to get to us, while forcing it to approach uphill,” she said.

  “Sounds good,” Dale agreed, before breaking away to corral his own team.

  “Alright everyone. I want ranged fighters to stay back. Jess, you’re sticking with me for now. I want anyone bringing hand to hand weapons to remember that this thing eats people. Do NOT take risks. This isn’t a fucking video game. If you can cut its fucking leg off, do it. Just don’t get caught up slapping its side for no reason.”

  “What I would give for a can of fucking pee-bo,” someone joked, setting off a cackle of laughter.

  Joel grinned before giving Jess a nudge. Their group split up at the intersection. It was quiet. Nothing seemed to want anything to do with the eaer, which was half the problem. If the hellhounds wandered about and got themselves eaten, that was a win-win. Out in the middle of the web, though, was the prize.

  The eaer was a huge, dark cluster in the middle of the web. Within bow range, but completely surrounded by webs. Any arrow fired would be caught up in the sticky silk and hacking at it would do much the same. The only thing Joel could think of would be to burn it. Something he wasn’t sure about doing in the daytime.

  “Good luck, Joel,” Dale called with a wave as he broke off to the left.

  Joel waved back, seeing a few nervous glances. Everyone except Ben had come on this trip. More than were willing to fight Mitch. Which was saying something. Either they believed in this plan better, or they trusted Joel’s ideas more. He’d call it a win either way, as he led the way forward.

  “Psst!”

  Joel looked around. Several of his group did.

  “Are you lot fucking crazy?!”

  “Who’s there?” Joel called.

  He didn’t like this. They hadn’t been paying all that much attention to their surroundings. Wanting to keep an eye on the eaer more than they were worried about surprise attacks. If someone had snuck up behind them…

  “Wait, you’re not from those fucking nutters up the back, are you?” the voice called.

  “Mitch’s group? With all the heads on the wall?” Joel asked.

  A figure stood up. Literally just stood up. Joel blinked in surprise. They were wearing a cloak, that looked to have grass growing on it. Which made him blend in perfectly with the lawn he was laying on.

  “You’re the other one,” the figure laughed softly. “Haven’t figured out if you’re bad or not. Didn’t pick you for crazy though. You really going into that web?”

  “No,” Joel scoffed. “We’re going to burn it.”

  “Oh.”

  “Joel, the others are already getting ready,” Marlene prodded him.

  “Shall I capture the funny human?” Luneira asked.

  “Hey, now hold on a moment,” their unexpected visitor held up their hands.

  “He’s fine,” Joel said and shook his head. “Look, whoever you are. I’m not Mitch. I’m not killing people and putting heads on sticks. If you wanna run around and play grass-man, you’re more than welcome. We’re here to kill the eaer.”

  “And what if I say no?” they challenged.

  Joel sighed. “Do you have a good reason?”

  “It keeps the pests away,” they shrugged.

  “Seems to be doing too good a job for that.” Joel shook his head. “You understand what’s going to happen as soon as it starts getting hungry, right?”

  “… Fuck.”

  “Fuck,” Joel agreed. “So if you’ll excuse me?”

  Joel started walking again, ignoring the sputtering of the figure in the grass.

  “Hey, just wait a minute arsehole!”

  Joel heard a quick whistle, before frowning as several more people got up. All of them dressed the same way. Like they’d all gone out and grown their own grass cloaks.

  “What is this, some kind of gang?” Joel asked.

  “I wouldn’t call us a gang, but you’re on our turf!”

  Joel took a deep breath. “Was that supposed to be a pun?”

  “N-yeah!” they corrected.

  “I have it,” Jess whispered. “Fire.”

  Joel spotted the orange glow from her arrow, right as the figure did. There was enough time for them to shout a single “Wait!”

  Jess released. The arrow whisked off through the trees. It passed through the first layer of the web and sailed across the oval. It struck the web further in, and to the south of the massive eaer. Joel watched with interest as the arrow broke up, becoming a burst of flame that caught the web.

  It was like it carried no mass. Only the shape and utility of an arrow until impact was seen, where it broke apart back into its element once more. It didn’t even seem to have disturbed the web, other than the lick of distant flames.

  “Nope,” the grass covered figure called out. “We’re out. Fuck this. You’re all fucking crazy.”

  “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Joel called as Jess pulled back her second shot.

  “What fucking door?!” the figure screeched.

  “Speaking of!” Joel turned. “We’re open to friendly communication and cooperation.”

  “Pfft, whatever,” they said, as easily twice as many grass covered figures started getting up and hurrying off towards the end of the street back the way Joel and the others had come.

  Joel ignored them and went back to staring at the web. Jess let loose a handful more arrows. Some struck other parts of the web. Others found their way through gaps and struck the grass. The humidity was high enough those spluttered and died. The web slowly picked up the flames.

  “It’s not moving,” Amanda pointed out.

  “Maybe it’s asleep?” Timothy suggested.

  “This isn’t normal,” Luneira muttered darkly.

  Joel frowned and looked over. He could see Dale and his people standing at the ready. The eaer was far enough away they weren’t at risk of a sudden attack. Joel kept his weapon ready, while Jess continued to pelt the web with arrows.

  Soon enough, there were flames on all sides. The web burned readily enough, but the strands still kept their strength. Where the flames had started, it seemed to drip, like melted plastic, but there was no sign of physical damage to the web. Even now, the massive spider in the middle remained huddled and still while the flames slowly crept towards it.

  “Surely it’ll react when it feels the heat, won’t it?” Joel wondered aloud.

  Nobody said anything. They just stood by and watched as the fire spread. The trees nearby caught, but there wasn’t much in the way of wind. A few of the eucalypt began to burn off their leaves, while the rest wilted and cracked. None of it would matter in the daylight when this was over.

  And the whole time this burned, the eaer failed to move. It sat perfectly still. Right in the middle. The flames grew closer, and Joel got ready. Only for the flames to tickle at its legs. There was a moment when it shifted and Joel flinched. But that was followed by the sound of something snapping, and a burst of flame. The web was breaking. Finally, giving out under the weight of the enormous spider that burned within.

  “Just what the hell kind of creature doesn’t respond to fire?” someone muttered.

  “Fire usually works,” Luneira hissed. “Something is wrong.”

  And just like that. There was a massive crash. The web gave out. Sounding like the thwacking of thousands of rubber bands. Each snapped back towards the center as the web burned through. The eaer shifted, before pitching around and fell to the ground. The entire web broke apart, and the flames died down in the damp grass of the school oval.

  “Is that it?” Joel wondered aloud. “All that for… this?”

  “My lord,” Luneira tugged at his arm. “There is something wrong here.”

  “I trust you,” Joel told her. “I just don’t know what else I can do about it right now.”

  “We should check it,” someone suggested. “Go out there and make sure. Maybe it was injured.”

  “I don’t think that’s likely,” someone else spoke up. “It’s pretty big, and out on the web. What could have hurt it without destroying the whole place?”

  “It might have been injured while off the web,” someone else spoke up.

  Joel frowned. He didn’t like any of the answers. He trusted that Luneira was right, and that something was wrong. But he also needed to trust that the situation was handled. There was no word from Morpheus. Something this large surely would have attracted some attention by now? Surely?

  “Alright, follow me,” Joel said.

  “We’re going?” Jess asked.

  Joel pointed at the still form of the eaer. “Going to check it out. Make sure it’s not playing with us. Get ready for anything.”