MAGNUS

I hadn’t realized that a dragon could blush until I saw Linara’s scales darken from their normal smoke grey to almost black after a bout of impressive swearing when I offered her the bond. She actually had two broken traits in her aether flow, not just the one I had assumed. Varis was going to help me with the aether needed to heal the madness, which was good because it was going to take quite a bit. Luckily neither of the madnesses were one of the aggressive types like the Mantises from our travel. Amakakiri and Jetoran, an ice blue colored dragon the size of a big cat, actually got along well, and currently were wrestling like puppies while Granny Scales was arguing with a pair of Book Wyrms.

Asala, a young female Book Wyrm, was the size of a mid sized dog such as those used by shepherds, and had light yellow scales the same color as old parchment. Vara was using the second crystal Jessica had made for me to bind her to pass on to Selena, while the second Book Wyrm, a slightly smaller young male with the same color scales but black striping along his ridge and tail, argued with the older dragon.

“Why can’t I go too, it isn’t like Asala’s bondmate is here,” he argued with a petulant tone.

“Doran, child you want to be a fighter. From what they have told me you wouldn’t suit the members of their group. I’m already a little apprehensive about sending Asala out to someone I haven’t met,” Noraleth said in a soothing voice.

“And it sounds like this Ezekiel is a fighter and a scholar. He would be perfect,” The young drake, Doran, pointed out.

The old dragon looked at me and asked, “Will you and your grandfather make sure the young one is safe? He is too stubborn to listen and will likely follow you and get himself in trouble if I don’t agree, and since he isn’t one of mine I am limited in how much I can just order him about.”

“I’ll try, and you know how grandfather is,” I answered.

“Then yes you may, assuming they have a spare crystal. Otherwise you will need to go ask Morgan yourself,” Noraleth said with a certain degree of smugness.

Doran lowered his head, clearly worried about trying to ask a favor of the old man, and then looked at us with, what he must have assumed, looked like pleading. It reminded me more of a puppy begging for a treat.

Vara let out a sigh and said, “He can use my other one. I’ll have my hands full with my four anyway.”

Jessica took the crystal and began the process of binding Doran to it, while telling the drake, “You know you're just asking for belly rubs right?”

The dragon cocked his head and asked, “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, it just means you are begging rather than pleading,” she answered.

We stayed the night with Noraleth since the sun would be down long before we completed the descent. In the morning the old dragon helped us further by giving us a brief ride down to the base of the peak she claimed before saying, “The Trappers have a little piece of forest they nest in to the east. Watch yourselves, I’ve been feeling something odd coming from that direction lately.”

We thanked her and set out to the east. The Silver Trapper was the last goal of the trip as we had almost exhausted our stock of prepared crystals. While we could make more it would still take us a couple of days to return to the cabin.

The tree branches thickened and soon we began traveling in a gloomy section of the woods, the canopy blocking most of the light. We were proceeding carefully since there wasn’t much of a trail to follow when Richard suddenly called, “Stop!”

We all stopped, our hands reaching for weapons or drawing aether in expectation of a fight. I let my aether flow and looked around trying to find the source of the problem. All around us were pale white lines of aether dangling from the trees and crossing the path back the way we had come. Richard spoke up, “I can sense metal all around us. Feels like silver, iron, and something else I haven’t come across before.”

“I can see lines of aether, that means there is a flow running along what I assume is metal webbing,” I said while drawing my pistol and resting my off hand on my new summoning crystal.

A rasping voice came from above, “Brave and foolish to come where even the great wolf will not tread. Tell me true why I shouldn’t eat you.”

My gaze snapped up along with my pistol to see a funnel shaped web and eight red eyes. The aetherflow didn’t show any madness so I let it drop and took in the spider as it emerged. A large spherical abdomen shimmered with striated precious metals, and a smaller matching thorax were the first things I saw. The fangs quivered as her eyes tracked us and she said, “Well manling? Why have you come to my nest, you who is blood of the one who granted me refuge so long ago.”

“We came on hunt for those who wished to go out into the world along with us,” I said.

Richard whispered, “That isn’t a Silver Trapper, is it?”

I shook my head, but it was the spider that answered, “No, I have not been mindless for decades.”

“She’s an Imperial Weaver,” Vara said.

She began to grow larger, and I realized she was lowering herself to the ground. We all took steps back so we weren’t under her, but kept our weapons at the ready. Her body was the size of a large cart, not counting her segmented legs, and on closer inspections I could see that her carapace was metal rather than chitin.

The oversized arachnid spoke again in her rasping voice, “My brood dwells further within, but will not go quietly. Why do you hunt in my woods, would not other creatures serve better?”

Richard made a motion with his hand and one of the webbing strands flowed into the clearing and formed into an intricate pattern in the air before him. The great spider watched as he said, “Not for me. A companion that produces their own metals would be a great advantage for me.”

“A manling that can bend metals to his will, how curious. It will avail thee not however as the brood no longer listens to my orders, much less would make themselves subservient to you,” the spider said.

Mai asked, “Why not, I thought most creatures with a monarch would obey them?”

“They should, but for some reason they do not. If you seek to bind one of my brood you must find the source of the malady that afflicts them,” the spider said before she started to rise into the air.

I called out, “Do you know when this started?”

She faded into the shadows of her web and rasped, “When the traveler came on wings of shadow. If you seek to become food for my brood go north east from here and seek out the ruins in the woods.”

I looked and saw the strands of webbing that led to the north east, and back the way we had come, rose out of our path.

“A traveler arrived, and suddenly a bunch of Silver Trappers went mad. That doesn’t sound like something we can ignore,” Vara said.

Tak shook his head, “No, we cannot afford another Storm of Swarm.”

I hung my head and said, “Do we go, or do we let gramps know what’s going on?”

Richard placed a hand on my shoulder and said, “We can do this, it’s the type of situation you and Vara will likely have to deal with in the future. Besides we need to know if it is an individual madness or something else. Even your grandfather could be overwhelmed.”

I nodded, “Let’s go then, but be careful. I don’t want to have to explain to the professor why you didn’t come back.”

Jessica moved to the front of the group as we set off, giving me a punch to the shoulder and saying, “You’re assuming you would be the only one left at the end. Don’t count me out just yet.”