Shadowchasers: Sweet Sixteen

By Mei1105

Chapter 7: Don't Try This At Home

Becky had to confess that a part of her was feeling immensely relieved. If it had been a giant bee she would have been scared. If it had been a clown, she would have backed away nervously. If it had been a vampire, she would have run screaming.

But a giant spider? Piece of cake. Her aunt Marina kept tarantulas. After years of opening her facebook news feed and being confronted with pictures of the 'fluffy babies', Becky had become remarkably desensitised. On her last trip to South Africa, two years ago, she had actually been brave enough to hold Priscilla, a gorgeous Brazilian Salmon Pink, who had picked her way curiously over her fingers before crawling off to eat mealworms (Priscilla had later had her first moult, and had been revealed to be a boy much to aunt Marina's disappointment - his name had remained the same).

Peering over the top of the tenth floor balcony, Becky's eyes flicked between the empty cage and the deep dark hole, down which the tangle of legs and hairy dark back of the spider were visible. She had heard both Judy and Emily scream as they had tumbled down into the web, and she knew she did not have long. Spider venom was not usually dangerous to humans, but she doubted that anyone had ever taken into account one this big before. Depending on the species, it could paralyse (best case scenario) or start to dissolve the more solid parts of the body (by far the worst case). The chelicerae would then grind the softened prey into mush before swallowing.

Either way, they were in trouble.

Fortunately, as her eyes traced the long thick black cables trailing along the ground below her, she now had a plan.

Pushing herself back away from the edge of the wall, she set off, her mind churning over different scenarios. She did not encounter anyone on the staircase, but she did not need the Murder Walk now. She had a purpose, and her nerves were tamed.

It was amazing how quickly you calmed down when you knew what you were doing. Maybe that was why Emily remained so laid back in the midst of being knocked out and taken to a secret base. And why Judy had been able to best Mora so easily in Nandos. She wondered if the same was true of firefighters and nurses. No one in her immediate family was in such a position - her father was an engineer for British Airways, and her mother worked on the ticket desk. There was very little life or death in that line of work.

If she did as Judy and Emily had suggested, and considered joining the Shadowchasers, would she be able to manage events like this with the same calm that her friends did? She had always had a problem controlling her nerves. Most anxious children tended to fold inwards when they had trauma in their early childhood. She had been lucky to avoid that, by painting and designing her feelings out, and always keeping a small core group of friends nearby throughout primary and secondary school. But she would not be in school forever - already her little group of friends would be breaking up after GCSE, with Anna and Mike aiming for the FE college, and Miki and Emily staying on for A-Level - and she would need to find some other way of coping. If, as she had always suspected, her trauma traced back to that horrible year of the vampire, would putting herself in a position to fight such creatures help her, or just make her worse?

That horrible shriek was echoing through the solid walls as she stepped off the staircase and onto the ground floor. She hoped that meant that it was having difficulty eating her friends, and she quickened her step, listening hard for a hum, or a prickling of her skin - anything that might give her a hint as to the location of her goal.

She had time, she reminded herself. Emily had said you had to be eighteen, which meant she had two years to think it over. And two years to think of how on earth she was going to explain this to her parents...

There! Her eyes snapped to the ceiling. Someone sensible had drilled a hole into the wall and stapled the thick black cables into the top corner of the corridor to stop people treading on them. They travelled the length of the corridor, before slipping around a corner out of sight, and as she hurried after them, a low hum began to reach her ears. It was amazing how much noise electricity actually made.

The cables vanished into a vent in the wall, through which the power hummed like a hive of bees. Becky felt the hairs on her neck stand on end, and she gently tried the door. The lock resisted. That was good, she told herself. It meant there was nobody inside who would stop her. She fished the keyring from her pocket, wincing at the jingling noise it made, and wondered how on earth Emily could match keys to locks just by looking at them. An educated guess eliminated all of the silver keys, which left her with nine brass ones. Three of them were too big, and one of them was twisted at an angle that would have made it impossible to use. She wondered idly if Emily knew how to pick locks too. After the night she was having, it would not have surprised her.

The third key slid home and after a quick jiggle, twisted the lock back, allowing Becky to slip inside. The room was not as large as she had expected, and she could not have even begun to guess what half of the machines did, stacked neatly against the walls like monoliths with buttons and LEDs flashing red and green. Cables and wires from the boxes, fed their way into crudely drilled holes in the wall. She wondered where on earth they were leaching all of this from, and why nobody had noticed. She also had no idea which one of these buttons was the off switch.

But there were other ways of doing this.

For the first time that night, she grinned. She felt crazy, but she was starting to understand that that was the only way you could play this game. Casually, she walked up to the nearest machine and dragged her hand down the box, flipping a load of switches into the down position. Somewhere in the distance, alarms began to shriek.

"Ooh this looks expensive!" she rubbed her hands together. And giggling like a child, she started to pound her fingers against the brightly coloured buttons.

OOO

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with...C."

"Carving?"

"Nope."

"Cobweb?"

"Yup!"

"That's not a real cobweb though - it's a stone carving of a cobweb. You should have let me have carving."

"...Mei, are we really going to argue about the etiquette of I Spy?"

"You got a better way to pass the time?"

Spying another J, marked in lipstick above their heads, Jalal allowed himself to smile, feeling prouder of Judy with every step they took down the twisted stone corridors. The pathways split in so many directions that navigation was almost impossible. As a trap to confuse intruders, it was very effective. You could be lost for months down here.

"Don't worry," he announced. "I think we might be there."

The corridor fell away dramatically into a staircase that wound its way down the walls of the shaft. There was a faint whistle of air being sucked up around them, and Jalal felt a chill that had nothing to do with them being underground, run through his body.

"Oookay," Maria peered over the edge, her ears twitching beneath her hat. "Who wants to go down the creepy dark staircase first?"

The Librarian's wife snorted. "Stairs are boring." Jalal took a hasty step back as golden feathers unfurled themselves from the other woman's back. She flexed them gently, before stepping forward. "Meet you guys at the bottom!"

"Mei wait!" Adrian thrust a hand out, but she had already dropped off the edge, her wings catching the updraft with a 'fwump!" as they began to beat their owner gently to the ground. The Librarian groaned, his ears twitching in irritation.

It was hard to see from this high up, but Jalal frowned as a few feet from the bottom, Mei's wings seemed to still, and she landed heavily on the ground, listing drunkenly to one side, before slumping against the wall of the staircase.

"Mei?" the Librarian called. "Everything alright?"

There was a mumble from down below. Her wings had vanished and she seemed to be curling in on herself.

"What did you say?" Adrian cupped a hand around his ear.

"Fear spell!" came the shout, causing all three of them to recoil. Mei's voice had broken on the last word, and Adrian swore in a language that even Jalal could not understand.

"Will you two be okay?" the Librarian asked, as he stepped up to the edge of the steps. Jalal nodded, fairly certain that he and Maria could resist the spell long enough to walk down. And even if they did not, that was what protective spells were for.

"Go," he insisted, and the Librarian stepped off the staircase, his trenchcoat flapping out behind him like exotic plumage.

"I need to learn that trick," Maria muttered, eyeing the Librarian's perfect landing with envy. "Look! His hair isn't even ruffled."

Already muttering what he thought might be the counterspell, Jalal smothered a chuckle, and held out an arm to the kyubi. "We can't all be as flamboyant as Adrian. So it looks like another boring leisurely stroll will have to suffice."

In spite of the easiness with which she took his arm, Maria's body was tense as they began to descend the stairs. Each footstep bounced off the wall like a ball in a squash court.

"Starting to think that they don't like guests," Maria commented dryly, eyeing the geometric webs scored into the walls with distaste.

"Hmm...I can sympathise to a degree," Jalal muttered, remembering all too vividly the last time the Shadowchasers HQ had been breached. A shoulder gently nudged his arm, and he snapped out of his musings to see Maria giving him a look.

"So are you done brooding, or do I need to give you the upgraded version of Adrian's speech?"

That drew a chuckle from the half dragon, which was quickly silenced. The echo of laughter going up the tall, empty shaft was more than a little disconcerting. "He would be disappointed to hear that you thought his speech needed upgrading."

He glanced down at the floor below, and saw that the Librarian and his wife had vanished - probably to somewhere a little less depressing. Seeing that Maria's gaze was still fixed, he realised he had not answered her question.

"I'm done," he assured her. "I'm not happy about it by any means, but worrying serves no purpose." He let out a heavy breath. "I just need to get used to the idea that this won't be the first time, and that this worry is probably going to revisit every time she gets into trouble...probably every day when she becomes a Shadowchaser."

Anxiety was teasing at his senses, and he did his best to push it to one side. Any concerns he had about Judy's future safety could wait until after he got her out of this little adventure.

"In my experience," Maria offered thoughtfully. "When parents know that their child is in a job where their life might be in danger, they never stop worrying."

Beneath her hat, her ears had gone perfectly still, and Jalal did not need to ask if she was thinking about her own parents.

"So how do they live with it each day?" he asked, gently. The kyubi shrugged.

"They come to terms with the fact that their child is doing something that makes them happy." She said. "That's the only way you can really win that sort of fight. Do you think Judy will be happy being a Shadowchaser?"

He thought about it, and realised to his shame, that he had never actually asked Judy if it would make her happy. After almost a year of grieving for her father and piecing herself back together after such a dramatic upheaval, she had just started asking for training - tentatively at first, and then with more conviction as she had come to realise that the answer would probably be yes, if she had a good reason for it. And she had concluded eventually, that the best reason would be to become a Shadowchaser. Since then, it was the only thing she had ever wanted to be.

"Yes," he nodded, sure of himself. "It's probably the only thing that would."

"Hmm," Maria nodded. "Sounds like someone else I know."

At some point, her arm had slid from his, and warmth tingled as he felt her fingers interlock with his. He gave them a squeeze.

"It's not the only thing that makes me happy."

Her cheeks went pink, in spite of the gloom that seemed to permeate the stairs. This far down, it was getting heavier, as though trying to push through the spells that kept them safe, and much harder to simply ignore. It occurred to Jalal that Judy and the girls would have had no magic to shield themselves if they had come down here, save for Judy's inherent dragon ability to resist spells to a degree. He wondered what sort of insecurities or memories it might have drawn out of them - he did not have to guess too hard for Judy.

"Are you alright?" he asked, seeing Maria waver slightly on the edge of the step. She nodded.

"Yeah...just starting to feel it a bit." She shivered. "They really don't want visitors. It's not just the spell either - these walls are a bit trippy."

She had a point - the geometric shapes that climbed the walls were starting to make Jalal's eyes hurt. He had to give the drow a grim sort of acknowledgement. Not only did they have a talented spellcaster among them, but they had an eye for unnerving design.

"We're almost there," the half dragon pointed out. Sure enough, they were only one rotation from the bottom. "Do you want me to try a more powerful counterspell?"

She shook her head. "It's fine. I put my demons to bed a long time ago."

It was true. And for that matter, so had Jalal. Still, he could feel them trying to crawl back out as they took those last few steps. Demons never truly went to sleep - that was why they were demons.

The doorway from the staircase was a high arching structure, and walking through it was like having a heavy black cloak suddenly whipped off your shoulders. The spell's reach did not extend past the door, and Jalal's senses reeled a little from the sudden relief. By his side, Maria took a deep, cleansing breath, and let it out heavily, clearly glad to be out in spite of her earlier reassurance.

She blinked twice, before nudging Jalal in the arm and nodding. Against the wall of the ornately decorated chamber, Adrian and Mei were wrapped in a snuggly-looking embrace, with the Librarian affectionately running his fingers through his wife's hair. She looked better than she had sounded five minutes earlier, and as Adrian whispered something in her ear, she managed a small smile.

"You guys are so cute I could wrap you up and put you in a shojo manga," Maria commented, pulling their attention to the door. Both of them started blushing.

"Says the woman with pink hair and fox ears," the Librarian's ears were fluttering - it was very rare to see his friend embarrassed, and Jalal allowed himself a moment to commit the image to memory.

"I don't recommend arguing with Adrian over who's cuter," the half dragon advised his girlfriend, while trying with some difficulty to conceal his smirk.

"Thank you, Jalal."

"He'll just break out the kitty eyes and the sparkles, and then we'll be in all sorts of trouble."

"Hey!" Adrian's lip jutted out into a pout, that sent Jalal and Maria into giggles. It dissolved as his wife tweaked one of his ears affectionately.

"Let's go. This chamber, while magnificently decorated, is really creeping me out."

As they headed together for the door, Jalal realised that Maria had not let go of his hand yet. And, he decided, as he gave her fingers another squeeze, he was absolutely fine with that.

OOO

Death was a paralytic.

Judy knew this well.

As Emily's body seized against the force of the fangs piercing her leg and stomach, all she could do was watch, her heart beating away in her chest. It did not take long for her friend's limbs to go slack against the webbing, and the spider crept forwards, silk already being excreted between its spinnerets. The jolt of heavy steps along the web shook Judy from her daze. It did not feel real. It could not be real, because that would mean Emily was-

Dead. Just like dad.

Her sword was in her hand, and her body thrummed with rage. She would not let it happen again!

The web was sticky, but she was beyond the hold of it. Carefully, she crawled her way a precious meter up the web until she was directly behind the back left leg. Emily was almost completely wrapped, like a sick Christmas present. High above from the rim of the pit, Maureen was chuckling. Fury burned through Judy, and she drew her sword and swung for the hairy leg, which was almost as thick as she was.

Metal clanged against the limb, and pain shot up her wrist and arm like fire. It was like hitting a steel bar, and the spider did not even glance up from its meal, wrapping the last of Emily's head from sight. She was astonished - she had expected the beast to squish like all spiders did when you smacked them. A quick glance at the rest of its body told her that its entire exoskeleton was probably armoured in the same way, possibly having evolved to support such enormous mass.

Her eyes were drawn above her head to the spinnerets. It was like a wrinkly prune, and right now, she knew it was her only chance. Securing one foot beneath her, she pushed up and thrust her blade deep between the wriggling appendages. It sank in with a satisfying squish.

The beast shrieked and twisted, almost yanking Judy's arm out of her shoulder. She wrenched her sword free as the hairy body whirled on her, fangs already drawn against this new threat. With a yelp, Judy slipped between two of the huge thick ropes of web, and dropped deeper into the hole as the dangerous fangs pounced. She landed with a bounce on the next web down, her teeth clacking together painfully from the impact. High above, someone - probably Maureen - was shrieking orders.

Hissing at her furiously, the spider weaved its way gracefully between the webs, its eyes fixed on her as she pulled herself off the sticky silk. It was too thick and heavy-duty to cut through this close to the middle, and as the front feet touched down on her level, her unstable platform shook, almost sending her over onto her butt. Carefully, Judy darted around the outside legs, narrowly missing the pair of fangs that snapped for her, diving beneath the belly, and thrusting upwards. Her wrist twisted back from the impact, as the tip of the blade jarred against the exoskeleton. Even the belly felt like it was coated in titanium.

"Don't just stand there!" Maureen was shouting loud enough to raise the dead. "Kill her!"

"I can't! I might hit the spider!" Mora protested, though there was a hint of a smirk to her voice that said she was enjoying the spectacle.

"Oh what use are you?!"

Panting, Judy stumbled as the beast spun around in an attempt to locate the small, nimble prey that had slipped out of its grasp. Her wrist was throbbing, and she was pretty sure she had sprained it, but there was no helping it now. Gritting her teeth, she gripped her weapon again and thrust upward.

This time, the blade glanced off the edge of the armoured carapace and sank deep into flesh. Another hair-raising shriek tore free from the creature, and it staggered away as Judy twisted the blade deeper before ripping it clear. With a scramble of legs, the spider backed away, hauling its massive body up the wall back to the upper web, hissing furiously, but wary now. It was by no means intelligent, but it understood now that this fly bit back, and its six eyes watched her cautiously, as it hunched over its trussed up prey.

She could not keep up this game of cat and mouse forever - the further down the tunnel she went, the more likely it was she would be backed into a dead end. She glanced up between the legs at the blob of white that was her friend. Who knew how long Emily had before the venom damaged something permanently, or before she bled out from those nasty looking wounds?

Her hundreds of immediate concerns vanished from her thoughts, as all of the lights went out with a dramatic snap.

For a moment, there was silence, and Judy could sense nothing but her own breathing as her eyes adjusted to the sudden dimness. She could barely see her own sword in front of her, and anxiety immediately crawled over her skin. But high above, something immense shuffled in the darkness, assessing this new development.

And with sudden understanding, Judy realised what the spider was thinking.

There was far easier prey up there.

Almost as soon as she thought it, the frantic shouts began.

"Get the lights back up!" Mora was yelling, her voice tinged with sudden fear.

But there was no saving them now. With a rustle of legs, the web above Judy moved, and huge legs began to pick their way up the wall with practiced ease. There were fresh screams now, of alarm and terror, as the beast emerged from the hole, knocking the dead spotlights over with a clatter. It hissed as it observed its new surroundings. There was a grunt of someone swinging a weapon, before a short sharp shriek of fear and a squish of fangs put an end to their heroics. For a moment, there was silence, before a crunch of rock indicated eight long, armoured legs, scaling the balconies one by one.

Then the beast was gone, leaving Judy and Emily alone in the pit.

OOO

The screams and crashes froze all four of them in place in the doorway. Maria whistled.

"Somebody's having a party," she quipped.

"That's like no party I've ever been to," Jalal commented, as the floor began to rumble ominously. Something was tapping like legs on an angry march, and the crumbling sounds of rock being gouged out of the walls were getting clearer and clearer. By Jalal's side, Adrian went as white as his fur.

"Out of the way!"

He was not a second late, as a pair of legs appeared over the side of the balcony, hauling a huge, hairy body after it. The group scattered, as another set of legs appeared digging deep into the wall and ripping it out in huge chunks. Flattening its body it scuttled through the newly created gap, and charged through the room, its titanium exoskeleton crashing through the doorway like a battering ram and leaving its way clear up the Nightmare Stairs.

Jalal blinked hard, his mind trying to catch up to the trail of devastation left behind. Across the room, there was a soft rustle of cloth as Maria reappeared from behind her parasol. Adrian had escaped the rampage by turning himself into a kitten, and making himself as small as possible in the corner - he had failed dramatically in this respect, as his fur had poofed up in alarm giving him the appearance of a white feather duster. Mei was curled up in the opposite corner, trembling.

"...did everyone else just see that?" Jalal felt it best to check. He, Adrian and Maria had consumed three bottles of wine before coming down here after all. He got a round of stunned nods in response.

"That's a hell of a party!" Adrian spluttered, as he turned back into a human. His hair remained poofy, and he began smoothing it down.

"Nyeeaaaahhhh…" Mei wailed, pressing herself against the wall, her face paper white. "It's scary! I don't like! I don't like!"

Jalal lifted an eyebrow at his best friend. "I take it Mei is afraid of spiders?"

"What tipped you off?" came the dry reply.

Heavy footsteps echoed behind them, and they turned as a single male dark elf appeared in what had once been a doorway. His wide red eyes followed the carnage, before settling on the four newcomers with a gasp of surprise.

"...oh! It went that way," Jalal said, with a sarcastic finger pointing towards the staircase. The male wisely turned tail and fled in the opposite direction.

"So much for a subtle visit," Maria pointed out, resting her parasol over her right shoulder.

"Why does that thing exist?!" Mei gave another squeak of terror as rock crunched from the next door room, as the spider crawled its way to the top.

"Don't worry, love," Adrian replied in a cheerful voice. "It's just a demon from the underworld that wants your soul!"

The assistant Librarian gave a wail and tried again to press herself into the wall. It resisted stubbornly.

"We should get up there," Maria said, Chivalry already drawn and ready by her side. "If it gets to the surface-"

However much he wanted to charge down and rescue the girls, Jalal knew that she was right. Their first duty was to keep the veil intact, which would be impossible to do if there was a twenty foot spider running around the streets of central London.

"Okay, monster splatting it is!" Adrian declared, whirling and holding a hand out to help his wife off the floor. "C'mon Mei. Let's go have a fight!"

"But it's scary!" the blonde woman whined.

"You have fire magic! Just set it alight!"

"...excuse me?" Mei drew herself upright, an accusing look in her eye. She was an inch taller than her husband, and it showed now. "You want me to set fire to something?"

Adrian groaned. "Yes! Really!"

"Awesome!" suddenly beaming at the prospect of some casual pyromania, Mei bounced on her heels and dashed for the staircase.

"Wow…" Maria blinked. "That was...dramatic."

Adrian shrugged.

"Some women like shoes. Some like yoga...my wife likes fire."

OOO

Mora had never known chaos like this.

She knew the feel of a fight, and no detail escaped her now when she engaged someone in combat. But this was not combat - it was slaughter. And everything blurred into a confusing rush of noise and images. Bright pushing her down as the front legs knocked the useless spotlights flying with a crash into the nearest wall. Kone shrieking as those venomous fangs sank into her chest, the spider shaking her like a dog with a rag before tossing her limp body off to one side. Her mother shouting orders that nobody obeyed, because they were too busy running for their lives.

She must have run too, for she could not remember how she came to be standing in the shelter of the nearest corridor, drawing air heavily into her lungs, as the spider's legs began to scale the wall like a ladder. There was a crash that rumbled the entire city as it battered its way through the wall to freedom.

"My lady?" Bright was calm, in spite of the disaster raging above them. She gave a sharp nod.

"Kishen!" she barked, finding her second bodyguard doubled over against the opposite wall. He squeaked as though she had struck him with her sharp command, and she rolled her eyes. "Oh stop being such a baby! Round up as many men as you can, and get them up top-"

"No!" the shriek reverberated off the walls, and plunged the corridor into total silence. Maureen's eyes were swimming with glee. "Let it climb!"

Mora gaped, stupefied at her mother. "Are you insane?! If it hits the surface, the Shadowchasers will find where it came from! And how forgiving do you think they will be to the community who released that thing, and broke down the veil with it?"

"There won't be any Shadowchasers left to find us," Maureen hissed. "My pet will consume everyone in its path! Every filthy human and Shadowchaser will fall to it, until there is nothing left but us." An almost child-like giggle escaped her. "Lolth will be pleased!"

Kishen and Bright were both taking a few careful steps back, as the leader turned to gaze rapturously up at the huge hole in the wall where the spider had crashed its way toward the surface. Her breathing was quick and harsh, and it took Mora a moment to realise that this was what her mother looked like when she was excited. A shudder curled its way through her body.

"My lady?" Bright was by her shoulder, whispering into Mora's ear as though their leader was an easily startled farm animal. Mind made up, Mora seized both of her bodyguards and dragged them down the corridor.

"Get going!" she hissed, tossing Kishen at the staircase. He blinked at her in confusion.

"But, your mother-"

"Has lost it," Mora declared bluntly. "Get as many men as you can and get up there. If you can't stop it, slow it down. I'll send Amile as soon as we find her." Now that Kone was dead, and Neela and Rhea missing or out of action, Amile was the only one of her mother's advisors left. Mora just hoped that she would listen to common sense over any lingering loyalty, and back her up on this. "Today, Kishen!"

The terrified man scampered up the stairs, leaving them both to listen to the sounds of him tripping over his own feet in haste.

"C'mon," Mora jerked her head towards the ceiling. "Let's go find your mother."

She was almost jerked off her feet as a hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her back into the shadow of the stairs.

"Forget my mother and yours, and listen to me for a moment," Bright's arms were either side of her shoulders, pinning her in place against the wall. "The Shadowchasers are coming. Everyone down here is going to be out of a home, if not arrested, before this evening is out."

She gave him the most condescending look possible. "Really? I hadn't noticed," she folded her arms over her chest, wishing they had a little bit of space - it was very hard to think when he was this close. "We're all going down tonight, but at least we won't have to add breaking the masquerade to our list of charges! That's all we can do right now!"

"You can leave."

Above their heads, the city was mobilising - someone had roused at least some of the men to fight - but Mora barely heard their footsteps.

"What?" she breathed.

"Leave now," he spoke calmly, even as that gaze reached out to her. "Go somewhere - anywhere. But get away from here."

Anger and disbelief flowed like a swollen river. Had everyone lost their minds today? "Are you insane?" she demanded, repeating the very question she had asked her mother not a minute earlier. "I can't leave! Where would I-?"

The rest of her question was mumbled half heartedly into a desperate kiss. She yanked away from it, her head slamming back into the wall.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"You said if you did not want me to speak plainly, you would tell me," his voice was urgent now, as the sounds of rock being brutally torn apart high above them began to echo alarmingly through the tunnels. "I'm speaking plainly now. The Shadowchasers will never let you go if you stay here. Your mother is in too deep, and she's not smart enough to know when to quit. But you are. Let her take the blame for this, and run."

Inside, the long hidden part of her that revelled in exploring the surface screamed with longing. But no sooner had it made itself heard, when a creeping feeling stole over her mind like an unwelcome insect.

"They will hate me," she whispered, shame already flooding her like she had already committed to it. "Every drow in the world will say that I ran. That I am a coward."

He gave her a look. "They already hate us – that's what we do! We're raised to hate each other from birth. Staying or going won't change that."

She knew that was not true - there was a very special kind of loathing reserved for deserters in their culture. But did it matter at the end of the day? Maybe he was right.

What does he know? a little voice whispered in her mind. He is just a male. You are a priestess. Your life belongs to your community and your goddess, not to the light of the surface...

Hands were cupping her head, as though trying to shut the voice out.

"Get out now - I'll come with you and keep you safe. You can be who you've always wanted to be, with no one to belittle you, or hold you back."

He's in love with me, she realised, with a flush of despair and confusion. The surface - the urge to escape - called to her like never before. She was not ready for this…

He's a fool, the voice caressed her mind, sending a shudder through her. Lolth's chosen do not run and hide. They stay and fight...

It was so noisy. The chaos of the spider. Her mother's words. The voice whispering in her mind. Bright holding her close against the wall. There was too much information, all clamouring for her attention. Her head reeled, trying to process it all, even as that horrible prickling sensation continued to nudge at her mind like a thousand tiny legs…

Bright tensed before his body filled her vision, slamming her hard into the wall. The smell of blood sliced through her confusion, and her bodyguard growled before sliding to his knees. She barely had time to process the knife in his back before a hand grasped her by the throat and began to crush her windpipe. Her world reeled as the blood was violently severed from her brain, and she dug her fingernails hard into the grip desperate for relief.

"I always knew you were a worthless, thieving bitch," her mother's voice was almost feral. For the second time that night, Mora felt the press of cold steel against her neck. "But a coward too? I never expected that!"

The insult was twice as damning when it came from her mother. Something flared to life in her chest, and she reached for the knife in her boot, bringing it up and slashing deeply at her mother's wrist. She yelped and dropped the knife, staggering away with a gash open along her arm, creeping up towards her thumb. Air rushed straight back into Mora's lungs, but she did not have time to savour it. Her mother made another furious lunge, a knife in each hand, a mad spark lighting up her eyes.

She's going to kill me, Mora realised, blocking one knife and deflecting the other. Behind her, Bright was slowly trying to rise, reaching for his own knife, but her mother backed away, putting a good few meters between both women, before lashing out and kicking the male drow in the face. He went down hard, blood spurting from his nose.

No. Mora though, clenching her jaw and steadying knives in both hands. I'm going to kill her first.

And with a scream of rage, over a hundred years in the making, she flung herself into the fight.

OOO

"Are you sure it's safe?"

Peering over the edge of the pit, Becky gave the half dragon a raised eyebrow.

"It's an electrical cable. It was live two minutes ago. It is currently secured by a generator somewhere down that corridor. I deactivated said generator by smacking the buttons and hitting it with a chair. Of course it's not bloody safe! But I didn't see any convenient lengths of rope on my way here, so it's going to have to do."

Even as she spoke, she backed away from the pit and crept after the cable to check the spot where it vanished into the wall. She skirted widely around Kone's body, still staining the rocks dark with her blood. She was not entirely certain why she was tiptoeing, for the drow had fled for their lives, and the spider was long gone, the crumbling hole in the top floor wall framing its exit. She hoped that it did not make it up to the surface - she was not sure that London was ready for the insect equivalent of Godzilla rampaging around its streets.

"I know you said the veil protects regular people from seeing monsters everywhere they go," she broached, as she made her way back to the hole in the ground. Deep below, Judy was securing the end of the cable around Emily, so that they could pull her up once she had made the climb. "But how does it hide something as big as a spider?"

"It doesn't," Judy replied bluntly, giving Emily a little shake to make sure that she was well and truly glued to the web. "If that thing hits the surface, the veil will be ripped open for everyone."

"And that would be bad?" Becky guessed, crouching by the edge of the pit. She was starting to get the feeling that nothing ended well in this sort of scenario. Around her hands, stray cobwebs floated up from the pit to play around in the draft.

"Catastrophic," Judy assured her, cautiously putting one foot on the wall, and testing her weight. The cable did not shift. "When people get their eyes forcibly opened, it can drive them mad."

"Oh great," Becky rolled her eyes. "No pressure then. Only the sanity of the entire world on our shoulders."

"I said if it hits the surface," Judy point out to her, deciding that the cable was safe enough, and starting her long climb to the top. "If it can climb up the enchanted staircase and some really tight tunnels and if it doesn't run into any Shadowchasers on the way."

A single eyebrow was lifted, as she struggled up to the next ledge. "You're pretty confident of rescue." Becky commented.

"Did I mention that my legal guardian runs the Shadowchasers?"

Becky facepalmed, and spluttered as she accidentally inhaled a handful of cobweb in the process. Peeling them off her lips, she glared down into the hole. "Okay first Emily's magical Library, then that little loophole about fighting with duel monsters, and now your guardian is leader of a secret organisation of magical police. Any other information which could potentially save my life that you'd like to share with me?"

"...he's a half dragon too?"

"Of course he is." Her huff turned into a yelp as Judy's foot slipped off a ledge, and she dropped a meter down the hole. The cable yanked taut, but managed to hold the half dragon's weight. The loose rubble scattered in a shower of dust before plunging down the dark hole. Both girls listened for the tell tale clatter of it striking the bottom of the hole, but no sound materialised.

"Do not try this at home," Judy grunted as she reached for another foothold that was further away but far more secure.

"Yeah, try it in someone else's home," Becky quipped back, wiping sweat off her brow. "Wait, so is that why you want to be a Shadowchaser? Because your half dragon guardian leads it?"

Judy took a moment to catch her breath, before wedging her foot into another crevasse and pulling herself up further. She was now half way up the side of the pit.

"Kinda," she admitted. "I mean, I didn't always. Like any self respecting eight year old, I wanted to be a Disney Princess."

Laughter bubbled up from Becky's throat, chiefly because she had harboured a similar ambition at that age. "What changed?"

Judy's smile grew a little fixed, and she direct the comment to her next foothold. "Life has an interesting way of shuffling your priorities. Dad died. Jalal took me in. Maybe if I'd been able to help, instead of just waiting to be rescued…" she shook her head, briskly. "Anyway. Suddenly being a princess wasn't that appealing anymore."

Becky wondered if she should point out that modern feminism often meant that a lot of Disney princesses tended to save themselves these days, instead of waiting around to be rescued. From the look on Judy's face though she suspected that would not go down well, so she wisely shut her mouth. She had a feeling that Judy did not want pity, though it certainly did not stop Becky from feeling it for her. She could not imagine that there was such a thing as a good age to lose your parents, but eight was cruel - old enough to understand what death was, but too young to understand why it had to happen.

"And anyway," Judy growled as a particularly hard to reach ledge forced her to stretched her legs further than comfortable. "It's not like Jalal told me I was taking this job. I've just never wanted to be anything else." She huffed a few strands of hair from her face. "Well...maybe a violinist. But you can't really make money off that unless you're really good."

Becky blinked. "You play violin?"

"Grade six. I needed a way to fill the nights. Half dragons only sleep about four hours."

"Huh…" Becky blinked, before smiling, pleased that she and her new friend had something in common. "I did singing, but I only got up to grade three."

She dropped flat onto her stomach as Judy came within grabbing range. A few tugs later, she was up and over the edge.

"Ahh sweet ground!" Judy flopped onto her back, looking very pleased with herself. "Whoa, did it do that?!"

She pointed to the giant spider-shaped hole in the top floor.

"Yup," Becky nodded. "And at the risk of it returning home for a snack, I say we remove our crazy munchkin from the scene."

Taking up the cable once again, they began to pull. Becky frowned as they encountered resistance. The sticky webs clung to the wrapped cocoon, reluctant to release their friend.

"Put your back into it!" Judy goaded, cheerfully.

"Hey, not all of us can have mythical superpowers." Becky returned dryly, letting out a small cheer as Emily finally began to peel away from the web. "And speaking of mythical things, where on earth did they get such a big spider?"

"I have no idea," Judy shook her head. "Mora's mother seems to think that Lolth gave it to them."

"...did she?" Becky asked nervously. She was okay with giant spiders, but if there were going to be deities showing up next, she would need a nap first. There was only so much her brain could take in one day.

"It's possible," Judy shrugged. "But I think their illustrious leader is a few cards short of a full deck, so it's more likely they just happened across a very big spider, and she read into it too far. Drow have been known to keep them as pets."

A few of the threads snapped, as Emily's cocoon finally broke free of the web, and hit the wall, none too gently.

"Oooh that's going to leave a mark," Becky winced guiltily, as both of them started pulling. Meter by meter, the limp body started to rise up the side of the wall like a thick white slug.

"Yeah, she won't thank us for that," Judy nodded in agreement, tossing a few strands of hair out of her face, as they worked. "You're not scared of spiders then?"

"Nope. Bees, yes. And I give snakes a very wide berth. If you've ever watched your uncle being chased by a black mamba you'd understand."

"Mmm…" Judy nodded, in a thoughtful fashion, and Becky's shoulders slumped.

"Oh no...really?" she asked.

"Well I've yet to meet a race of bee people," Judy admitted, giving a sympathetic smile, before going back to the task of hauling their friend to safety. "But yeah. Snake people are called ophidia."

Becky gave a shudder. "Great. This evening is getting better and better. Any other species or deities I should stay away from?"

Judy pursed her lips. "If you ever run into a five-headed dragon called Tiamat, turn and run in the opposite direction."

"...I think I need to lie down," Becky muttered weakly, as they dragged Emily to the edge of the hole. Not feeling like moving while she processed all the new information, Becky took the full weight, as Judy knelt down to haul her over the edge and onto solid ground.

"You weigh a tonne Emily," she groused, rolling her flat onto her back, and slicing through the cable with her sword. Even though Judy had assured her when she had arrived, seeing the slow rise and fall of Emily's chest through the web was a huge relief to Becky, and some of the anxiety wound through her body like an elastic band eased.

"Does she do that thing with you too?" she asked, finding the knife she had pilfered earlier and slicing away at the sticky membrane around Emily's face. In spite of her friend's reassurances, she was well aware that it was nothing like sculpting. "Where she thinks you're calling her fat?"

"My God, yes! All the time!" Judy said, her voice huffy with exasperation. "I don't know what she's complaining about - all her weight is in her boobs! What was it she once said on facebook?" She adopted a smug voice. "Foxblades. Holding skyscrapers up with our cleavage for almost thirty years."

Becky snorted, as she peeled back the last of the web, bringing her friend's face came into view. She was definitely still breathing. There was a nasty colour to her skin, but it was the pale sickness that came from venom, not the blueish purple tinge that indicated cyanosis.

"She needs a hospital," she concluded.

"I agree," Judy was nodding, her eyes scanning the height of the city. "Let's find an exit. I don't fancy leaving the way we came in." She gestured with the hilt of her sword towards the ceiling, where the large hole was still visible. "Think you can carry her? I'll be more use defending."

"No joke," Becky commented idly, as she slung Emily over one shoulder. She wasn't light by any means, but she could manage a fast waddle. "I need to go back to the gym. I'm feeling distinctly un-badass compared to you."

Judy snorted. "I've just been lucky tonight. Dragons have weaknesses too."

Becky raised a sceptical eyebrow, as they set off for one of the tunnels. "Such as?"

"We can have fears just like humans can. And we're easily distracted by shiny things," Judy admitted. "Some species worse than others. Jalal has a weakness for good food. My dad liked to collect artwork with beautiful women in it."

A smile that was equally amused and sad slipped onto her face. The sight of it made Becky want to hug her, as they picked their way through broken equipment and dead bodies. It was a bit of levity, which she sorely needed. A reminder that for every vampire, giant spider and snake person that she now knew to exist out there, beneath it you still had similar moments of happiness and grief.

An unsettling thought dawned, as they cautiously advanced down the nearest corridor.

"Hey Judy?"

"Yeah?"

"...just for my own peace of mind, Slenderman isn't real is he?"

The look Judy gave her was one of flat, uncontrollable terror, and it made Becky smile. It was a relief to know that even the badass half dragon had her own irrational fears.

"...not that I've seen. But…"

"But what?"

"Well...this is the other side of the veil. Who knows what's really real?"

OOO

A/N: Almost there! Just one more chapter to go. Don't forget to review!

Shadowchaser Files

Mei Bennu-Spritter, The Assistant Librarian

"Fire solves all the problems and if it doesn't, I just haven't used enough of it yet!"

During his tenure as Librarian, Adrian has performed a number of actions that have caused others to question his sanity. One of the most notable was when he allowed an odd group of teenagers and young adults to use the Library as a base of operations for their Mary-Sue hunting group, in a vain effort to curb their fangirl-driven caffeine-fuelled vigilantism. Rather than temper the group however, Adrian got swept up in the movement, joined their ranks and fell in love with the second in command.

But that's a story for another day.

Years on from that, Mei now serves as Assistant Librarian, as well as holding the title of Adrian's long suffering, overly sarcastic but deeply loyal wife. She briefly served as Librarian, while Adrian was indisposed on account of being dead for nine months, but now splits her time between Mary-Sue hunting, and managing the day to day running of the Library while her husband is out retrieving books. She is polite and happy to help visitors, however intruders, the arrogant, and rude people can expect dry wit, a sharp tongue and enough sarcasm to cause a flood of biblical proportions.

Unlike her husband, Mei does not have a broad range of magic to call upon, and her ability to use every day spells is somewhat limited. She makes up for this by being a master of Juari-Ken, an ancient style of fighting which combines fire attacks with swordplay. Her sword is four foot long, named Nephthys, and will shrink down to a pendant when not in use. She has a line of hieroglyphs tattooed up the inside of each arm, signifying her mastery of her chosen fighting style. She can flashstep, and takes great pleasure from being faster than her husband.

Like most residents of the Library, Mei has several hobbies to keep herself from going mad. She is a professional belly dancer, mostly performing Egyptian, Gothic and Tribal Fusion, and gets supremely angry when she hears anyone comparing it to erotic dancing. Being of tall stature, she also utilises her spare time to make her own clothes.

Origins: As with Adrian, Mei began as my author avatar in the Anti-Cliche and Mary-Sue Elimination Society. Since the underlying joke of the series was the hypocrisy of combatting Mary-Sue's with Self-Inserts, I tried very hard never to take Mei (or indeed, any of the characters) too seriously. It was a remarkably liberating experience, and while I admit there was a lot of self-indulgence, I did my best to make her grow as a character (whether I've grown similarly in real life is up for debate).

In case anyone was curious, 7th Librarian and I are an inversion of the Real Life Writes The Plot trope. Adrian and Mei got together a year and a half before we did (though we got engaged first).

Deck: Since Mei serves as my avatar, I tend to use my real life deck for her. Unlike Adrian, Mei does not have a large variety of decks, and is very firmly married to the one. Her cards are dominantly spellcasters, with Endymion serving as a focal point. The only non-spellcaster in her deck is the Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, her favourite card. She makes it work by using Hand of Nephthys, often in conjunction with Apprentice Magician. She has no real set up, or strategy beyond "do as much damage as humanly possible until the life points reach zero". Though it is not perfect, this fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants attack is surprisingly effective.

Mei has never got to grips with Synchro Monsters and genuinely cannot be bothered to include any in her deck. Xyzs and Pendulums also give her a headache, and as a result, she refuses to use them.