3- The Second Attack

It was a day later when Lumen arrived back at Arachna castle. It was early in the morning, and he was alone, both of which were a bit unusual.

"Welcome back, Prince," said Igneous, glad to see that he'd returned safely. "But, may I ask, where is Princess Sparkle?"

Lumen groaned, barely looking up at the knight.

"She wanted to stay with Grasshop. Oh Sparkle, why do you like him better than me, your only brother?" He fell to his knees, dramatically.

"Prince…" Igneous wasn't sure how to respond. "I don't think that Sparkle likes him better, but he's probably her closest friend. She doesn't get the chance to play with kids her own age outside of the castle."

"Either way, what's to like about Grasshop? I had to stay overnight at his house, and let me tell you, I wouldn't do that again."

"Hey!" Hunter called, running into the room when he heard Lumen's voice. "How did your meeting with Buguese go?"

"It was nothing special," answered Lumen, who then took a deep yawn. "I got no sleep. Let's talk about it later."

"But, it's important!" Hunter yelled.

"I agree," added Igneous. "We should try and deal with this matter as soon as possible." Thinking strongly of Richter, he couldn't shake away his doubt about the boy's entrance. Spider Rider or not, that timing was too fishy.

"Oh, alright," Lumen answered. "Buguese said that he would send out messenger bugs to search through Arachna, and then inform us if anything happens. He gave us some too for emergencies. He is willing to help us stop this enemy, if necessary."

"Well, that's good to know," Hunter said. "Umm… Lumen. There's something we should probably tell you about, before you go to bed."

"What's that?" he asked, boredly.

"Well…" Hunter walked out of the room for a moment. "Hey, Richter, come here!"

In a moment, the red-head stepped into the room.

"Yes?"

"Richter, meet Lumen. Lumen, meet Richter."

"Uh… hi," said Lumen. "Who is this, Hunter?"

"He's-" Hunter began.

"A Spider Rider," Richter spoke up, flashing his manacle.

"Really?" Lumen wondered. His interests were slightly perked.

"Yeah, but it's more than that," Hunter added. "He's an Earthen too."

Richter simply nodded.

Lumen stared at him for a moment, curiously.

"How did you get to the Inner World, exactly? I didn't think that was common. Though, since Hunter and Mantid did it before, maybe I just underestimated how easy it is."

"Oh," he said. "Geez, I had to explain this to all of them yesterday. I used to hear stories about this world, so I went looking for it. Then, I fell into a portal one day. And no, before you ask, this didn't have anything to do with a pyramid."

"I wasn't going to ask," said Lumen. "But… do portals to the Inner World just come out of nowhere?"

"It's suspicious, isn't it?" Igneous asked the prince.

"I don't know about suspicious," Lumen said. "Just confusing. And this on top of what happened yesterday. I really don't have the strength to think that much. So, good night everyone. Even if it's the morning."

Hunter and Igneous gave each other a look, but neither intended to stop him.

"Hey, you guys!" Corona then came into the room, seeming concerned, with Magma behind her.

"Corona, what is it?" Hunter asked.

"We found this outside the castle!" In Corona's hands was a squirming messenger bug.

"Any idea what it's doing here?" Magma asked. "If the Insectors are coming after us now too, I don't know what we're going to do."

"Oh!" Hunter exclaimed. "I don't think it's anything bad. Lumen said they were being sent around to look for more attacks. So… does that mean…"

Corona let go of the messenger, who began chirping loudly.

"But… what does it say?" Magma wondered. "Any of you guys fluent in Insector?"

They shook their heads.

"I know!" Richter exclaimed. "I mean, I don't know what it's saying, but I think I know what it wants. Let's follow it."

Hunter looked to him, surprised. But, that probably was the best idea at the moment.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'll go with you. Corona, why don't you come too?"

"Uh… right!" Corona said.

"Alright," Igneous said. "Magma and I will deal with protecting the castle. Just be careful… very careful."

"We will!" Corona answered.

Hunter and Corona called out their spiders, once they'd gotten outside the castle. Noticeably, Richter didn't do the same.

"Hey… You have a spider, don't you?" Corona asked. Now that she thought of it, that hadn't actually come up in conversation the day before.

"Well… yeah," Richter said.

"Then, call it!" Corona replied. "That way, we can make it there faster."

"I can't," he answered.

They looked at him in surprise.

"Well… I had a spider. But I seem to have lost it," explained Richter, an embarrassed look on his face.

"How do you lose a spider?!" Hunter exclaimed. "Though, sometimes I'd be kind of tempted to lose Shadow."

"Excuse me?!" Shadow exclaimed.

"I'm kidding…" Hunter answered nervously.

"It's not so much as I misplaced my spider, but he ran away," Richter corrected. "He's a pretty big spider, black and blue mostly, a sleek body… he answers to Wave. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No, I haven't seen any spiders besides the ones we know," Corona responded.

"Me neither," Hunter said. "Shadow?"

"No," the spider answered.

"Well, perhaps we'll find him," Venus suggested. "It's no good for a Rider to be without their spider."

"Alright, Richter. Get on Shadow with me," Hunter decided.

"You don't mind?" asked Richter, though he began climbing on as he spoke.

"Of course not," replied Hunter. "Now, we have to hurry."

'Well, that was almost too easy,' Richter thought to himself.

The three rushed after the messenger bug, until finally it stopped outside of Padan village.

"Hello!" Hunter called. He and the other two Riders, now dismounted from their spiders, walked the streets in search of the shadow man.

"Was the bug wrong?" Corona wondered.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" A shrill scream could be heard nearby.

"Guess not," said Shadow, from within the manacle.

Up ahead was the shadow itself, who was smashing at the walls of a house with his sword. Several villagers were watching on in horror.

"Please! Help me!"

A young girl stared at them from the window of the house, wavy blue hair running down her back.

"Hang on!" Hunter yelled. "We're here now!"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, a glimmer in her eyes.

"Oracle's power!" Hunter yelled, beginning his transformation.

"Oracle's soul!" Corona called, joining Hunter in battle form.

Corona was quick to shoot an arrow at the shadow. It leapt away from the house, seemingly irritated.

"You're mine!" Hunter shouted. He lunged at the shadow, who still hadn't fully recovered from Corona's blow. Like before, the shadow began to fade.

"Hmm…" Richter said, as he watched on. "They're pretty good." He smirked to himself.

"Well, at least it's beat," Hunter said.

"Wait!" Corona exclaimed. A glow erupted from the spot where the shadow once stood. Then, in its place, another shadow appeared.

"It regenerated?!" Hunter exclaimed, stunned.

"Oh no!" the blue-haired girl screeched. "Please, you have to save us, Spider Riders!"

"Yeah, I know," Hunter replied. "Just hang on!"