Their plans hadn't changed, but their focus had. With revenge at the back of their minds with every step (and money for Lyndon), they were more calculating. Dahlia refused to let her magic burst from her with the same kind of unbridled certainty, and Kormac was always close by, watching the scenery and his friend grow more dim. They traveled to the spiders' cave, undisturbed by the words of the crazed hermit they met at the entrance.

"He lost his mind," Kormac said.

"He might have been poisoned," Dahlia said, "So let's make sure no one gets bitten."

"Are you sure we should be going in there?" Lyndon asked.

"It's the fastest route to the stranger and Magdha. The horadric portals have gone unused for so long that they've lost their power, so we have to activate them ourselves. Otherwise, we would have used those."

"My mistress calls to you," the hermit sang, "Just as she called to me. But I am her favorite. And you will be her dinner."

"Oh, just leave us alone," Dahlia whispered. They stepped into the labyrinth of spiders, actually shocked when some of the glowing eggs burst out with tiny hatchlings. The wizard dismissed of them quickly, their overwhelming mass being a clear danger to her and her companions. In fact, she could only call them tiny because of the larger, and then much larger ones that came afterward.

"I had a nightmare like this once," Komac said, his voice deep with disgust, "To think, we're living through it."

"I just wish we knew which way to go," Dahlia said, "This place is nothing but holes and mazes."

"Yes, and I think I've seen that exploded carcass before," Lyndon said.

"That's because we're taking the other route next to it that we didn't take before. It's like a... marker. An exploded, haunting marker that will never leave our dreams."

"If I ever do get my way, and we end up in bed together, I'm kicking you out before I go to sleep."

Kormac grunted his distaste. Dahlia shook her head. "I'll be kicking you first if you end up in my bed."

"Please, help me!" A woman's voice broke through their conversation. They couldn't see her, but they followed her voice, and charged through the maze. "She's coming for me!" They reached a distinctive amount of steps, where the hermit was standing.

"Come closer," he said, his whisper magnified by the emptiness of the cave, "Come closer, and feel my loving mistress's embrace."

His body burst in front of them, showering them with his death and the birth of a multitude of spiders. Kormac charged forward, piercing through several of them as lightning hit the multitude and killing the whole lot of them. Dahlia was pale as she walked up to the remains of the hermit.

"I don't want to meet his mistress," she said.

"Please, she's coming!" the woman shrieked, "I don't want to die like the others!"

Dahlia almost seem staggered by the terrifying aura of the cave. Kormac took a deep breath and reached out to her. "This is how we make our mark."

It took her a few seconds, but she shook herself from the fear. "You're right. Magdha may be behind this. She might be the mistress, and we can face her here rather than where we thought she was." They ran through the portal, and found the woman bound by a viscous web.

"It's too late! She's here. The Spider Queen!"

"Spider Queen?" Confusion and disappointment colored Dahlia's question, but she had no time to think as the largest spider of all came crashing down on top of all three of the adventurers. The Queen's fangs were almost too large for her own mouth, and her legs were covered with what should have been hair, but was actually a covering of spikes. Dahlia burned through her enough that she skittered away from them, leaving them with other spiders to die, but when it didn't work, she was proven to be stubborn enough to fight them on her own. Kormac's pike went straight through her head as she tried to bite him, and she crumpled to the ground, showering them with the treasures of those she had eaten before.

Dahlia dipped her wand in the acid that was coming off the dead spider and used it to free the imprisoned woman. She was grateful, but unsteady, and slowly walked them out of the cave to where they could finally see light again. And the light was glorious.