The spiders were bringing in a few victims to their cave. They crawled about their dark home and fed on living victims. All the while Tikal was still poisoned to sleep. The Spider guarding her greedily eyed a victim that one of the children had brought. It was inspecting its wrapped-up food for the best way to start devouring it. The food was fat, and heavy. The youngling must have been tired carrying it all this way. Before it could begin, the elder spider stabbed its arm into the youngling and threw it aside. She dragged the food the rest of the way—it was heavy indeed—and started to devour the still, living being. She hadn't eaten in days. And this fattened thing would be enough to sate her for another week at least.

Tikal was beginning to stir in her sleep. She moved just enough that the brood mother spider had felt it. She stopped her feeding to see if she was waking. The brood mother climbed up to her and started to stare at her. Tikal suddenly stopped. The mother waited. She readied her stinger, but Tikal did not move again. The poison was still working. So, the mother turned and crawled away, then began to eat again.

Tikal was left alone, dreaming another memory she had sworn she lived already. Her mind was hazy, unable to tell the passage of time. But she was anxious all the time. She didn't know why, or what was causing it. She only knew that something…was very wrong.

X

Shadow took point as the party fell in behind him. They moved at top speed to get by the spiders as quickly as they could. In the forest, the spiders had an upper hand. It was foolish to attempt skirmishes like this, usually, but progress demanded they take risks.

Despite the webs they had spun, the spiders were nowhere to be seen. The party was careful to not wiggle them in case the spiders detected their movements. Shadow stopped right at the border of the kingdom. The party stopped behind him. The webbing here was very thick. So much so, that it was impossible to see past.

"Sonic didn't mention this," Shadow said as he examined the black silken wall.

"Maybe it wasn't here before," Silver theorized.

Rouge dared to touch it and test its stickiness. "It's silky. So, its strong. They may not be using it as a trap for prey. Blaze, can you burn through it?"

"I might alert them," Blaze warned, "If that happens we'll have a hard time getting to the temple."

Not much of a choice, but the gamble was clear. Shadow gave her a nod. "Burn it. Omega, cover the back, I'll go through first. Silver, after me."

"Right," Silver nodded.

Blaze positioned herself next to the web wall and took a deep breath. She began to shimmer as heatwaves radiated off of her then with a push, sent a leg of fire to burn right through the wall. It broke apart like lamplight in a dark room. Shadow and Silver rushed past and looked to see if any spiders were nesting or waiting in ambush, but they were clear.

Silver gave Shadow a nod who returned it confirming what they both saw. "It's clear! Come on!"

The rest of the party followed until they heard a screeching in the distance. Rouge unsheathed her short sword. "Right on cue. Shadow, send them a volley."

Shadow nodded and took out his sword. He pointed it in a combat stance, making a battalion's worth of energy spears then thrusted his sword and sent them flying.

The spears hit the spiders, killing many and injuring more. But some got lucky and managed to get by without harm. Omega drew his ballista and quickly loaded a bult before firing an incendiary pot at them. the fire trickled down from the trees and caused some of the spiders to burn and scream.

Any that were getting too close, Silver picked up and threw back. But enough got by that eventually, their swords would see use.

"Careful! Keep moving!" Rouge shouted, "Don't let them circle us. Omega, Shadow, watch the tree tops! Silver, keep our path clear! Blaze, help me break off their pursuit!"

Rouge cut a spider in half as it jumped at her while Blaze lit her saber on fire then stabbed it into a larger one. It died quickly, letting her get away with Rouge as they ran after Omega and Shadow.

Silver, having taken the lead, tossed the spiders trying to close them in. He'd make sure to toss hard enough to break their skeletons and ensure they'd never get up. Shadow had sheathed his sword in favor of spawning spears to throw at the spiders in the tree webs. Some swinging over to land over top of them. But neither Omega nor Shadow allowed them to accomplish their ambushing technique. If the spiders got too close from the rear Blaze or Rouge would slow them down either by cutting a limb, burning them, or taking out their eyes. Rouge had a healthy supply of small knives she knew she could use well. And taking out the larger center eyes usually was enough to draw a spider away.

Silver drew his blade after throwing a spider back. Another had landed in front, so he cut off a front leg, and cut its face open, instantly killing it. He could see light at the end of the forest and ran towards it. "We're almost there, hurry!"

The spiders weren't fond of the sunlight, but they could tell that the light provided wouldn't be enough to drive the spiders away. They made it to the clearing and found themselves at a cliffside.

"We may have deviated from Sonic's route a bit," Silver remarked looking at the map.

There was still quite a heard of spiders behind them. Rouge turned and growled at the persistent creatures. "Blaze, lose them."

Blaze engulfed herself in fire then charged up a large ember which turned into an explosive wall of fire that crawled down the path of spiders. Most were charred to death, but the rest knew it was time to quit and screeched and whined back to their nest.

Blaze took a deep breath and about tumbled over. "Blaze!" Silver caught her and checked her.

"Sorry," She huffed, "That sometimes happens… I'll be alright."

"Here, get something to drink," Silver handed her his wine skin. She took a drink and sighed. "Better?"

"Much, thank you." She stood on her own and took a breath. "I just need to rest a bit."

"Don't overwork yourself," Shadow said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Try to leave the rest of the heavy lifting to me."

"Trying to play catch up, are we?" She jested with a tired smirk.

Shadow chuckled back with a smirk, but Rouge's gasp stopped him from retorting. "My god, look at this place."

The rest of the party looked out from the cliffside. Their was webbing as far as the eye could see. The sun was shrouded by clouds, leaving barely any light for the hideous scene. Worse still, they could see the colossal spider Sonic had mentioned in his report. It was perhaps, twenty miles away and as apparent as a mountain in the distance.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Silver said, staring at it.

"How are we supposed to kill that thing if it comes to us?" Rouge asked, completely disgusted.

"This is the result of a successful invasion," Omega observed. "If we do not stop them, this will be what becomes of the Acorn Kingdom. Survival in these conditions is near impossible."

"It doesn't matter how much we get paid; we can't let this happen. Where will we go if we give up?" Blaze asked, looking at her comrades.

Shadow shook his head. "There won't be anywhere to go if we fail. There is no life in this. For all we know, there are several kingdoms already like this. We need to find their source, and get rid of them."

"Do you think that colossal is the key?" Omega asked.

"I doubt it," Rouge shook her head, "But it's definitely serving some kind of purpose. Maybe an observative purpose. Or a prefect."

"We can focus on that later." Shadow looked at the map. "Let's find that temple. Can anyone see it from here?"

"I see a few structures in the south-west," Blaze pointed. "Two look infested."

Silver scratched his head. Seeing the spiders on top of their webs in the distance was a bit unnerving. "Let's not make a move until we're sure. We need to hit the right one."

"How do we know where not wasting time exactly?" Rouge asked as she crossed her arms and looked at the map.

"Rouge has a point," Agreed Silver. "They all could be guarding something. Or these are just a bunch of nests."

"I suspected as much as well." Blaze crossed her arms in thought and started to look over the map, "But Sonic said it stopped at the temple. He never said it stopped anywhere else. Why would it stop at the temple? And we can see they know how to communicate. Sonic was sure they were reporting to that thing. So, what were they reporting about?"

"We are currently twenty miles from the temple position," Omega pointed at a spot in the map. "We deviated nine miles from Sonic's path. If we head south-east for thirty minutes, we will find a safe path down the cliff. But if we jump the cliff, to the south, then turn south-west, we will get there faster."

"Sounds good enough to me," Shadow rolled the map up. "Omega, lead the way."

Omega nodded then slowly tilted himself over the side of the cliff and dropped. Rouge shrugged and jumped off after him with a bow and a backflip. Silver picked Blaze up with his psyche then jumped down. Shadow looked over the cliffside one more time and then down at the misty bottomless cliff and jumped off after them.

Omega landed with a heavy clunk but was unharmed. Rouge landed softly on her feet. Silver gently placed Blaze down and then touched down after. Shadow landed on his feet with a thud and a kneeled position. He did a quick headcount as he got up then shook off the shock his body endured.

"Alright, step one is out of the way," Silver said positively with a smile under his helmet. "Now, let's go through another forest and find this temple."

"It's awfully foggy," Rouge said. She was a bit nervous, but she didn't show it. "Maybe we should have taken the long way. I don't like the look of this forest."

"I can detect any spiders within the next mile," Omega assured, "We will not be taken by surprise."

"How thick is the resistance?" Blaze asked.

Omega turned his head towards her. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Shadow shook his head. "We don't have a lot of time, Omega. Can you lead us to the temple with the least resistance?"

"Resistance may be the only path," Omega warned.

"Then we can take it slow. We knew this wasn't going to be easy. Let's just keep detection to a minimum. Blaze, no burning webs, and Omega, light steps."

"Understood." Omega gave a curt nod and began walking. The party followed behind him.

This forest was darker than the last. The canopies were heavily covered in black webbing making it tough to see. Light sources were dangerous since they could attract the spiders. This made trekking the forest much more dangerous.

Rouge easily attuned to the dark. But despite that, she hated maneuvering around the webs. "How did Sonic navigate through this?" She ducked under another web, guiding Shadow through it since he was less attuned to the darkness.

"Sonic may not have cared if he was spotted. He was moving so quickly they wouldn't have caught up with him," Shadow explained. He knew Sonic better than most.

"Maybe we should have gone alone, Shadow," jested Silver.

"Silver!" Blaze pat his shoulder scoldingly. "There would be no way I'd let you go alone. Even with Shadow."

Shadow turned resisting Rouge slightly to tell her he was pausing in step. "Is that mean something, Blaze? Do you think we couldn't survive?"

Blaze paused as well. She deadpanned at him as he stared in her direction. "I have no doubts of your survival, Shadow, only that you'd surpass my record." A smirk grew on Blaze's face. Even if Shadow couldn't see passed her helmet, he could clearly tell the look on her face. "Besides, Silver is my partner, and I'd be a terrible one if I let him go alone. Even with you."

Silver blushed and scratched his helmeted head. Shadow chuckled softly and tugged Rouge, letting her know he was ready to keep going. "It's good to have loyal friends. I should know a thing or two of those."

"Compliment accepted," Omega said maneuvering his armored pieces around the forest.

"Thank you, Shadow." Rouge pat his hand.

Omega stopped and held the party up. Rouge let go of Shadow and snuck close to Omega. "What is it?"

Omega was quiet. "Movement. They might suspect us."

"Then let's keep silent. My eyes are adjusted now. I can see just fine. Use hand signals from now on," said Shadow. He moved his hands and looked at everyone. Understood.

Everyone nodded. The party moved forward. The trip had taken hours at most. But because of Omega's foresight, they managed to reach the temple with little resistance. They stopped in front of the temple, about thirty meters away. They hid behind a log and got a view of the spiders. The temple was in a wide-open space, mostly devoid of trees, but covered in webs and guarded by spiders, sitting in place.

Rouge sighed and sat against the log then got everyone's attention. Any. Idea.

The group either shook their head or looked at the temple. Shadow waved his hand then answered. I. Distract. Blaze. Burn. Web. Door. Fall. Behind. Blaze. When. I. Done. I. Follow. Everyone.

Silver moved from the log and kneeled in front of him. You. Sure.

Shadow nodded. I. Fine. Ready. Now.

Everyone hesitated but then nodded and replied. Ready.

Shadow nodded once again and took off in a red blur. He started cutting the webs and getting their attention. Blaze waited for the spiders to give chase before she began burning through the webs.

"Do it! Now!" Shadow shouted as he threw a volley at the spiders. Blaze vaulted over the log then threw a ball of fire straight through the webs. The team ran behind her. She burned through the thick webbing sealing the entrance up the stairs then ran inside. Shadow finished the last of the spiders and could hear more coming. He darted into the temple then smashed a spear into the entrance to blow it and seal it off. The others were fighting inside the temple, and Shadow joined them quickly.

Having cleared the room, Blaze relit some of the torches and took one in hand. Following her example, the others took torches as well. It wasn't so much so they could see, but having the fire around that wasn't Blaze's would come in handy. And save her strength. It helped burn the rest of the webbing.

"This place is disgusting," Rouge said as she strutted around with her torch, lighting the walls up with the carvings. "These markings look like echidna."

Shadow looked at another wall and found an alter with a giant jewel on top. Several echidna appeared to be revering it. Maybe worshiping. It was hard to tell with the vagueness of the markings. But staring at the great jewel, Shadow suddenly gripped his head. He remembered an altar, a dark priest over his body, and a glowing red emerald hovering over him before he suddenly came back to reality and shook his head. He had enough of the carved image. But his hand idly reached back to his sword and caressed the large decorative guard.

Omega walked around without a torch. He approached another wall and placed his hand on a marking. "This mark is the same as the captain's."

"What? Let me see!" Rouge raced over with the others. They all saw the mark Omega was looking at. "He's right. Captain Knuckles wears that on his poncho… Why didn't he say anything?"

Shadow heard the stone at what was the entrance wiggle. "When we return you can ask him."

"Returning may be a problem," Silver said as he looked at Shadow. "Are you sure it was wise to seal the entrance?"

"It's keeping them from entering," Shadow replied, "If there's another way out, I'm sure we'll find it. otherwise, we'll make one."

"I'm getting the feeling this may have been a one-way trip," Rouge sighed as she followed Shadow to the next chamber.

Silver waved away her negativity. "No. If Shadow says we'll get out; we'll get out."

"I do not detect many plausible exits," Omega decided to pipe in. He meant to be helpful, but it was just harmful to Rouge's moral.

"Oh good…" Rouge rubbed her head. "This trip just gets better and better."

Shadow stopped as he saw a hole in the ground of the next chamber. He motioned for the others to wait while he entered alone. Shadow drew his blade and walked carefully into the giant chamber. He searched the top first, since most of the spiders preferred an ambush from above tactic. But the ceiling was too dark to tell for sure. He threw a weak spear that acted as a flare. What he saw was just as bad. Eggs.

"They're using this place as a nest…"

"Watch out! A matriarch!" Blaze shouted as she drew her saber and ran for his side. The others joined them.

A spider, giant in size with a leg span taking the entire room, climbed out of the hole, and started to hiss at them. The whole floor was covered in sticky webbing. And she seemed to hope to use that to her advantage.

"Blaze! Omega! Clear the floor! Spread out!" Rouge shouted as she jumped up, burning the web at her feet as she flew.

Blaze took a deep breath and let out a weak but fierce fire that burned at the floor webbing. Omega utilized his magic to do the same but at a weaker jet. He ran to the opposite side of the room. Shadow jumped up and attacked the matriarch's left leg while Silver struck at the right. Her chitin was thicker than the usual spider. But matriarchs weren't impossible to kill.

Shadow was the first to ever kill a matriarch. Sonic would boast killing the next. With several mercenaries, they believed this would be easy. But this matriarch had done something the others hadn't. It lifted its head and let out a deafening screech. The enclosed space made it worse. Rouge and Blaze gripped their heads and screamed in pain. Both had more sensitive ears then the others. Shadow and Silver gripped their heads as well. Omega, however, remained unaffected. But seeing how his party was suffering, he acted quickly. Omega rocketed his hand to the sealing and his body followed then he aimed his ballista at the matriarchs mouth and shot an incendiary at it.

The screeching stopped and the voice of the matriarch became raspy, but relatively quiet. With the ringing still in their ears and discombobulating them, Omega knew the fight would be mostly his until they recovered. He fired his other hand to the other side of the room and his armor body followed. He shot another incendiary at the face of the matriarch. It annoyed her and she spat a web at him. Omega was immediately trapped. But he started to burn away at the venom coated, sticky web. Shadow, had recovered first and coated his blade with chaos then raced around her hole and managed to cut off her right leg.

The matriarch collapsed against the temple wall with a raspy screech, still loud enough to hurt the others' ears. But the adrenaline rush made them fight the headaches to push on. The timing could not have been better. As several large spiders crawled from beneath her out of the whole and started to warm the room. Silver stretched his neck and hands then let out a yell as he created a powerful force that pushed most of the spiders back against the walls with bone breaking force. The crunching was nauseating, but the adrenaline high made everyone indifferent.

Blaze started to burn as the spider hole, doing little to the chitin covered matriarch, but otherwise, much to the other spiders. Rouge managed to fly up and get on the matriarch's back. She ran all the way to its face and stabbed one of the large eyes. It bucked up and let another raspy screech. Shadow cut the other front leg off. Omega, finally burned free of his web and landed on his feet from the drop. He pulled out his hammer and started fighting the soldier sized spiders.

The Matriarch, was unbalanced. She started pulling herself up from the hole to compensate the loss of limbs, but then she froze. Silver was holding her in place.

"Hold her still!" Shadow shouted, "Her stomach is exposed."

Silver was hard focused, but he was exposed to the spiders. Several were charging at him. "Shadow! Hurry!"

A wall of fire engulfed the spiders right before they touched him. "Silver, I'll cover you." Blaze killed a few with her blade then gave him a nod. He nodded back as a thank you.

Rouge managed the cut the other eye but and gripped for dear life as the matriarch was trying to buck her off again. Silver held tighter. Shadow finally positioned himself and pointed his sword by his head. It began to glow, and chaos energy formed around it. A new shape took form around the sword making it an entirely different weapon. Shadow pulled it back with one hand. "Chaos!" He thrusted forward and flew with it. "Lance!"

Shadow flew through the matriarchs exposed abdomen then came clean through the chitin back. Silver let it go and with one last raspy cry, the matriarch fell lifeless.

Blaze and Omega cut and smashed the last few Spiders, trying to climb out of the hole, then finally found a reprieve as the spiders retreated. Everyone breathed hard.

"So… You're telling me… you killed…that… on your own?" Rouge huffed as she finally took her blade out of the eye of the spider. She looked down at its face and nearly vomited. She found it so unnerving to look at and it wasn't any better with two eyes cut open. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Shadow flicked his blade then sheathed it. "This is three times the size the matriarch I killed. This one is a fraction of the size of the colossal and that's saying something." Shadow crossed his arms as he stared at it.

Rouge flew to his side. "And the screeching…! I can barely hear you!"

"Sonic said that his matriarch was only twice the size of a brood mother." Silver examined the abdomen of the spider. "This is far passed that."

"Do you think it has something to do with this place?" Blaze asked, "That colossal spider is hard to miss. And is bigger than anything we've seen."

"We need to hurry," Omega warned, "Many spiders have heard her cry. They are coming to avenge her. I see a labyrinth down this whole. They are gathered in a larger chamber… a powerful energy lies within."

"There's our answer," Silver said, his signature positivity peaking again, "One last push. We're tired but we can make it."

"I agree," Shadow nodded, "Blaze, can you keep going?"

Blaze felt her chest and resolved herself. "I haven't even begun to fight."

Shadow smirked under his helmet then looked down the whole. "Silver, can you see if it's safe?"

"I'm sure it's safe, I'm more concerned if the matriarch will fall on top of us while we descend." As if on cue, the matriarch started to slide down. Her large size rumbled the ground and made them run back. Some of the eggs in the ceiling fell and cracked on the ground. Some even landed on two of the poor mercenaries. Rouge was one such victim.

"Euch!" She threw off an underdeveloped spider that started twitching to death. "Oh gross! We'd better get paid five, no, ten times the amount we're usually paid for this. If not, I'm deserting! Oh god that smell!" She finally vomited on the floor.

Shadow tended to her to help her get cleaned. Omega was the other victim. He wasn't as bothered by it. he merely threw the underdeveloped spiders off his armor and continued to walk back to the hole. "Matriarch hazard has been removed. We can descend safely without it crushing us now."

"Alright…," Silver sighed, "I'll scout ahead and let you know."

Shadow gave him a nod before he jumped down. Blaze rushed over to the hole. "Be careful!"

Shadow shook his head with a light inaudible chuckle. Getting down is the easy part. Getting back up, especially if we get chased, will be difficult."

"What kind of energy do you sense, Omega?" Asked Rouge, "How big is the artifact?"

Omega paused. "Unclear. It is equal to your size yet… puzzlingly weak now. As if it's being suppressed."

Blaze tilted her head. "Suppressed? Why?"

"Unclear," Omega replied, "They could be saving it for something, using it as a source, or perhaps easting the energy away. But it makes little sense. Spiders do not tolerate the light well. And this energy, is pure chaos."

"Pure?" Shadow's arms dropped slowly. Shadow understood chaos energy more than most. His best analogy to explain it was like water. Pure chaos was like clean water, which could be used in many manners and was much more preferable. It's mostly sought after for its ability to heal. But in contrast, the chaos energy Shadow possessed was akin to Ocean water. Harmful to use on people, but useful as a tool. Much more plentiful, and therefore arguably more powerful.

Another analogy could be iron and steel. Steel is not natural and must be made in a specific manner. In such a way, tainted chaos, the power Shadow possessed, could be seen as stronger. Iron made only of its one element wasn't considered as strong. But it was still pure, untainted iron which had its value.

Shadow stared at the hole intently. "…What could they be holding that emanates pure chaos?"

Silver rose out of the hole and blew out a relieved breath. "It's safe for us to descend but… there's a darkness down there that can be felt. We need light."

"Omega, give me and Silver the lanterns. We'll have to risk the exposure. We need to get to that power source. Whatever it is, we want it."

Omega handed a lantern to both Silver and Shadow. Blaze lit them then gave Shadow a concerned look. "Are you sure this is a good idea? We may not have a way out."

"We'll have one, don't worry," Shadow assured.

"Is this energy source worth it?" Rouge asked with a stern seriousness.

Shadow stood at the edge of the hole and turned around. "It's worth it." He jumped down first, then the others followed. They landed on top of the matriarch, their landing slightly cushioned by her belly.

Shadow shown his light in every direction. There was black webs everywhere. Shadow sighed and regretted that they didn't have torches instead. "This may be a problem."

Rouge landed next and saw what he was talking about. "I don't think Blaze can burn all this. We're pushing her limits already."

Blaze and Silver landed, and Omega plopped down after. "I can do it. Don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?" Shadow asked, "We should let Omega go first."

Omega moved his gauntlet and lit a leg of fire at the webs. It wasn't as effective, but it would do. Blaze gave a nod of approval. "Alright, that may be for the better. Lead on, Omega."

"With pleasure." Omega jumped off the matriarchs corpse and started to burn through the webs. "I warned you before, but I will again. There is a large gathering of spider presence in the chamber below this labyrinth. The spiders who fought with the matriarch are retreating there."

Silver unsheathed his swords and cut a few stray webs out of his way. "I thought about that. Don't worry about it. We'll be fine."

Blaze sighed as he cut a few webs herself. "I've always admired your confidence, Silver, but I'd be careful not to be arrogant."

"It'll be fine," Shadow replied. He pulled his foot free from a dried web-covered corpse.

"I hope so," Rouge said walking beside him. "I'd feel better if we were to know what makes you so confident." Shadow eyed her and pat his sword's large guard then leaned it on his shoulder. "Ah… I suppose that would make one confident."

"What would?" asked Blaze.

Rouge shook her head. "It's nothing. Let's just leave this one to the boys."

Blaze crossed her arms, "…If you insist."

Rouge went quiet. And neither Shadow nor Omega filled in for her. Blaze hummed but didn't press the matter further. She instead became quiet so as to keep their voices from echoing. The labyrinth was mostly uneventful, but as they got closer to the chamber they were hunting for, they started hearing something from the distance. Whether it was from the chamber itself or behind them, they weren't sure. A shrill shriek rang through the cave.

Omega drew his hammer instantly. "The spiders have burrowed through the temple. They are hunting for us. The chamber seems to be stirring. They may be preparing to close us in."

"How are we going to get out?" Blaze asked sternly. "They'll box us in!"

"Shadow?" Rouge ran to him, "Maybe we should do it now, whatever this relic is, it's not worth it! We'll be dead before we reach it!"

"But we're so close!" Silver argued, "If this contingency Shadow speaks of is going to work, then we'll have just enough time to grab it and the only fight we'll have is getting out!"

"Is it worth it, though?" Blaze shouted, "Silver, we might have strength to clear the chamber but to get out?"

"The chamber is only a mile," Omega commented, "We will reach it before the spiders reach us. But half their numbers is already in the chamber, They will begin searching soon. Do I continue?"

"Do it," Shadow nodded, "We'll be ready."

Rouge sighed. "I damn well hope so. I hope you both know what you are doing."

Omega burned faster. Then they made a straight run for the large chamber. He looked back as he ran then warned, "The spiders are closing in. they are moving quickly, and this web is slowing our progress."

"Keep going, we don't have any other choice. Blaze, help him!" Rouge urged.

Blaze charged her fire then threw it down the cave. They had a straight shot now. Already, spiders started pouring out of the chamber in front of them. Blocking their path.

"Damn it!" Shadow cursed and turned to look behind them. He could hear the spiders legs beating against the stone as they stomped their way towards the party. "We need the clear the chamber now!"

"Wish me luck!" Silver jumped up and flew forward.

"Silver? Silver, what are you doing!" Blaze screamed.

Silver flew into the middle of the chamber then landed on the ground and smirked as he saw the iconic red eyes of the brood mothers looking down at him. "Hey there." He took a deep breath and the brood mothers screeched at him, sending their children at him. "Want to try to stop me?!" He turned a bright glowing quite and raised his arms. "Its…no…use!" He threw his arms to either side of him and the light unleashed, forcing the spiders back in bone crushing speeds. The brood mothers were throne back and forced against the walls. Even the party was thrown back into the chamber as the force traveled through the cave.

While the chamber was cleared in no small work to Silver. Shadow could see the legion of spider still crawling towards them, though they had some time now. "Get into the chamber! I'll handle this!"

"Shadow, let me; I can get rid of them!" Blaze insisted.

"No," He retorted, "Go check on Silver. That was a lot of energy he expelled. He could be weak."

Blaze knew he was right and nodded. "Good luck."

"I don't need luck," Shadow said stretching his neck. Shadow lifted his blade and twisted a decorative nob on it to open a small metal door. Inside, was a red glowing emerald. He inhaled deeply and held it then exhaled. The spiders were almost near him. Shadow lifted his gaze, wound back his arms, and began to glow red. "Chaos…" A spider jumped at him and finished with a snarl. "…Blast!" A wall of red energy courses through the chamber, killing every spider it touched. It traveled through the cave halls and then out of sight. Shadow shook himself free of the extra energy and closed the sword guard. "Hmph, pathetic creatures."

Shadow walked into the dead littered chambers, and everyone was surrounding a worn-out Silver. Shadow came to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright, Silver?"

"I'm fine," He replied, "for the tenth time. Blaze, stop, I can stand on my own."

Blaze finally let go of him. "Alright, but I'm right here if you need help."

Silver shook his head. "You worry too much. So, how's the cave?"

"Clear," Shadow replied and looked at Blaze. "I think Silver and I broke your record."

Blaze laughed. "I'll get it back, be sure of that." Blaze began looking around. "This chamber was thicker with eggs and webs than the rest of the labyrinth. The matriarch was guarding this? I would have thought this place would be more sacred looking."

"If they were religious, perhaps," Silver said as he looked around. "Omega, didn't you detect a relic of pure chaos? Where is it?"

Omega looked around then shook his head. "My magic is nearly depleted. I cannot use my foresight any longer. I will need to replenish soon."

"We'll look around. We have time," Rouge said, but then her ears began to twitch. She sighed. "But I don't expect we'll have much. I can hear more coming."

"They're persistent!" Silver said tiredly. "Let's hurry and find this thing, check the left-over webs!"

The party separated and started cutting and burning the webs. Omega found little more than corpses eaten of everything they had. Blaze burned through her webs and found nothing but husks from spiders that had malted. Silver had a combination of both and had to let out a shutter before moving onto the next web. Rouge checked the webs on the ceiling, but she was barely finding anything accept webs used as housing… and more eggs that made her gag. She hated eggs.

Shadow ran to the innermost part of the chamber where the brood mothers were. One of them was still alive. She had four broken legs and was dragging herself away slowly. Shadow watched her for a moment. She suddenly stopped to watch him. Shadow stared down at her with a stoic but superior scowl.

She only stared at him and breathed heavily. It was the only time Shadow stopped and wondered what a spider was thinking. But in the end, he took out his sword to finish her. She rotated to look at him directly then pointed a leg at something. Shadow turned and saw a bundled cocoon hanging on her web. He eyed her, but gave a nod and she seemed to be relieved. Shadow understood she was asking for something quick. She was finished with moving. She let out a quiet raspy hiss and the red eyes dimmed. Shadow raised his blade, and shoved it through the center of her eyes. The light faded and he took out his sword and stared at her for a little while longer. They were more intelligent than he thought. Begging? She was probably the first to do so. But it didn't matter. Shadow cut at the web in front of him and immediately he felt something.

He closed his eyes and could feel the chaos power emanating from this thing. It was a warm aura. A key giveaway of pure chaos. Shadow cut down the cocoon but when he took hold of it, he realized what he had was no relic. Shadow quickly laid the cocoon on the ground and pulled open the silken web of black. Inside he found a pale faced echidna who appeared to be dead. But he knew better. Were she dead, she'd be a skeleton devoid of life and fluid. She was quite alive.

Shadow used a dagger to start cutting her out. "Here! I found someone. She's still alive!"

The news was staggering. Everyone raced towards Shadow as fast as they could. Shadow finally uncovered her. She was limp but cold to the touch. She was dressed in a white garment and a pattern skirt. She wore some jewelry and over her cloths she had a poncho that was familiar to them. But they paid little mind to it.

"My god," Rouge gasped as she started inspecting her. "She's… Shadow's right… she's alive!"

"Look at her stomach," Blaze pointed at the scars. "She's been stung… a lot…"

"Why though?" Silver asked as he inspected the scars. "Why so many times?"

"It's hard to say," Shadow said as he picked her up. "We need to bring her back. She's what we've been looking for."

"Are you sure?" Rouge asked, "We were looking for a relic. Weren't we?"

"I detect this is the relic I saw. I could not detect life, however. A common result of spider poison."

Silver shrugged. "Well, there's no reason to stay then. We need to go, those spiders could…"

"Too late," Rouge said, "I can hear them! We're trapped!"

"No," Shadow said as he threw the echidna over his shoulder and reached for his sword. "Get close, I don't want to leave anyone behind!"

The party huddled in a tight formation. Shadow raised his blade and the spiders started swarming the chamber. "Chaos! Control!"

A bright light flickered with Shadow as its source then a single blink later, the party was gone. The spiders shrieked in anguish. And started searching for them. but with the brood mothers dead and the matriarch killed. They knew the consequences of their failure…