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The ice seemed to go on forever. All Elijah could see in every direction was white, and it was starting to make him feel nauseous. He spent thirteen years of his life living in a place that knew no colour, and the longer he stared, the more the frost began to look like the walls of the lab.

He shifted his sights to his companions, who were all still playing cards while the autopilot carried the plane further over the wall. Jake was losing badly, and it looked like he was seconds from throwing a fit like a toddler. August kept smirking at Zoe, whose cheeks were red. For some reason, knowing that the fae was flirting with her made Elijah feel...aggravated. He didn't know why, but he felt the urge to tell August to back off. It wasn't his place, though. Zoe wasn't his friend, and he certainly wasn't her bodyguard, either.

With a quiet sigh, he looked out the window again. The empty, lifeless white began to change; small, narrow rivers flowed along the surface, and dried-up shrubs were dotted over the place, becoming more frequent as they flew onwards. He then noticed that the military escort had backed off, circling around to head back, and when he stared out the front of the plane, he saw something that he was beginning to feel as though he never would.

The edge.

"We're nearing the end," Elijah said, looking at the fae man.

August held his cards against his chest as he turned his head to look outside. "Time really does fly when you're nervous as heck," he muttered. "All right, time to buckle up," he said, taking everyone's cards.

"Hey!" Jake complained. "I was finally gonna beat you."

"Sure you were," August said, and when he looked at Jake's cards, he laughed. "Better luck next time," he said, showing him his winning hand.

"You gotta be cheating," the pardus complained.

"No one's cheating, Jake," Zoe said with a sigh as she strapped herself in and put Antonio into her bag. "You've always been terrible at cards, and your poker face sucks."

"So does yours," he sneered.

"Hers is still better than yours, no offence," August said amusedly, fastening his seatbelt.

"Whatever."

Elijah made sure that his seatbelt was secure, too. "How far is the landing area from here?"

"Uh...not far," August said as he grabbed the control wheel. "Ah, crap," he then muttered.

"What?" Zoe asked worriedly.

"Well, if we don't get snow while we're flying over, we get it when we're trying to land," he answered, nodding out the window.

Elijah stared ahead at the thickening blizzard; it intensified so quickly that one moment he could see the forest, and the next, he couldn't even see the edge of the wall anymore. "You can fly through this shit, right?"

"Of course I can," he said with a smirk and grabbed a pair of goggles from a compartment under his seat. "These babies are your best friend in a storm." He pulled them on over his head, attached them to his face, and sat up straight. "Hold on tight."

August suddenly made the plane dive down. Elijah gripped both his armrests and clenched his jaw, hoping he might see something through the storm, but all he could see was shades of white. The plane shook violently, and a flurry of metallic clangs echoed around him, making his heart race in his chest as dread quickly consumed him.

Zoe panicked, wincing anxiously. "C-can't you slow down?!"

"I'm gonna throw up," Jake announced.

"Don't be doing that in here," August warned him, taking one hand off the wheel to point back at the pardus. He then gripped the wheel again and adorned an almost maniacal grin. "Easy does it," he said, slowly pulling the wheel towards himself.

"I don't like this," Zoe wailed.

"Almost there," August drawled.

Elijah glared outside, tightening his grip on the armrests until the metal bent; the plane shook so much that he was starting to feel like it was going to fall apart. But just as he was about to snap at August and ask him what the fuck he was doing, they burst through the blizzard and out into the clear air.

August steadied the plane. "See? That wasn't so bad."

The demon wanted to yell at him, but he was far too captivated by what lay ahead. As both Jake and Zoe got up from their seats and stood between him and August, he stared outside at the winding valley. Towering snow-tipped mountains sat on either side, and a massive, glistening river flowed at the very centre, bordered by sequoia and fir trees. Small, floating islands were dotted here and there; some had glistening waterfalls pouring off their edges, while others had entire forests and fields, all covered in snow.

Tiny specs of shimmering blue floated around; they looked a lot like glow bugs, only when they passed some of the specs, Elijah saw that they were much bigger than insects, and they weren't bugs at all but feathered fox-looking creatures using their ears to levitate.

"Welcome to the hidden world," August said with a smirk.

"What are those things?" Zoe asked in awe.

"Fire foxes," the fae answered.

"There's so many of them," Jake said.

As beautiful as the view was, Elijah didn't have time to enjoy it. "Where are we landing?"

"Just up ahead," August answered as he began descending. "You're gonna need to sit back down; there'll be plenty of time for sightseeing once we're on the ground," he said, glancing at Zoe and Jake.

They both took their seats.

Elijah waited as patiently as he could manage while August headed towards the landing strip. The second they touched down, he was going to get things moving as quickly as he could. He was finally there...at The Spear, and all he had to do was get to the facility, work out how he was going to get inside, and find Haru. He was finally where he'd dreamed of being for months, finally where he'd spent so long searching to find.

He tapped his claws on the armrest, his heart beating a little faster the nearer they got to the ground, and the moment the wheels touched the frozen ground, anticipation enthralled Elijah's trembling body. It was time to go and get Haru.

The demon unbuckled his seatbelt as August brought the plane to a halt. "Let's go," he muttered as he passed Zoe and Jake.

"Who's driving?" Jake asked as he followed behind Zoe.

"I am," August called as he shut the engines off.

Elijah got into the jeep's passenger seat, and Zoe and Jake got into the back. He put his bag on the floor between his feet and opened it up; he watched as the plane's hatch slowly opened, and August climbed in beside him. While the fae started the engine, Elijah made sure that his rifle was loaded.

"There's no road out here, so things are gonna get rough," August said.

"How rough?" Jake asked.

"You ever driven off-road?" August asked as he slowly drove out of the plane.

"Uh...well I've driven while getting shot at."

The fae laughed a little as he said, "Well, it's gonna be a little like that." He drove out onto the snow-covered runway and parked a few feet from the plane. "One sec," he said as he opened his door and got out.

"Fuck," Jake complained, loudly rubbing his arms as he shivered. "He wasn't lying about it being freezing."

Zoe shivered, too. "Even I can feel the cold."

Elijah could feel it, too, and it was unlike anything he'd experienced before. He felt the nipping winds and breezes, but they never made him shiver, they never made his very soul feel as though it was freezing over. He zipped up the coat August had given him and wrapped his arms around himself. Then, he watched in the rear-view mirror as August went back into the plane and closed the hatch.

"Uh...guys," Jake drawled.

"What?" Zoe muttered.

"What's that?"

Elijah looked to where he was pointing out his window. A huge corpse lay on a bed or rocks not far from the runway; its rotting, torn wings draped to the snowy ground, and massive chunks had been ripped from it—they looked like bite marks. Its ribcage was exposed, and splatters of blood were scattered across the ice. It had been left to rot, but the freezing temperature had evidently preserved it.

"That's gross," Zoe complained, grimacing.

"Yeah...but my question is: what the hell killed it?"

"I don't even wanna think about it," she mumbled.

August got back into the jeep and pulled the door shut. "All right, so..." he drawled as he took out the map he'd earlier shown Elijah. "We've gotta cross some dangerous terrain to get to this place."

"Dangerous how?" Zoe questioned.

He held up the map. "Well, once we get into the forest, we'll be bordering an Ascelan Frostwing's territory. We'll be fine as long as we remain on the outside, but those woods are also home to wolf walkers and werewolves, and I've seen a Delta or two in there."

"Just get us to the lab," Elijah muttered, tapping the large red circle.

August sighed and put the map away. "All right. Everyone ready?" he asked, looking at Zoe and Jake in the rear-view mirror.

"Can you put the heating on?" Jake asked.

With a nod, August switched the heating on, which blew directly into Elijah's face.

The demon snarled and smacked the vent, turning it towards the fae. "Let's go already," he said impatiently.

"All right, all right," August muttered and started driving. He then flipped a switch beneath a small screen sitting on the dashboard. It turned on, showing a sonar radar-like map. "This'll let us know if anything's getting too close."

Zoe looked nervous as they drove towards the sequoia forest. "And what do we do if something gets too close?"

"It depends on what it is," the fae replied. "I don't harm things that don't need to be harmed, so as your guide, there's one thing I ask of you: don't kill anything until I've tried to resolve things peacefully."

Elijah didn't like that idea. If anything was coming at him, teeth and claws bared, he'd want to kill it, especially now. He didn't want anything else to slow him down.

"Right, fae and nature and stuff, right?" Jake asked. "You can like...reason with animals or something?"

"Something like that," he said with a nod.

"I think that's a good idea," Zoe said. Then she said, "One of my dads can understand animals."

"Oh, is he like a druid or an elf or something?" August asked curiously.

"No, just really old demons."

"Demons can talk to animals?" he questioned, glancing at her in the rear-view mirror. "I didn't know that."

"Not all. I think only really old ones can or something."

August didn't reply but smiled at Zoe in the mirror.

The girl blushed again, looking away.

Elijah rolled his eyes, but when August drove into the forest, he focused his senses and cautiously watched the world outside.

"These trees are massive," Jake said, gawping out the window.

"They take like a hundred years to grow," August said matter-of-factly. "Some of them have probably even been around since before Year Zero."

Elijah frowned at him. "What's Year Zero?"

"It's uh...it was one thousand three hundred and thirty-five years ago, when the Numen first revealed their existence to the world. Before then, all Caeleste were just folklore and scary stories; they hid away in the shadows. When the Numen stepped out into the light, so did Caeleste, and a new world was born, so time basically reset," the fae man explained.

"Nobody really knows how old Aegisguard is, though; humans didn't even start recording time and history until a few hundred years before Year Zero," Zoe added.

"I never really paid attention to history in school," Jake mumbled.

"Did you go to a like...fae school?" Zoe asked August.

"Uh, well—"

The radar beeped.

"What was that?" Jake asked anxiously.

Elijah shifted his sights to the screen and watched as a small blue dot appeared on the radar, beeping every time it scanned the area again. He watched the dot as it slowly got closer, but when he looked out the window in the direction that it was apparently coming from, he didn't see anything, nor did he detect anything with any of his senses.

And then several more dots appeared.

"Shit," August muttered.

"Shit what?" Elijah demanded impatiently.

"We might be about to have some ghastly company," the fae said, speeding up a little.

"What company?" Zoe questioned worriedly. "Dragons? Wolves?"

"Uh..." August drawled as he glanced out each of the windows before looking at the radar again. "Nope. Not dragons. Weavers."

Elijah looked out the windows, too. "What's a weaver?" he asked, but then he saw the huge ropes of web hanging from the towering trees; there were the bodies of humanoids and animals encased in inches-thick silk hanging from the branches, and when August drove over what looked like a trio of eggs, green sludge sprayed up the front and sides of the jeep.

Zoe and Jake exclaimed loudly in confusion and revolt.

"What the fuck is a weaver?!" Elijah demanded.

A look of horror struck August's face. "That's a fucking weaver!" he shouted and slammed his foot on the brakes.

Elijah stared out the window at the disgusting creature slowly crawling down from the top of one of the trees. It had the body of an arachnid but was covered in scales, and its six legs looked like those of a lizard. The creature's face also looked like a spider's, with eyes bulging red eyes and a pair of fangs at the front of its teeth-filled jaw.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," Jake panicked, scrunching his body up on his seat. "What the fuck?!"

There were more of them. They crawled down from the treetops, snarling and screeching.

"W-what do we do?!" Zoe winced.

"Uh...we...uh..." August drawled as they got closer to the jeep.

Elijah wasn't going to let them hinder his progress. He unzipped both his coats and took out his Rovinare 92s. Then, he grabbed his door handle—

"Don't go out there!" Zoe insisted.

"Can't you just drive?!" Jake exclaimed.

August released the handbrake and then slammed his foot on the gas, but before the jeep even moved a few feet, several of the weavers spat silvery web at it, and the tyres started screeching, unable to carry the vehicle forward.

Elijah scowled as the weavers began closing in around the jeep; the wheels were ensnared in webs, and the creatures would swarm the car in a matter of seconds. He wasn't going to let that happen. "Stay in the fucking car," he snarled as he pushed the door open.

"Elijah!" Zoe called anxiously.

He kicked his door shut behind him and began firing at the weavers, which jumped at him the moment he got out. As his bullets cut through their bodies, glowing blue blood splattered onto the snow and trees. They screeched and shrieked, swarming towards him, but none got close. He moved away from the jeep, hoping that the creatures would follow, and they did. They rushed towards him, baring their teeth and claws, but Elijah took them out with ease.

When his magazines were empty, he skilfully ejected them and pulled new ones from his inside pockets, swiftly reloading. A weaver lunged at him from a tall branch, but he smacked his gun into its face, sending it tumbling to the icy ground; he stomped his foot down on it, ending its life as he continued firing at the others.

But then his companions' horrified voices snatched his attention. While he fired at more weavers, he shifted his sights to the jeep. Somehow, the weavers had opened the doors; some of them were consumed by Zoe's fire, but one managed to jump her, and while it dragged her away, Jake wrestled in his leopard form with another. August quickly raced to try and help Zoe, but another creature crawled out from the brush and grabbed him.

Elijah snarled irritably, reloading his guns again. He tucked one of his weapons away, and with his now free hand, he sent as many of the weavers around him up in white flames as he could. With his Rovinare, he fired at the creature which was dragging Zoe away, but moments after it died and before the girl could get up, another grabbed her by her legs.

He hurried over to them, taking out the creatures on his way—

Jake yelped painfully, snatching Elijah's attention.

The demon sharply turned his head, setting his eyes on the pardus; the weaver he'd been fighting had sunk its fangs into his leg. He scowled angrily and hurried to Jake's aid, grabbing the spider and pulling it off him before it could take a chunk out of him. Then, Elijah shot its head, ending its life.

And then Zoe screamed.

Elijah turned and raced towards her, but the creature had tied her wrists with webs and was dragging her up a tree. He aimed his weapon up at the weaver, but the creatures started swarming him again, and Jake wasn't getting up. He snarled in frustration as he tried to deal with the creatures, but they just kept coming, and the one that had Zoe was getting away with her.

The demon fired his pistol and used his fire, but every time he had a window to try and help Zoe, more weavers got in the way. He looked around for August, but the fae was nowhere to be seen. Had he fucking left them?!

He growled frustratedly, now kicking the creatures away as he tried to reload his weapon. A spider spat web at him, though, knocking his pistol from his hand. He tried to reach into his coat for his other, but the weavers were overwhelming him, boxing him in, grabbing his arms and legs—

The ground beneath him suddenly shook, and from beneath the thick snow, a flurry of creaking vines erupted. Elijah watched as the vines pieced through the weavers' bodies over and over, cutting them down and ensnaring them in a matter of seconds. Once he was free, Elijah hurried to help Zoe, but the vines had already taken care of the spider that was dragging her away, and when she fell, August—who'd been standing on top of the jeep commanding the vines—took off his long coat, revealing a pair of moth-like wings, and raced into the air, catching her in his arms.

Elijah turned his attention back to the remaining weavers. Those that hadn't been taken out by the vines had chosen to flee, but August held out his hand as he landed beside the jeep, and the vines chased after the creatures, piercing through their bodies and ending their lives.

"Thank you," Zoe murmured quietly to the fae.

The demon then looked down at Jake, who was still lying on the ground.

"Jake?" Zoe asked worriedly, hurrying towards him. "What's wrong with him?!"

August folded his wings against his back and pulled his long coat on as he walked over, too. "Weavers have a paralyzing venom."

Jake grunted in response, and panic smothered his face.

"W-what do we do?" Zoe exclaimed.

"He's gonna be like that for a few hours," August said with a sigh. He looked at Elijah and said, "He should be feeling better by the time we reach the lab."

Elijah huffed irritably and recovered his pistol. Once he tucked it into his coat, he picked Jake up and carried him back to the jeep. He put the pardus inside and closed his door, and then he helped August pull the web off the tyres.

"We're not...gonna come across any more of them, are we?" Zoe asked as she helped, too.

"This nest wasn't even supposed to be here," August mumbled. "It's new. We'll have to keep an eye out for anything else that's popped up since my last visit." He grimaced as he pulled the last of the web from the tyre he was working on. "Euch."

When the tyres were finally clear, they all got back into the jeep.

"Everyone okay?" August asked, looking back at Zoe.

The girl nodded. "Thank you again."

He smiled and then turned to face the front. "Let's get moving before they come back."

Elijah reloaded his pistols and tucked them back into his jacket. As August drove through the forest once more, he glared out the window, keeping his senses focused in case something else came to slow him down. He couldn't afford to waste any more time.

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