The third night in the forest began.

Extremely unhappy, Kamyri looked at the slimy mass in her right hand. After her hunger became unbearable and no berries could fill the hole in her stomach, she finally started digging worms out of the soft forest soil.

She had imagined it would be easier to find something edible in the dense greenery of the Weaver Wood, but unfortunately she didn't know much about edible plants other than what Aesuna and her mother had taught her about a few medicinal herbs. She even got a red rash from a fern just because she touched it with her arm. Kamyri didn't want to know what some of the plants could do to her stomach.

In the days when she had played with Artists and Workers in the pastures south of Yaradan, instead of memorizing herb names and raking beds, eating a worm had been a popular test of courage among the younger ones. Kamyri had mastered this challenge brilliantly, even if she made a face. But now she didn't want to impress anyone by swallowing the worm. It should give her the strength to endure another day.

Ever since she woke up on the Shell Toad's back, she had been following the stream upstream. Sometimes she had to take small detours through dense vegetation or impassable edges, but Kamyri made sure that she never remained separated from the water for too long. At least she could quench her thirst in the heat of summer.

I should have wrung the Shell Toad's neck when I had the chance.

The worker disgruntledly looked at the wet, shiny ball between her fingers. It wasn't the first time she thought that a Shell Toad like that would have made a nice roast. However, Kamyri would have had to eat her meat raw because she hadn't even managed to make a fire, no matter how hard she rubbed two dry branches together.

In the city, Artists had made highly flammable matches for this purpose, but Kamyri doubted she could replicate their skill here. And she had always lacked the necessary sensitivity to correctly align a bundle crystal that concentrated the sun's rays at one point and caused dry bark powder to smolder. Besides, such a practical crystal was not in her possession.

The mud bandage covering her arm wound had broken down into several dusty chunks during a steep climb yesterday, revealing an evenly crust. Kamyri had been glad that at least the makeshift treatment for her injury had worked.

The flesh still had a delicate red color, but judging by the smell and appearance, it did not appear to have become infected and was healing well. Even though the wound became tense when the arm was put under strain, the aching pain subsided more and more with each passing day.

Of all the Sun's Children, Workers' wounds healed the fastest, as her mother had always reminded her when she brought home an injury. Today, this memory of better times made her smile bitterly.

In the meantime, Kamyri doubted more and more about the usefulness of her plan. She had no real destination and had been stumbling through the thicket for days, scratching in the ground or behind bark in the hope of finding something to eat.

Thinker... echoed it in her thoughts.

When the first light of morning had awakened her in her cave by the river, she had remembered the name that the poor Artist had mentioned in the Sunless Dungeons.

"Find the Thinker," he had said, "every warrior is welcome."

Since then, Kamyri has clung to this name. She had nothing else. But to find the Thinker, she would need strength...

The Sun's Daughter sighed deeply, closed her eyes, imagined Vaun's Iron Algae Stew and stuffed the worms into her mouth. If the Thinker truly only welcomed warriors, she would have to disappoint this mysterious person. She couldn't even manage to catch a rabbit or a squirrel, let alone win the war against the insects that invaded her body every night.

With the thought of solid meat, the taste of her dinner was largely suppressed. Only the sand that the worms carried in their intestines crunched unpleasantly between Kamyri's teeth. She tried to think of something else, chewed only as much as necessary and swallowed her prey.

As unappetizing as it was, the worms were more filling than tiny berries, and Kamyri found it more pleasant than possibly languishing in the Sunless Dungeons.

Find the Thinker.

She clung to this mission and with it the hope that there was someone somewhere who could tell her why Aesuna had to die.

Kamyri knew that she was unlikely to stumble across this ominous person by chance, just because she was purposefully moving further and further away from Yaradan. But she needed a goal to keep from giving up, even if it seemed as distant and intangible as fog.

I will find this Thinker. I will learn why Aesuna had to die! One day... Even if I have to cross the entire Crescent Mountains to do it! I'm not going back! I can not.

For the night she had wedged herself between the mighty roots of an old pine tree erupting from the earth. The barrel-thick growths of the tree promised reasonable protection from wind and animals. Even though Kamyri hadn't seen a Taragir since she escaped, she needed at least a little overhang over her body so that she wouldn't feel completely defenseless on the forest floor.

Yesterday she had tried to spend the night in a tree, but that only resulted in back pain, a scrape, and an uncomfortable sleep. She constantly woke up feeling like something was brushing against her skin or crawling into her ears. Every rustle in the branches had woken her up like a deafening clatter, giving her little respite.

Today's shelter promised a little more comfort. To protect herself from beetles that crawled around on the forest floor, Kamyri had made a kind of hood out of a large Deuling Leaf, which was supposed to at least protect her head from the buzzing and whirring of the insects. Under no circumstances did she want to wake up again with a woodlice in her ear.

The Sun's Daughter pressed herself between the roots, still warm from the daylight, put on her oversized hat, which made her feel strangely ridiculous but at least protected, and closed her eyes. The aftertaste of her dinner was still on her tongue like a musty film.

I'm going to kill a rabbit tomorrow, even if it takes all damn day!

In her dream, Kamyri was again a young Sun's Child who had not seen more than five summers. Puida and Dayana, two shaman friends of her sister, were laughing and weaving a chain of daisies around Kamyri's horns. The bony outgrowths were barely larger than a finger, but the characteristic coiling, which became more pronounced with age, was already clearly visible.

The scent of summer flowers and lush grass wafted across the meadows. But the idyll suddenly turned into a nightmare when an eagle suddenly swooped down from the vein-blue sky, buried its claws in Kamyri's hair and roughly jerked her head back. His screeching cry came so close to her ear that it woke the Sun's Daughter.

It wasn't an eagle's cry: the scraping sound of sharply ground metal on iron jolted the Worker out of her dream. Drunk with sleep, Kamyri first had to sort out which impressions corresponded to reality and which were just her imagination.

The bright day on the meadows of Yaradan gave way to a pitch-black night in the Weaver Wood. Something had just struck her iron collar hard, making the screeching sound on the metal.

The Sun's Daughter wanted to look around, but the eagle still held her skull tightly in its claws.

Nonsense! There is no eagle! It was just a dream!

Before she could get her bearings, Kamyri felt her hair tugging again. Someone dug cold fingers into her leaf hood and pulled her head back, exposing her throat. A panicked scream escaped her.

An attack?!

She realized the answer when a blade suddenly flashed in the moonlight in front of her.

The Rulers!

Kamyri's body reacted before she could grasp the full extent of her situation: instead of fighting the pull that lifted her head from the roots, she pushed herself against it, lifting her body from the ground. She promptly collided with her attacker, who then let go of her in surprise. Kamyri spun around, panting. Between her tousled strands of hair and the remnants of her stupid headgear, she could vaguely see the roots of the old pine tree, but not much else.

She tore the Deuling leaf from her horns and peered hastily into the darkness. The bark of the surrounding trees shone silver and gray in the light of the moon covered in thin clouds, but she could not see a Ruler anywhere.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she shouted into the darkness, trying to keep her voice steady despite the fear of the unknown. Still drowsy, she rubbed her eyes clear and peered intently out into the night. Her heart pounded as if it wanted to explode in her chest as her feet tried to find firm footing on the dew-soaked roots.

Driven by instinct, she spun around and saw the blade sliding toward her again from the shadows. She pulled her head back as quickly as an arrow and the silver lightning cut the air in front of her nose.

So yes! Someone's targeting me!

Someone who blended into the night so well that Kamyri still couldn't make him out through the tree shadows. Only the milky moonlight reflected on the smooth blade as it attacked gave her a clue to the stranger's location.

"Why do you want to kill me?!" she shouted at the weapon. She got no answer, instead the deadly metal shot forward again, but this time Kamyri sensed its path. It was as if she knew in which arc her opponent would swing it. With presence of mind, she turned her body away from the deadly radius and shot her hand forward. Although she wanted to escape the situation, her fingers, like a stranger's, reached blindly into the darkness and found something, probably an arm. The blade stopped abruptly as she closed her hand around the attacker's wrist like an iron shackle.

Got you!

Fabric rustled and a jolt went through her arm. When her counterpart realized with a quiet gasp that he could not escape Kamyri's grasp, he threw himself against her with all his weight. The Sun's Daughter felt the sudden pressure against her chest, causing her to take a step back to maintain her balance. But the sole of her boot couldn't find any purchase, slipped back on the damp wood and she fell backwards to the ground along with her opponent.

The impact knocked the air out of her lungs, blinded her senses for a second, and allowed the unknown stranger to free his arm. A dull pain shot up the Worker's spine and into her neck. She tuned it out, tuned out everything except the extraneous weight on her body.

"Leave me alone!" she thundered at the shadow, trying hard to free herself from the tangle of limbs. In the dark of night, the stranger seemed to have half a dozen arms, but no longer a blade.

An Artist perhaps?

Kamyri was kicking around too wildly to think clearly. She twisted and turned, but her attacker finally managed to wrestle her to the ground.

She felt a hand press over her mouth while another tried to block her uncontrolled blows into the dark.

"Shut up!" a harsh voice hissed, but Kamyri had no intention of obeying the stranger's command. One of her punches hit what felt like a jaw. The pressure on her chest eased and she took advantage of the second to get free. Gasping, she escaped from the weight of the cursing stranger and jumped up.

At that moment the clouds in the sky moved, the light of the half moon slid through the canopy of leaves and finally cast its silver glow onto their attacker: the fresh blood at the corner of his mouth glistened in the pale light, but the rest of his huddled body looked like it would absorb all light. Kamyri's breath caught for a moment.

"What do you want from me?!" she snapped at him, although she could almost imagine the reason why a Sun's Daughter was attacked in the middle of the night.

"I said you should be quiet!" the stranger said with strained calm, wiped away the blood and stood up to his full height again. Kamyri could only imagine the elegant movement in the moonlight.

Is the night deceiving me or is everything about him black as a shadow?

Even his eyes still couldn't be seen in the darkness, just the outline of a slender figure and what looked like a wildly roaming tail.

This guy is not a Sun's Son!

"Why should I stand by and watch you try to kill me?" she snapped at him. She didn't have time to worry about who or what the stranger was. She raised her fists to her face defensively. With the sturdy stone-breaking gloves, it even looked somewhat impressive. The attacker, on the other hand, bent his knees and stretched out his unarmed hands. Kamyri didn't know whether this posture was meant to show humility or to prepare for another attack.

"I'm sorry," the stranger hissed quietly. "I beg you, be quiet now..." Kamyri didn't understand.

He was just so intent on ramming the blade into my neck and now all of a sudden he'll forget all that?

"Why?" she demanded. With a concentrated gaze, she searched for his knife, which must have been lying somewhere on the ground. But something completely different caught her eye. Kamyri's lips parted slightly in astonishment as she noticed the bizarre shapes around her for the first time.

"What...?" The unfiltered moonlight reflected on dozens of bundles of thread that clung to branches and roots like pale scraps of fabric. They swayed eerily in the night wind and danced around between the tree trunks like the hair of hundreds of old women.

That wasn't there before...

A clicking sound, like stones hitting one another, drew Kamyri's attention in another direction. At first she thought of a second attacker, but when the Sun's Daughter spun around, her heart almost stopped:

A beast emerged from the undergrowth, its bull-sized body appearing transparent, almost invisible, in the moonlight. Its long, thin legs shimmered like glass in the silver light. Kamyri counted first two, then three, and finally four pairs of legs stalking silently out of the bushes.

Her throat constricted as she identified the creature as the closest thing to an oversized spider. She had never seen such a creature before.

The beast threateningly raised the front pair of its legs into the air and brought out two curved claws, long and sharp as scythe blades. It was obviously preparing for an attack. The long jaw pincers on its head clapped together faster and faster, creating the clicking sound.

By the light of the sun!

At this grotesque sight, Kamyri let out a hoarse gasp of disbelief that she wanted to put back in her mouth. For immediately the eight eyes of the animal turned knowingly to her. A shrill screech rang out from between the pincers of its jaws and the beast made a lightning-fast leap in her direction.

Kamyri took a long step backwards, lost her footing again on the damp roots, but saved herself from falling again by bending her knees.

The beast's right front leg hacked at her, initially only hitting one of the roots, using the scythe-like appendage to punch a hole the size of a fist into the wood and immediately starting a new swing.

Kamyri felt paralyzed. She didn't know what to do, but the next moment her body rolled to the side, dodging the second spider attack before the scythe leg could pierce her. The perplexed Sun's Daughter got to her feet and danced back to a secure position that gave her a better overview.

In the pale moonlight, the spider's body shimmered as if it were made of clear water. However, the furrows that ran through the root system where it had struck its claws spoke of a completely different solidity of its body.

For a moment Kamyri considered whether she should seek her fortune in flight, but an uneasy feeling stopped her. Less than a second later there was a rustling in the undergrowth and a second, even slightly larger spider monster pushed itself out of the darkness of the surrounding trees.

This is a nightmare!

Now the Worker was finally starting to panic. Her heartbeat increased to a wild drumming, she felt the blood rushing and roaring in her ears like the twin cascades.

However, the newly arrived creature seemed to have chosen a different target: who she had assumed had long since fled.

"What are those things?" she called over to the shadow, who was now also using all his concentration to avoid the foreleg swipes of the obviously angry spider. Kamyri got no answer from him. In the pale light she could only see the stranger putting something to his mouth. There was no sound, but the Sun's Daughter thought she saw something like a flute between his fingers.

The glass-legged spider's next attack drew Kamyri's attention back to her current opponent - a blink too late!

The tip of the advancing foreleg claw grazed her left upper arm. At the same time, a sharp pain shot through her muscles.

Damn it!

It took a moment before the severed flesh opened up and blood became visible. But then, along with a hot burning sensation, it flowed down Kamyri's arm like a dark red torrent. The sudden heat and pain seemed to crawl competitively up her neck until they reached her forehead.

With a strained sound of pain, the Sun's Daughter backed away, trying to squeeze the gaping wound together and thereby stop the flow of blood. Her eyes darted around, looking for a way out of this deadly danger. Then she saw the dagger. The light of the moon shone through the creature's unreal body and reflected treacherously on the black blade that lay in the foliage between its second pair of legs.

This is my chance! I can't just dodge all the time, I've been dodging all my life... and ended up getting hit! If I want to see the light of the sun again, I have to fight for it!

Kamyri felt the muscles in her body, felt the warm night air in her lungs, saw the fearsome creature right in front of her and her opportunity beneath it. The pain in her forehead became worse, unbearable, as if two hot pieces of coal were burning through the bone of her skull. And suddenly everything seemed as clear as the translucent body of the spider attacking again.

Its front legs shot up into the air. The deadly scythes snapped out, the tips pointed at Kamyri. The Worker didn't back away, but ran towards the creature, her eyes fixed on her target.

She felt the side of her body slide across the forest ground before she had even decided to slip under the beast's menacing jaws. Her body no longer belonged to her, listening to someone else's command. With her next breath, her fingers found the blade in the leaves, gripped the hilt resolutely, and with all her strength, Kamyri pushed the dagger up into the underside of the translucent body.

A loud screech sounded, but something else was ringing in the Sun's Daughter's head. Her thoughts flew like knives:

The blade is too small! It doesn't gets deep enough into the body! It can't kill the beast!

Kamyri was shocked by this sober statement and the killing intent, which she only now became aware of. She didn't know if her body or her instincts were driving her to action. No matter what, she obeyed the voice from within her. She couldn't afford to think in this difficult situation. She had to act quickly. Her body was already doing it without asking permission.

The Worker rolled under the creature's cramped, trembling body before it crashed to the ground, dodged the wildly waving scythes and jumped onto the collapsed beast's bulky abdomen. The sudden weight caused the spider to rear up again, hissing. It swung her front legs in the air in protest, but that didn't help. Kamyri dug her fingers firmly into the cold, smooth skin that covered the transparent body and climbed up the beast's back towards the head.

As if by itself, the dagger in her hand sank into the most sensitive point shared by all living beings. Four or five times Kamyri's blade stabbed the fist-sized spider eyes. With each hit, a slimy secretion squirted out, which turned white like snow when it came into contact with the night air. When Kamyri reached out for the next blow, the creature, hissing wildly in pain, finally managed to shake off the Sun's Daughter.

She skillfully rolled over on the ground and got back to her feet, the dagger ready in hand. The sticky substance that now covered her right arm up to the elbow and sprayed rhythmically from the head of the creature in front of her showed that she had achieved her goal: the spider could no longer see on one side and was racing in pain.

Kamyri took advantage of the opportunity. During her brief ride on the creature, she had felt how soft and yielding its translucent skin was. She had expected some kind of armor, but it didn't exist; the dagger would have an easy time of it. She approached on the spider's blind side. Twice she had to avoid an uncontrollably swinging front leg before she reached the torso, from which the eight arm-thick legs protruded in pairs.

Without hesitation, Kamyri plunged the dagger into the joint that connected the giant spider's right front leg to its body. White fluid shot out again from the puncture site, but before the monster could rear up in its pain, Kamyri dropped the dagger and clutched the spider's leg with all her strength. She braced her own against their glassy body and pulled with all her might.

Her plan, which she still didn't understand in its entirety when she actually came up with, worked and the spider's front leg tore off. Screeching, the creature limped back, leaving a shimmering white trail across the forest floor. The sight reminded Kamyri of the pool of a spilled milk jug.

It's not over yet!

She gripped the broken spider leg like an axe, swung wide, and with a scream she hit as hard as she could. The scythe-like claw on the tip of the leg easily pierced the spider's head and its suffering shriek abruptly stopped.

With a thud, the bulky body flopped onto the forest floor and the remaining legs began to curl up, twitching.

Done!

Kamyri spun around, panting with exertion. The second spider creature had cornered the stranger; he stood between the sprawling roots and continually ducked under its blows. Judging by his clumsy movements, his legs seemed to have gotten caught in one of the white pieces that were stuck all over the area.

For a moment Kamyri considered whether now might be the right time to escape, but the Sun's Daughter wanted answers. She wanted to know why someone was trying to kill her, who the stranger was and whether his appearance might have had something to do with Aesuna's death. If the remaining nightmare creature impaled him with its scythe arms, her precious answers might die with him.

By Tanayar, I must be crazy...

Armed with the spider leg, Kamyri no longer felt as defenseless as she had just a few minutes ago. She tightened her fingers around her pale weapon and approached the second creature. Despite its eight intact eyes, it didn't seem to notice the Sun's Daughter approaching; she was too preoccupied with the stranger, who evaded her pecking attacks by avoiding her front legs or pressing himself between the protective roots.

If he doesn't free himself from the web soon, he won't be able to keep up this game for much longer, Kamyri thought. At the same time she heard another cracking and rustling between the bushes and bushes. A third spider approached, attracted by its brother's death scream.

Gathering her courage, the Worker quickened her pace and swung her weapon as she ran before the opportunity was lost.

A hoarse screech sounded as the scythe-like claw slammed into the spider's abdomen. The back pair of her legs buckled as if they had suddenly lost their tension. Seething with rage, the creature rolled toward Kamyri, who immediately moved into a defensive position, ready to dodge the beast's scythes or parry its blows with her new weapon.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the stranger finally find the time and peace to get rid of the white rags that were wrapped around his legs and hips.

The moment the spider's foreleg swooped down to attack her, Kamyri jumped out of the way, she lost sight of him, but instead caught sight of the outlines of a fourth and fifth glass spider crawling quietly out of the undergrowth. The noise she made as she fought for her life seemed to attract more and more of the translucent creatures. And the Sun's Daughter slowly understood why the stranger had wanted to stop her from making noise.

All around her, branches cracked and leaves rustled. More and more arachnids slithered towards her out of the twilight. Kamyri's eyes darted searching through the darkness, but suddenly there was no trace of the stranger. He was probably smarter than her and took his chance to escape. Kamyri cursed under her breath.

Did I really think he would stay and face my questions?

There was wild hissing around the Worker. Everywhere she looked, glassy creatures emerged from the blackness of the night. Moonlight shone on their countless claws and aggressively splayed jaws, and Kamyri's courage began to fail.

At the same time as the realization that she couldn't survive against so many of these scary creatures, a sharp pain throbbed in her upper arm. The hot blood had now covered her entire left arm down to her fingers and was still flowing steadily from where the spider's claw had split her flesh.

The pain that had completely faded into the background during her own attack suddenly returned with full force. Kamyri felt as if the wound's hot flare was trying to burn away all her resolve and strength.

She could barely breathe, couldn't even remember how she got to the leg in her hand. She listened closely to the voice that seemed to come from deep within her, calling to her from far away which of the approaching enemies she should attack first if she wanted to survive as long as possible.

The Worker raised her waepon and listened more closely. Her body suddenly felt strangely dull. Still, she wouldn't give in to these beasts without a fight. She would at least try to block their attacks.

The spider closest to her launched an attack, claws raised threateningly. But it did not get to that. A loud roar broke through the vicious hiss and caused the long-legged animals to jump back for a moment. Kamyri immediately turned to look for the person making the intimidating noise, but only saw a shapeless black shape rushing past her. A hand clutched the fabric of her shirt. She felt herself losing her footing, being spun around, and immediately colliding with warm fur.

Before she could lift her face from the night-black bristles and become aware of her new situation, a strangely familiar voice reached her ears:

"Hold on!" Kamyri forgot to take a breath in her shock. She recognized the harsh tone.

That's him!

Angrily, she searched for her spider leg, but it was no longer in her control. She must have let it go when they collided, even if she didn't remember it. Everything suddenly seemed so tough and unreal. Her body and her thoughts took far too long and no longer wanted to obey her...

It wasn't until the next roar that Kamyri realized that she was crouching on the back of a bear, her body straining every muscle to cling to the black fur, just as the stranger had called to her.

"The sting of a White Weaver is paralyzing," his voice fluttered to her ears through the rustling of the undergrowth as the bear charged forward at incredible speed, leaving the spider-infested clump of trees behind. "If you exert yourself any more, your lungs will paralyze and you will suffocate."

His words did not inspire hope in Kamyri. Although she seemed to be escaping the angry glass spiders more and more with every second that they chased so quickly through the forest, she didn't particularly like the company or the view.

Before her eyes, the pale-lit branches and bushes began to perform a rigorous dance. The wound on her shoulder throbbed, sending hot tendrils of pain through her body with every beat of her heart.

"Let me know if you get dizzy," the stranger snapped over his shoulder. For a second Kamyri could see some features of his face in the light of the moon: cold, black eyes, a narrow nose... It was a young face, beardless, smooth, framed by lank, dark hair,...

Why am I looking at him so closely? Because his night-colored skin looks so strange? Because little silver sparks shine like stars on his dark cheeks? Do I consider him... pretty?

When Kamyri wanted to take a breath and her lungs gave out, she realized the answer:

Because his face is the last I'll ever see.

She was absolutely sure of this before she lost her grip and fell off the bear's back into a deep unconsciousness.