Nobody even had time to react.

The ground beneath her feet exploded.

Tatiana shot forward like a bullet.

The force behind her movement sent dirt and loose stones flying in every direction.

Within a second she was already dozens of meters away.

Within two seconds she was nothing more than a blur weaving through the trees.

The forest rushed past her.

Branches snapped.

Leaves scattered.

The scent grew stronger.

Her heart began beating faster.

Stronger.

Louder.

He’s alive.

The thought echoed repeatedly inside her head.

He’s alive.

He’s alive.

He’s alive.

She pushed harder.

Her muscles screamed.

Her lungs burned.

She ignored all of it.

The scent kept getting stronger.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Then suddenly—

She stopped.

The forest opened into a clearing.

Tatiana’s eyes widened.

For a brief second her mind went completely blank.

"Liam..."

He was there.

Suspended several feet above the ground.

Attached to what looked like an enormous wall of webbing stretched between several massive trees.

The sticky white material covered everything.

Bones.

Carcasses.

Dead creatures she had never seen before.

Some resembled wolves.

Others looked vaguely reptilian.

One looked like some kind of giant bird.

All of them hung lifeless within the web.

And right in the middle of it...

Was Liam.

His body was trapped against the web.

Motionless.

His head hanging slightly forward.

Blood stained the side of his shirt.

A deep puncture wound sat near his ribs.

Around the wound were two distinct marks.

Fang marks.

Something had bitten him.

Something venomous.

Tatiana’s heart nearly stopped.

"Liam!"

She appeared beside him instantly.

Her hands grabbed his shoulders.

His skin was cold.

Far too cold.

She pulled.

Nothing happened.

The web didn’t move.

It held him firmly in place.

Tatiana growled.

She pulled harder.

Still nothing.

The web remained attached.

A dangerous look entered her eyes.

Her claws slid from her fingertips.

Long.

Sharp.

Deadly.

Without hesitation she slashed downward.

RIIIIIP!

The web tore apart instantly.

Another slash.

Then another.

Then another.

The entire section collapsed.

Liam’s body fell forward.

Tatiana immediately caught him before he could hit the ground.

Relief washed through her for half a second.

Then she noticed something.

Her eyes widened.

His hair.

It was completely white.

Not partially.

Not streaked.

Every strand.

Pure white.

She stared at it in confusion.

This wasn’t normal.

This looked like the portal had taken something from him.

Or perhaps the immense strain had caused some kind of reaction inside his body.

Tatiana gently lowered him onto the ground.

Her hand moved to his face.

He was breathing.

Slowly.

But he was breathing.

Relief flooded her chest.

Then—

Scktccchh.

Tatiana froze.

Scktccchh.

The sound came again.

A scraping noise.

Like blades dragging against stone.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Tatiana rose to her feet.

Her eyes narrowed.

The forest suddenly felt silent.

Far too silent.

Scktccchh.

This time it came from directly behind her.

Tatiana turned.

And immediately understood where Liam’s injury came from.

The creature standing there could technically be called a spider.

But only technically.

Whatever it was, it had evolved far beyond anything that should exist.

Its body alone was nearly as tall as Tatiana.

Eight massive legs supported its weight, each one covered in black spikes that looked sharp enough to pierce steel. Strange armored plates protected different parts of its body, overlapping like natural armor forged for war. Its eyes glowed with an eerie green light, dozens of them staring directly at her without blinking.

The worst part were the fangs.

Massive.

Curved.

Dripping with thick venom that hissed whenever it touched the ground.

The creature clicked its jaws together.

Scktccchh.

Tatiana slowly stepped in front of Liam.

Her breathing became steady.

Controlled.

Cold.

Very cold.

Her eyes began glowing.

Bright red.

Not normal red.

Blood red.

The color intensified until it almost illuminated the surrounding forest.

Her claws extended further.

Longer.

Sharper.

The air around her changed.

Everything about her changed.

The sweet girl who baked cookies.

The shy girl who blushed whenever Liam looked at her.

The gentle girl who smiled over the smallest compliments.

All of it vanished.

What remained was something entirely different.

Something dangerous.

Something terrifying.

Something that made even predators understand fear.

Tatiana lowered her body slightly.

Her glowing red eyes locked onto the giant spider.

Tatiana did not hesitate for even a fraction of a second.

The moment the monstrous spider stepped forward from the shadows, all eight of its legs digging into the forest floor with sharp clicking sounds, something inside her snapped completely. The fear she had felt moments ago while searching for Liam vanished. The panic disappeared. The worry disappeared.

All that remained was rage.

Pure rage.

The creature tilted its massive body forward and let out a shrill screech that echoed through the trees. Thick strands of webbing shot from its mouth like spears, cutting through the air at terrifying speed.

Tatiana vanished.

The web struck nothing but empty space.

A loud boom exploded behind the spider as Tatiana appeared beside it. The ground beneath her feet shattered from the force of her movement. Her claws flashed forward.

Five deep lines appeared across one of the spider’s legs.

For a brief second nothing happened.

Then the entire limb slid off.

The severed leg crashed into the ground.

The spider shrieked.

Tatiana did not stop.

She was already moving again.

The monster swung another leg toward her, the sharp spikes lining it capable of skewering a human body instantly.

Tatiana ducked underneath it.

Her claw ripped upward.

The leg separated from the body.

Black blood sprayed across nearby trees.

The spider screamed louder.

Good.

Tatiana wanted it to scream.

She wanted it to hurt.

The creature suddenly leaped backward, creating distance before opening its mouth wide. Venom flew through the air in a deadly green stream.

Tatiana twisted her body sideways.

The venom missed her by inches and melted through several trees behind her. The trunks dissolved with horrifying speed.

Her eyes glowed even brighter.

If that had touched Liam...

The thought alone made her chest tighten.

The next second she exploded forward.

The spider barely had time to react.

Her claw punched directly into one of its eyes.

The giant beast convulsed violently.

Tatiana twisted.

The entire eye came out.

The monster let out a screech so loud that birds erupted from distant trees.

Still she did not stop.

She grabbed the creature with both hands and slammed it into the ground hard enough to create a crater.

Boom!

The earth shook.

Boom!

She slammed it again.

Boom!

Again.

Again.

Again.

The spider tried fighting back. Its remaining legs stabbed toward her from different angles.

Tatiana avoided every single one.

Her body moved with frightening precision.

The moment a leg extended too far, she tore it off.

When another came for her neck, she ripped it away.

When the creature tried retreating, she chased it down.

Within seconds the monster had gone from terrifying predator to helpless prey.

The spider stumbled backward, leaking black blood from countless wounds. Half its legs were gone. One eye had been ripped out. Deep gashes covered its body.

Fear finally appeared in its remaining eye.

Tatiana saw it.

Good.

Let it be afraid.

The same way she had been afraid when she found Liam hanging from that web.

The same way her heart had nearly stopped when she saw the blood covering his side.

The spider turned and tried to flee.

Tatiana was already in front of it.

Her claw flashed.

The remaining eye exploded.

The beast screamed.

Another slash.

Its jaw separated.

Another slash.

Its abdomen burst open.

Another.

Another.

Another.

Tatiana completely lost count.

The forest echoed with the sounds of tearing flesh and dying shrieks.

By the time she finally stopped moving, the creature no longer resembled a spider.

It was just pieces.

Chunks of flesh scattered across the forest floor.

Black blood covered trees, rocks and broken roots.

Silence slowly returned.

Tatiana stood there breathing heavily.

Her chest rose and fell.

Blood dripped from her claws.

For several seconds she simply stared at what remained of the monster.

Then the red glow faded from her eyes.

The claws slowly retracted.

The terrifying aura surrounding her disappeared as quickly as it had come.

The sweet girl who baked cookies for Liam returned.

And immediately her attention went back to him.

"Liam..."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

She rushed over and dropped to her knees beside him.

His white hair caught her attention again.

It looked so wrong.

So different.

She carefully lifted his head onto her lap.

There was still no response.

No movement.

No opening of his eyes.

Just breathing.

At least he was breathing.

Tatiana gently pushed some of the white hair away from his face.

"You idiot..."

Her voice trembled.

"You scared me."

A few moments later she heard movement approaching rapidly through the forest.

Multiple people.

She immediately recognized the scents.

Irina.

Leonid.

Mary.

The others.

They arrived only seconds later.

The first person to emerge from the trees was Leonid.

He stopped.

Completely stopped.

His eyes slowly moved across the battlefield.

The destroyed forest.

The shattered ground.

The black blood covering everything.

The countless remains of the spider beast.

"...What the hell happened here?" he muttered.

Irina stepped out next.

Then she saw the corpse.

Or what was supposed to be a corpse.

Her eyebrows rose.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

She looked at the monster.

Then she looked at Tatiana.

Then back at the monster.

Then back at Tatiana again.

For several seconds she said absolutely nothing.

Mary arrived last.

The witch took one look at the giant spider’s remains and immediately understood what had happened.

Her gaze shifted toward Tatiana.

The normally calm witch looked genuinely surprised.

Because she could tell.

This wasn’t a hard-fought battle.

This wasn’t a desperate struggle.

The spider had been slaughtered.

Completely and utterly slaughtered.

Tatiana had dismantled it.

Mary’s eyes lingered on the torn remains before finally moving toward Liam.

The moment she saw him resting against Tatiana, her expression changed.

She hurried forward.

"Move."

Tatiana immediately obeyed.

Mary knelt beside Liam and began examining him.

Several tense seconds passed.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody interrupted.

Finally Mary released a long breath.

"He’s alive."

Tatiana nodded, she had figured that part out already.

Mary continued checking the bite mark on Liam’s side.

"The venom isn’t killing him."

"Then why isn’t he waking up?" Tatiana asked immediately.

Mary frowned.

"The portal."

She looked at Liam’s white hair.

"He supplied far more energy than I anticipated."

Her voice carried obvious guilt.

"I knew it would strain him. I didn’t realize it would be this severe."

Irina folded her arms.

"Can he recover?"

Mary nodded.

"Yes."

The answer came instantly.

"His body is already healing itself."

Everyone visibly relaxed.

Especially Tatiana.

She looked down at Liam again.

Then carefully wrapped her arms around him.

This time nobody teased her.

Nobody commented.

Because after seeing the massacre surrounding them, everyone understood exactly how worried she had been.