The Gloom-Spiders moved with a silent, unnatural speed. They didn't run. They flowed across the dark, crystalline ground, their sharp, obsidian legs making no sound. They were holes in the world, pieces of a story that did not belong.
"Back to the ship!" Lyra yelled, but it was too late. The spiders were between them and the landing ramp of the *New Beginning*.
The first one lunged, not at Lyra or Kael, but at one of the ship's landing struts. It was a thick, solid piece of Nexus-forged alloy. The spider's leg, a blade of pure, solidified shadow, struck the metal.
There was no clang of impact. No shower of sparks. There was just a quiet *hiss*, and a section of the landing strut turned to a brittle, gray dust.
"It's not just destroying things," Kael said, his mind reeling. "It's… un-making them. It's draining the story, the meaning, from them."
