It wasn't a soft glow. It was a flash, so bright it washed out the dark colors of the forest. Nox, who was dodging a lunge from his own spider, had to shield his eyes for a second.

When he looked again, he froze.

Serian was still on the ground, but she was kneeling now, not cowering. The golden light swirled around her, and in her hand was a new sword. It wasn't her simple steel blade. This one was ornate, its hilt shaped like the branches of a tree, its blade shining with a light of its own.

Her eyes were open, and they were glowing with that same golden light. She didn't look scared anymore. She looked… divine.

The spider's leg came down.

She didn't flinch. She just swung the new sword in a simple, effortless arc.

The blade met the spider's leg. There was no clang of metal on chitin. The blade passed through the thick limb like it wasn't even there. The leg, completely severed, flew off and crashed into a tree.

The spider let out a sound of confused pain. It stared at its stump, then at her.

She got to her feet.

She didn't limp. She stood straight and tall, the golden light around her making her look like a warrior from an old story.

Nox just stood there, his own spider forgotten for a second. He stared at her, his mind completely blank.

'What the hell?' he thought. 'Who is she?'

She looked at the wounded spider, her expression calm, and took a single step forward.

The wounded spider let out a high-pitched screech and lunged, its remaining legs scrambling on the dead leaves. It was a messy, desperate attack, driven by pain and fury.

Serian didn't even dodge. She raised her glowing sword, holding it with two hands, and brought it down in a single, vertical slice. The blade moved with an unnatural speed, a whisper of golden light cutting through the dark forest.

The spider just… fell apart.

There was no spray of black goo, no sound of tearing chitin. The two halves of its body separated cleanly, slid past each other, and hit the ground with a dull thud. The parts almost immediately began to dissolve, turning into motes of golden light that faded into the air.

Nox's own spider stopped its attack. It reared back, its cluster of eyes fixed on Serian, on the impossible thing that had just happened. A low, keening sound came from its fanged mouth, a sound of fear.

It turned, its instincts screaming at it to run.

"You are not leaving," she said. Her voice was calm, but it held a power that was absolute.

The spider didn't listen. It scrambled backward, its many legs digging into the dead leaves, trying to get away from the glowing woman who had just unmade its kin.

She moved.

It wasn't a charge like his, all fury and pounding feet. It was like she was gliding over the forest floor, her feet barely touching the ground. The golden sword left a faint trail of light in the air as she closed the distance in a single, flowing motion.

The spider spit a glob of thick, black venom at her.

She didn't dodge. She just lifted her free hand, and a small, golden shield came into existence. The venom hit the shield and sizzled into nothing.

She was on the spider now.

She leaped, a graceful, spinning jump that took her high into the air, right over the creature's head. For a moment, she was framed against the dark canopy of the forest, a figure of impossible light and grace.

Nox's breath caught in his throat. His heart, which had been pounding with the adrenaline of his own fight, started beating even faster, for a whole different reason. He had never seen anything like it. His own fighting was, lets just call it a mess. This was…

'Beautiful,' he thought, the word feeling strange and out of place in his mind.

She came down. Her body twisted in the air, her sword a single, perfect line of light. The blade entered the top of the spider's head and passed through its entire body without a sound.

She landed behind the monster, her back to it, the glowing sword held loosely at her side.

The spider stood perfectly still for a second. Then, a thin line of pure, golden light traced the path her sword had taken. The light flared, and the spider's massive body dissolved, turning into a cloud of gold dust that floated up and vanished into the trees.

The forest went quiet.

The golden light around Serian faded. The shining, ornate sword in her hand dissolved into the same golden dust, leaving her empty-handed. Her eyes, which had been glowing with a divine power, returned to normal.

Then her legs gave out.

She collapsed onto the ground in a heap, her body trembling. The calm, powerful goddess was gone, and in her place was just a tired girl with a broken ankle.

Nox finally got his feet to move. He walked over to her slowly, his own sword hanging forgotten at his side. He looked at the spot where the spider had been, then down at her. She was trying to push herself up, her face pale and covered in a thin layer of sweat.

"What the hell was that?" he asked. His voice was quiet, full of a confusion he couldn't even try to hide.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and a little dazed. "I… I don't know," she whispered, her voice rough. "It just… happened." She winced, her hand going to her injured ankle. It looked way worse now, swollen and twisted at an angle that was definitely not good.

He knelt beside her. "You said you were out of mana."

"I was," she said, shaking her head. "That wasn't my power. It was… something else. Someone else."

He didn't ask what she meant. He could see she was in no shape to explain, and honestly, he wasn't sure he wanted to know right now. He had seen a lot of weird things since the world went nuts, but an elf princess turning into a glowing, spider-killing god was now officially at the top of the list.

And his heart…

'It was just the fight,' he told himself, trying to make the thought stick. 'That's all it was.'

He looked around the forest. They couldn't stay here. The smell of monster guts, even the shiny kind, was probably going to attract more trouble.

"We have to move," he said.

"I cannot walk," she said, frustration clear in her voice. "My ankle… I think it is broken this time."

He looked at her leg, then at her face. He let out a long sigh. "I know."

He put his sword away and turned his back to her, crouching down. "Get on."

She just stared at the back of his shirt. "What?"

"Get on my back," he repeated, his voice a little rough with impatience. "You can't walk, and I'm not leaving you here to get eaten by whatever else is in this stupid forest. So get on."

She was quiet for a long moment. He could practically feel her hesitating. Then, he felt her shift behind him. She carefully put her arms around his neck, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders. He reached back, sliding one arm under her legs to support her.

Then he stood up. She was lighter than he expected. And she smelled… nice. A mix of something like rain and leaves. It wasn't the smell he was used to, and it was seriously distracting.

"Hold on tight," he said, and started walking.