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Ainsley’s sword morphed into the pair of purple clubs again; they were floating in front of her, spelled by some kind of telekinesis.

Eris flicked her sword, and it morphed into a staff. A mini whirlwind swirled up and down the long wooden shaft.

Orion’s sword was an amulet now. When he looped it over his neck and clutched the long silver chain, his body started to shimmer with an eerie blue glow.

Meanwhile, I scrambled as far away from the spiders as I possibly could.

“Easy now. Don’t let them get the upper hand,” Eris said to the other Knights, gripping her staff tightly. It seemed both she and Orion had a spare WAND.

“Wait!” Kato shouted.

“Can’t,” Ainsley said tightly, out of the corner of her mouth. Her purple eyes were still locked on to the stream of spiders. “These beasts are a clear and present danger to this world. We are obliged to eliminate them.”

Kato sighed. “They’re just spiders, Ainsley. You know this sort of thing…” He indicated the mass of spiders. “…is pretty normal around here.”

“This isnormal?” I gaped at Kato.

He shrugged. “Australia has a lot of spiders.”

“Deadly spiders.” Ainsley wasn’t taking her purple eyes off of those spiders.

“These guys aren’t deadly,” Kato told her. “They aren’t even poisonous. They’re pretty harmless.”

Eris lowered her weapon. “He’s right. They’re not poisonous. It’s all in the markings.”

Kato opened a window, and the river of spiders happily escaped out of it. They must have realized that the Knights were about to exterminate them.

I wasn’t sad to see them go.

“Everything ok?” Kato asked me.

When he closed the window, locking out the spiders, I could finally breathe again. “That was exciting.” My pulse was pounding so hard, my chest was shaking.

He shrugged. “Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen spiders explode out of a wall.”

“That doesnotmake me feel any better.”

“You’ll get used to the spiders.” Jareth sheathed his blade. “Australia is weird.” He patted me hard on the back. “Just like you.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Nala studied me with her gold eyes. “Kato was right about you. You don’t panic easily.”

If only she could hear my hammering heart.

“But Eris does panic. For shame! A Nymph scared of a few spiders!” Orion teased my mentor.

Eris hastily put her whirlwind away. “I’m not that kind of Nymph. I play with wind.” A breeze swept through the room, trapping Orion against the wall. “Not animals.”

The deep, echoing roar of a horn sounded from outside.

“The Tournament is about to begin. You should all get ready,” Kato told the six Knights. He put on his helmet before he turned to me. “And you should get back to your friends.”

“Right.” I hurried toward the door, but stopped just before I got there. I turned to face the Knights and told them, “It was really nice to meet you all.” Then I left the building.

As I jogged down the path, back toward the Oval, my mind dwelled on the six Knights. They were so much more human than anyone knew.

That’s why Knights always wore helmets. To mask their emotions. Their expressions. Their humanity. The Government didn’t want people to realize that the Knights of Gaia were so normal.