Chapter 28
I woke up to a crisp breeze sweeping through the camp. The smell of dried blood from the wolf hyenas filled my nose as I got up and stretched. Laine was already up, poking at the embers of last night's fire with a stick, while Maxian was kneeling and staring at the sky with his hands held together in prayer.
The lizard stood nearby. Its sharp eyes were scanning the distance, still gleaming with an unnatural light. It was the same eerie glow I'd seen before I'd taken control of it. I frowned, my mind still nagging at me since yesterday.
"You ever wonder why every creature we've fought so far has had those glowing blue eyes just like the lizard does?" I asked, my voice still groggy from sleep.
Laine didn't look up from the fire, but his response was as exasperated as ever. "No idea."
"Wow, thanks for the insight." I rolled my eyes. "You're a real fountain of wisdom, you know that?"
"Glad I could help."
Maxian finished his prayer and walked over. "Should we get moving? We've got a lot of ground to cover."
He handed me a bowl of soup.
With a sigh, I got up and grabbed the bowl, gulping it down immediately. He was right. The faster we moved, the better.
The mountains didn't seem to be getting any closer, and if more creatures were lurking on the way, I preferred to deal with them sooner rather than later.
In a few minutes, we were off again, riding atop the lizard.
Along the way, we encountered more beasts—some in packs, some alone. But none of them were strong enough to challenge the lizard, so we let it handle them while we kicked back. I kept noticing that all of them had glowing blue eyes.
We'd been given a pretty sweet deal, and I'd almost gotten used to doing nothing. But in the evening, Laine suddenly spoke up, startled by something.
"Something's up ahead," he said, pointing.
I followed his gaze, steeling myself for whatever new horror awaited us.
A massive spider with piercing blue eyes stood in the path before us, with its eight black legs twitching. The thing was at least the size of a horse. Its body was covered in thick, bristly hairs that made my skin crawl just by looking at them.
The lizard let out a low, rattling hiss and took a step back.
"Huh," Laine murmured. "The lizard's scared."
"That can't be good," Maxian muttered, his expression unusually serious. "It must be stronger than the other beasts we've seen so far."
Together, we got off the lizard and considered our options. The lizard was obviously hesitant to fight, and I wasn't about to charge at it recklessly, either. Then, an idea struck me.
"You know, I've heard sparrows eat spiders," I mused, rubbing my chin. "If that's true, then maybe…"
I focused on reaching for that strange, unpredictable magic that I still barely understood. I pictured a giant sparrow, big enough to swoop down and devour the spider whole. If my plan worked, we wouldn't even have to fight and could even use it to fly straight to our destination.
A flash of light. A spark of energy.
And then…
Chirp!
I blinked.
There, flapping its tiny wings in the air before me, was a sparrow.
A tiny, utterly furious sparrow.
I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Of course. Why did I expect that to work?"
The sparrow, apparently unbothered by my disappointment, let out a sharp, angry chirp and dove straight at the spider with surprising ferocity for a little creature. To my surprise, the spider reacted more violently than I'd expected. It reared back with its legs twitching wildly in response to the sparrow attack; it started shooting webs in every direction with increasingly frantic movements.
I barely ducked in time as a web shot past my head.
The lizard, however, still hadn't budged. I turned to it, frowning. "Hey. You should probably start attacking right about now."
The lizard… shook its head.
I stared. "Wait. You understand me?"
It nodded.
"Oh, come on!" I threw up my hands. "You mean you could understand me this whole time and just didn't say anything?"
The lizard nodded again.
I was about to demand more answers when I heard a muffled noise behind me.
"Uh… Sam?"
I turned and groaned at what I saw.
Laine and Maxian were both stuck to a tree, wholly webbed up.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Really? You guys lasted, what, ten seconds?"
"Shut up and get us down," Laine snapped.
I sighed and turned to the lizard again.
"Look, either you fight that thing, or tonight I find out what grilled lizard tastes like."
This time, it complied, hesitantly walking towards the spider, who was still preoccupied with the sparrow. The fight kicked off behind me, but I ignored it and walked over to the two webbed-up idiots.
The instant I touched the webbing to get it off, my hands clung to it like glue.
"Great," I muttered.
I planted my foot against the tree for leverage and tried pulling again. Nothing.
Then my foot slipped.
Now, one foot was stuck in the sticky mess, too.
I clenched my jaw. "You have got to be kidding me."
Laine and Maxian started arguing about how best to get free.
"Maybe we should try burning it," Maxian said.
"That would burn us too genius," replied Laine.
"The Sky God will protect us," the priest replied smugly.
I tried to ignore their bickering and focus on getting out, but the more I struggled, the more entangled I got. My other foot got caught, then part of my cloak, and before I knew it, I was well and truly stuck.
I let out a long, tired breath.
Frustrated, I yelled at the webs.
"Get off of me!"
To my utter shock, the webs twitched and started to move. They slithered away like something alive, and we quickly pulled ourselves free. I fell backward with a grunt as their grip loosened and landed flat on my back.
When I sat up, I was greeted by an even weirder sight.
The webs had turned themselves into the shape of a man, who was standing at attention and saluting me.
I blinked. "What."
Maxian, still reeling from the whole thing, pointed at the web soldier. "Uh… Sam?"
"I don't know," I said, rubbing my forehead. "I just don't know anymore."
I glanced back at the battle just in time to see the lizard getting overpowered. The spider had it pinned, its mandibles snapping dangerously close to its neck. The sparrow was still attacking it to the best of its ability, but the spider remained unbothered.
"Hey! Web… thing! Go tie its legs together!"
The web soldier saluted again before zipping toward the spider, moving unnaturally fast. It latched onto the spider's legs, wrapping them together like a bundle of twigs. The spider shrieked, stumbling.
Taking advantage of its unbalanced state, the tiny sparrow sped up its attack, pecking mercilessly at the spider's face.
The spider let out another shriek before it did something unexpected.
It detached its tied legs, completely separating them from his body.
With the remaining six legs, it turned and started running.
I scrambled to my feet. "We're not letting it get away."
I dragged Laine and Maxian onto the lizard's back and climbed on myself.
"Follow it," I ordered.
The lizard hesitated only a second before taking off after the fleeing spider.
"Why are we following it?" Laine shouted over the rushing wind.
"Because I want to know what the hell is going on with these blue-eyed beasts. We might get a clue by following it." I spoke.
The spider, wounded but still fast, skittered ahead, vanishing into the dense forest.
And we followed.
We tore through the trees, branches whipping past as the lizard carried us after the fleeing spider. Its remaining six legs scrambled wildly over the forest floor, kicking up dirt and leaves in its mad dash for safety.
The chase ended abruptly as the spider reached the mouth of a cave. It hesitated only for a moment before disappearing into the darkness.
I swung off the lizard's back. "We're going in."
Maxian leapt off, too. "Of course we are! My god will protect us." He hurried toward the entrance, glancing at me expectantly.
I turned to Laine, who stood frozen a few paces away, his expression unreadable.
"Well?" I asked.
Laine shifted uncomfortably. "Someone's gotta keep watch out here," he said, crossing his arms. "You know, in case more of those things show up."
I sighed. "You're afraid."
"No, I'm being practical," he shot back.
I rubbed my temples, deciding not to waste time arguing. "Fine. Stay here. But don't let your guard down."
"Obviously." Laine said with a sigh of relief.
Maxian and I stepped into the cave. The air inside was thick with the smell of rot. Our footsteps echoed off the walls, and the deeper we went, the colder it got. I could hear skittering sounds in the distance, but nothing emerged to attack us. Not yet, at least.
That changed about five minutes later.
The chittering grew louder, and then suddenly, the floor moved.
No, not the floor. Spiders- Dozens of them, each about the size of a cat- surrounded us, their glowing blue eyes locked onto us like we were their next meal.
Maxian muttered a quick prayer.
I focused on summoning a weapon, something terrifying and something that would make these spiderlings regret their existence. A blade, a spear, maybe a flaming axe…
With a puff of magic, an object materialized in my hands.
At first, its size made me think it was a giant two-handed sword. But of course, I was getting ahead of myself; it was a giant rolled-up newspaper.
I blinked. "Well… that works."
The nearest spider lunged. I swung with both hands. SMACK!
It flattened instantly. The other spiderlings halted, hesitating before advancing now.
I grinned. "Oh, I like this."
I swung again. And again. And again.
With each smack, another spiderling was flung away or left twitching. After a few more swipes, the remaining spiders scattered, chittering in panic as they vanished into the shadows.
Maxian looked at the crushed spiderlings around us, then at me. "You're a very strange person."
I gave the newspaper a twirl. "Yeah, well, let's keep moving."
We pushed forward, and the passage eventually opened into a massive cavern. The moment I stepped inside, I knew we'd found the spider's home.
Webs covered every surface. Thick, glistening strands stretched between jagged rocks and clustered together in massive, cocoon-like structures. Scattered across the floor were hundreds of eggs. And the remains of previous meals.
Skeletons and emaciated corpses. Some were animals, but some were human.
Maxian knelt by one of the human remains. The bones were draped in tattered clothes decorated with furs and carved trinkets. "These belonged to the natives," he murmured. "The Dragon Worshippers."
Before I could respond, a movement in the corner of the cavern caught my eye. The giant spider we were hunting sat hunched over in the shadows, its legs still twitching in panic. It saw me and flinched as if it knew what was coming.
But before I could react, it lunged at us.
I focused my magic on stopping its movement by trying to freeze its legs. Instead, my magic took my intent in the most absurd way possible. The spider's legs shimmered… and suddenly, six roller skates appeared on them.
It flailed wildly, sliding uncontrollably across the cavern, smashing into walls and getting tangled in its webs. I watched it careen in helpless circles, slightly amused by the scene.
"Not what I meant. But sure."
I stepped forward and grabbed a sword from one of the native's remains. As the spider struggled on the ground, legs splayed like an overturned beetle, I drove the blade straight into its head.
The glowing blue light in its eyes faded. It twitched once, then went still.
Maxian walked up beside me, peering around. "Well, we didn't find a clue to the beasts going wild as we'd hoped. Pretty sure this is the end of the cave. There's nothing else to see here."
I nodded, agreeing.
Among the remains, there was one body that stood out from the others. A woman, unnervingly well-preserved, with bright red hair, strange furs, and red warpaint streaking her face.
I frowned. "Anyone who could tell us anything is already dead." I nudged her with my foot.
Her eyes snapped open.
Maxian screamed like a little girl.
I raised an eyebrow. "Or not."
She groaned weakly, trying to move. I quickly cut her free of the webs with the sword. She whispered something too quiet for me to catch and slumped forward, unconscious.
I searched the cave for any other survivors but found none. Whoever she was, she was the only one left.
"We're taking her with us," I said, slinging her over my shoulder. "Grab her bow and arrows."
Still shaken, Maxian obeyed without question. Together, we made our way back to the cave's entrance.
When we stepped outside, Laine was sitting cross-legged in front of the lizard, lazily juggling rocks. The lizard was clapping like a delighted child.
I walked up and smacked Laine on the back of my head.
"Ow!" He rubbed his head. "What was that for?"
"This looks like 'staying alert' to you?"
He huffed. "I was just taking a break." Then he noticed the unconscious woman on my back. "Uh… who's this?"
I shifted her weight slightly, glancing toward the trees. "We'll know when she wakes up. For now, let's leave and find someplace to set up camp."
Without another word, I walked off into the forest. I secured the woman on the lizard's back, and we rode off.