Still, between his nose, partial vision, and eons of experience within the swamp, he managed to keep up a healthy pace without slamming headfirst into a dead tree or tripping over a bog hole. Speed was what was needed now, even over safety.
Luckily, as he had told Varnas, the creature he was going to meet lived not far from their cave. Though "lived" might be too colorful of a word for such an existence. She had been in a deep sleep for many decades now, and even before that she had been a shadow of her former self. He could not remember who her old god had been, but he did recall that they had loved her dearly, even if she was a difficult person to get along with.
Vilkas was not as opposed to her as Varnas was, but even he found the woman exhausting at times. Unfortunately, now was not the time to be picky. Arianna was in grave danger, and he was not willing to lose his master again.
The wolf leapt over a large, moss-covered boulder and took a sharp left. He knew his landmarks well, and the boulder meant he was nearly there.
The creature he was putting his faith in this day was none other than a spider. Many creatures, not just humans and demi-humans, had an aversion to such beings, despite their small size, so this particular divine being was used to being rejected... especially if you consider that she was a great deal larger than your average arachnid.
He hoped Arianna did not have a fear of spiders, or this potentially forced union could turn out quite bad for both the girl and the spider. But at least both of them would be alive.
Vilkas halved his pace as he came to a rare dense location within the swamp. It was true that the trees did grow closer together, but it was the webbing that made it almost claustrophobic. The arachnid had spun many a web here, making herself a moderately protected shell from both the elements and other potential predators. Not that there were very many of those within the dome these years.
The overlapping layers of spider silk also doubled as a partial barrier to the mist. It was how the spider had managed to survive this long without the protection of the cave he and Varnas had been using. Otherwise she would have dissolved into the fog as the rest of their kind had done since being locked in this accursed cage.
He picked his way carefully through webbing and sharp twigs. He did his best not to disturb anything, as the slightest tug on the white silk could alert the spider, making him an easy meal if she wasn't still in her right mind and decided to attack.
Luckily, he did not have to go very far. He eventually made it to a moderately large hollow within the silken walls, where a dark form rested on a relatively dry patch of loamy earth. Even to him, the curled-up spider made his fur stand on end. There was just something creepy about a bug the size of a large tree stump, lying there with its eight hairy legs curled in around its equally hairy body, that set his hackles up.
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He had always been stronger than the spider and was even more so now, given her weakened state and the fact that Arianna had done well in restoring him. But he was a creature that was based on an animal, and there were some instincts that were hard to suppress.
Taking a deep breath of the musty air, Vilkas risked approaching the sleeping creature.
"Spider?" he said, hesitantly, and in a non-aggressive voice. No reaction. Vilkas inched closer and extended a large, white paw. Nervously, he nudged the spider. Her body rolled slightly from side to side, but there was no other reaction.
Still no reaction. Had she been a normal spider, he may have thought her dead, but she wasn't normal. When spirit beasts died, they evaporated into mana and would add their essence to the killer fog suffocating them all. It was the deadly cycle that the Witch had counted on, after all. So the fact that the spider still had a form meant that she was alive.
There was a clicking noise that set Vilkas' fur on end yet again, and he took a step back from the body. He watched as, slowly, it began to move. Slight tremors at first, then the curled limbs began to shake. Fairly soon Vilkas watched as the female regained her eight feet, rising up on the spindly legs so that she was now about as tall as Varnas. Smaller than Vilkas, but larger than any natural bug had any right to be.
Her eyes, once black and shiny, now had a slight milkiness to them, and Vilkas noticed that she was missing patches of hair all over her body. Clearly she was in rough shape.
"Wolf?" came a hesitant and breathy voice. She sounded horribly weak, and he could see that she was quite shaky on her legs.
"Yes, Spider, it's me," he said softly, concerned over her condition. She had not been quite this bad the last time he had seen her.
"You look... different..." she said, hardly able to get the words out.
Vilkas nodded.
The spider chuckled weakly, flexing and testing her limbs.
She did not answer right away. Whether this was because she was contemplating his words or simply too weak, he wasn't sure. She did speak eventually.
Vilkas was impatient, but he also understood now that he was seeing her in person. There was no way that the Spider could last a trip in direct contact with the fog now. If it hadn't been for the dense webbing, then she wouldn't have been here for him to converse with in the first place. She was very close to death.
He was disappointed but nodded his head all the same. There was no helping it after all.