The descent began at a snail’s pace but soon accelerated, plunging me deeper into the earth. Initially, it felt like descending a gentle slope, but within moments, the movement quickened. In the span of heartbeats, I had dropped what felt like five or six stories. My inability to move only heightened the anxiety of the rapid descent.

  Eventually, the narrow passage widened dramatically, and I emerged into a vast, open space. It was here, as I scanned the shadows for threats, that I realized my paralysis had lifted. The only light emanated from the red glow of my platform. However, the cave’s vastness became apparent through faint reflections off distant rocks. The light reflected oddly off these surfaces, creating an eerie effect. From certain angles, lines of red light glinted back at me, sparking a suspicion that crystals might be embedded within the cave walls.

  Above me, Kaylie descended on a platform bathed in blue light. Her platform seemed to hover independently, just a few feet above mine, and I briefly wondered if mine exhibited the same behavior. I was so absorbed in watching her graceful descent that I hardly noticed when my feet finally touched the ground. The floor met my soles softly, the contact so gentle it was almost imperceptible.

  “Very clever of you to figure it out.” Kaylie beamed as her platform finally came to a stop right in front of me. Her smile usually radiated pure joy, but under the odd lighting from below, her face was cast in long shadows that gave her a somewhat eerie appearance.

  “You know, you look like an evil blue clown right now?” I remarked.

  Her smile didn’t waver. Instead, she shot back, “Better than a sad strawberry.” Glancing down, I realized I was bathed in red light, and despite myself, I cracked a smile.

  “Do you ever stop smiling?”

  “Not when I’m having fun,” she replied cheerily.

  “And you’re having fun now?” I asked, surprised.

  “Totally. That was a pretty good riddle. You figured it out just a bit after I did. It’s refreshing to be around people who aren’t slow,” she quipped.

  “Slow? Didn’t I speak up first?” I countered.

  “Yeah, because you were in a position to see something. I had already figured it out and was going to declare the opposite color of whatever you said,” Kaylie added, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

  It was pretty funny because Kaylie also had to figure out the riddle from my position and then from her own. It takes a lot of mental flexibility to put all those pieces together that quickly.

  “Did you see the others?” I asked, noticing that no one else had come down yet.

  “Nope, I don’t think they are coming. Remember, the riddle said it could only end in separation or termination. I think we are separated from them,” Kaylie was explaining when the light from my platform suddenly went out.

  All we had left was the blue glow from her platform.

  “Where do you think they are?” I asked, my voice tinged with concern.

  “I’m not sure, but...” Kaylie’s voice trailed off mid-sentence as her light also cut out, enveloping us in total darkness. The previously dimly lit space, which offered just enough light to keep us at ease, now turned into a pitch-black abyss, engulfing all sense of direction and comfort. Every hair on my skin stood on end in fear. Kaylie undoubtedly felt the same as she cut off her sentence prematurely.

  “Do you have any Light Spells?” I whispered urgently.

  As we quieted down, the subtle sounds of thin legs crawling and brushing against the cavern walls became audible. “Do you hear that?” Kaylie whispered back.

  “Yes, but we can’t do much about what we can’t see,” I responded, my voice tense.

  “My light isn’t that powerful, but I do have fire,” Kaylie said, beginning to whisper an incantation. Her words, louder than the creeping sounds, made it difficult to pinpoint their origin. In the cave, the echoes made it seem as if the scuttling came from every direction. With my sword drawn, I stood ready to protect Kaylie, though I had no clue from where an attack might come. It was pitch black, except for the glow beginning to emanate from behind Kaylie’s hands.

  Then, fire erupted behind me. As the flames flared up, my eyes, which had been straining in the darkness, were suddenly flooded with light. I instantly regretted it. The cave around us was revealed in all its horrifying detail. It was filled with webs and spiders the size of dogs, crawling all over the walls and ceiling, seeming to emerge from every crevice. The firelight, unlike a flashlight, cast unsettling, moving shadows that made it difficult to discern if the shapes were stationary or advancing. The erratic flames distorted our view, while dense webs obstructed a clear line of sight.

  The cave had two exits. One led upward and swarmed with spiders. The other descended deeper, and it had noticeably fewer spiders.

  “Wow,” Kaylie marveled, “they are beautiful.”

  I almost turned to give her a look of disbelief, but restrained myself. The spiders, with their clusters of glistening black eyes reflecting the fire’s erratic light, cast a malevolent stare. Each eye seemed to trap the flames within, creating a ghostly spectacle that chilled me to the bone. “We need to run,” I advised.

  “Or I can burn the whole place down. There are enough webs in here that it would make a big mess,” Kaylie suggested confidently.

  Rabbit interjected quickly, “Even if that doesn’t burn you to death, I’m pretty sure you’d suffocate. I’d suggest avoiding the webs and fire as much as possible.”

  “Are you kidding me? We are in here! Just avoid the webs?” I exclaimed in a panic. Suddenly, one of the spiders, the size of a cat, dropped onto me. I hadn’t seen it fall, so I couldn’t tell if it had jumped or let go from its web. Instinctively, my hand quickly brushed the spider off in a frantic swipe. I want to say I knocked it off with a punch, but in truth, my instincts were more about avoiding it.

  Nevertheless, my rational mind took over, and I brought my sword down hard on the spider. The blade clanged off its back with a harsh metallic sound, failing even to scratch the creature despite a clear, direct hit. My sword was still extended downward when the spider swiftly righted itself and pounced at me, legs first.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Finally succeeding, its fangs found a gap in my armor at a fold and pierced through, injecting venom into my arm. I was relieved it wasn’t both fangs that had injected me, but I was worried about the type of venom. Yet, there was no time to dwell on it. I grabbed the spider with my other hand, pulled it off of me, and just threw it. Given that I couldn’t stab it, I figured that was the next best solution.

  As I scanned the area, I noticed other spiders had crept closer. I began to retreat, moving deeper into the downward-sloping part of the cave. Kaylie was right behind me as we descended. From above, several more spiders began to lower themselves, hanging ominously from their webs.

  Another spider jumped in front of us as we continued downward, attempting to surround us. Before I could swing my sword, Kaylie unleashed a torrent of flames directly at it. The burst was much brighter than the flames she had conjured earlier, and since she uttered no new incantations, I assumed it was an extension of the same spell.

  I was staring directly at the spider when the flash occurred, nearly blinding me. Though the flames didn’t touch me, the heat was intense enough to make my skin feel like it was burning. I immediately shielded my face and eyes, but by the time I covered myself, the spell had subsided, returning to the normal flame in her hands.

  Nothing could survive that spell, or so I thought. The intense heat had me feeling scorched, yet the spider should have been reduced to ashes or a charred skeleton. I looked over, expecting devastation, but to my shock, the spider was still alive, perfectly intact, and retreating slowly.

  I initially thought the spider was limping due to an injury, but I realized spiders didn’t walk like other animals. Their movements were designed for stealth, tailored for silently navigating their sticky webs. The retreat wasn’t due to any visible damage, as there was no sign of harm on its tough exoskeleton. However, its backward movement suggested an internal distress. Perhaps the intense heat had caused discomfort, or even pain, that wasn’t outwardly apparent.

  It also spelled big trouble for us. If she couldn’t destroy it with flames, and I couldn’t stab them to death, even one spider might be too much for us to kill. There were dozens, if not a hundred of these creatures in here.

  “Run!” I yelled, moving downward at a jog, but another spider blocked my path. This time, instead of attempting to stab, I swung my sword in a wide arc. The blade struck the spider’s tough exoskeleton, sending it skidding sideways rather than inflicting any real damage. The impact twisted my wrist painfully sideways, a sharp pain shooting through the joint. Clearly, swords weren’t designed to bat things away like baseball bats.

  Yet, almost as quickly as the pain appeared, it dissipated, replaced by a spreading warmth in my arm. Whether it was my natural healing accelerating or something else, I couldn’t be sure, but I was grateful for the relief.

  We had advanced only a few more feet when a spider burst from the cave wall and ambushed Kaylie. The impact partially knocked her off her feet, sending her careening into the cave’s side, where her hair snagged in the spiderwebs. It was lucky she didn’t get any other part of her body trapped, since we couldn’t leave that behind, but we might be able to leave some hair.

  I wanted to help Kaylie, but it seemed nearly impossible. The spider that landed on her was in her flaming hand, and she turned up the heat. The creature couldn’t retreat as she burned it in her hand. It looked like there was a glow of light and flames on her chest while lying down.

  This time, I avoided looking directly at the blaze, instead scanning the path we had just taken. It was teeming with spiders. Rows upon rows of these arachnid horrors lined the walls and floor. If we paused to fight, we would be quickly overrun. They would be upon us in seconds if we didn’t keep moving.

  I quickly sliced through the web and cut her hair, hoping she wouldn’t mind the slight trim. Next, I braced myself and took a risk with the flames, kicking with all my might toward the center. With the fire obscuring my view, I could only hope my foot wouldn’t kick Kaylie.

  I was initially concerned about the flames burning me, trusting that my armor would protect me if I only touched them briefly. However, I quickly realized my mistake. The real danger wasn’t the fire but the spider’s hard exoskeleton. When my foot connected, I felt an intense burn and a jarring pain as if I had kicked a solid rock. The bones in my foot crunched under the pressure. Despite my impaired vision, I could tell that the spider was launched forward by the force of my kick, but not entirely intact. Kaylie had held onto one leg while the rest of the creature went flying away.

  In response to my kick, Kaylie quickly dialed back her flames to a safer intensity. Meanwhile, my foot was briefly on fire, but that concern paled in comparison to the advancing spiders. Worse yet, I suspected I had broken my foot. Again, the pain seemed dampened, so it wasn’t that bad. I put my hand down to Kaylie, who grabbed it and pulled herself to her feet while I yelled, “We have to run!”

  Protecting myself while retreating was only going to allow more spiders to get closer faster, so I decided to run down the cave. Both my leg and arm were throwing me off, and they felt weird. Kaylie quickly surged ahead, likely because of my suspected broken foot, which throbbed oddly. The pain, though dulled, was diffuse and persistent. Luckily for me, I was still slightly faster than the spiders.

  While running, I tripped, tumbled forward, and cut my palm. Ignoring the sting of the fresh wound, I scrambled to rise, but my limbs weren’t cooperating. I tried raising my legs, but it felt sluggish, and it moved in general directions without accuracy. Placing my hand on the ground, I noticed a disturbing numbness spreading through it. I could barely feel the floor beneath my fingers. It was as if a single nerve connected my entire hand, and the sensation dulled to almost nothing.

  Despite this, I could still move it, which was vital. Pushing through the pain, I forced myself back onto my feet. My fingers were droopy, and I was pretty sure pushing myself up did more damage to them, but at the moment, I didn’t care. I got back to my feet, but I was having a similar problem with them. My legs moved, but my feet dragged, making it hard even to walk, let alone run.

  As I steadied myself, I realized Kaylie was by my side, supporting me. I hadn’t noticed her return after falling, as I was too focused on my injuries. “What is wrong with you?” she asked, her voice tinged with panic. It was clear she had slowed down for me and doubled back when I stumbled. I should have seen the shifting light from her flames, but my mind was elsewhere, preoccupied with more pressing issues.

  “Spider venom,” I managed to say, surprised to find my speech unaffected. I wondered if it was because I had only received a partial dose, which might be affecting the areas it reached first, or if the venom specifically targeted nerves. I knew that some spiders on Earth could inflict a range of neurological effects, from temporary paralysis to severe degradation of motor functions, and even permanent nerve damage affecting brain function. If it were selectively impacting parts of my brain, that would be terrifying, yet it might explain why some functions remained intact. My best hope was that it was a paralyzing agent that hadn’t fully taken effect due to the half-dose.

  Since my movements were severely hampered, Kaylie took my sword and stowed it in my bag. This immediately lightened my load and improved my mobility, though it left me defenseless.

  “Sorry, I don’t have any other choice,” Kaylie said unapologetically.

  My reduced speed had given the spiders just enough time to catch up. Although seemingly invincible, they weren’t particularly fast. I was the reason Kaylie had been slowed down and placed back in danger. She could have just left me, and there would have been no way they would have caught up to her.

  Looking further down the cave, I scanned for any immediate threats. There were no spiders in sight ahead, and the webs were noticeably fewer. Could it be that I was finally leaving their territory? Despite the apparent lack of danger, I reminded myself that it was probably just wishful thinking.

  As the first wave of spiders closed in, Kaylie extended her hands and uttered a word of power. Instantly, a wall of flame erupted, not rising from the floor to the ceiling, but swirling around in a self-sustaining circle. The heat was more intense than before. I shielded my face and stumbled backward, retreating further down the cave.

  “The flames won’t last that long. Let’s keep moving!” Kaylie yelled over the crackling fire.