9 Stupidly Direct

For all of their previous arguing, Marco and Reina only needed to exchange two words to come to an agreement on what to do next.

"Run?"

"Run!"

They dashed to the opposite side of the room, looking for a tunnel that would take them anywhere else. They soon reached it, only to find a wall of solid tree bark.

"Where's the hole?" Marco asked as his eyes darted around.

"How should I know?" Reina responded.

She waved the torch around, casting light everywhere in an attempt to find a way out. Marco didn't care so much about her reckless handling of fire then, as death by giant spider was a bit more pressing.

"How big are the spiders here?" asked Reina as she ran along the wall.

"I don't know," Marco said, following. "And I don't think we should be around to find out."

As it was, they seemed safe for the moment. There were no sounds except for the fly's last few buzzes, and neither of them saw a spider as they constantly looked over their shoulders. Still, spiders weren't known for being the loudest of predators.

"There!"

Reina pointed ahead as she sprinted. As her light illuminated the area they saw a break in the wall. A hole!

"Yes! Let's–"

Before Marco could suggest they leave as quickly as possible, he discovered a problem with that plan. The web came down from the ceiling, ran along the wall...and covered the hole.

"Why are you just standing there?" Reina yelled, gesturing at the web. "Cut it!"

"Cut a web? You know they're famous for being sticky, right? Let's just go back the way we came."

Reina rolled her eyes. "There's no time. I'll just do this!"

She raised the torch, and Marco immediately knew what she was thinking.

"Wait! You can't–I'll cut it!"

Before Reina could set everything around them on fire, he drew his sword and brought it down on the web.

It promptly got stuck and tangled within the threads.

"Stupid cheap sword," Marco said as he yanked it out. The web was unharmed, just a tiny bit twisted. Like his sweaty helmet, the sword was clearly a piece of second-hand junk the armory gave to those who couldn't pay. "Give me your knife."

Reina backed away from him.

"Come on, Reina!"

"I don't trust you with it."

"You gave it to me before!"

"And you almost lost it!"

"Gah!"

They didn't have time for another argument, so he just reached for the knife at her belt. Swiftly, so swiftly that she seemed to flow like water, Reina moved away, grabbed his arm, and twisted it.

"No!"

From the awkward angle she had put him in, Marco managed to meet her gaze. There was something wild there, desperate. Even during the lizard fight, he had never seen her so...vulnerable?

Then, the wild look was gone. She let him go. "I apologize. It's just, this knife was a gift from my father. When I gave it to you before and you just disappeared up a tree with it, part of me thought I'd never see it again. I'll cut the web, take this."

She handed him the torch and turned to cut the web.

"Reina…"

Had the next thing not happened, Marco still wouldn't have known how to respond to the princess' rare moment of vulnerability. Unfortunately, the fly's final, tragic buzz rang out as the omen of something terrible.

Marco, his curiosity beating out his intelligence, took a few steps forward and raised the torch. The web was high enough up that the fly was only a silhouette in Marco's view. A silhouette that twitched softly as another silhouette overtook it.

Marco squinted, trying to make out the size of the spider through the dim torchlight. All he saw was a black mass that came over the fly the way storm clouds blot out the sun. Then, eight green orbs blinked into existence and seemed to fixate on him. Without warning, the black mass shifted. The spider was coming for Marco.

"Reina!" Marco called as he ran back. "We have to go."

"It won't cut!" she yelled in frustration.

"It has to cut," was all he could manage to say as he came to her side. She looked back at him, then traced his gaze upwards. The black mass was right above them.

Reina screamed, then tried sawing as hard as she could.

She was too slow. She managed to cut just one strand in the time it took Marco to discover the spider and run back. She hadn't even made progress on another when the spider crept into view.

It crawled from the ceiling and down the wall until it was standing right above their blocked exit!

It was…about a foot and a half long.

Reina looked up at it, then back to Marco with a flat expression. "Marco, hit it with your sword."

Marco breathed a sigh of relief, almost laughing as he raised his sword to do just that. The spider looked sort of cute in a creepy way. It was hairy and black, with thick legs and big green orbs for eyes. Marco almost felt sorry for the little guy as he got next to Reina, close enough to squish the spider out of existence.

That was when they came.

The black mass that Marco had seen was not just the one spider. He learned this just as he was ready to bring his sword down. Tens, no, hundreds of green orbs lit up and shuffled into view.

Marco nearly dropped his sword as he just stood there in shock, his mouth barely forming the words, "Reina get away."

Reina, who had gone back to cutting the web, looked up again while saying in an exasperated tone, "You can't be scared of–"

Her entire body froze with her words. There was silence for a brief moment before she let out the loudest scream Marco had ever heard in his entire life.

Then all hell broke loose.

The spiders, agitated by Reina's scream, started crawling down the web en masse. The horde poured onto the floor as if someone had spilled a bucket. A bucket of hairy, green-eyed bloodsuckers.

Reina just kept screaming as she clutched Marco.

He brandished his sword as well as the torch. The flame created a bit of distance between them and the spiders. But it wasn't enough.

As the spiders came down the wall, they went around the flame-wielding Marco and landed on either side of the duo. It wasn't long before they were surrounded by an army of chittering spiders. The torch kept them at bay but Marco could only hold it in one direction. And Reina kept hitting his arm and saying things like "Behind you!" and "They're getting closer!" So he would swing around, making the spiders behind him back away. But then the spiders he was just facing would advance again. This deadly dance of Marco constantly turning around and scaring a few spiders away lasted for what simultaneously seemed like a lifetime and also mere heart-pounding seconds. All the while, the sea of glowing green eyes seemed to be getting thicker and thicker…

The only possible escape they had was the hole right next to them. Unfortunately, that was covered with a web that was covered with spiders.

As he kept whirling around, Marco's mind was racing, trying to take stock of all they had available to them. He had the flame, of course, which was helping but only did so much. His sword was in his other hand, but he really didn't like the odds of trying to fight an army of spiders in sword-to-fang combat.

Reina yelped, and Marco quickly turned to face her. A spider had gotten too close and she was stabbing at it in response. He waved the torch at it and it backed away. Reina resumed a guarded stance with her knife out in front of her. Marco had to admit that she was a more skilled fighter than he thought she would be, but even she couldn't take out the entire horde on her own.

She looked back at him with a panicked but fierce look in her eye. Marco was taken aback, and oddly emboldened by her. Even while deathly afraid, Reina looked ready to fight. If she had her way, he thought, she probably would just take the torch and charge ahead, setting the spiders, him, and even the whole tree on fire. There had to be a better plan than that.

"Marco, behind you!"

Her shout penetrated the sea of thoughts that flooded his mind. One bold spider took the opportunity to lunge at him as his back was turned to it. Before Marco could react, Reina swiftly pushed him out of the way. The fang that was meant for Marco grazed her arm, leaving a sizable cut behind.

"Aargh!" she screamed and grabbed her arm. Marco hastily jumped at the offending spider and whacked it with his sword, sending it retreating back into the horde.

"Thanks," he said as he grabbed her arm too look at it.

She yanked it back, wincing. "Later."

"We need to take care of that in case it's poisonous!" he protested.

"We have more pressing concerns," she said through gritted teeth. "We need one of your plans."

Marco looked at her, mouth agape. "I–I don't have anything!"

"You have to! We can't fight our way out of this. Look, I was wrong. You do stupid things, but your plans are often clever. So do something clever!"

In response, all his mind could do was go over the checklist of things they had. There was nothing useful. No book with a magical trap that he could spring at the right time. No giant eagle to swoop in and save them. Just his sword, her knife, a torch, an army of spiders, and a web blocking their escape.

A sword that was too cheap to even cut right. A knife being held by an injured arm. A torch that was as dangerous as it was helpful. An army of spiders…

"Uh…"

Marco backed away from one group to scare off another when he bumped into Reina.

"They're closing in."

He and Reina had less space to move around in as they dodged the spiders. The horde was tightening its ranks. Pushing them against the wall. Against the web.

"Marco..." was all Reina could say as she switched her knife to her one good arm.

An injured knife wielder. A dull sword. A torch. The web they were being backed up against.

"Dammit!" Marco yelled. As he looked at Reina, injured but still determined to fight, he had an idea. "You were right."

"What?"

"It's not time for one of my plans. It's time to be stupidly direct."

She looked at him quizzically.

"Dammit!" he said again as he raised the torch. The spiders gave him space as he shuffled over to the web. He gritted his teeth as she shoved the torch onto the web!

"What are you–?"

Reina didn't have time to finish that. Besides, as the web caught fire it became quite clear what he was doing. The flame slowly but steadily spread over the web that covered the hole. The spiders that were sitting on it skittered away with all haste.

Without a word, Marco turned back around and held the torch in front of him. He kept the spiders on the floor at bay while the flames climbed up the web. Reina looked up as the ceiling became lit by flame. With the extra light, she could see that the entire area above them was indeed covered in webs. And it would soon all be on fire.

"What exactly is the plan now?" she asked.

"Wait for the hole to open up," Marco replied. "And try not to die."