Chapter < 15 >

Some time later...

Craig's eyes trembled as they slowly opened. The bright light of the mushrooms caused him to squint and cover his face with his hand. He propped himself up with the other hand, going into a sitting position.

When he sat up, he felt something fall into his lap. Upon looking down he was surprised to see a tiny figure lying there, unconscious.

'A fairy?' He then remembered seeing a ball of dim light just before he passed out. 'Was she the one who rescued me? I did feel like I was shocked by something in the water. I even thought it was an eel as I rushed to shore.' He thought.

He picked her up by pinching her wings between his thumb and index finger, then dropped her Into his palm. "Hey, little fairy, are you okay?" He yelled into his hand. There was no response or any form of movement. "She's probably just unconscious. I wonder if she used up too much magic when she zapped me awake." He muttered, then he forcefully stood up and checked on the condition of his body.

There were several bruises and swells on his legs and arms but thankfully nothing was broken. His most serious injury was the one to his head which was causing him a great deal of pain. It most likely occurred from the speed of his fall into the water.

Craig tore a strip of cloth from his tattered cloak and tied Glowmyth to his shoulder. "Sorry little lady, i don't have any pockets." He then began looking around for a way out. "Now to find a way out of this place." He looked at the opening of the cave. "If i follow the river back out i doubt I'll find a way back up. Plus, I have no idea what's in the water. It's better I explore this cave first." With that in mind, he began walking around the cave in search for a tunnel or something.

"These glowing mushrooms..." He muttered as he closely observed some mushrooms in front of him. "Reminds me of the Eldenwood forest at night. There were a few of them there as well. Could this place also have a high concentration of magic?" He then cast his gaze to the side at the flowing water at the center of the cave. 'Even the water here has a slight glow to it and is oddly blue.'

He continued walking around the left side of the cave until he felt he had looked everywhere, then he crossed the bridge at the center to the other side. 'This bridge is so odd. I wonder if it formed naturally.'

After walking over to the opposite side, he continued his search for a while till he found a a crack in the cave's wall hidden behind a large stalagmite.

'An opening just large enough for me to squeeze through.'

He immediately squeezed his way in and sidestepped through to the other side of it.

After almost five minutes of sidestepping, he exited through an opening into another cave. It was much smaller than the previous one with lots of stalactites hanging from the ceiling. There were a few glowing mushrooms there giving off continuous light.

However, the air inside this cave was thick and suffocating. There was a strange smell in the air that was hard to describe.

Craig walked across the room, looking around for anything noticeable.

Crack!

A snapping sound came from underneath his feet. It was only then after taking a good look that he noticed there were bones scattered all over. The bones were black in colour and blended with the ground making them difficult to notice right away.

"These are... bones?" He stooped down and picked up a few bones to study them.

'Poison.'

He noticed that the condition of the bones were a result of severe poisoning. There weren't many poisons capable of causing such serious discolouration. Pairing that knowledge together with the fact that he was in a deep cave, only one thing came to mind.

Death Weaver!

Death Weavers were a breed of large spiders that were extremely poisonous. Even their web were laced with paralytic and toxic venom. The poison itself was slow acting but was capable of seeping into the victim's bones.

Craig started to frown. If there was one thing that he despised the most, it would be spiders. Even the harmless ones got on his nerves. He suddenly felt that climbing to the top of the canyon was probably a much safer alternative to following this cave.

Taka-taka-taka!

Just when he was thinking of heading back through the crack in the wall, he heard the sounds of legs scuttering from behind. By instinct, he leaped forward and spun around, placing his back against a wall.

Looking at where he stooped previously, there was a massive spider with one leg pierced into the hard stone ground exactly where he had been.

'Oh shit! There's a queen weaver here too? Just my crappy luck.' Craig cursed mentally.

The Queen Death Weaver, was the leader of the colony. It was a lot bigger than the others, standing at a height of eight feet. It used a low supersonic squeal to give orders to the others.

Craig didn't waste any time and quickly scanned around for the fastest way out. In no time at all he had spotted a slope that led to a tunnel leading upward. He bolted toward it immediately at his fastest speed which was being hindered by his injuries, making him much slower than he anticipated.

As he ran he looked around for anything he could use as a weapon since he had lost his sword in the fall.

The tunnel led up to a larger cave which was twice as wide as the first cave which the river led to. As soon as Craig bolted into the cave the queen Death Weaver bolted out after him, crashing through several stalagmites as it chased him. Craig zigzagged between the stalagmites as a cover as he ran for his life, still looking for a weapon.

Eventually he spotted a sword in the hand of a withered skeleton that sat against a wall. He changed directions and headed towards the skeleton with all his might. As soon as he arrived and grabbed the sword he felt something hit him from behind, sticking him to the wall.

Plak!

The queen Death Weaver had launched a net of web at him which instantly glued him to the wall, face down. The sword was still in his hand but in an awkward position, making it difficult to use right away.

The queen Death Weaver now took its time as it closed the distance between them. It smashed the stalagmites in its path to clear the way for it to move freely. However, when it was just a few feet away from Craig, a stalactite had fallen and pieced into its body, causing it to squeal in pain. This was a result of all the vibrations from its rampage. In fact several stalactites had fallen at the same time all over the cave.

Although it had been pierced by the stalactite, the queen Death Weaver did not die immediately, nor did it give up on its target. It slowly made its way forward with the large stalactite pierced into its body.

In the corners of his eyes, Craig could see the queen Death Weaver slowly approaching. He tried his best to use the sword to cut through the web, but it was futile. The paralysis of the venom was kicking in and his grip on the sword was weakening. After a while it even fell from his hand onto the ground.

The queen Death Weaver had gotten close enough to send chills through his body. It extended its sharp leg toward him in a last attempt to reach him but was on its last breath, the verge of death. As its leg descended it passed close enough to cut through the Web but did not harm a hair on Craig's body. When its leg touched the ground, it was dead.

Craig also collapsed to the ground, unable to move in the slightest. It would take at least thirty minutes for the paralysis of a Death Weaver to subside. Which was a very long time in a deep cave full of the unknown. Who knew how many more Death Weavers were in here and what else. Well I do but, moving on.

Craig remained still the entire time with his pupils moving left to right repeatedly. He kept wondering why was it only the queen Death weaver he had encountered. Where were the rest of them? He couldn't figure it out because he only knew minor details regarding their species from a book he had read.

Fifteen minutes into Craig's paralysed state, Glowmyth finally regained consciousness. She realised she was tied to something and immediately started to panic but soon realised she was tied to Craig's shoulder and was able to escape. She freed herself from the bondage and fluttered her wings as he floated up into the air. Looking down, she saw Craig lying on his back in a supine position. Only his eyes were moving, eventually locking onto her.

Glowmyth frowned and looked around, then noticing the gigantic spider impaled by a large stalactite. "My word. Such a big spider!" She gasped in shock and placed her little hands against her mouth. She noticed that it had also just died as there was fresh green goo flowing out from beneath it. "Did he... just kill it?" The surprise in her tone was evident as she spoke.

She then flew back down till she was floating just above Craig's face. She didn't know about Death Weavers but from observing Craig's condition she had guessed that he was paralysed. "You must have been paralysed by that spider right?" She asked looking into Craig's eyes. "Well i can help you but my magic is constantly being drained by this place so I am very weak right now. I need to eat some luminous mushrooms to absorb some mana first. Not that you can understand a word that I'm saying without a translation spell. Just sit tight I'll be right back." she flew away after saying these words and landed on top top of a glowing mushroom.

Little did she know, Craig did understand what she said, word for word. It was only that he could not respond at the moment so he only kept staring at her.

Usually, wisp fairies didn't sound like they were speaking at all. Their voices sounded like the tinkering of tiny bells or chimes. Only other fairies could understand them. This was why Glowmyth assumed that Craig was unable to understand her. For whatever reason though, he could.

Glowmyth cut into a mushroom and ate a piece of glowing tissue. As soon as she did her body glowed dimly before going back out. Facing the mushroom she began stuffing her mouth repeatedly with glowing tissue till the mushroom no longer gave off any light. Then she quickly flew over to Craig and formed a triangle by placing both thumbs and index fingers together. She did a small chant in some unknown tongue and yelled, "Cleanse."

A wave of orange light shot from her hands and covered Craig's body, seeping into his skin. Shortly afterwards a grey smoke rose from his skin like steam. When it had fully dissipated he was already propping himself up, ready to stand. Before he could stand up however, he leaned to the side and vomited. Then he felt a sharp pain in his chest. 'The paralysis is gone but I might still be poisoned.' He thought. He looked at Glowmyth and expressed his gratitude. "Thank you little fairy. That makes the second time you've helped me today."

"Hmph." Glowmyth placed her hand on her waist and raised her chin up with a pound look on her face. She was feeling very pleased with herself.

Craig continued on to ask, "You've cured the paralysis, can you also cure the poison?"

"Poison? You're poisoned as well?" She didn't know he was also poisoned. She assumed he was only paralysed and used a removal spell for paralysis. Even if she knew he was poisoned, healing spells were only effective against repairing injuries. They had minor effects against poisons and there weren't any removal spells for poisons. At the very least she could heal him but the poison would still be there.

"Yes, this spider is extremely poisonous. Luckily i was only poisoned by its Web and not it's concentrated venom or I'd be in serious trouble." Craig replied.

Glowmyth was surprised. "Wait, you can understand me?" She asked in a skeptical tone.

"Yeah, I can understand you." Craig replied as he winced in pain and grabbed his chest. "Can you also cure the poison?" He asked again.

Glowmyth didn't even hear Craig's question. The only thing running through her mind was one sentence. 'This human keeps defying common logic.'