Arachnid (2)

"How far is the cave?" Zok complained while Kaira kept charging through the wilderness like she was its queen.

"Not that far now," Taheton replied.

Just like every other scout, Taheton too was riding a wolf, but his wolf was seeming the weakest among the trio as it had a jet black tail while the rest of its body was in a shade of brown.

"You said that an hour ago. Be honest, do you even know where we are headed?" Even Sera was getting fed up with Taheton's answers, "In case you don't know, it is supposed to be a quick operation. We go inside the cave, see what's inside and then run back to the tribe. But considering at the rate at which we are moving, we might need to camp somewhere and I don't care about you Taheton, but I and Zok would leave if we can't get to the cave within the hour."

"By Okun! You kids are cranky. Fine, I'll speed up but don't blame me if you get left behind."

Taheton smacked his wolf and rode on. Sera did the same and her wolf increased his speed. However, Zok didn't need to do anything. Kaira was already competitive and when she saw the others speeding ahead of her, she sped up as well. She was the strongest of them all, how could she let the others outperform her?

***

Half an hour later...

The trio finally arrived at the cave the shamans had been talking about. Although Zok didn't have any experience of being a scout and that this was his first-ever cave hunting trip, even he could feel that something was weird around the cave.

While everything else was shrouded with greenery, the area around the cave was void of any of those things. It was, however, covered with a ton of dead roots while numerous big boulders partially covered the entrance to the muddy cave.

Even the wolves were getting restless just by being around the cave. While the other wolves refused to get any closer to the cave, Kaira managed to go and sit near the dungeon but even she refused to enter the cave.

Seeing Kaira behaving like that, numerous red flags were popping in Zok's head. He went to express his concerns to Sera, but she said it was normal for the wolves to behave like that when there were numerous beasts inside. According to her, the wolves acted that way when they were outnumbered.

That could have been true in the case of their wolves but Zok had seen Kaira taking on multiple tribesmen at once. So it was unlikely that she was getting scared just because of the numbers. Moreover, Kaira wasn't someone who got scared easily. She was someone who kept growling trying to protect Zok but this time even she had put her ears down and was whining as if she was requesting Zok to not go inside.

But Zok didn't have a choice in the matter. If it had been Taheton and him he could have easily abandoned him, however, it wasn't so. Sera was pretty enthusiastic about going inside the cave and exploring and Zok did not want to look like a coward, especially in front of her. So he grabbed the spear Ahuli had entrusted him with and walked towards the cave after Taheton. Sera followed him with her bow and arrows while Taheton was wielding an awkwardly large hammer on his shoulders.

Zok's spear was one that Ahuli never let him touch before. It was made of the strongest wood the wilderness had to offer while the tip of the spear was made of a rare blue metal Ahuli had found in the first-ever cave he had entered. Also, Ahuli had made it clear that he was just lending the spear to his little brother and that he wanted it back once he was done using it.

As they got closer to the cave, previously invisible markings on the outer wall of the cave came into view. Sera immediately took out a piece of parchment and started drawing those markings using a piece of charcoal.

"What are you doing?" Taheton asked Sera.

"The Shamanka asked me to record everything with accuracy so that we can give them as much information as possible," Sera mumbled without even looking at Taheton, "Either way, since shamanka didn't trust you with the responsibility, you might as well focus on deducing what type of monster we can expect to be found inside."

"You should really watch your tone-" Taheton threateningly took a step towards Sera only to be stopped by Zok.

"And you should watch your distance. I would prefer that you don't get too close to her, for your sake and ours." Zok mumbled as he pointed the spear at the man, "My brother did tell me about your little tricks, so don't even think that I would hesitate before-"

"Before what? You goody two shoes, do you even know how to use that thing you're holding? Don't make me laugh you piece of turd!" Taheton drew his hammer but that turned out to be a mistake.

As soon as Kaira saw Taheton point his hammer at Zok, she forgot all of the fear she had and charged at Taheton pinning him to the ground while viciously growling at him. Taheton's wolf didn't keep quiet either. When he saw his master being attacked, he too rushed over but Kaira easily took care of him with a tail whip.

It was the first time Zok had seen the vicious side of his partner. But rather than feeling afraid, he was quite happy to know that someone had his back. But now was not the time to fight amongst themselves, especially when they were about to enter the cave. So Zok hesitantly pulled Kaira off of the man but not before warning him for the last time.

"I may have stopped her this time. But the next time you try to harm us in any way, I'll serve you and your pet to her for lunch and dinner."

After saying that Zok walked into the cave along with Sera and surprisingly, even Kaira followed them in.

"You cocky bastard... You'll serve me as your bit*h's food? You may have entered the cave but I'll make sure you won't leave it." Taheton snarled before wiping away Kaira's saliva off his face.