Escape (part 1)

'One, three, five.' Loki thought, counting the number of spiders he could currently see crawling on the walls, ground, or even ceiling. But a spider could hide another in this dark cave. 'Possibly more. Uncertain, though.'

Holding his improvised shield coated with thick ice in front of him, Loki used his sword's flat part to hit it and taunt his enemies. The sound resonated, creating vibrations in the air that rapidly spread to the surroundings, reaching the spider's acute sense of touch.

Sensing that they have been discovered, the spiders sped up, forsaking their previous slow and silent approach as multiple needle-like steps signaled the opening of the hostilities.

'Come,' Loki thought, with his sword at the ready next to his improvised shield. He patiently waited for them to fall into his fairly obvious trap. But since there wasn't another way to reach him, they were left with no other options.

Soon enough, the closest giant spider who was crawling head down on the rocky ceiling reached the tunnel entrance's contour, which was coated with ice thick enough to 'safely' step on it. And since their eight long jointed legs allowed for nimble movements, but also a very good distribution of weight on the surface they stepped on, only one outcome could come out of it.

The spider's legs found no uneven rocky ground to grab, but only smooth and polished ice. With its speed, the creature slid like an ungraceful newbie ice skater, before eventually falling to its doom on the frozen sharp makeshift spears that had been previously bound to the ground by ice.

Loki rapidly finished it by stabbing one of the spider's bulging eight black eyes located on the front of its skull. The tip of the blade effortlessly passed through its pupil to reach the brain. Green blood gouged out of the wound as he pulled out his sword to prepare for the next enemy.

Using this method, he dispatched another spider in the same way before having to change tactic because most of the spikes were saturated with just two corpses.

Loki stepped aside to dodge a falling spider that dropped to the ground back first, rendering it unable to move. Its limbs frenetically moved about, trying to grab solid matter, but only empty air was within reach.

Taking advantage of this situation, Loki sliced through three legs that were pointlessly delaying the inevitable. The disturbance gone, he stabbed a soft area in between the creature's sternum and head, before getting ready for welcoming the two remaining opponents.

This time, they came together. With three corpses obstructing the entrance, only the spider crawling on the ceiling slid its way inside. The other one running on the ground floor slipped on the ice and rammed against the barricade of corpses.

Shield in front of him, Loki dashed towards the only spider in the room that had somehow managed to fall on its eight legs. His enemy in range, he blocked a strike, sliced a leg, and bashed the spider's head that immediately trapped his shield in between two fangs dripping with venom.

The translucid liquid started to run down the shield-carapace, slowly making its way to Loki's arm. Even if it touched his skin, he should be safe as long as it did not reach inside his body. Still, he was unwilling to take any risks. He had studied spiders from Midgard, but those from Gleymaheim could be different.

Loki rapidly created a thin layer of fragile ice on top of his skin to ease his worries while resisting the creature that was pulling him. Then, in the same motion, he bent his knees, twisted his wrist levering the shield trapped in between two fangs upward, and pushed himself underneath the spider to thrust his sword into a vital area.

The giant spider twitched before dropping on him. Even with his current strength, he could still feel the weight of this creature pressing him downward. He quickly stepped back, pull his shield out of the spider's hold, pushed the corpse away, and turned towards his last opponent, who… appeared to be already dead.

Loki carefully closed in on the suspicious bastard that was probably faking its death, only to realize that when it had rammed into the corpse barricade, some of its kin's limbs pierced through it, instantly killing the spider.

"Hum, lucky, I guess." He said, while lodging his sword in the corpse's brain, just to make sure it was dead. Then he checked the tunnel for a potential hidden danger but found none—for now. He thought that it could have been much worse, and had planned on using Roan's loud chatters as bait to distract the spiders while he fought them. Fortunately, he hadn't needed it.

He relaxed his muscles and forced out a sigh. That fight had cost him almost his entire reserve of mana. He could barely feel a quarter of it left inside his core.

Loki lifted his head to gaze upon a silent Roan whose face showed a complex mixture of aw and anxiety.

"So, you've made your decision?" Loki asked.

"Hum, fine," Roan said, knowing fully that he did not have any other choice but to agree. "You'll have your money and armor, so free me."

Loki stared at him with a stoic expression, as if he was waiting for something.

"Please?" Roan added.

"Hum," Loki grunted, before severing a spider's leg in half to make a shaft of about eighty centimeters. He then grabbed one of the many stones lying around the cave, measuring twice the size of his fist, and, using the spell "Frost," crafted a crude ax with a thin layer of polished ice covering the stone to serve as a sharp blade.

With his new weapon in hand, he calculated the distance between the thread that glued Roan's cocoon to the ceiling and him. The height was about five meters. So if the merchant fell on the ground, it shouldn't kill him. Although, it could break a bone or two. Just in case, Loki dragged the corpse of the spider he had entirely dismembered over to the supposed dropping point, before stepping back.

"What are you planning to do?" Roan said, eyeing the improvised ax in Loki's hand. Then his gaze shifted to the corpse that had been recently placed underneath him. "Wait, you aren't planning to—"

Loki gestured for him to shut up, reminding him of what loud noises could lead to. "Don't scream when you'll fall. If you do, I'll leave you here wrapped in those webs. Am I clear?"

Sweat poured down Roan's head as he nodded.

"Good," Loki said, while taking aim with his ax.

In Midgard, as soon as they were able to carry an ax, Vikings kept them strapped to their belts at all times. That weapon was slightly favored over swords for one good reason: it was cheaper since it required less metal to craft—but most of them had swords since it was such a versatile weapon, although costly.

Kids, teenagers, and adults alike, always trained with axes on a daily basis. It also was a common sight to see Vikings throw their axes on wooden structures when they were bored like it was a simple game; which happened at some point every day. That's why most of them were fairly accurate when hurling their axes at an enemy.

Loki gauged once again the distance, took a deep breath, and hurled his ax toward Roan's head, whose eyes widened from fear as he forced himself to be quiet.

The makeshift weapon spun in the air and cut the thread ten centimeters above the merchant's red hair. Gravity instantly pulled Roan downward. The spider corpse wobbled as it cushioned his fall.

"Urk. Org. Oh. Disgusting." Roan said, his head facing a stump filled with green blood which awful stench invaded his nostrils. "Get me out of here… please."

Loki walked up to him, froze the webs to the core, broke the ice layer, and pulled Roan up.

"Thank you, hum…" Roan said. The skinny man carrying a grey cloak and a small backpack was pondering about how to call his savior.

"Loki."

"Thank you, Loki. Now, should we discuss your reward?"

"Not now, we must escape." He said, before pointing at the spider's corpses. "These were males. Considering the now-dead squad of soldiers killed a few, added to those around us, there probably aren't more of them."

"So what's the problem with taking our time?"

"The female."

Lacking the knowledge to understand, Roan sent him a quizzical gaze.

Loki had access to his body's previous owner's memory. In it, Adam had not died because he feared the males. But because he had feared a creature much more impressive that had taken part in the ambush.

"A giant spider twice the male's size."

Roan gulped before regaining his composure at one thought. "I'm sure you'll be able to take care of her."

"But I am not, so let's get out of here," Loki said, turning towards the tunnel.

"Wait!" Roan said, as he took out some sort of wooden pen with a metallic pointy tip from his backpack. The merchant then grabbed a random stone. A symbol appeared on it as Roan's pen drew elegant, shining blue lines that quickly deemed to reveal an inscription.

"Here, catch it." The merchant said, throwing the stone.

Loki caught the projectile and examined it. "Runic magic."

"Precisely. That's the rune Dagaz. Try infusing mana in it." Roan replied, while rapidly drawing runes on a few pebbles he stored in his cloak's pocket. Upon completion, he discarded his pen that shattered mid-flight.

Meanwhile, Loki's mana traveled through his mana circuits and into the stone. The rune shone blue before the entire stone emitted a bright white light, illuminating the surroundings.

Loki turned towards Roan and eyed him suspiciously. After all, most humans knew about runes, but only a few knew how to craft them. It was a knowledge jealously kept hidden. Runemasters, also called Scribblers by some, were far and few in between the human race.

"Who are you exactly?" Loki asked.

Roan smirked, "Just a traveling merchant."