43 Chapter 43 Web of the Arachnae (1/2)
”Do you think those mystic elves are going to let us make it to the edge of the forest?” asked Carla the next morning.
They were within hours of reaching the border and there hadn't been a single sign of them.
”I doubt they gave up that fast,” said Elisen, shaking her head as she placed her baby back into the front carrier, she wore for him. ”Especially after I killed the Grand Mystic. I imagine they are going to try something big right before we get there, so be ready!”
Everyone finished their breakfast of rations and tightened the straps on their backpacks. Vonn was talking quietly to Tom about something when Gia saw the first strand of webbing. With a gasp, she realized what she was looking at and cried out in alarm.
”Stop!” cried Luan, spying the same thing. ”Quick! Turn East!”
A giant spider rose up over the edge of the trees ahead of them, twitching its mandibles and waving its front two legs slowly. All of the trees that were carrying people turned while the empty ones darted forward to distract it.
”Spiders?! Why did it have to be spiders?!” cried Gia, rubbing her arms as goosebumps formed and her hairs stood straight up.
”Stay close to the trunk of your trees!” cried Luan, keeping an eye on the spider behind them. ”If one attacks your tree, chances are it will take off branches rather than get to you. Closer to the ground is better too!”
”Oh! I hate losing limbs! Do you know how long it takes to grow them out?” demanded the tree carrying Luan.
”Don't worry, if you get hurt, I'll heal you,” said Luan, patting the tree to comfort it as they continued in the new direction.
”Luan, this isn't going to work!” said Elisen after a few minutes. ”The spider has the entire southern end of the forest blocked off. There's no way to go around the webbing! We're going to have to go through it, and hope we make it to the coast before the spider shows up. Hopefully there's only one.”
”Is this spider related to the Mystics?” asked Tom, holding on to a branch near the trunk of his tree as it ran along.
”Probably,” said Elisen. ”I haven't been to this southern border in a while, but I would have remembered if there were giant spiders in our forest!”
”The King hates them and kills them whenever they appear. If the Mystics are behind this one, they will be in serious trouble!” said Luan.
Pausing as the trees of the forest butted against a stone cliff that stretched high above them, the trees turned towards the webbed forest to the south.
”It's going to be tough going! Hold on!” said the tree holding Elisen as it dived forward, quickly getting entangled in the webbing.
”Luan, I need your help with this,” said Elisen as she started chanting, holding up a hand ahead of her.
Luan quickly nodded, holding up her own hand and chanting along with her. The trees in their group started glowing a soft green, and the webbing that clung to them fell away, as if it couldn't stick to them. The sky above them, what little could be seen of it, started to cloud over, cutting the light around them drastically. The trees pushed on, forcing their ways through the last silent mile of forest, as a drizzle of rain began to fall.
All hopes of getting through the web covered trees without encountering a giant spider faded away as the water clinging to the webbing began to bounce and shake.
”Gia, if Elisen and Luan stop chanting, this webbing will stick to the trees and trap us in place. We have to stop the spider ourselves!” called Vonn, pulling out the crossbow he had gotten from the dwarves.
Mikey had a grim look on his face of determination, as he pulled out his hand axe. ”I won't let any spider get to Luan!”
Gia turned and watched as the spider rose up over them, then turned and chased after them as they passed it by. The trees they were on didn't pay it any mind, focusing instead on reaching the edge of the forest as fast as they could.
”Gia, I can't watch!” cried Carla, shutting her eyes tight as she clung to the trunk of the tree.
”Me, either!” cried Tom, trying to make a joke as he held on for dear life.