Unreal trees covered the whole sky, Huray boots moved with agility through the wet moan of mud of the alien-like forest. Every twitch of a distant tree, every snap of a twig—Huray flinched; every gust of wind whispered danger he couldn't yet see. We will survive… anything, Emma's words echoed in his mind, but the forest didn't care about promises.
Every step was the means of survival. His eyes darted up and down from his feet to watch his every step, then he forgot to look down, then the mud stopped groaning, a wave of dread ran through him. "Damn it… why here, out of all places?" he muttered, as he looked down, his foot half sunken in the mud, as he struggled to pull his leg free. It seemed like it would never come out.
Then, without warning, the ground beneath him gave way—a sinkhole opening wide, swallowing the forest floor with a soft, wet groan. Huray's heart leapt into his throat as he fell, The roar of earth collapsing drowned out his hollers for help, as he was consumed by the darkness of the sink hole.
The fall ended not with impact, but suspension. Huray hovered *upside down*, blood rushing to his skull, his legs and hands caught in a web of glowing threads. The sinkhole wasn't natural—it was a gate.
Below him, gears turned in silence, ancient and worn. Symbols etched into the walls pulsed with foglight. A voice—not Emma's—screeched through the chamber: DANGER DANGER
As an enormous shadow moved through the web with agility "It's okay… just stay calm. Maybe it's friendly," Huray pleaded, voice cracking with hope, but the creature kept moving through the webs with expertise, vibrating the entire web, each shake, slowly sliding Huray's sword out of the hilt. Then, the arachnid's metatarsus whipped Huray in the face. The blow wasn't just pain, It felt like memory, all the sudden Huray's sword fell from its sheath, as it cut one of his hands free, but right before it fills to the darkness under Huray, He grabbed to the very bottom of the hilt
"Puny, Human how do you intend to hurt me with a small sword" The arachnid chuckled, now showing its massive form
Huray's grip tightened around the hilt, knuckles whitening as the sword trembled in his hand. The blade pulsed—not with light, but with remembrance. Etchings along its spine shimmered faintly, revealing scenes Huray had buried: Emma's last smile, the vow beneath the ash tree, the exile he never spoke of.
The arachnid's body unfurled like a collapsing cathedral—eight limbs, each armored in obsidian plates, eyes like molten glass. Its voice echoed again, deeper now, almost amused:
"You cling to memory like its armor. But memory is a web, and you are caught."
Huray twisted his freed arm, slicing through another thread. He dropped lower, now dangling by one leg and one arm, sword raised awkwardly. The chamber responded—symbols on the walls rearranged, gears grinding louder, foglight dimming.
"You also, remorse with the past, there are happy and sad times that's part of life," Huray growled, voice raw. He swung the blade—not at the creature, but at the threads holding him. Each strike was a vow reclaimed.
The final thread snapped.
Huray fell—not into darkness, but into motion. He landed hard, rolled, came up crouched, sword ready. The arachnid descended, limbs slicing the air with precision.
But Huray didn't flinch.
He whispered Emma's words like a spell: We will survive… anything.
The sword glowed brightly. As the arachnid *shot* a thread of glowing web—Huray didn't flinch, TINK Huray sliced the web in two, the arachnid froze as the gears stopped moving the fog light died, into suffocating silence. Suddenly, Huray heard the **loud popping** of joints behind him. "Impressive trick," the arachnid screeched behind him, "but you'll need more than that to defeat me." The Arachnid continued, slapping Huray into the circular wall of the hole.
Pressing a large hidden button down. The gears roared back to life. The lights became brighter than ever, as the cave began to shake. Huray, disoriented from the blow, whispered, "Damn… why is everything shaking? I'm going to hurl," hand to his head, face a sickly green. As the chamber door slid upward.
Huray ran—sword dragging, stomach churning, face green.The arachnid followed, limbs clicking. 25+ miles away, Ethan's pact mark flared. "Huray" he gasped. Emma's light pulsed. The door revealed a tunnel. It slammed behind the arachnid.
The spider smiled. "Well played."
Huray glanced at the hologram map—a node labeled **The Dark Wyvern**.
Below the map Below the map, a small chip of a mask projected it. Huray squatted, picking it up.
"Strange," he whispered. "I've never seen anything like this." He slid it into his pocket. The map faded with the darkness of his pockets. He follows the tunnel, as it leads him to a cliff about 50 feet up, "Well, should've guessed, I would have to climb" Huray says, as he pulls himself up the first few feet of the cliff.
Huray climbed, breath ragged, fingers clawing stone. At the summit, the tunnel opened into a vast chamber—its floor split by a chasm, and beyond it, a drawbridge suspended by ancient chains. Foglight shimmered across its surface, revealing the emblem of the Dark Wyvern etched into the wood.
He stepped forward. The bridge groaned, lowering slowly, as if recognizing him.
Meanwhile, Ethan stood at Ruseid's entrance. The guards didn't flinch.
*This feels unreal, * he thought. *Banned for life… but they don't recognize me.*
The drawbridge lowered.
Huray crossed.
Ethan entered.
In Ruseid, the sky turned blood red, the clouds rained blood, as royal knights guarding the stone walls—eyes flickering deep glowing red—spoke in unison: "89 years remain, Ethan. Make it count." Their arms raised, pointing at Ethan in his small body. Then, with a snap of the knight's finger, the world obeyed. The blood rain ceased mid-drop, vanishing before it touched stone. The sky flushed blue, as if nothing had ever bled. The knights lowered their arms in perfect unison. But the silence that followed was louder than thunder.
Ethan's voice cracked. "Did… you see that?"
Thom blinked. "See what?"
Emma tilted her head. "You okay?"
Ethan grabbed his trembling hand. "Never mind. Forget it." But the silence behind his words felt like a scream. Ethan shut his eyes as they crossed into the city.
"Well, I appreciate the information you gave me on our way here. It'll go straight to the king," Thom said, breaking the silence.
"In the meantime, let me help you to dinner," Thom requests.
"Really" Ethan asks, with glowing eyes.
"Of course it is the least I can do," Thom chuckles.
"I know this amazing tavern," Thom added
"Is that so, cause my hometown has a really killer tavern," Ethan debated
Thom laughed. "We'll see whose tavern wins."
The tavern door swung open. Thom takes a slide into the bar stool
"Ten Boar skewers Please" Thom shouts
"Sure thing, oh it's Thom, Nice to see you A waitress said, wiping a glass with a dry rag
"Same, Oh yeah I Brought some friends," Thom answers, Pointing at Emma and Ethan
"That there is Ethan and the floating orb is Emma" Thom continues
"Is that so?" the same waitress laughed, as she held the glass up, turning it slowly as if inspecting a treasure. "What is so funny" Thom shouted with red cheeks, He leaned forward, his voice booming across the room.
"Well, you usually don't bring friends" The waitress says, trying to hide her smile
"I was beginning to think you didn't have any" The waitress manages to before she bursts into laughter and tears. "Alright thats enough," Thom says rolling his Eyes
Come sit down my friends" Thom shouts cheerfully
The tavern noise swelled, clinking mugs, boar fat sizzled,
Ethan froze "Wait something… feels off" his words cut through laughter like a blade
"We need to find Huray" Ethan said, His glowing eyes dimmed—pact mark bleeding under his sleeve.
Thom's smile faltered. "Kid, you're in Ruseid. Relax—"
"No." Ethan stood, chair scraping.
The waitress's rag stopped mid-wipe. Emma's orb pulsed red. Somewhere, a gear ticked—89… 88…
The whole tavern floor disappeared…