“Why did you come back Noone.” Tobias managed to cough out as he caught his breath. He hated to admit it, but he was in a bad way… He silently cursed his old body and scolded himself for his age and uselessness as he looked around the pit that would serve as a grave for many young soldiers.

Noone stood silently, looking at Tobias and the subtle wisps of green light which floated around him. Using his divine sense, he could see the numerous bruises and cracks in Tobias’s armor. He looked up to the top of the hole, it was deep… deep enough that he was surprised the paladin had survived.

“I could definitely climb up if I wanted to… but there’s no way Tobias could make the climb out in his condition…” Noone considered his options.

“I didn’t want you to die.” Noone spoke evenly, his level gaze meeting Tobias’s. There was a battle of will between them for a moment, neither wanting to back down. Noone couldn’t help but feel that Tobias was looking right through him.

“Well…” The paladin grumbled. “At least I didn’t misjudge you.” He eventually sighed. “So. What now?” Tobias knew that without Noone, his chances of surviving would drop immensely.

Noone was silent for a moment. If he was going to escape… he had less than an hour to make it to Alaviv. He knew he couldn’t leave Tobias here alone, or else all the fighting they just went through wouldn’t be worth anything. There was no way Tobias would be able to get back to the army alone in his current state. But… if he helped Tobias get back… there was no way to guarantee that the paladin wouldn’t have some way to restrain him as soon as the coast was clear.

Tobias watched Noone’s expression carefully, many similar thoughts were running through his mind. Part of him just wanted to say ‘just go, you’re too much trouble anyways.’ And leave Noone alone. However, he had a duty to the order.

“For now… let’s find a way back to the top.” Noone said calmly as his divine sense scanned the tunnel that the spear-wielder had fled down. He eyed Tobias who merely nodded back. There was an unspoken agreement that they would deal with the big issue once they were safe.

Tobias’s heavy footsteps thudded out echoing down the hall next to the soft pat of Noone’s bare feet against the stone tunnel. Noone looked around casually as they moved swiftly. In between the subtle white glow which he emitted and the green buff that Tobias had applied to himself, there was just enough light for the two to walk without worry of tripping.

Noone continued to sneak glances at Tobias, concerned for his condition.

“Why don’t we take a break here so you can heal up some?” Noone proposed as they continued to walk. By this point the endurance buff Tobias had cast was half used up and his eyes were beginning to droop from exhaustion and his body was producing a cold sweat. Noone was growing increasingly worried about Tobias’s declining condition.

“These injuries aren’t life threatening… only tiring. I only have a certain number of miracles I can cast, I don’t want to waste any in case we get into a dangerous situation.” Tobias’s responded between breaths. Internally he knew he could use a major restoration, however if he did… then he would no longer be able to cast the spell he needed to restrain Noone when the time came. Thus, he grit his teeth and endured.

Noone wasn’t privy to this information, but he was able to tell Tobias was holding back. Noone chose to say nothing.

The dark hallway seemed to stretch on endlessly, however it was consistently at an incline which Noone and Tobias took as a good sign. As they advanced, their weapons were held at the ready for whatever would come next. Neither one believed the spear-wielding dark elf had run for no reason, and they were prepared for an ambush in the worst-case scenario.

After ten minutes the inclined hallway began to level out and widen as they approached a dimly lit cavern. Tobias’s miracle had already disappeared, but he bit back the pain in his bones and pushed forward, keeping pace with Noone.

“Tobias…” Noone said, worried about the paladin’s condition. The large man grunted but said nothing – instead pushing past Noone and taking the lead in approaching the cavern ahead. Noone followed behind, staying close.

“Be careful.” Tobias calmly reminded as they stepped into the stone cavern. Noone immediately spread his divine sense. The room wasn’t small, but Noone was able to see that it looked like a hub. Various tunnels stretched out from this room and looked to go off in every direction. An odd smell permeated through the air.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Suddenly… Tobias and Noone froze as the already dimly lit cavern went pitch black. The lanterns which had been hanging freely on the walls went out simultaneously leaving the two blind.

Noone wasted no time covering himself and Tobias in divine sense as their nerves spiked and the tension in the room was strung so tight it threatened to snap.

Before Tobias could respond to the sudden shift, Noone caught Tobias off guard and crashed into the paladin with his whole body, both tumbling against the rocky stone floor. Tobias groaned in pain, but an incredulous shout managed to break through his fuzzy thoughts.

“Spider!?” Noone gasped, shocked by what he had seen.

It had only been for a moment. Noone had only just finished readjusting his divine sense when a large figure dropped silently to the ground next to him making no noise as it landed against the stone earth. It was so large and fast that Noone had been caught completely off guard.

Noone only had enough time to send himself and Tobias tumbling away in order to avoid the sudden attack by the creature. But in that moment, the information he received from his divine sense completely broke any expectation he had.

When Tobias heard Noone’s words, the pain and fogginess cleared from his mind like he had been dunked in cold water. An image appeared in his thoughts and his body immediately went frigid. A cold sweat broke out on his skin.

“Oh no…” He managed to gasp.

Noone unceremoniously rolled to his feet just in time to see the spidery figure advancing on them, front legs raised high like deadly scythes. It moved with an intense weight that caused a chill to run up Noone’s spine. Tobias was still getting up, and Noone knew he wouldn’t be able to protect the paladin in time.

“Miracle of the sun.” Tobias whispered so silently Noone wasn’t sure if he had heard anything at all. His heart was pounding so hard that his ears were a deafening ‘whoosh’ of adrenaline-fueled blood.

Tobias shoved his palm out towards the direction of the spider, instinctively determining its location in the pitch blackness of the cavern.

Suddenly, a small spark appeared in front of his palm. Noone was already dashing towards Tobias to try and pull him out of the spider’s path, but as he watched Tobias in his divine sense, and saw the small spark with his eyes, the world suddenly rumbled, and the cavern became became a blinding room of intense white light. It was so bright that it even managed to disrupt Noone’s divine sense, causing him to lose track of the spider.

A shriek like nothing Noone had ever heard vibrated through the caverns – forcing Noone to cover his ears.

When his eyes adjusted to the sudden light – he saw Tobias quickly pushing himself up to his feet, unceremoniously stumbling for a moment before leaning heavily against the wall. The paladin’s eyes were trained on the far side of the room.

Noone looked over, and his jaw dropped as his brain processed what he was seeing.

Noone knew that there were countless creatures in the realms that he had yet to hear about, however seeing such an abominable creature for himself left his brain feeling dumbfounded.

On the far side of the room a large spider scrambled against the wall. At four times the size of Tobias and Noone it was a terrifying sight. Small wisps of smoke could be seen rising from its flesh as burns from the flash of light peeled away layer after layer of black carapace-like skin.

But this by itself was not enough to shock Noone into inaction.

From the time the spider had appeared to now, only a few moments had passed. It went by so quickly that Noone had not been able to get a good look at the spider… but now, in the light created by Tobias he could see the creature in all its disgusting glory.

“It’s a drider.” Tobias panted as he leaned his back against the wall, staring daggers into the creature. Noone shook himself from his stupor and risked a glance at Tobias.

The spider on the other side of the room was finally beginning to regain its composure. The light from the miracle was still in effect, but it was relatively dim compared to the flash in the beginning. Apparently, it had reached a point that the creature could somewhat manage it.

Noone watched it stand to its full height – no longer shying away from the miracle.

It stood at the height of two Noone’s. But from the head of the spider, the body of a dark elf grew. Or maybe… it was the other way around.

This dark elf… had the body of a spider from the waist down.

As Noone stared at the creature… he made eye contact with the dark elf body, and his mind paused for a moment. He was shocked to see that the dark elf’s eyes were intelligent…

Noone frowned. Did that make it more, or less dangerous, he thought silently. In his hands he readied his axe, his knuckles were white with tension.