The pillar was a truly daunting structure that almost seemed unnatural, glinting a brilliant blue and sporting a remarkably smooth surface. It was also remarkably thick, nearly 60 yards in circumference. We walked around the pillar to the point where Victor had indicated, when the closest hill was directly across from us, and turned to study the pillar again.

Isaiah rapped his knuckles on the pillar, turned at us and shrugged, before stepping back and letting Al take the lead. He knelt down next to the formation while muttering:

“If this turns out to be misty vision and clouded judgement, I’ll make that ‘scholar’ eat a rock. A grey rock.”

He tapped the rock formation several times, always at around waist height and moving slightly each time and testing out different locations, though never straying too far from the hill. Finally, his eyes widened, and he stepped back, indicating a specific patch of rock slightly higher than my waist. Isaiah stepped forward and, placing his hand on the indicated area, pushed the rock inward.

It gave way easily, a flat rectangle of blue stone falling backwards to reveal a secret opening. Isaiah checked it carefully, then stuck his arm in that opening, gripped grooved left the side of the compartment, and pulled.

Steadily, the side of the pillar swung open in a thick, rectangular slab that scraped somewhat against the ground. It was a door, seamlessly carved into the massive rock formation, and it revealed stairs that descended into a black abyss beneath.

I exchanged a meaningful look with Al and smiled wryly.

“Maybe you should eat a rock instead, my friend.”

“Hey, we technically haven’t found it yet.” He protested.

“Don’t worry, Glasrock is too precious to eat anyways.” I teased.

Before we made our way down into the darkness, Isaiah and Al pulled out Firelily lamps and lit them with the same flint and steel we used for the campfires. They gave off a merry orange glow as our footsteps echoed down the long staircase. After around 10 minutes of walking, we entered a wide chamber with 4 different tunnels branching out.

Before proceeding, we took some time to look around the chamber, and found some of the rusty remnants of ancient tools. We weren’t the first to be here, as Victor mentioned, but whomever originally plumbed the depths of these caves was long gone now.

Victor’s instructions didn’t go beyond the finding of the mine, so we decided to split up and explore. Ann and Isaiah followed one of the tunnels on the far left of the chamber while Julia, Al and I went down the far right.

“This is just an initial scouting mission.” I intoned, just before we split up, “Even after our break, we are still tired and it’s getting late. Go down the tunnel for about an hour and a half, then come back to this area.”

“How are we meant to tell time without the sun?” Al asked.

I paused. That was a good question.

“Just give your best estimate and come back. Better too soon than too late. And don’t get lost. Remember to mark your path backward if the path gets complicated.”

They nodded and we separated, the three of us wandering down the wide and winding passageway, finding nothing but tired feet and increasingly frayed nerves. The silence was eerie and increasingly depressing, the long cavern seemingly never ending.

I silently grasped for and found Julia’s hand while simultaneously clapping Al on the back. He jumped a bit but relaxed when he realized it was me. I didn’t look at her, but I felt Julia squeezing me back.

Breathing a little easier, we kept moving down the hall. After what seemed like a near eternity, the passage finally broadened out into a large cavern with several smaller tunnels burrowed into the ceiling. However, it was a total dead end, with no entrances or exits we could walk through beyond the one from which we came.

“Drat! All that for nothing.” Al cursed.

“Maybe there is another hidden door?” I suggested.

Al set the light down, got on his knees, and began to give the far side of the cavern wall a close inspection. He gave it several minutes of testing as Julia and I held our weapons and looked on, hand holding abandoned.

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Suddenly, he gave a yelp of fear and dove to the side, kicking the lantern and send it rolling to the other side of the cave. Just before the light when spinning across the cavern floor, I saw a shadowy figure around the size of my chest zip down right towards Al.

I immediately reacted, bringing my sword down on where I last saw the unknown figure, feeling my sword bite right through the unknown threat with an unpleasant crackling sound. My attack was met with an agonized hiss, but I heard 3 other thumping sounds coming from behind me.

I heard a scuffling noise behind me and screams from Julia and Al but I had already run to grab the light that had rolled away. As I bolted toward it, however, a great pain bloomed in my right shoulder, and I felt multiple legs latch onto my back.

I stabbed blindly at my assailant with my left sword as I desperately crouched down to grab the lantern. When the creature finally let go, I released my right-hand sword in my rapidly numbing arm and picked it up, just in time to see another figure leap up and at my face.

I managed to avoid death by pure reflex, vertically bisecting my leaping assailant in an adrenaline-fueled swing. The light of the lantern revealed the final creature, which Julia had been avoiding by backing up and moving evasively.

It was midnight black, though peppered with strange white hairs, and rather short, no higher than my shin. It scuttled around on eight thin legs and sported a large abdomen. The moment Julia could see it, she squashed it with the heel of her spear.

I looked over at Al to make sure he was safe and found him staring up in horror are the tunnels above us. I followed his gaze and couldn’t see anything, but I knew that didn’t matter.

“RUN!” He shouted, already scrambling for the exit. I scooped up my sword and sheathed it, before picking up the lantern again and bolting after the other two. I could hear them now, ever increasing hissing and scrabbling sounds coming from the ceiling and echoing in the cavern. I ran faster.

Julia outpaced both of us, but she turned back to wait. I caught up to Al and wordlessly gave her the lantern when we both reached her. My arm was becoming increasingly unusable at that point, the numbness nearly consuming it and starting to spread to the rest of my body. I ate a Gleanberry as I ran, feeling the pain subside as the wound closed. But the numbing was only slowed, and it became worse the longer we ran.

I could hear our pursuer’s clicking just behind us, the pattering of many legs growing ever closer. I forced even more strength into my legs as Julia and I pulled Al along as best as we could. However, the harder, I ran the worse my condition became. I started growing hotter and more lethargic, my muscles now refusing to respond normally. Though I knew it wouldn’t deal with the venom directly, I downed another berry and received a boost of energy. It didn’t last.

I ran with everything I had, my vision narrowing, my heartbeat thumping constantly through my ears, but I felt Al start to overtake me. He was screaming something I couldn’t hear and throwing powder on the ground and walls. He took a second to kneel and ignite a blaze that spread slowly yet steadily on the tunnel floor behind us.

I don’t know how long we ran for after that, but I vaguely remember finally hearing the dreadful sound of our pursuit recede. By that point, my arms and legs had almost completely gone numb, and I was only continuing to move forward on muscle memory. Soon after, I keeled over and knew no more.

…

Julia

I practically had a heart attack when Steve passed out. Luckily, Al was there to catch him, so he didn’t knock his head against the floor, but he nearly buckled under Steve’s weight. The two of us needed to stumble back to the campsite with him draped over our shoulders. A part of me appreciated his well-muscled body but the part that was gasping with exhaustion wished that he was less of a hunk.

After 1000 years of wheezing and stumbling, we finally made our way back to the main chamber and collapsed. They could have still been following us, of course, but Al was practically passed out himself, and I wasn’t much better. If we were still being chased, then we were doomed, but I was too tired to really care.

The two of us practically gulped down water, then we fed water mixed with the juices of a Gleanberry to the unconscious Steve. His complexion improved and he started breathing more easily but he didn’t wake up.

After a while, Al finally spoke.

“What, in the name of ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THIS WORLD, WAS THAT?!” Alfred shout-whispered, his voice still sore from the heat and the running.

“Spiders,” I said simply.

He looked at me blankly, “What. Is. That?”

I explained about how they lived in caves and killed unsuspecting prey via ambush and venom. I then had to explain what venom was as well, since almost none of the creatures in Corynth are venomous, and Al’s basic education didn’t cover the few rare ones that were. It did, apparently, cover impromptu fire traps, for which I was grateful.

Now he was looking impressed. “I thought you only went to those extra classes Steve took with Victor to make moon eyes at silver eyes, but I’ve been wrong before.”

That earned him a jab in the side, which he was ready for but wasn’t fast enough to dodge. A perk of Agility.

“So that’s what’s wrong with him?” Al said, gesturing at Steve’s unconscious form.

I nodded. “Fixing it will be difficult, as I don’t know what the antidote is. We probably don’t have easy access to it, even if I did. Another berry will only mitigate the damage, not cure the venom directly.”

A part of me just wanted to feed him berries until the venom wore off. It would definitely keep him alive, but it would also eat into our supplies in a way I knew Steve would hate. There was a chance that he would recover normally even without the assistance, thanks to the energy of the berries we had already fed him. But if he didn’t, I would never forgive myself. There had to be another way.

“Why not feed him?” Al suggested.

That earned him a blank look from me before he waved his hands and explained.

“Hold on, hear me out. This whole “venom” thing is like being sick, right? So why don’t we treat him like he is sick? Arthus meat does wonders for your vitality and your health. It isn’t as potent as the berries but it’s more stable and will make him more resilient. Won’t that keep him from dying while the venom runs its’ course?”

The more he spoke, the more I started to start to nod along. It was risky feeding him like this, but he was more semiconscious than unconscious so it might be worth taking the chance. The meat would almost certainly preserve him as well, just like Al said.

“You may be smarter than I thought, Al.”

“Genius is often misunderstood!” He declared, already dancing out of the way of a second jab to the side. He figured out the timing already, dang it.

We started a very small fire, mashed the best of the Arthus meat up with a fourth berry, to facilitate swallowing and make sure this worked, and boiled it in water. We then steadily fed the impromptu stew to Steve, whose breathing had grown irregular again after the other berry had worn off. He gulped down what we were giving to him with incredible gusto, even in his deteriorated state.

Once we finished feeding him, we watched over him for some time to make sure his condition didn’t worsen again. When it was clear that he was just sleeping deeply and his temperature had gone down, we both breathed a sigh of relief.

It was then that I realized something was wrong. This entire fruitless journey, including Steve’s treatment, had taken close to 4 hours at least.

“Al,” I said slowly, “where are the others?”