The man was fleeing at full speed through the dark tunnels of the cave, each step echoing against the rocky walls. His breathing was calm, his mind clear despite the panic that would have overwhelmed any other being in such a situation. The coolness forged by years of military training kept him focused. For the moment, he had to escape from the creature that was chasing him.
He dodged the spider woman's attacks with surprising agility. He jumped, moved sideways, narrowly avoiding the sharp claws that sliced through the air as he fled. But as he was running, he suddenly collided with a stone wall. The shock unbalanced him for a moment. The creature approached, its legs moving with terrifying speed, ready to crush it under its weight.
The man, determined to survive, had an idea. He rushed straight towards the beast, ignoring the pain of his strained muscles. He headed straight for the spider-woman, as if to collide with her head-on. At the last moment, he slipped under her, skillfully weaving between her massive legs. He leaped to the other side, letting the creature crash against the wall with a furious growl.
He ran to the spot where he had severed one of the beast's legs. He seized her, the warm blood still flowing over his hands. His shield, cracked and ready to shatter into several pieces under the relentless blows of the creature. He realized that if his defenses had been broken by the spider's legs, he could use those very legs against her.
As he was preparing to use the spider's leg as a weapon, a voice rose, clear and distinct in his mind: "Stop." The man, surprised, looked around him, wondering "where this voice was coming from." The creature, too, seemed disturbed, its gaze resting on him with a curiosity tinged with distrust. He heard the female voice say again: "Who did I just hear? A fellow?"
The two adversaries remained frozen in the darkness, their attention fixed on one another. The spider-woman relaxed slightly, the tension in her legs easing. She opened her mouth wide, but the words that came out were incomprehensible to the man, as if they were from a foreign language.
Disconcerted, the man stared at the creature. He thinks: "Do you understand me when I speak to you, creature?" The eyes of the spider woman widened in surprise. She replied, still in thought: "Is it you who is speaking to me in my head?"
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The man thought: It could very well be yes, and then how is that possible? It has never done that to me with any creature from this place.
The man, still panting after his frantic escape, watched the spider-woman with suspicion. Her thoughts were in disarray as the creature's voice echoed once more in her mind: Why do you only speak to me in my head? And why didn't you respond when I spoke to you?
The man replied mentally, "I don't know what language you're speaking, but I don't understand it." I'm sorry for attacking you; I thought you were a threat to me. "Look, I'm throwing away my weapon."
He dropped the spider leg he had picked up. For a moment, a heavy silence settled between them. The two remained motionless, scrutinizing each other, perplexed by the lack of communication. The spider-woman, after a hesitant pause, moved towards him. The man, cautious, was preparing for any eventuality. But when the spider-woman took the lost leg and reached it out to him, his doubt faded away.
Surprised, the man accepted the paw with suspicion. At that precise moment, he heard the voice in his mind again: "And there, do you hear me?"
He replied, "Yes, but why isn't it working anymore?"
The spider-woman explained: "It seems that you need to be in contact with a part of me to hear my thoughts." You weren't aware of this magical skill before?
The man, perplexed, thought: "A magical skill?" "Don't tell me that magic exists in this world?"
The spider-woman replied, "Of course." Are you really not aware? "Have you lived your whole life in this cave, never encountering any magic?"
The man thought for a moment before responding: "No, I woke up in this cave without knowing how I got here." "I survived by improvising with what I found."
The spider-woman seemed absorbed by his words. "So you have no idea about this world you've arrived in?"
The man replied, "No, I have no idea." I don't understand how I ended up here, nor why there are so many strange creatures. All I know is that I was on a mission when something went wrong, and I woke up here.
The spider-woman seemed to think for a moment before asking another question: "What is your name?"
The man replied, "Samuel Butler."