Sprawled on the ground, dulled senses, Indra clawed her way through the soft soil with unyielding tenacity, her gnashing teeth pressing harder and harder against the metal. She had no clue for the destination, but idling by would not end that suffering.

Burly trees stretched to the skies, farther than human eyes could see, spiky bushes of purple black leaves standing by the wet, itchy moss. The song of flowing and splashing water ran on the white background, birds chirping and the noises of a cicada accompanying the dull symphony.

Every now and then, there would be rain. It was short and frequent, making it much difficult for her to sink her nails in the terrain. She vaguely remembered her childhood, when she climbed mountains at winter’s end for the Rites of Passage.

At least that time she felt like her efforts to scrape by pointy rocks were significant.

Suddenly, a fragrant smell invaded her nostrils, just like the incenses of the village’s elder, which healed her insides and strengthened her tissues with a sniff. That one burned her lungs with exhaustion.

“Ghh…Reat…Tssss” she moaned tortuously, biting the iron stuck in her mouth, chewing it like a juicy meat, blood spitting from her mashed gums.

As her heartbeats drooped with the piercing rain, ears washed of any sound, that sweet, delicate perfume was the only thing left unbound. It didn’t seem to come from any direction, as if it didn’t exist. In that messed up state, she couldn’t tell.

Nonetheless, she kept moving on,  without stopping for a quick breather or to watch for her surroundings.

Her poor line of sight grasped an egg-shaped darkness narrowing the path upfront. She was a rattling snake, sneaking around with her crackling weak bones, choking amidst the thin arms, trying to touch the darkness.

A giant spider leg.

The feeling of danger sprinted her skin, she backed off and uselessly distanced herself from the beast, mind sharpened and exploding heart. The survival instinct of Sun’s people was a truly hideous aspect of their lives, keeping them alive, hurrying them to the depths of madness.

She spoke not a single word at that sight, the animal inside taking over her brain and controlling every action done afterwards. Her pupils widened and her skin paled with adrenaline, blood finally pumping wildly inside her veins and giving her strength to stand up, awaking her inner demons.

But she didn’t stand up.

For minutes she waited without batting an eye. Every movement could be her death, or her salvation. For now it was only stress and sweat licking her forehead.

When water fell for the third time since the apparition, an impactful sound cracked upon the leg and destroyed part of its flesh. It had bulk, was hairy and appeared to be covered by a strong carapace. But it didn’t move either.

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For a spark moment, the fog cleared out and she was able to see the beast. It had at least six times her height and was of much greater magnitude. But it was no threat. Indra noticed the small, strained head.

Dead.

The spider’s body curled up in front of a mountain full of holes. Didn’t seem like a place to lay eggs on, spiders that size would never fit in. Indra wasn’t fearful of whatever could hatch, if it was. Not in this state.

The only danger lied in the first night. She desperately needed a rest, even more, a meal. Thirst was not a problem, but the lack of nutrients would slowly shut her personality. That’s when Sun completely takes over his child’s body and destroys it, for no vessel can incarnate a living god. She wasn't, however, under Sun's jurisdiction, and thus had no knowledge of her end.

Indra glanced at the spider’s exposed flesh. It was festering quickly due to the climate and constant hammering of the raindrops. Would vanish in less than a week, the husk would stay. Meanwhile, the sticky blood became more fluid duo to the water.

Looked really bad, but was meat.

She loosened the blade, stood on her feet and painfully dragged her legs near it, falling multiple times as the weight of the rain pushed her down. Indra stuck her head in the wound and tore fangs into the flesh, strong backbone holding her carnivorous stance.

She dropped her head not to swallow it, mulling it over with her tongue. Not much after, she spat it off, both out of disgust and because of the unknown poison hiding within it.

The carapace was not slippery from the rain, but Indra needed to wait it, so she could climb it with no hassle. Years of experience would certainly help her accomplish the feat, but it was grim determination that made her stick to a task so arduous.

Biting the knife, vampiric gaze befitting of her bloody mouth, she invoked ungodly force to pass the trial, much more than her overstrained body could hold.

A lion uses all of his strength, even to catch a rabbit. A human destroys himself, so long there is a small remaining piece he can call life.

During that whole time, she ceased from thinking, all kinds of reasoning have been scrapped. What passed through her were sensations. Her head was a mixture of smells, colors, forms, noises, tastes, feelings, all very similar but distinguishable from one another.

A sweet vision of impeding darkness, dominant amongst all others, invited her inside the mountain.

She collapsed.