‘RUN!!’ Fervor shouted.

The giant spider was now a flaming giant spider. Before, they only needed to worry about its sharp legs; now, they needed to worry about catching fire too. The group ran with all the might they could gather, but the giant spider was still running faster than them. Was this how they would meet their end?

‘The fire is burning the giant spider! It’s killing it!’ shouted a knight.

‘He’s right! Its skin is peeling from the heat!’ shouted another.

The flame breath that Ignis had released might not have killed the giant spider on the spot, but it was still inflicting fire damage. That flame would kill the giant spider over time, given that it didn’t extinguish it.

‘Keep running!’ Fervor said after having heard the knights’ observations. ‘We’re going to stall for as long as possible until it dies from the flames! That’s our victory condition!’

‘How do we stall it?’ asked a knight.

‘Throw everything you have at it! Whatever works as long as it buys us time!’

Hearing that, knowing that giving up on their possession was crucial for survival, the knights began throwing what they had toward the giant spider. They took their iron helmets, threw them toward the giant spider, and that slowed the creature down a bit.

‘It’s working!’ said a knight.

‘Throw more things at it!’ said another.

As they ran, they continued throwing more things at it.

Would be nice if I could see what’s happening, Ignis thought as she was being carried behind Fervor’s back. After he had aimed her at the giant spider, he had carried her like before, and now—since she couldn’t move her body; therefore, was forced to constantly look at just a direction—she was only staring at the lake’s slope that was passing by as they run. Should she be worried? Difficult to tell when she couldn’t see the threat.

Stab! The giant spider stabbed its sharp flaming leg on the ground beside Fervor. The attack missed Ignis by a twig’s length distance.

I changed my mind; I don’t want to see what’s happening.

The flaming giant spider’s attack must have disturbed Fervor, because right after that, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. He had been running at full speed, and when he stumbled, he accidentally let go of her hold on Ignis, and she was separated from him. Ignis had her back on the ground.

The giant spider—assessing whether it should target the adult man or the horned girl—chose to target the unmoving Ignis. It knew that she had been the reason why it was in flames, and it wanted to get rid of the biggest threat around. It loomed over Ignis, staring down at her with its many sinister red eyes.

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Her life flashed before her eyes. When life flashed before your eyes, that was a sign that your brain was looking over the past to see if there was anything in your knowledge that could save you from this predicament. Well, all Ignis could remember was her time sleeping peacefully in the cave doing nothing. Which didn’t help—at all.

If only I was in my dragon form! Then I could’ve easily crushed this giant spider flat easily with my claws! Our position would be reversed if I’m in my dragon form!

The flaming giant spider raised one of its legs, ready to swing its legs down and stab Ignis.

I hate this human form! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!!

Stab! The flaming giant spider swung down its sharp legs.

It—missed Ignis by just a bit. Before it could kill her, her flames had killed it first. Had her flames been even just one second slower, the spider would’ve killed her.

Ignis’s dragon breath had earned her the victory against the flaming giant spider. She had won against it.

‘Ignis! Are you alright?’ Alicia approached.

To which—Ignis laughed out loud. That reaction baffled the others, for there was nothing funny about the situation. There was nothing that Ignis found funny, but she couldn’t help herself. In this situation, Ignis felt like laughing, that was all there was to it. She didn’t truly understand this emotion herself. Was this because she was satisfied by her victory against the giant spider? Was this because she was able to keep her life? Or was this because she had enjoyed the whole chase; that this danger was, absurdly, better than the time she had spent sleeping peacefully in her cave? The true reason eluded her, but she laughed anyway.

Seeing and hearing her laughter, the others laughed too. No one knew for sure why, but it was apparent that her laugh was contagious. And that alleviated the life and death atmosphere that they had just went through.

They had survived the encounter against the giant spider; their full-speed running had brought them closer to the edge of the forest. Just a bit more travelling and they could finally get out of here.

After the laughter settled, morale restored, they continued their walk.

***

‘Men!’ Fervor announced. ‘I am proud to say that—we have finally gone out of the forest!!’

The knights cheered. They didn’t lift their sword as a gesture of celebration, for they had thrown it at the giant spider out of desperation before. Didn’t stop them from raising their fist into the air though.

‘I would like to thank all of you for not giving up despite the trials we’ve been through, and Ignis for having saved us all!’

‘Hurray!’ The knights cheered in unison.

‘Ignis, should you have any request that you would like us to fulfill, please feel free to voice them. We owe you at least that much.’

Of course, Ignis wanted for them to search for a way for her to restore her dragon form, but first… ‘Let’s eat. I’m hungry…’

‘Then we shall eat!’

***

As they ate, Alicia was more than happy to take the role of feeding Ignis who couldn’t move. While she was chewing, Alicia told her about what Ignis should expect.

‘There’ll be more delicious food once we get to the city. I can’t wait to show you around!’

A human city, something that Ignis technically had never been into. Ignis would be lying if she claimed that she wasn’t curious.