Raine wished he inherited Felinari night vision, but he couldn’t choose what he wanted, not while fate had something to do about it.
Traversing the dark corridor with nothing but a magelight over their heads severely limited their awareness. The smell did not help, either. Apparently, Francois’s cellars opened into a cistern. An ancient, disgusting cistern that could easily have been constructed long before the city above it. The walls were far more ancient than the city walls, given how they were constructed with unevenly cut stones dating from the pre-war times, possibly even older than that.
“Aranis,” asked Raine. “Ever seen this architecture before?”
“No,” she said. “And that worries me.”
“Because they look like they could tip over with the slight movement of its stones? Yeah, I can relate. This cistern was clearly made during the time before someone thought about using a plan.”
“No, not that. Can’t you feel it? The mana in the air, it’s…wrong. Terribly wrong.”
“Wrong how? Because of the stale air?”
“Now that you mentioned it, Aranis, yes. This is not right,” said Hima. “We should tell the spiders to stop. This could be a trap.”
They were a bit late on that. Belak’s voice echoed through the ancient cisterns, calling the three of them to come to her quickly. Understanding the urgency in her voice, the three rushed towards where the voice originated, finding said Mygalean perched by an opening into a dark void. Her dark coloring made her blend so well with the environment that when she appeared, Raine audibly yelped, thinking that she was one of the creatures that created the darkness, only to sigh in relief when he realized that they wore combat-appropriate outfit and looked humanoid enough. Still, in the darkness where only their arachnoid appendages were illuminated, it was rather terrifying.
Ignoring Raine’s yelp, Belak said, “We lost contact with the sisters stalling the rites. Tread carefully.”
Acknowledging Belak’s warning, Raine nodded and immediately jumped into the void, landing a short distance down the opening. He was followed by Aranis, then Hima. Once everyone was ready, they continued their walk deep into the darkness, with only a point of light at the end of what presumably a short tunnel. The foreboding sense of dread immediately made Raine worried of what they would encounter once they exited the tunnel.
It was much worse than his worries.
The tunnel exited to a room with the same architectural style as the cisterns; roughly cut stones stacked on top of one another with no sense of uniformity like a normal building would. There was no natural source of light in the room. Only a magelight on the ceiling provided ample illumination. Yet those could not disguise the true horror in the room.
Monsters, all of which resembling blobs of rotting flesh, stared at them with multiple, bulging eyes, feasting on what’s left of the Mygaleans sent to investigate. Only one Mygalean was left defending herself. One of her arachnoid appendages was ripped off and she was trapped on the other side of the room.
“My god,” said Raine, in disbelief. “What the hell…are those…?”
The Mygalean noticed the party entering the room. She immediately noticed Belak and exclaimed, “Stay back, all of you! Protect the queen! These monsters are—”
She was immediately silenced by one of the eldritch horrors, its tentacles wrapped tightly around the hapless Mygalean. Her remaining appendages moved rapidly, attempting to free herself from them, to no avail. The monster pulled her towards it with unnatural speed and immediately started eating one of her legs. Everyone were stunned, but Raine recovered quick enough to immediately pull out Jacques’s gun and shot the monster. A burst of pure mana burned through the monster, causing it to shriek in pain.
“Fire!” exclaimed the Mygalean once she freed her jaws. She attempted to repeat the warning before her neck was snapped.
Raine did not hesitate. Pulling out his sword, he immediately let his mana flow through it, enhancing it into a fire sword. His right hand, the one with the gun, also had mana flow through it, but this time with fire enhancement. He immediately assumed a stance, one that Hima recognized.
“Raine, that stance!” she exclaimed. “It’s….”
“Yeah,” said Raine, cracking a smile. “We need to overwhelm them. What’s better than dancing through them?”
“Not with a gun and a sword!”
“Adapt and learn, bud. Aranis, Hima, on me! Belak, I’d prefer you stay back, but I doubt you’d listen, so stay close! Barrier up!”
“Got it!” said the three ladies. Aranis and Hima immediately erected a barrier dome once Belak got close. Hima gave the barrier fire properties, something even Aranis was amazed with, as it turned their defense into a rather effective offense. Raine finished the job with either his gun, which now shot pure fire, or his sword, which was coated in flame. He cut down monsters that were not immediately burned off by the barrier, which by itself was already intense.
Hima started to realize that she needed to push herself to keep the fire dome up. The monsters, while vulnerable to fire, were still impervious enough to get through. Like before, she noticed that the reason their barrier was not as effective as they expected came from something that was not mana-based, hence their partial immunity to it.
That did not stop the three of them getting through to the other side of the tunnel while causing damage to their opponents, most of which were burned to crisps. Unfortunately, it was only a temporary measure. They did not die easily, only incapacitated. Aranis noticed that the first monsters they ‘killed’ reconstituted themselves from the small portion of their slimy body that were not completely burned off.
“It seems we are dealing with a troublesome spell,” said Aranis. “Or rather…something else.”
“What else can explain this other than magic?” asked Raine. “We just need to find the caster and nullify their spell. Mana or Aether, dispelling it should be our priority.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure if it’s Aether-based, Raine,” said Aranis. “So far, we only know one instance of Aether-based magic.”
“And they are currently not here. In fact, I doubt neither Nara nor the Mygaleans can help.”
“I’m sorry,” asked Belak. “What Aether magic are you talking about? We can’t cast spells.”
“No, uh…it’s a long story. Let’s focus on what we’re here for first.”
Belak and the others nodded in agreement, before rushing deeper into the cisterns. They were apparently running around aimlessly, following Belak’s direction, but she immediately made it clear that she knew what she was doing when she showed them one of her appendages. It had a string of Mygalean silk tied to it, though it was so thin it was discernible until Aranis noticed it. Her eyes were somehow sharper than Raine’s Felinari eyes, though it could be her channeling their eye capabilities as a druid, which was an incredible feat befitting her kind.
Nevertheless, Raine and Hima were drawn to the cisterns and how much longer they should go to get to the site. They had been running for several minutes, turning left and right following Belak’s direction. The Mygalean queen started to doubt the string when she noticed that they had been running for a while, yet the string continued. She couldn’t even find a signal from one of her sisters like a cobweb that could anchor the string so they could continue. It was like they were being led through the labyrinth by something else.
“Hey,” started Belak. “Aranis, right? Did we fall into a trap?”
“No, but I understand your concern,” said Aranis. “Something tells me this is not mana-based, hence why we couldn’t sense it.”
“And no monsters accosting us, either,” said Raine. “Definitely a trap.”
The only one of the four who did not consider this a trap was Hima, who sensed something else. In fact, she realized that following Belak’s string led them astray, causing her to try and follow the unusual aura she sensed. She convinced the others to follow her after Belak concluded that the string her scout gave her was useless.
Over time, Hima managed to get them to where they needed to go, with her checking on them so that they did not get lost. Belak turned the wrong corner and almost got separated if it wasn’t for Aranis guiding her.
Even then, the true nature of the labyrinth became clear to them once they traversed deeper and deeper. Hima noticed that the walls started to become more and more warped and unfinished until they found themselves in a labyrinth of natural stone walls that did not look artificial. Raine also pointed out that they went much deeper than what a city Nievek’s size should be.
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And as Hima continued forward, the rest of her companions started to realize the true horror of the labyrinth.
The labyrinth’s apparently endless scope did not give the four people the benefit of doubt. Each had their own worries and their own goals, all of which were natural for them, even for Mygaleans who were supposed to represent the fear of many people on spiders.
Belak started to become worried as they continued to traverse the long, unusual labyrinth. The string that she relied on was useless the moment they went deeper, and now they relied on the aura sensed by the Mygalean friend elf, Aranis, and the part-vulpine woman, Hima, both clearly knew what they were doing.
She believed Aranis based on her knowledge of Mygalean lore and language, but she wasn’t entirely sure about Hima. Granted, she understood this concern was due to her reluctance to trust anyone who wasn’t a Mygalean or someone who did not understand Mygalean culture. This had become an issue, one that she wished was not the case as they were stuck together for different reasons.
She started to feel uncomfortable, so she started a conversation to know their progress.
“Aranis,” she said, inspecting the walls. “I doubt my sisters would venture this deep into the labyrinth and return to me in less than an hour. Tell me. My string is supposed to lead me to them. Are you going the right way?”
There was no immediate answer, something that irritated Belak. When she returned her gaze to the rest of the group, however, she gasped in surprise.
They were nowhere to be found. They were there a second ago, but when she looked away, they were gone. Belak immediately assumed a defensive position, realizing that it was impossible for them to disappear in such a short window.
Nothing happened when she did so. She started moving slowly, aware that she did not have time to deal with the sudden disappearance of the three strangers she barely even knew. Even so, they were there with the same goal. They wouldn’t leave her behind just like that.
But what if they were caught in a trap in the split second they were out of her sight? While nothing could disappear so quickly, she started to account for spatial magic that could teleport them away. Granted, she did not understand much about magic since Mygaleans did not use them or attempted to learn, even though she was aware of their potential, which couldn’t be said the same for Fa’ars.
Belak became even more confused when, upon reaching a fork in the maze, a cheery looking Mygalean came from around the corner, greeting her like an old friend. She did not seem to realize who she was talking to, but it was mostly on Belak’s side. She did not look very queen-like despite being a tree spider with yellow rings on her appendages.
The Mygalean greeting her did not hesitate to pull her arm to follow her, excited to show her something. Belak was more preoccupied with the Mygalean’s presence, seeing that she was clearly not one of her sisters and looked too young. She was wondering if the Mygalean was, in fact, native to the city’s cisterns. She was aware of urban Mygaleans hiding from other sapient beings, but she wasn’t sure, not when she sounded so happy and chipper.
“H-hey, child,” asked Belak, causing the younger Mygalean to stop. “Do you know where the others are? They are not spiders.”
“Uhmm…I don’t know,” she said, with the cutest, most innocent voice of a child. “But I bet they taste good.”
The way she said it surprised Belak. It came out from a child, and the way she said it unnerved Belak.
“Oh, no, child. They are not food,” said Belak.
“Really? But didn’t they taste good? I mean you tried human flesh before, didn’t you?”
How did she know that?! Belak was taken aback by the Mygalean’s knowledge. She giggled, further unnerving the spider queen.
“Oh, don’t be sad,” said the child. “We have plenty to share.”
Belak wanted to let go of the child. While she was glad that there were more Mygaleans out there, she did not want to meet with the ones who embodied the darkness that caused them to be called a Dark Race. But then, that came from her regret. Like the child said, she ate humans she trapped in the forest because the forest was practically dead and there were no other Mygaleans with her. She regretted that choice, but her survival came first.
“Oh, come on, Belak,” said the child. “Don’t be silly. You could’ve hunted something else. You just want to know how the taste, don’t you? A little bit like pork, but firmer and juicier, especially if they’re full of fat.”
“Enough!” exclaimed Belak. “Who the hell are you? How do you know my name?! I will not be addressed like a common Mygalean. I am a queen!”
“Yes, you are,” said the child with an innocent, but unnerving, giggle. “Which is why you’ll love this. It’s a meal fit for a queen, after all.”
Belak was trying to let go, but she couldn’t even struggle. This time, she was convinced that she fell into an illusion. But before she could do anything about it, her resistance turned to horror as to what the Mygalean child was leading her to.
In a spacious room somewhere in the labyrinth, mutilated flesh were strewn all over the floor, with blood splattered onto the stone wall. There were many humans, skinned with nothing but meat, making them unidentifiable.
Except three.
And those three were the source of her horror. She felt as if her blood was drained out of her body. The sight repulsed her.
Three of the people in that room were the people that went missing when she looked away. Aranis, Raine, and Hima’s dead, glassy eyes stared without any expression as their bodies were being eaten by the Mygalean children who laughed and played with their food. They splattered blood onto each other, involved in a horseplay, and even tripped on their appendages like Mygalean children would, only it wasn’t as innocent as it looked. It was a twisted, horrifying sight, one that caused Belak to realize that they were bad news.
But try as she might, she couldn’t struggle out of the child’s hand. The children clicked their mandibles, glad to see another Mygalean came to them. Their arachnoid faces, caked in blood, were a contradiction.
“Come on! Try them!” said one of them gingerly. “Especially the elf. She’s old, but she’s so, so juicy!”
“No, this isn’t happening!” exclaimed Belak. “They are not your food!”
“Why not? You certainly don’t think of them as your friends. You are trying to find your sisters, aren’t you?”
“Yet I refuse to—”
“Come on, Belak. They taste as good, too. In fact, they are much, much better.”
Belak saw them among the human corpses, and she started to panic. They were definitely her sisters. Her subjects. They were all mutilated, and more Mygalean children ate them. It was a nightmare, one that Belak was convinced she was in.
To her horror, her hand started moving towards one of the raw flesh. She had no control over it as it slowly moved into her mouth. Before she realized it, she already stuffed her mouth with it. The children celebrated.
“Yay! Belak’s one of us now!” declared one of them.
Belak tried to deny it, but she couldn’t do anything as her mandibles and her mouth kept munching on the flesh, which was white and did not taste like human flesh.
It was then she realized what she was eating.
She screamed.
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“Belak?! Belak, Snap out of it! Belak!”
Raine’s screams fell into deaf ears as he tried to help Belak after hearing her scream. The Mygalean fell on her back, arachnoid appendages wrinkled like a dead spider while twitching every now and then. Her four major eyes, the bigger of the eight, were wide open. Her mandibles twitched but did not click together. Her mouth was agape, but also twitching as she let out stuttered gasps.
Her eyes stared blankly, as if she witnessed something terrifying and was almost killed by fright alone. Yet, her twitching and her loss of body control indicated something worse: she was suffering a seizure.
“What are we supposed to do?!” said Raine. “Aranis!”
“Calm down, Raine. This is…an unprecedented moment. There is only one thing we can do for her right now.”
“No, don’t do it!”
Raine thought that Aranis was going to kill Belak, thus ruining their chance of retrieving Narati without resorting to force. Instead, she put her hand on the Mygalean’s head and murmured an incantation under her breath. Slowly, Belak’s eyes started to close, before she finally went to sleep. Her arachnoid appendages also relaxed.
“I am not going to let another queen die on my watch,” said Aranis with a sad tone. “She’s…catatonic. She saw, or rather, felt, something traumatic.”
“Are we spared because we’re not Dark Races?” surmised Hima.
“Whether we are immune to it or not, this illusion is going to claim us, so we must find our way out of this illusion before that happens. Hima, can you sense the exit?”
“It’s not far. There is an illusion that made us traverse this maze endlessly. In fact…the exit’s right in front of us all this time.”
Hima demonstrated her theory by approaching what seemed to be a wall without any indication of a hidden door. The unusual aura, which by now had turned foul the moment Belak screamed, was particularly strong behind the wall or rock she faced. She drew her sword and slashed the wall without hesitation. Raine and Aranis thought that the force would break the sword, but instead of the blade flying through the air, the wall she slashed shimmered, then faded away, revealing a hidden passage.
What’s even more surprising was the fact that they hardly moved from the point after they got through the monsters, which were still there waiting for them. Somehow, they had been running in place. They immediately ran through the opened passageway with Raine carrying the much lighter Belak on his back. There was another wall at the end of the tunnel, as if to indicate a dead end, only for Hima to slash through it, opening to another passageway.
“How did you know?” asked Aranis. “I never sensed any illusion spell.”
“Neither did I,” said Raine.
“Both of you can’t sense evil energy, then,” explained Hima. “I know it sounds stupid, but that’s the best translation I can come up with the term from my homeland. I didn’t believe it either.”
“Believe what?”
“That we’re dealing with a physical god,” said Hima.
“This is more like a demon than a god. They were summoning it, after all.”
“Gods and demons are relative terms, Raine. Whatever you think it is, it’s real, and it has nothing to do with magic. This is what my father once told me. I never believed him, but sensing this aura for the first time….”
“I am afraid we do not have time to discuss the gods,” said Aranis. “The threat is real, and we must stop it before it happens to anyone else. In fact, we are all vulnerable to it just as Belak did.”
“Even you, Aranis?”
“Yes,” she said solemnly. “Elf I may be, I still follow the rules of magic.”
Aranis’s honesty was appreciated but was not something Raine wanted to hear. He was aware of the situation they were in and, frankly, a human with Felinari heritage wouldn’t do much if compared to a kitsune and an elf. He may be able to protect himself for now, but sooner or later, he would fall victim to whatever attacked Belak.
Keeping this in mind, he prepared himself to continue on when Aranis said, “I will stay here to take care of the queen and secure a passage for us. Complete the mission, Raine, Hima.”
“We will,” said Raine. “Take care of yourself, Aranis.”
The elf nodded as she kneeled beside the sleeping Mygalean. Raine and Hima nodded to each other and ran towards the next room, intending to end the nightmare as soon as possible.