Ilyz now stood alone with the three travelers, looking at the three paths. He knew which one the spiders had taken, but did he truly want to take it straight away? The other paths could maybe provide something unforeseen, something unexpected. What if they had split up as they ran away? The spiders had clearly gone after one of them, but they couldn’t be sure it was the best way. That was when one of the adventurers asked him which one they should take and he decided he might as well discuss this with them instead of deciding on his lonesome.

“We have three paths ahead of us, one of them, I suspect, is where the spiders went.” He said pointing at the one to the right.

“These two others I do not know, but it is possible your companions split up here and the spiders only followed one of them, or something else altogether chased and killed spiders.” He continued to explain to the other three.

“What do you suggest we do then?” One of them asked, unsure now.

“Obviously, splitting up is a bad idea, so we simply have to choose where to go.” He told them.

“I think we should follow the spiders, should we not? It's most likely to be where our friends went.” Another one of them spoke up.

“Yeah but what if they split up, or something else happened?” The first one questioned back.

“He said it himself, our friends maybe escaped some other way and the spiders got chased off and killed by another monster.” He defended himself as his companion clearly doubted him.

“Sure, and maybe the sun is a square. Look, it might be possible, but it is highly unlikely. The real question is if we are ready to follow after the spiders. It’s clear we’re probably going towards their nest here, no?” It seemed they were undecided.

“If you are willing to risk it, it is the safest bet to find your friends, but the unsafest bet for your lives.” Ilyz told them and it was clear they hesitated.

“Come on guys, we didn’t come here to pussy out now.” The last one finally spoke up and it seemed to work on the other two who nodded. After the spiders it was. Ilyz knew it was sadly the most dangerous and he wasn’t sure how much he was willing to show in order to protect them. If he cast powerful magic one after the other and they survived, he would have to make sure they left the old world and went back into space. He didn’t want his secret to get out and he currently found their lives worth less than his secret at this moment.

What was a mortal life in the endless cycle of life? A blip in his eyes. Not worthless as mortals had always proved their worth as they invented and made spectacular things. But he seriously doubted he would rob the world of any potential if he snuffed out their specific three lives. There was a chance, he mused to himself, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

They started descending the rightmost tunnel and slowly made their way down. They stumbled on some spider remains that had been badly hidden as they went further and further until at some point there were no more remains. The battle had ended before here. Luckily the tunnel didn’t split into more passages and they simply followed along. It didn’t take them long to start seeing a web here and there. Very small ones. Barely noticeable at first.

However it was undeniable that they were entering spider territory for real as they were now avoiding huge webs. So far they hadn’t had to cut anything down, and it seemed the tunnel was rather clear in the middle which begged the question of why. The tunnel was rather large. Of course Ilyz’s real body wouldn’t fit in it, but he was fairly sure three humans could stand on each one's shoulder and barely touch the roof so high it was. It was almost as large too. So it seemed the only reason there was no web in the center was that there was a spider large enough to take away the webs that would obstruct the middle each time it passed here.

Ilyz had never liked spiders. One the monsters he perhaps understood the least. A hivemind kind of mentality was so far from how he understood the world himself, as his kin stood at the apex of the old world. They were very individualistic by nature. He really hoped spiders hadn’t gotten webs all over that hangar. If there was anything worthwhile in there he would probably study here for years and he did not want to have a spider infestation on his hands. The abyss knew how annoying they could be to get rid of completely.

The adventurers had slowed down somewhat and were looking around in fear, ready to jump at the shadows cast by their torches. Ilyz did notice that they had only seen very small spiders lurking and nothing dangerous yet. It seemed all the bigger and grown ones were doing something else still, or were they truly still wary of him after his display on the surface?

They slowly made their way and soon they entered a huge open cave. They were on the precipice to a humongous cave. There were spiderwebs everywhere that made it hard to see the end of it even with his vision. So he cast a spell to see through the darkness as the light could only reach so far and he was surprised by what he saw down there. Part of a facility had been clearly excavated by someone. The spiders? Ilyz almost laughed at the idea.

But something was clear, the spiders had a way inside which he certainly wasn’t happy with. He saw a few rather large spiders in the distance. It was almost amazing that they had managed to make so many webs. And the size of some of them was impressive. Still, he was weighing the benefit of burning them all down to clear the vermin as much as possible, but he feared the three adventurers wouldn’t survive all the toxic fumes. Some species really were weak.

Speaking of which he turned to look at them and noticed they had all drawn their weapons. They obviously couldn’t see very far in the darkness. One of them approached a web with his sword and was about to poke it. Ilyz gently took his hand to direct the blade away from the web while putting a finger on his own mouth in the universal sign of silence. If he knew one thing about spiders is that they were sensitive to vibrations, especially from their own webs.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“We have to get down there.” Ilyz whispered as he pointed towards the facility at the bottom. The adventurers clearly couldn’t see what he was pointing at as they tried to stare and make out something just beyond their sight.

Ilyz started mumbling in a fake chant as he stood on the edge. He was a bit out of patience and it didn’t take long before a completely silent spell appeared. A dull and purple ring hovered in the air for a bit before it silently descended along the edge leading almost straight down. The ring moved silently and cut the webs in its path without any resistance. It didn’t even make the rest of the webs move, unless it was an important point for the web of course. So a few did collapse somewhat. It was the best he could do.

It didn’t take very long for a few spiders to investigate what had happened to their webs, but they had all hidden and were completely still a bit further back in the tunnel. Ilyz just hoped they wouldn’t repair them right now. He was the only one who’s hearing was good enough to even know if the spiders were there or not. The three adventurers only heard silence as they waited with bated breaths.

In the end it took them almost an hour to make it down there. The important part was that they hadn’t been spotted by the stupid monsters. Once they all hit the ground, almost silently, they had to be careful to stay silent. Their escape was a long rope up the cliff and they all knew the spiders would be faster than them. A lot faster. So they crept forwards, avoiding all the webs as Ilyz led their way through. He would occasionally cut a web here and there to let them through, but he always made sure to cut one that didn’t make anything move or collapse.

It took them an excruciating amount of time to move forwards. Every meter took them forever as they had to be careful not to touch any of the webs. Ilyz caught one of them as he was about to slip up. They were getting tired. It wouldn’t take long before they made a mistake now, and they couldn’t afford it.

“We’re almost there. Only a bit more.” He told them in a whisper, while covering them in a silence spell.

It only took about thirty more minutes for them to reach the wall to the facility. Ilyz cleared some space for them to sit down and relax. They still weren’t there just yet, but now they truly were close. The adventurers almost collapsed as they quietly sat down. They had stayed tense for hours to make sure they didn’t accidentally touch something they weren’t supposed to. It was the kind of thing that looked rather easy but in truth was extremely tiring. Especially when one mistake meant a whole colony of monster spiders would come on your ass.

Ilyz watched over the three as they relaxed. One even fell asleep. So long as he didn’t snore, it was fine, which thankfully didn’t happen. Ilyz had been ready to cast silence in case but was happy he hadn’t needed to. This was rather tiring even for him. He wasn’t very used to sneaking around. Alone he would have charged right through and killed every last one of the monsters.

Soon enough they continued their way towards the entrance. It was a lot easier with the wall on their right as they could almost always use it to keep them stable on their feet. Even Ilyz felt relieved when they finally had the opening in sight. It was rather large. The rectangular entrance was large enough to fit smaller vehicles through, but not much more. It was strangely clear of webs, at least compared to the rest of the area.

Ilyz walked out and stood in front of the entrance. He squinted as he tried to look inside. The three adventurers joined him, curious. His eyes went wide as he spotted something deep within. He instantly cast a tier 5 barrier spell as he tried to warn the adventurers to move out of the way. Something lit up in the distance and Ilyz suddenly found himself face down in the dirt thirty meters back. He had taken a rough hit despite the poten barrier and there was no trace of the adventurers. They had been vaporized by the weapon.

A weapon that had never meant to be used on the ground, for it belonged somewhere else entirely. It had been made for spacebattles. Ilyz slowly got up as he looked at the weapon that had been fired from deep within. This meant that the spiders were a lot smarter than he had given them credit for. Not only were they using the weapon, but they had clearly known about them sneaking around. This had been an ambush meant to take him out without sacrificing all of their kin in the process.

But what they didn’t know was that they had instead awakened something far more dangerous than they could ever dream of. Ilyz hadn’t been wounded in millenia. As he walked forwards again he started preparing a few spells just in case. It didn’t take long for the weapon to light up again and fire a projectile many times faster than sound. It rippled through the air as a loud boom made the ground quake.

A bright light flashed as a magical barrier blocked it. Once, but not twice. He had been ready this time. And Ilyz was far from done. This meant that there were ships in the hangar but that the spiders had probably taken some apart. He just hoped for their small existence that they hadn’t destroyed much in their ignorance. He was already pissed off as it was. I slowly marched forwards and blocked another shot. Then another.

He reached the entrance and stood there for a second. He had cast many spells, layered barriers, just in case. His pride demanded that he leave them no chance. That he blocked all of their weapons to show them the futility of their actions. Yes the weapons could harm even him, for they could deal incredible damage. But he could easily defend against it if he knew what was coming.

Lightning fast he turned and actually dodged. There, high up they had mounted another weapon that was deceptively smaller. But he knew what it was. He had barely managed to avoid the thing. It had pierced a barrier like it hadn’t even been there. There was now a small hole in the ground that he suspected went through the whole piece and back out into space. The anti-space gun was not something he had expected to be here. It had been banned for a reason. Thankfully the thing cost so much magic it was ridiculous and hard to recharge, but if there was one, there might be another. And despite all his boasts of strength, it was one of the rare weapons that could take down even his kind. There simply couldn’t be magic if there was no space for it to exist. The gun removed everything in its path and no one had found a countermeasure, at least in his time.

The weapons had all been destroyed back then, or so he had thought. It seemed playtime was over and he needed to be serious about this. So Ilyz decided that despite the risks of being seen or anything else, he couldn’t hold back anymore. Not here, not now. He hadn’t lived for thousands of years for nothing. Survival was paramount to everything else and unlike his kin, he wouldn’t make a mistake to stoke his pride.

The spiders would know his fury. For harming him and making him shed his disguise. He would burn them all. The spider queen shuddered then, not comprehending the primal fear she suddenly felt. But instincts from deep inside of her, older than anything she could possibly imagine, resurfaced now. Instincts as old as the world.

For here came a being made of magic and fire. Someone who had burned empires to ashes. Someone who had seen the first of her kind come to the world. Someone who had saved entire species from extinction. Who had been feared and respected for his wisdom and might. Who had been forgotten and made into a legend that had then been forgotten. And through the eyes of her kin she saw him and what he truly was.

Ilyzaelmor Ulvamiral, keeper of the first ember. The last dragon.