Slowly, light returned, dim and eerie as Flint's vision sharpened. Blurry shapes turned to outlines, then to visible forms.
At that point, he realized he was hanging upside down, wrapped in sticky silk. His arms were bound to his torso, legs cocooned up to his knees as blood pounded in his skull, rushing down to his head.
All around, the space pulsed with quiet dread. Strange, swaying silhouettes filled the nest of dozens, if not hundreds, of cocoons, hanging from thick silk like rotten fruit, few still twitching in the gloom. The air reeked of damp rot, sour sweat, and musk. Some of the wevs shimmer faintly, pulsing as if veins of black color.
Across from him was that Eldian girl who had been following him along the trip, wrapped tightly so that only her face was visible. Her eyes were still closed, but she was breathing.
"Sparkles! Wake up!" Flint whispered to her, but no answer.
Flint struggled against the silk, trying to break free, twisting his shoulders, groaning as he attempted to free an arm from the sticky webs, but to no use.
"Come on, Sparkles... wake up!"
Then he looked again at his surroundings and noticed some cocoons had been torn open. Inside, they were filled with jagged bones and skeletal limbs, while others with twisted faces into their final expressions of terror. One husk, still with some flesh half dissolved, still dripped with dark fluid.
"Damn Arachnyrs," Flint muttered still struggling. "Agh..I swear, if I see one, Arg… I'm ripping its legs off. One by one. Ugh… Then I'll burn this cursed nest with every single one of their eggs inside!"
A smooth, velvet voice floated from the dark. "Oh, Flint..."
From the shadows emerged a terrifying figure, towering in size, with a colossal spider's bottom and on top half of a beautiful woman. Her upper scaly-like body, draped in jewel-strung silk, swayed like a queen. Below, her glistening spider form moved with elegant menace with mandibles under her humanoid torso twitching softly.
"Would you really be so cruel to an old flame?"
Flint smirked weakly. "Veeelka! Still dressing like a nightmare dipped in perfume. Did you grow new legs? They look great."
"Always with the charm." Her smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Well, you know me," he muttered. "All charms and feathers."
She crept closer, veils following. "Until you leave a poor woman heartbroken. I thought we had something… special," trailing her clawly finger on Flint's jaw.
"Yeah, about that…" Flint shifted. "Once I found out you planned to use me for hybrid spider-children, I figured we needed to go our separate ways, you know? I was not ready to be a father… nor dinner..."
"But sweetheart, you never even said goodbye."
Flint's smirk faltered. "You were halfway through knitting me into your brood. Was I supposed to bring flowers or something?"
Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And now… you've brought a new plaything? I thought Nyxes despised Eldians."
She turned to Ellowyn, drifting toward her cocoon. Her many legs made no sound, but the air grew colder as she moved.
Ellowyn stirred as she finally opened her eyes slowly to catch the blurry figure in front of her, until…
"Wh—what is this? Who are you?!"
Velka leaned in close, her eyes narrowing. "Such soft creature… such noisy Ether thread… And where it leads."
Ellowyn replied in a tight voice. "Please… can you let us go? We didn't cause any trouble… I hope."
"No, child. But fate spins tighter than that. A mercy, really, to end you here, before the rest of your path unfolds."
"Sparkles, don't listen to her!" Flint shouted.
Velka's eyes flicked to him. "You never cared this much for me. That's sweet. But no matter, my purpose has been fulfilled…"
She backed away slowly, dropping her voice. "And, sweetie... soon you will fulfill your purpose. It's time to meet… your daughters."
A sick squelch echoed beneath them when silk strands trembled. Dozens of pale eggs began to pulse, their skins splitting open with wet cracks.
Flint's eyes widened. "Da.. Daughters?! I—what—NO! I DID NOT CONSENT TO THIS!"
"Oh, sweetheart, but this was meant to be… and you were due your toll," she replied
"OH… Velka! You are sick!" Flint spat
Ellowyn screamed, "You mated that thing?!" Her eyes darted between Flint and Velka.
"It was ONE date!"
Velka's laughter rang like bells in a crypt. "Feed, my children."
Flint twisted violently until finally one of his feathers sliced through the silk. With a final yank, he broke free and dropped with a grunt.
"Sorry, Velka. I'm not ready to be a father."
She hissed, flinging silk with a snap of her claws. Flint rolled under it, slashing Ellowyn's coccon mid-air, falling into his arms.
Suddenly, the nest erupted in a cacophony of noise. Hundreds of spiderlings poured from tunnels and cracks while the air filled with the sharp scent of sour rot. Their screeches layered like a swarm.
"RUN!" Flint yelled.
They bolted through the webby corridors. The walls pulsed and shifted as if they were alive. The path kept on changing as threads shot from the corridor walls, aiming at their limbs and spiderlings dropping from above like darts with sharp claws and fangs..
Velka shrieked from behind. "YOU CANNOT OUTRUN FATE!"
"Eyes forward, Sparkles!" Flint yelled.
As they both ran, whispers rose from the silk itself, haunting Flint. Ivy's voice laced the air: "Stop running. You're better off dead than living."
"Why do you keep clinging to someone who'll just leave you, too?"
He gritted his teeth. "Sparkles, you hearing voices too?"
Ellowyn glanced at him. "Yeah… my father's. But I know what he says makes no sense."
"Good," Flint said, "The web messes with your head. So focus on what you know is real and run."
The corridors started to twist further as they both ran through there, turning into a silky maze. Behind them, spiderlings swarmed from all sides, some crawling on ceilings, others bursting from egg pods. Their screeches became unbearable, high-pitched, like glass cracking inside the skull.
Ellowyn hurled Ugniballs, slamming fire into the mass, briefly burning clusters of spiderlings, but the fire smothered quickly.
"They won't burn!" Flint shouted. "The silk, it's immune to fire."
Ellowyn's brow furrowed. Then, something sparked in her memory.
"Cover me. I need a moment."
Flint growled, "Well, you better have a good idea, or we're gonna be the baby food."
He planted himself between her and the oncoming swarm while spiderlings. He deflected them with spinning daggers and sharp feathers, as electric sparks snapped with each blow.
"RAIKO-TAHAL!" Lightning surged, flinging spiderlings against walls.
Behind him, Ellowyn began chanting. Her voice was low, rhythmic as fire surged from her boots curling around her.
Flint glanced back. "Another Ugni sigil? I told you the silk is immune to fire!"
"Then we force it," she whispered, eyes still closed.
"What?!" he snapped.
The walls pulsed with movement. Velka returned, shrieking, gaining on them, her massive form tearing through webs as scythe-like limbs burst from her back, dragging against the walls with rage.
"THERE IS NO ESCAPE!"
"I'm close, just a little more…" Ellowyn said, sweat on her brow.
"Sparkles, whatever you're doing… DO IT NOW!!"
Then
Her eyes blazed golden. She raised her staff and slammed it down.
"UGNIWALL!"
Flame erupted in a pillar, spreading, forming a living fire wall in front of them, blocking the passage. The heat was blinding, the sound deafening, and spiderlings shrieked and curled, burning in waves. Velka reeled back, shrieking in agony.
"NO! MY CHILDREN! YOU VILE GIRL!"
Smoke thickened, and the swarm halted alongside Velka.
Flint coughed. "You could do that the whole time?!"
Ellowyn staggered, half-smiling. "You never asked,"
At that instant, the webs stopped moving when a seam in the wall behind them split open as a flow of fresh outdoor air blew in.
Ellowyn glanced back. "THERE! We have to hurry, my fire won't last for long."
They both sprinted toward the opening leading to the outside. The walls trembled slowly, and silk was starting to fold inward like a closing wound, while the exit narrowed with every step.
Ellowyn slipped with some webs, hitting the ground as threads started to wrap around her.
Flint, just reaching by the exit, halted, looking back at the eldian girl on the ground.
Suddenly, mist coiled, and Myri stood there in his path.
"Just leave her, Flint, you know she deserves to rot… like all Eldians."
For a brief Flint hesitated, but the shadow of Myri stepped closer with a coaxing voice. "You will just hurt her like everyone else. All you care about is you. So go now and save yourself."
His fist clenched when he saw the eldian girl nearly gone, wrapped in silks, with an arm stretched at him.
"Tch," he spat.
"RAIKO-TAHAL"
He dashed back, blue electric sparkles flaring as he grabbed Ellowyn, pulling her from the webs.
"RAIKO-DASH!"
With Ellowyn in his arms, he surged forward as the corridor collapsed behind them. The narrowing veil sealed shut the instant they crossed, brushing against his back, just enough to snap one of his back feathers, leaving it caught in the silk.
Velka's voice howled after them
"ALL PATHS LEAD TO ME!"
They collapsed in a tangled heap of torn threads and sweat, gasping for breath.
Flint groaned, catching sight of one of his feathers stuck in the webbing. "Damn it, Velka. That feather took me months to grow!"
Ellowyn laid still beside him, then let out a shaky, breathless laugh. "Thank you, bird boy."
He turned, "For what?"
"For coming back."
"Tch. I'm not a heartless monster," He scoffed lightly, brushing damp hair from his face.
"Well, I'm glad you're not," she said, sitting up beside him with a faint, sweet smile.
Flint's face flushed. He looked away, frowning, though the twitch of his ears betrayed him.
Up ahead, the trees began to thin, and a flickering light shimmered through the fog.
Ellowyn squinted. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Oh yeah! Come on, Sparkles," Flint said, standing and stepping forward.
As they drew closer, the shape became clearer. Beyond the veil of mist stood an inn, its frame old and moss-covered, twisted by time and draped in ivy. Blue lanterns hung from poles of Alborian bark, and an arch of stone and vine framed a wooden sign swinging gently in the breeze:
The Whispering Root.
Her eyes widened. "No way… Elves? This far from Aeloria?"
Flint nodded. "Yep. And the best part? Hot meals, beds, company, and no one asks questions." He smirked and strolled toward the gate.
"What a guy," she muttered, though she lingered.
Her eyes drifted to the warm windows, where laughter spilled out, shadows of song and clinking mugs dancing on the glass. Inside, elves and travelers mingled, safe and at peace.
A soft smile grew across her lips.
Her fingers brushed the frayed red scarf at her belt, worn, weathered, and tied with care.
"If only you were here to see it together, Rikuin…"
"Hey, Sparkles! You coming or what?!" Flint's voice called back through the fog.
She blinked, the moment breaking like a ripple across water, and without a word, she followed him in.