Webs

Willow cracked her whip on a knee joint of a particularly aggressive specimen of the nasty spiders that had been crawling out of every nook and cranny since Shiro had gotten wrapped up in an almost invisible web.

Well, formerly almost invisible, the spiders had only thrown enough of themselves at the warriors to prevent them from posing any significant threat to the spiders that were currently busy on both sides turning the webbing into a solid wall of spun crystal.

Willow cursed at herself as Ezma and Hassium finished off the one she had hobbled, while Aspen and Lorna alternated taking potshot with their blades at one threatening the flank. What good was her empathy with creatures when these beings were so strange that she could not even sense their presence, let alone connect with them on any level.

Sizing up the battlefield again she decided to take a gamble, "Aspen, buy me time, like we did in first tree!" She shouted.

Aspen audibly groaned, then blew a kiss "Don't raze the city this time lover." she replied.

Lorna almost lost her head to a spider as she looked between the elves with concern.

Aspen gave a wry smile "Let us focus on our work little one while she does hers, and if there is time later I can tell you that particular story."

Unsatisfied but practical Lorna returned to her blade work while Willow sat down cross legged in the center of the melee and reached out with everything she could.

Nearest at hand the spiders were useless to and did not even appear in her mind's eye.

Next, there should be the smaller natural cave insects, and she could sense those, but dimly and they were trapped in whatever nightmares the nefarious crystals could inflict on their minds.

Beyond that in the distance towards the city the small mammal minds of the vermin that were always found in parallel to civilization, but even these had not been overlooked by the vile substance.

Deep and farther she plunged her senses seeking aid, past the bats and basilisks, until farther down than she could have imagined she founds something.

Something that merely slumbered rather than being sealed. Not even sure what type of creature she was rousing, Willow called and in the dark roots of the mountain an eye the size of a building slid open.

**

Ewan was tired of cowering behind rocks while others risked their lives, for not just the world as a whole, but for each other.

As pretty much an outsider and not really having his own role in the group he had watched and grew jealous.

Willow and Aspen being clearly long term lovers, yet comfortable enough with each other that they had not been visibly threatened by lingering looks and small flirtations from Ezma, Shiro and Hassium.

Every night, and sometimes in other small moments everyone would tenderly reach for the hand of whoever was closest, or slip away when they thought everyone else was asleep.

The only thing that comforted his jealously was that Lorna had not engaged in any of those antics, sure he had seen Ezma and her have a steamy talk that could have ended in such an event. Yet Lorna had turned away, standing firm that once the life debts were settled she would seek love else where.

'Still', Ewan thought while watching the party fight to defend Willow as the spiders worked to weave the webs thicker and closer 'if this is the example of love that she has what hope do I have of being the object of her affection?'

A spider wanders close to him, in terror he waves his dirk in its general direction, but it does not even seem to notice him.

Fighting back fear that he is wrong he acts before he can think better, sneaking closer and closer to where Shiro was wrapped, being ignored by several more spiders on their way to deal with bigger threats or weaving.

When he gets about halfway through the cocoon a deep rumbling shakes the tunnel, freezing everyone excepting Willow who stands from her trance.

The section of tunnel between the group and the city both collapses, then is sealed for a long moment as something so large it boggles Ewan's brain passes by.

In the things wake a chasm going impossibly far down and so far across the light does not reach the other side is now visible.

The only thing making that a remotely comforting prospect is that there are now no webs or spiders that way.

Frantically Ewan returns to work with his dirk. Cursing that his trusty stabbing weapon is basically a butter knife when it comes to the slashing cutting work he needs in this moment.

The dirk does enough though and Shiro is soon free enough to help. As he, no as she, Ewan was still getting used to that after all she does not look to terribly like a girl but he has never been good telling non goblins apart anyway, plants a quick kiss on his forehead before entering the fray.

With quick gestures Willow waves everyone to jump into the chasm.

Aspen and Hassium jump with no hesitation.

Ezma and Shiro pause only long enough to join hands and jump.

Lorna looks at Ewan. Ewan still flush from doing something significant for once smiles and jumps. Lorna shakes her head in amusement and follows right as a spider tries to take a bit out of her.

The tunnel, or was it a shaft? sped past them until they impacted a slope just steep enough that they could not slow down or stop, but gradual enough that they would have not picked up more speed, that is if the surface had not been coated in some sort of slippery goo.

Between the dark and the speed everyone soon lost track of time and distance, until the tunnel became undeniably a tunnel again for long enough that they slowed to a stop.

Deep in the darkness,

far away from what they were looking for,

The party licked their wounds.