Adam slowly stirred awake. The world spun around him in nauseating circles as he tried to steady himself. His limbs trembled; his head buzzed with the rampaging rage of a thousand buzzing bees. The glow of mana crystals, flickering fainter than before, painted the world in uneven hues of gold and blue.
He blinked. Then blinked again. A sharp pulse of pain struck his head. He groaned in agony; a feverish headache swept his mind. He stumbled before coming to a stop.
"Ah, my head hurts so much.... What the hell happened."
He looked around, seeing the corpse of the ghost spider sliced in half, memories of the battle came pouring in. The spider lay still, its two halves dark and motionless, its fluids leaked and streamed against the stone floor. The air was thick with the stench of blood and acid, yet even through that oppressive scent, Adam could taste the tang of victory. His chest fluttered with joy. He had done it. He had finally killed it.
"What...? I won...? I won... I WON!", he screamed erratically, his voice though rasped, still echoed in the foreign tunnels. A wave of ecstasy washes over him, soothing the pain.
A laugh escaped his mandibles, almost a chittering hum. For a heartbeat he forgot what pain felt like. But then.
Hissssssss…
The sound replayed in his mind. Engraving the buzz deep into his brain. That final whisper before he fell into the abyss.
His joy faltered. He turned sharply, scanning the webbed tunnels. A faint shift stirred the air, cool currents brushing his antennae. No vibration of movement, no more sound. Only silence. The kind that made his skin crawl, wondering if it's the calm before the storm.
"Was it… my imagination?" he wondered, though his thoughts carried a tremor of doubt.
He exhaled, low and tired. The exhaustion now pressed upon him. His breath heavy and deep. Every step rocked his limbs to the core. But he couldn't just stay there. He had to go home, back to the colony, back to the core. He moved towards the body, mandibles clacking faintly as his body ached. He began weaving silk to wrap its halves together into a ball of web and flesh. The threads shimmered faintly blue under the dim mana light.
Then. A sudden flare of yellow blinded his vision. He turned sharply. A crystal pulsed on the ground, its golden hue radiating like a captured sun.
"Hmm... I guess grabbing it wouldn't hurt." He bit the crystal loose with his mandibles. Crashing it onto the floor.
Clank!
The noise echoed into the tunnels. The sharp noise went far and wide, resonating with a high frequency. Not waiting for some unknown underground monstrosity to answer the call and coming his way, he quickly packed that crystal up in his webs.
"Now to go back up."
As he shot a line of web through the giant hole in the ceiling as it made its mark onto the wall. Adam tried something he hadn't tried ever before.
He gritted his mandibles, drawing in his strength. He squeezed and contracted every muscle within his abdomen and surprisingly the web tugged at him. So, grabbing the webbed ball of flesh and crystal by his limbs, he pulled himself up, and slowly lifted himself into the sky. Though this experience had more of a mental toll then a physical one.
"All this squeezing and relaxing..." he rasped, mandibles twitching. "Reminds me of 30 mins after I ate Taco Bell...."
Needless to say, he slowly crept his way back into the muddy tunnels, digging his jaws into the wall whenever he needed to shoot again, until he reached the very top.
At the colony, unease hung thick in the air — almost tangible. Mira paced in tight circles, her antennae twitching with agitation, worry evident across her face. Her thoughts spun faster than her steps, looping endlessly as she tried to decide what to do.
"What do I do. What do I do. What do I do! The ground shook so violently and mister Giant isn't back yet. Should we go search for him... No no no... he strictly forbade us from doing such a thing again... but it's been so long. He could be in trouble, or worse. DEAD!"
Mira's thoughts only drove her into a bigger frantic spiral; down a rabbit hole of endlessly gruesome possibilities, that she had neither the intention, nor the will to face. Norkk went up to her, trying to stop this madness. "Worry not Mira, I'm sure everything is fine."
"FINE!" She screamed back at him. "Nothing's fine! Mister Giant, isn't here and the ground was shaking violently, and my mind is being torn apart on what to do!" Mira dropped down, sulking. What could she possible do. She promised to the giant that she wouldn't carelessly leave the colony ever again. Yet this aching feeling in her heart told her otherwise. What could a helpless little ant such as herself possible do in that situation?
The silence that followed her cry was suffocating. Mira's chest heaved. In, out and then in again. Until the trembling in her legs steadied. Norkk simply stood by her side, silent, yet welcoming to any concern that Mira may have, ready to catch her at the slightest sign of collapse.
Then, a sudden commotion. The frantic scrabble of legs echoing through the tunnels. A scout burst into the chamber, gasping for air, his voice breaking with urgency. Every head turned, antennae raised, hearts caught between fear and hope.
"It's him!" the scout, Tikk, managed to shout, his tone trembling with disbelief and relief alike. "He's back!"