Gray awoke in silence. Like usual.
It wasn't the calm kind, far from it. This silence was unnatural, stifling. It pressed in from all sides like a physical thing, thick and sticky. A nausea swelled in his gut and a splitting ache throbbed behind his eyes. He tried to move his arms, to sit up, but found he couldn't. His limbs refused to obey.
Something cold hugged his body tightly.
His vision blurred and shifted until the world swam into focus. Webbing. Thick, pale strands wrapped his torso, legs, arms, even his neck. He looked down and nearly gagged, he wasn't lying down, but pinned upright against a wall of stone, strung up like a carcass.
He struggled against the bindings, the coarse fibers biting into his skin. The more he moved, the tighter they seemed to pull. Panic set in.
'Where am I?' Panick quickly set in.
His memory spun back, fragmented and fleeting. The village. The silence. Entering the large building in the center. Then… the sound. That horrible clicking. The shadow over Lira's head. And then nothing.
His chest seized.
'Lira!'
He jerked his head up. Across the wide, hollow chamber, just opposite him, another figure was tangled in webbing. Pale blonde hair clung to her forehead, her eyes shut, mouth slack.
"Lira!" he shouted, but the echo was the only reply.
She didn't move.
A cold dread rooted deep in his stomach. Was she...
'No.'
'No, she's breathing. She's just unconscious. She has to be...'
He exhaled. Tried to stay calm. He couldn't afford to spiral. Not now.
He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and pulled hard. Veins bulged in his arms. Nothing. The webs didn't stretch. They didn't tear. He inhaled deeply and drew in Vyre, feeling it stir from his core and flow down his limbs. His body tingled as he directed it into his arms and legs, forcing strength into them. He pulled again.
Nothing.
The webs didn't even react.
His muscles ached. His core burned slightly. Still nothing.
He began to shout, raw, desperate cries. His voice echoed through the chamber, bouncing off the walls.
"LET ME OUT!" He screamed, and screamed.
Until he lost count of how many times he had.
'Shit... this—is this the end?' He gnashed his teeth.
'It's all his fault.' Hatred began to swallow his heart.
He cursed the Kaan.
'If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here!'
He then cursed the broken, cursed continent that was Nyxterra.
'If this place wasn't like hell... i could've made it out alive!'
He cursed the "sanctuary" made to protect them.
'What bastard thought that this was a good idea!? There... there's no way anyone could've lived for so long! The other's are all most likely dead already!'
But it all came back to himself.
"I—I shouldn't have accepted that—that deal... it was a death sentence from the beginning..." This time he spoke aloud. Hoping someone would answer his prayers.
Whilst his prayers remained unanswered, his fears weren't...
A noise. From the distance.
A distant, steady thud.
His blood froze.
'No...Please, no...'
Another thud. Then another. Heavy, deliberate. Something was approaching. The sound reverberated through the floor, through the air, until even the webs around him vibrated with the rhythm.
Then he saw it.
From the far left of the chamber, where a wide, dark opening yawned in the rock wall, something massive emerged. At first, he thought it was a tunnel. But no, It moved. Chitin scraped against stone as countless legs clicked and shifted. The creature emerged into the chamber, and the low blue light from the glowing fungus along the walls gave it shape.
A spider.
Enormous. Its body was wider than a truck, its long legs sharp like blades. Its eyes were black and bulbous, but not empty. They pulsed with slow green light. A thick, steaming saliva dripped from its jaws.
Gray couldn't breathe.
The monster stalked forward, legs clacking, echoing with every movement. It stopped just before him. Slowly, it lowered its massive body until its head hovered inches from his face. It stared at him.
One eye. Then another. Then five more.
He couldn't move. He couldn't blink.
The spider made a low clicking sound, something deep in its throat, and suddenly, without warning.
Splfft!!!
A burst of sticky webbing shot from its fangs and struck his mouth. He gagged, muffled, his lips pressed together and his jaw locked tight by the glue-like material. He couldn't scream anymore. He couldn't speak. His breath came in short panicked huffs through his nose.
The spider paused.
Then, slowly, it receded. Back into the tunnel. Back into its corner.
It didn't leave.
It simply waited.
Time passed.
He didn't know how long.
His throat burned from the dryness. His body ached from being pinned. His mind spun in circles of fear and helplessness. He couldn't even scream.
Then something moved in the distance.
Lira stirred.
Gray's eyes widened. She shifted, a groan escaping her lips as she raised her head. Her eyes blinked open slowly.
When she saw him, she let out a curse.
"You idiot."
He blinked.
"I told you you shouldn't have followed!"
She tugged weakly against the webs. "I told you to stay out of this. I told you I had a plan. But no. You just had to follow, didn't you?"
Gray groaned through the gag, muffled and desperate.
"Oh shut up," she snapped. "It's your fault your going to die now! If you had just listened, you and Adel could've rescued me, or even escaped after destroying the nest. But now your here with me. Waiting for death. Happy?"
Her voice cracked. The tough edge faded for a moment.
Gray stopped struggling.
'She's...right. I don't have anyone else to blame. It's all my fault...'
She tested her arms, wincing as the web fibers pulled taut.
She closed her eyes, summoned her Vyre, and carefully formed a flicker of flame above her palm. It barely lasted a second before snuffing out.
Lira froze.
"What…"
She focused again. Another spark. It danced at the edge of her pale hand, and then vanished. Her eyes went wide.
She pulled at the webs again, then looked closely, closer. Her eyes scanned the places where the strands touched her skin. They weren't just wrapped around her.
They were in her.
Tiny threads, barely visible, had pierced her flesh like needles, threading into her arms, her neck, her back.
"No…"
She exhaled, then noticed something worse. She focused inward, on her core.
It was draining.
Not quickly. Not fast enough to feel sick. But it was there. Like a leech siphoning blood drop by drop.
Gray let out a muffled groan.
"You too?"
He nodded.
Lira's expression collapsed. "You already tried using Vyre, didn't you?"
He nodded again.
She laughed bitterly. "Then we're screwed."
She slumped against the webs. "Of course we are."
The silence crept back in.
Lira didn't cry. But something in her changed. She looked down at her feet, then up at the ceiling, then finally at Gray.
Gray tilted his head.
"I hate my parents."
He blinked.
'Where did this come from?'
"I never wanted it. I never wanted to become Strained. I never wanted to step foot on this cursed continent. I wanted to live a quiet life. I had a garden back home. Did you know that?"
Gray watched her, expression softening.
'Her parents...forced her?' He couldn't imagine such a thing.
"Roses. Vines. Even those little annoying moth-lilies that close up when it rains. I liked them."
She closed her eyes. "I just wanted to stay there forever. Not fight. Not bleed. Not be strong. Just exist."
Gray wanted to say something. To comfort her. But all he could manage was a groan through the gag.
Lira looked at him again. "And you? What did you want?"
He didn't answer. Couldn't.
She looked at him for a second before closing her eyes.
And then...
A flicker.
Gray's eyes caught something. Just to the right. In the darkness near the tunnel's mouth.
A glint. Like glass under moonlight.
Purple.
He focused harder. The shadows shifted, and there they were.
Eyes.
Bright, glowing purple. Watching. Silent. Still.
Gray's heart leapt.
He blinked.
They were gone.
But he knew what he saw.
Adel.
She was here. Watching, waiting.