Perdilius' eyes grew closer, bothered by the slow progress they've made journeying forward. The tunnel allowed them a path through the mountains instead of traversing around and risking the dangers in the surface, but doing so came at a cost. It dawned on him that the Rangers have made progress since his absence as he sought to retrieve the Nekomata in person.

  Now he was one cat girl short from fulfilling his pn and lost over half of his men.

  Raz backed off when he noticed the tightened clench of his father's hand, both of them sticking close to the rear of the front remaining horse carriage. It had been an hour of them pressing through the darkness with only a few torches in hand to light the way, and the absence of life left him troubled. The fort from the day before had meant to welcome them, resupply them and prevent any unwanted visitors from invading the Faehorn Forest. But it wasn't just the number of arrows that clued him in as to the source of the fort's ill fate, but also the scattered armor ying around. That green residue was something he had seen before as this forest housed many monsters within, but their men should have been well-equipped to handle simple threats like them.

  The ambush was shockingly well-timed, forcing them to retreat and cutting off access to the bridge. And now the tunnel access had no campsite or caravan to greet them inside. It seems in their absence, the Rangers have managed to retaliate.

  KuliKuli and Dimyri walked in silence, with the oldest scurrying off to be at Raz's side. He took notice from his peripheral sight and turned to her with a double take, seemingly hesitant for her to be so close before shaking his head and composing himself.

  "Rex, it's not like I have a pgue in me." Dimyri teased, hoping the humor would ease his nerves. She hugged her arms, using her paws to keep herself warm. The girls weren't fully nude, but the bikinis did nothing to combat the damp coldness that followed them. Raz may not have been weighed down with dented metal armor or equipped with sleek leather like the others, but he still wore a chest pte with a blue long-sleeved tunic underneath. His freckled face reminded her of her baby sister Syri, though his were of a browner color scattered across his face like a wavy line.

  Dimyri seemed like the opposite to her sister KuliKuli in their fur pattern, as she had a more dominant brown fur coat akin to their mother, but with white spots, not to mention she was an inch taller.

  She leaned in, noticing him facing forward. Whether he was purposely ignoring her or perhaps trying to intimidate her, she couldn't tell. But they were close in height, and he didn't have any broad shoulders or bulky frame to look imposing like Perdilius. "Hey, how much further do we have left?"

  "Keep that tongue to yourself, I'm not interested in talking." He muttered in a low voice.

  Dimyri frowned. "Could we at least have some bnkets to wear? We're not really dressed for this kind of thing."

  "Revert to your cat forms." He suggested.

  "Listen, you may not know how we function but you lot had us stuck in that form for days." She hissed, gring daggers at him. "We are drained of magic, you might as well order a blind man to fire an arrow and hit a target. My sisters are gone, we've barely had enough to stay hungry, and we can't sleep well on a cold rocky surface."

  Raz looked at her with his hazel green eyes, giving her words some thought. He gnced back at KuliKuli and Emyri, realizing that both were shivering and struggling to keep up to pace with them. Taken aback, he stared ahead weighing his next choice of words carefully.

  "We should be close to the other side, I'd wager an hour or two of footwork. Once we cross, we can see to getting some short rest and I can arrange a few extra rations for you and your family. As for the cold, we don't have any surplus bnkets at hand as they were lost amongst the other carriages yesterday. I would suggest you huddle amongst each other for warmth and press on for now. We'll be expecting more company at the other side."

  "Much like the same company back at the grave the other day?" She reminded him, being careful not to sound in a mocking tone. He was responding, angering him would do them no favors. Still, he seemed easier to talk to compared to the priest. "What of the Rangers? Are your men properly trained to fight back if any trouble crosses our path?"

  She didn't dare ask if they had the numbers, she knew the answer already. Things weren't looking good for Perdilius and he knew it.

  Raz exhaled, his tense shoulders dropping as he grew a bit comfortable around her. "I can't speak about their training, but we are armed and capable, not to mention the Hunter is among us. That should suffice in easing your concerns."

  "It helps," She admitted, looking back at her dad. Her attention turned to the surrounding walls devoid of any natural growth like vines stretching across. It looked wet yet clean, slick, almost carved at a perfected arch. She also noticed a few faint symbols scattered around the ground and walls. "How did you guys find this pce?"

  "We made it." He expined, noticing her eyes widen in shock. "Through the help of a spell caster. She has a fondness for dirt."

  "That would expin the engravings." Her eyes traveled up above their heads. "But what of the holes?"

  "Holes?" Raz's face tightened in concern, pausing his steps as he turned to her. "What holes?"

  Dimyri looked at him with her yellow cat eyes, and he swore they seemed to emit their own light. "You don't see it? I forget, you can't see too well in the dark. There weren't many before, but I'm seeing more the further we go. It's been that way since the st hour."

  "We don't have any holes..." He expressed, lingering on that st sylble as he chose to keep up with the group. Try as he could, but he couldn't shake off her words. "What are you talking about?"

  Dimyri noticed his concern, choosing to keep the truth confined to her mind. "It's probably nothing, at least nothing to be concerned of."

  Raz wasn't convinced, eyeing her before facing forward once more as the pair walked in awkward silence.

  Leading the group were two soldiers in silver metal armor, their arms tired from keeping a torch raised for so long. One of them flinched and scrunched his nose, wiping his face with a gloved hand. Whatever that was, he felt it cling to his chin hairs and fall across his lips as he spat out and dragged his hand around.

  "Something the matter?" His friend asked, smiling in amusement.

  The first soldier wiped his lips, shaking his head. "Felt something on there."

  "Don't let it be snot and tears," His friend joked.

  "S'nothing but dust."

  "If you say-" Now his friend flinched and recoiled, plucking out something from his cheek. "Oh gods, I think you threw it my way."

  The first soldier approached him, using the torch to spot anything. "Don't see nothing there, ye good?"

  "Yea, peachy." He replied, annoyed.

  At the middle of the group, Leone couldn't help but notice Emyri and KuliKuli trembling from the cold. Feeling it wise not to tempt KuliKuli's resentment, he inched closer to Emyri instead, removing his cloak and offering it to her.

  She felt his cloak around her shoulders and looked at him. "What?"

  "Your cold." He answered, somewhat amused that he had to expin his actions to her.

  Emyri's eyes briefly lit up from the gesture when she turned to look at her daughters. "I-I can't offer it to them. They need it more."

  Leone seemed hesitant, unable to respond and receiving a warning gre from her. "They're your daughters too, Leone. You can stomach fighting off beasts that can kill you with one swipe but speaking to our girls is too much?"

  "It's not like that." He argued, looking away much to her disappointment.

  "You need to decide what role you want to py in our lives. Not only did you lead him to us, but you help him catch us as well?"

  "The choice was out of my hands-"

  "No. You can't keep doing this, you can't. Our daughters are angry and rightfully so. I can only tell myself that there is some reason to us raising them how we did, but what happens when Perdilius gets what he wants?"

  "He only needs them temporarily."

  "Then what, he'll free them?" She asked, facing him.

  Leone hesitated as his tongue caught in his throat. "I-I um, it's possible-"

  "You don't believe it, do you?" Emyri's eyes fell to a look of pain, her voice quivering and her cat ears dropping. "You don't even have a pn to help us. You'd rather get rid of us so that you can move on."

  "That is not true." He stated, crossed by the implications. "Emyri, you know I don't want that."

  "How would I know?" She argued, pressing further. "You were different before. Younger and kinder. You spared me rather than let me die, but would you do that today? I'm not so certain anymore."

  "I-" He paused, his attention caught elsewhere as he gnced around. She was angry at first, believing him to dodge the question until she saw his hand against the handle of his sword. His eyes glowed softly, appearing as cat eyes for a brief moment to help him see in the dark. It was a reminder of their coupling years ago, something she missed seeing in him from a time when their love was strong and mutual.

  It was then that Emyri followed his gaze that she gasped and ran to hold KuliKuli and Dimyri in her arms.

  "You see them too?" Dimyri asked.

  "See what?" KuliKuli looked around, her ears sprung up and her heart picking up.

  Back at the front of the group, the two soldiers strolled forward with ease. One of them squinted and nudged his friend before calling out to the others.

  "I see a light up north, we're near the exit!"

  Leone flinched by his announcement, his voice echoing down the tunnel loudly. To make matters worse, the others cheered and raised their fists like children. He knew their fate was sealed, he didn't bother to warn them as he stuck close to the Nekomata.

  The group seemed revitalized by the sight of daylight, picking up speed to cross through. But it was then that certain details became more pronounced, catching their attention. Cobwebs scattered across the walls in small patches, tiny and briefly noticeable at first. They didn't pay much mind to it, until the webbing grew more abundant. Some of it stuck to their shoulders as they brushed past them, none seemed to notice the Nekomata and their fearful expressions. How could they when their eyes were glued to the exit up ahead?

  But the webbing slowed them down, with the two front men forced to use their swords to cut through the webbing. The carriage came to a halt, the two horses huffed and stomped their hooves, and Perdilius looked uncomfortable by the abundance of web.

  "Men, arm yourselves." He ordered, the sound of swords unsheathed bringing some slight relief to him. "Stay close, stay ready."

  "Protect the light." Leone mentioned, warning them. "Fire will be our best ally, they do well in the dark."

  "Would you lot hurry up!" One of the soldiers shouted, directing his annoyance at the pair in the front.

  TINK-tink-tink!

  One of the men at the rear looked down to his feet, spotting a glimmering item that fell before him. Crouching down, he picked up what he initially thought to be a ring, only to realize it was a gold coin. Slowly, he raised his head, his eyes traveling up from the ground to the roof before settling on the bck darkness looming over their heads, when a pair of tiny eyes stared back. He stumbled back, nudging his friend and urging him to raise their torch up. Doing so revealed a growing number of eyes that reflected the fme from their torch, eight eyes to be exact, unwavering and unbothered by their actions.

  "A-Above us!" His trembling voice cried out, aiming his sword with wavering hands. "I see them! I see-"

  His mouth was caught in a clump of web, silencing him as he fell on his ass. He dug into his mouth in a frantic attempt to peel it off from his lips, his voice muffled as his surrounding friends held their grounds.

  "Have it!" His friend cried out between clenched teeth, using one of their st crossbows to fire a bolt toward the eyes. The bolt only managed to make the eyes disappear, without sound or clue to any injury being made. His friend successfully tore off the web, kicking the ground as he picked himself up to join the others.

  Leone snapped around, snatched a torch from one of them and held it toward the back of the group, swinging the torch around. The glimmer of fire light revealed numerous bck spiders silently following behind them, watching with interest. They were rge enough to snatch dogs in their grasp, sporting bck bodies with empty lifeless eyes.

  "SPIDERS!" The nearest soldier cried out in panic. "SPIDERS ON OUR BEHINDS!"

  "Stand your ground!" Perdilius' voice echoed, tucking his book under his robe. "Push forward, do not falter!"

  "Onward!" Raz shouted. joining the pair up front with his own sword to cut a path across.

  What frightened them most wasn't that the spiders jumped them like some raddled crowd of beasts, they didn't pounce immediately. They just lingered around, the ones behind them following their steps. This was their home, and they were the ones intruding. Leone kept a close eye to the girls, while keeping his position at the rear to guard the others. The more frightened of the group huddled at the middle, leaving a few brave ones by the Hunter's side with spears to give them a reach advantage.

  A few spiders silently dangled from their webs as they descended from the ceiling until their limbs reached the ground floor. They would join the other arachnids, spectating and closing in on them. Several strings of web unched across their spears causing the soldiers to recoil and jab at the air, hoping to frighten them to back off. But they showed no fear in those spherical eyes of theirs, protruding like lifeless bck beads with eyes that don't blink.

  "C-Can't you use some sort of spell?" One of them argued, nudged Leone while peddling back to keep pace with the group. "Yer a Monster Hunter, do something!"

  "They've made this their home, which leaves them the numerical advantage." He expined, keeping his torch in one hand and his sword in the other. "The fire is what keeps the away. Do not provoke them."

  "Provoke them how!?" The other cried out.

  "Leave them and they leave us be!" He shouted back.

  "Leave them, yer jokin'!"

  "Do not test them." He warned, tightening his grip. "These are not fully grown judging by their size and interest. For now, we're just a spectacle passing through their home."

  Up at the left side of the group, one of them ran into a mass of webbing, tugging at his arms to tear through it. His actions provoked a spider to fall atop his shoulders, its legs wriggling around as he held its body back. "Get off! Get it off! Get it off!"

  "Hyaaa!" His companion pierced the arachnid with his spear, impaling its lifeless corpse into the wall.

  Leone's heart sunk as this action made the spiders move closer until they were three feet from them. They grew rger in numbers as more came to join them, their furry limbs keeping their mobility silent from making much noise. His eyes widened as one raised its front legs and dashed toward him as he swung in time to slice it in half. "Et merde." He whispered to himself.

  "Are we nearly there?" One of the called out.

  Raz furiously cut across the webbing with the others as sweat ran down his brow. "We need hands!"

  "Three more join them!" Perdilius ordered, "The rest stay close and be ready!"

  "Oh no." KuliKuli whispered, clinging to her sister and mother. The three of them could see what the others could not, as dozens of spiders stared down at them before spinning their webs.

  Dimyri flinched, feeling some web nd on her hair. She wasted no time cutting it off with her cws as more rained down on the others.

  Their progression slowed to moving several feet every twenty seconds, hastened by the added men clearing through the thick webbing. KuliKuli crouched down with her mother and sister, staring at Leone as he bravely shed out against any spiders that attacked him. One tried dropping on his head from above, but he took notice and jabbed his torch against its plump body, setting it abze. It toppled over, scorching as its siblings scattered around its body unbothered.

  One of Perdilius' soldiers felt a spider cling to his boot, unable to shake it off. He tried kicking it when a few strings of web sprung from the dark, tching onto his spear. He pulled the spear away but tumbled back as the others abandoned him in a hurry to push closer to the light. Leone hesitated and swiped at the spider on the man's boot, grabbing his hand and pulling him back. But it was in vain, another spider clung to the man's back and more sprung their webs on his feet, binding them together. He flopped like a fish out of water, begging for his life.

  Leone looked away, unable to save him from the spiders. His pleas were silenced as the hunter rejoined the other.

  The spiders seemed more frantic as their prey cleared away the st bit of webbing enough for their carriage to push through. The horses whined noisily but seemingly had no other way to move but forward. The light at the end gave them comfort as they ran ahead, forcing the soldiers to sprint or fall behind. Dimyri held onto her mother as the pair ran amongst the crowd, but KuliKuli froze and looked back. Leone spun around and kicked another Spider off, then swiped across, cleaving a few spiders near his feet. He fell to the back when his arm felt resistance, tether by the spinning of web that clung to his gloved hand.

  He was taken aback when KuliKuli freed him in time, allowing him to slice an arachnid into two. Sheathing his sword, he freed his hand to hover it above the torch before reciting the word, "Ignis!"

  Stealing some fire from the torch, it allowed him to gather it into a weak fireball in his palm before hurling it across. The brief flicker of light revealed possible hundreds of wall crawlers reeling back, temporarily stunned from the fme. It granted him enough time to grab his daughter's paw and hurry toward the others. KuliKuli spotted a few more men had fallen behind, one of the wrapped in webbing so thick that she couldn't see make out his face anymore. The others managed to escape the cave, with only the two fleeing for their lives toward the sunlight.

  Just as they were a few feet away from the exit, a glowing symbol emerged from beneath their feet. Leone and KuliKuli threw themselves forward as the ground inexplicably lifted behind them and smmed into the roof, sealing the cave shut.

  Leone rolled onto his back, catching his breath. KuliKuli panted loudly to his left, the two locking eyes. For a moment, it looked as though there was no quarrel between them. It was short-lived as her anger resurfaced, picking herself up and retreating to her sister.

  Perdilius wiped the sweat off his bald head, relieved to have escaped. Raz joined him, sheathing his sword.

  "The beasts?"

  "Trapped in that cave, it seems."

  "Not them." Perdilius replied, annoyed.

  It took a moment for Raz to follow. "The girls? Alive and unharmed, fortunately."

  "You're welcome, by the way!" All heads turned to the direction of that voice, gazing at the young blonde, her blue eyes lit as soon as she noticed Perdilius. "Dad, you're home!"

  She hopped off from the shoulders of a Golem, a rocky statue given mobility and sentience thanks to her magical gifts. She slid down, wearing leather gear and fingerless gloves as she greeted them with a wide smile.

  Perdilius exhaled and greeted her back. "Good to see you again, Mesa."

  "You guys don't look so good." She commented, tilting her head. "You had a lot more when you left. Raz did a poor job again? I told you I should have gone with, Dad."

  "Nevermind that. Is your camp still here?"

  "Here and waiting! Follow me!" She cheered, leading the way.

  KuliKuli turned to her sister, both lost and uncertain of what lies ahead for them.

  Sylver