Civilization

"I don't see… Any-ARGH!" -Gibing

"GIBING!" - Ian

I turn towards Gibing's last known location but he was gone. The sound of his body being rubbing against the forest floor echoes in the silent night.

"Leader Ian, we need to get back to the group!" - Gyumi

"What about Gibing?" - Ian

"He will be okay, I think. I caught a glimpse of how he was taken. A string or a thread wrapped around his legs pulling him away." - Gyumi

"Spiders!" - Ian

"I don't know what a spider is but we need to-AHHH!" - Gyumi

Right in front of my eyes, Gyumi gets pulled away. Her face slams towards the ground and her body is dragged into the darkness.

I'm all alone now.

Unable to do anything, I turn around and activate my new skill.

"Enhanced Agility!" - Ian

My heart pounds against my chest as my body becomes lighter and my legs move quicker. The darkness surrounds me and even with my increased agility, I can feel something lurking in the shadows. My heart stops each time a branch appears in front of me, thinking it's the monster lurking nearby. As I run around a large tree I see the light coming from the clearing. My mouth opens to scream for help but the moment I do I get hit from my right side crashing me into another tree. Due to the darkness, I couldn't see my enemy I put up my shield in front of me tried screaming for help once more.

"ENEMY! SOMEONE HEL-"- Ian

A sticky thread-like substance wraps around my mouth preventing me from speaking but it was enough. An ear-piercing howl could be heard from the camp followed by two others, Belle, Dawn, and Razor heard my cry for help. Relief washes through me but now I need to stay alive until they get to me, but even that might be a tall task because the monster lurking in the shadows finally shows itself to me.

The moonlight peeks through the gaps between the leaves, shining down on the forest floor illuminating the space in front of me. I can see a white thread dangling down from the treetops, connecting to the thread that is wrapped around my mouth. My eyes follow the thread up and cold shivers run down my spine as I see the thread connect to a spinneret. 8 jet-black legs as big as my whole body attached to an ink-black abdomen and cephalothorax. A spider as large as a golem hangs upside down a large branch. Its 8 ruby eyes glitter in the moonlight as it watches me but what I saw next terrified me more. Like a red disco, more and more spider eyes open behind the first spider, their bodies hidden in the leaves but their eyes shine with a murderous glint.

My heart sinks. How can there be so many monsters here and we didn't notice any of them while we were scouting? Were they always here and we just happened to walk into their territory? Or did they come here noticing we had settled down?

I can't just stay like this. I need to move.

I watch the spiders intently as I slowly move the knife in my hand towards the thread, hoping to be able to cut the thread and escape but the moment my knife touches the thread they start moving. Not one, not two but all of them. The hundreds of eyes scatter in front of me moving in all directions but all slowly converging towards me. Panic sets in and I use all my strength to cut the thread, leaving the part which covers my mouth. I run as hard as I can towards the camp as the sound of scuttering legs gets closer behind me. Then I notice something… Where were the wolves? They must have moved towards me after hearing my voice. They even responded so then… Where are they?

Time seemed to move slowly as the thought entered my brain. Belle, Dawn, and Razor are my strongest troops so if they haven't reached me already then something must be happening at the camp. I slide the knife between my cheeks and the thread successfully cutting through the mouth gag and finally calling out to everyone again.

"BE CAREFUL! SPIDERS!" - Ian

Although, maybe I shouldn't have said anything. The moment I finish my sentence, tens of crimson red eyes flash towards me. They were in front of me too…

"IAN! BE CAREFUL!" - Kingston

A little late there Kingston.

I forcefully push my right foot forward, turning my body to the left at the same time and bolting in that direction, away from the spiders but doing so slowed me down. On my left, I could already see a couple of spiders had caught up. Their body is larger than my own and with the orange light from the fire illuminating a little of the surroundings, I can visibly see the purple liquid dripping off its fangs. Poison. One drop of that near me and I could pass out for all I know.

"GET TO THE OTHER SIDE!" - Stellar

I turn to the right and see Stellar waving her hand towards the other side of the camp. There were 3 additional campfires as well as a bonfire which kept away the spiders. In the darkness, I could see their glowing eyes but they were afraid of going near anything that was fire. However, getting there was going to be difficult. I had a cluster of spiders behind me catching up with each step and I have a spider right next to me eyeing me down with its fangs dripping in poison. Furthermore, there was another group of spiders in between myself and the clearing following me.

I didn't have long left with my skill and with each second I feel like I'm slowing down. The spider on my left attempts to attack me, jutting out one of its forelegs. I notice the attack just in time, blocking it with my shield but a sharp bone-chilling sound is produced as the leg scrapes along the shield.  The force from the attack made me stumble slightly, reducing my speed and with it, I can feel the presence of the spiders behind me, baring their fangs on their prey.

".ʜɈɒq γm ɘɈɒnimυlli ɈɒʜɈ Ɉʜϱil ϱniniʜƨ ɘʜɈ ɘmɒɔɘd

,ƨbnɒʜ γm ni mɿoʇ nυƨ ɘʜɈ γɒM

Ball of Light!" - Solar

In the nick of time, Solar's attack flies through the gaps between trees and slams the spider right behind me. I notice that there were fewer spiders on my right, with some of them facing the human shieldbearers that were defending Solar from the attack. Knowing that I can't outrun the spiders anyways I run towards Solar's position stabbing a spider on the side and dragging my knife along its abdomen, splitting the side open. Green blood pours out from the wound and the other spiders became distracted from my attack casuing them to move their heads back. This allowed the shieldbearers to attack the spiders, stabbing them with spears and cutting one or two of the forelegs on the spiders. I jump on the abdomen of a spider and leap over the shield wall, safely landing next to Solar.

"What's the situation?" - Ian

"Spiders attacked from every part of the forest. How come you were outside?" - Solar

"I went out with Gibing and met up with Gyumi." - Ian

"Ian! How come none of the scouts warned us of this? We were only able to be awake in time due to the wolves howling." - Stellar

"Sorry Stellar but I don't know either. These spiders are masters of stealth. They dragged both Gibing and Gyumi away so fast they weren't able to make a sound. Maybe that's how they got the scouts." - Ian

"So they died?" - Stellar

"Not yet. Maybe soon, I don't know. How is everything here? Report to me." - Ian

"Kingston is taking care of the northern end with a couple of demi-humans while David is taking care of the east with Frank and the wolves. Stellar and I were taking care of this area. Once we noticed that you were gone we had already planned for the worst. A spider that can infiltrate into the clearing must be around so we burned all the shelters and created a big fire on the opposite side of the clearing to protect our back while we focus on the front." - Stellar

"Why not just create another fire in the front?" - Ian

"And die due to the heat and smoke?" - Stellar

"Ah, I forgot. However, there are too many spiders and they are all too large." - Ian

"Yes, we are having difficulty on this side and since you brought more towards us the shieldbearers here might have to fight an uphill battle. - Solar

"Solar can you grant them shield?" - Ian

"I already have. It's been broken by some hazardous attacks." - Solar

"Damn, so we don't have much against the cluster of spiders." - Ian

"Just brute force, like how Kingston and David are doing." - Stellar

I turn towards the forest and all of a sudden tens of eyes glowed red.

"Get ready." - Stellar

"Cast shield on me and attack using Ball of Light." - Ian

".Ɉʜϱiʇ ƨiʜɈ ni mɘʜɈ ɈɔɘɈoɿq

bnɒ ƨbnɘiɿʇ γm ƨƨɘld nυƨ ɘʜɈ γɒM

Shield!

When should I be attacking?" - Solar

"If a spider slips past us is when you should use your magic. Stellar, attack from above or attack their abdomen. I found that the knife can easily cut through its skin and dig into its flesh. However, the legs and the thread that it can cast are its strongest points. Avoid them to the best of your ability" - Ian

"Got it." - Stellar

"Okay, let the spider hunt begin." - Ian