A hissing squeal rang out behind me as I ran. One of the spiders chasing me had been skewered through the abdomen. Swarm mother, didn't even seem to notice as one of her children slid dying from her leg. She deposited the sac of wriggling spiders atop the one I’d blown up. Hundreds of needle-like legs shot out, and in an instant a pale-yellow swarm covered every inch of it.

  “What am I supposed to do??” I panicked at the window at the center of my interface. “Both options are yes.”

  “Uhhh. Maybe leave it open?” Belial suggested.

  The notification disappeared, replaced by a tiny red counter in the upper left corner. Already counting down. 59:46.

  “SERIOUSLY? I didn’t even pick one.”

  “Well, that was unjust. Also, what a stupid name for a boss. Swarm mother? A little ‘on the nose’, if you ask me. May as well just call the thing ‘Spider mom’…”

  “Can you focus please?” I grit my teeth, leaping to catch a branch, then using it to swing over a fissure in the ground. The mountainside was littered with them. Holes and cracks that seemed to descend to nowhere. Like the chasm Waffle had fallen into, they'd probably been dug by something.

  56:32.

  I continued to run, my attention torn between the counter and the shadow stretching past me. The giant spider eclipsed the landscape. Already panting, I pushed harder, trying to get ahead of the shade racing up the mountain. The ground rattled, sending loose stones tumbling pointed limbs the size of trees battered the ground.

  It wouldn’t be long before she caught up, and that was if the smaller ones didn’t reach me first. They gained ground with every branch and stone I dodged, their long legs allowing them to glide over the terrain with ease.

  I almost stumbled as my heart stuttered.

  “That should help you stay ahead of them,” Belial said, taking credit for the adrenaline shooting up my spine, “but we can’t keep it up long. Eventually you’ll need to fight.”

  He wasn’t wrong. The problem was, I’d left my hammer with Lucia, and she was at least three hours away on foot.

  My mind raced.

  “What about my prize—from the one I killed?”

  I scanned the sky for orbs as I ran. It was a long shot, but the prize could be a weapon.

  “Orbs don’t show up until the fighting has ended.”

  “I’m not fighting anything!”

  “Yes well, apparently running away counts.”

  I audibly scowled, then noticed a blinking icon that said unread. It was from Lucia.

  [“Is everything okay? I just got a weird quest.”]

  [“Aine?”]

  [“fsdikfa”] I fumbled over the interface.

  [“Can you message her for me?”]

  [“What? Message who?”] Lucia responded.

  Sweat met my palm as I smacked my own forehead. Now was not a good time for this.

  “Ah. Probably should have warned you, I adjusted your interface so you could type the way you speak to me.”

  Great. I managed to grunt, then focused on running. I could think of an explanation later.

  “I can see your busy so I’ll answer her for you.”

  The window filled with characters in an instant.

  “LOVE YOU XOXO???” I repeated the last line he’d sent her. It was all I managed to catch before the screen winked out.

  “Aw you do? That’s so sweet.” Belial responded.

  My eyes bulged. If I weren’t running for my life I would’ve screamed. I almost did anyways, until an idea popped into my head. “The mule. Tell Lucia to put my hammer in the mule.”

  She was in bad shape when I left, but if she could manage that much, then I could summon it here.

  “Wow,” Belial sounded impressed, “I’ll need to give her permission to access it first.”

  “Do it.” I ordered, too exhausted to utter more words, even as thoughts.

  The pace I was forced to keep made my entire body burn. How long could I keep this up?

  “Done. I’ll let you know when it’s close.”

  That lit a tiny spark of hope. I focused on it, as if blowing an ember.

  It’d almost reached a kindling when the crackle of wood came from overhead. My head shot back, almost too late. One of them had been running across the treetops, it rocketed towards me now, threatening to land on my head.

  “Sorry in advance.”

  I felt a horrible tension as Belial did something to my legs. My muscles were coiled so taught they felt like springs as I leapt. I shot several feet forward in an instant, stumbling back into a run as I gasped. Whatever he’d done, it hurt. I was still reeling from the pain as a woosh of air hit my back--the plummeting spider, barely missing me as it crashed.

  Then, a low rumble. I risked a backwards glance, eyes widening. The ground had started to collapse. A torrent of soil and stone carried the diving spider away—Its legs scraping wildly as it slid straight into the swarm mother’s path.

  I might’ve been relieved, had I not felt the ground shift beneath me next. In a snap decision I launched towards a branch. It had almost worked, until more ground gave way, and the massive oak I clung to teetered back.

  Everywhere around me, the entire mountainside began to crumble, folding on itself like the earth had been made liquid. My stomach lurched as a wave of dirt and stone drove me down. I caught flashes of the swarm mother. She too, had begun to sink. The enormous spider jerked wildly, like a child with its feet caught in mud.

  “Try to stay above it!” Belial’s voice thundered in my ear.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  I clawed towards flashes of light. Several times I felt a limb break through the surface only to be swallowed again--consumed by stone and splintered wood. I thought this must be what it feels like to be eaten alive, only it was the land itself that ate me. Digested me. The darkness scraped and crushed, then something hard struck my side. It forced what little air I had from my lungs. Sound and movement started to come in short bursts, like my consciousness was flipping on and off. I choked, unable to shield my face as I jerked and spun. A horrible pressure clamped down around my leg, but it seemed to release me before I felt any pain. All I could think of was Waffle, and whether the bag would keep him from being crushed.

  Then, quiet, as the world shuddered to a stop. It took a moment before I realized I was on my back. My entire body was in pain as I pushed up, displacing some of the rubble. Dirt and small stones trickled down my face, letting a glimmer of sunlight through. Not that deep.

  Waffle moved inside his bag. I hoped that meant he was unharmed. Thanks to the trickle of light, I saw there was foot of space above me, and a little less than that on each side. Part of a tree trunk, and a few larger stones propped the rest of the debris up. Had they not, I had no doubt I would’ve been crushed.

  “Wait, you’re not in good shape. Your leg—”

  The moment he mentioned my leg I tried to move them, regretting it instantly. I gasped in pain, the rest of my body tensing. A second later, it ebbed and went away. I was still panting by the time it ended.

  “—crushed. Sorry for making you feel that, but we both know how stubborn you can be.”

  “What am I supposed to do, stay buried?” My throat felt like sand as I forced down a mixture of dirt, blood and spit. “Can you heal it?”

  “Not without breaking things you need.”

  “Just keep the pain turned off.” I said, grunting as I pushed a stone aside. As long as I didn’t feel it, I could dig myself free--and hopefully run before any spiders managed to do the same.

  “You don’t understand. You can’t move right now. You’ve already died twice.”

  “What?”

  My muscles went slack as I focused on the counter. 32:12. Over 25 minutes had passed, in what felt like 5.

  “Your head was crushed twice, and you’re still bleeding internally.

  My face twisted, then I shook it away. As alarming as that was, I couldn’t just lie here and wait to die.

  The ground rattled. Either we were sliding again, or Swarm mother was already up and moving. After a moment I realized it was the latter, but she seemed to be further away. A second rumble caused some rubble atop the pile to tumble aside, creating a narrow gap and letting more sunlight leak through. I strained my neck, trying to get a view of the scene unfolding outside, then went still.

  Something was approaching. I could feel as much as hear the dirt shifting nearby. The clicking that followed told me what it was. This spider was smaller, maybe six feet tall. I held my breath as it crawled over the blanket of rubble, its round body blocking out the sun.

  Just as it passed, Waffle thumped inside his bag. The spider froze as if listening, then continued. I’d only just begun to feel relieved when the same spider lunged at me, wedging part of its face into the gap. I tried to jerk away, but the encasement of debris held me in place. Its teeth dripped inches from my face as its legs worked to push it inside.

  I swallowed another gritty lump, readying myself to either succeed in punching through its head or die.

  Instead, something entirely different happened. The spider was torn away from the hole as some large, grey creature streaked by. It seemed to have caught the spider in its mouth.

  The spider’s efforts to eat my face had widened the gap. I adjusted myself to see, unable to believe my eyes. They were moles. I caught glimpses of several more, battling the spiders. One of them was surrounded. It sprayed liquid from its mouth, causing a spider to fall over and writhe. The remaining attackers swarmed it. I looked away, not wanting to watch it die.

  Another quake, followed by an ear-splitting shriek. I thought it’d come from swarm mother until I saw it. A creature almost as large, only it was coated in grey fur. With all parties distracted, now seemed like a good time to run. I bent towards whatever object was pinning my leg. It was part of a tree. Belial took control, stopping me before I could lift it.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded, wrestling for control.

  “Aine. Please listen to me.”

  I ignored him, struggling harder.

  There was a hint of panic in his voice as I managed to wiggle my thumb. “If you move the rubble pinning your leg, you will bleed out. I can’t stop it.”

  That made me pause, but only for second.

  “If I’m dead either way, I can at least get Waffle somewhere safe. Somewhere Lucia can pick him up. You can tell her--tell her where to find him.”

  I expected him to argue, to balk at the stupidity of giving my own life to save a wombat--but if what he said was true, I was dead either way. The fact that he hadn’t yet spoken up all but told me that.

  I’d managed to flex both hands before he spoke again.

  “I can keep you awake for 60 seconds.” He said, surprising me.

  The entire time he’d been silent, I thought he’d been thinking of a way to stop me, to preserve his own life as long as possible. Instead, he’d been doing the math. Though, that math did make me stop. 60 seconds was not enough. It would take half of that to finish digging myself out. Once I did, I could try to throw Waffle’s bag to safety, but then he’d be trapped inside…and I doubted I’d be able to throw him far enough. If I left the top open, he might waddle back into danger trying to find me.

  I strained my neck to peer through the gap. The battle outside still raged, but the spiders had all but won. The giant mole was huddled over a smaller one. I imagined it was the mole’s young, given how desperately it fought to protect it. Sprays of liquid from the mole’s snout seemed to be keeping the swarm mother back, but dozens of small spiders covered its back. It was only a matter of time before the mole fell. I had to get Waffle to safety before then.

  “What about the mule?” I asked, thinking back to my earlier plan, “I know it won’t carry people, but what about pets?”

  “That could work,” he answered a moment later, “the manual says nothing about pets.”

  I nodded to myself, mapping out the steps in my mind. I’d have to push away as much rubble as I could while my leg was still pinned, that could buy me time. If Belial could land the mule within a few feet, I could put Waffle’s bag inside before I died.

  “I can leave the mule cloaked until you reach it, but Aine…I’m not lying. You will die.” he let the words sink in before he continued, “are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Can you think of an alternative where I don’t die anyways?”

  “Not at present, no.”

  “Tell Lucia the plan.” I said, surprised by my own calm. “She can use her bracelet once she has him. Tell her I’m sorry, and to take good care of him for me.”

  Without me to get her to a safe zone, she’d be forced to leave the tower. I hoped she wouldn’t resent me for never finding her friend. Responses to Belial’s messages popped up. I didn’t want to read them…didn’t want to threaten my resolve. Sensing this, Belial kept the message window shut. He gave me a summary when he was done.

  “She’ll take care of him. Most of that was her asking you not to do what you’re planning, but I managed to get a promise.”

  I nodded then winced in pain as I shifted to pull Waffle’s bag around from my back. The armored pack sat in my lap as I debated whether to say goodbye. Seeing his derpy little face would make this harder. I knew that, but I opened it anyways, choking out a weak laugh as his head popped out. He was anxious and confused, but his eyes relaxed as they found me.

  I smushed him against my forehead, taking in a long, unsteady breath before holding him up to my eyes. Somehow, knowing he couldn’t understand the words made them even harder to speak. He squirmed a little at being held, a thing I’d come to realize he never liked.

  “I have to—” My voice cracked, “I have to go away…But I love you.”

  I kissed the fuzz on his head, feeling tears sting my cheeks as they started to run. Usually, he’d be trying to wriggle free about now. Instead, he went still, light glinting off his eyes. They were open wide, like two glassy little marbles. It made me wonder if he understood. I lowered him into his bag, a sob hitching in my chest when I felt him cling to me. He’d wrapped his entire body around one of my wrists, refusing to let me go.

  “I’m sorry.” I whispered, hand trembling as I peeled away his paws. Each time I removed one, he grasped me with the other, rasping in distress. Eventually I pulled free, my face a mess of tears and snot as I sealed the bag shut.

  “If you’re ready, the mule is almost here. I’ll try to land it the second you get free.”

  “Yeah.”

  I sniffed, using the inside of my elbow to wipe my face as I bent towards the object crushing my leg.

  “There’s no point in lifting that.” He said, stopping me, “There isn’t much leg left under there, I’ll sever it when you’re ready.”

  That made me pale a bit, but if I was about to die anyways, I supposed it didn’t matter how many limbs I had. I just had to make it to the mule.

  Sitting up, I pushed aside any rubble within reach. There were still a few large stones clogging up the gap, but I’d have to push them aside after Belial cut off my leg. Outside the gap, the giant mole had collapsed, with dozens of spiders crawling over it. Only its massive snout was visible, still aimed directly at the swarm mother, who was tentatively approaching and probing with her front legs. Almost out of time.

  “Do it.”

  Okay so, first of all. Sorry for the cliffhanger. This chapter was like 6k words, I had to split it up.

  Second, thanks for putting up with slow releases. I know I suck.

  Lastly, please please please checkout my friend KiltedFrog's new story. His writing is hilarious and I think you'll love him,