No one made a move right away. The arachnid kept inching toward them, studying each of them, measuring distance, watching for the first flinch. The three held their ground, tense and locked in place, eyes fixed on the creature’s shifting body and the way its many legs tested the stone.

  Then the monster pounced. It sprang from where it stood in a sudden burst of speed, its massive body dropping toward them with the clear intent to crush. They scattered at once, throwing themselves aside as the giant arachnid’s weight slammed into the ground with brutal force.

  Its head snapped toward Leif immediately, and it rushed him without hesitation.

  Standing not too far from him, Serena reacted fast. She hurled her lance at the creature’s head, and it struck, hard enough to make the impact obvious, but the damage was blunted by its thick exoskeleton, the armor-like plating minimizing what should have been a decisive hit. The spider’s mandibles opened wide. It spat what looked like acid toward Serena.

  She answered instantly, firing an ether blast that evaporated the liquid mid-flight before it could reach her. The same burst carried through and struck the monster straight in the face, forcing it back and staggering it. Furious, it rushed toward her.

  Edmund moved from the side the moment it committed, driving in to cut one of its legs. His sword embedded itself deep into the armored limb, deep enough to bite, but the chitin was too thick to fully sever. Even so, the strike slowed the creature and pulled its attention, buying Serena the smallest window. She took it and hurled a few more lances into it in quick succession, then withdrew into cover before it could fully recover.

  Serena slipped behind the massive clump at the cavern’s center, the same swollen, luminous growth that poured green light into everything around it. A crystal at first glance, a fungus if Leif was right. Either way, it was the only cover large enough to hide a person without leaving half their body exposed. The spider’s attention snapped back to Edmund.

  It didn’t rush him this time. Instead, it scraped the ground with its leg with a purposeful motion, and rocks came flying. Chunks of stone hurled hard enough to whistle through the air before cracking against the ground near him. Edmund bolted, sprinting for a nearby rock formation and throwing himself behind it just as another piece slammed into the spot he’d been standing.

  He didn’t stay still. The moment he took cover, the spider opened its mandibles again and spat acid at the rock face. Edmund crouched low and broke into a run the instant he saw it, darting away before the liquid could catch him. The acid struck the stone instead, and it began to melt where it hit, the surface collapsing into a ruined, softened mess.

  The spider shifted its body, looking around, searching. Edmund stayed moving, keeping low, forcing it to track him while Serena stayed hidden behind the glowing mass.

  But the creature’s focus drifted. It began to head toward the central growth, the same place Serena had disappeared, its path angling directly for the crystal… for her.

  Leif didn’t wait. He snapped his vine whip upward and wrapped it around a stalactite. With a sharp pull, he wrenched it free, the stone cracking loose. He swung and hurled it at the creature with all the force he could muster. The stalactite slammed into the spider at great speed.

  It didn’t injure the beast, but it got its attention. That was all Leif needed. He dropped low quickly and crawled fast toward Serena’s direction, careful not to make sound as he moved. When he reached her, he found her resting, more than just catching her breath. Exhaustion had finally caught up with her.

  They’d had nothing but water since getting trapped in the cave. No food. No real rest. Just running, fighting, and barely surviving each new threat that forced them deeper. And now, with the chase and the battle piling on top of everything else, Serena’s body had reached its limit.

  “Hide with Filandra for now,” Leif said, voice tight as he crouched beside her. “You shouldn’t fight anymore.”

  Serena shook her head, forcing herself upright despite the weight in her limbs. “I have to stay here,” she whispered. “I can’t leave you and the prince to fight it by yourselves.”

  “But you’re—”

  Leif didn’t get to finish. A shrill, piercing cry cut through the cavern. It was the spider’s scream, sharp enough to raise gooseflesh. It was getting closer. Edmund noticed it at the same time. His gaze snapped toward the central clump, toward the space Serena and Leif were trying to use as cover, and something in his expression hardened as he realized the monster was angling straight for them.

  He didn’t hesitate. Edmund drew in a breath and gathered everything he could, every thread of power he had left. He gathered it toward his sword and hurled it toward the spider in the form of a small bolt of lightning. It surprised even the prince, unsure of how powerful it would be. The lightning was much smaller than what he’d wielded when Saevnir had drawn out his full potential, but it was enough. It struck true, searing into the creature’s armored body with a crackling snap that made it recoil and halt in its advance.

  The spider turned toward him, but before it could rush, Edmund threw another bolt, then another. Repeated flashes of lightning snapped from his sword in harsh succession, each one forced out with sheer will. He was throwing everything he had left, refusing to give it room to close the distance, but it didn’t come without a cost.

  Every strike took something from him too, each bolt dragging more strength out of his body, carving down whatever reserves he had left. His breathing grew rougher, shoulders rising and falling as the effort mounted, yet he kept going, bolt after bolt, trying to hold the monster where it stood.

  Serena saw him, saw how hard he was panting, how his stance was starting to strain under the weight of it. She tried to stand despite her exhaustion, pushing herself up as if she could force her body to obey, only for her legs to fall again. Leif caught her, and then, something unexpected happened. The seed in Leif’s satchel began to glow faintly.

  A heartbeat later, the giant fungus behind them answered, its pores brightening as motes of green light lifted from its surface. The motes drifted forward in a slow, deliberate stream, gathering around Serena. They sank into her skin and aura like embers returning to a flame, and she felt it immediately. Warmth spread through her limbs, and power followed, steadily restoring what exhaustion had drained. Her breathing eased. The shaking in her muscles quieted.

  Leif’s eyes snapped to his satchel. He pulled the seed out, holding it in his palm, and the glow intensified, faint but unmistakably active. Somehow, it seemed the seed was commanding the huge clump behind them, urging it to transfer power to Serena.

  They didn’t stop to understand it.

  Serena moved the moment her strength returned. She surged forward, charged a powerful blast of ether, and unleashed it at the spider as it closed in on the exhausted Edmund. The impact forced it back, but she didn’t let up. She followed with a rapid barrage of smaller strikes, keeping the arachnid from advancing, driving it away from Edmund with relentless pressure.

  The spider answered by hurling stones at her, but with her energy restored, Serena was faster now. She slipped out of their paths, jumping aside with speed that hadn’t been there moments ago. When the monster lunged for her, she evaded again, refusing to let it pin her down.

  Enraged, the arachnid turned and went for the giant fungus. Its mandibles snapped at the glowing mass, biting off and swallowing a piece of it. It spun back toward Serena and spat again. It was acid, but stronger and faster this time, glowing with a sickly, bright green light. Serena jumped out of the way, and the acid struck the stone floor where she had stood only moments earlier, melting it. After regaining her footing, she didn’t hesitate.

  She sprang onto a higher ledge and, from there, unleashed a larger, more concentrated blast straight into the monster’s body. This time the impact showed, and its thick exoskeleton finally cracked. The creature bled, and its shrill cry rose in pure rage. It jumped toward the ledge Serena stood on. She leapt out of the way before it could crush her position. The monster clung to the wall, legs digging into stone, then twisted and rained acid down toward her. Serena threw up a layer of ether, shielding herself as the glowing green liquid hissed against the barrier instead of her skin.

  Nearby, Edmund surprisingly managed to recover some of his power. With his sword, he began firing lightning blasts at the creature once again. The strikes hit hard enough to break its hold, forcing it to fall from where it clung. The arachnid hit the ground, then scrambled up and lunged back toward the crystal, taking yet another bite. The piece of fungus it ingested made it larger and more vicious. It whipped around and began hurling stones at them with heightened speed—faster, heavier, more relentless than before—forcing both Serena and Edmund to keep moving as the cavern shook under each impact.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  While the monster was distracted attacking Edmund and Serena, Leif moved. He ran carefully along its side, keeping low, watching for the moment it turned. When he reached a huge, elevated rock, he climbed up onto it and caught both Edmund and Serena’s attention. He pointed toward a massive stalactite behind him, then gestured quickly. He would lure the creature beneath it, then they would blast the base and bring it down.

  They both nodded.

  Leif summoned his vine whip and snapped it into the monster’s flank. Once. Twice. Then again, timing the strikes so they stung and pulled its attention without letting it catch him immediately. The arachnid jerked, turning toward him at last and pursued.

  Leif ran, drawing it exactly where he wanted. He pushed himself harder, then rolled to the side at the last moment and darted behind another rock formation, crouching low. That was the opening.

  Edmund and Serena fired at the stalactite in rapid succession. The stone cracked, then snapped free. The massive formation tore loose from above and dropped straight down onto the spider, slamming into the section of exoskeleton Serena had cracked earlier. The impact punctured deep. Before it could recover, Edmund and Serena fired together toward its head, and the monster finally went still.

  “Is it… is it dead?” Serena asked, panting.

  Edmund answered by gathering power toward his sword, firing a lightning bolt at the fallen monster. It didn’t move, not even a flinch.

  “It is,” he said at last.

  They ran to Leif at once after confirming the creature’s death, and the three checked each other quickly, keeping an eye on the monster at the same time, making sure it wouldn’t rise again. Aside from a few burned patches of clothing and wounds from rocks that had been flung at them, none of their injuries was fatal. Leif placed the seed back in his satchel.

  They called for Filandra. She emerged from a crevice near the opening they had entered through, eyes scanning the cavern as she came out.

  Filandra’s gaze went to the creature and its burning head, then at the stalactite embedded on its back. “I can’t believe you were able to kill it.”

  “We couldn’t believe it either,” Edmund said.

  “But, we had help,” Serena said.

  “Help?” Filandra echoed.

  Leif showed her the seed, the glow still faint. “I think… the seed helped us,” he said. “I saw it glowing brighter, then the fungus reacted and began transferring power to both Serena and the prince.”

  “I felt it,” Edmund said. “Its warmth, my breathing easing, how the pain on my limbs disappeared.”

  “Me too,” Serena said. “It was strange but comforting at the same time.”

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Edmund followed as he glanced at the egg. “But somehow I understand why Minos wanted it.”

  The group let that settle in before moving on to talk about how to get out of the cave. They had barely started discussing where to go next when another shriek tore through the air. From the ledge the spider had dropped from, another one emerged. It jumped down and blocked the exit again.

  Despite their exhaustion, the three raised their weapons and prepared to fight. Filandra started to retreat back toward her hiding place after being urged to do so when another growl came from behind them. Heavy footsteps followed, accompanied by smaller ones.

  “The raptors had caught up to us,” Filandra said, shaking.

  Just as she finished, the two giant predators emerged slowly from the dark opening, the smaller ones fanning out with them. Serena turned to face the new threat, and she and Edmund stood back to back, Serena’s hands glowing, Edmund’s sword crackling with lightning.

  “Help the prince while I hold them off,” Serena said to Leif.

  “No,” Edmund replied immediately. “I will handle this spider by myself. You need his help more than me.”

  Leif hesitated, torn on who to aid, and the spider let out a shrill and charged.

  The seed in Leif’s satchel glowed as he braced himself to fight the gargantuan arachnid. At the same time, the raptors roared behind them. Serena prepared to meet them, then froze when she realized they weren’t coming for them. They ran past the three.

  The smaller raptors rushed the spider first, leaping onto its back and head, snapping and biting at its exoskeleton until it faltered, stopped in its tracks by the sudden swarm. As it thrashed, trying to shake them off, the two larger raptors pounced. One clamped its jaws behind the spider’s head, pinning it down with brute force. The arachnid strained against the weight, trying to rise.

  Then the second giant raptor lunged in and began biting into its head from the side, joining the other as they tore into it while the smaller ones clung and snapped. The three watched as, after much struggle, the two raptors finally chewed its head off, killing the arachnid. They crushed what remained, and then, one by one, the raptors all turned toward them. The trio stood side by side, Filandra just behind them, all four braced and ready. Weapons were raised, their breathing still ragged as they prepare for the next fight.

  The raptors began to approach. Step by step, they closed the distance, then stopped a short ways from the group. Instead of attacking, they simply stood there, letting out a low growl. One of the smaller ones stepped closer, and that was when Leif noticed where its eyes were fixed.

  Not on Edmund’s sword, or on Serena’s hands, but on his satchel.

  Leif’s fingers tightened around the strap. Carefully, he reached in and procured the seed. The yellow-green glow caught instantly in the predators’ gaze, reflected in their eyes as if the light itself had hooked their attention.

  “Why aren’t they attacking us?” Serena asked, voice tight with disbelief.

  “It looks like…” Filandra started, her tone cautious, “the monsters are treating you as one of them.”

  “How so?” Edmund asked, not lowering his guard.

  Leif glanced from the raptors to the seed in his hand. Then his gaze shifted toward the giant lump of living crystal.

  “Could it be,” Leif began, voice low, “that this seed is compelling them to defend us?”

  “Defend us?” Serena echoed, still not fully believing it.

  Leif nodded. “Remember how they stopped attacking us after I grabbed this seed? How the fungus replenished your energy? And now the raptors helping us against the arachnid.”

  “He might be right,” Filandra said. “Maybe the spore marked you as a protector, and now the monsters treat you as an ally.”

  Leif stepped closer, the seed warm in his hand, and faced the raptors. He forced his voice to stay steady.

  “Back away,” he said calmly.

  The raptors obeyed, taking a few steps back.

  Leif’s pulse quickened. He swallowed, then tested it further. “Turn around.”

  As expected, the raptors turned and when Leif asked the raptors to face them again, they complied.

  That was enough. The seed wasn’t just keeping them docile. Edmund and Serena stared, eyes wide with shock.

  “That’s incredible,” Edmund murmured. “You can command them.”

  “Somehow…” Leif whispered, just as stunned.

  Serena’s gaze sharpened with a sudden thought. “Then what if… maybe you can command them to guide us out of here?”

  Leif looked at her, then exchanged a glance with Edmund. He hesitated only a moment. “I guess we can give it a try,” he said.

  He stepped forward again, meeting the raptors’ gaze. “Show us the way out.”

  The raptors observed him for a short while. Then, a moment later, they turned as one and began heading toward the opening the spiders had kept blocking. Reluctantly, the three followed.

  With the vicious predators leading the way, none of the other creatures even dared stand in their path. Shapes that might have approached before stayed tucked into cracks and shadows, letting the procession pass unchallenged. As they went deeper through the tunnels, turn after turn, passage after passage, it became clear just how vast and complex the cave system truly was. Without the raptors, they would’ve been lost.

  The vines, the moss, the crystals, and the creatures dwelling within it all felt interconnected, part of something that sustained itself. Looking around, Leif began to recognize it for what it was—an ecosystem on its own. The fungus provided sustenance. The creatures defended it. Then they returned to it after death, feeding it again.

  “If not for the fact the animals living in here look vicious and creepy,” Leif said quietly, “I’d return here to explore the place more.”

  “Me too,” Serena murmured, eyes still roaming the glowing walls. “It’s amazing how they all just coexist here.”

  “Looks like there’s more to His Highness’s kingdom than meets the eye,” Filandra said, glancing at Edmund.

  The prince was just as taken by it, eyes roaming over the glowing plant life and crystals threading the stone. “Yeah… it’s incredible.”

  After what felt like an endless walk, they finally saw daylight ahead. It spilled into the tunnel in thin pulses through the trees outside, growing brighter with every step until the forest beyond became plain to see. Excitement tugged at them, but they still let the raptors lead.

  At last, they reached the mouth of the cave.

  It was early morning. The moment they stepped out, Filandra dropped onto her back, letting the rising sun and late-autumn air wash over her. Edmund and Serena sat down too, breathing in fresh outside air like it was something new. Leif stayed closest to the raptors, standing a few paces from the entrance with them.

  Once they’d calmed enough to think, Edmund and Serena went to Leif to discuss what to do next, primarily, what to do with the seed. Leif stared at it for a long moment, watching it glow, then looked to the raptors standing still nearby, keeping an eye on them.

  “Perhaps… we should give it back,” he said.

  Filandra jolted upright and hurried over. “But, Mister Leif, that is a valuable find! Just look at how it allowed you to command these terrible creatures!”

  A raptor barked at her. Filandra immediately sidestepped and tucked herself behind the trio, out of the predator’s direct line of sight. “Imagine what we could learn, or how much we could sell it for if we bring it home with us!”

  Edmund shook his head, letting out a disappointed exhale. “You’re just like your boss, Filandra.”

  To his surprise, she took it well, folding her fingers, leaning her cheeks onto them, and blinking a little too fast. “Why, thank you. What can I say, I took after—”

  “—I mean… no. I’m not like… um, Minos.” She then turned to Serena after saying that, still blinking too fast. Serena only answered with a forced smile.

  Edmund turned back to Leif. “Anyway, are you sure we should give it back?”

  Leif didn’t hesitate and nodded once. “This cave… it’s a living system on its own. And this seed, these raptors, they’re part of it. It’s not our place to disturb that balance.”

  “If that’s what you think,” Edmund said, accepting it.

  Leif faced the raptors and approached carefully. “Thank you,” he said, voice quiet but sincere. “For helping us.”

  He locked eyes with one of the smaller ones. After a moment, it stepped closer, cautious but unthreatening.

  Leif looked down at the seed one last time, watching its glow, then held it out. “Take care of each other in there.” The raptor gently bit down on the seed and lifted it from Leif’s hand. It stared at him for a final heartbeat, then turned and padded back into the cave, its kin following behind.

  As their silhouettes and footsteps vanished into the darkness, Leif’s shoulders loosened for the first time in what felt like hours.

  “Let’s go find the others,” he said, voice rough with relief. “I’m starving.”