Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

Alex groaned and shifted his weight. His pack dug into his back as his eyes fluttered open and he saw Val hovering over his face. He’d felt his presence right before opening his eyes, so it wasn’t quite as terrifying as it should be.

“Hey, buddy.”

He blinked several more times and tried to sit up. He kept looking up at Val as he did so, confused by his appearance.

“Since when do you glow? Are you using a skill?”

Val’s normal wyrm-like appearance was the same, with the addition of a small blue halo of light that outlined his entire body. It fit the shape of his body well, and it glowed with a deeper blue than his fins but not as dark as the scales on his belly.

His companion called out in his mind with the eerie sound of a sea creature.

“One day, I’ll figure out what you’re saying.” Alex began to stand and looked down at his feet. He felt a bit of vertigo as he saw that he was standing on the same net he’d noticed before. It looked like a finely woven layer of mesh. Alex felt his legs wobble as he saw the endless chasm through the webbed openings.

He made a few uneasy sounds and thought briefly about throwing up before he regained his balance and put one hand against the wall. Alex felt pain in his left eye and used his other hand to reach up and cover the eye.

As soon as he did, the netting beneath his feet disappeared, and he called out. His knees tensed in anticipation, and he waited to fall.

But he didn’t move.

What the hell?

Part of Alex wanted to curl up and just have a quick meltdown, but the thought of his damp trousers made an amount of indignant rage well up within his chest.

He looked down into the abyss and took several deep breaths while clenching his fists.

This place isn’t going to break me.

Alex realized that this could be because of his eye. As he uncovered it with his hand, the netting came back into view. When he covered it again a moment later, it vanished, and he appeared to be floating in the air. He repeated the action several times, and each time he covered his eye, the net would disappear, making it appear as if he were floating.

He looked around, deciding to keep his eye uncovered for the moment despite the pain building in his forehead. Several feet above him was the ledge that he’d attempted to jump to. With some effort, he threw his pack up and lifted himself up after it.

His body ached all over and he was certain his body had never taken this much punishment before.

This is the life of adventure you wanted, right?

Partly out of spite, Alex realized that it really was. Even though all of this was terrifying on a level he never quite thought that would be possible, it sure beat Henderson or his parents nagging him. He laughed and laid back on the floor, laughing loud, long, and hard as all the pent up stress left him.

After he felt some of the stress and tension from the last day leave his body, he wiped his eyes and sat up… Promptly causing all of that tension and then some to return in full as he screamed and pushed himself back against the tunnel wall. Hovering in front of him was the largest spider he’d ever seen. It was easily the size of a large dog and hung from the ceiling, staring straight at him.

The spider was suspended in the air, and other than two small arms at the front of its body, which seemed to rub together, the spider exhibited no movement.

What the fuck are you?!

Alex screamed in his mind.

A pulsing sensation rushed through his head as if to answer his question, and words floated into existence over the spider’s head.