Chapter 48: Fin Vs Spider 1
Fin landed lightly on another branch, his boots barely making a sound. For the last hour, he’d been moving through this section of twisted forest, deliberately making himself an obvious target.
He vaulted from tree to gnarled outcrop, doubled back on his path, paused in open clearings – anything to draw out the watcher he knew was there.
But whoever, or whatever, it was, remained hidden. The feeling of being observed was constant, prickling the back of his neck, amplified by his heightened senses. Yet, no attack came. No sound betrayed the stalker’s position. Just that unwavering focus fixed on him.
He paused again, crouched low on a wide branch, scanning the shadows below. Nothing moved. The air was still, heavy with the dungeon’s dangerous atmosphere and the cloying scent of the terrain.
This was getting ridiculous. He was wasting time playing hide-and-seek when his team was trapped somewhere behind him, relying on him to find a way out.
His patience snapped.
He straightened up, planting his staff firmly on the branch.
"Alright, that’s enough!" he yelled, his voice echoing slightly in the unnatural quiet. "I know you’re out there! Following me like some kind of creep!"
Silence answered him. The feeling of being watched didn’t waver.
"What, are you scared?" he taunted, projecting his voice louder. "Afraid to show yourself? I thought whatever lives in this dump would have more guts. Or are you just a coward hiding in the dark?"
A flicker of movement in the deep shadows beneath a cluster of jagged rocks. A subtle shift in the energy.