The giant spider towers over Dimas and Lilee, it's massive body leaves no room for escape.
Lilee has her hands over her mouth. Not wanting to risk letting out another scream in case it provokes the spider.
Dimas was running possible escape scenarios in his head. None of them worked out in his favor, not even the ones where he used Lilee as bait. His best bet would be running deeper into the caves and finding a different way out.
"Lilee, when I say 'Go' we'll split up and run into different directions. You got that?" Dimas whispers.
"I-Is that really a good idea?" Lilee keeps her eyes on the spider.
"Nope but it's the only I have." He looks over his shoulder. After a quick round of Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe in his head, Dimas makes his decision.
"I choose the third from the left, the rest are free."
Lilee slowly nods in acknowledgement.
"Ready…" Dimas takes a deep breath. "Set…" The giant spider leans down and looks right at them. Each eye is the size of a volleyball. A black goo drips down from its fangs. The drops sizzle when making contact with the stone floor. "Go!" Dimas shouts and the duo scatter.
Dimas runs as fast as he can down his chosen path. Still a little tired from using his ability earlier. The sound of his shoes kicking against the rocky ground mixed with his panting reverberates throughout the cave. A new sound joins in, heavy pounding against stone. He looks back to see the giant spider chasing him.
[Of course it would be chasing me!]
The entire situation is something right out of a nightmare.
[If I make out of this alive, I swear I'm going to kill every spider I see.]
Dimas reaches a room and stops in the center. The spider not far behind.
[Where to now?]
He looks around the room, desperately looking for anything that'll get him out of there. Even a small burrow where he can possibly hide. His salvation appears as an opening near the ceiling of the room. The walls were jagged enough to climb. The real problem was that there was no way that he could reach it before the spider got him. With no other choice, Dimas turns to face the spider.
The spider enters the room slowly. With its prey cornered, the spider knew it was only a matter of time before it got to feed. While the other intruder had the faint delicious scent of a cow, this one smelled of something different. The aroma had peaked the spider's interest and appetite.
Dimas watches as the spider inches ever closer. He had to crane his neck upward in order to look into the spider's eyes. Unnecessary since the spider leaned forward coming face to giant face with Dimas just as it had done before. It's mouth opens and closes multiple times, each movement accompanied by clicks and gurgles.
[It's a good thing I'm not scared of spiders or I would be having a heart attack right about now.]
In a flash, the spider's fangs pierce the very spot where Dimas was standing. If Dimas hadn't rolled to the right like he did, he would've been impaled. He calls the flecks forward, directing them to his left hand. Dimas aims for the spider's body. BOOM! The spider lands on its side, legs kicking wildly.
Dimas falls to his knees. Gasping for breath. Left arm pulsing with pain.
[One use equals out of breath, two uses equals exhausted, completely out of breath, and makes moving my left arm too painful to move.]
The spider manages to upright itself while Dimas recovers. It hisses angrily at Dimas.
[Goddammit…]
The spider swipes at Dimas with one of its legs. Dimas ducks, the spider's leg barely grazing the tips of his hair. Another leg comes down towards Dimas, he manages to roll away. Dimas ends up in the same spot as before, puncture holes from the spider's fangs a few centimeters away.
[This is really bad. This thing isn't giving me any time to rest.]
Dimas puts his back against the wall. Parts of the wall dig into his back but he pays it no mind. There are bigger things to worry about at the moment.
[Stupid Lilee… You got me into this mess.]
"Hey!" Lilee's voice comes from above.
Both Dimas and the spider look up.
Lilee stands at the opening near the ceiling Dimas saw earlier. She's holding a large rock. "Climb!" She yells as she drops the rock.
The rock lands in the spider's eyes causing it to reel back in pain.
Dimas begins to climb up towards Lilee. He grits his teeth as his left arm explodes with pain with every movement. Just as he's halfway up, one of the spider's legs smacks a section of the wall to his right. It sends a shower of rocks his way, some leaving small cuts while a few impale themselves in his right arm.
"Jump to your left!" Lilee directs Dimas. He does as he's told and a second later another leg slams into the area where Dimas had been.
"Press up against the wall!" Lilee tosses another rock down. Dimas hugs the wall as tightly as he can. He hears the rushing wind of the falling rock followed by a large screech. The spider begins to thrash wildly. Its body smacking against every wall. The vibrations nearly cause Dimas to fall but he manages to climb into the opening with Lilee's help. Dimas and Lilee run down the opening's corridor with Lilee leading the way.
"Took you… long enough…" Dimas says between breaths. "Did… you find… a way out?"
"Yeah but we're going to have to cross the spider's nest." Lilee turns a corner. They enter a large dome-like room. At the center of the room are the remains, or what's left of them, of the ill-fated cows. Their bones and skin liquified by a puddle of black ooze. Dimas tries not to think about how close he was to getting a first-hand experience of the ooze's effects. The walls are filled with clusters of what Dimas first believes to be more mushrooms. However, these are yellow and seem to be holding something inside. One of these orbs is open, its juices spilling onto the floor.
"Are those what I think they are?" Dimas points at a cluster of the yellow orbs.
"Spider eggs. And I think they're close to hatching." Lilee answers.
[No shower is worth this much trouble…]