"What do we do now!?" Zok yelled at the top of his lungs.
"The fck am I supposed to tell you to do? If it had been just the Arachnid then we could have defeated her together." Taheton yelled, "But there are hundreds if not thousands of these small basta*ds surrounding us. The only chance we have is to slip away and run as fast as we can."
"Fck! Can't you idiots stop yelling?" Sera yelled back before shooting three arrows simultaneously. All three of the arrows hit the same smaller spider, finally killing it, "Their exoskeleton is tough. I'll run out of arrows before we even get a chance to fight the queen."
All four of them, Kaira included, were trying their best to keep away the spiders along with the other creatures from swarming them. Zok was relentlessly using his spear to push and kill the spiders, while Kaira was using her claws to break the spiders' tough exoskeleton so that Zok could jab them with his spear.
Although Zok lacked the strength or the technique to one-shot the spiders, the metallic head of his spear more or less made up for his lack of strength. Taheton was doing the most work out of the trio as he had the perfect weapon to squash the exoskeleton of the spiders.
However, even if his hammer was doing the job, for now, Taheton was losing stamina faster than anyone of them. With each swing of his hammer, he was getting slower and slower, which was to be expected his hammer weighed more than Zok did.
The trio thought that they had things under control for a while, but in reality, nothing was in their control. They were all doing exactly what the Abyssal Arachnid queen wanted them to do, and that was to tire themselves out.
The arachnid was just playing with her food. That's what the swarm of creatures was for. It didn't matter how many of the spiders the trio managed to kill, there were always more spiders to replace the dead ones. But Zok and company on the other hand were only losing their stamina the longer they fought against the swarm.
Moreover, the swarm was slowly pushing them towards the pool of acid. Which meant either they would become the food for the Arachnid or would be forced to die by drowning in an endless pool of acid. Zok did not like either of the options but he had no choice but to accept one.
"Sera, save your arrows. You might need them after you get outside." Zok mumbled all of a sudden, "You have the information the tribe needs. So we have to get you out of here first. Taheton and I will distract the swarm. In the meantime, you'll use that opportunity to get on Kaira and get out of here."
"I know we are not close or anything but I am not leaving you behind!" Sera yelled back at him, "How can you think I will abandon a friend like this-"
"I'm not telling you to abandon me." Even though Zok's legs were shaking with fear, he was trying his best to put up a brave face for her, "I'm just telling you to do the right thing and get the information to the tribe so that they can come up with some strategy to kill this thing."
"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but the brat is right. Getting that information out of here is the first thing we have to do." Taheton agreed to Zok's plan before killing yet another spider, "Don't worry, we'll be able to take care of ourselves."
"Fck!" Sera yelled in rage, "Fine, I'll do it. But both of you just hold on till I get back with the tribe. Whatever happens, do not let your guard down!"
"You got it."
Zok smiled at her knowing well enough that this was the last time he would see her face. It would take at least three hours for Sera to reach the tribe. Then it would take another hour for the tribe to mobilise themselves and move out. Even if they rushed to the cave at top speed, it would take them at least 2 to 3 hours again.
There was no way that he and Taheton would be able to handle the horde for six to seven hours on their own. It was just like asking Skah father to love Zok for once. Which meant, it was impossible. Even Sera knew deep down that it was the last time she would see Zok and that's why she stopped attacking the monsters and rushed over to Zok to kiss him.
Zok was taken by surprise. He always thought Sera was with him just because he was Skah's son. But he was wrong, everyone from the tribe was wrong. She had liked the goofy Zok ever since they were toddlers. But she kept a cold demeanour towards him because she wanted him to change his deadbeat ways and now he had proved to her that he can act like a mature person, she had no reason to hide her feelings. However, it might have been a bit too late.
"What was that for..." Zok mindlessly mumbled as Sera's lips parted from his.
"That was my first kiss. Now you better not die and return it to me later!" Sera mumbled before jumping onto Kaira's back, "Just... promise me you'll hold on till I get back."
"I promi-"
"There is an opening! Leave now!" Taheton roared before Zok could complete what he was saying.
"Go now!" Zok forgot about the promise and slapped Kaira's back to send her running forward. Kaira wasn't willing to leave Zok behind, but he forced her to leave.
The opening that Taheton had made for Sera's escape, collapsed as soon as Kaira passed through it. the spiders ran after them, but for some reason, they suddenly stopped. It seemed like the Queen had given them another command. A command to focus on Zok.
Zok was confused why were they only focusing on him and not Taheton. It was only then he realised... he was the only one there. Taheton had disappeared into thin air.
"What the hell!? Where did that basta*d go?" Zok panicked as the spiders started crawling towards him.
"Oh, I'm still here. But no one can see me." Taheton's snarky voice echoed through the hall, "Either way, do you remember what you said to me earlier? You'll serve me as dinner to your pet? Well then, let's see who will become whose dinner. Shall we? Also, don't worry. I'm not leaving you till I make sure you're dead."