Poison (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter Seven

A/N skfkdj so I may have gotten inspired and finished everything soooo ,,, I'm just going to post it all! :)

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The path was pretty straightforward for the most part, considering a part of the trip consisted of the main road. It was only when I had to tie Neptune up and travel on foot through the woods when things became tricky.

The sun was coming up now, which made it easier.

Every sound besides my own crunching footsteps would send a small jolt of panic through me. Usually I would never be in the woods alone, since I either had some knights or Harry with me, so today was a bit outside of my comfort zone.

I hadn't had anything to eat since yesterday and I was starting to feel the effects of that. I could probably find some berries or something to at least keep my strength up.

I reached the mouth of the caves around mid afternoon and to my luck I had found a pear tree with enough decent fruit on it that I could be held over for long enough.

The caves had a large entrance which made it easy for me to spot them. Liam hadn't included a map of the insides of the cave, I assume it's because he didn't know what they looked like on the inside.

Hopefully they are easy to navigate so I can get what I need and leave.

Zayn had included a sketch of the Morteus flower, which he ripped from one of his medical journals so I knew what I was looking for.

I lit one of the torches I brought, took a deep breath and headed into the cave.

These caves were not much different than others I had been in. They were dark, musty and damp, which made me fear what could potentially be living inside. As I walked I kept my sword drawn in one hand and the torch in the other.

The cave came to a fork, both ways just as dark as the other. I picked the one on the left with the intent of backtracking if the way was a dead end.

The cave kept going deeper into the earth and there was now no light from outside to be seen.

I paused for a moment, resting my sword against the wall to pull out the picture of the flower, when I heard a sound. Immediately, I picked my sword back up and spun towards where the sound was. I didn't see anything but took a few steps in the sounds direction just to be safe.

I squinted into the darkness that was just outside of the reach of my torched light and saw several eyes looking back at me.

Balorian spiders. Shit.

These spiders are massive, probably about the size of my head, maybe bigger. I'm not a fan of spiders to begin with so when you make them massive and deadly, you can imagine my panic.

I freeze, until the spiders begin scurrying in my direction. Then I start sprinting away from them.

I ran for a good while before I let myself pause to catch my breath and turn around to see if they followed. To my dismay I could still hear them following me through the cave. At least now I have some distance away from them.

I turn back away from the spiders and in front of me is a large cavern, with a thin bridge-like structure stretching across a canyon-type ridge, which seems sturdy enough to support my weight. I can't see the bottom underneath of the rock bridge, so crossing it seems stupid and unlikely. On the opposite side is a large rough stone wall. it seems I've hit a dead end.

I start trying to brainstorm my next actions when I see it, growing out of the wall, a morteus flower.

The spiders are getting closer now and from the sounds of things they've gathered some friends along the way, no doubt outnumbering me.

My choices are quickly limited and crossing the bridge has now become my only option. I slide my sword into its holster and begin slowly sidestepping across the rock, being careful to not lose my balance or slip.

I make it about halfway when the spiders enter the cavern.

Maybe my father was right. Maybe this was stupid.

I stuff down the thoughts before I let myself get distracted. Right now I need to focus on not dying.

I start quickening my pace.

Now I only have a quarter of the bridge left before I'm across, when I hear a crack.

The bridge begins moving under me and I lose my balance.

In a panicked last ditch effort I leap for the ledge, letting go of my torch in the process. I don't entirely make it but manage to grab the edge.

The sudden movement causes the entire bridge to collapse away.

Leaving me hanging from the ledge, with no way back, in complete darkness. I hope that at least the spiders fell to their death or now don't have a way to get to me so I can eliminate one thing off of my growing list of worries.

It takes everything in me to pull myself up away from the ledge. I stand for a moment in the darkness breathing heavily, amazed I'm still alive.

I can't see anything and I definitely have no way of getting out of the caves so maybe I should've just let myself fall. At least that way I would've died quickly. Instead of now having to sit and wait to either die from starvation or be attacked by more Balorian spiders.

No.

I can't let my father have the satisfaction of being right about this. I have to find a way out of here.

At the top of the wall there is a small hole of sunlight peeking through. Maybe if I could get myself up the wall, the hole could maybe lead to outside. It's a longshot but at least that's better than nothing.

With a sigh I started feeling the wall for something to grab onto, to my luck the rock had lots of holes and bumps in it so climbing wasn't impossible.

My muscles are screaming at me as I make my way up the wall.

My hand touches something wet and it takes everything in me to not immediately pull my hand away.

It feels like a plant.

It's too dark for me to see but I hope it's the flower. I take the entire plant into my hand and keep climbing.

Now I've reached the whole, up close it is a lot bigger than I thought it was and it is big enough for me to fit through.

In a last burst of effort I pull myself though the hole and crawl to the side.

I lay on my back and let my eyes adjust back to the sunlight.

I'm alive.

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