The Icon Unbound

Chapter Five, Part B- Rigel

A short chapter, with only a few little edits to tidy things up. As always, please leave me a comment or a vote if you think this is worthy. 

Rigel is racing to Era. Will he reach her in time? Read on to find out! --Elizabeth, UPDATED 05/03/2017

Stupid. How could he have been so stupid?

Heart pounding with every step, he flew over the familiar ground.

Cold air burned inside his lungs and it didn't take long before every stride was agony. But he did not slow down.

On and on he went, until, finally he could see the valley. In the moonlight, the gentle hills framed by the mountains looked peaceful. All around him he could hear the sound of wind and water. From his vantage, he could see all the fields, and the line of windmills that kept the verdant farmland from becoming a shallow lake. The road bisected the valley, a white line against the dark earth that lead straight to the village.

Less than half a mile away, walking very slowly down the road, was the lithe shape he knew well.

Era was there... and she looked fine.

Rigel slowed, the exhaustion from panic and running finally overtaking adrenaline. He nearly fell over. Every limb trembled, and he could not pull air into his shivering lungs.

She was fine.

As soon as he could get enough air, he would call out to her, and together they would go to Waterwall. The Icon would know what to do.

Dark water inside the wall... how could this have happened?

"Era," he coughed.

Then, he saw something else in the dark, coming out of the thin arm of the forest. It was a small, thin, with perhaps twenty spindly legs. Even in the strong moonlight, it cast no shadow. And it was heading right for Era.

Without thinking, he pulled his bow, restrung, pulled an arrow to his cheek. He lined up the shot and took it, fighting to keep his hands steady. The arrow sailed through the night, a hundred yards, two hundred.

He didn't risk hitting the thing that was coming after Era, a shot at this distance might madden it. Instead he sent his arrow to the ground, near her feet. It startled her, as he had intended, and he saw her whirl around. She might not be able to see him, her eyes were not as sharp has his.

"Run!"

It was like a nightmare, his voice didn't seem loud enough, and the spider creature seemed too fast.

"Run!" Finally his voice carried enough for her to hear. She dropped her cloak and took off like a startled doe, bounding down the road without looking back. Even from this distance, Rigel heard the frustrated cry of the spider as it swung at the empty air where she had been standing. He could see it rear back onto four legs, waving its other appendages in the air in protest. It spat something from its mouth in Era's direction. Rigel couldn't tell what it was, but he fired another arrow, this time aiming for the spider. He must have hit it, because is staggered, its legs twitching. Then it turned and charged him.

In a way, it was a relief. The spider wasn't focused on Era, she would be safe if she could run.

The monster was not as well armored as the one at the barn, but it seemed to be ten times faster. Rigel hardly had time to fit an arrow and draw before the spider took a swipe at him. It hissed, and opened its jaws spewing venom that solidified on the air and turned to daggers. Rigel ducked away from them clumsily, half rolling, half falling, until he could get his legs under him again.