The Children of When (Complete)

Chapter 36: Spider Games

Belle opened her eyes, confused by her totally unfamiliar surroundings. Where was she? This definitely wasn't her room. Then the memories came flooding back. She was in the vault. And she was alive! She sat up, instantly regretting it as she held her head to stop the room from spinning.

Leah and Raff were lying on the ground to each side of her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw they were both breathing... They'd survived! Raff's gut feeling had been right, and she didn't know whether she wanted to laugh, or cry, or scream, with relief.

"So did it work?" She jumped at the sound of Raff's voice. She hadn't realised he was awake.

In her excitement over their survival, she'd forgotten all about the amulet. She spied the end of the blade, covered in dirt, at Leah's feet. She reached out to brush the dirt off, and let out a whoop when she realised the three pieces were back together again.

"I'll take that as a yes," Raff chuckled as he sat up, and grabbed his head like she'd done. A pained grin appeared on his face. "So, from the way my head is hurting, I'm gonna assume we're still alive?"

The sound of soft moans, coming from where Leah lay, told them she was now conscious as well.

"Are we seriously still alive? Because if we are, I'm going to kill whoever trampled on my head while I was conked out?" She sat up slowly, and spied the amulet in Belle's hand. "Woah, did we seriously do that?"

"We sure did! Turns out Raff's gut feeling was right. So now we just need to think of a plan to get out of here. Without letting the spider out. Any suggestions?"

They all looked at each other. Belle hadn't really expected to hear a solution. Her head still ached from the mind merge, so she knew theirs must too.

She sighed. "Okay. Well I guess the most important thing is to get the amulet back to the Oracle, and find out what happens next. I'll keep tapping into the spider's thoughts as we go, and maybe come up with an idea we can use. We still have a long walk back to the waterfall, who knows what could change between now and then?"

Leah squeezed her hand in encouragement. "I'm sure we'll think of something; try not to stress too much." Belle nodded, knowing she would anyway.

Raff scrambled to his feet, and walked over to the desk where the book still lay. "Do we take this with us or leave it here? I never thought to ask the Oracle what he wanted us to do."

Leah got slowly to her feet. "I think we should take it with us. The Oracle can have it translated, and we can find out what other information there is about how to use the amulet. Are we good to go? I am so ready to get out of this place."

Raff picked up the book, and stuffed it into his backpack. He nodded his head towards the amulet. "Do you want me to carry that as well?"

Belle handed him the amulet with a smile. "May as well have them both together. At least that way, if anything happens, we know we just need to save that backpack."

Raff slipped the amulet into his backpack, and they left the vault. As soon as they crossed through the doorway, they could see the spider waiting for them, hovering at the fork in the tunnel. A sense of dread ran through Belle's body as she braced herself for what lay ahead.

She was grateful they were walking slower than usual; obviously Raff and Leah were as eager as she was to prevent jolting their heads too much. The spider followed at a distance. When the pain in her head finally subsided to a dull ache, she tentatively reached out and brushed against the spider's mind. It seemed to have forgotten she could hear its thoughts, unknowingly communicating its impatience at the slow pace.

Belle listened, as the thoughts in the spider's head spiralled towards desperation. Thoughts about whether it should kill them now, or wait until they parted the waterfall, were battling in its mind. She cleared her throat loudly, and Leah and Raff both looked at her expectantly.

"I'm getting really nervous. Our friend seems to be regretting our deal as much as I am, and I don't think his patience is going to last much longer. He can't decide whether to kill us now, or wait until after Leah parts the waterfall, but he definitely plans to kill us all! How far do you reckon we are from the cavern, because I don't particularly want to have to deal with him in this confined space?"

Raff squinted as he looked down the tunnel. "We should be nearly there. Maybe we should pick up the pace a bit! You two go in front, and be ready to run if we need to."

They increased their walking speed, and within minutes, the glowing light from the cavern was within sight. Belle concentrated on the spider's thoughts as they stepped into the cavern. She had to fight against the wave of nausea threatening to overwhelm her as her fear combined with the stench coming from the pool. The spider was thinking about how powerful Raff must be to have destroyed the monster in the pool, and suddenly decided it might be better to kill them now. With the monster in the pool dead, it figured it had already increased its hunting ground, and wouldn't need to hunt for a while if it killed them anyway. Best to dispose of the powerful one first.

Belle screamed at Raff in warning as the spider lunged at him. Raff dived to the side, the spider skittering sideways as it turned to strike again, venom dripping from its gigantic fangs.

Belle knew she had to do something. Raff needed time to shape his Gift. She closed her eyes, and sent a piercing scream into the spider's mind. It staggered, just for a second, but long enough for Raff to shape and discharge his weapon. A lightning shaped spear slammed into the spider, skewering its bulbous body and throwing it backwards to slam into the rock wall. Its legs twitched a couple of times, and then it was still.

The girls ran to Raff, crying and hugging him in relief. Belle's head had begun to pound all over again from the silent scream, but it had been worth it.

When they had all recovered, Raff scratched his head. "Y'know, I really thought I was a gonner there for a minute. I didn't think I'd have enough time to shape my weapon, and launch it, before those fangs came down. But it sort-of staggered for a second. Did you see that?"

"Ummm, it could have had something to do with the piercing scream hitting its mind out of nowhere. I know my head's paying for it!" Belle chuckled as Raff and Leah looked at her, dumbfounded. "Well, I had to do something! I knew Raff just needed a second."