Artemis Child

Artemis Child Ch8

   Serena and I were submerged into dim light. The air was unnaturally chilling, and my breath was noticeable. I summoned my spear and dashed forward to the doorway in sight. I made very little sound as I did this. Peaking through, the door way I could see small strands of a material, webbed across the doorway and hallway.
I motioned for her to come closer, trying to stay undetected from anything past the hallway. "It's ok to talk. Spiders and spider based creatures can smell my mother's blood running throughout my body. So if anywhere in here they would be attacking us already. It's a long story, but I hate spiders and they hate my mother." She said breaking the silence and making me feel stupid. "Sorry, I'm just being careful." I said trying to be less of an idiot.

Since her weapon had more of a cutting surface area than my spear, and it was her father that was in trouble, she led the way. "So you hate spiders?" I asked trying to learn more. "No, I'm terrified of them. I hesitate, I even twitch sometimes from them." She replied with a shaky voice.
"But back there you killed that thing pretty easily." I tried to reassure her. "He wouldn't have been able to turn me around if I didn't hesitate." She said with a frown.

After cutting through the material, we made it to the end of the hall where stairs lay in wait. The stairs spiralled upwards along with downwards into a seemingly bottomless abyss. "So up or down?" I asked looking around. "The building structure wasn't made to support an upper level. So down we go." She said with a smile. I didn't question her. Athena was the goddess of wisdom.
Walking down the steps I noticed the air get colder and thicker. Soon we reached the bottom, and she was shivering. "Gods, its so cold down here. I don't understand why." She said through chattering teeth. "Maybe its some spider ice cream corporation." I joked. Through her shivering I could still see her shudder. "Please don't ruin ice cream for me." She pleaded.

We walked around, but we didn't find anyone or anything. Although one thing was bothering me, as we walked our feet made a noise on the metal floor. It made me wonder why the floor was made of metal, and why it sounded hollow. Serena stopped a few feet ahead of me. "Hey you ok?" I asked, but she said nothing. I caught up with her to find her starring, and looking so hurt.

I followed her gaze to find myself looking at a man strung up to a wall. "Serena is that him?" I asked. She nodded, but didn't move. Instead she stood there paralyzed in fear. I looked closer to see that he was swarming with spiders on him, they hid on the parts of him with clothes. Moving like water, they flowed their movements together.

I stepped forward since she would not. "Damn it. Where is a can of Raid when you need it?" I asked myself out loud. Me coming close seemed to make the spiders stop. Suddenly they started to drop off of the man and die on the ground. "I see, so the cursed child and the unwanted child has come into my grasp finally." Said a new voice. Out of the shadow a man appeared, wearing a multi-color shirt like a pride parade threw up on him, it was hard to believe I didn't see this guy.

"Poor Serena, unwanted by her mother, and lost a father. Yet you come so close, just to fall in my trap." The man said snapping her from her trance. Seeing that the spiders were dead, and that the man was a threat, she attacked. She changed her sword into a shield, then hurled it at him. She dashed fast behind it.

The moment the the shield was about to hit his face, he deflected it downward. She planned on that, she slid low and changed her weapon back to a sword. The blade sliced the mans legs, bringing him down. She then jumped upwards to slash his back, but he brought his wounded leg up wards catching her in the chin. I decided she had enough fun so I joined in. I battered his chest with my spear while she attacked his side.

"Enough!" The man said. Raising his hands, he caught my spear and her sword. He then changed his arms locations and pulled with incredible strength sending Serena to my side and me to hers. Next thing I knew I was on my back. "Such a shame, but you are he request you die now." The man said looming over us. He stomped his foot hard and the metal ground opened up and we fell. I grabbed her and pulled her on top of me as we fell to make it to where at least one of us made it alive. We his a mount of thick clay dirt and rolled down fast to the bottom. The ground stung when we hit it. Pain shot up my left leg, and one of my ribs from how I first landed on the mound