Ancient Forces (2018 Reboot)

Chapter 20 - Web of Hate Part 2

Zayne took step after step in the gritty dirt underneath his feet. He ducked beneath branches and between bushes, jumping and running as fast and as hard as he could. Aleah had stopped screaming quite a while ago, and since the forest wasn't big enough for them to get out of earshot Zayne knew that meant something was wrong. That drove him to go faster, trying and watching every direction even more. He was specifically following the trail of webs left on trees as he ran, the only trail he had and clue he could follow of Arachnid's whereabouts. His suit was torn and ripped to the point where it didn't look like he was wearing a suit anymore. He eventually viewed it as a holdback and tore it off, leaving it behind in a bush. He unwrapped and ripped off his tie and threw it aside, then continued running after his target. He emerged into a clearing when he realized how desperately he needed to stop running.

Zayne bent over and tried taking several deep breaths, but the cold air that he inhaled seemed to make his throat stop up and cough. He let a few convulsing spats erupt from his throat before he tried taking more air in. He was using energy like crazy to keep himself warm, but it still wasn't doing much to keep him from taking in sharp, cold air.

As Zayne stood up straight to try and get in one final desperate breath he heard a branch snap close by. When he turned to face it he was met with two black, hairy feet chopping across his jaw. Arachnid quickly swung back up into the trees, his hair and color allowing him to blend in with the details. Zayne slammed into the ground hard as he felt the stinging pain in his cheek. The cold air was making his body fragile, so every time he got hit or hit something it would hurt even more. Finally, he was done with keeping it hidden. Whether he tried or not Arachnid had the advantage in this field, so he might as well pull out all the stops.

Another branch snap echoed out from behind him, so Zayne spun around and held both arms together in front of his face. Arachnid's legs slammed into his arms, which was less painful and easier to counter. As Arachnid flew back up into the trees Zayne's legs charged up and bent down, then launched him up into the air. Arachnid's eyes reflected the orange glow as Zayne came up to eye level with the monster. Zayne threw his right leg out and socked Arachnid across his hideous jaw, knocking him from the tree. Zayne grabbed the branch of the tree to stabilize his fall to the floor, allowing him to land on both feet. The pile of hair and body parts in front of Zayne quickly moved around and repositioned itself so Arachnid's six spike like arms coming from his back held him almost ten feet in the air.

"So! The baby has learned to walk on his own! Let's see if you've learned how to fight!" Arachnid mocked.

Arachnid extended both palms and shot two long strands of webs from the open sacs on his hands. Zayne was reminded of Arachnid's tactic when he was at the house in the first attack. Zayne also remembered what he'd done to counter, even with the little knowledge he had then. Zayne extended both of his palms and sent energy into them, forcing the glow to take over. His hands began to emit steam as they became superheated weapons. The webs disintegrated on contact with his hands. Not taken aback by the move Arachnid launched himself forward, setting all six of his spike legs in front of him to form a sort of drill. Zayne switched stances and jumped over the spider monster.

Almost impossibly Arachnid emerged from his drill and stuck Zayne in the chest with a web. With no time to retaliate Zayne could do nothing but get slammed into several trees over and over again from Arachnid's tossing. Eventually, he had built up so much momentum that Arachnid was able to send him through trees over and over, snapping them in half. Zayne felt nauseous as he spun in circles over and over, slamming into anything Arachnid could find to slam him into. Finally, Zayne got enough of a break and enough of his bearings to reach up and burn the webbing off of his chest. He was already flying in the air when he did it, so he continued moving and slammed into a massive boulder nearby before stopping.