Void Walker

Chapter One: My Name

"My name is Miklos."

With much difficulty, the boy extended a sticky, goo-ensnared hand to his fellow captive. In the suffocating gloom of the cave, never mind their current dire circumstances, his overly enthusiastic gesture was met with the glare of pale-grey eyes. Despite their obvious hostility, their pupils were also dilated with fear.

"This isn't the time for self-introductions! We. Are. About. To. Die."

Miklos let his hand drop. "I just thought I'd try to make a friend before I did. I never got to have any, y'know? A friend." He smiled weakly and seemed to contemplate the vast wonders behind what the word embodied.

"Cut that out!" The boy howled in frustration. "Think of something, get us out of here!"

Around them, the hissing and spitting intensified as thousands of hairy legs scurried hither thither. The two boys, with their bodies arrested by deceptively thin yet strong and sticky threads of an atrociously huge web, could feel the malicious throbbing of hundreds of slimy, warm bodies all over them. It was too dark to perceive the true nature of their little hairy friends, but united in their hurried, darting movements with one single intent, it was safe to assume that as the seconds ticked by, they were being increasingly smothered with spider venom.

---

Outside, no further than ten feet away, three figures crouched in the undergrowth that encroached into the territory of the huge creature that lay snug within, speaking in low, conservative voices. Green growths of all manner and shape clung tightly to the looming wall of rock before them, where the mouth of the cave gaped wide open. It stood tall and aloof, standing haughtily against the vegetation's desperate attempts to conquer it.

"They must have thought that finding shelter in a dark, stinking cave reeking of death would be a good idea," one of the voices said in disdain. "How moronic."

"I'm not waltzing into the cave of an Ugly Furface."

"It's called a vynax spider, Rei."

"I think we ought to hurry," a third voice interjected quietly. "The spiderlings' venom will start to take effect soon."

Her sentiment went ignored.

"Walked right into her web, I bet. Why does everyone do that?"

"Clearly, not everyone is as smart as you, Luca. In any case, I'm sitting this one out. Spiders are out of the question."

"I doubt you will be of much help anyway," he joked.

"Sure," came the nonchalant response.

"Come, Krea, let us move," he said decisively. "Given the situation, perhaps we ought to-" 

Strangled cries shot out from the darkness of the cave, cutting him mid-sentence.

"Well, holler if you need me. I may or may not come running to help."

---

Deep within the brooding recesses of the cave, something rumbled and stirred the stale, dank air.

The two boys had not anticipated the terrors of spider venom in the Wildlands, but their general impressions of its effects were that being singed by red-hot iron, leaving nothing but the feeling of a thousand burning needles jabbed in at once, would have been no different. Blood had pooled where their feet connected with uneven ground, and their violent, futile attempts at thrashing wildly to disengage themselves from their sticky trap only painted more of the ground with morbidly artistic splotches of dark red.

"If we get out of this alive, w-will you be my f-friend?" Tears of blood streamed down Miklos's cheeks.

"You're ridicul-" Feeling yet another wave of searing pain, whatever he had tried to say dissolved into an agonized cry.