Blue Blood

All for a Spider

"Well, this is . . . Interesting."

All across the ground in front of the cavern was blood, hair or fur, skin, and upturned soul. Sharp wooden spikes pointed out ward from the ground, discouraging anyone from coming near. The soft glow of torches loomed from the shadows of the cavern. I wonder what's inside . . .

"Welp. Let's go!"

Edima snorts and walks cautiously behind me.

"Oop, excuse me!" I say to the pile of bones as I step over them.

I grab one of the torches lining the stone walls and take a deep breath. My stomach bubbles and aches as the memory of all those snake things sprouting from the walls comes back to me.

"It's a different cave, it's a different cave . . . Well, actually it's more of a cavern . . . Tooootaly different." I whisper to myself.

We walk through the cavern for some time, only ever coming across more bones, rusty armor, and dry blood. Not even rats scurry around the place. Not a good sign.

The deeper we go, the less bones are around and now I'm completely at a loss for what could have done this.

"Uh, hey Mr. or Mrs. Cavern, it's me . . . Heh, ya know, your boy! Uh, okay-so, how goes it? Having fun here in this . . . Forest?"

A light breeze blows through the cave making a soft whistling sound.

"Uh, I'll take that as a yes? I'm sorry, I know being who I am I should be better at talking to people . . . Er, Caverns, but it's just really hard for me because I say everything that comes to mind and I can't stop talking and it just keeps going and going and . . . Ya know? Yeah, you know, you're smart."

Edima and I soon find ourselves at a fork in the cavern. Both look identical, just diverging in opposite directions.

I'm rubbing my chin in thought when a soft breeze blows behind me, pointing to the left.

I smile, "Thank you cavern! You're so sweet, I don't know what Val was talking about, you're not scary at all!"

I nearly jump out of my pants when a woman's laugh echos through the halls.

"Y-yeah! Heh, um, you have a very nice laugh! I think you're very beautiful."

I don't know what caused me to do it, but I look up and see a silver sword with a ruby painted handle stuck in the ceiling. I look around me to see if there are any bodies to indicate how it got up there, but there is nothing. It's too far to jump to. What to do . . .

Edima nudges me.

"Well, I could stand on your back, but I don't want to slip and hurt you. Maybe someone left it there for a reason? Wait, hold on one moment, Edima."

I clear my throat, "Uh, hey, Cavern? Is it okay if I have that pretty sword? Its really pretty and red is my second favorite color after blue. Looks sharp too. It's okay if you don't want me to have it though. I can still make do with . . . Something. You know what? Don't worry about it."

As I'm about the walk away, the sword dislodges itself from the ceiling and clatters to the stone floor. I quickly snatch it up.

"Thank you so much, Cavern!" I beam.

The blade is silver and glitters in the light. Tiny flecks of gold dance across the hilt, making the ruby paint stand out even further. Gorgeous, expensive, deadly. Yep, this is definitely the sword for me.

I keep walking down the halls almost skipping. This cavern is fucking dope!

"How are you holding up, E?"