Kingdoms (kaimaki fantasy AU)

Chapter 19: Web Valley

The next couple of chapters are inspired by scenes from "The Lord Of The Rings. The Return Of The King". These particular scenes freaked me out when I was a kid, but I thought that they would be good for the story.

As soon as Kaito and Maki woke up the next morning, they filled their stomachs as much as they could and restocked on a bit more food to last them for the next few days. They didn't feel worked about Web Valley. At least, not until they found it. To say that the name given to Web Valley was a bit of an understatement. It was hardly a valley at all. It looked more like a ravine. As you look at the place though, you can see why it was given its name. Numerous webs stretches almost impossibly everywhere. They even stretched over the top of the ravine, blocking out most of the early afternoon sunlight. There was an eery silence. There was no movement or sound coming from anywhere. Even the forest before the ravine seemed to devoid of all sound. Rantaro was right. No one comes near this area unless they were that stupid enough. Even the animals knew better than to venture inside this forbidden place. Just by looking at Web Valley from the outside would be more than enough to scare anybody off.

"You sure about this?" Kaito asked, doing his best to suppress a shudder as he couldn't take his eyes off the ravine.

"Yes. Remember to stay as close to me as you can." Maki said. She sounded confident, but there was something in her eyes that told Kaito otherwise. Was she as nervous as he was? Kaito didn't get his answer as Maki started to walk ahead of him. Taking a deep breath, he followed her in, copying her movements as she ducked under some webs as to not get tangled in them. This place was more creepy as you step inside it. It was like stepping through a portal to another world. The outside world seemed to be nonexistent. Sights, sounds, even smells from the outside seemed to have vanished completely. It sent a chill down Kaito's spine thinking that he was cut off completely from the world that he knew. However, another foreboding thought ran through his mind as he looked around. Where were all the spiders that made these webs? Did they die out from the lack of food? Or were these webs made by something else, like a Mage similar to Himiko?

"Tread as lightly as you can. The ground feels unstable." Maki suddenly advised as she stepped around a particular spot. She was right. With every step Kaito took, the ground felt fragile like glass. Every move that Maki made, with every manoeuvre she did, Kaito copies them as perfectly as he could. Unsure about a spot, Maki would test the ground, judging if it could hold both of their weights. Kaito trusted every judgement she made. If anyone could get them safely out of here, it's Maki.

Maki carefully climbed over a tree that had fallen into this place a long time ago, grimacing a little as she got some webs on her hands. Kaito did the same just as Maki climbed off of it. However, when Kaito stepped down, he must have done it harder than he intended. As soon as his feet touched the ground, it vanished under him. Kaito was in so much shock that he couldn't hear Maki calling out to him. He couldn't feel how far he had fallen. He couldn't even bring himself to scream in shock. He fell for about ten seconds before he felt the hard ground under him. He had a bad feeling of paralysis from the shock. He wasn't even sure if he could breathe. After what felt like an eternity, he opened his eyes and tried to move. He was surprised that he didn't get hurt that much. The worst he probably got was bruises all over his back. He slowly moved to sit up and check himself over, just to be sure. Nothing seemed to be broken or damaged.

"Kaito! Are you okay?" Maki's voice suddenly called out from above him. Kaito looked to see her face looking down from where he fell from. He internally winced as he saw he distressed face. Was she really that worried about him?

"Yeah! I'm alright!" He shouted, trying his best to reassure her. Maki didn't seem convinced. Wanting to try to do more to help her, Kaito gripped the wall and started to try to pull himself up. If he got down, surely he might be able to climb back up again. However, the second hope pulled his feet off the ground, the stone he grabbed gave way. It was more like soft mud than rock. There's no way that he's going to climb out of this place safely. Kaito looked around to see if there was anything that could possibly help him. He had landed in a tunnel that led deep underground. He noticed that there were shapes in the darkness that he couldn't make out and a few other holes in the ceiling, showing that others probably went through the same thing that he did. More webs were around him, as if the thing that made them was more active underground than it was above. It gave Kaito more of a chill at the thought of this.