Kingdoms (kaimaki fantasy AU)

Chapter 20: Venom

If any of you guys have a fear of spiders like I do, I apologise for the following chapter.

Also, artwork was done by me.

Once he felt less deflated, Kaito finally stood up. He sheathed his sword, but kept the bottled starlight firmly in his hand. He didn't want to think that it might happen, but he didn't want to walk around blind in the darkness, should he be in a tunnel again. He looked up, taking in his current surroundings. And while he was worried, at the same time he felt relieved. He had travelled in the tunnel further than he thought he had. Kaito could see the end of the valley. He could finally see daylight. It was finally time to leave this place behind. However, Maki still hadn't emerged. Maybe she had come out ahead of him and was waiting for him. Kaito hung onto that hope tightly. He wanted her to be okay.

Kaito started to make his way to the exit. He wanted to be on safe ground, or find Maki there. He didn't want to think on might happen if he didn't get outside. He suddenly heard something. Something moving. Kaito swiftly turned around. He eyed at the tunnel he exited. He looked everywhere around him as carefully as he could.

"Maki Roll!" He shouted, his voice echoing all around him. "Maki!" He didn't know if that was Maki, but he needed to be sure. Nothing. He didn't see anything nor hear anything. Maybe it was just an animal that was lucky enough to escape, just as he had?

Feeling his skin crawl, Kaito had the urge to run to the exit as fast as he could. He swiftly turned around, desperate to escape. Kaito suddenly felt like something stabbed him in the gut. He couldn't look down at it. He couldn't move his entire body. He suddenly had this panicking sensation that he couldn't breathe. It was like his lungs had stopped working on their own. He tried to scream but he couldn't get his words out. His body refused to obey him. His hand couldn't even keep a firm grip on the bottled starlight no matter how much he willed to do so. He felt completely numb. He suddenly couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He couldn't even feel the air around him. Why...was...everything...spinning? Why...was...it...turning...dark? Where's...Maki?

'Maki...Roll...'

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Maki crept along the tunnel she had found as carefully as she could. After being separated from Kaito, she had to face her own obstacles. She found the the ground had to become much more unstable. She had o choice but to get to higher ground in a tunnel above her. She avoided the webs and the corpses of unfortunate animals and travellers before her. She had found it forbidding and tense. She was worried about what had caused the death around her. However, what worried her more was Kaito and leaving him alone. She didn't want to think about anything bad happening to him. She hoped that he was okay.

Maki got to the end of the tunnel, her path ending on a ledge. She praised whatever god can hear her as she was finally met with light. She was used to working in darkness without aid of a lantern, but being in the dark like that was quite unnerving to her. However, her praises were soon vanished when she saw a horrifying sight in front of her. Before her was a spider larger than a carriage. It was black with eight, shining red eyes. It was standing at the exit of Web Valley, blocking the likelihood of slipping past it unseen. However, that wasn't what had Maki concerned. The spider...it had the hold of something? No, someone! Someone that was wearing...purple?

"K-Kaito?" Maki stuttered. No! It couldn't be him! He was underground, in a tunnel. However, there was one thing that confirmed her suspicions. The bottled starlight that laid abandoned on the ground. There was only one person that she gave that to, so he could feel safe and protected.

"Let...him...go." Maki hissed, her tone soft but dark. The spider took no heed in her warning. It only proceeded to wrap Kaito up in its silk web, turning him into a white cocoon. This made Maki grip her knife so tight, that the handle might break. "LET HIM GO!" Maki took a leap of faith as she launched herself into the air. The spider didn't see it coming as she landed on its back and stabbed it savagely. It let out an ear pricing shriek as it riled itself up. Maki gracefully jumped off, landing perfectly on her feet. The spider dumped Kaito like he was nothing but filth. Maki glared darkly at the creature. She didn't know where this rage came from. She felt rage before, but this was different. There was this drive to kill this monster. A drive that made her move more viscously than she ever had before. She was going to make this monster pay for what it did! It should never have harmed Kaito!