A Trio of Anomalies - The Quest for Paradise

CHAPTER 10 - INSIDE THE FORTRESS OF FEAR

It was more likely caused by the lack of food than his excitement, but Erwin felt a slight fluttering in his stomach, and after suppressing his grin all trip he finally broke into laughter as the Dragon turned into a peculiar glob hidden behind a huge green cloud. He stopped abruptly as the weight of his mission settled in again, and after a few forced attempts to cackle at his problems he sat slowly onto a white bone, feeling faint and the need to throw up. He ruffled his dark pink hair, jerking his head at the splotches of swamp mud on his right hand, amused that he missed a spot when the witches left him completely covered in what felt like sap green pancake mix head to toe. The substance somehow managed to be gritty, grainy, sticky yet slimy all at the same time, and unable to see or move he was forced to lie in it as the witches added layer after layer.

"What are they going to drown me in this time?" he thought, squinting dejectedly at the blurry pointed silhouette in the distance. Along with a few biscuits, chocolate and candied fruit his olive green backpack contained a cup of instant noodles. Pushing the small cup out of the way he pulled out two packs of biscuits, before dropping one after a while of pondering.

"I bet curdled milk," he scrolled through the pages on his phone, "Can't come back with half your limbs gone if you don't come back at all ..."

He stuffed the empty wrapping into a container to avoid crumbs, before making a list of what he needed : parts of both a frog and phoenix and a purifying stone to counter the transformation ; redstone and glowstone for the magnifying charm so as to not waste ingredients. After half an hour of referencing the Witchianese pages he turned his phone off and headed towards Arachne's cave.

***

His right hand trembled as he knocked on the rough reddish walls of her cave, gradually strengthening the uncertain beatings when he received nothing but flashes of eight ruby red eyes.

"Arachne?" he called, "Sorry to bother you!"

Silence.

"I need your help Arachne! Please?"

He turned to the two tusks behind him, and with a deep breath he threw himself into the invisible web, thrashing and rolling around to tangle himself in it. He kept an eye on the seemingly empty cave, trying to remember his actions to easily unwind the binding web.

He turned white with panic when he received no response, struggling frantically as anxiety and regret filled him. Somehow or another all attempts of twisting and turning only managed to coil the invisible threads tighter around him, and when he slipped he was left dangling in the air with his feet a few inches from the ground, now only able to move his ankles.

"Help!" he screamed at the cave, "Arachne! Please!"

"What is wrong with you?" he breathed a sigh of relief when she rasped, "You decided to wrap your entire body in my web on purpose?"

Arachne was unamused, to say the least, when she creeped out of her red cave to see her mediocre web entangling a green-eyed sorcerer once again. Her jet black fur allowed her to blend into the inside of her dark home, allowing her ruby red eyes to gleam in what little light there was in the Kingdom of the Witches. Now she stood out among the dull grey desert, her eyes gleaming with more annoyance than true maliciousness.