Loreling Karaxa

Part 4, An Enemy, and a Friend

Karaxa continued down the rubbery passage, step by step, with N'ga floating overhead, his ambient luminescence lighting the way a few feet, but only blackness lay ahead of them and their little pocket of light in the darkness. The corridor eventually led to an open room and Karaxa placed their left hand on the wall, ready to peer round as best they could. Anything could be laying in wait here, and it was best to...

Squish.

Karaxa felt a chill run down their spine, and slowly turned their head to look to their left, where their hand was embedded in some kind of sticky webbing that was running across the wall. N'ga became very rigid, and tension grew. "Karaxa. Make no sudden moves. I know you probably want out of that thing, but it'll mean little if you alert whatever made it."
Karaxa audibly gulped and nodded, reaching their right hand down to the rapier at their side, and drawing it, while keeping their left hand as steady as possible, trying to avoid any disturbances that might twang down the network of webs, and invite unwanted company.

"I could ignite the web further down, and sever its connection to you." N'ga proposed. "If you weren't connected to the main web, then you could freely..."
"No." Karaxa replied, steel in their voice, though their tone was hushed.

"We don't know anything about this place, and if the fire were to spread... I don't want to risk losing anything here."
"The only thing you're going to lose here is your life at this rate!" the wyrm spat. Angrier than he thought he'd be in defence of the bard's well being.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take, my friend." Karaxa smiled at N'ga, though there was worry in the Loreling's eyes. "If it looks like it's too much for us to handle, you can unsummon yourself."

The bard hadn't said it directly, but the wyrm knew what this meant. 'If I'm going to die, you can just leave.' Idiot mortal, he couldn't just leave. I mean he could, but he wouldn't. He was too invested in the Loreling at this point, and he didn't want a new assignment. Not yet. Not when they hadn't discovered...

A faint dripping sound echoed throughout the room. That hadn't been there before. The cave before was damp, but the tunnels had been surprisingly dry. Why would there be...

Drip.

A drop landed on Karaxa's blade. The tension had built so high that even just this single drop felt heavy, oppressive. Like someone was pressing down on the tip of the blade.
Karaxa's gaze slowly scanned up, searching for the origin of the drip, and was met by ten glowing yellow eyes, staring back at them. The eyes were stacked together in an unsettling pattern, like two sets of pyramids, which could freeze blood with just a stare.

What to do? Fighting back meant wrenching an arm free from the webbing. That would mean setting off the alarm, and more of these grotesque spiders to come. Likely too many to handle. Though pressure was mounting, Karaxa still wanted to avoid the fire option.
No, that was a last resort. Or a resort beyond last. Only if it meant saving N'ga could that even be considered an option. The wyrm was well capable of escaping, but the bard worried that he might choose not to, if it meant abandonment of his partner.

With that, Karaxa began to breathe, slowly, and deliberately. Each breath was less exertion than the last. More languid. More like a dying breath than a fight for survival.

The spider, for its part, noticed this. Its bared, venom tipped fangs, were now sheathed. It moved around Karaxa, wrapping the bard in its silk, content that the slow breathing prey was ill equipped to put up a fight.

The bard, careful not to exert themselves too much, and be viewed as a threat, spoke to N'ga with a deliberate, shallow breath. "We need lye potash. My pack is above on the beach with my lyre. Wait until our friend is gone, head back out, and then put that around my webbing. It should dissolve the compound."

N'ga had a grim feeling, but nodded in agreement, the spider seemed content to ignore him, given the bigger prize it was wrapping.

Karaxa waited in the blackened tunnel, cocooned to some wall without N'ga for what felt like an eternity of anxiety, before the wyrm emerged again.
"I've done it." N'ga whispered. His snake-like body was dreadfully devoid of limbs, but the wyrm's magical prowess was enough to telekinetically open the pack, and manoeuvre the corrosive potash onto the adjoining webbing. The webbing dissolved quietly, and the bard came loose, landing on the ground, though drenched in sweat from fear.
"Thank you, N'ga. You are a literal lifesaver" the bard spoke softly, giving the deepest bow they could muster without disturbing any webs. The wyrm preened at the compliment, when a third voice chimed in.

"Friends, as much as I love being burritoed in silk, do you think you could free just one more person while you're here?"

Wyrm and bard alike were stunned, but lo and behold, there was another cocoon along the roof, with a pair of pointed ears sticking out.

"I do hate to be a burden, but I don't think I'm getting out of here alive without some assistance." the elf continued.

Karaxa nodded to N'ga, and he moved the remaining potash up and around this new cocoon, and its resident came loose, falling flatly on their face, but thankfully being absorbed by the rubberish floor, rather than disturbing any more webbing.

"Apologies, friends." the elf quipped. "I'm Thaylona, bad time for introductions I know, but I'm sure my legs and arms will be in working order after a few stretches. I may be a bit more useful then."

With that, the three retreated back to the damp cave, eager for a breath of relief, and famished, to boot.