The first spider tore its way free like some long-buried nightmare, its legs punching through the surface before the rest of it hauled itself into the open. Then another followed. And another. Then dozens more.
Each one bore a swollen green sac where its abdomen should have been, pulsing rhythmically, almost in time with the crowd's renewed roar.
"They're Vesh'Khar!" someone screamed, just as stone pillars erupted from the ground around us.
That name was all it took. Nolan swore, lunged forward, and grabbed me by the collar before dragging me behind one of the rising pillars. We barely made it into cover before the first volley slammed into the stone.
Something hissed past us.
To my left, someone hadn't been fast enough. He was struck mid-run by what I could only describe as spit. The impact threw him back into the sand, where the green substance sizzled and crystallized. His screams cut off abruptly as jagged spikes burst from the sludge, driving straight through him and pinning his body to the ground.
The spikes hardened, shifting into an orange, resin-like mass as they dried.
…Right.
So that's what Nolan's reaction was about.
"Those bastards," Nolan hissed, peering around the stone before jerking back just in time. Something slammed into the pillar where his head had been a second earlier, exploding outward into razor-sharp shards.
"Okay," he muttered, breathing hard, "this is bad."
Sandra didn't argue. She just grimaced, knuckles tight around her weapon.
Tired of being dead weight, I summoned my brace and forced myself into a crouch despite the pain. Thankfully, the splitting headache had dulled to a manageable throb, leaving my leg as the primary issue, which, all things considered, felt like a win.
"I take it these things are weak when hit?" I asked.
Nolan nodded. "Yeah. If you can get close."
Right. Close. Fantastic.
I summoned a bow into my hands, then an arrow with a second thought. I hesitated, staring at it. I had to admit, I didn't actually know how to shoot a bow. But really, how hard could it be? You point. You pull. You let go. Easy.
Peeking around the pillar, I drew the string back as far as I could and released.
The arrow sailed through the air and struck… absolutely nothing. Just sand.
…Well. That was embarrassing.
Turns out, I suck at archery.
Before something acidic could introduce itself to my face, Sandra yanked me backward and practically ripped the bow from my hands.
"Who taught you to aim?" she snapped. "A toddler?"
I opened my mouth, then thought better of it.
"Just give me an arrow!" she barked.
Yes, ma'am.
I summoned one, and she snatched it mid-formation. In one smooth motion, she leaned out from cover. A heartbeat later, something screeched in the distance.
…Okay. I'll let her handle the aiming from now on.
With how effortlessly Sandra worked a bow, the Vesh'Khar hardly stood a chance. Arrow after arrow found its mark, each screech cutting off mid-cry. For a brief, foolish moment, I thought we might actually have this under control.
Then the ground rumbled again.
Something shot out of the sand, a compact, rolling mass that slammed into a pillar to our left and shattered it on impact. It skidded across the arena before unfurling mid-motion, revealing a heavily armored mull. Its head like that of a hog with rows of grinding teeth.
Before I could fully process it, the creature dove back into the sand and vanished.
"Oh that's—"
A scream cut me off.
To my right, someone was yanked downward as the sand gave way beneath them. They clawed desperately at the surface, kicking and screaming until they were dragged under entirely. The sand smoothed over a second later, as if they'd never been there at all.
And we weren't the only ones being hunted.
The Vesh'Khar began to fall as well, being dragged under or mauled. As the balance shifted, the arena responded. Stone surged upward, the ground warping and folding in on itself as pillars stretched higher and higher, hollowing out into a vast, cave-like structure. Light poured in through dozens of openings as the walls curved inward, eventually sealing into a massive dome overhead.
For a brief moment, I stared slack-jawed at the sheer effort behind this. It had to have taken teams of geomancers to—
Something screamed toward me from above.
I dove aside just as a glob of acidic spit smashed into the stone where my head had been. Looking up, I spotted a Vesh'Khar clinging impossibly to the cavern pillar, its legs dug deep into the rock.
"Of course they can climb," I muttered, scrambling backward as the sizzling mass began to creep toward me, inch by inch.
Then the ground beneath me shifted.
The hardened resin cracked, splitting apart as something forced its way through from below. I barely had time to react before a mull burst from the sand and lunged straight at me.
On instinct, I unsummoned the bow from Sandra's hands and reshaped it into a gauntlet around my arm just as the creature's jaws clamped down with Bone-crushing force, but the gauntlet held.
Barely.
With a strained shout, I shoved it sideways with everything I had. The mull skidded, claws ripping deep gouges through the sand as it fought to anchor itself, already trying to burrow again.
"Stay," I growled through clenched teeth, my leg screaming in protest.
"Just—stay above ground for once!"
My gauntlet reshaped itself into a spear, which I drove into the sand only for it to bounce away uselessly.
Tough, I grimaced. Of course they are.
I barely had time to summon a shield before a glob of acidic spit slammed into it. The impact spread instantly, crawling across the surface.
With a curse, I hurled the shield aside just as the mass swallowed it whole.
Around us, people were vanishing, whether that be from being pulled under, skewered, or mauled by those mulls, yet a very few had started to adapt. I caught glimpses of figures scrambling into narrow gaps carved by the arena's construction, which seemed to be copies of the natural alcoves these rocks would normally have.
Cursing, I barely managed to dodge another glob of spit before summoning a bow and tossing it towards Sandra along with a single arrow. She caught both with a sharp nod. A heartbeat later, something shrieked overhead as a creature dropped lifelessly from the ceiling.
Instead of asking for another arrow, Sandra sprinted past me.
"Move!" she shouted, already running.
Confused but trusting her instincts, Nolan and I followed.
We rounded a pillar just as the sand rippled. Sandra swung without hesitation, smashing the side of her bow into a hog-like shape bursting from the ground. The creature was knocked back mid-lunge, vanishing beneath the sand again with an angry screech.
Exchanging a glance with Nolan, I had to admit she was a menace.
And right as we rounded a corner, Sandra dove for an opening in one of the massive center columns.
Without a moment of hesitation, we followed after her, just as another glob of acidic spit slammed into the opening behind us, sealing it over in seconds, buying us a brief reprieve.
"Gods," Nolan muttered, sliding down the stone, "I hate Graveborers."
"Couldn't agree more," I huffed.
With the only way inside now sealed off, we just sat there, catching our breath as the creatures outside turned on one another. The distant sounds of monsters echoing faintly through stone and sand, distant enough to almost forget the horrors waiting just beyond the wall.
After a moment, Nolan turned to me, a question burning in his gaze.
"How are you able to use powers with your collar restricting your core?"
I shrugged as he narrowed his eyes.
"You don't know?"
"Eh… I have my suspicions," I muttered, closing my eyes.
"Then what are they?" he pressed.
"Everyone's got their secrets," I said lightly. "Including you."
Nolan huffed in frustration, the sound echoing faintly in the cramped stone. For a moment, no one spoke.
Until Sandra straightened beside us.
"Nolan," she muttered softly.
He glanced her way. "Hmm?"
"Do you know why I served under you in the guard?"
That caught him off balance. He shifted, scooting upright.
"Not particularly…"
She huffed softly, then continued.
"Do you remember the Serpent's Trail? When we were kids?"
His brow furrowed. Slowly, he nodded.
"There was an outcast," she said. "He'd fallen partway up the climb to the oasis. Slipped on a loose stone and shattered his leg. Everyone else told us to leave him."
Her voice hardened as she spoke.
"They said the elders forbade interference. That helping him would only bring punishment. That he was already dead."
She looked straight at Nolan.
"But you didn't listen."
I watched Nolan's jaw tighten.
"You split off from the others," she continued. "Ignored every warning. You climbed down that wall like it meant nothing, tied him off, and dragged him back up with your bare hands."
She laughed quietly, shaking her head.
"I remember them screaming at you to stop. Telling you it wasn't worth it."
Nolan exhaled slowly. "Sandra—"
"You knew it wasn't allowed," she cut in. "You knew what would happen. And you did it anyway, despite knowing the lashes you would take for it," she said. "And while you stood there taking your punishment, you didn't argue or lash out. You just smiled like you'd do it again without a second thought."
Her gaze dropped, then lifted again, burning with a quiet intensity.
"That was the day I found something I didn't even know I was missing, so I trained harder than anyone because I wanted to stand beside you. Because of the simple fact that there was no one else I would rather follow."
He opened his mouth, but she didn't give him time.
"Now tell me," she said, standing abruptly as her voice rose. "Do you know why I put myself in this coliseum? Why I didn't just watch from the outside and hope you made it out?"
She stepped closer.
"I thought about those lashings. About you standing there and taking them. And I chose to follow."
Her voice cracked, but she didn't stop.
"And despite everything I've done for you, you still treat me like I'm that same child. Like you have to protect me from every horror this world throws at us."
She laughed sharply.
"Guess what, Nolan. I've seen horrors of my own. I'm not that little girl anymore," she shouted. "So give me a reason. One reason why I shouldn't know what killed my family and took my home."
Her chest heaved.
"What could possibly be that bad that I didn't deserve to know?"
For a long moment, he said nothing.
He looked like he wanted to speak, like the words were clawing their way up his throat, but he swallowed them down instead.
Sandra turned away, wiping at her eyes, and started toward the opening.
"Fine," she said. "Then I'll face it myself."
"Nolan—" I started.
"Stop."
His voice was quiet, but the conviction in it halted Sandra mid-step.
"…Don't go… Your right, you deserve to know…"