"A shortcut," Xiao Yan muttered, wiping a glob of sticky, glowing moss off his shoulder. "You said it was a shortcut. You didn't mention it was a damp, stinking hole in the side of a cliff."
He was currently hanging onto a jagged rock ledge by his fingernails. Below him was a drop so deep he couldn't even see the bottom—just a swirling grey mist that looked like it wanted to eat him. His legs were shaking, and his heart was thumping against his ribs like a trapped bird. This was a lot different than training in the backyard.
"Stop complaining! My hair is already ruined from the humidity," Shi Lieya snapped from right behind him. She looked steady, but her face was a shade of green that matched the moss.
"Shhh! Do you want to wake them up?" Tang Shuya whispered from the front. She was moving through the shadows like a cat, her fan tucked into her belt. She looked back at Xiao Yan and smirked. "And don't look down. Unless you want to see what your lunch looks like for the second time today."
(Michael, tell me we're almost there. I think I'm going to throw up,) Xiao Yan thought, his eyes squeezed shut for a second.
[Oh, we are definitely close, Master. Close to about fifty thousand biological signatures that really love the taste of human sweat. Also, your left foot is slipping.]
"Wait, what—?"
Slip.
Xiao Yan's boot lost its grip on the wet stone. His heart leaped into his throat as his body swung out over the abyss. "Crap! Crap! Crap!" he yelled, his fingers clawing at the rock.
Before he could fall, a strong hand grabbed the back of his collar and slammed him back against the wall.
"Gotcha," Lieya grunted, her face inches from his. "Try to stay alive, okay? I don't want to have to explain to the others how you died because you tripped on a rock."
Xiao Yan leaned his forehead against the cold stone, panting. "Thanks. I... I totally had that under control, by the way."
"Sure you did," Jinyao whispered from the back, her voice trembling. "Now can we please get inside the cave? I feel like something is watching my ankles."
They finally scrambled into a dark opening in the cliffside. It wasn't much better. The cave smelled like old gym socks and rotten meat. Thick, white webbing hung from the ceiling like dusty curtains.
"Okay, nobody touch the walls," Xiao Yan said, trying to act like his knees weren't still vibrating. He pulled out a small spirit-stone to act as a flashlight.
As the light flickered on, they all froze.
The entire ceiling was covered in spiders. But they weren't normal spiders. They were the size of dinner plates, with glowing red eyes and furry legs that tapped rhythmically against the stone. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Oh, no way," Lieya whispered, her fist bursting into a tiny, controlled flame.
"Don't!" Shuya hissed, grabbing Lieya's wrist. "These are Sound-Seekers. If you make a loud noise or a bright light, they'll swarm. We have to crawl."
"Crawl?" Xiao Yan looked at the floor, which was covered in a layer of sticky white silk and old bones. "You've got to be kidding me."
(Michael, give me a map or something. I am not crawling through spider spit for an hour.)
[Calculating... Master, there is a path through the center. But there's a 'Mother' at the end of this tunnel. She's about the size of a carriage. If you use your Red Thunder, you might kill her, but you'll also bring the whole cave down.]
"Great. Fantastic. Best shortcut ever," Xiao Yan grumbled.
Meanwhile, on a higher peak...
While Xiao Yan was covered in spider webs, the atmosphere on the Frost Cliff was completely different. Yan Bingxue stood at the edge of a precipice, her white veil barely moving in the freezing wind.
She watched a group of arrogant disciples from another empire struggle with a group of frost golems below. She didn't move to help. Her eyes were fixed on a lower path, the one leading toward the caves.
He chose the shortcut, she thought, a small frown hidden beneath her veil. A dangerous choice for someone still hiding so much. She knew who he really was—the fallen prince, the one the world thought was useless. She also knew about the siblings he had hidden away. But as long as he kept his secrets, she would keep hers. For now, she had her own path to clear. With a wave of her hand, the frost golems below turned into statues of solid ice.
Back in the Cave...
Xiao Yan was on his hands and knees, feeling the sticky webbing catch on his hair. Every time a spider dropped a few inches from the ceiling, he had to hold his breath.
At one point, a small spider actually landed on Jinyao's nose. She went cross-eyed staring at it, her mouth hanging open in a silent scream. Xiao Yan slowly reached over and flicked it away. She mouthed a 'thank you' that looked like a prayer.
They were halfway through when the ground started to vibrate.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
"Is that a heartbeat?" Lieya whispered.
"No," Xiao Yan said, his eyes narrowing. "That's footsteps."
Out of the darkness ahead, a massive shape moved. It wasn't a spider. It was a human—or it used to be. It was one of the demon disciples, his body twisted and covered in black scales. He was holding a glowing purple orb.
"He's waking them up on purpose!" Shuya cursed, standing up.
The demon saw them and grinned. "Lord Shen Yuan said there were rats in these tunnels. Die in the dark!"
He smashed the orb on the ground. A high-pitched screech echoed through the cave, shattering the silence. Above them, thousands of red eyes snapped open at once.
"Xiao Yan, do something!" Jinyao screamed as the first wave of spiders dropped.
Xiao Yan stood up, red sparks starting to crackle around his boots. "Lieya, burn the floor! Jinyao, shields up! We're running!"
"What about the Mother?" Shuya yelled over the sound of a thousand scuttling legs.
Xiao Yan looked into the dark abyss at the end of the tunnel, where two giant, basketball-sized red eyes were slowly glowing to life.
"We're gonna need a bigger boat," Xiao Yan muttered, grabbing Jinyao's hand and sprinting straight toward the monster.
To be continued!!!