The Forgotten Faithful: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 2) by Cajiao, Jez (little red riding hood ebook TXT) 📕

and it wasn’t a sight I’d ever wanted to see… I found that, apart from a necklace of bones, a few coppers, and the small wand, it had nothing. I didn’t waste time checking the armored goblin over; I just stood and called out that when one of them had the strength, I wanted the goblins searched for anything that could be salvaged. Then I headed to join Flux and the others. Bob had blocked off the far entrance to the room and was dragging another table to barricade another opening when I nodded to Flux.

“Let’s go do something stupid,” I said and walked into the hallway, all three following me closely.

Chapter Ten

“I…thank you, Jax,” Flux said to me in a quiet but firm voice.

“I’ll not let some kids die if I can help it,” I muttered, and got a nod in return.

“Cheena, scout ahead, please.” Flux requested in a low tone, and as she started off, he spoke to me again. “We’ll add this to our debt to you, Lord Jax. It will not be forgotten.” I just shrugged, creeping forward as quietly as I could.

The corridor was short and filled with debris and literal crap, the goblins clearly having no concept of hygiene, and it reeked. At the end was a cross-connecting corridor that led to the left and right, and Cheena had barely paused when she reached it. When we caught up, we saw the left had been clogged with collapsed masonry, while the right led into a square room with a low fire burning in the far-right corner.

We snuck up to the doorway and peered inside, seeing nothing moving, and a second doorway that led to the left. We took that one, entering a second small room that was similarly abandoned. As I started forward towards the far door, Bane grabbed me and yanked me back hard.

Before I could ask him what was going on, a hand was clapped over my mouth and Flux was by my side, staring into my eyes, waiting.

I had a moment of panic; was this a betrayal? Had I given myself up to be slaughtered like a lamb? Then I saw movement in the far corner of the room, and I focused on it with a frown.

Flux, seeing that I was aware something was wrong, nodded, and Bane released me. I crouched and waited, staring at the pile of debris that I was sure had moved, and after a second, another pile nearby gave a twitch as something moved in it.

I froze as Bane hissed out a single word…

“Spiders!”

It was as though the word was a call to arms, and suddenly a dozen spiders the size of cats erupted from hiding across the room, barreling towards us with a horrific skittering sound, dozens of chitinous legs tapping across the floor. I backed up straight away. I wasn’t scared of spiders; I just hated the horrible bastards. They made my skin crawl…and the sight of a dozen of the largest ones I had ever seen heading straight for me…nope!

I lashed out with my naginata at the nearest, while Flux and Bane moved up to either side of me. I cut through a handful of legs on one side of my target, sending it flying, and a gout of ichor poured out.

An angry chittering rose, and the remaining spiders started moving faster, I felt panic rearing its ugly head as they sped up, and I slashed out again and again, screaming involuntarily when one bunched its legs up and leapt through the air at me, flying at my face.

I had a long view of its approach, legs spread wide, foul head facing me, and long fangs extended… when Bane smashed it from the air with one of his spears.

The spider hit the wall with a crunching sound and fell to the ground, its legs spasming before curling up in death.

I took an involuntary step back again, before gritting my teeth and stepping forward again, slashing and stabbing. The tip of my naginata punched through the chitinous shell of the last spider and glanced off the ground below it, filling the air with a scraping sound.

I panted, searching around, and seeing nothing left to kill, and I spun on Flux instead.

“What the hell was that?!?” I snarled at him. “Where’s Cheena? She’s supposed to be warning us about shit like this!” Flux bowed his head in apology and quickly replied.

“She wouldn’t have considered this something to warn us of, Lord Jax. All of our kind can sense the spiders and their kin. We can generally slip through without them sensing us, or kill them with ease, usually. With only a dozen, she would have considered them a minor annoyance and simply continued on. I didn’t consider it myself, until you almost walked into their trap…” He shook his head and clapped Bane on the shoulder. “If not for Bane, you could have been seriously injured. Our debt to you climbs further. I take full responsibility…I…”

“Oh, fuck off,” I snapped, turning away from the room, and wiping my hand across my face, getting my breathing under control. After a couple of long seconds, I turned back to them, and spoke up quietly.

“I’m sorry, Flux, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I’ve got an… issue with creatures like that. Fucking SporeMother was the same, freaked me the hell out,” I said. I hadn’t let anyone know about it, hiding it even from Oracle so far, but I’d been having nightmares of fighting that damn thing ever since I’d killed it. I kept imagining it at full strength, capturing me and impregnating me with its spawn. Freaked me the funk out.

“SporeMother?” Flux asked, turning to face me again, ignoring the room ahead. Even Bane had jumped, spinning halfway around before he caught himself and turned back to watching the room ahead.

“Yeah…there was one in the Tower, fucking thing nearly killed me,” I muttered.

“You escaped it? Has it bred? The Tower has long been considered a site