Chapter 16 - Spiderwebs

The bug was much larger than regular mosquitos and dark grey in color.

They both stared at each other for a few heartbeats. And just as Erik was beginning to think this was some annoying insect native to the valley, the thing gave off a monstrous bellow—the kind that a warrior would make when diving into their final battle, seeking a glorious death.

For a moment, his mind could not reconcile how such a small bug could produce such an outrages roar, thinking that there was some sort of massive abomination nearby instead.

But it was none other than the insect, and it instantly dove right for him. Unable to react fast enough, the infernal bug drove its proboscis into his forearm. Right away, he felt that not only was his blood being drained but also his essence.

What kind of mosquito can drain essence! He was flabbergasted. This bug was not ordinary.

He slapped it down, killing it... or at least it should have died. Instead, it fell off his arm to the boat's floor, but a moment later flew towards his exposed skin again. Erik kept struggling against the thing, but no matter what, it simply did not want to die.

"What the hell is this!" he cursed.

Eventually, he smacked it into the water. And that seemed to do the trick. The thing just floated on the surface—buzzing but unable to take flight or swim.

“Finally,” he muttered, exhaling in annoyance.

But his sense of relief was quickly shattered when he heard buzzing again—a lot more buzzing.

The insufferable bug's roar had attracted the attention of the others.

He slowly turned his head towards the shore, and he saw a black cloud moving in his direction. Many, many, many more mosquitos were coming directly for him. And there were clouds forming across the entire shore of the lake.

“Shit!” Erik swore.

He was going to be drained dry in a heartbeat if he was caught by this calamity. Frantically, he looked around. The eastern bank of the lake wasn't far, but he didn't have enough time to reach it. These bugs would be upon him long before that. He also did not see any cover there either.

Erik's eyes moved towards the buzzing mosquito in the water again and then at the boat. Then, he had an idea.

He began rocking from left to right. And without too much effort, he capsized the boat, flipping it upside down in the lake. He also splashed in the water. It was cold and tasted horrible, like rotten eggs. He knew right away that he should avoid drinking any of it.

The cloud was almost upon him when he took a deep breath and moved underneath the upside-down boat.

The vessel began to slowly sink towards the bottom. Erik kept pace with it, breathing the air that was trapped inside of it.

It wasn’t long before his boots touched the muddy lakebed. In the water, the boat wasn’t as heavy, and it wasn’t hard for him to keep it from sinking completely.

He hadn’t gone down far—this part of the lake was only about a dozen feet deep. Now, he had a moment to think. His first priority was making sure the mosquitoes couldn’t reach him.

Taking a deep breath, he submerged his head, carefully watching the surface while keeping the boat from sinking further.

He could just barely make out the black clouds of buzzing horrors above him—but the insects didn’t dare touch the water.

For now, he was safe.

Moving back into his improvised air pocket, he knew he did not have too much time.

Erik decided that he should proceed closer to the shore before he figured out what to do next.

The closer he got to the shore, the thicker the plant life became. Often tying his legs up, and making the processes arduous. But step by step, he made his way across the bottom of the lake while carrying the boat.

Slowly, he reached a point where he almost broke the surface. He decided to risk another peek at the situation above.

From underneath the surface, it looked like the clouds of infernal bugs had dispersed. Carefully, he placed the boat on the lakebed. Then poked his head above the water, using the plants as cover, to make sure.

His eyes scanned the skies, but he saw almost none of the insects. There were, however, a lot more spiderwebs. They covered this part of the lake like an eerie blanket.

Erik saw that a number of the insufferable bugs were stuck to them. And no matter how much they buzzed, they could not extricate themselves from the white threads.

Seeing that the coast was clear, he swam to the shore. He wanted to get away from here as fast as possible in case these things returned.

Soaking wet, he reached the small beach, emerging where the wooden port used to be. In front of him was a small clearing with a few remnants of stone houses, which the decaying forest had almost swallowed.

Now that he could see it up close, every tree, stone, and vine was connected by spiderwebs.

The whole thing gave Erik the creeps. However, he had no choice but to push on and explore.

His gaze dropped to the ground beneath his feet. The small stretch of beach was covered in sand and scattered with small white rocks. He picked one up, finding it peculiar.

Huh… don’t these look like eggs? he thought.

Then it moved.

A shiver ran down his spine as realization dawned. They were eggs. An endless mass of mosquito eggs covered the lake’s bank. Heart pounding, he flung the one in his hand into the water, afraid it might hatch.

Most of them seemed… dead. But he wasn’t about to take any chances. He needed to leave as soon as possible.

First, however, he had to change his clothes. Otherwise, he was going to freeze to death.

Thankfully, his backpack had kept his things dry. He changed into fresh clothes and tied the wet ones into a bundle. Then broke off a branch from one of the nearby trees, and tied it to the piece of wood. This way, he could carry them until he found a place to camp and hang them to dry.

He then turned his attention to the stone houses. Closing in on them, he saw that there was nothing of value among them. At this point, they were just mostly heaps of stone.

He noticed that among the rubble, there were moss-covered and rusted carts and pickaxes.

These appear to have been storehouses, and the port was most likely used to transport the minerals back to the city... Which means the mines are most likely in the eastern part of the valley.

His gaze shifted toward the mountains in that direction. The dark mist had spread a little lower from the peaks since the morning, but it would take at least a few more days before it reached the base. He wasn’t sure due to the distance, but he thought he could see a few caves at their base, where the forest ended.

Perhaps I will be able to find a safe shelter there.

Hoping that there was a road leading there that would make the journey easier, he passed between the houses and saw that there was indeed a remnant of a path going towards the eastern part of the valley.

He still had some time before the night came, so he decided to take his chance.

Despite his exhaustion and the dilapidated state of the road, he made good progress. The road mostly cut straight through the forest for a while, and it was much easier to traverse than his earlier trek.

However, something was bothering him. The further he went, the more spiderwebs he saw—they were everywhere. At times, he even had to cut through them, which wasn’t easy.

The first time he was blocked, Erik took out his hatchet and simply tried to hack his way through. He also wanted to see what they were made of. Each web was half the thickness of a rope, and he figured that it shouldn't be too hard to cut them. Swinging with all his strength, his axe struck one of the webs, but it was incredibly elastic. The blade bounced back, leaving no mark.

He tried ripping them apart with his hands, but that was a mistake—they were incredibly sticky. As he struggled to free himself, his bundle of damp clothes accidentally fell onto some of the strands. Instantly, they softened and lost their adhesive grip.

Freed from the webs, he tried cutting them again. This time, his hatchet cleaved through with ease.

Bit by bit, he carved his way through the spiderwebs that barred his path.

After a while, the road started following a small stream. However, it became so derelict that Erik could only use the stream as a guide beyond a certain point.

He did try the water from the brook, and although it was much better than the lake it still had a foul taste.

Maybe it's cleaner up in the mountains.

His gaze moved to the ever-shifting dark mist that covered the peaks. He was hoping that he would not have to brave it to get more water, but he might have to.

As he advanced, the forest thinned, giving way to bare rock, and Erik found himself walking uphill.

With a bit of time left before sunset, Erik actually found one of the mines. However, he decided not to enter it.

Standing at the entrance of the abandoned excavation site, he got an unsettling feeling. The darkness inside of it was too... unnatural. No light penetrated the entrance. It was as if a curtain of darkness covered the opening in the mountain. His gut feeling was screaming at him that this was a bad idea.

Sighing with disappointment, he had no choice but to backtrack.

A little later, not far from where the road had ended, he found a hidden spot. Nestled between a few trees and draped in vines and spiderwebs, it was just large enough to set up his tent. Wasting no time, he got to work.

It didn’t take long, and as he finished, another idea struck him. Using his damp clothes, he cut down a handful of the surrounding webs and fashioned them into a makeshift cover for the entrance to his little hideout.

When he was done, he finally relaxed, ate some dry rations, and tucked himself under his blanket.

At last, he could rest. He managed to survive the first day inside the Whisper.