Chapter 33: Cobwebs and Rot

Our slow, careful steps carried us inside. The uneven, cracked stones caused us to lose our balance several times.

"Well, this is disappointing." Rina mumbled as she cast a spell and illuminated our surroundings. We were standing in a large room. I could see remnants of furniture beneath the thick layer of dust and filth. The creature's nest was at the centre of the room: a large pile of dry leaves, rotten cloth, and long wooden twigs.

"That's… almost comical." Rina mumbled. "It looks like a sparrow's nest."

"An oversized, cursed, deadly one." I said with a chuckle. Looking around, I noticed a small door to the side. "Look;" I approached the wooden door. After a moment's hesitation, I attempted to push it, only to see it fall apart as soon as I touched it.

"At least it's open." Rina said with a shrug. "Come on, let's see what's in there. Alex-" She paused and looked back. "Alex?"

The tall, reliable snake woman was standing at the entrance. Her face was pale as her gaze seemed focused on the ceiling. Something had scared her breathless. Fear gripped my heart as I followed her gaze. We were spread out; Rina was standing at the centre of the room. If anything jumped us, we'd be at a severe disadvantage.

"Spiderwebs?" I mumbled as I stared at a fairly large web hanging from the ceiling. It was about the size of my chest. The silky strands of it were just barely visible under Rina's spell.

"Oh no…" Rina mumbled as she facepalmed. "Alex, why don't you wait for us outside?"

The other woman glanced at us as blood rushed to her face. "I- I'm sorry." She said with a pained voice. Her hands were visibly shaking. I smiled and shook my head.

"It's fine. Besides, you'll be making sure nothing can ambush us from behind, so it all works out."

"Yeah." She said with a shaky voice as she almost ran back outside.

"I'm sorry about that." Rina said with a faint smile. "It's arachnophobia."

I shrugged. "It's not something to apologise for. Are you sure you're ok with spiders and dark places though?"

She nodded with a bright smile. "Don't worry about me. Let's go." She gestured me to lead the way. With a nod, I stepped through the destroyed door, into a dark, damp, and narrow corridor. I could hear the wind whistling through the cracks on the wall. Hesitant, I stepped forward as Rina's steps sounded from behind me.

We didn't have to spend long walking as it soon opened up to a small, cramped room. All sorts of items littered the floor. The walls were lined up with what probably used to be bookshelves. I could see a few intact books, though I couldn't quite make out their titles because of the thick layer of dust and the cobwebs spanning entire walls.

"I'm glad Alex didn't come in here." Rina mumbled as she walked past me to inspect the books. I nodded and looked around. Something felt off but I couldn't quite put my finger on in. "Hey, Kai." Rina's voice sounded. "Do you happen to be able to read this?"

I approached her with raised eyebrows and looked at the book she was pointing at. It was a little hard to make out the writing from beneath the cobwebs. "Dorith's Interpretation of Magic." I read text on the cover. "Why?"

Rina flinched, then shook her head. "It's a bit difficult to see in this dim light." She quickly brushed past me and grabbed one of the debris on the ground. "Look, some of these are still intact."

She showed me a golden candelabra. "It might be worth something. Let's collect whatever we can." I nodded and got to work. Soon, we had over a hundred miscellaneous items stored in our inventories. We didn't try to take any of the remaining books as they'd surely disintegrate if we even so much as touched them.

"Well, I don't think there's anything of value left in here." Rina said after a moment's hesitation. "I thought I'd sensed something magical but maybe I was mistaken." She seemed eager to leave. I couldn't help but wonder, was she also wary of dark places and spiderwebs?

I hesitated, a little voice in the back of my mind was telling me that something was still off. There was still something to be discovered in here. I glanced at the little pile of junk at the centre of the room. Since it stank of rot, we hadn't really touched it. "Rina, do you mind waiting for a minute?" I asked as I carefully reached towards the pile.

"Sure but… Are you really going to touch that?" She asked with disgust in her voice. I nodded and held my breath. I didn't want to breathe too much of this stuff. I carefully pushed the rotten stuff aside, searching for something. I didn't know what I was searching for, nor did I know why I was searching for something. But the one thing I had learned in my life was to trust my gut feeling. I wasn't about to forget that lesson now.

I stopped when my fingers touched a cold, metal thing. After a moment's hesitation, I clenched my fingers around it and pulled it up. It was a thin, delicate chain made from a shiny, silver coloured metal. It was about three meters long. There was an equally delicate clasp on one end of it and a simple hook on the other.

"What's this for?" I mumbled in surprise as I lifted it up.

"Kai, put it down!" Rina suddenly shouted. I flinched as I felt a tingling sensation at the tip of my fingers. Dark lightning crackled on the chain, then jumped on my hand and arm. I felt it dance on my body, yet I felt no pain. Fear gripped my throat. What the hell was this? My fingers were clenched shut around the chain, I couldn't let go of it, no matter how much I tried.

A short moment passed, then the lightning disappeared. I threw the chain on the ground and jumped back, towards the corner of the room. "What the hell was that?" I shouted in panic.

Rina stared at me in disbelief. "I have no idea."