Zoe and Alex collapsed shortly after entering their room at Belmont Inn. The pair requested a wakeup call at 10pm, leaving them several hours to reach Valdis Prison. The room was small and furnished with nothing but a bed, a nightstand, a dresser, a small sofa, and a coffee table. Zoe slept on the bed while Alex took the sofa. Their slumber was peaceful and uninterrupted.
There was a knock on the door. “Wakeup call! 10pm!”
Immediately, Zoe jumped out of bed and gathered her things. “Wake up Alex,” she said, “it’s time to go.”
Alex’s eyes slowly opened. He stretched his arms and legs, letting out a mighty yawn. “Already?” He got up and started equipping himself for the journey ahead.
They exited the building and headed toward the city limit. As they did, Alex removed a small, black rectangular tin from his pocket and opened it. Inside was a pair of spectacles. “I’ve never seen you wear those before,” Zoe remarked.
Alex put on the glasses. “It’s a little project I was working on a while back when I was studying enchantment. They let me see in the dark; kind of like how you can with your natural Shadow ability.”
“That’ll be useful,” Zoe commented. “At first I was thinking I’d have to do all the fighting myself.” She smiled before looking straight forward. “They look good on you.” Alex was met with surprise at this remark. Before he could open his mouth, she added, “Alright, it’s time to get serious. So zip it and keep your eyes open. Aria’s wilderness can be a real hell-zone at night.”
As the two passed the last farm of Belmont Village, Alex leaned close to Zoe’s ear. “Those Knowms over there are watching us,” he whispered.
“Ignore them and keep walking,” she quietly replied. “They can’t stop us. Leaving town is dangerous, but it isn’t illegal.”
They continued out of the village, crossing an emerald green field with little trouble, save a few imps, and entered a large forested area at the foot of a small mountain. They proceeded cautiously with their weapons drawn, the leaves softly crunching beneath their feet with each step. Crickets chirped, and were accompanied by the distinct sound of an owl resting on a branch nearby, in search of its next meal.
“More imps ahead,” Alex softly whispered. He could see four of them, scurrying behind some distant bushes in preparation for a sneak attack, obviously unaware of his and Zoe’s capability to view them in the night’s veil. The two stopped walking. Alex leaned closer to Zoe. “Should we approach or attack from here?”
“I’ll handle it,” she softly replied. “Stay here. Back me up if it looks like I’m in trouble.” Holding her scythe with her left hand, she quietly conjured a shadow orb with the other. “Umbra orbis.”
Zoe calmly approached the imps. They stayed motionless, waiting for her to pass between them before striking. She was about halfway between Alex and the lurking beasts when she suddenly hurled the orb, landing a perfect strike on the nearest imp’s head. It fell to the ground as the others charged her. Gripping her scythe with both hands, she ran toward the creatures. The imps were apparently perplexed by this action and slowed their pace.
With one broad swipe, Zoe sliced the first imp across his entire torso. It collapsed in agony while she swiftly kicked the second one to the ground. The third imp attempted to bite her other leg, but was promptly dazed as Zoe used the snath of her weapon to jab it between its eyes. Having an advantage over her foes, she quickly finished them off with a few additional swings of her scythe.
Turning back to Alex, she gave him an ‘all clear’ signal. Together, they delved deeper into the dark forest. Unfortunately, they hadn’t made it much farther when Zoe, who was walking slightly ahead of Alex, suddenly came to a stop as though she’d hit an invisible wall. Alex came to a halt next to her. As soon as Zoe had hit the ‘wall,’ it became visible. Only it wasn’t a wall at all. It was a massive spider web.
“Ew, gross!” Zoe shouted, trying to back away from the web. However, her attempts were unsuccessful as the web continued to hold her in place. “Ah, crap! I can’t move! Ugh, and it’s in my hair!”
“Just stay calm,” said Alex, lifting his sword. Looking up, he could see a large spider-like creature slowly crawling down the web to Zoe. Its bottom-half resembled an arachnid, but its torso and head were similar to an imp’s. In addition to eight legs, it also had two skinny arms on its upper-half, both equipped with razor-sharp claws. A pair of fangs jutted from its upper lip as it made its way down the web. Its eyes were a deep glowing red.
Trying not to panic Zoe, Alex didn’t mention the oncoming threat and quickly sliced at the web in an attempt to free his companion. However, the moment the blade made contact it became ensnared in the sticky trap as well. He tried with all of his might to remove it, but to no avail. “Crap, crap!!” The panic in his voice was apparent.
Zoe, unable to turn around or look up due to her current predicament, could tell by his tone that something was wrong. “Please don’t tell me there’s a giant spider getting ready to drink my blood.”
Alex let go of the sword. Hastily taking a few steps back, he quickly raised his index finger over his head, “Glacies stiria telum!” a razor-sharp icicle conjured just inches above his finger. Pointing to the spider, the frozen projectile penetrated its upper chest area. The strange creature let out a scream and squirmed wildly.
Zoe’s eyes widened as she heard the noise. Using her arms in a desperate attempt to escape the web’s grasp, they both became stuck as well. “Dammit! Ugh, I hate spiders!”
Alex bolted to collect a branch on the ground nearby. Using it, he swiped the arachnid off of its web as it continued to squirm in distress. “Glacies orbis!” He threw an ice orb at the spider which let out another shrill cry. “Glacies orbis!” He threw another as the creature slowed its twitching. He watched it carefully, to ensure its demise.
“Is it dead?” Zoe asked.
“Yeah,” Alex replied, “I think that did it.”
Zoe tried again to escape the web’s grasp. “Great. Now how the hell am I supposed to get out of this thing?”
Alex thought for a moment. “Hold still, I’ve got an idea.” He placed both of his hands on the hilt of the sword, still stuck to the web. Closing his eyes, he focused.
“Well?!” Zoe shouted impatiently.
“Just give me a minute,” Alex replied. After concentrating for a brief period, he exclaimed, “Glacies gladius fascino!” His sword’s blade glowed light-blue as the surrounding web slowly froze. With one swift kick, he shattered it to pieces. “Yes! It worked!”
Now freed, Zoe inspected herself for remnants of the web. She turned around to see Alex holding the glowing sword. “An enchantment, huh?”
He nodded. “I channeled my center’s energy into the blade and used it to freeze the web.” The sword ceased glowing, “It drains me pretty heavily, so it’s another one of those tricks I have to avoid in most cases.”
“That’s pretty smart,” she remarked. “You’ve got talent.” Alex couldn’t help but smile upon receiving the compliment as Zoe turned her attention to the spider’s corpse. “If you weren’t here, that might not have ended so well.” She looked back at Alex. “I’ll handle the next few monsters. You should save the rest of your magic for when we get closer.”
Continuing their trek, the duo encountered numerous beasts before eventually reaching the forest’s edge. They now found themselves at the base of the small mountain they’d seen earlier. “Valdis Prison is near the peak,” said Zoe. “I hope you’re up for a little rock climbing.” The pair put away their weapons and made sure their belongings were secure. Approaching the mountain, they slowly made their way up the steep incline.