I awoke slowly, my wounds aching as I stretched. With a quick vault, I dropped silently to the floor, but I had forgotten that I was up in the air, resulting in my landing wrong, slamming both knees into the stone floor. I covered my mouth to keep from screaming, tears escaping my clenched eyes. I stood, and stumbled to the fountain, thankful that the metal hadn't made a noise on impact, but had absorbed none of the shock.

One more bruise to accompany the others. I feel like a fool, as these bruises were all entirely my own fault, and only one was from combat. I held myself up on the fountain, waiting for the pain to go away, tears flowing freely from my pain and frustration, why in the hell did I assume this would be a simple path just because of how plain the envelope had been? I had never realised how conceted I've been up until now, how stupid I really have been.

I began to crumble back to the floor, tempted just to give up. What are my chances of actually making it out of here alive? I already knew from that petrified kinderfalk that nobody will be stepping in to save me, they will let me die down here. Just what kind of psychopathic group have I signed up for!? I want to go home already!

I began to quietly sob into my palm, my tears leaving crimson streaks, and dropping into the fountains water. As I watched, the water began to grow black, and thicken to a consistency similar to tar. Now I don't even have a fresh water source! In frustration, I pounded the floor with my free hand, stopping only when my hand hurt too much to continue. I hugged my knees, still covering my mouth, my body shaking with silent sobs.

It took some time to calm myself down to the point that I could lower my hand, but I still had no idea what to do now. Yesterday I just followed the motions, but today the ignored emotions hit full force as soon as I woke up. Now I couldn't think clearly, fear crippling my reasoning, apathy coloring my thoughts, and instinct driving me forward. Despite the storm in my mind, something deep in the core of my heart urged me forward despite the hardships.

I tried to focus on that urge, but I wasn't a reachmen of the untamed north, it kept slipping from my focus as the fear and apathy struggled for dominance in my head. I felt that if I didn't manage to grasp this urge, I was going to die down here, and forgotten. Finally, I grasped it with all my will, and two memories came to the forefront of my mind, one of my brother, and the other of Bulwark.

The fear and apathy faded into the background as the image of a small puppy in my younger hands fills my thoughts. The feeling of his warm shivering body in my arms, the smell of his fur as I hugged him gently, muttering a small promise to this small puppy... Then the form of a strong willed boy fighting off a group of children who had been throwing rocks at me, getting pummeled himself, but refusing to stay down... I may have failed one, but the other I must be there for when he finds hard times.

I wiped the crimson tears from my eyes, and forced myself to stand. I will get out of here, because that is the only way to be there for my brother. I picked up the items that fell with me, and limped down one of the many passageways, going forth to face whatever may await within this damned labyrinth.

As the pain dulled, my stride normalised, I didn't check the wind now, as that would only lead me back to the basilisk. For now I head in what I recall as the opposite direction, though with these winding passages it was more of a wondering route. I was much more cautious now, straining my ears for every little noise, and my eyes for any possible tell-tale signs for the likes of traps and monsters. That being said, I wasn't a trained hunter, or scout.

The back of my head was slammed into the floor as my foot was yanked up by a vine. My vision blurred as I was dazed by the impact, the world going upside down. I clutched the back of my head with a hiss of pain, knowing instantly that this was a leg snare. However, as my vision returned, I realised I wasn't left swinging back and forth, but rather I'm being carried up a shaft I had been passing under, already sixteen men up.

I looked up, and saw a plant monster, some varient of the Lignum Messorem that can be found deep in the forest's, this one lacking any leafs, and growing upside down, still a good thirty men higher than my current position. I quickly tried to cut myself free, my short sword slicing through the vine easily, causing myself to drop. I was expecting it this time though, and rolled with the impact, rolling out from under that shaft. Given how easy that was, it was either meant to be a warning, or purely there to be an annoying trap.

I dusted myself off, and retrieved my short sword, which I tossed away to keep from hurting myself in the roll. But before I had time to turn around, another vine latched onto my ankle again, dragging me back to the shaft. I managed to avoid slamming my face against the floor and siged, these stupid things were hidden under a massive patch of moss under the shaft.

I cut myself free before it could lift me into the air, and tried to look around for where the vines lay hidden. Laying down, not moving, I peered around for signs of the vines, seeing the spot this latest vine had been hidden, looking similar to when you pull a rope up out of the ground. I couldn't make a damned thing out... I tried to crawl forward, but this only caused my wrist to get caught instead, turning me around before I could cut free. Now I am facing the wrong way ontop of everything else.

In a fit, I sliced the ground infront of me, trying to cut the vines hidden under the moss. I stood up, and made to walk away, but this time a vine that had been following the wall had snagged my ankle yet again! That is when it hit me. Since there are monsters in this labyrinth, if your being chased, getting snagged by one of these things could well spell your death.

I slashed myself free once more, and tried to burn the moss, however it was so damp I barely singed the tops off, nevermind the vines hiding underneath. This trap may not be inherently deadly, but so far it's annoying as hell. On this attempt, I kept cutting the moss in my way in a circle around myself every pace or so, slowly making my way to freedom.

I finally stepped past the boundries of the moss patch, and kept walking, checking the tip of the short sword for dulling, given I had just used it to cut against stone. Unfortunately, this meant that I didn't see the giant web before I walked through it, causing it to fall over me like a net. I looked at it, sticking to me where ever it made contact, kept out of my eyes by my horns. I tried to shake it off, causing it to break apart and stick elsewhere. Looking around, I found myself in a passage way completely covered in webbing, as fine as hairs. Lifting a foot, I found webbing sticking to my feet, lifting away from the stones.

If I had panicked, I would have quickly found myself wrapped up in a self made caccoon, trapped for the spider to eat. I burned the webbing off, careful to avoid setting the whole place ablaze, not feeling like testing my fire resistance. Though my own magic won't harm me, the effects it causes sure as hell can. Fires lit by magical flames are not considered part of the magic generated, even if the flames themselves were magical... or, as I've been reminded of earlier, a concussive blast from a spell will still throw me against a wall.

I made my way forward, keeping an eye out for the thicker strands known to be able to stop a lesser dragon mid-flight. I considered gathering up some silk to turn into a cast, or some kind of gloves, maybe even some bracers, at the very least, the stuff would make a good bit of padding to put under the knee caps. Sold on the idea, I began to gather up the silk with careful movements, using dirt to keep it from sticking where I didn't want it, into pads similar in looks to wash towels, tucking them into the knee caps. After a quick thought I also got some elbow padding, though the gloves proved too intricate for now.

After gathering up more silk for later use, I stuffed it into my backpack, discovering the lamp had shattered at some point. As now wasn't the time, I left it as is, and continued on my way down the web covered tunnels, the silk making small snapping sounds whenever I moved. As movement began to grow more difficult, I looked down and noticedthat the silk which once clung to the floor, now sat about three fingers above it, in a similar fashion to snow. I may very well be heading twoards the middle of this section.

The silk now came up to my knees, feeling around tentatively with the claws at the tips of my sabatons. This had been going on for some time, when I felt something bite my shin, but thanks to the greaves I didn't feel a thing. Leaping back, I found a white arachnid the size of my head latched onto my leg, with legs tipped with small barbed claws, and an abdomen twice the length of the main body, but long, and tapering to a two pronged tip. Altogether this thing had a leg span as wide as I was tall, and a body that would cover from my face to my hips, with fangs like daggers trying to chew through my leg.

With a shiver of what could have happened if I hadn't had the greaves, I stomped on it's head, green sludge oozing out onto my sabatons. This was a Arachnid Maximus Minor hatchling, and this meant there could be as many as four hundred of these things hidden under these webs, and that is just from a single mother. Im going to have to burn an area around myself to avoid another sneak attack like this, but again, that was dangerous... maybe acid will work. I try to recall any acid spells I know.

This was going well, with any hatchlings caught in the area beginning to melt, causing them to scamper off deeper into the webbing. It was slow going, seeing as I have to wait every eight or so shots to recover, and had to wait for the acid to neutralize itself, but I haven't had another hatchling bite my legs yet, so I'm happy.

"acidum infundere rores", splash, sizzle, and repeat.

My thoughts began to wander as I repeated the motions. I remembered reading somewhere that the reason why Arcane magic was so difficult to use when compared to divine, a largely beleived theory was due to the assistance of a diety, with Arcane magic requiring one to force their own will apon the world. This of course led to many theories, such as the possibility of having another entity assist with the magic, which was conidered a taboo topic until the discovery of the Numeran desert tribes. Their "holy men" prayed to spirits, as opposed to gods, yet were able to produce similar spells to ones who followed a full blown diety. That being said, both mages and priests claim that it "feels" different from conventional divine or arcane magic.

Well, whatever the reason is, this was tiring work. Maybe I should work my way back to the domed room, the water may be ruined, but that root hammock is the safest spot ive seen in this place... of course I possibly should have marked the way here, now that I think about it... Damn it!