It hurts. Literally hurts my cheeks to smile this much.
In front of her, a little girl was crying hot tears. Maybe seven years old. Messy chestnut hair. Red and puffy cheeks.
“A-and then…” The girl hiccuped between sobs. “Spiders came out! As big as me and my brother!”
Cassian’s smile wavered dangerously.
Spiders. As big as a child.
NO.
“My brother protected me,” the girl continued, her small hands clutching Cassian’s sleeve. “He told me to run. But he didn’t come back. He DIDN’T COME BACK!”
She burst into renewed sobs.
Cassian felt something break inside her.
Never. NEVER am I helping this girl.
No desire to encounter giant spiders. Why do giant spiders exist in this world? This world is already terrifying enough WITHOUT giant spiders.
She quickly imagined possible scenarios.
Option one: I go save the brother. I get captured. Trapped in sticky webs. Unable to move while spiders crawl over me.
Option two: I get my innards sucked out like soup.
Her stomach turned.
Spider webs. Tentacles. ANYTHING that restricts my movements.
HARD PASS.
“Listen,” she said softly, awkwardly patting the girl’s head. “I’m going to get help, okay? Competent adults. Who know what they’re doing.”
Not me. Definitely not me.
“CASSIAN!”
She turned.
Hiro, Lena, and Lucia were approaching, smiling. They were chatting animatedly—probably about their conversation with the traveling merchant they had just left.
“What’s going on?” Lucia asked, kneeling beside the girl.
The girl explained. Again. With even more heart-wrenching details.
To Cassian’s great despair, their expressions changed immediately.
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“That’s horrible!” Lucia placed a hand on her heart. “This poor child!”
“She’s too young,” Lena murmured, clenching her fists. “Way too young to know the feeling of losing a loved one.”
“We can’t ignore this emergency,” Hiro declared firmly.
A floating window appeared before him—invisible to the others.
Hiro didn’t hesitate. He accepted.
“We’ll find him,” he promised the girl. “Your brother will come back.”
Cassian felt her soul leave her body.
“I was just about to ask you to help the girl,” she said quickly, forcing her smile to stay in place.
The girl led them through a winding path—between trees, along a stream, to a small clearing.
In the center, an opening in the rock. Dark. Unwelcoming.
The cave.
Cassian stared at it with disgust.
“Okay,” she said loudly, “I’ll stay with the girl. At the entrance. To protect her. And reassure her.”
Someone has to do it. Clearly.
“That’s kind of you,” Lucia said with a grateful smile.
Internally, Cassian was screaming. I’M WILLING TO DO ANYTHING EXCEPT FACE GIANT SPIDERS HEAD-ON.
And caves. She hated caves.
“We’ll be quick,” Hiro assured.
Lena drew her sword. “Go in. Save the kid. Get out. Simple.”
They entered the cave, their figures quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Cassian sat on a rock at the entrance. The girl sat beside her, sniffling softly.
Ten minutes passed.
“They’re taking long,” Cassian muttered.
Twenty minutes.
“Really long.”
Thirty minutes.
“What’s their problem?”
The girl looked at her with teary eyes.
“They’re fine,” Cassian assured. “Probably just… lost. Or beating up spiders. Lots of spiders.”
Forty-five minutes.
Cassian stood up abruptly. “Okay. This is ridiculous.”
They were just supposed to go save the boy. In. Out. What’s taking them so long?
She looked at the girl. “I’m going to check inside. Quick.”
“You’ll come back?”
“Of course.”
If I see a spider, I run in the opposite direction.
The entrance was narrow. Cassian had to sidestep slightly, her hair brushing the rocky walls.
Darkness enveloped her immediately.
Then her eyes adjusted.
Spider webs hung here and there—thin, almost translucent. Cassian avoided them carefully, walking in the middle of the tunnel.
Don’t touch anything. Don’t touch ANYTHING.
The tunnel widened gradually, opening into a larger chamber.
Two paths.
Cassian stopped, frowning.
“Great. A maze. Because it wasn’t annoying enough.”
She looked at the left path. Dark. Silent.
Then the right path.
Spiders. Dead. Scattered on the ground.
Cassian approached cautiously, staring at the corpses.
“This is… huge.”
About the size of a large dog. Some were cleanly sliced—clearly by a blade. Others were crushed, their carapaces broken.
And there, near the wall, smaller ones. Barely fist-sized.
A path of corpses.
“Thanks Hiro, Lena, and Lucia,” she murmured. “You marked the way for me.”
She followed the corpses, walking carefully between the spider bodies.
The tunnel continued. Sloped downward slightly. The walls became smoother.
Then she reached a chamber.
Empty.
Cassian stopped, looking around.
Slits. In the walls. Vertical. Wide—just enough for a head, shoulders.
The rock was smooth. Polished. Like worn by something constantly rubbing.
“Okay. Just have to check the other tunnel.”
She turned around.
Something gleamed faintly in one of the slits.
Cassian stopped.
It might be valuable.
She approached, leaning slightly. The slit was at chest height.
I can just… take a peek.
She leaned forward, sliding her head into the slit. Her shoulders followed. Then her chest.
Her fingers brushed the shiny object.
Spider webs. In a ball.
“Seriously?”
She tried to back out.
Her feet no longer touched the ground.
“What?”
The slit was sloped. Downward.
“No. No no NO.”
She froze, understanding the situation.
The upper half of her body was in the slit. The lower half outside. If she lifted her legs, she’d slide completely inside.
The slit’s walls pressed against her sides, preventing her from pulling back.
“SHIT!”
She tried to push herself back. Her hands searched for a grip on the smooth walls.
Nothing.
“This isn’t real. This ISN’T REAL.”
She was stuck.
Not stuck in webs. Not sucked by a spider.
Just… stuck in a stupid rock slit.
Cassian sighed, feeling the ridiculousness of the situation.
Nothing ever goes as planned.
Time passed slowly.
Cassian tried to keep her legs still, muscles trembling from the effort.
If I move too much, I slide completely in.
“Someone…” she murmured. “Anyone…”
She hoped the group would find her.
But at the same time…
NOT IN THIS POSITION. Please, not in this humiliating position.
She already imagined their faces. Lena laughing. Lucia trying not to laugh. Hiro…
No. Don’t think about that.
Footsteps suddenly echoed.
Cassian stiffened.
One person. From the rhythm of the steps.
Please, Lena. Or Lucia. Either one.
The footsteps approached.
Stopped.
Cassian held her breath.
Moment of truth.
“Cassian?”
Hiro’s voice.
No.
NO.
WHY HIM?!
The embarrassment was total. Absolute. Cassian wanted to disappear. Dissolve into the air. Cease to exist.
