Chapter 19 – What I must do

Luna is in shock, at least that makes two of us.

"King Mothr, Luna implores you to reconsider. This human is brave, but the spiders are a formidable force. Luna fears for his life."

"Since when do we fear for a human's life?" The king asks, "The fate of your kin is in the balance, Luna. This human has the courage to face the spiders, and we shall provide him with the means to do so."

Luna's wings tremble, a visible sign of her distress. She glances at me, her expression a mix of concern and silent pleading. I wonder what the heck she expects me to do, because I am even more lost than she is.

What should I do? There's no way I can go back up, there is also no way for me to beg the spider's queen for gear … just showing myself there means certain death, and since she sent her crooks my way, well things haven't been left on good terms.

There is no way to go up, there is no way to survive in this layer. I need to go down, I told myself I wouldn't stop at the first problem before descending. I can't give up so easily.

"If I help you, would this grant me any gear I want?" I ask, the king nods.

"My people are known for their trustworthiness. I can assure you that if you were to help us, any of those so called gears, will be yours."

There will be enough for Mila as well, this might be enough to convince her to help me in this impossible task. Yet something is unsettling about this deal with the king… he says his people are trustworthy but how am I supposed to know that? And the sheen in his eyes… I look at Luna, hoping to read certainty in her eyes – it would for sure make me feel better. Luna looks about to throw up.

Great.

"I accept your terms," I say, my voice steady despite the storm of uncertainty within me.

The king shifts his weight on his throne, amusement written all over his eyes. "Well then, my people will release the gear when I will receive the heads of the spider king and queen."

I nod, nausea is building up within me. I push the feeling away, determined to look in control of the situation that I was never in controlled with. The king laughs, reading me like a book, then dismisses me with a shake of his hand.

"Luna, follow the human and make sure he does as requested!"

Luna nods, and before I know it I am escorted outside the throne room and into the never ending corridors.

A weird silence falls between us, and I almost think I have done wrong to her.

"Luna doesn't like this," Luna says.

I swallow hard and nod. I don't like it either.

"Luna's king wants to end the war," she says with a sigh, the cave surrounding us now is a blur of small moths, wings and lanterns lighting the path. Luna stops in front of one in particular, and I do the same. Her pupils seems to dilate while looking at the soft glow emanating from the green lantern.

"War?" I ask, trying to bring her back and get information from her.

She nods, still lost in the light. "Adonis may think the war is not in Luna's kingdom, but it is. Luna's kin keep losing moths every day, eaten by the spider queen herself and her minions. They hunt Luna's kind and tear Luna's people limb from limb."

I have no idea of an ongoing war, but I must admit the traps should have been a dead givaway.

"Why is your king hoarding the gears? What use would he have of them?"

Luna stirs, suddenly aware of my presence. She turns and looks at me with shock.

"Because Luna's king doesn't want the spider folks to gain any advantage…"

"But the spider people won't gain any advantages even if I were to use the gear," I scramble for words, trying my best to convince the beauty in front of me.

She looks around confused, scared. She won't talk here, not freely.

I grab her by her fluffy arm and pull her in one of the many rooms carved in the stone dungeon. She whimpers, I worry if she is scared.

I make sure there is no one in the room with us, and when I do so I look back at her to check if she is scared. To my surprise, she is blushing.

I let go of her, mumbling an apology.

"I didn't intend to forcefully take you in the darkness…"

"Luna prefers the light," she whispers.

Light… there must be a lantern in here, right? I look around, searching for a source of light until I find an old dusty one. I blow air on it, under the watchful eye of Luna, and then I try to search for a switch to turn in on. It's one of those old ones my father used to light in my room, casting away the shadows that scared me to death.

The room bathes in a soft, warm glow as the lantern flickers to life. Luna looks around, seemingly more at ease with the gentle illumination.

"Why does your king fear the spider folks gaining an advantage?" I press on, hoping Luna might reveal more in this secluded space.

She hesitates, her wings fluttering nervously. "Luna isn't sure. The war has been going on for generations. Luna's kin and the spiders fight over territories, and many have lost their lives… but Luna doesn't know the specifics. Only the king does."

I ponder her words, realizing there's much more complexity to the situation than I initially thought. "So, by killing the spider royals, I'd be indirectly aiding your people in this war?"

Luna nods, her gaze fixed on the lantern. "But Luna doesn't want more bloodshed. Luna wishes for the war to end, for her kin to be free from the constant fear of the spiders."

What Luna wants can't be achieved by words alone, I fear. This war, or whatever it is really, has been going on for long and somehow it sounds like I am the perfect scape goat for it. Suddenly, I feel used.

I want to ask Luna if she can sneak me some gears, she seems quite easy to convince… but I restrain myself from doing so. I know what it feels to be taken advantage of and I don't desire to put her into a difficult situation with her own king. Instead, I focus on the immediate task at hand – confronting the spider king and queen.

There is no way around it, if I want to continue my suicide journey I must retrieve the gears. To do so, I have to kill the spider king and queen.