“I’m sorry, alright.” I apologized to Seralyn as I was cutting her loose with my pedipalps. They seemed to be immune to the sticky effects of the threads. “I do have to thank you for testing my tripwire, though.”

“You call that a tripwire?” Seralyn asked. “That’s a fucking death trap.”

I shrugged. “I guess I underestimated my own strength.”

I freed her from the silk and she picked up the rabbits she had dropped.

“Nice catch,” Velariah commented on the four rabbits.

“Thanks,” Seralyn said in a half-angry voice.

Seems I’d pissed her off more than I meant to. That was unintended. I was only joking when I said we’d leave her there.

“Look, I am sorry, alright,” I said as she walked to the cave already.

“It’s fine.” Seralyn simply shrugged it off and continued.

“Just leave it,” Velariah said when Seralyn was too far to hear her. “She doesn’t know when it’s a joke, even when she does it herself all the time. She’ll come around.”

I sighed and looked at the tripwire. With a bit of luck, I would be able to repair it without having to do the whole thing over again. I went to work and replaced the part of the line that Seralyn had unwillingly ruined. I connected the thread to the thread at the next tree and ran it all the way around, connecting the outer end to the wall next to the entrance of the cave.

I’d created a full circle now.

Draco finished cutting smaller logs from the tree he’d felled and carried them over to the cave, carefully stepping over the tripwire.

“Awww, poor Elania,” Velariah commented after I sighed again.

She dragged me down into a hug. “Does this help?”

“Hmm.” I let out as I closed my eyes. “A bit.”

“You know, when you were getting your new skin, I talked to Allina. She told me Seralyn hasn’t exactly led the easiest life. She didn’t get into details too much, but I think it’s one of the reasons why Seralyn has such trouble making friends.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” I said as I returned the hug.

“She is reliable. I am sure you and she can be good friends later down the line.”

“Hm, it’s going to take some time, I guess.”

“I heard you’ve got plenty of time,” Velariah said.

I chuckled. “I heard so too.”

“Also.” She patted her pack. “I got something to socialize.”

“No, you didn’t.” I smiled.

“Yup, I grabbed some papers, some pencils, and some dice while you weren’t looking.”

“Neat idea. There is still some time to kill before nightfall. I’m wondering if we can do anything else...”

“I don’t think so,” Velariah said. “We made sure the perimeter is secure, you even set up a very efficient tripwire alarm, we have a deterrent on the way to the large room. I don’t think there’s much else we can do. Draco got wood, Seralyn got food, so that’s solved as well. I think we’re good.”

“Hmmm.” I thought about the things she said and looked around.

There was probably something we could do that I’d forgotten about, but I really couldn’t think of anything at the moment.

“I guess I could web up the entrance completely...” I said half-jokingly.

“Well, you could make a few threads, I guess,” Velariah said. “I don’t see a downside.”

“Besides the fact I might steal your rabbit to make up for it? Not really.” I half laughed.

“Heh, we should be back in Dawnleaf tomorrow, you can eat all you want then.” Velariah chuckled.

“You really want that rabbit, don’t you?” I smiled.

“Actually, I am quite hungry. Let’s go eat something before intentionally losing at that game of yours to make Seralyn feel better.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Nah, let’s have her win for a bit and then destroy her.”

“That sounds like a plan,” I concluded the conversation before walking back into the cave with the elf.

I created some lines of threads around the opening while making sure there would be an opening that people could use when they’d have to go to the bathroom.

At least everyone was together now. They could all be made aware it was here…

I walked back into the central chamber to find that Draco had already set up a campfire. Seralyn was skinning the rabbits together with Nira, while Velariah sat down to drink.

I wondered for a moment whether the campfire would drain too much oxygen, but there were already torches around the edges of the room so I doubted it would become an issue. There was probably some sort of ventilation happening.

Velariah sat down with the other elf, took out a knife from her pack, and started on a rabbit of her own. I sat down near the middle where my line ended on the floor and put a leg on it as I observed the others do their work.

“That line of yours seems mighty convenient,” Draco commented as he prepared the fire to be cooked upon. He already had a couple of sticks carved out and was working on another to pierce the rabbits with.

“Yeap, and we had a proper test as well, although I doubt Seralyn enjoyed being the test subject.”

“I can confirm that it works well,” Seralyn said from across the campfire. “Too well.”

It seemed she smiled slightly as she said that. Maybe there was hope, after all.

I sighed. “At least it offers us some extra safety in this weird forest.”

Beyond the new animals I’d seen so far, I was certain there were more animals that I didn’t know about yet, that lurked in these woods. I also doubted they would all be friendly.

I relaxed a bit to let my body recover from completely using my venom reserves and the silk production. I laid back with my head on my abdomen and tried to get comfortable.

I closed my eyes and listened to the crackling sound of the fire in front of me. The sounds and warmth of the fire seemed to have a soothing effect on me.

A few minutes later, I believed the first rabbit was prepared for cooking as I heard Seralyn’s voice when she handed it over to Draco.

After several more minutes of rest, I returned my attention to what was going on around me.

Seralyn was working on the last rabbit, Nira had taken a seat next to the campfire and Velariah was now sitting next to me.

Draco was focused on cooking three rabbits at once, I was curious how he’d fare.

At times like these, it felt kind of awkward to have little to do. I’d still have to adjust to that. Fortunately, Velariah had the presence of mind to bring a game with her. I was curious to see if the others would like it.

A few minutes later, Seralyn, Nira, and Velariah were happily eating. Velariah offered me a piece of meat, which I accepted. I didn’t want to take too much, but I was curious about the taste.

It tasted… odd, but I could taste how fresh it was. It was a weird sensation and impossible to describe, I just… felt it. It wasn’t bad at all, I just felt it could do with some salt, but hey, can’t have everything out in the wild. I was already impressed that Seralyn managed to find and shoot four of these in such a short time.

“By the way.” I said during dinner, “Be careful when going outside. There are webs in front of the entrance.”

“You’re really making yourself at home, aren't you?” Seralyn asked jokingly. “Spreading webs all over the place and whatnot. I’m starting to get nervous you might eat us.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I’m making sure you’re well-fed so there’s more meat on you for me to eat.” I raised my pedipalps and made a clawing motion forward. “Rawr!”

Seralyn burst into laughter. “Pfftt, I can’t believe you just did that.”

She continued her laughter while eating.

After they had finished, Velariah pulled out the pieces of paper and the dice from her pack.

“I’ve brought something with me to kill some time. It’s a fun game that Elania taught me.”

Nira was looking at the paper and dice with large eyes, Draco and even Seralyn seemed interested.

The elf handed out a piece of paper to each of our companions and started explaining the rules of the game. She demonstrated a sample of a turn with three possible dice rolls. She rolled a full house after two throws and explained that you’d then write down the twenty-five points in the full house square.

After another demonstration, it was time to start the game.

I wasn’t sure whether Velariah had been serious about ‘destroying’ Seralyn. I came back on my promise of doing that. I remembered what Velariah said earlier about Seralyn’s past and decided to throw her a bone by ‘accidentally’ botching some of my rolls. She seemed to enjoy the game as much as the rest of us and got fairly competitive, but not mean or anything like that.

Maybe I had been too mean to her before.

Had I misjudged her?

Seralyn tried hard to win, and I could see her calculating her options in her head, taking time before each roll. It was quite amusing to watch. It was also quite amusing to watch how she was thinking she was going to win and then Draco shattered her dreams in the final rolls.

Well, if anyone was going to win, it better be him.

“I demand another round!” Seralyn said, as she took a canteen from Draco’s backpack - filled with alcohol from the smell of it.

“Sure, but you better be careful with the liquor, we don’t want a repeat of what happened last time,” Velariah said.

“Fine, fine,” The brunette said as she put the canteen away in Draco’s bag.

We started another round, and after many calculations (and I believe Draco dropped the ball on purpose as well) Seralyn managed to win.

She was ecstatic at her victory.

I looked to Velariah next to me and she nodded.

Why did we let Seralyn win?

Oh well. I did prefer this version of the archer. Maybe small amounts of alcohol were the key.

I felt a very small tug on the thread which made me shift my attention from the group over to the thread. I grabbed my spear, which yielded a response from Velariah and the others. They all looked at me as I was eying the tunnel.

It was a very light tug, and after that, nothing else happened. It made me assume it could have just been the wind. If anything actually hit it, they would have been stuck, and I would have felt more than that light tug.

“Felt something?” Velariah asked.

“I don’t know. I think it may have been the wind.” I replied.

“I still can’t believe you’re able to feel that,” Seralyn commented.

“It’s impressive, indeed,” Draco added.

I didn’t answer, I was focused on feeling if anything else would happen. It didn’t.

I took a torch from the wall and made my way to the tunnel, my spear ready for anything. The webs sat undisturbed at the entrance and I could see the red glow in the sky, the sun was about to set and it was getting darker already.

I put my torch down and looked through the webs at the perimeter line that I had set up. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and I walked back to the others. If anything would try to get in here, they’d be in for a surprise.

“Anything?” Velariah asked.

I shook my head as I sat down again, a leg on my thread.

I let the others play out one more game as I remained focused on any possible intruders.

Maybe I was overly paranoid?

Better paranoid than dead, though.

From the little information that I got from the game, I made out that Velariah was really screwing things up. I think she may have been distracted by me a little too much. She kept looking over at me and the thread. Draco won again, cementing him as the supreme Yahtzee champion.

After that, it was time to sleep. Draco pulled out a few thin mats from his bag that seemed to barely reduce the hardness that was this stone cave floor. Nira had the bright idea of gathering whatever these goblins slept on and then putting the fresh mats on top of them, creating somewhat more agreeable beds.

As mentioned before, Velariah, Nira, and I would take care of guard duty for the night. Nira and I started.

Velariah had chosen to sleep right in front of me. She just knew how to put me in an awkward position. I wasn’t so sure anymore whether she did this on purpose or whether she just wanted to be close to me. If it was the latter, I could understand, but she was telling the others we were in a relationship, that’s what it felt like, at least.

I shook my head as I thought about it. The elf was already sleeping in front of me and I had my pedipalps on her armor.

Nira wasn’t much of a talker but she seemed like the curious type.

“So this thread allows you to feel literally anything that touches the lines outside the cave?” She asked with wide eyes, once the others were asleep.

I nodded.

“Can I touch it?”

“Uh, you should be okay, this last part isn’t sticky. Dunno if you’ll be able to feel anything, but you can try if you want.” I suggested.

She moved a bit behind me and put a hand on the thread.

“How sensitive are those wings of yours?” I asked out of the blue.

“W-why?” She replied with a red face.

Whoops. I should be more tactful about this.

“I was thinking you could use that instead of your hand.”

“Oh.”

She laid one of her wings on the thread and I tugged the thread slightly.

“You feel that?” I asked.

Nira nodded in response.

“Great, now you can do my job.” I joked. “Good night.”

“Wha?” She let out.

“Just kidding, don’t worry.” I grinned.

I could see her smile as she stood up and added some wood to the fire, before sitting down next to it. I watched Velariah’s frame and felt her breathing with my pedipalps, even through her armor.

It was kind of creepy to be able to feel so many sensations.

The harpy sat down next to me with a knife and a log. She started carving into the bark.

“Bored?” I asked.

Nira nodded.

“Yeah, I’m not exactly the best talker, either,” I admitted.

“Better than me.” She said.

“Heh,” I chucked. “I’m sure that will improve when traveling with us.”

She nodded again. “I hope so.”

I observed her carving into the log after removing the bark. I had no idea what she was creating and I doubt she did either. After some time, she simply discarded the log and tossed it into the fire.

I looked at her with a frown.

“I screwed it up.” She said.

She sat down with a sigh as I heard howling coming from outside the cave, followed by a tug on the thread. I instantly reached for my weaponized gauntlets, equipped them, and took my spear.

The tugging happened again, and this time I was positive there was something stuck in the threads.

“Enemies?” Nira asked.

“Wolves, from the sound of it. I doubt they will be much of an issue. I’ll deal with them.”

Wolves versus gauntlets with shields and blades, and a spear to support. That didn’t seem like a fair fight to me. I didn’t want to wake the others for something as trivial as this.

I took a torch and made my way through the tunnel. Howling sounded again.

How many times was I going to find wolves coming to me while I was hiding in a cave?

I imagined the smell of blood attracted them. I was hoping that the venom would make it smell disgusting, but apparently, these wolves didn’t care they’d die as soon as they ate any of that meat. At least, I assumed that. I wasn’t sure if the venom in their bodies would still be lethal.

I carefully stepped through the threads with the torch, so as to not burn them.

It was quite hard to see how many there were exactly, but the light of two moons assisted me in the darkness. I could vaguely make out shapes. There was a pack of about ten wolves waiting for me outside the cave.

This time, I was a lot more confident in my abilities.

They noticed me and instantly jumped on top of me. Their behavior was completely different compared to last time. They seemed much more reserved back then. These ones seemed to hunger for blood.

I slashed my blades wildly as two wolves jumped at my human torso. I could feel several wolves trying to claw and bite my legs, but the carapace was too tough for them to inflict any damage. I felt their bites, but there was no pain.

The two wolves in front of me were cleanly cut in half by the blades. I pierced one more to my left that was barely in range of my spear. I raised my legs and brought them down on the wolves around me, impaling at least one, and wounding another two.

I kept raising and bringing my legs down in quick motions as I slowly turned to impale or pierce wolves around me with my weapons.

Two more jumped at my torso from afar, but they were impaled by my blades, which I raised to meet them. A third wolf managed to evade the blades and was below me. I brought my fangs down on it and killed it with venom.

About a minute after that, the battle was finished. The last two wolves that were wounded continued to attack my legs, but soon met their ends on my blades. I was surprised that none of them tried to run away.

I put one of my legs on the thread going into the cave and found it still being tugged at.

One of them had probably gotten entangled in it.

I carefully made my way over to the tripwire and walked alongside it. It didn’t take long for me to find a wolf that had gotten itself completely ensnared. Even as it was incapacitated it still tried to bite me with all its might. I finished it off with a blade to the skull.

I put another leg on the wire and felt nothing.

Confident that the danger had passed, I started walking my way back to the cave, when a loud howl sounded from behind me.