Ellie

To put it simply, mayhem ensued.

While Murphy was left dangling from the bars, holding on for dear life, my turn to die had finally arrived, and Hnid was going to be my executioner. The wolf spider bit into my cocconned body, then tossed me towards the red gate so the younger spiders and lint ants could have some fun with me before I was fed to the beast.

After numerous bites and scratches, the silk cocoon was nearly completely torn away. I could finally fight back. But when I tried to stand, the pain from the beating I had just received combined with the weight of being responsible for innocent lives lost, a broken soul, and lack of hope, was too heavy to bear.

I felt myself being lifted off the ground, but my eyes were too bloodshot and tired to make sense of what I was seeing. I do remember the incredible burn from the heat as I was lifted high above the red gate’s bars. I could hear Arly’s voice chanting in some ominous language. I had no idea what she was saying but the spider that was holding me seemed to understand because the next thing I remember was falling into the fire.

As I plummeted, a deafening shrill pierced through the entire subterranean labyrinth, awakening my senses. The high-pitched frequency was so intense, all of the ants immediately began to cower and shrivel. With the hive’s mind now focused on escaping the noise, they squeezed their tiny bodies through any available crack within the walls they could find, accidentally killing one another in the process. A few of the smaller ants became so disoriented, to escape the disabling ringing, they willingly threw themselves into the fire.

It was a lot to take in as I freely fell into a boiling soup of smoke, fire and teeth. Bracing myself for impact, I felt myself gently bounce on a tense layer of netting. It was Murphy. During the big sock’s struggle to avoid being eaten, he used his loose strands to cross-stitch a protective barrier between us and the beast below.

It was an ingenious trick, but there was one problem. Murphy’s netting was made out of flammable cotton fibers. There was a limit to their formidability and they would eventually catch fire and burn. If that happened, we would no longer have anything protecting us. We needed to do something. Fast.

Finding my balance on the netting, I helped Murphy regain his and we scoped out the best path to safety while making sure the beast’s tongues didn’t wrap around our ankles. Glowing brilliantly beyond the fringes of the pandemonium, we both spotted the red ball at the same time. But he wasn’t alone.

“Polk! Percy! What are you doing here?” I screamed, unsure if either one of them could hear my voice.

“They can’t hear us,” Murphy said, “And we can’t stay here. We need to figure a way out of this on our own.”

Before we could devise a plan, abrupt cracking and shifting layers of dirt forced the walls around us to crumble, awakening the sleeping colony of stalactites. They fell upon us like killer raindrops, exploding into serrated chunks of stone on impact. The spiders chaotically raced towards the hidden doorways, fighting one another as they reached the entrances. Their instinctual inability to settle their differences resulted in many of the spiders being squashed or trapped beneath the falling torpedoes. The spiders which were lucky enough to avoid the collapsing ceiling, disappeared into the tunnel’s shadows. Leaving their Queen Mother behind.

A rogue stalactite crashed a few inches from the red gate’s lever. That was it. The idea struck me hard across the face. I just hoped Murphy’s netting could hold us long enough for me to execute my plan. Braiding two of Murphy’s longer torn strands, to increase strength, I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. Eyeing my target, I swung the rope above my head in a circular motion, then let the strand go at precisely the right moment.

It seemed to soar through the air in slow motion, but it was just my anxiety decelerating the world around me. Sighing with relief, I was actually amazed that my lasso had worked on the first throw. It was definitely all luck, but I was just glad to have finally found some.

Pulling with every ounce of strength I had left, my nerves quickly resumed to full on panic mode. I couldn’t move the lever at all. The collapsing environment must have jammed it with debris, and I was far too weak to apply any real force.

“We need to do this together,” Murphy said.

I was so scared and overwhelmed with adrenaline, I couldn’t speak. I just nodded until I felt Murphy grab onto the rope with me. Out of sync with our pulling, and the encroaching snout of the fiery beast pushing its way through the tick wall of steam directly below our nearly burnt protective netting, Murphy stopped and placed his hands on my shoulders.

“Together.”

His voice finally broke through and I craned my neck to look at the big sock, “Together.”

Re-setting ourselves and trying for our second and last attempt, we heaved together as one and cranked the lever into a closed position. The chunk of stalactite which had been clogging the lever’s rail was dislodged and the internal slats swayed sideways until they were angled flat, blocking off the beast’s tongue with an added layer of metal.

“Impressive shot, Lucky,” Polk said from behind a pillar of fallen rock.

“It really is you,” I said, “I wasn’t imagining it. What are you doing here? Is Percy with you or was he the imagination?”

“I’m here,” Percy said from behind a separate nearby pillar.

“We came to save you,” Polk exclaimed, “After chiseling and carving out sections of the light veil, we were finally able to cut a traversable path through. Once the battery and two yellow buttons made it through safely, the rest of the group followed. Percy and I held back to make sure everyone escaped, and to wait for you and Murphy’s return.”

“What about Chester?” I asked, “Did he make it out?”

“Chester is waiting for us at the light veil,” Percy said, “He’s guarding our exit in case any insects decide to make a last minute appearance. I told you this was a dangerous idea.”

I couldn’t argue with him. He was right. My plan had failed. The pen cap had been eaten and Murphy was nearly fed alive along with myself. And now Polk and Percy were here. The Dark Space excelled at making things worse.

“How did you break through the veil?” I asked.

“We can talk about that later,” Polk said, “Right now we need to figure out a way out of here before we’re all crushed.”

“I agree with Polk,” Murphy said, patting down the smoke twirling off his cotton hairs, “Conversations are best kept for later.”

Using all of our eight eyes, we channeled the powers of the arachnids and scouted the chamber for the safest path back to the entry tunnel. During my scan, I spotted the Queen. But something about her had changed. She did not appear to be the strong, malevolent, soulless demon she prided herself on being. She looked frightened and alone. She looked like a sock again. She looked like Arly.

Paying us no attention whatsoever, she and her few remaining body guards desperately fought to avoid being crushed by the stalactites. They were caught out in the open and had nothing but themselves to protect each other.

“There!” Percy screamed, pointing his nimble finger towards a cleared path that stretched along the eastern wall.

We all followed his direction and saw what he wanted us all to see. A clear path. But at the rate at which the roof and walls were crumbling, it wasn’t going to stay clear for long.

Polk leaped from his protected position and took up the head of the charge, “Everyone stick together and follow me.”

Following closely behind Percy, with Murphy at my back, I kept my eyes on Arly as we weaved our way to freedom.

Carefully dragging their Queen beneath the bulk of their thick thoraxes, Hnid and Arac were protecting Arly with their lives. Her last two dark socks, which were out of our reach for saving, flanked each spider and a small group of ants were huddled on top, adding a layer of padding for Arly. A second round of cracks, snaps, and pops suddenly tore an incredible hole of light through the center of the chamber’s ceiling.

Five narrow cylinders, which seemed to be connected at their base, broke through the haze and began descending all around us. It was impossible for me to see what they were, but they were strong, probing, and clearly began searching for something. Picking things up and placing them back down.

The ants were crushed by falling debris and the two dark socks were punctured multiple times by falling stalactites. Arac and Hnid were both badly injured but they refused to leave their Queen behind. As unusual as it was, the bond between arachnid and sock was something to be admired.

Beyond terrified, we all broke out into full sprints and ran for our lives. It also helped to encourage the thought of leaving Arly behind. After everything we had been through at the hands of her cruelty. Did she truly deserve to be saved?

Fate finally decided to make a decision as the entire section of ceiling directly above Arly collapsed. Sensing the imminent danger, the large wolf spider, in its final act, tossed Arly as far away from her as she could.

Once she saw that her Queen was at a safe distance, the wolf spider flung her bulk onto Arac’s limp form.

Nothing moved beneath those stones.

Nearly at the chamber’s entry tunnel, we all stopped and watched as Arly flew through the air, miraculously dodging the still falling stalactites. She landed only a few feet away from our position but the cracked and now shifting floor beneath us sloped down. With nothing to grab ahold of, she slid slowly towards the snapping teeth of the beast below. The protective bars and slats were destroyed during the probing of the alien extremities, so there was nothing holding the monster at bay.

“What are you waiting for?” Polk screamed from the safety of the tunnel.

Percy reacted first and leaped at exactly the right moment to avoid a falling stalactite. The impact knocked myself backwards into Murphy. Two more stalactites hit on each side of our position. Showering us with sharp chunks of stone.

“You have to help them get back to the light veil, Murphy. If it even still exists.”

“You’re not coming?”

It was at that moment my transformation into becoming something more began and Murphy seemed to finally understand. “Make sure the two of you are right behind us,” he said. “I’ll get Polk and Percy home. I promise.”

“Thank you, Murphy.”

“Are you ready?”

I shook my head nervously. “Yes.”

It was the fastest I had ever seen Murphy move. Reaching Polk and Percy in a matter of seconds, the big sock used his momentum to push them deeper into the tunnel right before two of the aerial probes collapsed and clogged the entrance.

Quickly altering my angle on the sloped ground, I locked on to Arly and prepared myself for the slide of my life.

Placing safety and survival as my top two priorities, I surgically tore out a few of my loose strands until they were long enough to use as anchor points. Working with four twelve inch strands, I knotted three together then tied the final strand, which was still attached to my waistline, around a thick stalagmite which was still on flat ground.

Tightly secured, I dove down head first.

During my descent, the probes struck again causing the ground beneath me to split down the center. My rescue line snapped from the tense friction and I tumbled head over heels uncontrollably. I had no idea where Arly was or how far I had to go until I fell into the open mouth of the fire monster.

Bouncing too violently, I was unable to secure any more anchors. I’m not entirely sure what happened next because I was nearly knocked unconscious. But what I can remember is that soon after I began my fatal descent, I found myself hanging upside down.

My bottom half had luckily lodged itself into the fissure which opened during the probing. Looking around I soon realized that I had fallen below the red gate’s bars. My vision was hazy from the concussion but I could see the dark silhouette of the monster creeping up from behind the wall of steam. It was indescribable.

But I wasn’t what the beast was hunting. Deeper down the shaft, clutching onto a fortunate slab of dislodged rock, Arly was crying in pain as her lower half was slowly catching fire from the heat.

Regardless of how much power and respect Arly had accumulated as The Dark Space’s Queen Mother, the fire below knew neither friend from foe. All it knew was to consume. That meant that even the one who claimed to be its master was on the menu.

Short on time, I never problem-solved so fast in my entire life.

Using an ancient breathing technique one of the sock elders taught me soon after Derrick brought me home for the first time, I tore out two more wool strands and pressurized them with my lungs.

Calculating the speed and damage of Arly’s burns, I hastily knotted the two make-shift bungee cords to two sturdy anchor points above my head. I had no idea if the length would get me down to Arly’s level, but I had no other option. If I waited any longer, Arly would have been completely consumed by the flames.

Wiggling my lower half free from the fissure, I descended down the slope. Reaching her before the flame could crawl all the way up her leg, I smothered her with my own body. The burn was horrendous, and I wanted to scream, but it was the only way I could put out the fire.

Disoriented from the pain, and mentally dislodged from the darkness which had plagued her mind for so long, Arly was only able to voice two words. “You? Why?”

“Because you’re a sock.”

I could tell she wanted to say something insulting, but her words evaporated into the steam as she passed out. With my mission made a little easier thanks to her falling unconscious, I secured one of the pressurized bungee cords around her waist. With nothing left to do but jump, allowing the tension in the cords to pull us to a safe height, I released Arly’s grip from the rock.

Bending my knees, the final collapse of the chamber occurred as the five aerial probes made their most disruptive scan. The intrusion forced the slab of stone, anchoring our two bungee cords, to jostle and crack a second time. A loud snap echoed from above and I watched as Arly’s cord flailed like a rabid snake through the air - falling into the red abyss beneath us.

My cord however was still intact. But the collapse had no intention of slowing down. Every second wasted was a second jeopardizing the strength of my cord. If it broke, well, let’s just say this story would have had a much fiery ending.

Out of time, and knowing the limitations of my own wool fibers, I tore the cord free from my waist and wrapped it around Arly’s. Still unconscious, I gave her the push she needed. With so much tension on the cord, Arly snapped upwards with force and she slammed into the rock harder than I intended.

A few rogue boulders came crashing down the slope after the impact, cutting off my sight to Arly. I had no idea if the collision had awoken her from the coma, or knocked her deeper into it. I was also now trapped.

I had no clear path back up the shaft and all of the slivers of light were being snuffed out by dirt and debris. The oxygen was being consumed by the heat, and the monster beneath the gate had finally risen to greet me face to face.

Staring into its depthless, red eyes, I felt all of my fibers burn and catch fire. Holes began melting everywhere, and my mind began racing at impossible speeds. I had so many questions I would never know the answers to. But there was one thing I clung too in that moment of totality.

I had given my friends a chance. And that was enough.

Unable to bear the heat any longer, my clarity began to lag and all of my bodily functions started shutting down. Considering how exhausted I was, both physically and emotionally, I welcomed the dark nap.

Laying in the cozy bed of hot pillows and searing blankets, I allowed the steam from the monster’s breath carry me away to a better place.

As my mind drifted, I felt a sharp pressure grasp my waist. At first I thought it was the teeth of the beast, chewing and tasting me before swallowing. But then I felt a vibrant sensation of being lifted upwards. I know this because the air around me instantly started becoming cooler.

Too weak to remain conscious, I slipped into a dream while being consumed by a comforting wave of white light.