<h4>Chapter 68: Crumbling</h4>


    I let out a scream as four spear-like legs pinned me to the ground. I felt them pierce my wings and shoulders, and then strike the ground below. I closed my eyes, expecting a painful death, but instead, I felt something drip on my chest. I carefully opened my eyes to see the motionless body of the creature. There was a deep wound at its neck, it was where I''d hit it with my scythe. Its ck blood was slowly dripping on me.


    The giant spider was dead. Its body had seemingly frozen in ce, as it didn''t fall and crush me. I noticed its soul approach me and clenched my teeth. I didn''t expect this to be a pleasant experience, and just as I expected, it wasn''t.


    "Oh my god!" Samantha''s scream echoed in the room as lightning crackled. I couldn''t turn my head enough to see what was going on. "Alina!" She shouted.


    "Guys!" I tried to shout. Even breathing hurt. I didn''t dare move my arms as I was aware of the sharp, ck spear-like legs cutting through my flesh. It hurt like hell. "Erik!" I shouted desperately. I needed them to help get this corpse off of me.


    Nealy a minute passed before someone came to my aid. To my surprise, it was Vincent. His exhausted face entered my vision as he rushed towards me.


    "You''re alive!" He said in relief. He was panting, his face was red with the effort he put in during the fight, though that didn''tst long. He went pale as soon as he noticed my wounds and the spear-like legs pinning me to the ground. "How are you alive?" He shouted.


    "Barely." I replied. "I think I need some help." The absurdness of my statement made me chuckle, though I immediately regretted it. "I can hide my wings, so you can leave the two legs running through them be but..." I nced at the two legs that bore through both of my shoulders. "These two got me good. I need you to pull them out."


    "Are you insane?" Vincent shouted. "No way I can do that alone and the bleeding alone would kill you!" He nced back to where he came from. "If only... Damn it. Wait a minute, I''ll get the others to help you." He ran off before I could say anything.


    I tried to look after him, but the strain that motion put on my body made me give up immediately. Soon, a few approaching footsteps sounded.


    "That''s not good." It was Erik''s voice that I heard. "Samantha, get Alex, we''ll need all the help we can get."


    "Ok..." Samantha''s voice sounded a bit obtuse as she ran off. Was that a sniffle that I heard?


    "Kai, listen." Erik said as he knelt beside me. "Once Alexes, we''ll pull these things out, but we''ll have to treat you immediately-"


    "I can heal myself." I cut him off. "Rina, can''t you lift it up with you magic?" I asked. Something told me I didn''t have too much time left if I keptying on the ground like this. "And can someone get rid of the web on my legs?"


    It took Vincent a few minutes to cut it off, and that was with the help of Rina''s spells. I clenched my teeth and tried to remain patient as more than a few minutes passed since Samantha left.


    "Rina, please." I said as I barely kept my wits about me. "Just use your magic to lift it up."


    She hesitated. "I can try, but it will hurt a lot more since we can''t do it too quickly." She nced away for moment. "But you''re right, we can''t afford to wait any longer. Vincent, Erik, I''ll need your help with this."


    "Sure." Erik mumbled. Both warriors tightly grasped one of the spider legs. "Disgusting." The pdin whispered. Rina nodded and took a deep breath. "Now!"


    With her words, they pulled on the corpse with all their might. As Rina''s spell lightened the giant spider''s body, I felt the four legs piercing my body slowly move. As the group slowly freed me, it took every bit of my willpower to not scream bloody murder. As soon as I could move again, I summoned my interface and used Soul''s Respite. As the souls left my body and whirled around me, I clenched my teeth and waited for my wounds to heal.


    "Amazing." Erik whispered as my wounds started to close. It took a few minutes for me to healpletely. Once I was fully healed, I hid my wings and slowly lifted myself off the ground.


    "Kai, can you heal others with that?" It was Vincent who asked that. I shook my head. "No, why?"


    He nced behind me. "Alina, she..." As soon as those words left his mouth, my heart started to race. I turned to look where they kept ncing.


    Alinay on the ground. There was some blood around her neck and her clothes were tattered and dirty. I could spot lots of cuts and bite marks on her arms.


    "No, no, no." I mumbled as I rushed to her side.


    "She''s alive," Erik said. "I think it''s poison. The spiders got to her at thest second."


    "It was my fault." Rina said with a catch in her voice. "I was too busy trying to help Kai kill the giant spider, I didn''t see them reach Alina."


    I clenched my fists. "Let''s get her outside first." I nced at the entrance. "Speaking of, where is Samantha? Why isn''t she back yet?"


    Everyone shrugged. I felt the coldness within me grow. I could hear the wails of souls at the back of my mind. "Vincent, Erik. Take Alina outside. Rina, go with them. Make sure you''re careful, be ready for an ambush."


    "What about you?" She asked, worried.


    I nced at the giant spider''s corpse. "I''m not done here. I''ll find a way to get rid of the poison." She hesitated, but then nodded. They hurried outside soon afterwards. As soon as their footsteps disappeared, I sighed and leaned on the wall.


    "Damn it." I whispered. So much had happened in such a short time. I clenched my fists and focused.


    "Asher." I reached out to him and was rewarded with a fast reply. "d to know you survived whatever happened to you."


    "Do you know anything about spiders that... feed on souls?" I asked hesitantly. I nced at the giant spiders corpse. I could sense the hundreds of souls trapped in there. I couldn''t help but feel like freeing them was my duty.


    "No, I don''t." Asher replied. He sounded tired, exhausted even. "Are the souls destroyed?"


    I shook my head, then remembered he couldn''t see me. "No, they''re still inside its corpse. Should I... free them?" I asked hesitantly.


    "Please do. It''s your duty as the Keeper of Souls and as someone who gains more power with each soul they get." His answer made sense, though what his wording implied was less than pleasant. "Is that all? You sound flustered." He asked, with a slight bit of worry in his voice.


    I sighed. "A smaller spiderling bit Alina. She''s unconscious. I think she''s poisoned. Can you... help?" I didn''t exactly like asking him for help, but my already damaged pride was a cheap price to pay to save a life.


    A moment of silence followed my words, then he finally replied. "I can''t make promises. But I can at least try. First things first, we need to determine the species of the spider..."