Elsewhere, Nassandra opened her eyes. A splitting headache assaulted her, making her wince in pain. What was she doing just now? Her memories were scattered and vague. She remembered that she was resting by the river and eating food. Then, there was this gust of wind that blew out the fire. She froze in horror because hidden in the darkness, there was a clear and sinister whisper. When she opened her eyes again, she was here. But how did she get here? And where was here? She wanted to rub her eyes. It was too dark to see. However, she realized she could not budge! The girl was horrified to discover that her arms, her legs, her entire body was bound in place by something. Her restraints felt soft and almost limp to the touch, so it was evidently not rope, but when she exerted force, they tightened up like steel. It was extremely durable!
She took a deep breath, trying to settle down her wildly beating heart. The situation was unusual, so that was all the more reason she needed to stay calm. But despite her best efforts, it felt like her heart was about to explode out of her chest. Her throat was dry, her eyes were red, and her body was sweaty. She was scared, so very scared. She wanted to scream or cry! Thankfully, Nassandra did her best to keep those urges in check. There was no telling who or what kept her here. Standing out was a bad idea. The poor girl sniffled quietly, suffering in her mind, hoping that this was a nightmare, that it would fade away when she blinked again. Sadly, that did not happen. This was reality. Her eyes snapped shut as she wrestled with her emotions. Under a long conflict, she started to regain her cool.
Nassandra realized to her delight that she was still holding her wand. She did not notice before due to her panicking. This meant she could cast spells! Immediately, much of the pressure lifted from her heart. This fragile piece of wood became her pillar of support! If she had no weapon to defend herself or use to escape, then she would have been truly hopeless. Taking another deep breath, she carefully thought about the most important questions. Where was she? Who brought her here? And why? Looking around, even though her vision adapted to the darkness, she could not see anything. It was pure darkness. When she tried listening for voices or footsteps, there was also nothing. It was like she was alone. This unnerved her deeply. Someone bound her here. There was no mistaking that. So, where were her captors? Should she wait for them to come back, or make a move first?
She needed information. Thinking that, the girl committed to a bold move, and very cautiously casted a light spell. A dim light burst into existence, like a dying ember or spark. It was hardly noticeable. She waited nervously for any reactions. Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty… Nothing seemed to respond. A heavy breath left her mouth. Next, she gradually increased the brightness of her spell. As a Condensed Drop Arcanist, Nassandra had a refined level of control over Magic Energy. This was simple to do. Of course, the situation forced her to unearth her hidden potential! Details soon appeared. Her eyes widened a little. Her spell was already fairly bright, so she could see in front of her now. There was a wall of white threads surrounding her, encapsulating her body, and binding her limbs. One word came to mind: cocoon! She was in a cocoon! Then, it was not a person who captured her. It was an animal!
Her calm melted away like snow. She was terrified again! Although people could certainly be scary, they could be talked to and reasoned with. Animals, however, could not! This was a terrible development! Furthermore, what could have kidnapped her and encased her in a giant cocoon? This was not something small like a dog or a cat. It must be huge! And when she thought about what animals created silk, she instinctively thought about spiders! The idea of a gigantic spider with its eight long hairy legs, hundreds of red eyes, skittering and crawling about as it covered her in webs gave her chills. The urge to cry came again, but for a different reason. She hated spiders the most! This was the worst day of her life, no question about it. Switching to another spell, she created a thin, sharp icicle. She willed it to move around her body with great precision. Whish! All of her restraints were cut down.
The girl carefully inspected herself to make sure there was nothing missing. Her arms and legs were still there, along with her fingers and toes. Her nose, mouth, eyes, and ears were still there. She could not find any bite wounds or bloody holes. In fact, it seemed like nothing was out of place at all. What should have been good news instead became disturbing, because she could not find the reason why she ended up here. Was she sneak attacked? Poisoned? Or did she lose her memories? Her frown grew deeper, as well as her unease. It was too creepy! She had to get out of here as quickly as possible! Nassandra used another icicle knife to slice a tiny hole in the cocoon to peek out of. She really wished to see nothing, especially not a giant spider, in the same room as her.
Through this hole, she saw that she was in a large cavern. Although it was dark, there was some lighting coming from the rocks. It allowed her to vaguely see shapes in the darkness. Nassandra squinted and tried to understand the layout of the room. Dense silk covered the floor, walls, and dropped from the ceiling like a spider web. And at the center of this vast web was… a black mound. Rumble… The 'mound' slowly shifted, as though it felt Nassandra's gaze. Quickly, the girl covered her mouth to stifle her screams! This was not a mound. It was a living creature! She froze in horror to see this creature 'unravel' itself. Eight humongous legs slammed onto the ground to lift up the gigantic snake-like body. Nassandra shook since one of its legs was bigger than her body. It was enormous! It could probably swallow her whole and not skip a beat. It swung its heavy head around as its mandibles clacked fiercely and its eyes searched around.
Nassandra almost whimpered, but she bit her lip. Blood filled her mouth, but she refused to budge. She mustered every bit of courage she could. This was a crucial moment! She could not make a sound. The massive creature looked at the cocoons one by one, a strange sense of curiosity and intelligence glimmering behind its black beady eyes. It was clearly not as mindless as other creatures. Finally, it came to Nassandra's cocoon. Its head was so close that even in the darkness Nassandra could feel its gaze, and its warm breath. She stayed so still that she could feel her own heartbeat through her skin. Seconds passed by like years. Every moment felt like agony. She closed her eyes and begged repeatedly. Please do not let it discover her.
Perhaps, the heavens heard her prayer… The creature did not though. It snapped its mandibles in fury. Nassandra paled. She needed to evade! No, she should defend herself instead! In the end, her inexperience made her panic, and her indecision wasted those valuable seconds. There was not enough time left! The vast creature readied itself to attack, when a powerful shockwave tore through the cave. Boom! The ground shook while rocks fell. The creature screeched and thrashed about, instantly forgetting about little Nassandra. She exhaled loudly amidst the chaos and let her body relax. It was too dangerous then. She thought she was going to die. How tragic would it be for her to die like this, in some random place where no one would ever find her corpse? The thought pained her. But what could have saved her?
Then she sensed it. It was far away, barely on the edge of her Magic Perception. It felt faint enough that she could have missed it. However, not this one. It was her brother! He must have tracked her here! And he was not alone, since she could sense Elizabeth, and the other Arcane Knights. They came to rescue her! She felt happy and relieved. In her mind, Freon was her pillar of strength. He could support the heavens, even if they came crashing down. But at the same time, there was a feeling of shame and regret. She wanted to lighten the burden on her brother's shoulders. That was why she ran away, so what was she doing here? All sorts of complex emotions rose inside her.