[color=95A5A6][b]> Try convincing the woman to leave with you, back the way you came. <[/b][/color]

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	The ear-wrenching squeals of your foes engulfed the air, both in their battle cries and their death throes. As the space available for you and the woman to stand in continued to shrink around you though, you felt your back press against hers. Before you could look over your shoulder, your attention was reclaimed by the large spider in front of you, lifting its two front legs and lunging them toward you. A quick duck to the side avoided the brunt of the attack, and your ally behind you broke away to hack through another wave of smaller foes before her. As the spider in front of you stumbled from its miss with a low thud, you turned to fit in a quick cut on its front limb. It pulled the leg back, hissing at you as you threw a glance over your shoulder.

	[color=95A5A6]"We need to get out of here,"[/color] you urged your new companion. [color=95A5A6]"There's too many of them!"[/color] She met your eyes with hers for a moment, opening her mouth to respond but quickly being distracted by an attacker of her own. She sliced through the foe with a resounding [color=7ea7d8]"Hyahh!"[/color] before replying to you. [color=7ea7d8]"We're fine! I'm not afraid of these-"[/color] she tried to justify, at least until one of the larger spiders planted itself right in front of her. Her attention turned to it, her free hand glowing with energy once again. She ran her hand over her sword, and the glowing white-blue magic focused onto the blade, which began to jitter and spark in front of her. [color=7ea7d8]"Get outta my way!"[/color] she yelled, lunging forward and slashing clean though the giant spider with a flash of lightning. As quickly as her spell crashed through her foe, the spark faded and her sword returned to an inert state. Her posture staggered for a moment, her breath catching up to her.

	Two down, and two remained among the massive eight-legged foes. A seemingly endless swarm of their offspring began to fill in the space your partner cleared, and you rushed to her side to avoid getting left behind. [color=95A5A6]"That-"[/color] you began, turning to lift your dagger against the smaller spiders that relentlessly jumped at you. [color=95A5A6]"Unless you've got more of that, I still think we need to get to safety,"[/color] you suggested. You could slash away at these things for only so long, and the look on her face was reluctant to agree but without any real argument against it. She looked past you and you followed her gaze, to the army that was pushing you into the corner near the staircase. The two remaining giant spiders were rapidly approaching, and even the walls were darkened by movement. As the glow of her floating orb began to dwindle, you turned back to her in time to see her nod at you. [color=7ea7d8]"Fine,"[/color] she grunted in frustration. It took another moment of carving to make your way to the stairs, but luckily the opening was far too small for the more threatening monsters to reach inside.

	The climb back up towards the entrance of the temple was much more hasty than then descent, and in the cramped corners of the stairwell there wasn't space for much more than stomping or kicking away the spiderlings that nipped at your boots. Atop the stairwell though, the sprint through the trapped hallway and into the foyer once again seemed too far for the hive to follow, the stragglers that tagged along this far were easily dispatched without the entire swarm backing them up.

	Finally, you leaned against the wall and drew in a long breath as the sounds of scuttling faded into the depths below, and the woman you found along the way seemed equally tense as she sheathed her sword into the scabbard at her side. The moonlight and frigid breeze from outside once again found you both, not truly illuminating the room but giving enough light for you to see her silhouette against it as she paced with pent up frustration in front of you.

	[color=7ea7d8]"Gods- Gods damnit!"[/color] She threw her hands down at her side. [color=7ea7d8]"This whole damn trip was a waste!"[/color]

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[color=95A5A6]
	• "Are you Aika?"

	• "What do you mean 'a waste'? Why did you come here?"
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