Holding his knife gingerly, as to not cut his tongue, Merlin harvested the cyan ropes of flowering ivy that hung around him like the hair of some great beast. Satisfied with the amount he had gathered, he tucked the severed strands into his satchel and turned to leave. Lovell settled once more atop the Courser’s withers and nuzzled in, hooting contentedly. Since the pair had begun to spend more time with one another, the owl had become exceptionally affectionate. 

“Alright, Loves, let’s get these to-” 

“HEY! HELP!” 

Merlin whirled around. The scream echoed off the stone walls, heading deeper into the maw of the cave. It sounded vaguely… familiar? 

“Hello?” Merlin called back, warily beginning down the tunnel. The subterranean chamber was dark, void of the bioluminescent mushrooms that frequently grew in caves he was more familiar with, and the only light came from the flame lantern hanging from Merlin’s chest. It bobbed with every step, making him vaguely motion sick. 

“YES! DOWN HERE!” 

He frowned. “Odessa?” 

A silence followed, before a barely audible sigh. “Yeah… Merlin?” 

“Yeah.” 

The gray Courser rolled his eyes, breaking into a trot. The ambitious bay was always getting into trouble, with stories of her rescue reaching him from neighboring factions on the daily. 

As he entered the chamber, her predicament became obvious at once. She had become entwined in a gargantuan spider’s web. Silver cords glittered with dew, shining in the dull lantern light, stretching into the abyss on all sides. 

“I know, it looks bad,” She explained, hanging upside down in the trap, mane covering her face. “But I promise you that the spider is gone.” A low vibration rattled through the chamber, pebbles quivering on the rock. “But, her babies aren’t.” 

“By the storm, Odessa,” Merlin groaned. He began cutting, the ropes of web falling away beneath his knife. 

As the final strand was severed, the Courser fell in a heap at his feet, yelping at the impact. “Thanks! I was worried I’d be spider food.” 

“Still might be!” Merlin nosed her to her hooves and shoved her towards the way he had come. The sound of hundreds of tiny claws scuttling through the dark made him dizzy with fear. “Run!”

Odessa, despite commonly lacking sense, obeyed. They galloped through the ivy, through several glittering caverns, and finally reached the open gash of skylight. Both panted hard, their ears swiveling for any signs of their pursuers. It seemed they had escaped relatively unscathed. 

“Did… you learn anything this time?” Merlin gasped. 

“Always check for baby spiders?” 

“... Sure.”