Single Mother of a Werewolf Baby novel Chapter 311

Chapter 311: Bloodbath Spiders

While Eleanor was watching the clash of the two powerful beasts from her sheltered vantage, she suddenly realised that the steady rain of ice had already ravaged the once-beautiful valley. When her eyes drifted to the far end of it, she froze. A massive chunk of ice had crashed into the narrow exit passage, nearly sealing it. Only a small gap remained between the ice and the ground... too narrow to be comforting, just wide enough to offer a slim chance of escape.

"Shit!" Eleanor cursed her luck and sprinted towards the passage. She had to cross the valley before the exit was completely blocked. Ice shards were falling like rain, forcing her to dodge and weave to avoid injury. Even with her vigilance, a few small blocks struck her... sharp stings of pain, but nothing severe enough to slow her.

By the time she reached the passage, the ice had nearly sealed it. She dropped into a crouch and crawled through the narrow gap. It was a tight, awkward scramble, but she made it through just in time. Ice continued to pile on top of the massive block, weighing it down. In a few minutes, the entire passage would be fully blocked. Eleanor glanced back at the closing gap and exhaled in relief.

Her relief lasted only a heartbeat.

The moment she turned to look ahead, her expression tightened. The way forward sloped sharply downward. Judging by its direction, this could very well be her route out of the mountains. But instead of relief, she felt growing urgency as she saw fresh ice accumulating along the descending path.

With no time to waste, she hurried into the passage. Each step became more treacherous as ice made the ground slick and unstable. Leaning on her spear as a makeshift walking stick, she pressed onward as quickly and carefully as she could.

After several twists and turns... ignoring the drifting ice flakes and the groaning echoes of shifting frost, she arrived at what appeared to be a dead end. Judging from the long descent behind her, she had come significantly lower, perhaps close to the mountain’s base. But before her now stretched nothing but a narrowing wall of ice and rock, and seemingly no way out.

There might have been a landslide long ago that sealed the passage from above. Looking up, she saw the blockage rising nearly a hundred feet, almost vertical. If she wanted to cross this section, she would have to climb along the mountain wall itself. The slope was steep, and the constant fall of ice made it treacherously slick. Climbing it now was nearly impossible.

If she intended to scale over the mountain, she would first have to wait for the duel raging above to end and for the ice to settle. Without dry, solid rock to grip, she had no viable hold. Yet judging from the situation, she would be stuck here for hours. The sun would set soon, and there was no chance the stones would dry before nightfall.

The only other option was the hole before her. It was roughly twice her height in diameter, though far from a perfect circle... an uneven, natural breach worn into the rock. She had no idea whether it would lead her out, but from what she could perceive, it continued in the direction she needed to go.

Above her, the battle between the two beasts raged on, their roars echoing through the mountain with ominous weight. Eleanor cast a helpless glance at the sky. The sun’s brilliance was dimmed, filtered through drifting iceflakes like a veil. Drawing a long, steady breath, she stepped into the tunnel.

Every sense in her body screamed danger. To guard herself in the confined space, she activated Electroreception. The tunnel held no other life besides her. After several dozen feet, the darkness thickened. Her night vision allowed her to see, but it was then that she began to hear it... soft, irregular sounds coming from deeper within.

There were smaller tunnels branching off from the main passage... too narrow for her to enter, yet not so small as to be harmless. The faint, unsettling sounds were coming from those side tunnels. Filaments of spiderweb clung to the walls and ceiling, but she detected no life within them. The tunnel she followed was the largest path, the only one clearly leading in her intended direction. She wasn’t worried about losing her way.

But the farther she walked, the louder the noise grew. A clicking sound... sharp, rapid... echoed behind her. Her Electroreception flared, signalling the first lifeforms emerging into the passage she had already traversed. When she turned to look, her blood ran cold.

At the same moment, Nora spoke sharply in her mind. "Spiders! Thousands of them."

Eleanor didn’t waste a heartbeat. She sprinted with all her strength, widening the gap between herself and the swarm pouring after her. But the noise she made stirred the spiders lurking within the tunnels ahead. They skittered out from the sides, converging. One large, hairy spider leapt from a side passage with such speed that Eleanor had to hurl a lightning projectile just to avoid being hit.

The swarm from behind was nearly upon her. She unleashed a Static Flash, flooding the tunnel with searing light and stunning the mass for a moment. Using that split second, she activated several consecutive Bolt Steps, darting forward in bursts of speed.

When Eleanor finally came to a halt, her body was battered and bruised. Her academy robe and uniform were torn in several places. Fortunately, there had been no large boulders along her descent... nothing that might have caused serious injury. The moment she’d realised she could not stop her momentum, she had done everything to shield her head. And she had succeeded. Though every bone in her body screamed in protest, her head remained unharmed. Several cuts along her arms and legs bled steadily, but none were life-threatening.

She tried to sit up. After several failed attempts, gritting her teeth against the pain, she managed to prop herself upright and take in her surroundings. She was still some distance above the foot of the mountain, but the slope here was shallow... an easy descent compared to the sheer drop she had just survived.

She looked out across the land. The faint silhouette of the town was still visible, though far less clear than from the high vantage of the tunnel. It appeared to be two or three miles away, separated from her by a broad stretch of grassland. Scattered across the plain were rocks, small trees, and low bushes.

When she lifted her gaze to the sky, her stomach tightened. The once-bright expanse had turned a deepening orange. The sun was already sinking. She knew with certainty she would never reach the town before nightfall.

She glanced back at the mountain behind her. Seeking shelter there was impossible... the spider colony was directly above, and they already knew she had been in their territory. Remaining anywhere near this slope would be disastrous.

She searched the ground for her spear, hoping by some miracle it had been flung nearby. But it was nowhere to be seen. With a weary sigh, she pushed herself to her feet. Every step sent waves of pain through her battered body. Exhaustion dragged at her mind, urging her to lie down, to rest, to surrender.

But she couldn’t.

Ignoring the protests of flesh and bone, Eleanor set off across the plain, walking toward the distant town.