Chapter 7

I growled as a spider lunged at me. I froze for an instant in fear, before managing to swing my sword, cutting it in half. "Ew," I muttered, the two pieces off its body hitting the ground.

Shulk gasped, breathless as he swung the Monado again. "There's just so many of them! Stream Edge!"

Oh yeah, I have Arts, I thought. Not like they'd do any good against creatures this small. I stabbed, and got out of the way as Reyn used his War Swing attack. "A little warning next time?"

Reyn grunted. He simply ran up to another Arachno, using his Driver to kill it. "Shulk, a Chain Attack!"

Shulk wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Alright! Stream Edge!" he shouted. "Reyn-"

Suddenly, I was forced away. What...?! My claymore had fallen away from me, and I saw a massive Arachno looking at me as I looked up. "Great." I rolled away from another attack. "Shulk! Reyn!" I grabbed my sword, and the two ran over.

Shulk grunted, the beam of light extending from the Monado. "Oh, geez." Shulk held the Monado in one hand, swinging across in a horizontal slash. "Buster!" he grunted, and the spider hissed as Shulk struck. "Yeah! Reyn, let's go!"

"Right! Inflict Break!" he yelled, using his Mad Taunt Talent Art. "While I have its attention!"

I don't think this happens in the game, I thought as I used Stab Strike. Is it because I'm here? "Shulk!"

"Right! Air Slash!" he shouted, striking the side. The Arachno slowed condesiderably. "Reyn, Topple it!"

"Wild Down!" roared Reyn. Sure enough, the Arachno fell over, and we all began to beat up on it.

"Cross Slash," I grunted, and I Dazed it. Achievement get! I thought, running and sliding underneath the Arachno, which was trying to stand up again. I stabbed upwards. "Whoa!" The blade caught, and I pulled myself on top of the spider.

"I would call that Art Slide Edge!" called Shulk, using his Slit Edge Art. "Come on, guys! Before it gets up-"

"Yeah, yeah! SWORD DRIVE!" roared Reyn, and the Arachno howled with pain as he struck. "Yeah!"

I stabbed, and tore the blade out, using my Stab Strike attack. I leapt off the Arachno as it stood again. "Any other ideas?"

"Not at the moment, no," admitted Shulk. "Just... kind of hit it until it dies, I guess." He got to the creature's back. "BACK SLASH!"

Hitting it until it dies is probably a good idea, I thought. "Alright!" I swung again, and my Time Slower Talent Art activated. With a roar, I used Slide Edge, and unleashed a random amount of slashes. The Arachno fell, dead, as my Talent Art expired. "Cool."

"Let's..." Before Shulk could finish what he would've said, he yawned. "Ugh... let's continue on, then."

"Sounds good," grunted Reyn, as he put his Driver on his back again. He and I ran after Shulk as the wielder of the Monado ran off.

We ran out, through twisting and confusing caves, until we reached another open area. This don't look good, I thought. Maybe it's the Mystery Dungeon player in me but something bad's gonna-

As Reyn walked forward he paused. "Wait... what are those?" He pointed to something looking like massive eggs.

"I think they're monster egg sacs," responded Shulk. "With some Mechon parts mixed in."

The two of them walked up to the sacs while I hung back. "Wonder what kind of creature they could be..." grunted Reyn.

"I'm guessing a kind of Arachno," admitted Shulk, observing it carefully. "Well, we..." He gasped suddenly. "Reyn, you-"

Something came from above and a material looking like silk covered Reyn. "Ah! Ugh!" He struggled, but the silk-like material zipped upwards as fast as it had gone down.

"Oh, great..." grunted Shulk. "Reyn..." He spoke more quietly, as if to himself. "If what I saw was true, then..." He turned to me. "Andrew! Come on, we have to find Reyn!"

I said nothing, simply following Shulk as he immediately ran off, a frantic expression on his face. The two of us ran, and Shulk slid to a halt as another egg sac before him began to hatch.

He drew the Monado. "Andrew, let's go!" He and I quickly dispatched of the Arachno that came out of the egg sac and carried on. We feel into a rhythm of slaying any Arachno that hatched from the egg sacs as we ran.

The two of us came to a massive, open area, with a lake in front of us. On a higher ledge, Shulk and I could see Reyn running from an Arachno, panting. "Ugh..." he gasped as he kept running., and we lost sight of him.

"Uh-oh," spoke Shulk. He looked around quickly. "Something I can climb..." He grunted as he saw a piller with vines growing over it. "Andrew, come on! We should be able to climb on that!"

"Right," I responded, and we climbed it as quickly as we could. "Ugh..." I managed to get on the area where we saw Reyn earlier, beside Shulk, and we took off again.

Soon, we could hear Reyn shouting. "Shulk, where are you?!" His yell was ear-piercing.

Shulk drew the Monado again as he ran. "Reyn..." He stopped to a halt as he saw his best friend covered by Arachno at all sides, before rushing forward again. "I'm com-" He gasped. A vision of Reyn's death, I thought. "REYN!"

Reyn panted. "There's too many!" He ran off, toward what looked like a massive Arachno egg sac.

"REYN, NO!" yelled Shulk, rushing forward. "DON'T! If you do that, then you'll..." His voice died off.

"Shulk!" Reyn stopped running, and turned back to his best friend. A loud hissing sound came from behind him as he turned around as the Arachno Queen leapt on the ground. "Oh, boy."

It let out a loud roar and raised what actually looked like a claw, probably to stab Reyn.

"REYN!" roared Shulk. The Monado's light pulsed, and when it did, it was yellow. "HAH!" Shulk swung the blade, and a shield surrounded Reyn as he raised his Driver, deflecting the Arachno Queen's claw attack.

The graphics in the game have got NOTHING on this, I thought as Shulk panted, smile starting to form on his face.

The Arachno Queen hissed, turning towards Shulk. It moved with surprising speed, and Shulk raised the Monado out of instinct.

"Hah!" Reyn deflected the attack and forced the Arachno Queen backwards, as Monado Shield wore off. "Let's do this!"

I blinked, grabbing my claymore. I hate spiders. I sighed. "Shulk, are you..." I stopped, seeing him stare at the Monado. "Shulk?"

He blinked, but I saw a hint of light blue in his eyes. "Right. Let's go!" he declared, as smaller Arachno started to come in, hissing at us. The beam of the Monado flared up again. Shulk let out a gasp. "Reyn, Andrew!" He swung the Monado.

"What?!" shouted back Reyn as he used his Mad Taunt Talent Art. "What... do you have to say?!"

Shulk killed an Arachno using Back Slash. "STREAM EDGE!" He cleared the immediate area. "Phew. Now..." The Monado's beam became yellow again for a moment before turning back to its normal blue colour. "What...?" gasped Shulk.

Why did Shield not activate? I wondered, rushing forward to slash an Arachno that lunged for Shulk. "You okay?"

"I think so," grunted Shulk, though he was sweating heavily. "Did I overwork myself or something? Is that why the Monado didn't active-" Before he could finish his sentence, the Arachno Queen covered his feet with silky thread. "Ugh!" Though the wielder of the Monado struggled, he couldn't budge. "This can't be good."

"Shulk!" yelled Reyn, who was trying to get to his friend but couldn't due to the heavy amount of Arachno. "Look out!"

I saw the Arachno Queen, and I raised my sword. The claw ground against it, and I lost my footing as I was shoved back. "Ow..." I looked over at Shulk to see the Queen raising another claw. "Shulk!"

"Ah..." Shulk looked up as the Arachno Queen started to strike. "UGH!" He fell to his knees, and his knees were stuck in the sticky thread. "No... Light Heal!" he grunted, managing to reduce the injury. "Guys! A little help!"

I got back to my feet, running towards him. I used my brute strength as Reyn came over, and we managed to get Shulk out of the bind he was in.

"Thanks," he panted. "Alright... SHIELD!" He swung the Monado as the light turned yellow, blocking the Arachno Queen's claw attack. "Shadow Eye!" He got behind the Arachno Queen. "Get its attention!"

I used Stab Strike, and the Arachno Queen turned to me, hissing. "Reyn!" I shouted, using Slide Edge.

"SWORD DRIVE!" he roared, and the Arachno Queen let out a scream of pain. "Shulk!"

"BACK SLASH!" He struck. "Now... a Chain Attack!" he yelled. "STREAM EDGE! Reyn...!"

"Wild Down!" he shouted, and the Arachno Queen lost it's footing as Reyn struck. "Finish it, Andrew!"

"Cross Slash," I declared. Then we all beat up on the creature, managing to kill it. That seemed a bit too easy, I thought, looking around at the Arachno. Besides, they outnumber us by a lot...

However, all of the Arachno quickly ran off, seeing at how we had just killed the Arachno Queen.

"That was amazing, Shulk!" exclaimed Reyn as he put his Driver back on his back. "So the Monado has other powers too!"

"Yeah," responded Shulk simply, putting the Monado on his back again. He ran off, leaving Reyn and I to run after him. We all saw a cave exit, and exited Tephra Cave.

It was nighttime as we came from the cave, and the splash of colours was so refreshing compared to Tephra Cave.

Shulk smiled. "This is the knee of the Bionis."

Thanks for reading!