Author's Notes
I have a document that's 2k word's worth of cut scenes, and 1.5k of those are from this chapter alone, not to mention the other bits and pieces I had to cut off from it. All in all, this chapter would've been redundant and 8k words if I hadn't made the changes I did. I forget sometimes how a story can comepletely run away from you.
Now, then, Review! (Cuz there's only one)
GiggiEba, I'm glad you thought so! I love writing fight scenes, so that one was especially enjoyable for me. Thank you for your support!
On with the story!
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Thomas' POV
I picked myself up on sore limbs, taking yet another look around. The walls were too steep to climb, we had no materials to build a ladder, and we didn't have an acceptably bright light source. All we had were ourselves, our tools, a length of rope, Sophie's shortsword, and a burned-out torch. At this point in time, our only hope of getting out was to wait for Burnham. Which, considering how long it took the mining team to finish with the first tunnel, could be in a day or two.
Javer had been passing his hand over the stone walls, occasionally getting swamped in darkness before resurfacing in the feeble light coming off the nearby lava lake. The alchemist-in-training had managed to stay quiet, and then a sudden shout came from his direction in the far corner.
Sophie raised her head in tired concern. "J? What is it? Please don't tell me you got yourself killed."
Our friend came back from the darkness with a strange little smile on his face. "I didn't die, but I did find us a way out."
Both me and the blonde snapped to attention. "Really?" I asked. "How? Where?"
Javer pursed his lips and clapped his hands together. Mine and Sophie's shoulders sagged. That gesture only meant that he'd over-exaggerated or was downright lying. "It's not a way out of the caves, per se, but it is a tunnel, and it is a way out of this little cove thing we're stuck in."
Sophie groaned. "Really, Javer? You got us hyped up for a lords-damned tunnel that leads who-knows-fucking-where?"
The alchemist-in-training stared at nothing out of the corners of his eyes for a moment. "Yeah," he answered with a shrug.
"And what do you expect us to do with that information?" Sophie asked sternly. "We don't have a light source. The torch doesn't have any more coal, there's none of that stuff nearby, and we can't exactly carry lava on our hands, can we?"
The two of them kept arguing in the background. I wandered over and picked up the torch in question, inspecting the tool. It didn't have any coal left, in its wake only burnt wood and a few ashes. I removed the iron frame from it, keeping only the bare wooden handle and staring at it. Something, an unknown impulse or just plain curiosity, brought me to place the palm of my hand around the burnt end. When I moved it, light bathed the cave.
Sophie and Javer went dead silent, turning in surprise to see what I had done. I was shocked myself, staring in disbelief at the revived torch in m hands. It wasn't burning up, exactly, but it did look like there was a flame present. It was hot, at most it felt warm, but it was brighter than any torch I'd ever seen. The light coming off that strange little fire was golden yellow, giving everything a strange hue.
Javer crossed his arms, smirking triumphantly at Sophie. "Would you look at that, we do have a light source."
The blonde huffed, picking up her sword and pickaxe, slinging both items over her shoulders. "You're still an idiot," she muttered. "How did you do that, Tom?"
It took a moment for me to tear my gaze from the tiny flame in my hands. "I... I don't know. It's like with the apple thing, I don't know how I did it or why, but it felt right."
Sophie searched my gaze for a second, as if thinking she'd find a clearer answer there. "Alright. We'll ignore your magic things for now, but we need to talk about that sooner or later."
Javer nodded. "Agreed. I want to know what else you can do, and if it was worth living in the woods for eight fucking months just to find you."
The blonde tilted her head at him. "I thought you said it was seven."
I blinked. "He told me it was six months."
"That doesn't matter!" J yelled at us. "Let's just go."
The tunnel was narrow, and very jagged. Pieces of rock poked at us around every uneven turn as we headed slowly upwards. Still, it gave us hope to feel even that slight incline under our feet. It took some time, but eventually, our tunnel spread out, and we connected with one of the mineshafts. Sophie took the map out of her pockets, leaning close to me so the torch's light could allow her to read it.
"The tunnel we went through doesn't show up in the map," she mumbled thoughtfully. "I'm not really sure where we are, to be honest. Might be this side tunnel here, next to the main shaft..."
I peeked at the map over her shoulder. She was pointing at a crooked line that kind of resembled a lightning bolt that branched out from the tunnel we had been walking down before reaching the ravine. "Where did we fall? Can you remember?"
"It was... just after the ravine's entrance... I think here," she said, placing her finger over the line before the word 'ravine'. "Mind you, this isn't a very detailed map, so I'm just guessing."
"We'll be fine," I said reassuringly. "It's just a straight shot, right?"
"Yes..." she mumbled, taking a closer look at the map. "I think it's closed off at the end, though."
"So?" Javer butt in. "We still have all our pickaxes."
"I don't know," the blonde murmured thoughtfully. She was making that endearing face again. "Why would they have closed off the tunnel if the village needs resources? Kind of strange."
"Ooooh," J said dramatically. "We might find top secrets that we shouldn't know, or a graveyard of people that went missing for mysterious reasons."
Sophie glared at him before rolling up the map and tucking it away. "You know that's not what I meant. On we go," she said, gesture for me to go first.
I gave her a nod, stretching the torch out in front of me and continuing on. The mineshaft was in worse state than the previous tunnels we'd traversed. Its supports were rotten and bloated, riddled with splinters and cracks. There was also the return of cobwebs, and with force. They lined the stone roof of the cavern like strange cloth.
Something made a shuffling sound behind Sophie and I. We instinctively brought out our weapons, and were met not with a monster, but with Javer's petrified gaze. We dropped our defensive stance, glaring at him. The alchemist-in-training looked taken aback. "What are you angry at me for?" he whispered. "You were the ones who almost killed me!"
"Only because you made so much tucking noise!" Sophie hissed back.
"My foot got stuck in a cobweb!" J answered through gritted teeth. "And why the hell are you whispering???"
"You started with the whispering, dumbass!" the blonde shot back quietly.
A strange clicking sound presented itself, which I registered only in the back of my mind. I pulled the torch closer to us as I turned to face my arguing friends. "Guys, calm down," I said just above a whisper. "We'll be out of the caves soon. Soph, please help J get free of the cobweb."
Cliclaclic. My friend huffed, kneeling down with her shortsword drawn. "Maybe we should just leave him here," she muttered, sawing through the surprisingly thick white strands. "It'd be beneficial to everyone in existence."
Taptaptap. I placed a hand on J's shoulder, stopping him from arguing with a shake of my head. "You'd miss him two seconds after the silence hit you," I whispered back.
Cliclaclic. "Debatable," Sophie muttered.
Taptaptapclicliclic. Javer's foot came loose, and the alchemist-in-training sighed in relief. "Thanks," he muttered.
Claclaclicliclic. "Welcome," Sophie answered with her head down, sheathing her shortsword.
A shiver passed through me, and the sounds finally registered in my head. I whirled around so fast I thought our torch would go out, and it thankfully didn't. I stretched my hand out, squinting to see through the gloom. More clicking and tapping ensued. Like pebbles dropping against stone and wood. Sophie and Javer tensed beside me. The blonde brought her weapon back out while Javer unslung his pick and held it out in front of him with both hands. I reached for my own tool over my shoulder, giving it a spin in my hand.
The light from my torch revealed nothing. Something moved at its edge, there one second and gone the next. It seemed to be the only thing keeping us safe from whatever it was that made all that noise. Speaking of which, the clicking had gone silent at last. I took a step back, closer to my friends. A couple more seconds of clictapcliclic ensued and then all was silent again. I rolled my shoulders, thinking of a way to get our would-be assailants out of the shadows.
"Get ready," I whispered at my friends over my shoulder. "I'm going to hide the torch behind my back for two seconds. When I show it again, we're going to fight. Okay?"
"Okay," Javer muttered. Sophie simply hummed in response.
I stared into the darkness for a few seconds longer. Then I quickly moved the torch from in front of to behind me. We could no longer see anything in front of us. 'They' took a fraction of a second to react, but then the clicking came back in force. Fear beat me, and I immediately showed the bright torch again. Two dozen jewel-like crimson eyes stared back at me, with creepy fangs rubbing together menacingly underneath.
The three cave spiders hissed, looking like they were considering attacking or fleeing. I didn't give them the chance to make up their mind, rushing forwards and bringing my pickaxe down on the closest one's head. It squealed in pain, writhing beneath the tool's sharp metal head. The other two spiders dashed forward with a series of hissing and cliclac noises, jumping up at me. Javer and Sophie showed up, the former piercing one monster's abdomen and nailing it to the wall while the latter split the last arachnid in half with her sword.
More tapping and clicking sounds echoed over the wall as green blood seeped from the monster's corpses. I unlodged my pick from the ground, turning to look at Sophie and Javer. My friends both had determined looks on, raising their own weapons at the darkness. I stretched my hand out again, letting the torch guide us as we ran into the unknown.
Four more cave spiders crawled feverishly towards us, two on the ground, one on the wall and another on the roof. Javer brought his pick down as the one clinging to the wall lunged at him. One of the monsters on the ground jumped for my friend as well, and I just managed to kill it with a swing to the head before it could reach him. Sophie dealt with her own assailant quickly, whirling around and shoving her sword through the last spider, which had dropped down from the roof to land on my head.
More spiders attacked us after less than a minute. I hit one of the arachnids on the head with the blunt side of my pick as it jumped, knocking it down on its back and taking the opportunity to perforate its abdomen before switching targets. Javer swung his pickaxe, and the spider that had attacked him got itself pierced through the head and stuck on the metal tool.
J was preoccupied with having a writhing spider on his pickaxe while Sophie and I finished off two more monsters. The alchemist-in-training shook the tool frantically, glaring at it in disgust. The dead spider dropped from it like a stone, much to his relief.
"I really fucking hate these fucking caves," he moaned, grimacing at the blood soaking his pickaxe.
Sophie clapped his back, looking a bit shaken herself. "Don't be such a baby. We're almost out."
I raised the torch again, standing on high alert, making sure no spiders jumped my friends while they got their heads around what happened. My own limbs were trembling, but I gave no thought to how terrifying and disgusting this whole endeavor had gotten. I could hear the faint sound of clicking in the distance. I made to take a step forward and almost tripped. The cobwebs had gotten progressively more thick and annoying as we went along. I pulled my foot from the much-too-strong webs, turning back to my friends.
"Come on, guys," I said, gesturing for them to follow. "And be careful where you step, try to not get stuck on the cobwebs."
Javer was about to say something when he stumbled, ending up in an uncomfortable-looking half-crouch with one foot all the way back where he had been standing two seconds earlier. Sophie groaned, bending down to cut him loose again. "What did he just say?"
"Easier said than done! This shit's everywhere!" J exclaimed, holding as still as possible.
"Of course it is, we're in a fucking spider den!" Sophie shot back.
"I know that! That's the whole fucking problem!" Javer answered almost hysterically.
I turned away from the black nothingness in front, walking over to them. "Guys, calm down, the both of you. We'll be fine, alright? Only a few more creepy-crawlies to get through and we're free."
Javer looked like he was about to argue or complain, but Sophie silenced him with a look. "Tom's right. Just hold still and be quiet."
I turned around and was pushed to the ground on my back. A pair of fangs tried to dig into my face. A grunt of surprise escaped me, and I immediately held the spider's face as far from mine as possible. It was hard; the monster had dug its hairy clawtipped legs into my arms and torso, as if enveloping me in a deadly, painful hug.
"Tom!" I heard Sophie shout, followed by a pained shout coming from the blonde.
Javer let out a yelp, saying 'fuck off, fuck off, fuck off' over and over again.
I couldn't see much other than the monster strapped to me. A tiny purple drop slid down its fangs, hanging by a miracle from their tip. I stared at the menacing liquid, and watched Sophie get up out of the corner of my eyes. She had a two little marks on her cheek, and was kicking a spider away while drawing her shortsword. My limbs softened from relief, and that almost cost me my life. The spider was now an inch from its target, rubbing those hideous fangs in front of my face as if savoring victory.
The monster suddenly squealed and was pulled off of me. Sophie swung her sword, and the spider was flung into a stone wall, twitching once and going still. My friend stretched out her hand, helping me up. "Are you okay? Did it bite you?"
I stared at the beast in question around her shoulder, turning back to look at the blonde and grimacing when my gaze found those tiny marks again. I raised my fingers to her cheek, brushing them over the bite. "One of them bit you," I muttered, looking back up into her blue eyes.
She shrugged, not pulling away. "I'll be fine. Especially if we get out sooner rather than later."
I nodded, removing my hand a second later and whirling around when the corpse of a spider was thrown against the wall. Javer walked up to us, breathing heavily. "'I wonder if Javer's alright'," he said sarcastically, sitting down and leaning against the wall.
"'Poor guy must need help, right?' 'We should totally make out while that idiot gets viciously murdered by massive fucking bugs', what a great fucking plan," he whined, struggling to catch his breath.
Sophie shook her head. "They're arachnids," she mutters.
"No, they're dead," J answered tiredly. "I killed three of them, all by myself, because you two were too busy having a tender moment."
"We almost died, Javer!" Sophie pointed out.
"So did I!" he shot back. "And... and I... fuck, I'm too tired to deal with your shit."
"So are we," the blonde muttered.
I helped the alchemist-in-training get to his feet. "Come on, J. We're almost there."
"You've been saying that for the last fucking forever," he complained, taking a couple wobbly steps forward.
I shook my head, raising our torch and leading the way. Another group of three spiders attacked us, but Sophie and I dealt with them quickly. We got to walk for a long stretch with no interruption afterwards, never letting our guard down, staring in distrust at the cobweb-plastered walls and roof. Sophie got stuck on one of the sticky clumps of it, and would most certainly had been mocked by Javer if she hadn't glared at him before sawing herself loose.
It was a minute later that a stone wall presented itself, coming out of the shadows and into the light. It was made of cobblestone and gravel hastily brought together to make a simple yet effective barricade. I put the torch down, nested among the cobweb, and turned to look at Javer.
"Sophie's going to stand guard in case more spiders come back, okay?" I told him. "I'm gonna need your help with this."
The alchemist-in-training nodded, walking closer to the obstruction. "Alright. Please don't let the those things get us, Soph," he mumbled, raising the tool over his shoulder.
"I won't," Sophie promised, shortsword at the ready.
Javer swung at the wall, and a few bits of grit flew away from it. I followed suit, picking away at a large boulder that had been placed in the corner of the wall. It shifted little by liitle, with more small rocks crumbling away from it. A couple more fell before hissing and the pit-pattering of arachnid legs started making their way towards us. Sophie adjusted her grip on her shortsword, not taking her eyes from the darkness. Javer whined, swinging his pickaxe faster.
I heard the telltale squeal of another spider dying. "Swing faster, guys!" Sophie called tiredly
Javer had gotten through to the other side, whacking the cobblestone wall frantically. I rolled my eyes and continued carving out my half of the barricade. The wild hisses and pained squeals behind us would be nightmare fuel for months. I lifted my pick over my shoulder and swung with all my might, making a little hole out of the tunnel.
Relieved and hopeful, I stuck my pick's edge through the hole and used it as a lever, dislodging a couple more rocks. Javer brought down his pickaxe on the remaining chunks of cobble, sending flint and dust everywhere. He coughed twice, waving at the air in front of them and crawled through the opening he made.
"Keep going, Thomas! I'll mine it from here," he called, his voice followed by the sound of metal hitting stone.
I huffed, rolling my aching shoulders again, and swinging the pick harder. Stone cracked and crumbled, and within less than a minute, the whole thing collapsed backwards. Dust clouded my view, and I accidentally bumped into Sophie.
I felt her jerk behind me, presumably to attack a spider. "Is it clear?" she asked, exhaustion in her voice.
I coughed my lungs out for a couple more seconds. "Yes," I croaked.
The blonde swung her weapon again, turning around and shoving me forward. "Then let's go!"
I yanked the torch from its place and rushed out of the tunnel. Javer was coughing into his jacket on the other side, squinting at us. Sophie pulled him along by the arm as we passed him. "Hurry up!"
The hisses followed our footsteps. We ran as fast as we could, trying to stay ahead of them. The ground underfoot suddenly became old planks, and I barely had enough time to register the one I stepped on as rotten before my foot fell through into nothing. I groaned from the pain of my current position, trying to haul myself out. Sophie and Javer slowed and whirled around, facing the monsters chasing us. I craned my neck and struggled to see spiders leap at them.
Javer took down one of our poisonous assailants and ran over, pulling me out of my predicament. "Come on!" he urged, rushing into the dark.
I waited for Sophie to pass me before I ran forward. The spiders lunged and crawled after us, yet we managed to keep away from them by an inch. J had disappeared into the darkness at one point, but Sophie and I were too preoccupied with not getting killed to think about it any. The blonde suddenly let out a yelp, falling on her stomach. I slid to a stop, drawing my pickaxe and swinging at the spider closest to her.
Sophie crawled onto her feet, using her shortsword to kill one of the vicious monsters as it jumped at us. "I tripped," she explained hurriedly, pulling me away from the spiders by my forearm. "Let's go, hurry!"
My friend and I rushed away from our assailants. The spiders gave chase, at least a dozen of them now. A sliver of light came into view all of a sudden. Spurred on by this little discovery, we pushed harder against the stone ground. As we neared, a familiar face peeked out at us.
Javer's eyes lit up, and he turned around. "They're here!"
"Send it now!" another voice, which I recognized as Burnham, boomed.
Sophie and I exchanged looks. The whirring of minecart wheels drew our attention forward again. A dented car rolled swiftly towards us on the stretch of rails that remained, carrying a big clump or crimson rods tied together. There were sparks coming off its top, trailing behind as it moved. We barely had time to jump apart to avoid getting run over by the dangerous payload. The spiders were not so lucky, and their corpses stopped the cart's sprint.
Javer and Burnham waved for us to hurry. We were almost there when Sophie suddenly collapsed on the ground. J cursed, and I stumbled to a stop before whirling aroud and running over to her. I swung my pick and killed a spider, bending down to help the blonde get back to her feet. She was shivering, and seemed too weak to get up.
I knocked another spider away, getting ready to pick Sophie up. My eyes locked onto a tiny flame that danced behind the horde of spiders. The fuse split into sixteen different ones and disappeared into the dynamite. I knelt over my friend, feeling a spider jump on my back. The force of the explosion nearly made me fall onto Sophie.
It was an absolute inferno for ten seconds, and then nothing stirred. My ears were ringing, I was sore all over from debris shot out by the blast, my limbs hurt almost certainly from burns, and I was caked in dust. I rolled off Sophie, coughing a couple times before sitting up. Javer ran over, kneeling down between our friend and I. "Are you both okay?"
I blinked dust from my eyes. "A cave spider bit Sophie," I murmured. "I think that's why she fell. The poising must be kicking in."
Javer let out a long sigh. "We need to get you and Soph back to the village. Come on."
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Javer and I sat, bathed in dust and grit, on a couple of stools at the Hearler's house. He was in the guest room, tending to Sophie's injuries and sickness. The alchemist-in-training groaned, stretching out one leg.
"What happened?" I asked tiredly.
"Sprained it," he explained with a grimace. "While running from the everything."
"I don't think I'd seen you run so fast without the use of a potion before," I teased.
He gave me an exhausted shrug. "I had enough of caves. And cave spiders. I just wanted to get out."
The Healer suddenly walked through the curtain that served as that room's door. Javer and I stood—slowly, and painfully—to greet him. "How is she?" J asked, beating me to it.
"She will recover," the elder answered. "The poison is not lethal, but it is very strong. We have no cattle here to gather milk and brew an antidote, so her body will have to fight it off. Her other injuries were minor, thankfully, consisting of bruises, scratches and a couple of cuts easily treated with potions and dressings."
I felt relieved, and from the look of Javer's face, he was too. "How long until she wakes up?"
The Healer scratched his beard. "A day, perhaps. Or less."
"Okay," I breathed, leaning against the wall. "That's good."
"Let me have a look at your injuries as well, my boy," the elder suggested. "You're not in great shape either. Javer here miraculously got out with barely a scratch."
"That's cuz he ran away from everything," I joked, taking a step away from the Healer. "But I'll be fine. Just want to go to sleep."
"I was nearly eaten by a zombie!" Javer exclaimed. "And then by spiders! Did you forget that I was stuck down there too???"
The elder chuckled, nudging him away with his cane. "Very well, if you won't let me see to your wounds, then get rest. If anything is especially bothersome tomorrow, then you tell me at once."
I nodded, opening the door for J, who was still ranting under his breath. "I will, Healer. Have a pleasant afternoon."
"You too, my boy," he answered, ducking back into the guest room.
I closed the door and turned around, finding a small crowd surrounding Javer. The alchemist-in-training was trying to calm them down with complaints and exhausted requests. "What's wrong?" I asked, suppressing a groan.
"Quiet!" J moaned, finally silencing the crowd. "Thank you. Lords... stuff's been stolen, they say."
I raised an eyebrow. "Stolen?"
"My marriage ring is missing," a woman explained, showing me a bare hand.
"So's my father's sword," a man added.
"I lost my tiara," a little girl said, tears forming in her eyes.
Javer and I exchanged looks. "What else is missing?" I asked.
"My brother made a golden broche for me," a young woman answered. "It, along with the one he made for my mom, is gone."
"My dad made me a gold coin," a boy voiced with concern. "I kept it hidden in a box under my floorboards, and now it's not there."
I turned to stare at one man that looked to be squirming as more items were added to the list. "What is it?"
He shrugged with a nervous smile. "I just feel silly now. I... well, I was messing around with forgery, right? I made a gold spoon, just because it felt like something useful and simple to make. Well, my gold spoon is now gone."
I nodded, listening to the rest of the crowd. "Okay, so a lot of gold was taken," I summarized.
Javer shrugged. "Apparently so."
I pursed my lips, thinking carefully. Without thinking, I dropped to one knee in front of the little girl. "What did your tiara look like?" I asked her.
She frowned and held her own wrist. "Um... it was pretty, with little nubbings on the tips. It had five of them, with little flowers on it."
I nodded and closed my eyes. I created a mental picture what the girl had described for me, and closed my hand into a fist. Warmth was drawn from everywhere within me, focusing inside of my palm like a smooth, hot pearl.
If I thought I was exhausted before, then I was nearly dead now. I almost fell to the side, just managing to stay on my feet by using an arm as support. What I held in my hand now was not pure warmth of some sort. It was a golden small crown with five spikes tipped with pearls, sporting roses carved into it.
The little girl's eyes glittered in wonder, carefully taking the tiara from me. "It's like my other one!" she said excitedly, jumping with joy.
All of a sudden, the crowd started talking over each other again. Javer but in, spitting curses at the people while keeping them off me. I stood up on uneven legs, struggling to keep my eyes open. The men and women went silent when they saw me.
"Alright, I... I can't do that for everyone," I mumbled. "I can't remake all of your stuff... or heirlooms... it's exhausting," I explained.
"But!" Javer interrupted as a man was about to speak. "We can find it. Thomas and I will help you get your stuff back, okay?"
I nodded when the people turned to stare at me for confirmation of this. "Just... not today. I'm way... way too tired."
"Yeah," the alchemist-in-training agreed. "We'll find your things, starting tomorrow. Go back to your homes, and please, please let us sleep. We've been staring at nothing but rock for at least five hours. Have pity on us."
The crowd shifted uncomfortably, mumbling agreement and then dispersing little by little. J got my arm around his neck, helping me stay upright. "Let's go, mister I'll-just-make-some-gold-our-of-thin-air. Like that wouldn't cause them to riot."
I could only groan, struggling to take five steps. My friend chuckled. "Alright, come on. Don't you die on me just yet; I won't be able to carry you all the way to the house."
I sighed, closing my eyes. "I hate being 'famous'," I mumbled, leaning heavily against Javer. The last thing I remember from then was the ground coming up to meet me at an impressive speed.
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3rd Person POV
A shape ducked back behind the Healer's hut as soon as the spectacle was over, smiling with glee. It worked. So there IS more to your abilities, spirit, it thought to itself as it turned into a cloud of dark-green dust. I must have that book...
It rose up into the sky and, despite winds blowing from the east, drifted lazily to the now wildly-growing or hard to the south.
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Author's Notes
I can't stress this enough, this chapter just... it was a struggle for me to crop down. There were too many things I wanted to add here, too many things I had to change to keep consistency a thing, it... yeah, just, it was tough.
I didn't particularly like the ending. It was one of the things I had to change, due to chapter length reasons, but not exactly for the better. Still, overall, I think this chapter's solid.
Anywho, thank you all for your time and support! Have an awesome day!
~ LeMafiaKreb
