The Spider Queen was on the ceiling, scuttling around like gravity was a gentle suggestion, and all I could do was stare. I was out of range. Out of options. Out of time.She tilted her abdomen down and unleashed a shower of sticky, web-like fluid. It wasn't an attack; it was a trap. She wanted to immobilize me.And I, like a complete and utter lunatic, let her.I deliberately stepped in the goo, felt my feet get stuck, and then looked up at the giant, eight-legged horror on the ceiling and gave her the finger."Come and get me, you ugly bitch!" I taunted.It was a stupid move. A suicidal move. But it was the only move I had. The [Scarlet Potion] was about to wear off. In two minutes, I'd be a dehydrated, useless husk. It was now or never."What's the matter? Scared to come down here? But you've got me all trapped!" I yelled again.My taunts seemed to short-circuit her spider-brain. After a moment of confused hesitation, she let out a furious shriek and dove, fangs first, right at me."That's more like it!" I grinned.She fell, a hurtling mass of chitin and rage. Her maw was open, dripping with venom. But in my potion-fueled, three-eyed perception, she was moving in slow motion. I saw her trajectory. I saw her intent. ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) And I saw my opening.I swung my makeshift flail.I didn't even have to aim. It was like she threw her own eyeball onto my weapon. It was a perfect, sickening, pop.The impact sent her tumbling. Her charge, which was meant to be a killing bite, turned into a clumsy, full-body tackle. She slammed into me like a freight train. The world exploded in a starburst of pain. Ribs snapped. My arm shattered. If it weren't for the chest plate I was wearing, my heart would have been reduced to a bloody smear. But I was alive. Barely.My HP was at 16. My regeneration potion had shattered in the impact. But I had a spare. I choked down a rotten sardine to access my stomach pouch, pulled out the backup potion, and chugged it.The familiar, agonizing itch began, knitting my broken body back together. When it was over, I staggered to my feet. The Spider Queen was thrashing around, completely blind now, smashing into the cavern walls in a mindless rage.And then, my nose started to bleed, and the world went black."What the…?"I was blind. The potion had worn off, and the dehydration was kicking in. I fumbled for my water, taking small, desperate sips, trying to get my bearings in the sudden, terrifying darkness. The cavern had gone silent.I didn't know how long I sat there, a blind, broken man in a dark cave with a giant, equally blind, and probably very angry spider somewhere nearby. Finally, I remembered the one thing I could still do."Suna," I typed into the chat log, my fingers moving on pure muscle memory. "Get in here. I think I'm blind.""Blind?" came the instant reply."Yes. Can't see a damn thing." I gave her the short, heavily edited version of the story. Big spider, played dead, big fight, now blind. "Be careful. She's blind too, but she's still dangerous.""Oh, she's dead," Suna's reply came back, casual as you please. "I'm just trying to find a weak spot in her armor. My knife can't cut it. Where are you? Let me borrow your sword.""…"I stood up and yelled her name. A moment later, I heard her footsteps."Your left eye…" she said, her voice filled with a strange, clinical awe. "It's… beautiful.""Beautiful? It's a pulsating, three-lobed tumor," I said. I'd felt it. It was not beautiful."It's still moving. It should be working. You really can't see?" She waved a hand in front of my face."Don't touch it!" I flinched back."Your left eye has no eyelid. It can't close," she explained, her voice right next to my ear. "If it's really transmitting three separate visual feeds, as you described, your brain can't handle the load."The pieces started to click into place."You mean…""Exactly. You're not blind. Your brain has just… turned off the video feed to keep you from having an aneurysm.""How long until it turns back on?" I asked, a surge of hope in my chest."I don't know," she said, her voice flat. "Could be a second. Could be a year. Could be never. The brain is a complicated organ." She pressed something cool and smooth into my hand. "Here. It's a piece of the carapace. Cover your left eye with it. Blocking the visual input might help."

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