Edderkopp - Drider!Loki

Fourteen

While the rain had thankfully stopped and an early afternoon sun had started blazing above us once again, a humid heat was beginning to rise and I could already feel my skin starting to prickle.

Unfortunately, despite the growing pleasantness of the weather, the ground was still slick and a nightmare for me to walk on.

Luckily, we weren't near any chasms on the trail the others had picked and thus I was at least not at the risk of falling to injury when my foot slid out from beneath me from a mistread.

More than a few times the other two had to stop and wait for me to catch up, too caught up in their conversations to realise that I was falling behind once again until I called out to them.

It was frustrating but I didn't begrudge them, I blamed the weather more than I blamed them, they were so much larger and had an easier passage than myself that it would be unfair to blame them for my struggle of keeping my footing.

It was all Sod's Law, a foe that I had regular encounters with.

When I wasn't having to concentrate on crossing a particularly muddy part of our route, my eyes were trained on Loki's back, watching for another flicker of grey skin.

Had what happened in the cave been a sheer moment of a sleep induced mirage?

It was possible, but my gut still told me that that wasn't the case.

Driders were known to be cursed dark elves, weren't they?

That was all I could think about during our first snack break and the more I considered it, while my stomach tightened uncomfortably at the unwelcome food, the more I realised that the features definitely fit the typical dark elf descriptors.

I wanted to ask Loki about it but didn't know how to bring it up, how could I ask if he was aware out of nowhere?

What if it was a sensitive subject and he kept it purposefully hidden?

Not that I would have had much of a chance to anyway, not when Thor was talking animatedly with his hands about something that had Loki smiling, though faint it was.

Occasionally, the two would laugh and something in my chest fluttered at watching the two interact.

If it turned out that this was all a wild goose chase, I would at least leave with memories of the experience and hopes of them having become closer friends than what they started our adventure as.

"-so I dropped them and I tell you, I've never seen a goblin scarper so fast," Thor guffawed, hand on his chest. "I became fast friends with that satyr."

"Sounds to me like they owe you their life," Loki said with a soft smile.

"Maybe, but I'd never ask for it, maybe just a mug of mead or four."

"Should your kind be drinking mead?"

"Who cares? If you're not here for long then be here for the party!"

"Guys!" I called, leaning against the nearest tree to try and catch my breath.

My lungs were tight, my thighs were burning and my left ankle twinged with every step.

They both stopped and turned towards me, Thor looking quizzical and Loki's expression flickering quickly from concern to nonchalance.

"I need a break," I sighed, leaning over to rub my thighs. "My legs are killing me."

"Not very fit for an adventurer, are you?" Thor laughed.

"Shut up! I'm not an adventurer and I'm not made to tread mud," I huffed, adding a childish pout so he knew that I wasn't genuinely upset.