by Eric Vall
“If it opens into the cellar,” I added.
“When do you think it’s flat again?” the naiad groaned.
“I’m sure it will be soon, Penelope,” the fairy assured her. “The barrels of wine were clearly lodged in against level ground.”
Nicola shone the light down the passageway, and I was surprised when the beam hit what appeared to be a dead end.
“Does the tunnel stop?” I asked.
“Nooo…” the brunette trailed off. “I think it splits.”
“Then which way do we go?” Penelope asked with wide eyes.
“Let me see…” I said. I zoomed out a little so I could see the grass above the women’s heads. My map wouldn’t let me see both their location in the tunnel and the ground above, but I could see the red circles that represented the women on my map of followers. The passage had curved off behind the living quarters at a strange angle, and I decided the women needed to turn right to reach the trap door. “Go right.”
“Is that the way to the kitchen?” Aleia asked.
“Looks like it,” I replied.
“Well, then I think we should go left,” the fairy said with a sparkle in her eyes. “Come on, let’s explore some more. All we’re probably going to find is more rats and some wine.”
“I don’t know…” I hedged. I wanted the women to have fun, but I also needed to make sure they were safe. Then again, maybe they needed to explore the entire cavern for me to level up. “But there were two tunnels behind the locked gate, so both of them must be important for some reason. I’ll let you go to the left, but you need to be very careful.”
“Let’s go left!” Nicola agreed. “That’s where the treasure is going to be.”
“I can’t wait!” Penelope squealed. “I wonder if it’s going to be diamonds or rubies.”
“If you could have anything fancy right now, what would it be?” the brunette asked. “Other than diamonds or rubies.”
“Sapphires!” Penelope giggled. “I really like jewels. They’re so glittery.”
“It could certainly be one of those,” Aleia responded with a grin on her face. “Come on, let’s go.”
The priestesses turned left, and after an initial bend, the path was fairly straight in front of them. The tunnel seemed to narrow, though, and Nicola had to stoop a little to get through.
“Hey, did you see that weird shadow on the wall?” the brunette asked as she pointed the flashlight several yards down the side of the tunnel. “It’s gone now, but watch when I move my light.”
The brunette held the light down at her side for a moment, and a flood of what looked like black insects rushed in where the beam had been. When she held the flashlight up at the wall again, whatever it was immediately scattered away as the light hit it.
“What is that?” Aleia squinted at the wall. “Shine the light over here, Nicola.”
The dark-haired woman aimed the light at the opposite wall, and there was the same shadowy scattering effect.
“I see it again on this side, too,” the fairy reported with a shudder. “It’s all over the place.”
“What the fuck?” I breathed.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Penelope gulped.
“The way they all move like one being is just disturbing,” I muttered. “I don’t want you continuing down this path. Not without me down there. Turn back.”
“Yes, perhaps we should have listened to you in the first place, Jack,” Nicola agreed as she took a step backward. “I don’t like the looks of whatever that was.”
The women moved as one to retreat back down the tunnel, but the moment they did, a loud ch-ch-ch sound started coming from the ceiling.
Then my priestesses all leapt into a cluster and looked up, and the beam of their flashlight illuminated a monster falling in front of them and blocking their path.
It was a fucking spider, and its body alone had to be at least three feet across.
Oh, fuck.
Chapter 15
“Oh, my Jack, oh, my Jack, oh, my Jack,” Nicola gasped.
The huge spider dangled from a strand of web that had to be around four inches thick, and the beast was totally black other than its two-inch-long white fangs. It was covered in thick fur, its eight legs all had huge, curved claws on the ends, and there were at least ten eyes set in a neat row across its hairy face. Its appendages were so long they were all scrunched up in the narrow tunnel, and I had no idea how something that huge had run across the ceiling without us noticing, but it was too late for that now.
Before I even had a chance to react and warn the women, the huge arachnid had almost immediately spun an entire web. The diameter of the tunnel was tiny compared to the size of the spider, and it was easy for the beast to fill the passage with sticky strands and completely block in the priestesses.
And then suddenly, the spider began to jerk back and forth.
There was a loud creaking sound, and I realized with dismay the huge creature was trying to unfold its legs. One long appendage began to straighten out, and I realized the beast was gearing up to come straight at the women.
“Look out!” I shouted. “It’s trying to get to the ground!”
The horrible creaking sound echoed throughout the chamber as Nicola snapped into action. The brunette swiftly pulled her blade out of its scabbard and jabbed toward the spider’s abdomen as its legs continued to slowly unfurl, but the blade was immediately repelled by what looked like a thick patch of leathery scales.
“Shit!” Nicola swore.
“Back her up!” I told Penelope and Aleia as Nicola quickly recovered and sliced out again, this time at the base of the spider’s leg. The brunette’s sword got stuck in the web like it was taffy, though, and when she finally yanked the blade free, it was covered in white, sticky strands.
“I got this,” Aleia said in a grim tone as she stepped back, loaded her sling, and swung it over her head.
The rock flew a few feet through the air and hit the spider directly in the middle of its hourglass-shaped body, but it didn’t do any visible damage. The grisly spider only jerked back and forth more rapidly on its web, and it was apparently pissed off because it started to hiss, too.
Then a stream of yellow venom shot out from between its fangs. The three women jumped back and shrieked, and luckily, the toxic substance missed their bodies. The brightly-colored venom sizzled for a moment before it began to dissipate, and in a matter of seconds, the splatters had disappeared from the ground.
The priestesses all gasped in horror as they watched more of the strange yellow substance seep out and sizzle into oblivion, and I felt like my phantom eyes were bulging beyond capacity.
Aleia’s rock had stopped its legs from unfurling temporarily, though, and for a moment, all I could hear was the sound of the priestesses’ heavy breathing.
“Keep hitting it before it gets down!” I instructed the women.
“Let me try my axe,” Penelope growled as she pulled the weapon back behind her head and attempted to hack directly into the center of the spider’s body.
When the blade made contact with the creature’s abdomen, it penetrated the furry armor and cleaved the arachnid through its center. The spider’s armor split open, and the same yellow goo it was spitting started to trickle out. Under the black scales, the beast’s body glowed a bright yellowish-green.
What kind of fucked up monster was this?
“Don’t let any of that shit touch you before it evaporates,” I warned the women.
As I spoke, the creaking noise started again, and even as the axe stuck out of its belly, the spider finally got one of its eight legs unfolded. The leg was long enough to touch the side of the tunnel and curve backward again against the ceiling, but the spider managed to manipulate one leg to the ground, and then it began to drum its claw against the tunnel’s stone floor.
Tap, tap, tap.
“I’m going to get that leg!” Nicola cried out, and before I could tell her she needed to
stay back, the brunette lunged forward with her sword again. She aimed toward the place where the moving leg met its body, and her aim struck true. A huge fountain of yellow sprayed out as the blade cleaved through the spider’s appendage, and the priestesses leapt backward. This time the sizzling noise from the vaporizing pools of acid was loud enough to echo against the tunnel walls, and I was grateful the women had managed to dodge the liquid.
Then a loud growling sound emanated from the beast’s throat, and the spider’s disembodied leg fell stiffly to the ground with a loud crack.
For a moment, the beast’s huge body seemed frozen in place. The spider continued to growl and spit venom, but its legs had temporarily stopped unfurling, and for a fleeting second, I thought the women had succeeded at last.
Until the leg on the ground got up again.
“Fuck!” I shouted. “Get out of the way!”
The disembodied leg skittered around in a circle, and the three women jumped back. Its random motions reminded me of a chicken with its head cut off, and for a second I hoped it would just collapse.
But then the leg seemed to actually catch sight of the priestesses.
The appendage stopped in place for a moment, and then it began to dash directly in the women’s direction.
“Run!” I bellowed, but before the priestesses could heed my warning, the leg was on them.
“Yaggghhhhh!” Penelope screamed, and as the spider’s leg suddenly exploded into a thousand shards, I realized the naiad had brought the axe down on the hairy appendage just in time. She’d dropped the flashlight, though, and it rolled down the rounded floor to settle against the side of the tunnel.
“Nice!” I praised the naiad. “But don’t lose that light!”
“Shit!” the fairy yelled, and she swung her sling over her head and hit the spider directly in one of its eyes. It hissed and spat again, and the creaking noise turned into a roar as the spider tried to unlodge all seven of its remaining legs.
The only thing slowing the beast down was its sheer size, and it struggled awkwardly against the tunnel’s circular walls as it continued to hiss and growl. Its eyes and the yellow glow in its chest appeared to be flashing in unison, and it was clear that despite the blows the beast had taken, it still had plenty of life force left.
“Get back!” I told the women, and they dashed about thirty feet away from where the spider still barely dangled. The priestesses stood in place and panted as they stared at the almost-freed spider, and then Aleia snapped back into motion.
“If I can hit it with rocks where the legs meet the body, I can slow it down,” the strawberry-blonde declared as she loaded and pulled back her sling.
The fairy moved faster than I’d ever seen her as she rained rock after rock down on the spider, and she managed to dislodge two more of its legs. Every time the beast got hit, it seemed to freeze in place and buy the women a couple more seconds, but its growling had turned into a steady roar.
“Good job, Aleia!” I praised the naiad. “Just get ready for those legs to run.”
“I got this one,” Penelope growled, and with a wild look in her eyes, the naiad raised the axe over her shoulder.
The spider’s disembodied legs whirled around in ghastly circles before they sensed the women, and they began to dash down the tunnel toward the priestesses.
The blue woman’s reflexes were on point as she swung the axe into both of the legs one after the other, and she grunted as she ground the appendages into dust against the floor.
And then, all of a sudden, the spider finally untangled itself with a huge bellow, and it fell to the ground with a thunderous crash. Then its multitude of eyes laser-focused on the priestesses, who recoiled in horror.
“There’s no time to freeze!” I yelled. “Get ready to strike!
The huge beast began to scuttle down the passage toward the women on its five remaining legs, and the priestesses braced for the attack.
The spider leapt out toward the women just as Nicola raised her sword like a baseball bat. Then, with a huge cracking sound, the brunette slammed the spider back in the direction it had come from.
The beast landed with a thud and began to dissolve into a puddle of yellow goo, and I watched with satisfaction as its glow finally faded. Its web shriveled up and began to vanish into the air with small plumes of white, dusty smoke, and it appeared the creature was finally dead.
“Oh, Jack,” Aleia gasped. “That was horrible.”
“I hate spiders.” Penelope swiped her hair out of her eyes with a grimace. “I never want to see--
Another ch-ch-ch sound from the ceiling cut the naiad off.
A huge spider even bigger than the first fell down from about ten feet behind the women and immediately began to spit venom, and the priestesses all screamed in shock as the liquid hissed and steamed.
“What is on me?” Penelope suddenly shrieked as she stared down at a black wave that had started to spread across the floor. The blue woman’s feet, ankles, and calves were now covered by a steady procession of tiny spiders, and the naiad frantically shuffled her feet as she tried to get them off.
“Go get the flashlight!” I shouted, and Nicola immediately dashed toward the first spider’s broken body where the light had fallen.
The dark-haired woman grabbed the Maglite, whirled around, and raced back toward the other two women. Then she shone the flashlight at the ground, and the small spiders scattered away as if they were one being.
“Thanks, sister,” Penelope gasped as she grabbed the flashlight from Nicola and swung the beam all around the passage. “They were biting me!”
“Me too,” Aleia said in a grim voice. “And now there’s this other bastard to take care of.”
Suddenly, the second spider’s legs began to creak, and I knew the women didn’t have much time.
“We need to get you the fuck out of here,” I muttered.
The second spider could apparently shoot its venom further than the first, and a few drops of disgusting yellow spray finally landed on Penelope’s feet.
“Ow!” the naiad squealed.
“This thing needs to die,” Nicola growled. The brunette kept trying to slice down legs with her sword, but the spider just reached its horrible claws toward her and forced her to jump back over and over again.
“What are we going to do, Jack?” Penelope wailed.
“We need to break through its armor again,” I informed the women. “Aleia, shoot a rock.”
“The little spiders are on me again!” the fairy yelped, and it appeared she hadn’t heard what I’d said.
Penelope shone the flashlight directly at Aleia’s legs to make the tiny arachnids run away, but the strawberry-blonde still had a look of panic in her eyes.
“Pull it together, sister,” Nicola said over her shoulder as she squared off with the huge arachnid and danced out of its reach again. “This is no time to break down.”
“I need you to use your rocks,” I told Aleia in a firm voice as the big spider started to unfurl faster and faster. “Now.”
“Okay, master.” The strawberry-blonde finally loaded her sling with shaky hands and swung it over her head, but her shot missed the spider and got stuck in its web. “Shit!”
“You got this,” Nicola puffed as shc continued trying to get in a blow to the spider’s legs.
“I do.” Aleia bared her teeth, and then she swung her sling over her head again. This time, she hit the spider square in one of its ten eyes, and the orb immediately burst open and shot out a thick fountain of what looked like the same yellow goo.
“Ewww!” Penelope cried out. “But do it again, Aleia!”
The fairy loaded her weapon, aimed, and fired, and this time the close-range shot slammed into the spider’s abdomen at top speed. Cracks began to spread outward from the spot she’d hit, and its armor split open. The inside of this beast was glowing as bright yellow as a firefly, and the eerie light was reflected in the spider’s glimmering black eyes.
“Ke
ep going!” I cheered on the women.
The spider suddenly shot out a huge stream of venom, and a couple drops hit Nicola on the arm. The dark-haired woman stared at the small spots, and her face contorted into a mask of rage.
“Fuck. This!” The brunette growled like a wild animal, and she attempted to stab upward with both hands through the bottom of the spider’s body. The spot was sticky with goo from the web, but her hit was good, and its internal light began to flicker.
The spider froze in place for a moment, but then it started to moan in a terrible voice and reach out its claws even further down the tunnel, and I knew it was going to break free any second.
“I’m going to get it,” Aleia grunted before she swung her sling once more. Another rock crumbled more of the beast’s armor, and its light grew greener and weaker.
“Just keep it up!” I growled.
“Get the little spiders off me!” the fairy said as she aimed her sling again. “I can’t focus.”
“I got this one!” Penelope shouted as she shone the flashlight directly onto the strawberry-blonde priestess.
The little spiders on the fairy’s legs rushed away, and Aleia’s stance grew stronger. She swung the sling and smashed a stone directly into the same location where she’d hit the spider a minute before, and the remaining armor finally broke away in huge, black chunks.
“Hit the glowing part!” I told the fairy, who loaded her weapon again, but then she stopped and stared for a moment in fascination at the web because what seemed like millions of the tiny spiders had started to crawl up toward the large beast. “Wait, what the fuck?”
“I think they’re creating new armor for it!” Penelope gasped as the tiny spiders swarmed over the bigger spider’s body and began to lock together into the animal’s original patterns.
“I think I’m going to throw up,” Nicola moaned.
“Penelope, shine the light directly at it to make the smaller spiders scatter,” I rapidly told the naiad. “And then the other two of you finish it. Aleia, hit it with a rock, and then Nicola, stab right where she hit.”