The spider.
* * * *
Kyle frantically felt for his dagger. It was gone.
The spider’s huge shaped appeared like a specter in the darkness. Gone was the illusion of the harmless cat.
Overhead, the clouds momentarily broke and bathed the area in moonlight. The light brought the creature into cold focus. The short prickly hairs that had covered most of the spider’s body had been burned away. It dragged two broken legs behind itself as it moved closer. Its head, which had been covered with at least eight shiny eyes, now was more of a mass of spongy material coated in jellied slime. The sharp mandibles were working though, opening and closing rhythmically and dripped a thick fluid.
Venom.
* * * *
Legan reached under his bedroll and fished out the small sharp stone that had been digging into his back for the last two hours. Tossing it into the high grass he looked out across the embers of the campfire. His eyes settled on Kyle’s spot and widened. Kyle’s blanket was empty.
He was about to call out, but caught himself. Why worry everyone, especially after what they had just been through. Kyle had probably just left the campsite to relieve himself. Rather than go back to sleep, he bent an arm behind his head and looked up at the cloud cover overhead and the broken patches that revealed speckles of glowing stars. Alternating between regarding the cloudy sky and Kyle’s empty sleeping area, Legan was struck by how surreal events had changed in the span of only a few hours. They’d barely escaped with their lives from an unspeakable horror, by more than just a bit of luck and now, here they were, lying encamped in a peaceful field, sleeping amid the peace and quiet.
Wait. His smile disappeared as quickly as it had come as it dawned on him just how quiet the night was. He strained to listen for what should have been a teeming insect world of chirping and buzzing, but was instead, absolutely quiet. He threw off his thin blanket and pulled on his boots. Something spooked the insect life, like a cricket that refuses to sing when someone is nearby. Something…
“Kyle,” He called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. When he didn’t get an immediate response, he grabbed his axe. He looked around the camp at his waking companions.
“Legan, what’s wrong?” Amber asked, rubbing her eyes.
“Kyle’s missing.”
Chapter Eleven
Kyle scooted back as best he could with the strong cord lashing his legs together. He squirmed along, his legs and elbows working as hard as possible but to no avail. The huge spider would be upon him in a matter of moments.
He heard his name being called out. Then he heard a chorus of voices.
“I’m here. Help, Cathandra’s back,” he screamed.
Kyle looked over to his left and saw Delas break through the high grass first.
“There you are,” she called out and ran toward him.
“Delas, stop,” he called out.
The dungeon spider swept the unsuspecting mage off of her feet with a swipe of a massive leg and sent her tumbling back the way she had come. She rolled along the ground, at the edge of the high grass, moaning and clutching her lower abdomen.
Cathandra edged toward Delas and then refocused on Kyle.
A dark shape leapt over Kyle and landed in front of the monster. Adam sidestepped, positioning himself halfway between Kyle and Delas, ready to attack in case the spider advanced again.
In Adam’s right hand he held his short sword and in his left, a flaming torch. He pointed the sword at the monster while waving the torch in short, quick arcs.
Cathandra hissed at the flaming torch, scuttled to the side away from the fire.
Adam stepped forward and jabbed menacingly with his sword. He was hopelessly out of range to make contact, but he managed to keep the spider focused on his sword and torch rather than his companions.
Amber stepped out of the darkness, carrying a slender dagger in each hand. She had a look of grim determination on her face. She stepped further to the right, away from Adam and Kyle, forcing Cathandra to retreat every few seconds to keep both attackers in view of her reduced vision.
Adam stepped forward again, waving the torch and his foot landed on the side of a stone hidden by the grasses. He stumbled, falling to his left and losing his balance completely. The torch fell from his grip as he tried to break his fall and sizzled in the wet grass. Cathandra saw the moment of weakness and attacked.
For all of her injuries, the spider was still surprisingly quick. It leapt into the air, covered half the distance between itself and Adam and then jumped again. Adam fell from his side onto his back and held the short sword upward, the pummel planted into the soft earth. Cathandra landed on Adam and the upturned sword, screeching as it plunged through her sternum.
Amber flipped her daggers, grasped their tips in her gloved hands, and then let them fly. They both hit Cathandra just above the area where the legs connected to her body. The spider reared in an attempt to free itself of Adam’s weapon. She was unable to clear the blade and it tore the wound wider, cutting into her bulbous abdomen.
Adam bobbed in the tight quarters under the beast, trying to avoid the fangs that hovered over his head. He held onto the handle of the sword, keeping it upright, ensuring that it didn’t slide free as the spider moved forward.
Legan charged in from behind the spider. He let out a battle cry and brought his axe down on the spider’s abdomen. It buried deeply, spraying a stream of dark fluid. Twisting the blade, he pulled it free. He leapt back, keeping outside the range of the spider’s legs and held his dripping weapon’s shaft in both fists in front of him. With the quick sideways movement, Cathandra finally dislodged Adam’s sword. Rolling in the opposite direction, Adam escaped empty-handed from under her body. He staggered to Delas’ side and knelt in front of her, placing himself between her and the mortally wounded spider. He pulled a dagger from his belt and held it at the ready.
Cathandra was now moving much slower, trailing dark fluids from the deep wounds and effects of the daggers that were still protruding from her side. She cried out again, but this time the intensity of the screeching betrayed her closeness to death. Two legs on her left side gave way as she turned to face Legan, and she was half on her side when he raised his axe over his head.
“Die. You demon creature.” Legan cried out and launched the axe at the spider’s head. His aim was true and the blade sank deeply, squirting blood and stopping the spider’s sideways thrashing. Her legs curled in on themselves under the bleeding body and the spider crumpled onto its side.
* * * *
Kyle sat close to the fire and rubbed his calves with his hands. Amber had cut the webbing loose more than a half hour before, but he still had a tingling sensation where the webbing had stuck. He’d already thanked the group several times for coming to his rescue, and now they simply sat together quietly as the darkness gave way and the sun broke on the horizon signaling a new day.
Following breakfast, Kyle pulled Delas aside and asked her to walk with him.
“How are you feeling? You took quite a hit from Cathandra.”
“Feeling better than I did last night. No broken skin and no bruising,” Delas said, touching her abdomen with the palm of her hand. “My head is still a bit foggy, and aches, but with time...” She walked along with Kyle for a dozen steps and then stopped and turned toward him.
“So, what are you thinking about? I noticed you sitting there at the fire after everyone was done talking about it and you seemed to be off in your own thoughts. You seem to be wrestling with something.”
Kyle shook his head.
“Was I that obvious? I’ve just been thinking about how dangerous the path ahead of us is going to be and how that isn’t what any of you expected when you joined Adam and me.”
Kyle bent over and picked up several small stones and rolled them around in his closed fist. “The other thing bothering me is how foolish I’ve been in marching off on this trek with such limited knowledge. I don’t know what we’re walk
ing into and it could get us all killed.”
“Kyle, after what happened with Omen and Cathandra, I think everyone’s eyes are wide open as to the dangers we face. If it’s bothering you, ask them. Tell them how you feel, what you’re thinking and then ask them if they want to continue onward. I’m sticking with you…and Adam, of course.” Delas smiled and continued, “People are funny sometimes. Dangerous events have a way of binding a group together.”
Kyle tossed the stones onto the ground.
“I guess you’re right. I’ll ask them.”
Delas turned and started walking back to the group, but stopped when Kyle’s gloved hand fell on her arm.
“There’s-there’s something else I need to ask you.”
“Sure, anything.”
“Before Kalaldi was killed, he mentioned the mages at the guilds were trained to keep meticulous notes on everything. Is that true?”
Kyle’s question pulled a chuckle from Delas’s lips.
“Yeah, you could say that. We were trained to take notes on our training, what castings worked, what didn’t. Taking notes was an integral part of our training. The Elders took notes on their meetings, our training, attendance, everything.”
“Where did they store their notes? The Elders, I mean.” Kyle asked.
“Well, the guild was part of The Great Circle, so they periodically sent copies to The Great Libraries of Anthros. We took a bundle with us when my group went to the libraries for research. “Delas looked down and grew quiet.
Kyle touched Delas’s shoulder and she covered his hand with hers. They stood that way for several long seconds and then Delas released her grip and Kyle pulled his hand back.
“You know you’re not alone anymore, right?”
“I know,” Delas whispered, her eyes growing glassy.
“Look, if Legan can locate the libraries on one of those maps of his, would you be interested in visiting Anthros again and seeing if you can find some information from the Wizard’s Guild in Gnorepenne before Gnorepenne was overrun? I’m not sure what we are even looking for. Information on the Wizards Guild’s day-to-day happenings. Maybe a posting of some kind about a missing medallion or of the caravan that never made it to its destination. I don’t know. I’m grasping for ghosts I know, I just…”
He felt Delas’ hands grasp his and gently squeeze them. He looked into her eyes and felt a warmth flood his body and the feelings of despair and sadness that were weighing on his thoughts disappeared.
“Kyle.” Delas smiled. “I haven’t felt like I’ve been a part of something in a very long time. You’ve welcomed me into your group, and it’s made me feel…I would be happy to find out all that I can for you.” Delas released his hands, turned and walked back toward the group.
* * * *
“Of course, I can’t speak for anyone else, but this has been the most excitement I’ve had in years,” Legan said, clamping his hand on Kyle’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze hard enough to make Kyle wince. He released his grip and sat down on a rocky outcropping. Pulling his pack open, he pulled out a clay pipe, filled it from a small cloth sack and lit the bowl with an ember from the fire pit. He pulled it free from his lips, and the smoke drifted away on the light breeze. “You need someone to keep an eye on you,” he said pointing the tip of the pipe at Kyle.
“Amber?” Kyle asked.
Amber smiled a half grin and raised her eyebrow at Kyle. In that moment it suddenly dawned on him that Amber was a beautiful woman. She shrugged her shoulders and thumbed at Legan.
“While he’s keeping an eye on you, he’ll need someone to keep an eye on him. I’ll stick around and watch his back.”
“Watch? Young lady, even when I’ve been gone for ten years and my bones are rotted in the ground, I’ll still be able to watch my own back better than you can with those fingernail scrapers you call daggers.” Legan puffed several times and finally settled the pipe between smiling lips.
“Delas?”
“Yes, I’m in.” She looked over at Adam and smiled when she saw he was already looking at her.
“Good. I have something else to talk to you all about,” Kyle said.
“This attack by Cathandra and what Omen said about a wide spread message to be on the watch for me and this group gave me reason to pause and think about what we’re doing and what it is we are trying to accomplish. While I think we are doing the right thing, it is just as likely I’m mistaken and I could be leading us to our doom. I appreciate you all sticking with me-us but I would like to offer a change in plans.”
“We’re sticking with you Kyle,” Amber said.
“Thank you. What I’ve proposed to Delas is for her to travel back to the Great Libraries of Anthros and begin a search for any information she can unearth just prior to the fall of Gnorepenne. The Wizard’s Guild was a part of the town structure and life and I’m hoping she can find something that can help us know if what I am trying to accomplish is the right thing. If anyone is opposed, I would be willing to listen, but with Kalaldi dead and the Guild disbanded, I don’t know where we could go for information.”
Kyle took a deep breath in the silence and let it out slowly.
“Since Delas has already been there, I asked her to travel as a favor to me, and she accepted.”
“What?” Adam blurted out, a puzzled look on his face.
“What’s wrong Adam?”
“What’s wrong? We’ve nearly been killed every step of the way on this travel of ours. Now you want to splinter off the group and send Delas off on her own to try to find the Great Libraries and then return?” He pointed out into the field. “Have you forgotten what happened to you last night? What could have happened if you were traveling alone?”
“I was hoping you would accompany her.” Kyle said simply.
Adam’s mouth closed as quickly as it opened.
Chapter Twelve
Adam sat with Legan while he meticulously copied the map elements onto a clean sheet of parchment, scaling them to fit from the two maps down to one. Being unfamiliar with maps, Adam asked Legan a number of questions about their symbols. Legan was only too happy to discuss the subject. When the transfer was complete, Legan lightly coated the map with a sprinkling of dust to help the black ink dry and laid it down on the ground, weighing its corners down with small stones.
While Adam was getting his cartography lesson, Delas was busying herself stuffing both of their packs with items scrounged from the others in the group. She made sure they had several days’ worth of spare foodstuffs and their bedding was secure. While she was tying the final drawstring closed, Kyle walked over to where she was kneeling.
“I was listening to the conversation between Adam and Legan about the travel to Anthros. He figures it will be about ten days to get there, barring any trouble. Hopefully you two shouldn’t run into any. I’m the one they seem to be looking for, and I think they’re tracking me by using the medallion, so without it, they may not realize you two have left the group.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Ever since I was small, I’ve been around magic in training and some magics have special properties, like illumination or explosive displays. Others leave residual traces behind. Your thinking is consistent with what I’ve learned in my magical studies. I feel we should be safe getting to Anthros.”
“Yeah,” Kyle said, pulling at the glove on his hand. “Hopefully you two find something.”
An awkward silence formed between the two as they stood together, both knowing that the travel to the Great Library was important but possibly quite dangerous. Finally, Delas broke the silence.
“So we should be back in the area in about a month, give or take.”
“We’ll be waiting in the town of Oldenmill. It’s on the foothills of the Southern Mountains. I made sure Legan placed a mark on the map he created. Here.”
Kyle handed over a small pouch of coins, which Delas took and secured to the belt on her waist. Over the pouch she laid a flap of cloth which effectively conc
ealed the money in the folds of her robes. Kyle turned to see what was taking Adam so long but turned back when he felt her hand rest on his arm.
“Kyle, If we don’t make it back in full cycles of the moon…at the latest…you should just…you know, go on,” Delas said, her voice soft yet serious.
“We’ll be staying at one of the cheaper inns in Oldenmill. I’m expecting to see you two in four weeks.”
Adam walked up to the two of them, the map in his hand. He took the pack offered to him by Delas and put the map inside. He helped Delas with her pack and the two of them bid the group farewell.
Amber pulled Delas to one side and spoke to her for several moments. Delas nodded her head twice and then accepted a small item offered by Amber. Putting the object into a small pouch at her hip, they both returned to the group.
“You ready to go?” Adam asked her.
With that, they headed through the field toward the East.
Kyle watched them walk away, lost in his thoughts as the two figures disappeared over the next rise. He was startled when he turned his head and saw Legan standing there watching them go.
“Don’t worry. My maps will get them to where they are going,” Legan said with more than a trace of pride in his voice.
“I’m not worried about the accuracy of your maps. I just wish they were going with us.”
* * * *
“I noticed you and Amber disappeared for a while this morning. Anything interesting?” Delas asked.
Adam gave Delas a sideways glance as they walked along. He reached at his belt and pulled his dagger free. He put the tip against one finger and slowly spun it.
“You know how skilled she is in protecting herself. I asked her and she showed me how to throw a dagger. So we spent some time doing that and how to accurately make a throw. She said the assassin dagger I have is well suited for throwing as it’s well balanced.” He slipped the dagger back into his belt, and changed the subject.
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