by Chris Fox
I hated that I was essentially duct-taping the problem, but I couldn’t argue with Kek’s logic. A temporary Guardian could begin the healing and manage the swarm. And who knew? Kek might last for years, or even decades, before the cracks began to show. We had no way of knowing.
That wasn’t true. We did have a way.
“All right,” I agreed. We’d nearly reached the outskirts of the library. “The bridge isn’t that far from here. Let’s push for it, and see if you can bond the ship.”
A rustling like leaves in the autumn wind back at academy rolled through the library around us. It came again, stronger, and there was a word there. A single insidious whisper from a thousand, thousand mouths. “Treaaacherrryyy.”
“Uh oh.” I yanked my pistol from its holster and cradled it in both hands. It felt so much more natural than firing through the suit. “I suspect we’re about to have a lot of company. Anyone with fire magic—that’s everyone in my squad now—cut a path to the bridge. Briff, focus on larger targets.”
“It will be so, friend Jerek.” Kek nodded, then turned to chitter a long string of gibberish at his companions. Many nodded, and the arachnidrakes scuttled out to establish a rough perimeter around Kek.
I trotted forward with my pistol ready to bring up. I’d made it maybe twenty meters when a writhing tide of spiders carpeted the floor before me. They surged forward, far more quickly than I’d thought the swarm could.
My pistol came up and I filled her with fire, then added a layer of void. That had worked before, and hopefully the pistol would amplify it.
A rolling wave of flame twenty-five meters long jetted into the swarm, and sizzled away spiders, rust, and even the grime on the floor. Only smooth gleaming deck was left…for an instant.
The tide of spiders was endless, and this time they weren’t daunted by my spells. They kept coming. But I wasn’t alone.
Rava hurled her last grenade deep up the hallway, and it detonated spectacularly. The resulting wave of fire cooked everything within twenty meters, duplicating my spell but with more fanfare and shrapnel.
Vee raised her bracelet and a ball of pure white flame appeared in her hand, she held it there until the next wave of spiders surged, then she tossed it casually into their midst.
The flame was similar to mine, but where I’d infused it with void she’d done so with life. The flames cooked far hotter, and left an oily residue in their wake.
More spiders clawed their way forward, but each time someone from our ranks answered.
We marched slowly up the corridor, and wound through the library as wave after wave of spiders approached. They were still small, none larger than a sidearm, but they were unending. The larger ones would be on their way, no doubt, but I hoped if we moved quickly we might reach the bridge before they did.
At least we didn’t have to pass the egg room and the elevators again.
“Above us!” Rava shouted.
I got my weapon up, but too late. A large multi-limbed body knocked me to the deck, and more spiders, of all sizes, were landing all around us.
“Nnnnoooooooo!!!” Kurz’s hands shot up, and each contained a vial. He crushed both, and twin clouds of toxic green flowed outward in living tendrils. “You will not have us!”
The smoke curled outwards, snaking into the closest spider’s mouth, then the next, and the next. All of the spiders who’d landed among us suddenly froze. Their eyes, which burned with inner flame, now reflected the same toxic green.
“Protect us,” Kurz demanded. “Kill your brethren. Let none reach us.”
The dominated spiders scuttled into the masses gathering to attack us, their limbs and incisors stabbing outward as they devoured their smaller brethren. The largest spider paused, then spit a river of silky white over the corridor. Thousands of smaller spiders were covered, and unable to move.
I raised my pistol, and began emptying spells into the webbing. The flames spread quickly, and the screams of the dying spiders haunt me still.
We sprinted through the library, and our escorts made short work of their more numerous brethren. Here and there one of us added a fire spell, but most of us were husbanding resources, as we didn’t know when we’d be able to rest next.
Finally we made it through the library and into the far corridor, which led to the bridge. The spiders were thinner there, and I finally holstered my pistol as they fell back before the onslaught of Kurz’s enslaved minions.
The arachnidrakes loosed the occasional fireball from the tips of their staves, and with so many of them it appeared each had many spells remaining. I hoped it was enough.
We pressed up the final corridor, and to the sealed golden door. I hurried up and supplied both missing sigils, and waited impatiently as the metal slid into the floor.
The spiders were waiting for us.
19
Weapons came up, but I raised an arm, and my people held their fire. The spiders hadn’t advanced. They clogged every visible part of the bridge in writhing mounds.
Kurz emptied his stomach onto the deck, but then straightened and wiped his mouth. “I’m green, Captain.”
I turned back to the swarm, and took a single step into the room. As I’d half hoped, the mounds gathered, and the face we’d seen before re-formed. It studied me with all eight of those terrible eyes, each comprised of dozens of smaller spiders.
“Whhyyy,” it hissed. “Why do youuu betray us? You said knowwwledge. You said here to helllp.”
“I am here to help.” I slowly pointed at Kek. “He is willing to help, too. Kek wants to merge with the ship. To heal it. To make it like it was. Do you remember what that was like? Before the pain?”
The face writhed in what I took for thought. When it spoke the tone was still accusatory. “You triiick. We kiiilll. None willl leave alllive.”
“Guess we’re done negotiating.” I yanked my sidearm from the holster, and reached for my magic.
We were standing no more than thirty meters from the hole in the floor that led to the lava. I reached deep for the void, and then raised my spellpistol and launched a ball of pulsing black energy.
My magic was stronger now, and so was my weapon, which reflected in the size and potency of the magic. The gravity bomb detonated directly over the pit.
Spiders skittered across the floor towards us…at first. Then the gravity well seized them, and one by one they were picked up and sucked into the micro-singularity.
It wasn’t powerful enough to kill them, but that was okay. It didn’t need to be. A rain of spiders fell from the spell and tumbled into the lava below. Hundreds became thousands, and those few who escaped met with the fury of the rest of the squad.
Within moments we’d cleared out the bridge. I waved everyone inside, then sealed the door. My chest was heaving, but more with elation than fear. We’d done it. Now, theoretically at least, we could finally end this.
“Kek, you can see the lava pool,” I panted as I staggered in that direction. “If you’re really set to do this, that’s where you need to go.”
“I am resolved.” Kek shuffled forward, and stopped near the edge of the pit. He stared down into the lava, which cast him with a hellish glow. Then he turned back to me. “I do not wish to kill my companion through my actions, however.” Kek extended his eight-eyed staff toward me. “Take her. She is called Kithik. She will serve you well, and if not you then another. Do not let her die, friend Jerek.”
“I will use her, or find her a better home,” I promised as I took Kithik’s black haft in my free hand. I still had my pistol drawn, and was reluctant to holster it even though the bridge was secure. “We appreciate what you’re doing. The whole ship. The whole fleet. I will find a way to get you help, Kek. Just hold on as long as you can.”
“Of course, friend Jerek.”
I expected some long speech, or a wave or something. Kek simply leapt, and tumbled down into the lava. He landed on it with a sizzling hiss, then slowly sank beneath the surface. If the lava caused hi
m pain he didn’t show it, which boded well in my opinion.
His body disappeared entirely, and I was left standing alone at the edge of the pit. I glanced behind me, but the rest of the squad were all clustered near the door, clearly ready to bolt.
“Hey, bro,” Rava called hesitantly. “Is this guy going to be able to keep the spiders off us now? If yes, let’s bail. Yesterday. These things make my skin crawl. Kurz gets me, right?”
“I cannot get off this ship quickly enough.” The handsome lurker gave a shiver and closed his eyes for a moment as he mastered himself. “I do not love spiders, though I will never again run from them. In that I suppose this ship has been a test sent by the Maker. We do not always like growth. It is messy and painful, but ultimately what we need.”
Rava barked a short laugh. “I’d like to avoid any more pain. Briff, you realize that we’re boned, right? The Remora switched places. It took our rig. We can’t play Arena.”
Briff patted his satchel and offered Rava a toothy grin. “Cindra gave me a unit, and it’s got the final patch before…the end. We can set it up on the new ship once we get there.”
Rava perked up at that. “You are a god.”
“Let’s move out,” I ordered. There was no sense putting this off. If the Guardian thing worked I don’t think it mattered where on the ship we were. He’d be able to find us.
Vee tapped the door, which slid silently into the floor and revealed the library once more.
“Oh, crap,” I muttered.
Everyone looked at me.
“We’re going to have to go down that lift,” I pointed out as I started to walk, “and we’re going to have to pass through the egg room again.”
“Is there another way?” Vee asked, though she didn’t seem terribly concerned by the idea of facing that room.
“There is not.” An arachnidrake comprised of pure flame ignited in the hallway before me, and I blinked when I realized it was a perfect replica of Kek. He offered an awkward bow. “It appears I was successful. I have merged with the ship. There is so much…too much…to grasp. And the madness covers everything. Everything I touch. It has festered for so long. The swarm is in so much pain…”
“I pity them,” I agreed, “but we need a way off this ship. Can you keep the spiders away from our path back to the ship?”
“I—no.” Kek’s mandibles quivered. “The swarm will not obey me. I can control the parts of the ship that still work, but the swarm is its own entity. It was conditioned to listen to the ship, but not required. Someone more powerful than I will need to master the swarm. I am sorry, friend Jerek.”
“You did wonderfully,” I countered. “You gave your life for us, and for the ship. If you can maintain your own sanity while helping to restore the ship, that’s all we can ask. I will find you some help, somehow. There has to be someone out there strong enough.”
“I believe in you, friend Jerek.” The way he bowed said quite the opposite. He thought I was leaving him here to slowly go mad. “Be well, and take care of your ship. Never let it become like the Flame.”
An urgent skittering sounded in the distance.
“Time to move!” I bellowed. I sprinted toward the lifts at top speed, and prayed that we wouldn’t run into anything until we were inside.
We ran full tilt through the near darkness, aided only by the occasional failing light set into the walls. Along the way we passed a fortune in knowledge scales, but no one complained. My father would have, and his absence pressed down on me.
I ached for my dad, as he’d have been incapable of passing without grabbing at least a few. I ran twice as hard.
Eventually I saw the light of the lifts in the distance, and the whole squad redoubled their pace. The surviving arachnidrakes shambled behind us, not as fast, but steady.
We piled into the same car we’d arrived in, and the doors rumbled shut behind us. I studied the lift’s console, my chest heaving as I gulped lungfuls of stale air.
Think. Think. How could I get us to the Remora safely? The spiders knew our destination, and they’d stop at nothing to kill us.
“Guardian, I know you can’t control the swarm,” I called into the air, as Kek hadn’t entered the lift. “Can you incinerate us a path? Fill the egg room with fire, and the corridors leading back. Scorch this place, so we can get back to the ship safely.”
Kek’s voice hissed through the speakers in the lift’s walls. “It will be so, friend Jerek, but the spiders are many and will return. You must be swift. Run. Run and do not look back or you will be lost.”
I tapped the controls to bring us back to the egg room, and forced my breathing to calm as we whirred off in that direction. No one joked. No one bantered. We were exhausted, and justifiably terrified.
“When the doors open,” I said in a low tone, “we make a run for it. Do not stop for anything. We make for the cargo hold.”
20
The lift doors slid open to reveal an utter wasteland. I didn’t know what Kek had done, but every web and every spider were now ash.
“Go!” I bellowed.
We sprinted out of the lift, and back up the corridor we’d taken originally. At first I allowed a cautious optimism to take root, but it was as if the ship were waiting for that.
A distant layered screeching began, and it somehow conveyed the hatred the swarm felt for us. They were coming from everywhere, all over the ship. And they were coming for us.
No one needed to speak or confirm it. We saved our breath for running, and moved as a group. I could have gone faster, and I’m certain Rava could have lapped us all, but no one outpaced Kurz, our slowest member.
Minutes rolled by and the screeching grew louder, and louder, to the point where conversation wasn’t possible without out internal comms.
“We’ve got about four hundred meters left,” I panted as I pumped both arms furiously. “Rava, Briff, get in there and tell them we’re coming in hot. Vee, get ready to treat wounded.”
“And me, Captain?” Kurz choked out as he ran.
“You said this ship is full of souls, right?” I slowed and let Kurz get a slight lead on me. “Wake them up. And make them fight spiders.”
Kurz slowed, then stopped, and withdrew a vial from the bottom of his satchel. It was larger than the others, and I hadn’t noticed it before because the glass was opaque. There was a glow, either because it was empty or the glass wasn’t designed to let light through.
“I will need time, Captain.” Kurz reached into a pouch and began setting out ritual supplies next to the bottle.
“I’ll give it to you.” I turned back to face the corridor, and my stomach roiled.
I could see them now. A rolling tide of spiders from floor to ceiling, one endless tide being thrust through the ship like a limb of the maddened swarm. It wouldn’t matter how many spiders I killed. If I had a flamethrower that never ran out of fuel I’d still be overwhelmed, and probably in seconds.
“Don’t mind the shaking.” I raised my pistol and studied the corridor. “Suit, identify load bearing bulkheads in the next forty meters, please.”
My HUD added four points between me and the approaching swarm. I hated doing this crap in a hurry.
I carefully aimed my spellpistol at the furthest bulkhead, and unleashed a void bolt, then shifted to cast another at the opposite side. I walked my shots up the corridor, and when I reached the third set of bulkheads the ceiling began to collapse.
I kept firing, this time at the last set of bulkheads, which were no more than ten meters away.
The spiders surged, their fist-sized chitinous bodies flowing between collapsing metal plates as the level above collapsed down on top of the corridor.
The destruction completely blocked the hallway, though a few spiders still slipped through. I aimed the pistol and fired a fan of flame that cooked the few stragglers.
The collapse stopped no less than three meters from me, blocked by the bulkhead we were standing next to. I’d love to take credit and say I�
�d planned it that way, but the truth is that I’d expected us to die in the collapse…I just hadn’t seen any other way.
My heart thundered, and my hands shook with the adrenaline. “How much longer, Kurz?”
“Finished!” Kurz rose to his feet. He’d left a ring of powder around the urn. Sand maybe? Or salt? “We must be swift. We don’t want to be in this part of the ship in five minutes, much less an hour. The dead will come, and the urn will corrupt them into wights. The resulting ghosts will be hungry, and they will never stop killing the living.”
I didn’t need convincing. I scooped Kurz up and threw him over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry, then used an infuse strength spell to increase my running speed. I dashed down the corridor, and sprinted back into the cargo hold where we’d crashed the Remora.
I skidded to a halt when I found a forest of spellrifles and staves pointed in my direction. A cloud of hatchlings, led by Cinaka, and arachnidrakes, led by no one I recognized, stood ready for combat. Briff and Rava stood with them.
“We need to get out of here. Swiftly. The swarm is still coming, and there will be worse than that soon enough.” I pushed past the rifles, and made for the Remora.
The ship stopped me in my tracks. She was magnificent. Her hull was the same, but the dents and discolorations and patches were all gone, just as I’d seen in the vision. She was clean and unbroken, her lines long and lean.
A vicious-looking spellcannon was slung along her underside, which told me that there must be a spell matrix inside. For the first time I’d have a chance to magically pilot a real ship.
“Sccrreeeeeeeee!” A sudden tide of spiders burst from the corridor at the far side of the cargo hold, then from a corridor on the opposite side. The room began filling with spiders, all of whom seemed to be scuttling in my direction.