AVARICE ONLINE: KEL'VAN RED HAND

by Titus Nettles

  “I’m going to have to definitely put some points in stamina later just to keep up with them during practice,” he thought with a smile. Right now, his skill and knowledge with his sword is the only reason he can keep up with them physically. It will have to do for the time being.

  They slowed down as they progressed their way through the caverns. They could see silhouettes and shapes of things in the darkness. The glowing mushrooms were a godsend in navigating their way as well. It usually gave off a bluish tint, but sometimes they came in orange or even light yellow. It gave the caves an eerie glow as it played off of different rocks, vegetation, and even the lake. The wispy air flow they were following did not avail them of the rushing body of water they sometimes had to travel across. What was noticeable at least to Kel’Van, was that although they were underground, there was no longer any sense of claustrophobia associated with being in a dark cave.

  “How are you doing upfront, Voresh?” Kel’Van asked.

  “Nothing much here, there are some weird scratches on the ground, though, but nothing else that I can see captain,” he replied.

  “There it is again,” thought Kel’Van. They had taken to calling him that instead of his name after he had given them the gear. He wasn’t comfortable with the title, but there was nothing he could really do anything about right now. Technically, at least according to Meatgrinder, that was his rank. So, he just rolled with it.

  “Okay then, let’s….” then he heard multiple scratches above him, which caused him to stop.

  “What was that?” asked Belar.

  Click..click..click..click….

  They all heard the noise at this point, like fingernails tapping on a desk.

  “Okay,” whispered Kel’Van. “Everyone get closer together as a group. Voresh, let Fer’shad take the point.”

  As one, they closed the gaps between them and started pressing behind Fer’shad, whose shield was placed forward leading their march.

  Click..click..click..click

  Suddenly in the dark, yellow dots appeared in the blackness moving. Then more sets of yellow appeared. Then more.

  “Oh god, “whispered Kel’Van. The sets of yellow spheres came into view. They were eyes. Yellow eyes attached to hairy eight-legged spiders the size of Dobermans. And soon the click..clack of what appeared to legs on stone began to fill the corridor.

  They came in waves of two. Fer’shad stepped in front of them, shield first. As the spiders rammed against his shield, Kel’Van raised his hand, and a gout of flame roared across their bodies. Fer’shad began jabbing his sword between blocking with his protection in front while also cutting the burning bodies to bits. While they were fighting what seemed to be the last of the spiderlings, the ground somehow became brittle, and then the earth beneath them gave in a circle encompassing the whole party. They didn’t even have time to scream when they all fell into the pit.

  Belar is anything behind us?” asked Kel’Van. The pit they had fallen into had collapsed one of the dirt walls, revealing several corridors.

  Belar quickly took quick glances in several directions as she raised herself from the ground. “There is nothing I can see from here captain but then again, I can hardly see past my feet. I can hear no skittering as we did before the attack, if it means anything,”

  “That’s going to have to do,” he answered. The dead spiders had begun falling into the pit with them after and piling up, but not high enough for them to provide an exit for them out this hole in the ground they were in. “Voresh, you retake point with Fer’shad only paces behind you, while me a Belar cover the rear in case any more of these spiders come looking for us.”

  The four walked together slowly through the dark tunnel, barely able to see past a couple of feet in front of them.

  “These things don’t seem to be following us. Maybe we killed them all up there?” whispered Belar.

  Kel’Van turned on his D.S screen and reviewed the combat log screen. He had miniaturized it earlier since it disturbed his view while fighting.

  Flame spell hits arachnid scout for 10 points…burning effect 5points for 10 seconds

  Flame spell hits arachnid scout for 10 points…burning effect 5points for 10 seconds

  Flame spell hits arachnid scout for 10 points…burning effect 5points for 10 seconds

  Flame spell hits arachnid scout for 10 points…burning effect 5points for 10 seconds

  Flame spell hits arachnid scout for 10 points…burning effect 5points for 10 seconds

  “Okay, this is too much, he complained. He swiped over to combat log controls and selected combine like mobs over 5, which was as close as he could get to stack the monster kills in his log.

  12 arachnid scouts slain…Exp 120

  “I think they might have been a patrol. I counted only twelve of those things we killed back there from the combat log. Maybe the webbed pit we just fell into alerted them to our presence, and they were the nearest to us,” said Kel’Van

  ‘So, you think they had time to warn others?’ Belar asked.

  “I don’t know. They didn’t seem that intelligent to me,” Fer’shad whispered back to her.

  “Yeah, Ulgo Meatgrinder didn’t think the Gnolls were that intelligent either before they attacked the Ulgo camp.” Voresh reminded everyone.

  “Good point,” said Fer’shad.

  “An excellent point,” thought Kel’Van. He raised his hand, ready to barbecue the first click-clacking noise he hears coming from behind the group. It wasn’t long before they came to a fork in these new caverns.

  “Captain, these up ahead split into three ways from here. Which way do we go follow?” asked Voresh.

  “The one going up.”

  The upper chamber was like going uphill or a well-traveled path. It was slanted upward, but the ground was worn with loose dirt rather than the rocky surface of the corridor they fell in. As the group walked up the hill-like corridor breathing heavily, Voresh called out in front of them.

  “There is some light up ahead.”

  “Great,” said Kel’Van “Hopefully, that’s the entrance back to the surface.”

  The “light” was merely the blue mushrooms they have seen throughout caverns since following the Holmgren. But at least they had reached the top of the slope and was on level ground again. It was good to be able to see, even moderately with the mushrooms. Which was what was odd about the corridor they were in. It almost too bright compared to the caverns above the pit.

  “There are a lot those glowing mushrooms here,” remarked Voresh.

  “Yes, and they are usually more spread out, are they not?’ asked Fer’shad

  Belar turned around in a circle as she walked

  “They are all clumped together in bunches here. That’s why it looks strange,” said Kel’Van.

  He stepped toward the mushroom clumps. They weren’t growing out of the rock wall. They were bunches of mushroom bits, like giant balls on top of webbing stuck to the walls. He stepped back and starting taking a broader look at the area they were in. All throughout the corridor walls and ceiling, he could see these webbed balls of glowing mushrooms.

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Voresh whispered. “Something is not right here.”

  “Get back in formation people and stay alert,” cautioned Kel’Van quietly.

  They closed back into a tighter group, warily moving forward. A deep sense of foreboding came over them, as if something was telling them to retreat. They turned a corner as the main room became more spacious. More and more of these mushroom clumps could be seen, particularly on the walls as they traveled.

  “Captain look at this,” said Voresh as he pointed his sword at five clumps on the floor. There didn’t appear to be anything special about them other than they were blacking their path. Then he saw a head sticking out the side of one of them. Kel’Van began to walk closer to that particular mushroom ball on the floor. He bent over to get a better look, where he found four similar clumps laid out on the ground. He put his
hand close to the one with a head sticking out of it, the smallest one among them. It was still drawing breath though its body was stiff as a board. At first glance, he immediately thought of it as an orc. But his skin tone and teeth marked him otherwise. It was a Holmgren boy.

  “Holmgren scout,” remarked Voresh.

  “No,” whispered Kel’Van. “There are no lines of age to his face. This is just a boy.”

  “Boy?” queried Fer’shad.

  “A youngling,” said Kel’Van correcting himself.

  It was easy to forget that for all intended purposes that his team was but young orcs themselves and had no reference or concept of what a child is. They have never actually seen one before.

  The others were a different version of the Holmgren. One was rather large, and almost as wide as Fer’shad but not as tall. One was a bit shorter with a short-crimped beard and bald head, with a long red mark tattooed on the right side of its face. The farthest one was a pale female. Slender but tall, judging by how her body was covered in mushrooms and webbing. Her hair, or what could be seen of it, was black covered up by the hood she wore. All of them in the same strange condition as the Holmgren boy.

  “What in the world,” whispered Kel’Van.

  SNAP!!

  Everyone’s head turned toward the loud sound reverberating in the hall. Kel’Van silently held up his hand for silence. He then quietly began turning around the bend to where the sound came from. He motioned Fer’shad to stand next to him, and the other formed up as one behind him.

  They walked deeper into the den, and the scene Kel’Van saw drained the blood from his face. The Dark arachnid was as tall as a horse. On a rock, that was almost flattened like a table ,was one of the clustered mushrooms, gushing blood through the mandibles of the large spider.

  Kel’Van watched in horror as the creature made slurping sounds, trying not to let too much of the blood escape it’s maw as it bit deeper into its meal. In a low whisper, he said what he was thinking when he first saw the four people on the ground.

  “They’re food. The mushrooms are just lettuce for a sandwich.”

  Kel’Van looked around the cave bright cave wildly, then at the ceiling. “Holy hell, we are in their kitchen.”

  Belar looked away from the gory scene. While the others looked on the spectacle in abstract horror.

  “Why even bother wrapping them up like that?” said Voresh with eyes bulging wide.

  “Remind me to tell you later what a hot pocket is. But for now, we need to find an exit, and it’s definitely not in the direction of that arachnid,” whispered Kel’Van.

  This time Fer’shad didn’t even bother to ask Kel’Van for a translation. “Yes, I think we should leave while we are still able captain,” he whispered.

  The party started walking backward silently. Trying not to alert the Spiders enjoying their meal. While they were retreating, another one of the dark arachnids pinned one of the mushroomed packaged beings against the stone tables and bit into it like a burrito. Kel’Van closed his eyes to the blood- curdling sounds and tried to think of what he needed to do to get his team out of here. Turning around, he viewed the four people obviously next on the menu. The smart play would be getting his people out of here not now, but right now! These people were not his problem. In fact, most of them were the enemy. He owed them nothing. As he heard the gorging of those spiders on those hapless victims, he admitted to himself he wouldn’t with that horror on anybody.

  Sarge help me…

  He then looked at the unconscious boy on the floor. Especially some child.

  Sarge help me…

  His decision made, he started cutting the boy free using his bone sword.

  “Help me cut them loose,” he whispered

  “They are the enemy captain,” voiced a confused Voresh.

  “Nobody deserves to meet their end like that,” said Kel’Van pointing at the Dark arachnids eating their victims. “Especially a child, not while I’m standing here with the ability to do something about it.”

  Voresh shook his head visibly and began helping him cut the boy loose. “I do not believe anything good will come of this captain.”

  “I know it’s hard to understand now, but saving these people from those…things...is the right thing to do at the moment. Fer’shad, you and Belar stand watch so we don’t get caught in case they finish their meal early,” Kel’Van commanded.

  They cut the boy free first. It took all the work of 20 seconds for them working on either side of the boy to cut him loose from the mushroom cocoon. By the time he was free, he started waking up from whatever weird condition he was in before they arrived. In a panic, he almost screamed. Kel’Van quickly covered his mouth and pointed at one of the spiders. He quickly calmed down to his credit, but his eyes were clearly saying he was afraid of the people freeing him.

  “We should wake the others before we cut them loose. Especially the other two Holmgren. Seeing us will definitely make them inclined to attack us on sight,” said Belar as she continued to monitor the spiders.

  “Agreed,” answered Kel’Van

  One at a time, they woke the prisoners. All of which were not happy to see them, except for the woman. She seemed more surprised than afraid of them. The large Holmgren without tattoos took the boy and shielded him behind himself away from everyone else as he brandished a large knife from his pants.

  “Clearly, the boy and the large Holmgren are together. Maybe even family,” Kel’Van observed.

  Kel’Van pointed to the spiders eating, then motioned for the freed people to follow him just around the bend, while Belar and Fer’shad maintained their vigil watching them. “Listen everyone, those spiders over there are still eating. We can all leave here in one piece. No need to fight here as we all get eaten by spiders, right?”

  They all slowly relaxed, including Kel’Van’s party, which had their weapons down behind him.

  The woman was the first to speak. It was also the first-time Kel’Van got a good look at her eyes. They were black, with irises and pupils ringed pale white like her alabaster skin. He couldn’t see her ears from beneath the jet-black hair and the cowl she wore. But if not for how tall she was, he could have easily mistaken her for an elf.

  “I know a way out of this place, but we should leave now!” the woman hissed.

  That action was soon taken out of her hands in two seconds.

  “Captain, they are charging us!” yelled Fer’shad

  A screech heralded the attack as three Dark Arachnids converged on them.

  CHAPTER 14

  Fer’shad wasted no time at all in his attack. He rushed full speed into the arachnid with his shield, his momentum knocking his spider directly into the other two behind them. Voresh hurriedly began slashing at the first spider's legs, already stunned by Farshad’s shield bash. Belar leaped on the top of the second spider. Crawling through its fur and finding its eyes, she began gouging one eye, then punching another. Squishing sounds were followed by screeching as the yellow and red puss made splatters across the ground and face of the creature. The spider tried to buck the offending thing mutilating its eyes to no avail, as Belar only tightened her grip and continued her assault.

  A quick sense of pride boomed in the chest of Kel’Van as he witnessed his crew proactively performing like a team without him prompting them into action. He then unleashed a spray of fire at the spiders’ legs while they were bunched together. The farthest one of them skittered quickly to an exit right above them. Its feet could be heard click-clacking against the stones as it disappeared, leaving a trail of smoking hair behind it.

  Fer’shad, holding off the initial spider with his shield, moved in slightly in order to hack off a mandible with his short sword. Backing away from the fire, the lead Arachnid tried to follow it’s escaped comrade to the ceiling. But Voresh quickly ended that notion with an overhead swing at its fore-legs, slicing one almost in half and left the other smashed in an awkward angle. Blood and green goo splashed all over the groun
d and Voresh’s sword. The Arachnid collapsed on its left side, it’s underbelly lit with flames.

  Belar had already effectively blinded her target. She then plunged her arm through the eye socket and began pulling visceral flesh, bloody red and green matter, and flinging it in the air while trying to stay astride of a spider, bucking to get its tormentor off it’s back.

  Kel’Van again tossed flames at the feet of the arachnid. Burning hair and spider flesh began to assault his nostrils. Then running towards Belar, he drew his sword and began hacking away at the spider’s back legs until it fell on its sides. Then he stabbed his sword into its belly and began sawing the blade across its bulbous frame from left to right. It tried to spin on its side legs to bite him, but Belar emptying out its insides through its eyes must have finally reached something vital. It let out a loud screech, then went silent.