Spiderhunter (Ages of Argainen Book 1)

by Robe

  “What do we do if he tries to bring down our ship?” Thraun asked.

  “We fight back,” Auric said as he looked at Ziem, who nodded in understanding.

  A loud splash came from the sea beside the Paragon, on the same side where the beam of energy landed. The heroes rushed to the rail of the ship’s deck to gaze into the water as ripples cleared, but there was nothing to see. When the water was still, there was no trace that anything had happened.

  “Did you see that?” one of the sailors shouted. “It looked like a tail!”

  All was quiet as the people onboard the Paragon stared out into the sea. Dalk glanced at Auric uneasily, and the geomancer found his other companions were also looking to him. He returned their nervousness with the most confident look he could muster.

  Suddenly, the ship jerked to the side as if it had collided with something, almost spilling the heroes into the water below. Many of the sailors were sent sprawling, and one man even fell in. He sank, but it was only a moment before he reappeared.

  Something blasted from the water, grabbing the sailor and pulling him into the air as he screamed. It whipped him around, its form difficult to make out. It was long and slender, a sleek tentril of greenish-bronze. In horror, the people watched as he was pulled back into the water, his cries silenced with a splash.

  Auric quickly turned to Pest who was still nearby, terrified, his mouth gaping. “Fetch Veese from his quarters, Pest.” It took the boy a moment to understand what Auric had said, but he finally nodded and ran below deck.

  “Brace yourselves, lads!” Benard shouted.

  Silence once again took hold of the Paragon as everyone on deck backed away from the rails, not wanting to follow the same fate as the overboard sailor. Kandon moved close to Joan, his sword before him and his free hand slipping into hers. Thraun took the vanguard with Dalk beside him. The rest of the heroes and a few sailors drew their weapons closely behind.

  Movement caught Auric’s eye, and he looked to see Veese and Pest returning from below deck, along with a few other sailors whom Pest had warned. Auric signaled for them to stop, and Veese put his arm in front of the others, looking around for what had forced his companions into such a defensive state.

  A massive blast erupted from the sea, and a monstrosity like none other appeared above the spray of the sea water. A serpent with scales of greenish-bronze towered over the Paragon, more than a hundred feet in height. Its eyes were deep and yellow, the black slits of its pupils roving over the Paragon, examining the people as they stared at it in horror and awe.

  With lightning speed, the beast struck, catching a sailor in its grip and gulping him down before making another attack. It lunged with quickness too great to avoid, and sailor after sailor was snatched by its fangs. Men ran for the stairs leading below deck, but a second wave of water exploded from the other side of the ship, and a verdigrissy tail with many long tendrils forking from the end appeared. The tail slammed down onto the deck where Veese and the other recently-emerged men stood, forcing them to leap away from their shelter and into the open. The only shelter blocked, the tendrils of the tail slithered outward, catching the sailors around their legs and constricting them with bone-crushing force.

  Dalk rushed for the tail, Auric and Kandon right behind him. Immediately, the tentacles shot toward the heroes, whipping and grasping at them. Auric cut one down as it approached him and watched Kandon hurtle another going for his legs. Standing his ground, Dalk slashed at the tendrils as they sprung at him, but every time one was cut away, another seemed to take its place.

  The brown runes of his sword glowed as Auric conducted energy through the hilt, chopping downward onto a tentacle ensnaring one of the sailors. It wriggled as it died, and it evaporated into a small puff of smoke similar to Argain’s other creations. A cry attracted Auric’s attention to Farseed as he was brought down by a tendril wrapped around his leg.

  “Help me!” the man screamed, and Auric hesitated, knowing that the man had been caught only because he ran for safety while his shipmates were fighting for their lives.

  Swallowing his dislike for Farseed, Auric hurtled the struggling coward and lunged at the tentacle that held him, plunging his sword into it. Farseed was freed, but the tail piece whipped around frantically and struck Auric in the face, blurring his vision and knocking him flat.

  Cutting another sailor free, Kandon noticed that Auric and Dalk were surrounded by the serpent’s tail. He looked at the part of the tail where all of the tentacles met and groaned as he realized what he had to do. His mind made up, he rushed right at the mess of grasping appendages, cutting away one, leaping over another, and dodging the others as they sprung for him. A final, shiny tentacle waved before him, and he rushed past it, barely avoiding its clutch, its sharp scales cutting through his clothing and into his arm. Leaping at the thick tail of the snake, Kandon plunged his sword into it, causing a ripple to seize through the tendrils and weaken their grips.

  Startled by the pain at its back end, the massive serpent hovered its head menacingly over Kandon before spotting the one who had inflicted such agony to it. In a terrible display, flaps of skin that had previously laid flat on the snake’s neck flared out, creating a wicked, red mane around the serpent’s head, and it released an otherworldly scream. The beast struck at Kandon with its blinding quickness, but before it reached the tracker, a transparent barrier appeared between him and the monster, and it smashed into the shield.

  Kandon turned to see Thraun standing behind him, his hands outstretched and his face screwed up in effort. A man struggled to free himself from a tail piece at Kandon’s feet, and Kandon cut the tentacle apart before looking back to see the monster eyeing him furiously.

  An arrow flew at the beast’s face and bounced off harmlessly, but the snake lowered its mane, its attention successfully diverted. Pest stood valiantly on top of a pile of wooden crates, loading another arrow to his bow before letting it fly, missing the serpent’s eye by barely a foot. The snake extended its skin flaps again in fury and flicked its tail, smashing into Auric, Dalk, Kandon, and Thraun before swinging it toward the back of the ship where Pest stood. The boy tried to avoid the tail, but it caught his legs and knocked him down. With a quick strike, the beast caught Pest in its jaws, and only a short cry was heard from the cabin boy before he was swallowed.

  Joan watched helplessly as her friends fought and looked over to where Argain’s ship sailed through the water. It was pulling farther away, but as Joan stared at it frustratedly, she realized that not far into the distance was a long strip of land spanning the horizon: Balistary Port. Cursing under her breath, she turned to see Veese standing behind her. He’d noticed the same thing. He nodded to her, and she knew what their mission was.

  Stripping herself of what she did not need, she ran toward the front of the ship and dove into the water. She hoped beyond hope that her connection with the liquid would not fail her, and with her mind, she sloshed the sea around her, propelling herself forward. It worked better than she had possibly imagined, and with minimal effort, she was flying through the water faster than the fastest ship. She slowed and came up for air, looking to see Argain’s ship was not far away. A gust blew past her, and she looked up as Veese rode the wind above, also making his way toward their target.

  After a quick gasp of air, she plunged back under and forced the surrounding water to hurl her even faster. Although her eyes were closed, she could tell Argain’s ship was in the water just ahead of her, almost as if she could feel the water churning around it. With a whim, she commanded the water to dip her deeper, and then she thrust herself straight up into the air. Opening her eyes as she soared, Joan watched Argain’s ship moving beneath her before colliding with the deck. Her ungraceful landing had left her disheveled and dripping, and she pushed herself up to see Veese’s feet touch down just in front of her. A force of black knights approached them slowly, their weapons in hand.

  Veese glanced back and saw Joan draw her long knife, and he
pulled his blade from its sheath as well. He brandished it at Argain’s forces and looked up toward the front of the ship where Argain himself was kneeling, exhausted, his favored black knight guarding him.

  The first raider dashed at Veese, and he leapt over its sword and kicked down on it with his good leg, sending it smashing to the floor beneath him. A second raider dove at him, and he dodged the slow attack with ease, his utilization of wind guiding him away from the blade of his foe. Two more knights rushed at him, and he had no choice but to leave the previous two to Joan as he engaged them. He dashed at the new attackers, and as the first lobbed its axe at him, he side-stepped the swing. The second lunged at him with a sword, and he leaned back, flicking his rapier at its wrist and making it drop its weapon. With a gust of wind, he slammed the second into the first and then grabbed the second’s dropped weapon and plunged it into the fallen suits of armor, piercing first the disarmed one and then the axe wielder.

  A smokey substance leaked from their wounds, and they evaporated like ice on a hot day. Veese almost instinctively turned to help as he heard Joan fighting the knights behind him, but he stopped himself as a second wave of the brigands approached, each pointing its weapon at him. They charged, and Veese followed suit. Before they reached him, he jumped high into the air above them and blasted a powerful gust downward, knocking some down and staggering others. As he fell, he plunged his sword into the hand of one raider that reached for its weapon and then slid away as two more swords swung at him. He dodged around a third and slashed at the back of its wielder, but his thin blade, glowing pale green, was not heavy enough to cut through the armor of its mark. Veese ducked as a mace was swung in his direction and strafed backwards to escape the attempt at a grapple. He was pressed to the rail of the ship by three more opponents, and one of them rushed toward him swinging a large two-handed sword. Veese easily escaped the attack, and with the help of a sudden breeze, the knight toppled from the ship and into the water below.

  After a scan of the ship’s deck, Veese resolved that there were too many enemies for him to continue wasting time fighting, and he looked to see Argain, now struggling to stand. Hastily, he decided to leave Joan to fend for herself, and with a gust, he lifted himself into the air and over the heads of his remaining opponents.

  The abrubt draft of sea air told Joan that Veese had taken flight, and she stole a glance into the sky to see her ally sailing toward the front of the ship. Suddenly feeling very solitary, Joan deflected the slash of a black raider’s blade with her long knife. It swung again, and Joan clenched her teeth as she held her weapon before her with both hands in a frail attempt to stop the blow. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find she was still in one piece, her opponent’s weapon caught on her blade. With more strength than she thought she had, the aquamancer pushed back. Her knife glowed dark blue, and she remembered its power. Brandishing her weapon, she overtook the raider by the means of one more strong sweep and brought it to its knees before stabbing it in the helmet, causing it to burst into a strange cloud of dark mist.

  Another raider charged at her through the vapor, and she calmly pointed the end of her knife at it. With utmost focus, she filled the blade with her power, and a forceful stream of water struck the oncoming opponent, sending it sprawling. The black knights were relentless though, and every one she did not execute rose again to challenge her. With Veese gone, the raiders became overwhelming, and as Joan sparred with one, a second managed to flank her. Without proper time to react, Joan could just barely stop the axe swing of the raider with her knife, and the force of its attack sent her over the edge of the boat.

  A short scream escaped her lips as she fell, and it was only a moment before she collided painfully with the water of the sea. Slowly, Joan sank, and she looked up through the water at the sun, veiled in a screen of blurry liquid. It was calming, and the water around her soothed her pain. Her mind cleared and she relaxed, letting the water cascade her hair around her face. Like a bolt of lightning had struck her, she remembered her cause and gathered the water around her before launching herself back out of the ocean.

  Joan appeared once again to the black raiders as they looked to see if she would resurface, and with her she brought a wave so vast it shadowed the entire front deck of the ship. With a crash, the water slammed onto the bow, and this time, Joan landed nimbly. The water smashed into the walking armor, either sending them off the opposite end of the ship or flattening them to the wood. Per the vasteness of the wave, no black knight was left standing, yet Joan parted the water where she landed so as to leave herself untouched.

  She approached one of the raiders as it tried to rise and kicked it back down before impaling it with her long knife. A second one felt her edge, and then a third, and a fourth managed to get to its feet, but seeing it was weaponless, she easily flayed the defenseless minion, reducing it to nothing more than a puff of dark air. Joan wiped the black residue from her blade and looked to find Veese.

  “The wind warrior returns,” the being with trimmed armor spoke in its deep, gravelly voice as Veese landed before it and its master.

  “Slay him, Black Commander, I no longer want him alive,” Argain sputtered as he clung to the steering mechanism of the ship. He looked much worse than the last time Veese had seen him; his skin was pale and dry, and his eyes were almost void of color. His fingers looked like an old man’s, and when he spoke, his voice was weak and shaky.

  “It will please me,” the Commander spoke, and the horns of its black helmet pointed toward Veese as it raised its dark sword.

  Veese dashed to attack the knight, but it easily deflected his strike with its obsidian blade. Veese tried again, this time chaining three attacks together, but the raider simply caught the first and the third with its sword and deflected the second with its armored forearm.

  His opponent retaliated, and Veese launched himself backward, trying to draw the raider to the rail. Too smart to be fooled by such tactics, the knight lowered its sword and stepped back to guard Argain, its cape flowing in the breeze. Veese lowered his weapon as well, but the runes running the length of the blade shone radiantly, and Veese raised his left hand to unleash a sweeping wind at his foe.

  Just as last time, the knight seemed largly unaffected by Veese’s attacks, although its cape whipped wildly, and behind it, Argain struggled to brace himself against the force. Veese calmed the wind, but he was given an idea. He raised his hand again, but this time sent the gust behind the raider. Catching the Evil God off guard, Argain was pulled from safety and sent sprawling across the floor of the ship.

  Before Veese could capitalize on his success in separating his two enemies, the knight dashed at him and slashed his sword powerfully at the hero. Veese barely dodged the first attack, but the black raider lashed out, catching Veese with a kick of its armored boot and sending him to his knees, gasping for air. The Black Commander lifted its sword, yet before it could deal the finishing blow to Veese, a torrent of water slammed into it, forcing it backwards.

  Joan stepped in front of Veese, her long knife raised and glowing. “It does not surprise me to find you curled up behind your creature,” she spoke to the Evil God as he crawled back to the safety of the Black Commander’s rear. “A coward to the core.”

  “Finish them both!” Argain choked, and the Black Commander raised its midnight sword again and advanced. Glowing ardently toward the raider, the runes of Joan’s blade gleamed brightly, and another powerful stream blasted from the end of her long knife. The Commander threw its forearm outward, blocking the attack and continuing its approach, step by step.

  Behind Joan, Veese had risen, though he still struggled for air. He slowly stepped to Joan’s side, flanking the Black Commander and arranging his footing. The knight watched him as it grew ever-closer to Joan, and Veese knew an attempt on Argain, while fruitless, would divide their adversary’s attention.

  Veese sprung forward with wind underfoot, and the raider turned to intercept him, slamming him with it
s shoulder. Seizing her opponent’s distraction, Joan lunged at the black knight with her long knife, only to have its impossible speed deflect her attack with relative ease. Using its superior strength, it slashed at Joan, each swing more furious than the last. Joan was forced into almost full retreat as the raider’s swings grew more and more wild, swiping with such force that the blade was leaving great gouges in the ship’s woodwork where it struck.

  Veese pushed himself up, struggling after the hit he had taken while using himself as a diversion. He looked to see Argain eyeing him. Greed covered the Evil God’s face, but even more so was fear, fear that the hero of wind would rise and overtake him. As the two gazed at one another, Veese fought to understand why Argain had been reduced to such a pitiful status, and then, like the dawn, he realized: Argain was still not divine. In his human state, performing acts that bent the laws of his world was weakening him, at least temporarily; like anything else alive, Argain was running out of energy.

  The sweeps of the Black Commander’s black sword had become so powerful and relentless that Joan was beginning to panic. Every consecutive strike grew in force, and Joan knew it was only a matter of time before the blade scratched her, and she was afraid she’d then suffer the same fate as Hazzul. As the black knight came closer than ever with a sweep, Joan threw out her free hand and blasted it with water. Instead of falling, the Black Commander stood fast, and out of the spray and mist of the rebounding water, a black-armored gauntlet emerged. A scream escaped Joan’s lips as the hand grabbed a fist full of her hair, and she found herself completely helpless to its brutal yanking.

  She was painfully whipped around and saw the Paragon Pelinum. The massive sea monster laying siege to the ship had smashed the foremost mast of the vessel, and the boat almost seemed to bend around the great coils of the snake as it constricted the entirety of the ship. She silently sent her hope to her friends on board and struggled one last time as the Black Commander raised its weapon above her.