The Foolhardies 147 Spiders

"I can't see anything up there," Pike said, voicing out what we were all thinking.

We could see nothing beyond the light of Aura's Hearthwood staff. Our own torches seemed to be withering away by the second.

"Do we just climb up these stairs?" Ty asked.

He was referring to the rough stone-cut steps that zigged and zagged upward along the shaft's four walls.

"You sure this is the way?" I asked Zephyra.

She nodded. "It is the only way if you would like to avoid your pursuers."

If the main entrance down into Undercroft via the oasis was a massive round hole with a declining ramp that was easy to walk across, then this side entrance was the exact opposite.

A narrow shaft that I could liken to a chimney with a jagged wall and roughhewn steps that seemed just as perilous to walk on as the bridge we'd left behind.

"Well, we expected this kind of scenario to happen, didn't we?" I asked.

I walked over to Luca and pulled out the rope we'd stashed into his bag of holding. Then I showed it to the rest of my crew.

Ty took one look at what was arguably just a thin thread of silver yarn and said, "I don't think that can hold my weight," he spared a glance at Shanks' direction, "or anyone else's…"

"Relax," I said while unspooling the rope and passing its other end to Luca. "This is elf-rope. It's strong, durable, long-lasting, and even mold resistant."

"Plus, it's cheap," Varda added approvingly.

"Luca will wrap this around his waist as he'll take lead. I'll go next as I'm coming after him," I instructed. "Then Aura ties this on her waist. Then Enna, Ty in the center, then Varda, and then Shanks takes the rear."

I looked over to the other three remaining members of my party.

"Zephyra, Qwipps, and Pike won't be roped so you guys can fly and catch us if we fall," I ordered, and after a glance at Ty and Shanks who were our biggest members, I added, "Work together if you need to."

After we finished tying ropes on our bodies, we began to move in a single file, climbing up the steps as quickly as we could while not sacrificing our safety.

Yes, I did say we were climbing. This was due to how uneven some of the steps were, some no bigger than rough purchases our hands and feet could barely hold onto, which made the whole exercise kind of like rock climbing.

Up and up we went with barely any light to guide us as most of us had thrown our torches away because we needed both hands to find purchase. Even Aura had to strap her staff to her back so she could have her hands free.

While making our way up, I noticed several waist-high holes along the jagged walls. I pointed these out to my crew and told everyone to stir clear of them just in case.

"Hey, Dean," Luca whispered. "This climb reminds you of anything?"

I wish he hadn't said that. Of course, it reminded me of something, several things, in fact. But most clear to my mind was a scene from one of our dad's favorite movies.

"You're talking about the Stairs of Cirith Ungol, aren't you?" I sighed. "The one Frodo and Sam took to get into Mordor?"

"Uhuh," Luca glanced over his shoulder to look at me. "You remember what was hiding at the end of it?"

"Luca," I growled. "Can you not think about that at a time like this?"

"I'm just saying… there are an awful lot of spider webs the further up we go…" he replied as he continued on his way up.

Luca was right. There were a lot of spider webs the higher up we climbed, some so dense that we had to cut them away with our shadowblades which, thankfully, didn't get tangled in the webs due to their charred edges.

Based on the evidence that we saw and our extensive knowledge of western cinema, I knew Luca's unspoken theory was going to be right. I just didn't want to admit it right away and feel even more unsafe. Sadly, fate was a cruel, cruel son of a b***h.

Only a few minutes after Luca's forewarning, we were suddenly beset by a sound that was similar to that of running water. It was coming from the walls both above and below us. As the noises came closer, the awful smell of something rotten assaulted our noses.

My mind quickly put two and two together, forcing me to speak out loud, "Luca, I hate it when you foreshadow something bad happening!"

"What?" Luca replied. "You seriously blaming me for this?"

Draw your weapons, guys," I ordered. "We've got company!"

"What company?" Ty asked. Then he added, "And I don't have a weapon!"

"That's because you are the weapon, Tiberius," Qwipps remarked just as he notched an arrow to his bow.

"He's not a weapon, Qwipps," I growled. "Ty just stay back and follow our lead."

"Enough talking!" Enna scolded. "They're here…"

As the rotten stench began to overpower my sense of smell, the first of the creatures appeared within the boundaries of Aura's light above Luca.

"Oh my God," Ty whispered. "I hate spiders!"

It was the sound that caught my attention. In Mudgard, there was a type of spider that had specialized organs that produced a sound similar to that of running water. So it was easy for me to deduce that we'd be facing something that looked like a tarantula. And although Luca had definitely foreshadowed this conclusion, I couldn't imagine the size of what we were up against. Not until we were face to face with them.

The first of the giant spiders did look like a tarantula with black and red hair all over its bulbous body. Only, it was the size of a Great Dane. Poison leaked out of its jaws and the eight hairy black legs were tipped in jagged claws.

"Holy sh**!" Luca exclaimed.

"Language," I replied in an appeal to brevity over our dire situation. No such luck. We were all feeling the fear. "Qwipps! Kill this ugly thing!"

Qwipps launched his arrow. It struck the creature in one of its eight eyes but it didn't kill it. Instead, it just enraged the creature enough to charge us. Behind it, a swarm of giant spiders followed its lead.

"Shoot it again!" I yelled.

Qwipps fired another arrow just as the giant spider arrived within range of attacking Luca.

A second arrow pierced it in another one of its eyes.

"Stop shooting the eyes! It has too many spares!" I ordered.

"Hit it in the mouth, Qwipps," Varda added.

"Everyone's an archer now, huh?" Qwipps complained.

Not waiting for Qwipps to finish the giant spider off, Luca slashed upward with his broadsword, slicing at least two of the creature's front legs.

A loud screech escaped its mouth and it pulled away, suddenly wary of Luca.

"I don't think they're used to food fighting back," Luca guessed.

"Only merchant smugglers used to pass this way. I doubt soldiers needed to," Shanks explained. "And they're coming from down here too!"

"Where are they all coming out from?" Ty asked.

Just as he'd said that the hole in the wall directly above him and Enna produced the same running water sound we could hear coming out of the spiders attacking us. Soon afterward, a giant spider peeked its bulbous head through the hole.

Enna reacted instantly. She jumped forward and thrust her katana up into the spider's head. And just as it began to screech in pain, she pulled out her katana and quickly decapitated the creature.

Black ichor fell from the severed neck down onto Ty who was right below it.

"It's all over me!" he screamed.                                                              

"You're not much of a chosen one, Tiberius," Qwipps laughed.

Then he launched an arrow at a giant spider climbing up to us from down below.

"Muddamit, there's more of them down there now," he called.

I glanced down and saw four to five spiders climbing the walls directly below us. A few more of them were on the steps below Shanks. I saw one jump up to attack him and I saw his fist flying out to smack it away.

"Dean, look out!" Luca yelled.

I glanced up, a giant spider had just jumped down to attack me, and there was barely enough time for me to raise my sword to block it. However, I needn't have worried about how I was going to repel and destroy this thing because something awesome happened next.

Possibly because he was afraid his friend was about to die an agonizing death—as if I'd be killed by a giant spider that was a mob monster at best—Ty's fears awakened the power hidden inside him.

It began with a biting cold that chilled the skin on my face. Then came the ice spikes I'd seen Ty us in my vision, but these were much more refined than before. Not simply a move that reeked of desperation, but a controlled show of power that really brought that whole 'chosen one' thing to the forefront of our minds.

These ice spikes scattered across the wall all around us, covering the very stone itself into a sheet of ice.

Of course, anything caught by Ty's untrained magic was either covered in ice too or worse, impaled in half a dozen ice spikes. This included the spider that had launched itself to attack me.

Perhaps a dozen spiders had been caught in his areof-effect attack, and the rest of them who weren't caught quickly backed away in obvious fear.

"Whoa," I said in awe.

"What was that you said about him not living up to his 'chosen one' status, Qwipps?"  

Just as Varda said that, Ty lost consciousness and slipped. He fell sideways and would have fallen back to the ground dead if not for two things; the elf rope that kept him lined to us and Qwipps catching him before he could truly fall.

"Muddamit, this kid is heavy…" Qwipps said.

Chapter end