The Foolhardies 149 The Dark Stairway

I was used to seeing that level of power from Aura when she summoned her efreet but that thing was a spirit. Ty was human, and yet the traces of his magic were all around us. From the cold that chilled my face and hands to the numerous ice spikes jutting out of the rock.

Like me, the rest of my team took a few moments to process what they'd just seen, and I was reminded that they hadn't been around for the summoning of Samhain. Man, their jaws would have dropped to the floor on that one.

"Dean, we have to keep moving," Aura insisted, although her eyes were glued to the icicle right above her head.

"Alright, let's move out," I agreed.

An unconscious Ty was saddled over Shanks' shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I assumed his current condition was due to him overtaxing his magic, and I made a mental note to ask Aura to at least train him in the basics so he could manage his power and be more useful to us.

That thought made me hate myself. Here I was saving Ty from fairies who wanted to exploit him, and yet, I had the same thoughts of using him as a weapon like they did.

"You okay?" Luca asked after he'd noticed the anger stamped across my face.

"I'm fine," I answered. "Lead the way…"

We continued up the staircase after Luca had shattered a few ice spikes that blocked the way. And our trip had turned relatively safe for the most part as the giant spiders kept their distance, although we still heard them close by.

Eventually, after what was a very long hike, we saw light above us that was a different shade from Aura's Hearthwood staff. Nothing so great as moonlight peeking into a cave opening, but definitely the light of open sky.

The sight of that dim light spurred us on, encouraging our tired legs to a second wind. It was also around this time that the giant spiders decided to make a second appearance. They came at us from below looking desperate now to keep us from escaping.

Their hunger must have overwritten their fear of Ty.

Unfortunately, Ty was still out cold so we couldn't expect another spell from our new glass cannon. Luckily, we didn't need him. Turned out, sylphs were also very powerful elementals like salamanders were.

With a wave of her hand, Zephyra turned the air into a weapon and sent it crashing into the closest spiders, sweeping them off the walls and slamming them against their comrades behind them.

If only that was enough to keep them away, but it seemed they weren't as frightened of the wind as they were of the ice.

More spiders spilled onto the stairway and walls behind us, climbing over their brethren that had been knocked over.

It was at this moment that I remembered another scene from Lord of the Rings. It was that part where the fellowship was being chased by an army of goblins, and in the spirit, I yelled to my companions, "Run, you fools! Run!"

We doubled our speed up the steps without a care for falling back into the pitch blackness below. But the damned spiders were hot on our heels despite the occasional airstrike from Zephyra or arrows from Qwipps and Pike.

Aura couldn't attack as her magic was focused on illuminating our way. But Varda had already begun preparations to cast her Earthen Wall spell for the exact moment I needed it.

"Just a bit more!" Luca yelled to us from the front.

"Go, go, go!" I ordered.

It was the last leg of the climb and we were barely holding onto our lead.

Giant spiders were crawling over the walls around us now. Very soon, we'd be surrounded again.

"Dean," Aura called, but I quickly responded with, "No, Aura! We need your light or we're all going to die!"

"Muddamit!" Qwipps yelled from his spot in the air adjacent to us, his gossamer wings flapping behind him. "Who told us this route was safe?!"

"No one said that!" Varda yelled back. "We were all very clear on how dangerous this route was going to be!"

"Yeah, well, I don't recall—"

"Qwipps watch out!" Pike yelled from a position slightly above him.

But Qwipps hadn't seen the spider webs launching at him in time and he was quickly covered in the stuff. This was very bad as his wings were pinned to his back, and without them flapping behind them, Qwipps was about to drop.

Quick as a panther, Enna launched herself from the staircase with her katana raised. As she crossed the air space to Qwipps, she managed to make several well-placed cuts that freed him from his bonds.

With his wings free, Qwipps was able to pull up and escape the clutches of even more spider webs launched at him.

"Eugh… this white stuff is all over me," he complained.

Enna, on the other hand, continued to cross the gap to the wall on the other side. Her feet landed on the wall, and without missing a beat, she ran across it and made her way back to us with a second jump.

To say that I was very impressed with her ninjlike movements was one hell of an understatement, and I resolved to have her along more often now.

We finally reached the final step and found ourselves climbing up into a small cave with an opening that led straight into desert sand.

"Varda, now!" I yelled.

Varda slowed her pace. She allowed Shanks to get ahead of her before she turned around and planted her hands firmly onto the ground right at the edge of the opening of the steps.

A giant spider launched itself up to attack her but it was repelled by a well-timed firebolt from Aura.

"I call on sand and rock and soil, won't you wake for me and start to toil. Wakey, wakey and stand tall, build for me a mighty Earth Wall!" she chanted.

Like a lid of stone, Varda's earth wall shut the opening tight with barely enough space for the giant spiders to peek through.

I heard their angry cries from the spaces between Varda's door and walked over to one just so I could flip them the finger.

A spider web shot upward, but I dodged it just in time. Then I pulled out a canister from my pack, pulled on its pin, and then dropped it into the hole.

I walked away feeling immensely satisfied as the sound of an explosion hit my ears.

"Was that a black powder grenade, Commander?" Varda asked.

"Yup," I answered, still feeling satisfied. "Extra power too. Zarz designed it."

"You couldn't have used that earlier, Dean?" Qwipps complained.

"Like I said, it had an extra punch I wasn't comfortable having us be close by to witness," I reasoned. "But we got out anyway."

I glanced around at my party mates and their sweat-stained, dirt-streaked faces and thought they were a reliable bunch. Zephyra and Shanks too, and I was going to have to figure out a way to enlist them into the Foolhardies while they fulfilled their duties to the tower.

"Alright, let's take five before we head out of this hell hole," I said as the smell of sandy cave air filled my lungs.

We spent the next thirty minutes tending to any cuts and bruises we earned during our speed run out of the giant spider shaft. Then we had a midnight snack of elf tea and elvish wayfarer bread, both delicacies that helped to energize a person for another long journey.

Incidentally, the bread tasted a lot like baked toast but with a hint of something fruity in it. Elf tea was always good, relaxing and warm to the throat as one chugs it down.

Ty woke up sometime during midnight snack. No doubt, his growling stomach had something to do with it.

He couldn't believe me when I told him how awesome his magic was. Of course, I left out the part where he scared us shitless.

"I really saved everyone?" he asked as he looked at the palm of his hands.

"Yup," I said, slapping him playfully on the back with my hand. "But maybe you don't pass out next time."

Aura came over and offered Ty a vial of one of our precious mana potions.

Ty reached out for the vial whose liquid content glowed faintly with its own inner light.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You're about to get a kick out of this, Ty," I said, laughing. "It's a mana potion like in those RPGs you love to play so much."

"For real?" he asked as he gazed down at the vial in his hands. After a few seconds, he looked up at Aura from where he sat beside me and asked, "Do I just drink it?"

"Whowhoa, hold on!" I said, raising my hand to stop him. I also glanced over at my partner. "Does he really need to, Aura?"

She nodded her head. "Ty's been overtaxing the magic inside him. That's why he lost consciousness… I'm actually surprised you could still manage an ice spell of that magnitude despite summoning such a powerful spirit earlier…"

"So I just drink this and it refills my mana? Just like that?" he asked.

"It does refill your mana somewhat but it'll take time for you to regenerate your own magic, Ty, so don't overuse it anymore tonight," she warned.

"What happens if he does use magic again tonight?" I asked concerned.

Aura's brow furrowed.

"Ty has no control of his magic so he's using mana in excess even for the simplest spells," she explained. "If he overburdens himself again… I'm afraid he could die."

Chapter end