by C. M. Carney
The severed arm coiled the tendrils underneath it and leapt at Lex, fingers splayed wide, ready to grab the NPC by the throat. Lex panicked and swung his hammer right handed. The clumsy swing hit the flying arm with a wet thwack, and it smashed into the wall and then fell to the floor of the cave.
It took a moment to right itself and then it surged towards Lex again. It was mere inches from Lex when a spear tip lanced through the wrist, pinning the severed body part to the ground. Gryph leaned his weight onto the shaft of his spear, ensuring the pinned arm couldn’t escape. Lex’s eyes snapped up to Gryph, and he nodded in appreciation.
“Burn it,” Gryph said, his voice intense.
With a feral grin, Lex unleashed a torrent of Flames. The hand started to blacken, but still it struggled. The skin sloughed off as the raging fire singed through flesh and then charred bone. Finally, the limb stopped moving and Lex ceased his Flames.
Gryph helped Lex to his feet, but the NPC couldn’t take his eyes off the burnt husk that had once been his friend’s arm. He kicked it and then roared. “Fucking fuck this shitty shit!” The flame maddened NPC spun and sent twin jets of Flames through the shield, roasting the underside of a pair of spiders. The beasts screamed as the flames baked their insides. Lex roared, his eyes wide.
“Lex!” Gryph yelled in alarm. His NPC’s outburst and crazed eyes had all the hallmarks of a Fire Magic psychosis. Gryph had seen madness on the battlefield and knew it was just as deadly to allies as enemies. At any moment the Flames could turn on one of them. He yelled again. “Lex switch to Order Bolts you crazy bastard!"
Lex turned his head and grinned, Flames still pouring from his outstretched hands. His grin was mad.
“ORDER BOLTS!” Gryph roared and Lex’s mad grin died as understanding filled him. The Flames stopped and Lex laughed maniacally for a second before unleashing a pair of the unerring knives of Order Magic.
The energy punched through the carapaces of both spiders, knocking them back. Several more successful attacks by his team cleared most of the shield, allowing Gryph to see the massive chaos spider queen and a host of her minions. They had not yet entered the fray. What is she waiting for?
“Friends, Errat’s shield is failing,” the warborn said with a grunt. A moment later the Aether Shield flickered and collapsed.
Gryph cast a static Life Shield, but his low level in Life Magic meant the barrier only had a measly 100 points. As soon as it went active, a pair of spiders tossed boulders at them. The rocks splintered against the shield, but they did their damage and almost as soon as he’d cast it, the shield collapsed. His group clutched their weapons, prepping for an all-out assault.
With their protection gone, Gryph expected a mad rush. None came. Every one of the spiders stood fast, but they seemed to vibrate, so strong was their desire to attack. Something held them fast. Gryph’s eyes turned to the queen just as she eased one of her massive legs to the floor of the cave. Another leg hit the ground, her pace slow and methodical.
Lex shared his Analyze.
Sziilloth (Blocked) - Level: Blocked.
Health
Stamina
Mana
Spirit
2,358
3,245
1,985
0
Sziilloth is a spider.
Strengths
Immunities
Weaknesses
Blocked.
Blocked.
Blocked.
“What the blankety blank fudge? She blocked my Analyze.” Lex asked, his voice still holding a tinge of madness.
Gryph and Errat exchanged odd looks, when Vonn gave voice to their concern. “You okay, mate?”
“Apart from not having a single damn clue what this queen of death’s abilities are and her creepy slow advance, I’m fine diddly fine. Why do you ask?”
“Your sudden verbal decorum is unnerving,” the half-elf rogue said, not taking his eyes off the spiders. “It suggests that you may be experiencing some discord in the brain department.”
“What do you expect?” Lex raged, his arms waving in a ’look around dumbasses’ kinda way. “What the fuck is this bitch doing?”
“That’s more like it,” Vonn said.
“He’s right,” Gryph said. “What is she doing? Any ideas Your Majesty?”
I do not know Stone Lord. Her behavior is … unexpected.
Around them, arrayed in a half circle, the dozen plus spider corpses began to quake. Gryph’s eyes widened, and an alarm pulsed through his brain. Before he could send a warning through the Telepathic Link, silk exploded from the dead spider’s spinnerets.
Thousands of strands of viscous silk exploded, entwining them in a network of crisscrossed webs. Roars of surprise and fury erupted from the mouths of his Adventure Group. Gryph’s legs and torso were enveloped and a second volley of webbing seized his arms, pinning his left to his side and his right tight across his stomach.
Vonn, Lex, Errat and Ovrym fared worse, for none of them had so much as a hand free. The only member of the group still free was Akashiri’s guardian spider. The beast had jumped up, clinging to the roof the moment the spinnerets had fired their silk.
Sziilloth reached the floor of the cavern and for the first time Gryph saw her full bulk. Her head was as large as a compact car and her abdomen the size of a bus. Each of her eight legs were as thick as an old growth oak. Her crystalline body swirled with torrents of orange and black. Where her children’s carapaces were smooth, long, thin quills, each tipped with a sharp barb, covered the queen's body.
The chaos queen paused, her myriad eyes staring at the gleaming order arachnid clinging to the ceiling. The top of her abdomen shuddered, and several arm length quills exploded from her back, rocketing towards the order spider.
Akashiri’s guardian reacted too late, and the quills embedded themselves into his carapace, knocking him from the ceiling. He fell hard in a heap, a screech of pain erupting from his jaws. Despite the pain, he placed his body between his queen and her chaos riddled mother.
Daughter, you have returned. I am both surprised and amused. But, no matter, I will consume you and bring your essence back into my own. Together we will be chaos.
You have fallen mother, and we will kill you.
Sziilloth hissed in rage and had crossed half the distance when Akashiri’s guardian spider began to shake and spasm. The sound of shattering crystal filled the cavern and Gryph watched as the spider’s body began to fold in upon itself, condensing its crystal carapace around the vulnerable, unhatched egg.
Akashiri’s anguish flowed through their link, and all understood that the male spider was sacrificing himself to protect her. Sziilloth raged and increased her speed, slamming her front legs down upon the unhatched queen. But the protector’s sacrifice had not been in vain and the thick crystalline shell held. Sziilloth raged for a few more moments before calming and turning her gaze to Gryph.
She advanced on him, bringing a clawed leg up to caress his face. The gentle dexterity of the touch was disturbing, and despite his efforts Gryph was unable to hold back a shiver.
“Did I not tell you that you would be mine Little Godling,” the chaos queen said aloud, her voice sounding like the rending of raw flesh.
Gryph’s eyes widened. He knew that voice. It had spoken to him once before channeled through the possessed demon Avernerius not long after Gryph had escaped from the Barrow. The chaos queen wasn’t corrupted by chaos, as Akashiri had feared. Sziilloth was full on possessed by a Prince of Chaos.
“Yes, now you see.”
Gryph had little time to process the terror of that revelation when the chaos queen reached down, underneath her abdomen. She inserted her foreleg into her oviduct, the orifice that hatched her eggs, and removed a small sack covered in ichor. She held it in front of Gryph’s face, tearing away the organic membrane, revealing a glowing sphere.
Magma colored energy pushed through the sphere, and nausea built inside Gryph. His Identify talent triggered, e
xposing a nightmare more terrifying than any he’d ever dreamt.
You have discovered a Chaos Spore.
These arachnid eggs are corrupted by the transformative energies of the Realm of Chaos into a Chaos Spore. When inserted in a sentient being, it will corrupt them, transforming them into a permanent host for a Prince of Chaos. All that is will be burned away. Nothing but Chaos will remain.
Realization punched Gryph in his soul. Lex had been right. This whole thing had been a trap, but not the obvious trap that they had all seen, but one that would mean the end of the Realms. It was a trap designed to snare him.
14
Terror licked at the edges of his mind, but Gryph could not, would not succumb to the fear. Sziilloth brought another leg up and sliced the webbing at the front of his body. He struggled, desperate to get away, but her cut was surgical, exposing his chest and abdomen.
“Get away from him you bitch,” Lex raged.
Sziilloth’s monstrous head turned, and all eight eyes stared coldly at the NPC. Lex’s eyes widened in fear, and he began to mutter under his breath. “I must protect Gryph. I must protect Gryph.”
Sziilloth eased her foreleg up and clacked her claws in front of Lex’s eyes. She smacked him across the face once, twice and then pulled a bunch of webbing up and over Lex’s mouth, muting his mutterings. Her head turned back to Gryph, and she drew her claw across the straps securing his armor. The leather split and she tore the metal breastplate from his body.
I’m open to any ideas you guys may have, Gryph sent through the link. Sziilloth dropped the breastplate to the floor of the cavern. The unexpectedly loud clang startled him. Even Lex’s idiotic ones. He didn’t even try to hide his fear.
Shit, shit, shit, Lex sent, struggling against the webbing. We need to do something guys. Can anyone else get free?
This webbing is incredibly strong, Ovrym sent. Each movement I make cinches the strands tighter.
And I have no spells that will help free me, Vonn sent.
I cannot help. I am sorry Stone Lord, but I fear I have led you to your doom. To all of our doom. The guilt poured from the unhatched queen
“Errat thinks he can get free.” The warborn moved his body back and forth violently. Errat’s outburst drew the chaos queen’s eyes.
Dude, you know you said that aloud? Lex snapped through the link.
Yes, the warborn said, snark in his tone. He then roared at the top of his lungs.
Sziilloth clacked in irritation and several of the chaos spiders fired blobs of webbing over the warborn’s mouth. Errat’s screams became a muffle, but he did not cease yelling.
Sziilloth turned back to Gryph and placed her razor-edged claw at his sternum.
Well that bought us a whole three seconds! Lex raged. Nobody has any ideas? Not one?
Errat wishes he had webbing of his own. It would very much please him to see this bitch … trussed like a hog.
Gryph mulled over Errat’s odd choice of words, when something tickled the edge of his mind, begging for attention. But Gryph could not find focus as his fear reached a boiling point. A warmth built inside his chest and his soul companion awakened from her recuperative slumber.
I am here Gryph.
No, Gryph sent. You are still too weak. It is too dangerous.
Raathiel shushed him and enveloped him with her mind. She expanded through the Telepathic Link drawing the rest of the Adventure Group into her comforting aura. Gryph breathed in, finding strength as the minds of his friends embraced him like a warm blanket pulled over a sick child.
We are here, Raathiel sent. Use our clarity. Use our strength.
A moment later Sziilloth stabbed into the soft flesh beneath Gryph’s sternum and drew down, flaying his skin with ease. He felt the skin part and knew he was screaming, but his friends provided a buffer between his mind and his body. The terror still boiled through him, but it felt as if he were watching it happen to someone else. It allowed him to detach, to focus, to find a way to help.
Let’s show this bitch that nobody puts baby in a corner, Lex sent.
Lex’s idiocy drew a small internal chuckle from Gryph even as his body continued to scream. Get ready, Gryph sent, gritting through the pain. He sent mana down his arm. It swirled around his hand and into the jeweled ring on his finger. He couldn’t see it, but one by one the row of sapphires in the silver band illuminated as they drank in the magical energy.
The chaos queen wagged the Chaos Spore back and forth before Gryph’s eyes, one last taunt before she placed it inside him. Her delay gave him the time he needed. With a flick of his will, he activated his Ring of Minor Air Shield. He directed the expanding sphere of wind away from his body.
The webbing tore from his arm, taking bits of skin and hair with it. The solid wall of air slammed into Sziilloth as it expanded, knocking the Chaos Spore from her grasp and pushing her back a few feet. She chittered in anger and arrested her motion.
Webbing still secured Gryph’s torso and legs, but his right arm was free. He pulled the Globe of Air Elemental Essence from his satchel and tossed it to the ground at his feet. The crystal sphere shattered on impact releasing a howling gale of air. The mindless concentration of air mana spun upwards and then slammed down onto Gryph.
Every hair on his body stood on end as if it had powered him up with wind and electricity. The fingers of his free hand contorted, and he cast Animate Rope. He set all the webbing in the cavern as the spell’s target.
Thousands of strands of interconnected webbing all around the chamber lashed out, entwining the chaos queen and her corrupted children. High-pitched shrieks burst from dozens of mouths as the webbing entwined the spiders and then twisted and pulled tight. Dozens of chitin covered spider legs cracked. Some were even torn from bodies.
Gryph could feel the interconnecting strands of webbing as if they were one. The air elemental essence powered his spell up by 1000%, increasing the strength and duration of his Animate Rope spell. Despite the success of the attack Gryph knew the spell would not last. To prove this, the spiders pulled at their bonds, loosening the sticky webbing.
Gryph directed the webbing securing his friends to loosen and tear free. Lex grunted in pain as a chunk of his beard ripped away, but he did not otherwise complain. The NPC fell forward, kicking at a stray strand of webbing before it could trip him. Vonn, Ovrym and Errat freed themselves and sent a variety of missile weapons and spells into the closest spiders.
The pain of Sziilloth’s near vivisection burned into Gryph and he stumbled. Lex was there in seconds, but Gryph waved his hand. “I’m all right, or I will be.” Gryph looked inside and dragged five of his Attribute Points into Constitution. A rush of warmth flowed through him as his Health bar filled.
“A game hack?” Lex said in shock as the cut on Gryph’s torso healed before his eyes. “Awesome.” He helped Gryph to his feet and nodded. “Wonder if that’ll work for me?” Then with a wink he turned his attention to the battle and roared.
Lex powered his Maul of Holy Might with Spirit and brought a Crushing Blow to the knee joint on the closest of Sziilloth’s legs. The joint split under the onslaught and the blow tore her leg from her body. Ichor sprayed in a wide fan and Sziilloth howled, buckling under her unsupported bulk.
“Sounds like All You Can Eat Tuesdays at Cappin’ Crabbies!” Lex roared in joy and spun his hammer again, pulverizing the same leg where it met the chaos queen’s body. Sziilloth pulled free of some webbing and slammed her body into Lex, tossing him back and into Errat.
Sziilloth flexed and the webbing securing her tore away. She lanced out with her remaining front leg, forcing Gryph to activate Parry. He danced aside and then activated another Staves/Spears perk Impale aiming his spear into the open maw of the massive spider. The spear tip punched past the beast’s fangs and sunk into the roof of her mouth.
For the second time that day Gryph unleashed Yrriel’s Maelstrom. Electrical energy tore through the inside of the chaos queen’s head, illuminating the cryst
alline beast like a lightbulb. Sziilloth wailed in agony and all seven of her remaining legs thundered against the ground, trying to pull herself from his spear.
Gryph was smashed side to side and wrenched up and down as he clutched desperately to his spear. He felt like a cowboy on a mad bucking bronco, except this bronco was larger than a mammoth and far meaner. The muscles in his shoulders wrenched, forcing him to let go for fear of dislocation.
Gryph soared through the air but landed on his feet. Sziilloth wrenched the spear free with her good foreleg, the sticky pads underneath her claws providing her with ample leverage. She threw his spear to the opposite side of the cavern and then sped towards him.
Gryph unleashed a volley of Soul Bolts and the knives of silver energy zipped towards the chaos queen. She didn’t slow, and the bolts deflected off her carapace. The back of her body shook, and a section of her abdomen morphed into the shape of a scorpion tail. She snapped the barbed appendage down once, twice, three times. Without his spear Gryph had to Dodge. His first two attempts succeeded, burning away his Stamina, but on his third attempt, his foot slipped on a slick of spider ichor and he fell to the ground. Gryph watched from his back as the barbed tail tensed and lashed down.
Lex stepped between Gryph and Sziilloth and blocked the strike with the handle of his hammer. “Well, that is just plain unfriendly,” the Ordonian said. His face was a crimson rage brought on by his Ordonian Bloodlust racial gift.
Gryph breathed a sigh of relief but did not take his eyes from the queen. This close up he could see through the haze that had stained the chaos queen’s body. What had once been pure crystal was now corrupted with the seething orange of untamable energies. Amidst the raging chaos, something moved.
