Beyond The Wall

by Pwyll Duggan

  "No. Let the poison work its way out. The paralyzing agent will be gone by high sun anyway. If he can't move, I can carry him and he'll heal faster. Men squirm a lot near me." She sighs.

  "Don't be like that Student. You're a great person. You saved us, and the Shielder." Mature voice again.

  "He killed two giant and seven lesser mygalomorphs. That's very impressive for a human." I hear a spitting noise and the younger voice continues. "I really don't like the taste of snakes. Too gamey. And stuck up." Laughter.

  "How can you taste 'stuck up'."

  "I just can okay." She sounds a little hurt, or annoyed.

  "If you don't need me, I'll take the little one’s home." Says the older voice.

  "Sure. Best luck with Merryn. Tell me if you need anything. I can always ask the Shielder to bring it from the other-side if needed."

  "Good idea Student." That tinkling sound again and the strong scent of ozone? And that burnt metal and air smell from welding. Then the younger voice starts again. Definitely a little Irish in there.

  "Well Sir Shielder. I don't have a name, but I was called Student by my Mistress so that what people call me now. I've got some good bandages here that I need to put over your shoulder and thigh. I'm going to take off your gambeson, quite well made there, and bandage that shoulder. I'll treat all those other cuts you have too." She starts undoing my belt as I try to open my eyes. I feel a cold finger on my eyelid.

  "Not a good idea. The poison from the arrow slows your reactions, so your eyes will be slow to work. The sun will hurt you and it will just make your headache worse. Relax. I've got you."

  She removes my belt and very slowly takes off the armor, making sure not to hurt me. She gently washes the wound, dries it and wraps a very tight bandage. She then does the same for my thigh.

  "Okay, just the little ones left. I'll wrap your hands and then we can move." She wraps my hands, like boxing tape and keeps talking. "You’re the first Shielder since Mistress left that has made it past the Ironspike ambush. They have been capturing everyone who passes thru the shield. They use the best to power up their troops and the rest are slaves at the mine." Her voice turns sad. "I think the slaves have it better."

  She starts to sit me upright but stops. "Almost forgot." I hear her rummage around in a pack and then scratching. She's taking notes and mumbling under her breath.

  "Human Male. Young Mature. 182cm tall. Approx 100 kilograms. Shaved head. Red beard. Body hair, front and rear. Eyes brown. Seems intelligent. Perhaps educated. Injures from combat - APW to left shoulder - thru and thru. SSW to left thigh, 4cm deep. Light Spirit Heal to stop bleeding. Wounds cleaned and sutured before enhanced silk bandages applied, woven onsite and to size.” She stops writing and sighs. "Maybe he will even talk later. That would be nice for once."

  I hear her gathering items together. "Okay, got everything together. Just lashing them to my back now. Please don’t struggle as I lash your legs down. I’m putting you in a sling so that I can take you to my observation post near the Wall on the Ten Mile Road. Well the goblins call it the Ten Mile road. Seems all the roads go ten miles. Should be 16 kilometers. Metric is the magic standard after all – greater accuracy. And you need accuracy for magic. Anyway, I’ll lash your arms down to your chest. I’ve put a small knife in your hands, in case we get attacked and they take you. Can never be too prepared."

  I feel like a mummy being wrapped, but she only does as she says. I'm lifted and placed somewhere, and her voice changes location. I must be on her back. "You're heavier than I am used to. This might take a few fingers, sorry hours, to get there carefully. Just try and rest. Wish me luck."

  I rotate and end up hanging down as she climbs a nearby tree. She isn't really breathing hard at all. After some swaying and a jump or two I'm on my back again. "Yes, found the local nest." She trots around. I get the impression she's some type of centaur, with me on her back. I hear soft foot falls, many at once under me. She must have a lot of legs. I try not to think about it as she continues talking to herself.

  "Cocoons in the south east nest. Four. Humanoid sized." Ripping and cutting noises.

  "All desiccated. Two Goblins. One Orc, One elf, sub type unknown due to condition of body. Items recovered from Orc and subtypes stored for village. Elf has a Cloak, sized incorrectly for myself. Will suit Shielder. Quiver, full. Bow, unstrung. I can fix that. Dual Daggers and sheaths. Leather boots. Cuirass has multiple puncture holes. Local communication threads are active. Large Male approaching alone. Great, mating ritual again. Time to leave." Fuck. I'm on the back of a giant spider. A drider, a spider with a human top. And. I. Can't. Move. So, I panic, thrash and faint from the pain I cause myself. Great plan that was.

  I rouse from my self-induced sleep. I'm lying on web, a solid web, no gaps. Like a trampoline, stretched between four trees. It’s thick and takes my weight easily. I see the tops of trees, then the black slab of the shield. We are up high in the trees. The center of the trampoline has rocks spread out, all in a small lake of water. Which is interesting when you consider there is a thin webbed roof over us. A munching and chewing noise comes from a corner, right up at a tree.

  I carefully and slowly look over towards the noise. A giant spiders body rests on a long branch. Eight legs, huge abdomen and human female body, her back to me. Along each leg are what looks like metal plates, with padding underneath. Along the underside of her spider thorax and abdomen has the same. The two middle legs on each side are up barely touching web strands. Local communication threads maybe? She's smart enough to be armored underneath, with padding for blunt attacks, and has packs along her back. She makes notes, even in metric. This isn't a monster. This is an adventurer. A scholar. This is the help that I need.

  She has one hand to her mouth and one to a small book, taking notes. She talks to herself again.

  "Only three patrols left in the blockade. Extra Snotlings are around. In the last 6 months this appears to be the best opportunity to remove them, if only for a while. It would also damage the Mine's ongoing patrols. Expected response would be Night Scout attacks and possible trackers, perhaps even Bounty hunters from the inner lands. If the Shielder can handle some, even on his first day, we could deal a blow to the Ladies of the Night. And I might be able to get more of these Rice balls. Yummy."

  I swallow my pride and fear. If she wanted me dead, I'd be dead. I need her help. She's healed me and moved me closer to my new home. Diplomacy time. Ah, the old charisma check time. I put on a cheery voice.

  "Check my backpack. Should be a whole lot." Bribery never hurts, unless it's law enforcement. Then it only sometimes works.

  "Really? Thanks, a lot!" I like the joyous reply and she scuttles over to the side, all the equipment on the web there. As she's prying open my pack she keeps talking.

  "I found an Elven cloak and blades for you. Good steel until I get something better made for you. Your armor is trash now, and I have no time to make you something you deserve. There's an orc cuirass to wear, but not getting hit would be better thou." Her fingers are extra-long and nimble. They're covered in chitin, same as the lower legs of her human body. Well they start as thighs and end up as small spider legs, mandibles? Those things that crabs have, to push food in their mouths. Hopefully there's no mouth down that low. Bad mental image that.

  Her human half is wearing a silk padded robe, no padding where you're thinking, it's not needed. Black robe with silver trim and lines along it like a sash, blue and red, matching her eyes and hair. Arms a little long, exposed and with the chitin covering from her upper arms, as if she was wearing long silk gloves. Longer than normal fingers. Allows her to be more nimble with them, I guess. She notices me looking at her, hand shoving a rice ball into her mouth, rice flying all over.

  "Sworry. Swoo gwood." She mumbles around the rice and blushes a bit. Eight eyes blinking as one. Her 'normal' human position eyes are topped by three more lines of eyes, each smaller than the last. All deep blue, with a faint outline of pupil and iris undernea
th. Each with tiny eyebrows, they also get smaller to match her eyes. Long, red hair, tied back in a pony tail. Her nose is small and turned up a little. Pointed ears like Aysun and Bunny, just a lot smaller. All her exposed skin is covered in freckles. I'm looking at an Irish Drider.

  I stand slowly, taking my time. A rice ball appears before my face, Student is smiling at me, rice escaping from the sides of her mouth. I take the proffered ball and eat. I pat my belt then look down. Coffee jar is gone. Water skin now in front of me as more rice balls disappear down her throat.

  "Thanks." She's too busy eating to respond, bliss on her face.

  "I wove thewse."

  "I'll get you more, tomorrow."

  "Welly?" rice now sticking to her face and chin. I point to my face.

  "You've got…" She brushes the rice off, shrugs and keeps eating.

  I grab the cuirass and belt it on. It smells rancid and leaves my arms bare, but I have little option. The cloak has a small leaf clasp that defeats my best efforts. I hear a giggle and Student is watching me. She scuttles over and adjusts the clasp.

  "Over the stem and around. Like this."

  "Thanks."

  I try again and get it. I whip it around and pull it over my shoulders. It's really light and feels...pleasant? As soon as I finally get the claps shut, I feel the cloak shudder by itself and adjust, fitting my size better and covering my shoulders better. The neck even shapes itself into a hood and I pull it up over my head.

  "Very nice. Very Robin of Loxley." Student goes. I look up shocked.

  "You know Robin Hood."

  "I read. I have a great library, just so you know." She exclaims, as if I accused her of something.

  "I'm sorry. That’s a legend from my world."

  "Well." She goes back to prim and proper. "It's from many worlds. A lot of worlds share the same legends, as if they are somehow connected." She looks up and stares, thinking. Rice ball unmoving in her hand.

  "Since Shielders come from many worlds and cultures, maybe this world is the connector, the center of the threads. Mayhaps the Spirita Aqua of this world travels all over and returns. It would explain some things." She scuttles back to the writing desk and makes notes, repeating herself as she writes.

  "Do you always do that? Talk what you write." She pauses and turns.

  "I guess so. No one ever comments. There's never anyone around." I purse my lips in thought.

  "Why is that?"

  "No one stays long or wants me around." Shit, everyone's too scared of her.

  "You're not getting rid of me that easy."

  That gets me a wide smile as a reward.

  She has very sharp teeth.

  Chapter Ten

  Student, I discover is an Arachne. A weaver, mage and scholar. She loves Rice balls, thinks rabbits are crunchy, orc types are too gaming and she's scared of snakes.

  "Because they slither along the ground. It's just not right." She said hanging from the side of a tree while repairing her 'Listening Posts' roof in case it rains later. It takes all types, I guess. She explains that she's a Spirita Aqua Casting Mage at level 5, can cast a few good spells a day and can weave me a decent set of 'Silken Plate' once she gets better measurements and 'watches how I move.' She drops in the game term without blinking or stopping.

  "What the fuck - stop - Level? That's in games." She looks at me like she swallowed a bird...okay maybe a frog in her case.

  "How else do you progress in the use of Spirita? You get experience, harvest Spirita Aqua and hand it in to the Stones. Whoever controls the stones can get stronger. Hence the Shield to keep us out and from leveling. Did they not teach you anything in your village?" she's very indignant at my interruption.

  "I had to kill their priestess and she had got rid of all the books and guides that could help."

  She stares at me opened mouth.

  "So, no-one who came over had any idea what to do?"

  "Basically - no clue. Or preparation. Or training."

  "By the Gods. No wonder the Mine is booming. They have Shielders to power their Troops, slaves to mine and extra to eat as needed. Here I just thought the village was just that weak."

  She turns and hits the equipment pile, going for her bags.

  "Extra potions, where are the...there, got you. Drink this." She shoves a bottle full of green liquid into my hand.

  "We need to wipe out that camp, power your stone and get me more rice balls. So, you can survive and help this side out of course." Yeah okay, Rika's gonna be cooking for days now. I sniff the potion, very earthy.

  "Healing potion. Not many around these days. Tend to be used as we make them. Never enough time to stockpile." That alone tells me the stakes. I drink it. It's that awesome not-washed kale earth taste. It goes down slowly as the heat in my limbs increases. My shoulder gets looser and I can walk again, with little pain. Magic may not taste great, but it works.

  She discusses our options and we, meaning her, lay out a plan. We have very little options. She begins.

  "Snotlings are the first stage of Goblinoids. Completely stupid and one-track minds, be it eating, mating or combat. They have no tactics at all, they just rush. Gobbers are the second, and main, stage for them. Small, slightly smart, cunning and vicious. Orcs are the final stage, smart, stronger and downright mean. She'll end up as the problem.”

  She passes me the elves bow and I shake my head.

  "Not trained, never used and no time to learn. I'll crossbow, staff and dagger it." She looks at the bow.

  "Oh well then. It would have been great." I shrug. Her hands weave around me and I have a harness. We go to the end of the trampoline and she lowers me down. It's a long way down. She drops behind me just after I hit the ground.

  We move slowly heading for the blockade. At the edge of the woods I crouch down and let Student do her thing. She strings webbing along the edge of the woods, just leaving the small gap between our two trees free. The tents are no more than 60 feet away. I move forward to the lone boulder on this side of the road, lay my staff against it and pull out the crossbow. Student flicks her right wrist and with a quick flash of silver light she has a small wand in her hand. I load my bow and look at her. She nods.

  I brace myself on the boulder, aim and fire. The gobber in the nearest watchtower goes over the side onto a spike, snotlings laughing. I step back behind the boulder and reload, Student's form barely visible at the tree line, eight blue eyes in the darkness. I wait, she nods again, and I lean out, braced. Aiming, deep breath, exhale half, fire. The next nearest gobber goes down and the snotlings are half laughing, half looking around. I reload again behind the boulder. I watch Student's arm extend, wand moving. Faint motes of light trail the wand. She draws a tiny circle, starting from the bottom going around. When she reaches the bottom she flicks up, line cutting through the circle and just beyond. The image is faint as she flicks down and punctures the circle. The front of the wand flares as a golf ball size sphere of fire erupts from the image and wand combined.

  It streaks across the short distance to the first ragged tent, punching a smoking hole in the canvas and impacting something inside. Flames leap from the hole as she repeats the spell for the next tent. Shouts and alarmed cries echo from those tents as gobbers and snotlings alike flee from the flames. Student shoots the final ragged tent as the others erupt in flames.

  The Orc strides out of her tent, topless, wielding her axe.

  "Where is it coming from? Douse those flames!" Yelling orders as she's looking back and forth. Aim, breathe, half exhale, shoot. My bolt is low, going for her legs. It grazes across the top of her thigh.

  "There!" she shouts pointing at me. That was the point. Watch me and not Student.

  Student's left hand has finished another circle, this time the size of a basketball. Her hand traces the line up and then she pushes thru the center. As she completes the spell it’s as if she is pushing the basketball of fire out of the circle. With a final push, the ball of flames shoots off, aiming for the orc. S
he dives for cover as the ball of flames closes the distance and explodes. The whole area is engulfed in flames.

  In games, Fireball is just an Area of Effect spell. Does damage in an area, sphere in this case. They don't describe the shock wave from flames devouring everything in its path as they expand. The screaming noise of the flames, the force of air that buffets all in its path. The expanding debris field thrown around, the fires consuming everything flammable, smoke filling the air. The flung bodies and their connected and disconnected parts.

  I lean around and shoot a flailing gobber, desperately trying to put the flames out on his friend rolling on the ground. Reload and look for targets. Student is beside me now, wand at work shooting those smaller balls of fire at anything heading our way. Snotlings race at us from the barricades. She just calmly concentrates and casts away, shot after shot.

  There's a scream from the pile of rubble that the camp has become. A table is heaved up and knocked away, the orc stands up, hair flowing about, half burned away.

  "You killed my PET!" she screams, then a thunk and her body flies sideways, tumbling along the ground. A huge spear is sticking up from her body and I whip my head to the way it came from.

  "Take them alive." A Lamia points to us with her spear.

  "Time to go." I grab Student's hand and run.

  We duck back and forth thru the trees, lamias following close behind. Student yanks her hand from mine, smiles and jumps up a tree, scuttling upwards through the branches and avoids two spears thrown at her. I feel someone close behind me and toss my staff forward, so it sticks between two trees as I limbo slide underneath it. As the staff bounces off the trees something impacts it, driving the staff onto the trees again and whatever hit it does so again with a crash. I draw my new blades and leap at the crumpled form of a lamia, elven daggers biting deep into her hips, as I roll away. The tree I'm using for cover is struck by a spear, bark splinters flying.

  I duck down and shoulder charge forward, hitting snake skin and bouncing over the lamia's tail. It hisses and spins on the spot as a small ball of fire descends from the treetop, impacting its tail. I leap forwards over the unintentional tail strike as the lamia reacts to being burned. Airborne, I thrust into the lamia's back with one hand and bring a second dagger down, thrusting into her chest. She tries to toss me off as I stab her back again twisting the sharp elven steel blade before falling off her back, impacting on a tree, luckily not losing my new blades.