Fighter

by Isaac Hooke

  “You want it?” she said. “Take it!”

  She swung again, and once more he leaped back.

  He drained her of more stamina, until she collapsed. Then he pried the crystal sword from her hands. “Sorry about this. I still need you.”

  “It’s not fair,” she said. “Not fair! I hate you. I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

  “Except you couldn’t,” he said. “Because if you tried, I would have killed you first.”

  He reattached the blade to his belt, securing it opposite Balethorn’s scabbard.

  On the ground around him, the arachnid swarm was still approaching, so that Sylfi had to step aside, breaking the branches of a nearby tree.

  Only the biggest spider remained alive, but barely, judging from how it lay with its legs splayed upon the ground not far from Malem.

  He Broke the weakened creature. It used five slots. He commanded the monster to withdraw the smaller arachnids, and watched in fascination as the swarm retreated toward it, crawling up the spider’s legs, only to take up a position on its back.

  “We’ll bring it along,” Malem said. “She could prove useful where we’re going.”

  “So that beacon, how did you make it?” Sylfi asked.

  More crashes came through the trees, and Brita and Weyanna landed a moment later. They carried Xaxia, and Timlir.

  “Malem removed Aurora’s collar, and gave her the sword,” Gwen told Sylfi.

  “Oh,” Sylfi said.

  “Wait, what are we talking about?” Weyanna said. She glanced at the web, and the dead monsters. “Nice spiders.”

  “One of them’s alive!” Brita backed away from the spider Malem had Broken, as if it was the most terrifying thing in the world. She opened her mouth as if to breath fire.

  “Wait, it’s mine!” Malem said.

  Brita clamped down her jaws, and stopped when she realized she was pressing up against something. Turning around, she realized it was the web, filled with dead creatures.

  “Ah!” Brita leaped into the air, and landed on a nearby tree, toppling it. She broke away several more trees as she put distance between herself and that web. “I hate spiders!”

  “We can see that,” Gwen said.

  “How does that sword of yours work?” Wendolin asked Aurora. “You can drain anything?”

  “I’m not telling you,” Aurora said. “Set me free.”

  Grendel slid down Sylfi’s wing and approached.

  “I suspect her ability to use that sword is limited without Denfidal,” Grendel said. “Very likely, she can only drain lower level monsters.”

  “Like spiders?” Wendolin asked.

  “That’s right,” Grendel replied. “Or weaker willed monsters.”

  “I wouldn’t call these monsters lower level,” Malem said. “They were strong-willed.”

  “You can have strong-willed lower level monsters,” Grendel said. “But also weak-willed higher-level monsters. She can drain both. But without Denfidal, how much she can drain them probably depends on a combination of their level, and will.”

  “But you’re just speculating,” Malem said.

  “Yes,” Grendel agreed. “Unless she cares to clarify?” Grendel turned toward Aurora, but the latter woman remained silent.

  “I’m relieved you guys are all right, by the way,” Malem told her.

  “We’re relieved to find you, too,” Grendel said. “We feared the worst when those spiders took you.”

  “What happened to you?” Malem asked.

  “The smaller spiders swarmed us when we were walking through the forest,” Grendel said. “We were forced to flee, or we would have succumbed to their venom, like you did. I was bitten, but Xaxia and Timlir dragged me to safety. I only took one bite, so I awoke in time to watch the bigger spiders drag you into the forest, however even with that single bite I couldn’t summon my magic to help you—the venom clouded my ability. The smaller spiders kept us at bay until the dragons arrived, at which point we began searching the forest from the air.”

  “Where’s Zach?” he asked.

  “Oh, him,” Grendel said. “Still sleeping, as far as I know.” She glanced at the dead monsters around her. “Mob Spiders. They live in colonies, and swarm their prey with hundreds of smaller spiders—their brood mates—allowing them to incapacitate their meals before dragging them back to the nest for later consumption.”

  “Brood mates?” Gwen said. “You mean… they’re born at the same time?”

  “That’s right,” Grendel said. “But only some of them grow into the larger spiders, while the remainder are destined to serve as part of the swarm.” She glanced at Wendolin. “You’ve heard of them?”

  Wendolin nodded. “I’ve heard rumors of such creatures, but never encountered any in person, before now.”

  “You’ve lived a sheltered life,” Grendel quipped.

  “We all have,” Malem said.

  “We never did make it to that village…” Gwen said, gazing through the trees, as if looking for that telltale glow of civilization.

  “After the fever dream we had, I think we’ll camp out in the forest,” Malem aid. “Or actually, on its eaves. I think I want to get as far away from this mob spider den as possible.”

  They hopped onto the dragons, and flew to the outskirts of the forest. There was some arguing over who would carry the mob spider—all the Metals found giant spiders to be disgusting things—but in the end Weyanna agreed. Brita certainly wouldn’t do it. She positively despised that particular spider.

  They made camp, and three of the companions volunteered to take alternating watches. Malem told the women he would be sleeping alone that night, and thankfully no one protested. They were all too weary after the day’s events.

  He slept well, free of dreams and awoke with the dawn, refreshed.

  The Metals dined on deer, while Malem and the others ate some salted rations they had saved, then the companions hopped onto the dragons and headed toward the northeast of Ptolemy once more, with Zach leading the way.

  15

  Malem gazed at the stone buildings below. Minarets, domes, and spires dominated the architecture, though there were also smaller, rectangular-shaped structures, with the same low-slung roofs he had seen in the villages scattering the countryside along the way.

  Each building looked like it was made out of different materials, like wood, marble and so forth; however, everything was the same gray cast, as if some volcano had erupted and encased the structures in cold stone. The glass windows suffered the same fate, appearing as smooth surfaces of rock surrounded by window frames. Assuming those were actually supposed to be windows he saw: it was hard to tell, given how everything was made of stone.

  He spotted people down there, too, among the gray streets. Or former people, rather, their bodies encased in stone, frozen in positions of flight—many looked over their shoulders in mid-step, faces twisted in terror. Some of those bodies had toppled, and lay broken upon the gray cobblestone below.

  A mountain range trended from west to east north of the city. There, embedded in the side of a mountain that overlooked the city, was a large, stone keep. The dragons alighted on a wide terrace in front of that keep, and the passengers disembarked.

  Weyanna released the mob spider, and then frantically shook the talons that had held the monster.

  “What are you doing?” Xaxia asked.

  “Damn spiders on its back crawled over my leg!” Weyanna said.

  Malem watched those spiders fall away in clumps; on the flagstones, they promptly headed for the mob spider, forming organized lines as they clambered onto its back.

  Malem surveyed his surroundings. Ahead lay a courtyard, its fountains broken and gray, its topiary changed to rock. There were also countless bodies of men, monsters, and animals, turned to stone throughout the courtyard. The men wore attire that ranged from antiquated to modern, and included merchant outfits, mage robes, and armor. Some rode upon horseback, others camelback, and s
till others iguanids. In terms of monsters, there were oraks, goblings, hill giants, trolls, ogres, ettins, and even small dragons. They were all frozen in different poses, sometimes with their arms out as if struck by a blade, other times merely standing with their heads bowed, as if hoping that by avoiding the gaze of the Gorgon, they would live.

  “Looks like a few heroes tried to beat this Euryale already,” Xaxia said.

  “Not a good sign,” Wendolin agreed.

  At the end of the courtyard, steps led up to an entrance. The doors were open, revealing a stone hallway beyond. The inner ceiling was too low to fit a dragon.

  “Return to human form,” Malem ordered the dragons. “And get dressed.”

  The Metals did as he asked, and retrieved their clothing from the saddlebags. They used the big saddles to conceal their bodies from the watchful eyes of the others, particularly Timlir, who whistled casually, his eyes occasionally darting toward the saddles in the hopes of spotting a prime piece of exposed flesh.

  Meanwhile, Gwen stood near the edge of the terrace, and gazed out at the ruined city below.

  “Euryale did this?” Gwen asked.

  “She did,” Grendel replied. “She was their queen, but went mad when her lover was slain by a rival.”

  “What a terrible fate,” Wendolin commented. “Slain by the one who ruled you. By someone you looked up to, and cherished as a hero.”

  “Oh, she was no hero, even before she turned upon her people,” Grendel said. “She lived a life of luxury, in excess, removed as she was upon her keep. She always held the common people in contempt, and thought of them only as a means to her lifestyle. She inherited the throne at a young age, and took several lovers, including Mephiticus, the court magician. Euryale’s family was always strong in light magic, owing to a pact made with the Paragons, but Mephiticus taught her earth magic as well. She experimented, combining light and earth, but one day she reached too far, and created elementals she could not control, and they took her, tortured her, and turned her into the creature she became. A Gorgon.

  “In her absence, Mephiticus took the throne, seeking to preserve it until her return. But her rivals did not believe she would come back—they thought her dead, and so poisoned the magician.

  “When Euryale returned in all her dark majesty, and discovered what they had done, she literally unleashed hell upon the keep. When everyone in the palace was slain, she took her rage to the streets below. Twisted and writhen, her flesh part reptilian and part stone, with snakes seething from her hair, she moved from building to building, killing everything with her terrible magic, until the city became what you see now. A memory, frozen in time.”

  Malem reached out. “I sense animals down there, but nothing at all from the keep.”

  “Her servants are as twisted as her,” Grendel said. “Once human, now monster. I’m not surprised your beast sense can’t detect them.”

  “How are we supposed to do this, then?” Gwen asked. “We can’t look at her, and now you can’t even sense her. Wendolin is right, she’s impossible to kill.”

  Xaxia glanced at Grendel. “Maybe we can look at her in mirrors?”

  “No, that won’t work, either,” Grendel said. “Any image of her meets your eye, her magic will affect you.”

  “Where is the portal to the Light Realm?” Malem asked.

  “In this keep, deep inside the mountain,” Grendel said. “Euryale and her forebears were charged with guarding the entrance after the Balor Wars, in a pact made with the Paragons, which guaranteed her bloodline would always be strong in light magic. She has continued to uphold that pact, despite what she has become—despite that neither light magic, nor goodness, has flowed through her veins in centuries. Or maybe this upholding of the pact is unintentional on her part, as she merely kills whatever enters her domain.”

  “Sounds like my kind of chick,” Xaxia said.

  “You’ll get along well with her,” Gwen said.

  “I’m sure I will,” Xaxia agreed.

  “Zach, you’ve already created the debuff zone?” Malem asked the dragon.

  “The moment I landed,” Zach replied. “It’s centered around my position, and extends a short way into the keep. It will not move with me, if I reposition closer to the entrance, for example.”

  Malem and the Gray had had a long discussion about this before arriving, with Zach insisting that its debuff would counter Euryale’s magic, but eventually admitting that it had never run into a Gorgon before, so it could not know for certain.

  “How far does the zone extend?” Malem asked.

  “About ten yards beyond the entrance to the keep,” Zach said. “And all around this courtyard, of course.”

  “So if the Gorgon launches turn-to-stone magic at us from inside, it will dispel?” Gwen asked.

  “That’s the theory,” Zach replied.

  Malem ran his gaze over the keep, his eyes flitting quickly; he didn’t entirely trust the debuff, and didn’t wanting his gaze to linger in one place for overlong, lest he spot something that would destroy him. The exterior of the keep was the same gray stone as everything else. He noticed that some areas looked like they had once held balconies, but after turning to rock, said balconies had fallen away and crumbled to the ground below.

  He studied the main entrance—the doors were open. “Maybe we’ll get lucky. Maybe we won’t encounter her before we reach the portal.”

  “I somehow doubt it,” Grendel said.

  When the three Metals were dressed—Weyanna in her white robe, and Sylfi and Brita in their leather armor and bows—Malem headed across the courtyard toward that entrance. He had some confidence in the debuff zone, though not a lot. Still, he felt better that it was in place, and probably wouldn’t have dared approach the entrance without it. Even so, he kept his eyes mostly averted from the doorway, as did the others.

  Everyone went with him, including the mob spider, except for Zach, who yawned, and squatted in front of one of the broken fountains to settle in for the long wait.

  He weaved between the many bodies of those who died, and at the entrance, Malem ordered the mob spider to peer inside. When it didn’t turn to stone, he switched to its viewpoint, and shared the spider’s vision with those bound to him.

  The hallway beyond was made of the same gray stone as everything else. He could see tapestries and paintings lining the wall, but they were embedded in the rock, as if carved. There were also more bodies within: hapless heroes who had come to beard the Gorgon, and died, their efforts forever preserved in stone as a warning for future would-be heroes.

  “There’s no other way to the light realm?” Aurora asked.

  “If there was, I would have told you long before now,” Grendel replied.

  “I suppose you would have, at that,” Aurora agreed. She shook her head. “We can’t go in there. It’s obviously a trap.”

  Malem pursed his lips. “We’ll have to scout, first.”

  He ordered the mob spider forward. He also Broke a few robins and blue jays that nested nearby and sent them into the hall ahead of the monster.

  He switched to the spider’s point of view as it advanced through that eerie stone hall. He shared its vision with the dragon, and when he estimated the creature had advanced about ten yards from the opening, he asked: Has the monster passed beyond the debuff zone yet?

  It’s past the zone, Zach agreed. If your pet turns to stone now, don’t blame me.

  The spider’s smaller brethren remained nestled upon its back, but Malem noticed the creature had the uncanny ability to summon other arachnids. They flowed toward the creature, streaming down from the walls, and forming long lines as they clambering onto its back to join the others. He wondered if it was summoning all the spiders in the keep.

  The birds rounded a bend at the far side of the hall ahead, and his connection to them instantly severed.

  He commanded the mob spider to halt.

  “Just lost my birds,” Malem said. He instructed the spider to tu
rn around, worried that Euryale might peek around the bend at any moment.

  “Look away from the opening,” he ordered his companions, not wanting any of them to be afflicted by the Gorgon’s evil magic.

  The newcomer spiders continued to flow from the walls for a few moments, but then ceased: apparently that was all the spiders in the keep. As the last of them clambered onto the mob spider’s back, Malem had an idea.

  He couldn’t Break arthropods such as insects and arachnids, but he had sensed a mental kinship between the mob spider and its brethren; he suspected there was a type of mind link between them, similar to the connection Malem had with those he had Broken. There had to be, for the monster to be able to direct them to given targets, and to withdraw them at will.

  He reached out experimentally to the creature, and attempted to access the vision of one of the spiders through the monster’s link. He sensed resistance from the mob spider—it didn’t want him tapping into this part of its brain. He pressed harder, and broke through.

  All of a sudden his vision was filled with a confusing juxtaposition of images from slightly different angles: it was as if he was regarding the world through the facets of some translucent jewel, with one facet for every eye the tiny arachnid had. It took some time for Malem to adapt.

  When he accustomed himself to its eyesight, he instructed the mob spider to send a tenth of its brethren forward. Hundreds of the tiny spiders flowed down off the monster’s back and onto its legs, to the floor, where they continued forward. Malem hopped between arachnid viewpoints until he found one that was advancing with the others, so that he could observe their insectile march.

  Malem was hopeful the spiders would be too small to attract Euryale’s notice, let alone be affected by her magic. That so many arachnids were gathering to the mob spider from different portions of the keep was a good sign. Also, if insects could be affected by the Gorgon’s magic, there would be stone flies and mosquitoes littering the floor, but there were none. Then again, maybe there were some, or there had been, but they had been pulverized by the movements of whatever denizens called this place home.