“Raina! Behind you!” I shouted, pointing with a paw at the safe space I’d cleared. She saw it immediately and shoved Cithrael towards it before following herself.
“Terrowin! Aelisra! Over here!” she shouted. They began to stumble forward, but they weren’t going to make it. I watched helplessly as the matriarch reached out and strummed the strand with a vengeful hiss. Lightning coursed across the strands once again, coating the floor with the paralytic magic field.
I was sent spinning once again. It took great effort to twist myself back around to face the monster. My dagger was somewhere in the mess of goo and blood that was formerly one of her eyes, but that was fine. Cithrael could stun her from afar, I needed to focus on something else.
Once again, I spotted a portion of the webs that didn’t move as much as the rest. I summoned fire once more before sending it streaking towards that section of web. Even if it didn’t do much, it opened up options for the rest of my team. This one was closer to the matriarch and provided a much closer sanctuary for Terrowin and Aelisra.
“Shoot her eyes!” I shouted. “It stuns her long enough to prevent her from strumming the string!” Raina nodded and relayed the instruction to Cithrael.
An instant later, an arrow was on the string. A brilliant green glow wrapped around the arrow as Cithrael whispered a spell into life. He released it, and I swear I watched the arrow curve slightly to make the angle required to obliterate the other of the matriarch’s biggest eyes.
She stumbled back from the string long enough for Terrowin and Aelisra to stumble to safety. With everyone safe from the paralyzing field, it was time to end this once and for all.
I surveyed the field, grateful for my bird’s eye view of the battlefield. We had to find a weakness. If Terrowin and Aelisra stayed where they were, the matriarch would eventually approach them in order to attack, but that didn’t mean much if we couldn’t land a mortal blow. She was just so massive that I didn’t see how we could deal even a telling blow from the tiny platforms the rest of the party had been exiled to.
Another TWAAANNNNGGG sent me spinning through the air, only this time it was off the back-and-forth axis I’d been oscillating on before. Now, I spun out into a wide circle that sent me flying around the edges of the room.
This was…distinctly not good. Mine was not the only thread in the room. My momentum kept me circling the room like a demented cat falcon, but soon, I would get tangled up in the rest of the threads that cluttered up the ceiling…some of which still had living spiders attached to them.
I desperately searched for a solution as I spun wildly out of control. The matriarch was moving forward, just as I’d predicted, her steps shaking the webs violently with her immense bulk. She bore down on the melee fighters. Aelisra shoved Terrowin back, holding her shield firm.
The matriarch reared back and lunged, the light surrounding Aelisra from her protective wards had faded, but her courage had not failed yet. She held firm, raising her shield high with both arms as the fangs came down. Wood splintered and creaked as her shield bore the strain of the blow. Taking the opportunity, Terrowin darted around the paladin, using the length of his glaive to stab at the enormous monster.
Meanwhile, Raina and Cithrael pelted her with volley after volley of ice shards and arrows. One by one, the rest of the monster’s eyes were stabbed out by their magic.
But, the spider was angry now. She reared back again, surging blindly forward in a bid to replace precision with raw strength. She slammed into Aelisra’s shield again, sending the paladin stumbling back into Terrowin. He was forced back, stumbling onto the heaving webs. One more rear back, one more lunge. This time, Aelisra’s shield cracked and crumbled under the strain, allowing the venom filled fangs to sink into her arm. I thought I heard the crushing of bones as the enormous fangs penetrated armor and mangled the arm underneath.
Aelisra fell and the matriarch rushed over her, sensing Terrowin’s vibrations on the webs. The knight scrambled back but was knocked to the ground. The matriarch loomed over him, ready to strike.
“Terrowin!” Raina shouted.
“Hold nothing back!” shouted Cithrael. It was the loudest I’d ever heard the ranger speak. His words seemed to spark something in the green-haired knight, who closed his eyes and muttered something to himself, when he was finished, he opened his eyes once more. They shone gold.
In the same instant, a brilliant golden light streaked forth from the knight, reaching out and wrapping around the matriarch. She was forced back, screeching and hissing in anger as the light took the form of a long golden dragon. It twisted itself around her, trapping her in its grasp long enough for Terrowin to stand and advance to Aelisra’s fallen form. His glaive was in hand, he was ready to fight.
Most importantly, though, pushing the matriarch back put her exactly in the line of my chaotic spinning. It was time to get off this wild ride.
I called to my dagger, dislodging it from the matriarch’s eye and bringing it back to me. It streaked toward me, blade first. I ducked just in time for it to pass right between my ears and slice my safety rope. Tumbling through the air, I desperately hoped my timing was good. The last thing I needed was to be stuck in webs again…not at this critical stage.
Luck was in my favor. Instead of being stranded in webs, I skidded to a landing right in the middle of the spider’s large back end.
I dug my claws into the chitin as the matriarch thrashed against the dragon. It didn’t last long. A moment later, the spell summoning our saving grace was gone and the spider was released.
“Malzy! End it!” Raina shouted, seeing where I was. I looked around, unsure of what to do. My dagger was on the other side of the room. I couldn’t see it. If I didn’t know where it was, how could I summon it?
The matriarch began to turn, but I couldn’t see why with the enormity of her form in the way. All I could do was cling to her back and hope she didn’t notice me until I figured out something resembling a new plan.
“Cithrael, throw it to me and I’ll get it to him!” shouted Terrowin. Did they have my dagger? Were they going to throw it to me!? I could have purred with joy…if everything else weren’t such complete chaos.
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A few moments later, my dagger appeared in the air before the matriarch’s head. I snatched it with my mana, pulling it towards me just as the enormous spider began to rear back for another strike. If she hit Terrowin, that would be it for the knight. He wasn’t half as sturdy as Aelisra, and it had only taken a single blow to the arm to inject enough venom to take her down.
I couldn’t allow it. They were my hench-humans! I wasn’t going to allow them to be hurt any more, not while I was in the prime position to stop it!
The dagger drove deep into the spider’s chitinous body. Blue blood splashed my paws as I ran along the matriarch’s enormous body, dragging my blade as I went. Once I reached the back spinner, I turned, dragging the blade up the other side of her body as well. A large chunk of exoskeleton was carved out, spraying blood in a way that couldn’t have been healthy.
The matriarch screamed and thrashed. I tried to keep my grip, but the thrashing was too much. I tumbled down, landing squarely in a pile of sticky webs that clung tightly to my fur as the webs heaved and roiled under the matriarch’s distressed writhing.
Terrowin leapt forward, driving his glaive upward into the spider’s middle section. Her weight came down on top of the polearm, forcing it deep into her. She howled in pain and anguish as she tried to dislodge the implement. It was wrenched free of Terrowin’s hands. The matriarch raged, rushing around the room to try and remove the thing, but, in the end, it was too much.
She slowed, her screams dying, until eventually her enormous legs curled in around the glaive still sticking from her underbelly. She rolled onto her back and lay still forevermore.
Congratulations. Level 20 Sparkspinner Matriarch defeated. Experience shared among challengers.
Congratulations. Seven Level 10 sparkhopper spiders defeated. Experience shared among challengers.
Congratulations. Fifteen Level 10 Venomous Lightning Spiders defeated. Experience shared among challengers.
Level up to Level 17
Two aptitude points available
Shaleheart Spring Defeated.
Rewards Granted.
Two aptitude points available
Level up to Level 18
One aptitude point available
Total available aptitude points: 5
“We did it,” Raina breathed, clearly not believing her ears. “We actually did it!”
After freeing me from my sticky prison, the group made their way across the webs to gather around the fallen paladin. Aelisra was still breathing, but her arm had been brutally damaged by that last bite.
Raina and I knelt next to her, each drawing on our magics to ease the paladin’s pain. I began to purr while my witch cast Cleanse to remove the venom. It was slow and arduous work. While they waited, Terrowin and Cithrael kept watch for any opportunistic spiders.
The rest of the dungeon monsters had retreated…I think. They were nowhere to be seen. Whether they’d been consumed back into the dungeon or were just waiting in the shadows for the next set of weary challengers was anyone’s guess.
“We should retrieve the dungeon core before we depart,” Terrowin suggested. “It’s our right after defeating the dungeon.”
Raina looked to me for expert advice, but I had none to give.
“I didn’t exactly have time to even look for a core with the First Dungeon, if you’ll recall. It was kind of a bad day for both of us,” I answered, not even letting her ask the question I knew was on the tip of her tongue. I licked a paw…then immediately regretted it. Acrid spider blood still coated my fur, forcing me to gag a bit before trotting over to the edge of Raina’s skirts to wipe them off as best I could.
She picked me up and held me in her arms as Cithrael and Terrowin carried Aelisra’s unconscious form between them. While we’d been seeing to the worst of the paladin’s injuries, a crack had opened up on the wall behind the matriarch’s curled corpse. It was barely wide enough for us to traverse, but we managed to squeeze. The path twisted downward.
The image that awaited us was breathtaking. Beneath the webbed boss chamber, was a wide room. We could see the webs above us, spread betwixt three tall pillars, two of which must have been the rock shelters I’d pointed out to the others to avoid the lightning in the webs. From above, the webs had been too thick to behold the magnificent purple glow that filled the cavern. The very air itself shimmered and sparkled with lightning mana radiating from a glowing gemstone hovering over a small pedestal at the exact center of the pillars.
“That’s it?” Raina breathed in awe. “It’s smaller than I expected.” I had to agree. The glowing stone was no more than twice the size of her fist and could have easily rested in her hand.
“I’m told that’s what a lot of people say on beholding their first core,” Terrowin said.
“How do we take it? Is there something special to do?”
Terrowin didn’t answer. Instead, he approached the pedestal. Following his lead, Raina and I followed, curiosity getting the better of us both. He peered at the gem. Lightning ran through tiny purple storm clouds just beneath the surface. With a ginger hand, he reached out. I could see his fingers trembling.
“Wait!” Raina exclaimed just before his fingers could graze the surface. Terrowin recoiled from the gemstone. “What will happen when we remove it?”
He frowned and shrugged. “The adventurers I’ve spoken to are vague on that part.” He gave a sheepish smile. “It must be nothing too bad, right? Otherwise, we’d have heard all sorts of stories of harrowing escapes and the like, right?”
“And what of Aelisra’s rite?” Cithrael called. He was still supporting my fallen servant. “The spring is here.”
Raina shook her head. “She wouldn’t want to do the ritual down here, anyway. Too much lightning mana in the air. The risk of corruption in a ritual like that would be too high.”
“We’ll just hope that the nexus refills the spring above,” Terrowin said. “Everyone ready?”
We each nodded. Trembling, he reached out to the gemstone once more. I sincerely hoped he was right. It would be quite the embarrassing fate for us to come this far, defeat so many monsters, only to be buried under several hundred feet of rubble.
The dungeon core came away freely in Terrowin’s hand. As it did, a spark of lightning shot down the pedestal and raced through the ground around us like a shockwave.
“What was that?” Raina whispered, squeezing me tight.
The ground began to shake violently. Stones fell around the sides of the chamber as cracks ran up the walls. Without warning, a blinding flash of light filled my vision. I remember hearing Terrowin’s yelp of surprise, before everything seemed to shift and warp.
I smelled…grass…forest trees, and fresh air. It filled my senses as I blinked away the blinding spots on my vision. Bird song reached my ears, and I knew before I could even see that we’d been returned to the surface where we’d entered.
“Is everyone alright?” Raina asked, rubbing her eyes. The boys both nodded as they settled Aelisra down against a tree.
The cavern carved from the stone where Shaleheart Spring had admitted us was gone, leaving only smooth stone at the edge of the spring. Even now, a dark patch of wet earth was forming at the bottom of the spring bed, indicating water would soon refill from the center of the mana nexus below.
“It’s probably not safe to be carrying that around during the rite,” Raina said, pointing to the core still in Terrowin’s hand. “Would you two mind going on ahead with it? I’ll stay here with Aelisra to help her with the rite once she awakens.”
They nodded and tucked the core into their belongings. With some swift farewells, Cithrael and Terrowin departed, leaving Raina and I to assist the paladin with whatever challenges this rite entailed.