Liv ran down the stairs into the courtyard, heading for shelter within the monastery as screams sounded out behind her. The battle had been going well, the explosive stones Ivan had made and Lira’s lightning magic decimating the spider horde, but that had not lasted for long. Lira had been forced to stand down so that she wouldn’t begin draining the defensive and water purification systems. With her absence from the walls, the archers and stone throwers had attempted to pick up the slack when the hordes had paused in their advance, waiting just outside of the defenders’ range.
While she descended the stairs, she glanced into the distance, toward the sounds of explosions occurring at terrifying speed. She silently wished Lanek luck as she reached the courtyard and ducked into the monastery.
Moments later, yellow and green spiders began rushing toward the monastery, spiting balls of acid and venom at the defenders. While the defenders had the benefit of higher ground and cover, they were greatly outnumbered and wood barricades are a poor defense against acid. Casualties had begun to mount as the spiders’ ranged attacks crashed atop the walls, forcing Ivan to order everyone to fall back. He was not concerned about the acid striking the monastery itself, the wards preventing them from damaging the structure.
As the last of the defenders left the walls and the rest of the spiders joined their ranged brethren, Ivan nodded to the orc standing in the tower with him. With a grunt of acknowledgment, the surly orc drew back his massive longbow as a hobgoblin lit the arrow on fire. He aimed for a few seconds, steadying himself before releasing the flaming projectile into an open window on the second floor of a home on beyond the edge of the plaza.
Ivan watched with grim satisfaction as the home burst into flames, the orcs arrow piercing one of the many pots of oil they had placed in the room. He hadn’t really needed the orc to be all that precise, as long as the arrow entered that window, it was bound to hit one of the pots considering how closely packed they had been. As the orc launched another flaming arrow into a home’s window, continuing this process a total of five times, Ivan knew that this could very well cost them the homes surrounding the plaza. However, if that was the cost of the monastery’s survival he would gladly pay it and he knew that Lanek would approve.
Meanwhile, the spiders hadn’t reacted to the burning buildings beyond simply avoiding them, not really understanding the lothenae’s plans. During his scavenging runs, Khurzag had found a warehouse filled with oil. He had initially left it in place as his warriors were already loaded down with loot at the time, but once he had passed on his discovery to Ivan, the Lothenae had made it a priority to transport it all back to the monastery.
While Lanek and his party had been dealing with the Warden, Ivan had been busy filling as many structures as possible with oil along the route that the matriarch would likely take when she attacked. Thick smoke began to billow from the six structures the orc had set alight, the flames beginning to erupt from them and spread to the neighboring structures. Suddenly, spider began shrieking in agony as those neighboring structures erupted into flames as well. Within minutes, a vast swatch consisting of several dozen homes were burning. Several minutes after that, the fire began spreading even faster as those buildings that hadn’t been loaded with oil began burning as well.
The fire leapt onto the spiders, their forms turning out to be quite flammable. Chaos reigned within their ranks as burning spiders panicked in their agony and rushed into their fellows, spreading the fire even more. Even the matriarch’s control over her children wasn’t enough to counteract the panic caused by the inferno.
However, the fires had not stopped all of the spiders. Hundreds of the monsters had made it to the plaza before the fires had been ignited. Even worse, the matriarch became maddened with rage and charged toward the monastery, determined to breach the structure and let her surviving children feast on the defenders.
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Ivan descended from the tower, ordering the hobgoblin and orc to seal and secure the hatch. As he reached the doors to the stables, he ordered everyone inside, abandoning the defenses in the courtyard and had the doors sealed. Talwarg wanted to argue, but knew that they could not face down the remaining spider horde outside of the monastery, they would need to bleed the bastards as they tried to force their way in. With that, he ordered reinforcements to join those warriors securing the tower hatch.
In the meantime, Ivan had reached the ground floor and informed Khurzag of the situation. “They cannot be allowed entry into the monastery. Keep the doors closed at all costs.”
“Understood, Ivan. I really hope you have something else up your sleeve for the matriarch. We might be able to hold the smaller ones indefinitely, but I’m pretty sure that big thing can bring the whole place down on our heads.”
Ivan shook his head apologetically. “Only one, but I’m not sure it will be enough. The matriarch was moving through the fire like it was nothing.”
“Let’s hope it is.” Khurzag paused for a moment, cocking his head to the side. “Listen. The explosions have stopped.”
“Gods, I really hope that’s good news. If Lanek had to fall back before killing the second matriarch, then we are well and truly fucked.” Ivan muttered, before rushing off to his workshop.
While he had been spending a lot of time in the control room and fortifying the monastery, Ivan had also been working on his own quarters. Within his claimed quarters was a small workshop with a storage room. However, the storage room had been converted into something else, runes and glyphs covering the walls, floor, and ceiling. At the center of the room was a simple chair, lines of power connecting it to the runes.
He settled into the chair and waited, trusting Talwarg and Khurzag to handle the defense. Lira was also standing by, prepared to use the last of the monastery’s stored power to attempt to destroy the matriarch if Ivan’s plan failed. Ivan had spent the last few weeks studying the matriarch at length. The monastery’s library had quite an extensive selection of books about the various monsters one might encounter in this region, so he had learned much.
For example, he knew that the matriarch had no ranged attacks. If it could not kill you with its children, then it would have to engage in close-range combat. As he waited, he could hear shouts from the rest of the monastery as the spiders reached the doors and tried to force their way in. Ivan wanted to act, but he force himself to remain patient.
At last, the moment he had been waiting for had arrived. The ground shook as a thunderous crash shook the entire building, the bulk of the matriarch slamming into it. More crashes followed, the sheer force of the strikes enough to shatter stone. If any of the defenders had been outside they would have seen the matriarch clinging to the side of their home, her legs slamming into the structure in quick succession. However, every strike was met by a bright blue flash as the defensive wards reinforced the walls and kept her from creating a breach for her children.
Back in the rune-covered chamber, Ivan breathed deeply before closing his eyes. He reached out with his mind, making contact with a series of runes he had carved on dozens of barrels of oil positioned along the wall. With a single thought he triggered the runes, causing the barrels to burst and oil to pour over the exterior walls. Some of the barrels had already been opened by the acid balls launched by the spiders, but that only made his job easier. The matriarch seemed far too angry to notice the oil spreading and continued her onslaught.
Just as the oil reached the ground, Ivan triggered a second set of runes, these ones located at the base of the monastery and carved into nondescript rocks. The ground shook once more, this time from over a hundred explosions triggering at once, igniting the oil and turning the Talon’s stronghold into a massive torch that could be seen for miles. The spiders screamed as they died, the matriarch recoiling in agony.
Meanwhile, Lira watched as the defensive system’s power reserves plunged, using more than half of its power to snuff the flames out. She listened intently, her heart sinking as she heard the matriarch’s keening wail. She transported herself to the tower, watching the matriarch stagger around drunkenly. The monster was hurt, but not dead.
Gathering herself, Lira channeled the remaining energy reserve into her magic. She wasn’t going to let this monster resume its attack nor was she going to allow it to retreat. This would end now. Clouds formed once more, concentrating directly above the matriarch. Sensing the danger, it tried to retreat, but it was in no way fast enough. Every one of the monastery’s energy reserves, except for the water purification system, bottomed out as the largest lightning bolt that Lira had ever summoned crashed into and through the matriarch.