“In continuation of the spider theme, we will have to deal with a spider queen for the boss monster. This means not only will there be an enlarged spider woman monster, but it will act as a spider spawner. Each of the smaller spider spawns are pure spider, three feet tall, and will become a problem if more than a few come at us at once. The queen will keep creating them as long as it isn’t disturbed. As for fighting the queen itself, you will need to keep in mind a few things. First, it will trap you in webs on the walls. Ian, it is your job to remove them. Secondly, its weapon is magic instead of a spear. This means we need to be wary of both hands. It will also more actively release webbing if we get behind it. Be careful with those attacks. If you are trapped the nearest person should work on removing them. If you wait too long the mini spiders will tear you apart.”
James continued explaining and finished answering what questions he received about his plan. Things would likely change once they entered the boss room but having a good idea of what one should be doing in a fight was always a good idea.
“The magic she uses is of the hex variety. She will wish to incapacitate you while overwhelming us with spiders and her strength. She is slightly more reinforced than the other spider monsters but is otherwise the same. We will just need to break through her armor with a bit more force.”
As they walked the paths of the cave the dungeon light started to take over the area. The left-over torch was left to the side and blown out. The edges of the cave were also soon covered by stretches of webbing. Eventually, it became easier for Ian to walk in front and burn the webs away so that they could walk side by side. The webbing was an annoyance otherwise sticking to clothes, bags, and anything else that was unlucky enough to enter its grasp.
The travel through the tunnel caves was slowed by traps and by the occasional patrolling group. They were lucky to avoid all of them and got to the boss area without wasting any more resources.
The boss area opened up into a circular room that let in light from a tall ceiling though it was covered by many crisscrossing webs. Along one side was a waterfall that spewed swamp water that had drained from the surrounding area.
“Humans. It seems more of you have come into my nest to die. Young ones too. Not much meat on you but my children will feast all the same.”
A boulder rolled in behind them and closed off the entrance to the boss area. There was no retreat now.
Ian took his flames to the sides letting them loose on webbing along the side of the walls. Before they got to the boss room James had had them put an arm on the webbing on the cave walls to show them how effective the webbing was. It was likely only Wes, James, and maybe Derek could rip themselves out with pure strength depending on how they got stuck to the wall. It was something they wanted to avoid at all costs.
At the end of the spider queen’s speech, she released her spawn. She rose in the air with a pull of some of her webbing. Purple strings of energy formed around her hands as she prepared magical attacks.
Wes rose his shield and the others prepared attacks as well. In the meantime, Ian ran to the other side and started torching the webs. e was on the other side of the wall careful to avoid getting too close to the spider queen. James released the first attack and Naomi’s arrows followed shortly after.
Webs flowed around from the sides of the spider and caught many of the arrows. The remaining arrows bounced off her armor ineffectually. Derek rushed forward with Wes at his side. Wes slashed horizontally as the spiders started dropping from the queen’s body. His first slash cut through three spiders before they could touch the ground. He continued to cut them down as Naomi assisted from behind.
James released a few more arrows and they forced the queen back and upwards into her tangle of webs. Derek was forced to step back as well because he could not fight the queen so high in the air and the spider numbers were growing.
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The queen released her hexes from both hands. One was pointed towards Ian, his fires causing easy destruction towards her webs and children. The second hex went towards Derek. Both her hit and stood stunned. Their eyes went unfocused. Wes hurried forward and pushed Derek back as the mini spiders swarmed them.
Derek’s swing went wide, and he almost caught Wes with his attack. Derek and Ian stood weakly on their feet. The hex had targeted their accuracy and strength. Derek could barely hold onto his sword. He tried to stay on his feet but tripped and hit the floor. Their hexing caused James and Naomi to refocus their attention on clearing out a space free of the mini spiders.
“Wes find a way to snap Ian out of the hex. Naomi use what skills you can to clear space for Wes to do his job. I’ll keep the queen on me. I can’t let her hex us again and take another team member out of this fight.”
James took the queen’s attention with an empowered jump. The queen swiped at him with her legs, but she missed. Before he landed he hit her human-looking body with arrows. When she tried to cast another hex, he was on her before she could finish and broke her concentration. After the failed attack the spider queen lowered herself down from her webs and onto the rocky ground. She released another dozen mini spiders from herself before charging toward James.
Wes bashed the mini-spiders. They went flying but the shield did little damage. Only after two or three hits did the spider’s brains cave in. His temporary spear had been dropped while he shook Ian repeatedly. It acted to refocus Ian and prevent him from accidentally firing off any fire spells. Behind Ian, Derek was leaning over with his head down as he tried to get rid of the nausea building long enough to pick up his sword and start fighting again.
Ian shook his head and pointed Wes back towards his shield and spear.
“I think I’m good here. Just give me a minute to warm up. One of the others can do their job while I get ready,” Ian created balls of fire in his hands and rolled them around as they grew in his palms. Ian looked back up ready to fight once more.
James sidestepped another leg jab from the Queen. He had switched to his knives and was fighting defensively. He had gained a few cuts but nothing that would require a healing potion just yet. As he fought he focused on his breathing and tried to bring his energy expenditure down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the novices all up and fighting the mini-spiders.
They were making could progress behind the Queen. They had cleared plenty of space and were pushing forward to reach the backside of the queen. Though whenever they thought they had enough room to attack she would release a swarm of a dozen spiders onto them.
James jumped back as he dodged another swipe from the Queen’s armored leg. As he spun his blade he saw the hex attack already formed. Acting quickly, he shifted his weight to dodge and threw one of his knives. Of the two attacks, she had formed in both hands only one hit him. James flew backward off his feet. He rolled over and started coughing and felt his lungs constrict.
James felt a chill on his spine, and he instinctively rolled right before a spider leg sharpened to a point stabbed right where his head had been moments before.
“I need some help here! Ian with an area of effect attack or something.”
“I don’t have a spell like that. Give us a minute. Wes is coming to help,” Ian responded.
“Useless. I’ll help,” said Naomi.
She took up a new position and began firing up more of her magical arrows in rapid succession at the Queen. Many of the arrows were like lower-powered versions of James’s original arrows. They impacted with a variety of effects ranging from bouncing off without damage or sinking in an inch or so but not enough to help James.
She did that Wes took up his shield and adjusted his spear before charging. He activated what abilities he could and ran for the Queen. The mini-spiders bounced off his shield and he incurred only a few injuries as he jogged past the enemies he could. The spider queen turned slightly as she heard Wes. She saw him out of the corner of her eyes. With a yell, he impaled the abdomen of the Queen.
She screamed and spun around. The weapon was still stuck in her side. The wound was bleeding profusely, and she stopped generating more mini-spiders. The Queen turned to face Wes. He had his shield raised as the hex hit him. He went tumbling back dropping his shield where he was hit. He groaned in pain trying to stay conscious.
Naomi and Ian fired on the Queen’s head and wounded her repeatedly while she stayed occupied. This distraction allowed James to knock his bow and charge up a powerful final shot. Two arrows materialized and fell into place on the bow. James already had his aim ready as he finished charging the power shot. The arrows moved fast enough that only he could see their blur with his enhanced perception. The first shot arced and pierced the Queen’s abdomen causing the spear to dislodge and leave the Queen’s body. The other shot hit the Queen’s neck. The novices saw the Queen’s face change from one of slaughter to shock as the wound’s pain and her collective injuries reached her brain. She tried to take a step forward but fell instead.