Dalarath blocked the orc’s clumsy blow with an upward strike of his sword. He countered with a quick thrust of his dagger — raking the weapon to disembowel his opponent.

The dagger was sharp. Its mithril edge allowed it to cut into the orc with little resistance — allowing him the quick kill.

Siege was quite proud of the weapons. Hell-forged, he called them.

He would have doubted it those words came from any other smith — but Siege was working with the Scourge, and that meant anything was possible.

Dal charged to his right, intercepting an orc aiming for Gwin and Rem. The orc had a stalactite for a weapon — it glowed red with some sort of fortification magic.

The elf wondered how the creature could come upon such an enchantment. Goblins and orcs were no spellcasters. There were shamans — but they appeared only after the green brood produced ogres and trolls.

“I hate orcs!” Gwin screamed as she sent bolt after bolt of fire into their ranks.

Siege was holding back two of them — pushing back one with his shield while threatening one with his sword.

Two sharp whistles heralded the flight of Aven’R’s arrows. One lodged into the orc’s eye, the second one pierced its throat.

Dal counted four more enemies — but he couldn’t help but be bothered by the presence behind them.

“Good shots, miss archer — and great use of suppression magic, sorcerer-lady.”

The Scourge came with them to observe and take notes. The snail was there for a while — but it seemed to grow bored from watching and left.

It was uncanny that the wizard seemed to know every nook and cranny of the cave. He even warned them about certain enemies — which was strange because all they fought were goblins and orcs. The Scourge was telling them about individual orcs and their strengths and possible weapons. He even warned them that one of the orcs — who he called Emilio — was a lefty, and that he wielded two weapons.

Dal saw the Scourge inspecting one of the fallen orc’s stalactite clubs. He didn’t even look surprised that the orcs had such a weapon — he looked proud.

The half-elf waded into battle once more. Thoughts regarding the strange wizard would have to wait.

Soon enough, the sounds of battle ended — giving way to the sound of clapping.

“Everyone did rather well,” congratulated the wizard. “There would be a split after the next caverns. To the left would be the orc base — which is mostly goblins by now. To the right would be spiders.

“You never said anything about spiders, wizard,” Dal protested.

“There, there,” the wizard smiled. “The deal was for your party to clear the caves of everything that moved — that includes the big spiders.”

“How big exactly?” Rem asked.

Dal was sure that the wizard was hiding something from them. It didn’t seem sinister — but he had an inkling it would be infuriating.

“Wait, stop!”

The scourge rushed to Gwin — grabbing her by the wrist and disrupting her spell.

“Leave the corpses,” the wizard urged “I’ll deal with them later.”

Dal couldn’t help but feel suspicious. He knew the wizard could raise corpses — he certainly had no problems doing so with the giant snakes on the cultist base. However, goblins and orcs were different. The creatures would disintegrate upon death — turning into spores that would spawn new broods.

Their party debated on where to go.

The goblins would be easy picking if what the Scourge said was true. The spiders would most likely remain within their territory — but the goblins could attack them from behind once they started battling the spiders.

Goblins it was.

Siege and Aven’R scouted ahead. The dwarf was surprisingly confident — and his skills clearly grew. Dal considered himself at par or even a bit better than the dwarf if they were to cross swords — now, he wasn’t so sure.

The dwarf’s new sword also gave him pause. It felt alive and its dark glow was one of a kind. Down in the caves, it was all but invisible.

He frowned. How could a metal sword seem invisible with darkvision?

Sounds of battle rang ahead.

Aven’R didn’t even sound a warning — the two probably had things under control.

The Scourge seemed restless. He prompted them to move faster — even shooing Rem forward like she was a child.

After turning into a corner, they found the spawning grounds. As the Scourge said, only a few goblins were left — and Siege and Av were quickly cutting down their numbers.

The scout retreated upon their arrival. Rem checked her for injuries, but Av waved her off saying she was fine.

“Let him have his fun,” Aven’R turned to Dallarath, stopping him from helping the dwarf. “Their weapons have no hope of getting through his armor, and Siege said he wanted to try out his new sword.

Dal paused.

It didn’t feel right — they were a party, after all. Leaving the dwarf alone seemed rash — even dangerous. Then again, they were just goblins — and the cavern was a closed one. They could easily go to the dwarf if he needed help.

He relented, choosing to inspect the cavern that spawned the orcs.

Something was amiss.

The den was too deep. Aven’R said they were two miles below the ground and that they traveled more than eight miles to get here. The caves were sealed. If Shelby wasn’t leading them, they wouldn’t even have managed to dig themselves into the main cavern system.

A soft splash caught his attention.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It seemed like Rem threw a pebble into a large pool of water. He could still see the ripples moving across the water’s dark surface.

Beside the pool was a smaller one that glowed an eerie red.

The Scourge was near the bigger pool. He motioned for him to come over as he was pulling what seemed like a length of chain.

Dal made his way down to help the wizard. He glanced at the smaller pool on his way — noting it held more than a dozen or so stalactites or stalagmites. He really couldn’t distinguish the two, nor did he care to learn about them.

All that mattered was that they were supposed to be brittle — but something in the glowing water made them solid.

He approached the glowing pool for a better look. There were markings beneath the water! They didn’t look anything like a shaman’s work — instead, they looked quite similar to the wards on the Scourge’s dining room.

“Hurry up, mister adventurer.”

Dallarath frowned. Everything was too suspicious. Still, he walked towards the wizard and his chain.

The Scourge smiled when he arrived — motioning for him to tug on the chain. They pulled until a glowing shard-like green crystal emerged from the water.

It was like a huge piece of obsidian — if obsidian was green and glowed. He couldn’t help but notice that it was covered by an inch of clear glass except for a portion of its tip.

The Scourge undid the chains with a word, dragging the stone out of the water. He took out a waterskin from his robes and started pouring a viscous liquid into the exposed part of the glowing green crystal.

“There,” he wiped his hands in satisfaction. “That should keep the greenies in.”

“Greenies?”

“Did I say greenies?” the wizard seemed flustered. “I meant to say the green crystal thing.”

Dallarath wanted to question the wizard further, but Aven’R was motioning for him to come up. It seemed like Siege was done with the goblin — and now he was eager to head to the spiders.

“Go with your friends,” the Scourge urged. “Have some fun with the spiders. I’ll catch up after I meet up with Shelby.”

***

For the first time in their little trip, Gwin could breathe easily.

They were off to battle a den of spiders — but this time, the Scourge wasn’t coming along.

His very presence made the fight with orcs and goblins seem tenser. She threw more spells than usual — prompted by the sense of danger and doomed that emanated from the strange wizard.

They should have borrowed the bracelets and the brooch they used when they went to the swap. It made them immune to the Scourge’s strange aura — making the journey a lot more tolerable.

She tossed aside Dal’s suspicion regarding the glowing pool and the green shard. So what if the Scourge caused the infestation? They were getting paid handsomely to deal with it — so why question their benefactor?

“Two to the left,” Aven’R warned.

Gwin sent two bolts of fire flying towards the spiders — piercing and scorching their carapace and getting to the meat underneath.

The dying spiders shrieked. The sound wasn’t loud but it was piercing.

How in heavens did spiders scream?

There was no time to ponder at what happened as a torrent of spiders emerged from the cavern’s depths. There were dozens of them. Most of them had bodies as big as a plate — but there were three that were the size of a horse.

“Something to block them, Gwin!” Dal shouted while sending arrows into the tide of arachnids.

“Let ‘em come!” roared Siege. “I ain’t afraid of no bugs!”

Gwin drew deep, reaching for the fire within her soul.

A sheet of flame erupted from the ground — catching the crawling spiders and burning them to a crisp.

The sorcerer clenched her fist in triumph. A few of the smaller ones passed through — but she managed to catch the larger ones within the range of her spell.

A crisp crack broke her exultation.

First one, then two more spiders crawled out of the fire — their carapaces were cracked from the heat but they were otherwise unharmed.

Siege charged before the creatures could launch a semblance of an attack. He barged into one of the spiders — making it lose its footing and making it topple into the fire.

Av fired two consecutive shots with her bow, and Rem fired one with her crossbow.

The nearest spider took an arrow to its maw and a bolt to its body, slowing down its advance.

Dal drew his sword and launched himself to intercept the injured spider.

The spider was fast. It harried the half-elf with its spear-like legs, forcing him to constantly dodge as he waited for an opening.

“Can’t you help?” Rem implored, worried for their leader.

Gwin shook her head. She needed to keep the fires up to hold the smaller spiders — as well as damage the one that Siege managed to topple.

Her sister nodded in understanding before drawing her mace and charging to help the half-elf.

The sorcerer frowned. Rem was getting bolder the past weeks. She was no longer satisfied with staying behind where it was safer — she wanted to participate in the action.

The fires died.

Gwin held on for as long as she could without overdrawing mana. Her eyes sought the destruction her spell had caused — wishing the smaller spiders had died from the heat.

It wasn’t so.

A group of spiders managed to retreat from her spell. She could see them skittering forwards as the fires died down.

“A little help here!” Siege yelled.

The dwarf was holding back two spiders — though the one he managed to topple into the fire seemed to move sluggishly.

She wished she had a crystal to draw power from. All she could do was wait until she accumulated enough mana to cast the most basic of spells.

One of the smaller spiders managed to get through. It stabbed at her with its spear-like legs — even jumping to her leg in an attempt to grab it.

A bolt of red struck the spider at close range — bathing it in fire. It dropped to the ground and the sorcerer repeatedly stomped on its charred body.

Its carapace broke with a splatter. The thing was dead.

Gwin raged at the wasted spell. She could have helped with a stronger one with enough time. Instead, she wasted her mana on a single spider.

She saw Rem’s leg get pierced by a spider leg. Dallarath tried to intervene — only for the spider to lunge and bite him on the shoulder.

Aven’R was tangled with the injured spider as Siege holds off the other.

Their situation looked grim — and she was powerless to help them.

Her grip on her mana faltered as the jaws of death clamped upon her soul.

“So, the spiders may be a bit tough for the kids.”

She turned to see Jeremy writing on his notebook.

“Don’t die you lazy bastards. I’m still trying to figure out the baseline!”