A woman who not so long ago was in the elite party of elites amongst elites, the cream of the crop as to say, was now reduced to your average fugitive. The fools had tried to confine her to some musky old tower. Ha! They should have known better, after all, she was a Rogue. But saying all that, the escape still wasn’t easy, she had to make some regretful ‘sacrifices’.

“That woman wouldn’t just shut up!” She would have tattled on her before she could…

Anyway, the runaway rogue was already miles away from the Imperial Capital. As if spurred by impending doom, she moved day and night, never stopping for more than a quick nap or a snack. The exhaustion might have killed the mount she had stolen, but her two legs were still good to do the rest of the running.

Where was she running so desperately? – To where it all had started, of course.

Why? – It was very simple, she had no other choice.

“We’re doomed! We’re all doomed!” She yelled at the maddening memory.

She said so, yet she was running exactly back to it; back towards the Calamity. Perhaps she did go mad, or even suicidal, but she was running so desperately only because… because she wanted to live! She wanted to survive!

None of which would make sense to the casual observer. If the fugitive rogue wanted to live, then why was she running back to her doom? – Well, in her mind, it made perfect sense…

“Is that?” She spied on a group of people.

They were running as desperately as she was but in an opposing direction.

“Refugees? Then it’s close!” She exclaimed happily.

She was about to pass the party ignoring them completely, but…

“Hey, you!” The Cleric grabbed Rogue’s arm, and rather forcefully at that.

“What do you think you’re doing?” The rogue tried to get away.

“I could ask the same.” The cleric glared sternly. “Do you even know what is out there?! Whoever or whatever you’re running to…” She paused giving a pained expression. “They’re one with the Holy Light now.” She implied their death subtly.

“Tch! Let me go!” She struggled against a surprisingly tight grip.

“Don’t be a fool. You’ll die! There is nothing but death and all-consuming Dark Flame!” The cleric woman tried to caution again.

“Me a fool? Ha-ha-ha!” She cackled in bewilderment. “It is you who are running to your deaths!”

The cleric woman looked with confusion at the rogue.

The rogue smiled knowingly as if illuminated by her previous experience. “You can run but the Giant ‘ENEMY’ Spider isn’t something you can escape from!”

“You’ve seen it before? If so…”

“It’s in my head! I can still see it so clearly! Ha-ha-ha.”

“…” The cleric woman let go of the maddened rogue.

“The only way is…” The Rogue looked at the Cleric with ill-fitting pity. “Your kind would never understand…”

And just like that, the rogue was back to running.

Luckily she didn’t need to run far, indeed, the spidery presence was already there on the horizon. The unstoppable force was walking on its spidery legs pushing forward without a single concern. She felt her stomach cramping up, and something wanting to come up to her throat, luckily her stomach was empty. Admittedly, she was afraid, she was so afraid, but she had to face her fears and she had to face the giant spider.

“This is something I must do!” She steeled herself.

In a couple more long moments, the mad rogue was finally standing right infront of the approaching spider. It was a single woman against a towering giant. However, she wasn’t here to oppose the spidery menace.

With all the vigour she could muster she waved an improvised white flag at the giant.

“Spider, I wish to defect!” She shouted out of the top of her lungs.

“I wish to defect!”, “I wish to defect!”, “I wish to defect!”, she repeated over and over again, hoping that her tiny voice would reach the towering behemoth.

Soon, she was so close the spider could just squish her with its metal leg if it pleased so. Regardless, she stood firmly believing in making the right decision. Yes, she was here to defect, to sell out the Holy Empire to the spiders; this was her mad gambit. And she had good reason to believe her plan would work.

After all, as an elite spy, she knew more than an average citizen of the Holy Empire. While the investigation party she was in never made it to The Dreader Place or even the Elven Forest, they did get to see the state of the Aurelian Kingdom, or Aurelian Dutchy as it was calling itself now. The place was positively swarming with spiders, yet, for some strange reason the Aurelian people were prospering, not only that, they were willingly supporting their supposed oppressor, The Spider King.

To cut a long explanation sort, she was adamant that the spiders would treat her right if they found her useful. And useful she was, she was a spy, one of the highest level Rogues in the entire Holy Empire! What this meant was that she held a lot of sensitive information. She knew the locations of military installations, the skills and perks of all the Imperial Generals, and the composition of the Imperial Army with a full tally of Warriors and Mages. Moreover, she knew the many dirty secrets of the noble families who supported the Emperor, and the possible ways to set them against each other. She knew the complete layout of the land and many of its secret passages. Also, she knew things she was not supposed to know. All of which she was ready to give out for a small reward. A tiny bit of spider mercy.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“I wish to defect!”

The spider halted in its tracks arresting its otherwise unstopable motions. It was almost amazing that a single woman was able to stop something like this even if for a single second. The giant lowered its head as if to hear the defecting rogue better.

“I’m a spy.S[ider, I have valuable information you’ll want to hear. They're summoning the Hero!” She began with her ace to entice the giant spider.

Something clicked on the spider, much like a hatch opening.

“Gah!” She exclaimed trying not to get too tangled in a web. “Ahh!!!” She felt herself being pulled up.

And then into a tiny spidery hole, she went. The fugitive rogue worried for a second that she was being eaten alive but from the lack of moisture and acid, she realised that she wasn’t in a stomach. She was on the floor by a strange turret, the room was pitch black but she could see due to Darkvision applied by some purple flame burning in a nearby lantern. And she was not alone, the room was packed with spiders.

‘I’m in! Everything went according to the plan.’ She thought.

Well, not quite. But lo and behold, it turns out this spidery Calamity could be reasoned with. And if so, there was so much to gain. First, the safety of her life, and second, the safety of her family. And then, depending on the spider, so much more.

One of the spiders chirped something in its strange language and then blue powder reached her nose. She wanted to sneeze at the powder but she fell asleep before she could. “Zzz…”

…

Holy Emperor looked at the oracle’s pale face, her hands were shaking and so was her entire body.

“Bad news?” He asked knowingly.

“…” She tried to say something but no words came out.

Yet she didn’t need to say anything because the silence said it all: the foretold Calamity had reached the Holy Empire.

“Worry not, Oracle.” He said calmly as to instil that calmness in her too. “The Summoning Ritual is ready. It seems we’ve got it done just in time. Come.” He urged her to follow.

They walked for quite a while, and during the trip, more and more people joined the Holy Emperor. By the end of it, he had a small procession, much like the Konga line, following behind. The procession emerged into the grand hall of the summoning ritual, which was actually done inside the Cathedral of the Holy Light. Seats and pews were all removed to make space for the ritual circle. Instead of broad strokes of your average magical circle, this one was many times more complex and detailed. Various geometrical shapes collided and enveloped one another to form something much larger. Thousands of glyphs were glowing faintly already in all of the colours of the rainbow. And in between all that, minute and swirling in its design, the ancient text of enchanting language filled all the gaps. Moreover, spaced all around the circle were piles of various alchemical dust or gems to be used as catalysers.

Renowned Mages, Clerics, and Priests were bordering the circle with many more just outside the cathedral standing in their own supplementary circles. Actually, anyone with the slightest talent for magic was called in to help. Just like inside, there outside, acolytes, novices and apprentices were eagerly waiting for the word to start pouring their mana in. The Summoning Ritual the Holy Empire was trying to pull off was the biggest ever in its entire history, and for good reason. The bigger the circle, the more the mana – the stronger the Hero they would summon. So needless to say, no resources were spared.

The men and women behind the Holy Emperor walked to fill their predestined spots. Some of them, like the Minister of Magic, were here to guide the ritual. Others, like the Imperial Alchemist, and other sponsors of exotic materials and reagents, were here as honourable observers only. There were also other imperial subjects like Barons, Dukes and Kings. Either way, the cathedral was packed full of very important people.

The Holy Emperor took his spot by the HolyLight Altar, which too was just recently improved by detailed glyphs and powerful enchantments. It was the key piece to start the summoning magic going, and it was his sole honour to do this. But first…

“Citizens of our sacred realm,” he addressed, “I stand before you today as your Holy Emperor,” he slammed his golded sceptre with authority, “bearing both hope and urgency within my heart.” He gazed at the gathered people intensely. “The shadow of darkness encroach upon our holy land, a Calamity never seen before. It threatens to consume all that we hold dear, to dim the Holy Light itself.”

The gathered whispered among themselves, that much they had known already.

“At this very moment, as I speak, the Giant ‘ENEMY’ Spider is drawing closer and closer!” He named the threat publicly for the first time. “It is a malevolent force born out of darkness and it is intent to see our destruction. So In this hour of need, it is with solemn determination that I declare the Summoning of a Hero!” He slammed his sceptre again.

With that signal, the mages began injecting the circles with their mana. The glyphs lit up to be ever brighter and the enchanting text flaked off the ground to fill the air with flying letters.

“The chosen one shall be blessed by the Holy Light itself. But remember, my loyal subjects, that this fight is not theirs alone. Every one of you has a role to play.” He looked specifically at the party he had assembled for the hero, they were the best of the best. “Together, we shall forge a united front against the encroaching darkness, and together, we shall prevail! The time has come to banish the Dark, and to usher in a new era of everlasting Light! [Summon Hero]!!!” He activated the key glyph with his sceptre.

The circle was done warming up and thus had burst to full power. The alchemical dust evaporated into nothing, the gems turned to salt, thousands of glyphs flashed brightly, and the enchanted text formed a magical whirlpool in the air. Secondary and then ternary circles were birthed by the ongoing magic. There was so much going on, that it was nearly impossible to keep track of it all. Yet the Summoning Circle was drawn flawlessly and the magic proceeded without a single hitch.

Only one thing was left to do. The Holy Emperor needed to say a small prayer. The summoning magic was whimsical but he was allowed to vaguely define the qualities of the summoned. He could ask for someone good with a sword, or a genius inventor, or an inspiring leader, that sort of stuff. Yet the request had to be short for it to work, and even then, according to the ancient texts, the outcome was never guaranteed.

“I pray for…” He paused thinking how to put it best. “An expert at dealing with spiders…” In other words, he requested an Exterminator but of a Hero kind.

With that last bit done, in the epicentre of the summoning spell, a ball of light blinked into existence. It was the beginning of the portal to summon a soul from an unknown world.

The Holy Emperor, and the rest of the gathered, watched the ball of light grow with anticipation. Soon the Empire would get their much-anticipated Hero!