The other two immediately sprung to action fleeing for the tunnel entrance. They released a stream of poison at the elves as they ran forward. It was enough to cause them to move, preventing them from firing another round. The spiders safely made it to the tunnels and disappeared into the darkness. Rage filled my chest at the sight of my fallen subordinate.
“I really hate elves.” I hissed. I had an encounter with them in a dungeon once. It was probably the hardest dungeon I had ever had to face. Elves were incredibly fast and their reaction time was well beyond that of a human. They are sensitive to all 5 senses and are very good with a bow. While they were no more resilient than humans, they were significantly harder to get ahold of and kill. One thing they did have over most humans was that elves were blessed with magic and exhibited more control than even the best humans had.
The biggest problem is the fact that we didn't have any good way to fight long-distance fighters besides getting them in the caves. Bows would be of little threat once inside the tunnels, but it was their speed that was the biggest problem. That and since they are so sensitive, they most likely wouldn't fall for any of the traps we had made and they might even be able to protect themselves from the trap spider as a whole. I pulled everyone together and was then stationed in the tunnels as I made my way there, shield and hammer in hand.
“Luckily they only sent three elves through, otherwise we could be in trouble.” three was doable with minimal to no damage. I had already lost one subordinate and was in no hurry to have more die on my watch. Though it had only been a few months, and I was asleep most of the time, I felt a deep connection with each of the spiders I called into my dungeon. Maybe it was the fact that this was my dungeon and their strength was mine, or maybe it was just because they were all I had. Either way, I was not willing to needlessly throw their lives away.
Looking through the surveillance spider, which hadn't been spotted due to being completely motionless, I could see that the elves were quietly and cautiously approaching the cave entrance. The added light of the fake sun in the forest room made the cave just that much darker giving us the time to get into position.
I joined the two tanks and the remaining two poison spiders in the second room and had the trap and tank stay behind in the third room for backup in case we needed to fall back. I kept a close eye on the elves and asked the miners to build me 4 stone javelinas from the walls. They did so within seconds before falling back to the throne room to wait for the good news. The plan was similar to the first attack. The poison spiders would stand on the backs of the tanks and try for any opening to attack as well as push the elves back in close-range combat. The tanks were similarly stationed on opposite sides of the entrance.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
One of the elves pulled a cloth out of their bags and ripped it giving a piece to each of his comrades. They proceeded to cover one eye with the cloth and stone guard near the cave waiting. Ha, tricky bastards. They are making eye patches like the pirates used to. Pirates wore eye patches, not as a fashion statement but so that one eye was always accustomed to the darkness. When a pirate would go into the cabin of an enemy ship during the day, they could remove their eye patch and instantly see in the dim light without having to take time to adjust to the lack of light.
“I really do hate elves,” I said again. Although I was a little impressed that they did that. It was a good call. This gave us a little more time, but since we were already in position, it was just empty time to fill. “Hey, Poison 1 can you coat these in poison?” Since I had extra time, I might as well try to do something extra. I called the miners back and had them make a total of 10 javelins having each one coated in poison. I picked it up and pretended to throw it a few times. It was a little heavier than the spear I got from the hob, but still light enough that I wouldn't have a problem throwing it through the tunnel.
“The intruders are moving.” Daisy's voice brought my eyes to the security footage. As it said they seemed to be getting ready to enter the caves. All of us tensed up waiting. After the elves got into the caves I would lose sight of them.
I positioned myself between the two tanks with a clear view of the tunnel with the poison javelin raised ready to throw at the first sign of movement. I didn't have to wait long for the first sign of the elves. There was no noise, no sound of footprints, not even the slightest sound of breathing. I only noticed a slight flicker in the shadows. That was all that I needed, I bent forward, twisting at the hips, and flung the javelin as fast and hard as I could.
The shadow flickered and the form of the elf seemed to phase into existence as the javelin came flying at him. Magic was all about concentration, if you lose your train of thought or get distracted the magic will become unstable. While he was able to sense the attack coming its way, it was hard to remain focused under attack. Whatever magic the elf was using faded away, sadly he was fast enough to dodge the fatal blow by backstepping quickly but the javelin still made contact. The elf yelped in pain as the tip sliced across his chest drawing a line of blood. The javelin connected with the wall and exploded into a wave of shrapnel. I could hear the other two elves further in the tunnel curse as they were hopefully being peppered with little shots of poisonous rocks.