The web held as the gargantuan spider shrieked with fury. It was rolling itself back and forth, slashing at the web with its legs in what looked to be a barely controlled rage. Each of its legs ended in a knife-like tip, but instead of cutting itself free, each severed string released a burst of bird song into the air and then quickly began knotting itself back together.
With each cut, the chorus of bird calls grew, and the spider pulled its legs back into itself. Acid still dripped from its fangs, hissing as it made contact with anything. The look in its eyes quickly dispelled any hope that it was about to surrender. Ralth’s defenses may have caught it off guard, but it clearly had no intention of losing its meal.
“Huh, so that’s how you hurt these things? Happiness? Never would have guessed. What can I do, big man?” Serilina’s voice broke through the cacophony.
“We need to sever it from the trailing web. That will cut off much of the energy source, but the second that happens, it will go into a berserk rage. I will try to envelop it with the web, but I doubt it will hold. Andy, I want you to increase the air pressure as much as you can at the center of the web as soon as I say so.” Ralth yelled out.
“I’ll try. Not a thing I usually do, though.” Andy replied. He knew, in theory, he should be able to manipulate the gravity field like that, but he hadn’t really had time or reason to make use of that kind of maneuver yet.
“No time ta worry about that now kid, get channeling. Hey, Wiggles, those claws any good for cutting spider string? I know ye ain’t some normal cat-like yer pretending, so get yer furry ass over here and give me a hand.” Twonger’s sword blade changed to a bright red color, and he slashed it up through the web, creating a small hole.
To Andy’s surprise, the cat listened. It leaped off its mother's shoulder and dashed across the ground, up Twonger’s back, and through the hole he had just created. Mr. Wiggles claws gleamed with silverly light and he tore into the threads dragging behind the spider.
“Keep it distracted!” Ralth bellowed as the monster roared.
A spear of water crashed into the web from below, passed through, and reformed on the other side without losing any of its momentum. It was followed by three more. Each of them impaled a different one of the brood mother’s eyes.
“Distracted enough?” Serilina had a smirk on her face following her attack.
“Yes, but don’t get too cocky. It’s never that easy with these things. Look.” Ralth pointed up at previously impaled eyes. Two of them had already fully regrown, and they were staring at Serilina. The spider knew who had just hurt her, and it was tired of these games.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Instead of the usual drips of acid, it sucked in a gulp of air and spat out a giant blob of the corrosive venom directly at the woman who had dared to attack it so directly. She threw herself to the side, dodging most of the spray.
“You okay?” Andy asked.
“No, it’s burning a hole in my damn ankle. Argh.” She screamed in pain as she tore her boot off and started channeling water over her leg. “Please kill it for me!”
“Twonger more acid incoming!” Ralth shouted out as he poured more energy into the webbing to patch the holes some of the bigger acid-caused holes.
“Dammit, I see it. Wiggles, I can’t keep this open. Jump to the stacks and keep yer little furry ass alive. Yer mom scares me!” Twonger pulled his sword down and over his head as the color changed to a blazing white. Any acid hitting it sizzled away without any damage. The same wasn’t true for his arms as he shrieked in pain.
“Here, this helps,” Serilina said as she channeled a small cloud above Twonger that began pouring out water across his wounds.
Mr. Wiggles made a few last slashes at the spider’s trailing silk before it separated. The spider lashed out one of its legs behind it, having noticed just what the cat was doing. Instead of leaping away, Mr. Wiggles bit down hard into the flesh of the leg. He tore out a surprisingly large chunk, swallowed it, and burped loudly. He then leaped onto the spider’s back and began making a loud coughing sound.
“Ugh, is he okay?” Bill asked, obviously worried about the cat who had saved them so many times.
“It sounds like a standard feline hairball,” Libby answered.
“There isn’t anything standard about what he’s about to do, though it will be gross. Andy get ready for what Ralth said. Ralth everything is about to hit the fan, so whatever you are planning with the web, do it the second Wiggly jumps free.” Serilina watched her cat closely.
Out of the coughing mouth of the cat came what looked like a miniature version of the spider, and as soon as it dropped down onto the larger spider’s back, it began to burrow, eliciting new shrieks and rolls from the massive spider above. Mr. Wiggles immediately leaped from the spider’s back to the nearest book stack before the rolling started.
Ralth didn’t miss the moment and guided Bill in pulling the web tight, wrapping it around the struggling spider. It wouldn’t hold long, but it didn’t need to. Andy understood the plan fully now and pushed as much mana as he could into the center of the struggling monster. He felt something pop deep inside it, and the struggling stopped. It was dead, and they were all alive.
“Okay, now we have a new problem. That thing is about to release a cloud of brood spiderspores, and I have no idea how to stop that.” Ralth stated as though this was a standard everyday problem.
“It is okay, allies of Librarian Unit Zero Zero Four. I shall take care of the disposal as instructed. Please continue your mission.” A hooded figure with four arms had appeared from around the stacks.
“Thank you, janitor, your assistance is invaluable at this time,” Libby replied.