Chapter 80: False Dawn 4
Elania and Yolani stood before the boarded-up mine entrance, assessing the situation with Freyhoi’s constable.
“No one that’s gone in there has come back out in the last ten years,” the constable warned.
“We should be careful,” Yolani said, her eyes narrowing as she turned to Elania.
Elania shrugged. “How hard can dealing with monster spiders be?”
Yolani’s expression turned serious. “The last time we fought monster spiders, you gouged a canyon the size of a city into the earth and nearly collapsed an entire section of the ecosystem on our party after expelling all your [Power].”
A sheepish look crossed Elania’s face. “Touché. We should be careful.”
With a wave of her wand, Yolani sent a blast of energy towards the boards, causing them to explode inward in a wave of splinters.
Elania raised an eyebrow. “What happened to being careful?”
Yolani smirked. “Being careful doesn’t mean taking forever or being afraid.”
The constable shook his head beside them. “You should watch for the webs. The spiders used them to snare prey.”
Elania turned to the constable, fighting back the need to roll her eyes. Of course spiders used webs to snare their prey. That was spider 101.
“Are you sure there are no other entrances?” she asked. “They have to be eating something.”
The man shrugged. “None that I know of.”
Yolani pondered for a moment. “They might be some type of lithovore.”
Elania looked at her, confusion etched on her face. “What?”
“They might eat rocks,” Yolani clarified.
“Why didn’t you just say that?” Elania asked, exasperated.
Yolani rolled her eyes. “I did.”
The constable took a step back. “I’ll let you two get to it.”
Elania and Yolani exchanged a nod and walked toward the entrance.
With another flick of her wand, Yolani conjured glowing orbs that began orbiting in front of them. Elania frowned and slapped her hands together, picturing a multitude of them. Suddenly, Yolani’s lights multiplied like cells dividing before spreading out, illuminating every corner.
Yolani stopped in her tracks, staring at Elania in astonishment. “How... how did you do that?”
“When you use artifice, I can feel it. If I concentrate, I can modify the effects,” Elania explained.
“That shouldn’t be possible. Artifice effects in motion should remain static.” Yolani said.
Elania hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe that’s true… unless you’re a Priestess of Artifice and I’m your demi-divine.”
Yolani frowned, considering the possibility. “Maybe.”
They pressed forward.
The evidence of a quick evacuation was everywhere: overturned mine carts, damaged rails, and a thick layer of dust that hinted at a long absence. Skeletons lined the walls, some intact, others shattered.
“Whoever was here last left in a hurry,” Elania commented.
“I don’t know if they left at all,” Yolani replied, looking at a skeleton. She reached out and wiped away a thick smudge of dust from a mine cart. “The spiders must not come near the entrance, or there would be signs.”
They continued following the railway, minutes ticking by as they ventured further. Rooms and chambers branched off, leading nowhere. Frustration gnawed at Elania, the lack of progress grating on her nerves.
Suddenly, Yolani’s arm shot out, halting their trek.
Elania tensed. “What?”
“Shh.” Yolani pointed upward.
Elania’s gaze followed, settling on the webs above. “We’re getting closer.”
Yolani nodded, a glint in her eye. “I have a thing.”
A grin tugged at Elania’s lips. “A ‘thing’?”
Yolani pulled out a bronze circlet, a red stone gleaming at its center. She tapped it with her wand.
A pulse of energy pressed against Elania’s senses as a yellow light expanded, clinging to the walls as it raced through the tunnel. “What was that?”
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A loud screech echoed from deeper in the cavern. Yolani’s expression turned grim. “A life-sign detector.”
The shrieking grew louder.
“Well, now we know they’re here,” Elania muttered.
Yolani pressed the detector into Elania’s hand before drawing another combat wand. “They might come to us now.”
Elania’s vision flashed, red and orange blobs shaped like spiders visible through the solid stone—hundreds of giant ones, all charging through various tunnels toward them.
“Oh, shit.”
Yolani’s voice cut through the surprise. “Don’t use the full-powered [Regalia] elemental shells.”
Elania scoffed. “Yeah, I didn’t plan on collapsing things on our head. A melee weapon would be nice, though.”
Wait… didn’t she have one?
Blinking, Elania reached behind her and pulled Eziel off her back. Yolani’s jaw dropped.
“If you had a sword, why didn’t you mention it?” she asked.
Deciding to skip admonishing Eziel (since they would just forget about him after a while), Elania threw him down the corridor.
Yolani’s eyes bulged. “What the heck are you doing?”
As the sword clattered to the ground, Elania glared at it and shouted, “Eziel! Do some work for once, or I’m leaving you in this fucking cave!”
Eziel began to glow and then floated.
Yolani's jaw hung open. “Oh, fuck, that’s trippy.”
[I do not appreciate being handled so roughly.]
“I don’t enjoy forgetting you exist unless it’s convenient for you,” Elania countered sharply.
Eziel turned and silently flew down the corridor in a flash of moving light.
Elania shook the life-detector, but it didn’t work. She turned to Yolani. “How do I make it ping again?”
Yolani took the device and tapped it, sending out a ping. She sucked in a breath. “This will be easier than we thought.”
Elania bumped her head against Yolani’s to see for herself. The spiders were dying, their red blobs winking out as a golden streak flew around the caverns, hunting them down.
A grin spread across Elania’s face. “Agreed. This was a good idea.”
Yolani snorted. “You didn’t even remember the sword existed a minute ago.”
“Should we keep going deeper?” Elania asked.
Yolani winced. “I’m not sure.”
“How long is the detector’s range?” Elania asked.
“Maybe several hundred meters in the cavern, more aboveground,” Yolani replied.
Suddenly, a giant red blob appeared on the detector, and Eziel’s golden streak turned around, heading back towards them. A minute later, he floated before them.
[The mother of spiders is waiting for you.]
Elania blinked. “What?”
[I think you should deal with her yourselves.]
“Why?” Elania asked.
[You can either parley with it or kill and absorb it as you generally do.]
Elania and Yolani shared a look and said, “Parley?” at the same time.
[While you are sheltered underground and alone, and chances of detection are slim, I would prefer to rest.]
This fucking sword. “Fine, we’ll deal with it.” She placed Eziel on her back, and they ventured deeper into the cavern.
Yolani pulled out one of her wands. “We should have some defenses prepared,” she suggested, drawing glowing runes on Elania’s shoulder and her own stomach.
Elania raised an eyebrow. “What do they do?”
“They’re kinetic absorbers,” Yolani explained.
“Good idea.”
As they passed dozens of dead spiders, Elania resisted the urge to absorb them, just in case she shouldn’t. It wasn’t like she was ever running close to empty on [Power] anymore, and she had no idea what was up ahead. And… turning into a spider was absolutely not on the table.
Eventually, they reached a large chamber. Yolani pointed at the detector. “This is where the ‘mother’ was detected.”
Elania looked up, the light orbs illuminating a giant spider the size of a large school bus as it descended from the ceiling and let out an angry shriek.
Yolani shouted, “This isn’t what I had in mind when you suggested a ‘parley!’”
Elania grimaced. “I do not know what I was thinking!”
The giant spider landed with a thump, dust flying away from it in every direction as it stared at them with gleaming red eyes.
Elania’s eyes widened as the giant spider mother shrieked at them again, its menacing form looming above.
In a swift motion, she morphed her bracer into the revolver, flipping the cylinder open and slamming in the normal speed loader before clicking it shut.
Yolani raised a wand, and a blue wall of light slammed into place just as the spider spat a web in their direction.
Elania leveled her [Regalia] and pulled the trigger rapidly. Three powerful shots rang out in succession.
The bullets exploded chunks out of the spider’s head, torso, and front leg, causing it to shriek in pain.
Undeterred, the spider charged forward.
Yolani waved her hand in an arc over her head, then gestured toward the ground. Spikes of stone ripped out of the cavern, slamming into the spider and pinning it to the ground. Green blood gurgled from its wounds as it pressed against the stone, causing it to crack.
The spider spat a glob of green liquid at them, but Elania stepped forward, her wing expanding to bat the liquid away against the cavern wall, where it began to sizzle.
Yolani waved her wand again, and more stone moved to reinforce the spikes pinning the creature.
Elania walked up to the spider mother, pointing the revolver at its eye at close range. She fired into its head with a final shot, and the monster fell still.
Turning to Yolani, Elania asked, “Should we harvest it or not?”
Yolani shrugged. “We aren’t really equipped for that, and it would probably go to the townspeople, anyway.”
Elania nodded. “Right.” She touched the spider with her wing.
The corpse immediately began to turn into a flash of golden light motes that rushed into her. The standard [System] message popped up in confirmation.
It was just a small amount of [Power] to her now—not that big of a deal. She was more concerned with the way absorbing things affected her essence ratios.
[You have gained the skill Web Mastery.]
Elania blinked, tapped her [HUD], and pulled it up.
[Web Mastery]
Elania’s face contorted in displeasure. “No no no, I am not going to become spider woman.”
Yolani raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Don’t make fun of me, or I’ll tie you up,” Elania threatened.
Yolani patted Elania’s shoulder. “There, there. I’m sure it’s alright. No need to worry.”
Elania pouted, her bottom lip jutting out slightly. “You’re not the one getting weird ass skills from arcane monsters.”
“How bad can it be?” Yolani asked, trying to lighten the mood.
“If you’re not careful, I’ll test out [Stink Amplification] on you,” Elania retorted.
Yolani winced. “Maybe we should go tell the townspeople the cavern is clear.”
Elania looked around, nodding.
A thought she had the day prior came to mind. “Maybe this would be a good second place for a mushroohum colony?”
Yolani’s eyes widened slightly. “That might be a good idea, so they aren’t all in one place.”
“After the battle, I was thinking just that,” Elania explained. “A bad hit on Contia could wipe them out. Plus, I promised to see about finding a way for them to live on the surface, underground.”
Yolani looked back toward the way out. “I wonder how the townspeople will feel about that.”