The Wyvern roared as it clumsily stomped through the woods. Black ooze seeped from its eyes as one wing dangled limply and poured tainted blood. It stumbled to the side, slamming into a trunk, further crushing its injured wing and roaring again. Momentum carried it forward as it blindly stumbled back into a sprint.
Immense weight and unparalleled strength carried it through the first of the webs, ripping them from branches and trunks. The loose webs wrapped around its legs and clung tightly to its scales. As it barreled through thicker and thicker webs, their combined strength began to slow its stride. It thrashed around, flapping its good wing and swinging its tail to pull free from the webs, but slowly it was succumbing.
The Matriarch crossed a hundred yards in an instant, emerging from the shadows and leaping onto the Wyvern's back before it could even sense the spider. Venom dripping fangs sunk deep beneath the sandy-brown scales, and this time the Wyvern's roar was a ragged, stretched out croak. The Matriarch's spear-like legs didn't pierce the scales, but clung tight as the Wyvern still stomped forward, blindly pushing deeper into the webs that entangled it.
There was an explosion up ahead to the Wyvern's left, it instinctively veered to the right. Smaller spiders were now crawling across its body and biting wherever scales were exposed, barely leaving marks. Another explosion, closer this time, sent it stumbling to the left. Whatever vision it still had was marred with hallucinations and visions from the Matriarch's venom, causing it to dodge obstacles that weren't there and lash out vicious bites at nothing.
Explosions. Screams. Adventurers dove out of the way as a male spider was ripped apart by the impact of the charging Wyvern. The resulting explosion of goo and dangling legs stuck to the webs wrapped around the Wyvern and added to the horrific mess it had become. As the Wyvern charged into another wall of web, its stride was finally halted, and it thrashed and roared as the Matriarch rapidly encircled it to encase it in a permanent cocoon of web.
Iris appeared on a branch overlooking the battlefield. Their ranks were broken, adventurers were scattering and clamoring to get out of the way of the clashing monsters. Still, arrows bounced off the scales of the Wyvern or stuck loosely in the webs strewn about its body and bolts of magic slapped into the Matriarch with limited effect. Some small spiders were still attacking adventurers, though many joined the swarm on the Wyvern.
The Wyvern rolled off its feet and onto its back, using its weight to pull itself down from the webs. The Matriarch quickly scurried from the Wyvern's back to its front to avoid being crushed, and the Wyvern landed with a booming thud. A clenching jaw found the upper joint of one the Matriarch's legs and instantly crushed it. The Wyvern held its jaws tight as it flailed a moment longer to loosen the webs, then wrapped its wing around the Matriarch as it rolled back to a crouch, imprisoning the giant spider beneath its body. The Wyvern tore off the Matriarch's leg with ease, then gnashed out towards another one.
Iris was frozen in place, still crouched on the branch. Her eyes were wide with horror and awe at the sight before her. She felt her chest reverberate with the roar of the Wyvern, so powerful that it shook the leaves and even the rain as it fell. Below and above her, adventurers saw the turning tides of the battle and began to flee. The spiders did not chase them, instead turning their attention towards swarming the Wyvern.
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Commander Bridge dashed across the battlefield, landing on the Wyvern's back wielding a glimmering silver shortsword. He ran along the length of the wyvern's back, dragging the blade along by his feet and leaving a slash through the Wyvern's scales that glowed a blinding white light. As he leapt off, the glowing wound exploded with a flash, sending spurts of blood into the air along its length. He didn't care to save the Matriarch, but that didn't mean he was done fighting the Wyvern.
The Wyvern roared and snapped out towards the commander as he soared over its head. The Matriarch sunk another bite into the Wyvern's neck, cutting off the roar into a pitiful whimper. The Wyvern rose from the ground, reaching out with its wing to brace against a trunk and balance while one of its large clawed feet reached up between its belly and the Matriarch's abdomen. The foot pushed down, ripping the clinging spider from the Wyvern's torso, its sharp legs scraping superficially across scales while the fangs were ripped free from the Wyvern's neck, leaving jagged punctures in their wake.
The Wyvern pinned the thrashing Matriarch to the ground with its weight and ignored the spiders swarming around its body. Storm rains poured off his face, mixing with blood and rot along the way. Thunder crashed overhead. The Wyvern reared back and stretched its mouth wide. It snapped forward, crunching the Matriarch's head between its jaws. The frantic legs slowed to lifeless twitches as purple goo poured out between Wyvern's teeth. Even as more spiders swarmed its body, the Wyvern gulped down the mouthful, raised its head high, and roared in victory.
The thunder didn't stop. The woods were lit with rapid flashes of lightning unnaturally weaving between the trees to strike the ground. Booms echoed in all directions, bouncing off the trees and overlapping with each other. The adventurers clutched their heads, some doubled over and others stumbled to the ground. From each strike of lightning appeared a wizard in black robes with silver trims, many of whom were adorned in silver armor and wielded gleaming weapons.
The dark wizards cast spells of chain lightning that eviscerated the spiders in their wake, stray bolts caught adventurers and dropped them to the ground, paralyzed or dead. Commander Bridge was already engaged, his sword buried in the chest of a wizard before the first spells struck. The Dreamweaver arrived, flanked by Lieutenant Ash Druga and Lieutenant Kerrick. She outstretched a hand towards a wizard and closed her eyes, forcefully invading his mind. The wizard screamed in horror and agony, blood poured from around his eyes and out of his ears, he clutched his head as his scream cut-off and he collapsed in a lifeless heap.
Ash Druga was struck by a bolt of lightning erupting from the hand of a wizard, but it didn't stop her stride. Her hammer slammed into him, caving in his silver armor and his chest behind it. Kerrick dashed behind trees, flinging red-glowing knives at whichever wizard was in his line of sight. A stray bolt caught him as he dashed between cover, and he dropped to the ground out of sight.
The Wyvern ignored the chaos, content to devour its meal. Commander Bridge became locked in combat with a Titan ranked wizard in gold-trimmed robes who wielded a long metal staff, while the Dreamweaver was swarmed by as many wizards as she could incapacitate with her mind. They stood around her, frozen in place as she had frozen their minds, while Ash Druga wiped the out with hammer strikes.
Another gold-trimmed wizard appeared from a bolt of lightning, directly behind the feasting Wyvern. He held his arms up and wide and began chanting in an ancient language. More lightning struck around him as other wizards appeared and joined his chant. Arcs of lightning reached out from their hands, connecting each of the wizards into a ritual circle that surrounded the Wyvern.