The way we were taking wasn’t looking too safe. I noticed the tension from the three henchmen escorting us along the moist rock fissure path. Darkness was high above our heads. I shivered when I felt a strange chi creep into our presence from above. Something was watching us.
“Scary.” Kalia stepped back to bang into me. Her body was shivering.
She obviously was sensitive to the same strange feeling I was detecting. But did she have to bang into me? I groaned when she stumbled about my arms and caused me to bang into Troy, who didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around us.
“Get yah hands off, creep!” I growled.
“You banged into me.” He chirpily responded.
“Yah know, yah gonna lose a hand one day with those easy touches of yahs.”
“Fair enough.” He dropped his hands.
The henchmen gave us the hand signage to stop. They unsheathed their longswords.
We screamed when webbing flew at us as billowing nets intent to catch easy prey.
“Sp… sp… spider.” I stammered, too petrified to move.
Troy grabbed my arms and yanked me out of the way from a cobweb net. It landed on the ground near our feet.
A henchman’s sword slashed through a cobweb that was aimed for Troy’s face. Its glowing silver metal had not only sliced through the web but caused it to melt away.
“Well, well. We have some tasty morsels here.” A grainy voice rebounded around the space.
“Ugh! Ba… ba… banshee!” Kalia squealed and fainted into my shaky arms.
I cling to her and cursed at my inability to be strong, but the thought of spiders were terrifying to me.
“Holy, don’t cull me!” I mumbled weak prayers for salvation as 30 glowing red eyes encircled us. They soon revealed five hairy black bodies of man-sized spiders.
My eyes fluttered with an oncoming faint, but a punch to my side kept me conscious. I saw the two-toned eye boy readying his hands to give me another.
“I won’t faint!” I yelped.
He nodded and faced the oncoming spider attack.
“That’s right, morsels. The banshees are here for dinner.” The fissure path trembled with the spiders’ bellows and screeches.
I coughed from the rock debris and dust that showered over on our heads. My mind fell into a mad panic at the towering sight of the evil insects looming over my head. My knees couldn’t stop shaking with fear.
“Girls!” A voice cried out.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
“Goddamn it, Neven, MOVE!” I shouted to myself, but I couldn’t even lift one foot. The fear was keeping me rooted.
“Think again.” A deep and melodic voice sailed past my ears.
Sound and light bathed the three henchmen’s swords with strong magic.
“Get back girls!” The two-toned (gray-blue) eyed boy growled as he yanked me and Kalia away from the descending spider/banshees.
I barely managed to hold onto her body. She was definitely out like a light.
“Let’s pray for the henchmen, and we don’t end up dinner!” Troy said, although, he was weirdly unfazed.
“Yah have a lot of faith in their skills.” I eyed him carefully, but felt grateful for his calmness.
“They managed to keep us safe thus far.”
He hastily explained that it wasn’t the first time the henchmen had saved us from a sneaky banshee attack. I hadn’t been able to see it. The reason we had almost fallen off the cliff during our descent was because of the sneak attacks from the banshees. Some of the little ones behind us were being picked off by webbing. The henchmen at our rear were able to stop us from being taken before we could tumble over.
“That explained the whoosh and screams I had heard.” My anger was boiling for these evil creatures as much as my fear for them.
“Yeah. The little ones were taken.” Troy’s voice held sadness.
“If yah have faith in them, then so shall I.” I nodded with a determination to be strong.
We watched the henchmen skillfully dance around leg and web attacks, eliminating threats to us and dishing out offensive strikes.
“Amazing.” My eyes were dazzled by the sight of their swords glowing with magic.
They cast their swords in the air and began wielding them through hand movements. With their magic being empowered but sonic waves, the swords whizzed and spun about the banshees to cause more damage and screeches shaking the fissure corridor.
The three stood with their backs to each other in a triangle formation. Their hands moved with words that manipulated their swords into a star slash attack, and then a circular barrier around us. Their swords created a spinning wall of light, which was cutting off spider legs and webbing attempting to take us. The sword formation dissected two banshees before our eyes. More slashes were dished out that made one of them explode into ash.
Two remained, which weren’t looking as cocky and fresh as before.
My eyes widen when a sonic boom caused fire to course through one banshee and its webbing. The beast recoiled and shrieked with anguish before it disappeared from view.
One of the henchmen tossed a pair of silver balls at the remaining spider.
“Curse you henchmen!” The banshee shrieked when the ball hit its face.
“What?!” I gasped when its body swelled with light and exploded into a substance that looked like ash-glitter.
We heaved for breath when the path was clear. Although, my head was aching somewhat. Still, that was amazing. If I could be strong like these henchmen, I wouldn’t fear these spiders. Unexpectedly, words revealing facts on the silver balls surfaced to my mind.
“Shrill. Silver nitrate acid imbued with air magic and bound by terra magic in a coated metal shell to prevent accidental triggering. Apply a small amount of magic to release its properties. It’ll turn whatever it hits into glittery ash.” I huffed. It explained my headache.
The three henchmen stood still before me. I gulped at the glare from their helmets. My expression lapsed into a frown. Judging by their skill, they were licensed magis. To be a henchman. Such a waste.
“How... how did you know that?” Kalia gasped as she faced me.
“Ha! Little Miss Royalty wakes when the party’s over.” I joked, hoping it would make her feel better but earned a scowl and huff from her instead.
I shook my head and sighed. “Dunno. The fact just popped up in my head.”
“Huh? Are you a walking library or something?” The two-toned eye boy grumbled.
We stopped talking when we saw the tips of the henchmen’s swords aimed for our throats.
Naturally, we kept our words to ourselves as we rose and resumed our trek down the fissure path. This time, I felt the path’s chi was calmer and held no threat. We would be safe for now.