The spiders’ cave had been silent up until just now. Their hatchlings had fled for the most part, and as he touched the glowing statue, Finn thought he was safe. Then, drool poured from the ceiling, and seconds later, no less than 12 eight legged, giant monsters dropped from above and cut off his exits.
Finn covered himself in flames, but the oversized spiders attacked him anyway. He dodged several spear-like legs before getting caught in a set of jaws and being pinned to the ground.
He stabbed the monster while his torso bled and his veins filled with venom.
“Hang in there!”
A gust of wind was heard from nearby and Finn saw his friends flying above his head. Tommy, Natalie, and Michael dropped on top of the spiders and started tearing through them, while Annie floated and supported them from above.
Blades cut through the monster’s thick hides, while reinforced gloves smashed the creatures’ skulls. Annie launched a barrage of elemental bullets which kept the other spiders at bay, while Finn healed himself and tried to combat the poison.
‘Holy crap, they’re tough.’ Annie’s bullets barely put a dent in their skins. Compared to the monsters they had faced in Trident, these were walking fortresses.
“Watch out for the poison!” Finn shouted while Tommy cut through his second opponent. An ooze-like substance poured out of the wound. It slowed the boy’s movements and evaporated fast.
“The air’s poisonous too. Hold your breath!”
“Are you shitting me!?” shouted Natalie.
“Annie, I’ll back them up. We need a healer.”
Finn raised an arm and released a wave of flames which pushed through the monsters. Michael bent his knees, smacked his gloves together, and went on a smashing spree through the spiders’ legs. In the meantime, Annie swooped in and healed the other two, right when they were about to collapse.
With Tommy and Natalie rejuvenated, the remaining spiders soon fell to their blades. Finn then roasted the ground and Annie blew away the poisonous air around the statue. Everyone was in shambles, but they could finally breathe.
“My lungs.” Natalie gasped for air.
“The poison’s spread through most of our bodies,” said Annie. “Let’s leave this place first, then I’ll…”
Out of nowhere, she stopped talking. Annie and everyone else suddenly collapsed to the ground. Her tongue became stiff and her vision blackened.
‘Again… Not now…’
Despite her disoriented state, Annie noticed her mana was all over the place. Energy that had molded itself and merged with her brain was now scattered and mixed in with the ground and her legs. Pieces of Natalie and Finn’s energy were mixed into her arm, and mana from Michael’s gloves floated in front of her face.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
‘Nunac. The… activation was… delayed.’
Finn’s energy started moving, slowly but surely going back into his body. Seeing this, something stirred within Annie: shame, anger, and determination flowed in succession through her spiritual body.
Her energy glowed brightly with a dark-blue hue and pulled itself together in a matter of seconds. Just moments after they had all collapsed, Annie broke free of the array.
The first thing she did was cast a shield over her friends. The second thing was to scream in frustration, sending a tremor of energy through the ground which shook the surroundings.
Unfortunately, her tantrum did not scare away the surrounding monsters. While she had been unconscious, no less than 100 adults and more than 30 children had gathered to enjoy the feast. More than 1000 eyes watched the teens from above the spiderweb walls and from the ceiling.
Annie’s earthquake made those closer back off for just a moment. However, after swallowing Michael’s leg, one of them charged for more and the others followed.
Annie’s vision was soon obstructed by a mountain of bodies. The noise of sharp appendices scrapping at her shield was maddening. All of her friends were unconscious, and Michael was bleeding profusely.
“Michael.” She grabbed the boy’s leg and stopped the blood loss. “Wake up! Guys, you need to fight!”
A spider’s jaws pierced through the shield, and Annie reinforced it with runes, squeezing the monster’s head and cutting it off. Ooze poured out and the poison invaded her nostrils.
“The… snake,” she heard a whisper. “I’ll… hold them… off.”
Finn’s declaration was futile, as he could barely move his lips. However, it did give Annie a direction and focused her mind.
Letting go of Michael, she grabbed the statue and quickly analyzed its mana. The spider’s poison was spreading through her chest, so she countered it with magic. The mana shield was weakening, so she reinforced it too.
Her legs started to weaken, and she could feel herself waver. If she pushed her internal energy any further, she risked breaking her cells and mutating like Finn.
‘I have to hurry.’
The mana within the statue was shaped like a vortex. It rotated at rapid speeds and poured into the ground. However, there was something at the bottom of this vortex, several inches beneath the earth. It stopped the flow of energy and pushed into the cave’s soil instead.
‘An array. He blocked the energy flow between floors, argh…’
A spider’s limb pushed through Annie’s barrier, then another, then one more. The girl fell to her knees, let go of the statue and sent as much power as she could towards her shield. However, it was too little, too late.
“I can’t… help…”
While her vision started to darken, Annie had to choose: Shrink the shield and sacrifice her friends or go berserk and lose her humanity.
“Finn…” She tried to reach for her friend. “Kill me.”
Suddenly, her shield’s runes multiplied by a hundred and the spiders’ legs were cut into pieces. Annie’s healing magic kicked into high gear too, and she felt her mind clear up and focus. Sweating heavily with her eyes wide, the girl turned towards Finn.
The boy was holding onto her leg, sending all the mana he had managed to recuperate into her body.
“Hurry,” he forced a smile. “or we’re screwed.”
Seeing sweat gathering on his forehead, Annie gritted her teeth and grabbed hold of the snake statue. Her mana flowed into the ground beneath it, and after several seconds, she located a tiny blue ring and smashed it to pieces.
“It’s done,” she declared and turned to her friends. With his free hand Finn was holding onto Tommy’s back. Michael had collapsed in Natalie’s arms, and Natalie was collapsed onto Finn’s legs. With a wink, the boy whispered “Let’s go.”
A moment later, the snake statue glowed brighter and the teens disappeared. Annie’s shield vanished, and the giant spiders smashed into the ground.
However, they did not touch the glowing statue. Despite the chaos in their movements, they all avoided the stone and eventually retreated back to their nests.