After a couple of hours of Barry’s company being in the mess hall, they were eventually dismissed back to their quarters on the third layer. Some other companies were relocated to the mess hall. As they exited the mess hall, they saw the guns and pouches that they put just outside the mess hall be inspected and moved back to the armory by Veteran Musketeers.

On the way, they first went to a vacant well and used the bucket to get some water. They all drank some of it, one by one they were all quenched, then they proceeded to go back to their quarters.

Barry took a good look at the sunset, seeing the silhouette of the Federation camp just near it. Torches were being lit inside the fortress as well as in the camp. He was nervous, this was the first time Barry ever fought in a battle, and to him, it was scary.

Some of the soldiers that were stationed on the walls were their replacements, being more energetic than the other companies. They were tasked with patrolling and the removal of Wyvern corpses.

The pile of corpses on the breach remained there, untouched.

Barry saw a piece of paper flying in the wind. It was falling near him, so, he quickly went and grabbed it carefully, not wanting to crumple it. He inspected it and it was just a normal piece of paper. He just held on to it as he went to his quarters.

Their living quarters were just normal ones. Bunk beds are made with wood and some metal, a pillow with a blanket to keep them warm and comfortable when sleeping. There was another door that went to the locker room where there were cabinets for the designated 200 people and another door that led to the washroom.

When they all arrived in their quarters, they all immediately went to the washroom to take a bath after a long day. After that, they changed their clothes and went to bed to rest. Of course, there were still some of them wide awake and chatting with their friends. Barry was one of them.

“Hey Kyle, look.” Barry muttered to not wake up the others. Barry’s part of the bunk bed was the lower part and Kyle’s was to his left and on the lower part as well. Barry proceeded to fold the paper. Some folds were disproportionate but it just led to something much bigger. Kyle watched what he was doing, the lanterns in the room making it easier for him to see.

After a minute, what Barry was trying to do was clear as day.

“A deer.” Barry said, holding the paper deer carefully.

“Wow…how'd you even manage to make it?” Kyle muttered, perplexed by Barry’s creation.

“Mum taught me…before…you know.” Barry said with a hint of sadness.

“How’s it going?” Kyle asked, concerned for his best friend.

“It’s okay. I’m improving.” Barry replied sadly. “Dad isn’t.”

“Oh…” Kyle muttered, regretting the question he asked. “So, what’re you gonna do when this war’s done?”

“…” Barry was thinking, he was sad. “You know what I wanna do.”

“Yeah…but you know, things change, right?”

“Yeah…” Barry was downhearted. “I don’t like change.”

“Me too…me too…” Kyle whispered, a single tear escaping his eye.

----------------------------------------

On the walls, Medusa was patrolling a section of it, most notably, the northern section where the breach was. In his hands was a huge war hammer. His left hand was gripping the handle that was near the head whilst the other hand was gripping the handle near the end.

It was night, the only source of light was the lanterns and torches that were on the towers.

As Medusa was walking on the stone floor, he saw a glimpse of something in the fields. A slight movement of some sort.

Though it may have been a small glimpse, he noticed it. He stopped walking, turned to the fields, and looked at them.

There, he noticed it.

Movement.

‘GRAAHHH’

A huge spider appeared right in front of him, making him back away from the surprise. The spider had hairless skin with a black and red color pattern. The eyes were pitch black. Each leg was big and long and it had mandibles just below the eyes that resemble that of an ant.

He recomposed himself, moved his left hand near his right, and swung his war hammer, aiming at the eyes of the huge spider.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

‘KRK’

As metal hit the skin of the spider, a crack was heard. And with it, the spider fell down to the ground below. Medusa took a good look at his hammer and saw black blood staining it.

Suddenly, he saw two other huge spiders appearing as well. A spider was facing his left while the other was to his right. They were ready to jump, Medusa was prepared as well. When they jumped at him, he spun his hammer and himself around. The spinning of the hammer was fast enough so when the hammer hit one of the spiders, it was hit back hard enough to fly away, and after that, it quickly moved to hit the other spider.

Medusa stopped after the two were hit. He then went to the edge of the wall and looked at the inner grounds of the fortress where one of the spiders fell at. There, he saw the corpse of a spider and a soldier looking at it. The soldier looked up at Medusa before running away, screaming.

“INTRUDER! THERE ARE INTRUDERS!” The soldier screamed, warning the others.

Behind Medusa, a spider was about to pounce on his back. But as it did, a musket ball hit its body, injuring it critically. The force of it also made its body move to the side, missing its initial target. Medusa looked behind where he saw the injured spider. He looked to the left, seeing a soldier with a musket about a few feet away from him, gun lowered and silent.

The two stared at each other before looking away as more spiders appeared. The soldier quickly reloaded his musket then and there, seeing that there were none of them appearing near him. Medusa, on the other hand, held his own against the incoming spiders.

He was facing the right, hammer held up high before letting it fall toward the head of the spider, killing it. Quickly, he used an underhand swing to hit the spider to his left. He then swung his hammer at the spider behind him, the spider was in the air as it jumped to pounce on him, and the hammer met with its body.

The soldier finished reloading and quickly shot a spider that appeared near him. The bullet hit and exited the head of the spider, causing some of its blood to splatter and killing it.

He reloaded again but was interrupted as another spider appeared. Noticing that it was too close, he stopped reloading and proceeded to use the butt of the musket to hit the spider. But the effects were little as it proceeded to use its mandibles to grab the musket. The soldier didn’t let go of the gun, trying hard to get it back.

The soldier tried his hardest yet the spider was stronger than him and he had to let go. Now defenseless against the spiders, the soldier quickly tried to run.

That was a mistake as another spider appeared and jumped on him. The legs of the spider impaled the limbs and body of the soldier. The weight also caused him to stumble backward.

“AAHHHHH!” The soldier screamed painfully as droplets of blood exited the wounds.

Medusa, who was currently fighting against his own set of spiders, caught a glimpse of the soldier when he was swinging his hammer. He widened his eyes; he couldn’t do anything about the poor guy’s situation since he was caught in his own problem.

The spider that was on the guy then proceeded to eat the face.

“AAHHHHHH! HELP!” The poor guy shouted in vain as the spider’s mandibles were forcing themselves onto the jaw. It was starting to sore and bleed. Slowly, the mandibles began to move closer and closer to each other, tiny pops of bones echoing. The teeth were being removed as well as the mandibles slowly began to impale the gums. Finally, the two mandibles appeared in the mouth, all bloodied up. Then, in no time at all, the mandibles finally touched each other, completely breaking the guy’s jaw. Blood splattered all over as the spider moved its mandibles, forcing the jaw to be ripped off. Saliva and blood were dripping out of the jaw that the spider had. Blood was quickly pouring out of the broken mouth. The tongue was merely scratched with blood dripping out as well. The spider proceeded to remove the broken jaw from its mandibles.

The poor soldier was still screaming even with half of his mouth gone. Eyes widened in fear and shock. Suddenly, the spider removed its legs from his body. One by one, the legs were being removed painfully. The soldier wanted to scream, but he was petrified.

When all the legs were removed, the spider looked into his eyes. The eyes held anger, rage, madness, and grief.

The spider wasn’t done with him yet.

“Zzpazzg zzzmanzzk” The spider spoke to him before violently attacking his chest with its mandibles. The mandibles that impaled him were aiming for his heart. The mandibles soon and quickly reached his rib cage, stopping as the hard bone halted the mandibles. The spider exerted more force, and with it, the bones halting the mandibles started to crack, eventually making an opening in the bones. The guy couldn’t stop it. The mandibles quickly went toward the heart, veins, and arteries quickly breaking and causing intense pain, blood bursting out. The lungs were not left undamaged as it was grazed. The mandibles finally reached the heart, penetrating the insides and squeezing it like an orange. Then, suddenly, the spider proceeded to rip the heart out of the chest, shattering the bones that tried to stop the mandibles.

Blood splattered everywhere again. Only bits of the heart were stuck to the mandibles as some of them fell and most of it was left inside the chest.

The spider took a good look at the human. Blood was escaping his mouth as his eyes were open but not blinking. The man was dead.

The spider then left the corpse, satisfied. Suddenly, before it got a few feet from the corpse, a hammer fell on its head.

It was Medusa who killed it. He was huffing as he held the handle tightly. It was silent before a few moments later, Medusa brought up his hammer, revealing that his hammer squashed the head of the spider, leaving it splattered on the now-cracked floor. Blood was still on his hammer.

The spiders stared at Medusa with dread. A human, couldn’t withstand a dozen spiders but he just proved them all wrong. Not only did he withstand about a dozen, but he withstood more than that, yet still unharmed.

Finally, a group of soldiers came to Medusa’s aid, ranging from spearmen to swordsmen. Many others went to other sections which were being attacked. Medusa turned only his head to the side, back facing them, his eyes were staring at the spiders.

His gaze was fearsome. His eyes weren’t seen yet a wave of emotions could be felt.

“You’re all going to die.” Medusa’s dauntingly loud whisper made the spiders and even the human soldiers’ spines chill in fear.

They didn’t know what danger they were facing. Now, they’re facing the wrath of a single human being with just a hammer.

A soldier with a sword and shield that was present muttered under his breath.

“Truly a fearsome Dread Hammer.”