Once the creatures crested the hill overlooking the city they spread out. They seemed confused when they reached the crossroads, but soon continued toward the city like they could sense their prey behind the walls. They bunched up on the bridge, which gave the defenders an easier target. Being spiders though, some were crawling on the sides and even bottom of the bridge. When they got in range, the guards started throwing the Molotov cocktails which shattered and flames sprang up everywhere. Some of the spiders were hit directly and engulfed in fire. Others fell in the river trying to avoid the flames. The ones on the sides and bottom were able to avoid the flames and jumped to the wall. In addition to the fire bombs, archers and other mages were shooting at the horde to little effect. Fire definitely seemed the most effective. Guards tried to hit the spiders on the wall, but they were good at dodging and spit webbing back. A few of the guards were incapacitated by being tangled up in the sticky substance.

Chuck was glad the fire was working but knew from watching that some were bound to get through. He hurried back to his truck to get ready. Just as they reached it, he heard a scream from the top of the wall as two black shapes crawled over and then jumped down. One immediately attacked people nearby while the other scurried off, following the street. Chuck grabbed his shotgun and ran toward the people screaming. He had more ammunition left for the rifle but figured it wouldn’t do much against the giant spiders. As he ran, he glanced over and was surprised to see Tess running beside him. She didn’t even have a weapon so he didn’t know what she was planning to do, but he didn’t have time to argue with her to stay with the truck. Then he had an idea. “Tess, can you change into a Scytheclaw?” Chuck asked, still running. “I can but not a very big one.” She said with a frown. “Ok, be ready and change when I tell you.” Chuck said with a grin.

The spider had already webbed three people before Chuck arrived, but he didn’t think they were dead. It turned to face him and quickly advanced, skittering from side to side. “Now!” Chuck yelled and Tess turned into a Scytheclaw that was about half the size of the one he had seen. Tess roared at the spider which paused briefly, before deciding to retreat. Chuck took the opportunity and put a shell through its head. The spider fell over backwards, twitching. Tess reverted back to her raccoon girl form. “Good job hero.” She said, smiling and giving him a congratulatory hug. “Thanks, you too, but we’re not done yet.” He said, looking up. Another spider had come over the wall and dropped down between them and the truck. It was immediately shot with arrows from Torj and Kyt. It turned to face the attack and Chuck shot it in the back. It screeched in pain and jerked back towards him. Torj closed the distance in a flash and jumped on top of it, sinking his sword through its head. It toppled to the ground in a jumble of legs. “Good job, now we need to go after the other one.” Chuck said, giving the dead spider a wide berth while he ran back to the truck.

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As he got in the truck, he glanced over and saw people cutting the victims loose so that was once less thing he needed to worry about. He made sure everyone was in and secure before he took off after the spider. He raced down the street, following the path of destruction. He had to drive around tipped over carts and wagons but luckily it didn’t look like anybody was left on the streets. It didn’t take long before they caught sight of it. Chuck sped up, intending to ram it. Unfortunately it must have sensed them and jumped out of the way, landing on a nearby roof. Chuck swore and slammed on the brakes. Once they came to a stop, Torj and Kyt both shot arrows at it. It shrugged off the arrows and jumped back down to the ground behind them, advancing on the truck cautiously. Chuck took off again as the spider shot webbing at Torj and Kyt. The webbing landed where the truck had been, missing them completely. Now the roles were reversed and the spider was chasing them. Chuck swore in his mind again how much he hated spiders.