The wailing sound cut off abruptly and Gabe wasn’t sure if that was better or worse. The four of them stood in silence, each trying to listen for whatever had made that noise. As expected, it was Drevock who heard something first.
“Dey’re coming.”
Orange light coalesced around his body as he took several steps and got into a ready position with his axes. Behind him, Gabe began the process of casting Aura of Vitality. As he completed the spell and the soft green light of his aura spread out around him, the lichen on the walls seemed to ripple as the small leaf-life structures stretched and extended toward him. The sight of the plants moving was curious enough, but Gabe put it out of his mind as he heard the faint traces of a skittering noise coming from the direction of the wail. The noise caused a chill to run down his spine as only something with a lot of legs could make that sound.
He took a few steps back and settled into one of the forms Drevock had shown him the previous night with his knife extended in front of him in a reverse grip. Professor Alrik’s hands began to glow with a bright white light and all around them metal tipped stone spikes started to jut out of the walls and ceiling at an angle facing the oncoming attackers.
The tunnel they were in wasn’t very big, only about eight feet in diameter and the curve of the ground meant that they wouldn’t have very sure footing. With tight confines and only one dedicated warrior amongst them, things didn’t bode well for this fight. If not for the calming influence of his aura, Gabe was certain that his heart would be thundering in his chest. He began layering Restorative Shields on himself and his allies. He had to have faith in his companions and their magics. He had just finished when he got his first look at the creatures.
Of course they had to be spiders. Spiders just slightly smaller than the shadow prowlers they’d faced in the forest and charging down the tunnel on every available surface. There were at least a dozen of them, possibly more as the ones in the front obscured the ones near the back. They had dull grey leathery skin stretched tightly across their bulbous bodies and each of their eight legs shined like polished steel. Their jaws opened much wider than should have been physically possible and revealed rows upon rows of sharp teeth. They didn’t appear to have any eyes, instead, the skin above their mouth was smooth and featureless. Draped across them was a tight mesh of metallic thread but before Gabe could begin to process what that was Drevock engaged the hoard.
He opened with the spell he used against the wyvern and as he sliced his axes through the first spider twin crescents of orange light burst out and cut through the next two spiders. Green ichor splashed across the walls and the scent of death grew heavy in the air. Stone spikes shot from the walls and impaled the creatures. Professor Alrik fired off several bolts of light from his hands which seemed to flow around Drevock and impact the beasts, searing holes straight through them.
With every ax swing and spell cast another of the creatures fell and the tunnel quickly became filled with their corpses. Yet for each one that was killed, three more appeared ready to take its place. For a split second, Gabe hoped that they could use the bodies as a shield to prevent them from being overrun, but that hope was dashed as he heard a grinding noise and saw one of the spiders tunneling through the corpses of its kin. Its jaw was wide open and the rows of teeth were whirling around inside its mouth like a dwarven saw blade. As it moved forward some form of magic pulled in the body that had been blocking its path into its maw and was quickly pulverized into a spray of viscera and ichor.
Gabe’s first engagement with the creatures came as he struck out against a spider that had gotten past Drevock. The creature made a shrill chittering sound as it leaped at him and Gabe struck out with his knife. The blade was deflected by the metallic weave and the spider landed on him, knocking him to the ground. Its saw-like mouth was inches away from his face and he could feel the vibrations of their movement in his bones. Only his shield spared him from a gruesome death and he could already see cracks spreading through the translucent green light.
He raised the hand with his enchanted ring ready to blast the creature back with a blast of fire when three stone spikes shot out of the ground around him and into the spider’s underbelly, flipping it off of Gabe and onto its back. As it struggled to right itself, a fourth spike, this time capped in metal, descended straight down from the ceiling and impaled itself in the spider’s head.
Simon was by his side a moment later offering a hand. Even as he pulled Gabe up off the ground, his other hand was moving through the air weaving a constant barrage of spells. He wore a face of grim determination as he positioned himself in front of Gabe.
“Stay behind me.”
“But I-” Gabe started to reply before he was cut off.
“No Gabe, you’re our healer. We need to keep you safe. So stay behind me gods damn it.”
Gabe took a few steps back and started cycling his mana to clear his mind. Simon was right, he was the healer and he needed to start acting like it. Maybe one day he could be a frontline fighter but today wasn’t that day. He assessed the condition of his allies. Drevock was in the worst state. His Restorative Shield had already broken and despite his own aura, several holes were leaking dark blood down his armor from where the spiders’ legs had been able to pierce through.
Both Simon and Professor Alrik were more or less okay given the situation, the benefits of being able to fight at range. Though judging by the sweat dripping down his brow and the way his breathing was beginning to grow ragged, Gabe was certain Simon was starting to run low on mana. There was no doubt that the metal-tipped spears were very effective against the creatures, but each one took a decent amount of mana to conjure and the earth mage had already sent several dozen against the oncoming hoard.
“We need to fall back! There’s too many of them!” Gabe shouted over the road of the battle.
Their group had already been forced to retreat back several yards as the spiders just kept coming but Gabe feared that they would soon be overrun. If they could get back to the main passageway where there was more room, they might be able to stand a better chance. Drevock let out a loud roar as his orange shield extended out from his hand and covered the entirety of the tunnel, pushing back the hoard of spiders. Simon and Professor Alrik quickly took care of the few spiders remaining on their side of the shield and soon the sounds of battle diminished.
The whirling of the spiders’ jaws was faint as they tried unsuccessfully to drill through the thick mana of Drevock’s shield. Gabe took the opportunity to rush towards the man and cast two tier two Repairs back to back. The blood that had been flowing freely from the holes in the man’s armor slowed down to a trickle as the flesh knit itself back together. The large man gave Gabe a quick nod of thanks before returning his attention back to the shield extending from his open palm.
Those two spells had just about depleted Gabe’s mana supply and he kept cycling his mana as fast as he could to try and regain some of what he’d used up. They had killed so many of the creatures and yet the onslaught continued. As it was, this wasn’t a fight they could win and they needed to figure out a way out of it fast.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Drevock’s shield was more opaque than Gabe’s but he could still see shadows of the spiders as they threw themselves at the shield. Apparently giving up on trying to chew their way through the shield, they instead were attempting to crush it under the weight of their bodies.
Professor Alrik allowed the light to fade from his hands as he took stock of the situation.
“Drevock, will you be able to hold that shield for much longer?”
“No, need more mana.”
Gabe belatedly remembered that Drevock had used that same shield spell several times during their trek down the trapped hallway. He still didn’t understand how Drevock stored spells in his soul, but unless the man had the time to replenish them he wouldn’t be able to cast it again.
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“I feared as much. Simon what about you? Do you have enough mana to form a wall on the other side of the shield?”
“The stone here is much easier to manipulate than those other tunnels,” replied Simon with a nod. “Making a wall should be easy enough, but if we block the path what are we going to do?”
“We will address that matter later,” came the professor’s clipped response. “Gabriel is correct, our priority needs to be establishing some separation from these creatures before we find ourselves completely overwhelmed. Drevock cannot hold out for much longer so we need to act now.”
Without another word, Simon started casting. The sound of the spiders crashing against the shield was replaced with a chorus of overlapping chittering. Through the shield, Gabe could see a rising shadow as the wall was formed. Even after the shadow had reached the ceiling Simon continued his casting. With one last flourish his hands stilled and he reached into the pack for a waterskin, which he passed around after taking several long gulps.
“I used a construction mana spell to connect the wall to the surrounding stone,” Simon explained as the others drank from the waterskin. “The mouths of those things were awful, but even they would have difficulty getting through that.”
The moment of truth came when Drevock dropped his shield. The four of them waited with bated breath as the orange light winked out of existence and a wall of solid stone was revealed in its place. Calling it a wall was a bit of a misnomer. The sides of the tunnel flowed seamlessly into it and if Gabe didn’t know that there was a hoard of murderous spiders on the other side of it, he would have assumed that this was the natural end of the passage.
The next few moments passed in tense silence as they waited to see if the stone wall would hold. The four of them retreated back a few yards just to be safe. The sides of the tunnel shook slightly as the spiders threw themselves at the wall but that seemed the extent of it. Now that they had a moment to breathe, Gabe wracked his brain trying to think of a way past the spiders.
All he could come up with was having Simon form a small hole through the wall that he could shoot a fireball through but he wasn’t sure if that would be enough. He cursed himself for not testing the enchanted ring ahead of time. Even if he had one fewer charge, it would be better to know exactly how the spell would work instead of making assumptions based off of the words of the merchant.
The silence the four had settled into was broken by Professor Alrik.
“I think we can all agree that lingering here is unwise. Though the wall is currently intact, we cannot assume its enduring stability. I propose our most prudent course of action is to retrace our steps and endeavor to navigate through the obstructed passage.”
“I’m with you Master. Heading down here was a mistake. We need to get as far away from these things as possible. Even if the stone up there is warded, between my magic and Drevock's strength, we should be able to clear the way.”
Without thinking the words just spilled from Gabe’s lips.
“But what about the lichen?”
They had been forced to retreat back past where the strange plant grew but Gabe could still feel a faint trace of its magic in his soul. Trying to harvest the stuff may have been what triggered the spiders to attack but it was also his best chance at unlocking additional mana nodes. If it had taken a genius like Simon almost two years to unlock a second node using the techniques Professor Alrik knew, Gabe couldn’t even imagine how long it would take him.
The professor gave Gabe an apologetic look.
“I regret to say, Gabriel, that we must leave it behind. Maybe once our current quest is complete we can organize a more substantial expedition to gather the lichen. However, as we are now, confronting the spiders would be an insurmountable challenge.”
As much as he wanted to complain, Gabe saw the truth in Professor Alrik’s words. They had been almost overrun. If not for Simon’s wall, they wouldn’t even be able to have this conversation. That thought sparked an idea in Gabe’s mind.
Turning his head to face Simon, he asked “Hey, how far away do you think you could make another wall? Doesn’t have to be as secure as this one, just something that will stop the spiders for a bit?”
“Gabriel, I know it is hard to let go of something so precious.” Professor Alrik interjected. “But we do not have the time for this.”
“Professor, I have an idea,” Gabe said quickly. “Individually the spiders weren’t difficult to kill. It was their numbers that gave us pause. If Simon can construct another wall farther down the passage then only a small amount of spiders will be trapped between the two. Then he can open up a hole in this wall, and we can take care of creatures and still be able to harvest the lichen. It might not be enough to make an elixir but at least we’ll have a sample an alchemist can test. That way we know if it’ll be worthwhile to come back later. Once we’re done, he can seal up the hole and we’ll have an additional layer of protection behind us when we go back up the tunnel.”
Gabe knew that the safest play would be to leave right now, but his plan minimized most of the risks and came with a pretty big reward. Even if it could only be used to make healing potions the lichen would still fetch some serious coin. Not enough to buy an elixir but it would be a start.
“I believe that you are overlooking the fact that the lichen crumbled when we attempted to harvest it earlier. Even if your strategy succeeds, we would still be unable to bring any of it with us.” Professor Alrik’s tone was growing increasingly impatient.
“I’ve thought of that too. Did you notice how it reacted to my aura? I think if I have that active when we harvest it, it might do better. I can also try casting Restorative Shield on it. I might need Simon’s help adjusting the spellform, but having a constant stream of life mana flowing into it
seems like the kind of thing that will preserve it.”
“Gabriel, we do not have-”
“Master,” interrupted Simon. “I think we should at least try. I’ve been using Earthsense and the spiders have receded a bit. I can conjure another wall twenty feet past this one and that should let us access the lichen. If Gabe can’t keep it from crumbling then we abandon the idea and fall back like you suggested.” Simon shot Gabe an encouraging smile.
Professor Alrik let out an exasperated sigh. “Very well, be quick about it.”
Simon got to work and at his signal, Drevock took up a position near the center of the wall. After a series of motions from Simon a small section of the dropped into the ground. Immediately one of the spiders ran out of the opening followed by another, their jaws open and teeth whirling. Drevock made short work of them and the four others that came through the hole. Without a hoard of them pressing in from all sides the fight was almost trivial. After ducking through the hole to see if there were any stragglers, Drevock gave the all-clear signal and the others joined him.
They could see the second wall Simon had made, this one more obviously something conjured by magic. A small patch of lichen no more than four square feet was growing along the tunnel wall and Gabe immediately recast Aura of Vitality. As before the lichen appeared to grow and stretch towards him. Pulling out his knife he carefully dug it around the patch. Instead of trying to isolate a single piece, he hoped that removing the entire patch in one go might allow it to survive.
The first sign that his plan was working was that the initial section of lichen that was separated from the wall didn’t crumble into dust. With slow, deliberate motions, he worked his way around the whole patch. When he got to the end, he held his breath as he made the final cut and pulled the lichen off the wall.
No wailing, no black dust. Just a patch of glowing plants that wrapped itself gently around his hands. Very gingerly he folded up the lichen and placed it into a side pocket of the pack that Simon had emptied out for him.
“Nice job Gabe, I knew you could do it.” Simon gave him a playful shove.
“Thanks for believing in me,” replied Gabe as he smiled at Simon.
The two of them walked back over to where Professor Alrik and Drevock had been keeping watch near the other wall.
“Alright Professor, sorry for the delay. Let’s start heading back to the other passage.”
The four of them left and Simon sealed up the hole in the wall. They had just reached the part with the steep incline when the tunnel began to rumble and shake. Simon made a quick series of gestures with his left hand and then cursed loudly.
“Damn it all, they’re coming from underneath us!”
Before the others had time to properly react the tunnel began shaking violently as a series of large black mandibles erupted from the ground not ten feet away. Their razor-sharp edges sliced through soil and rock as if they were mere paper as they whirled in a circular motion. The churned earth was sucked down as the head of a spider three times the size of the ones they just fought became visible. Its first set of legs pushed past its head and it used them to leverage its body out of the tunnel it had just made. Once it cleared the way, dozens of the smaller variety poured out of the hole, covering every available surface.
Things didn’t look good. Gabe had no idea how they were going to get out of this. Beside him, Drevock, Simon, and Professor Alrik all prepared themselves. No matter what happened, they were going to go out fighting. And that was when they heard the laugh. A cacophony of high-pitched chitters and eerie melodic tones that danced on the edge of sanity. And it was getting louder.