Chapter 23

Recognize these Scars, Arris?

Robern had warned us that we should keep as quiet as possible when reaching the end of the narrow tunnel. True to his word, there were a number of robed mages around a corner in the chamber ahead. Fire crackled in open pits, spread throughout the area. Judging by the shadows cast upon the chamber walls, there were at least 3 mages. 4, judging by the number of voices we heard.

Arris was so proud of his little Orb Weaver. It had been confused on occasion, but carried out its task beautifully. Eventually, we were all grouped at the exit of the tunnel.

“So what’s the plan…leader?” Robern said, and I knew it was a slight. It was the tone.

“Lep’s going to attack from around the corner. When the mages go up in arms, you’re going to fire into them from across the chamber. Vynk, Arris, and Filo will wait against the wall near the mages. They’re going to rush the mages as they turn the corner. They won’t be expecting it. Pelle and I will stay in the center. Pelle will focus healing on Lep and Robern, and I’ll focus healing on everyone else.”

We all got into positions. Lep cast Hand of Flames and sent the giant spell careening around the corner. The mages scrambled around the fire pit. Robern’s conjured crossbow bolts flew rapidly across the room. He stepped out of the shadows and taunted the mages.

“Over here!” he said, waving a hand in the air. In that hand, he conjured another crossbow bolt, loaded it, and fired. I heard one of the mages shriek.

“My face! My face!”

Then I heard a body hit the floor.

The other mages charged toward Robern. As soon as they passed the wall and into our sights, our warrior and anciennes ambushed them with brutality. The mages had no chance at all. Vynk divided one of the mages with deftness. Filo knocked another unconscious, and Arris beat the third into a bloody pulp. He kept pounding into the mage with his massive green fists until the mage’s body sounded like a wet sponge being squished.

“Not a bad plan,” Vynk said. “Kind of makes you and Pelle obsolete doesn’t it?”

“Isn’t it better not to have to use healing?’ Pelle said.

Robern shrugged as he approached us and the dead mages. We all stepped back as blood pooled out from their bodies. More blood than a being ought to hold.

“It’s a little less exciting your way, Tosin,” Robern said.

Pelle and Filo rolled their eyes. Arris gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Then his Oakbeard form melted away, freeing him from the enclosure of the spell.

We searched the mages robes and found more necklaces with the same gem-like bone pendants on each one. After distributing them, I was the only one without a necklace so far.

“Oh no,” Robern said flatly. “What will we do without Tosin?”

I ignored his comment and waited for Lep to finish searching the last mage. Lep was bent over the one who’d received a number of crossbow bolts to the face.

“Strange,” Lep said. He pulled down the robes to show the exposed shoulder of the mage. There were a number of puncture scars running down the neck, shoulder, and arm. A few of them seemed fresh. Four were scabbed over. He then checked the other fallen mages and found the same thing. The scars also appeared on their ankles and arms and shoulders.

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“The scars have an interesting pattern,” Lep said.

“So what?” Vynk said. “They probably got them in battle.”

“Yea, I mean you’re right Vynk,” Lep said. “That’s exactly the point. There are old scars and fresh wounds. These mages have been fighting something over a long period of time. Recognize these scars, Arris?”

Arris crouched beside Lep to get a better look. He, “Hmm-ed” for a moment before finally nodding.

“What do you think?” Lep said.

“These are bites. They look very familiar to me. I just-I just can’t place it. I’ve seen bites like this before.”

“What does it matter?” Vynk said.

“Whatever these mages have been battling, they’re still around,” Filo explained.

Vynk gave a shrug. “Then we’ll just finish the battle for them if we need to.”

“That’s the problem,” I said. “Why didn’t these mages finish them off long ago?”

No one said a word, and the chamber seemed suddenly too quiet. Even the flames of each firepit danced without crackle or spit.

“Cmon guys,” Robern said. “Let’s keep moving.”

The mages had been sitting around a large fire pit in front of a tunnel. Torches in hand, we followed Robern as he led us around trap after trap. At some point, the traps became obvious. They were simply holes in the floor. When we passed a torch over one of them, we couldn’t see the bottom. Some of them led down at an angle.

Even stranger, was when we began to find the same holes in the walls. They seemed fathomless in the torchlight. None of them glowed like traps did.

“Shh,” Filo said. “Did you hear that?”

We all stopped and held our breath. I think every one of us strained to listen as hard as we could. After a moment, I heard something.

I’d thought one of us had been scratching their head, but no one had moved a muscle. Pelle lifted her eyes brows and tipped her head at me, as if to ask, “Do you hear it too?”

The sound promptly stopped and we huddled together and whispered.

“We all heard that right?” Arris said.

“Yea,” Robern said. “Gives me the creeps. Not the sound. The holes.”

“Why?” Vynk said. “I’m not afraid.”

“Every trap and groove has had a purpose until now,” Robern said. “We’ve learned the hard way, that these things don’t work how we might expect them too. I’m worried it’s another trap that we walked into.”

“I’ll use my Orb Weaver to check things out ahead for us,” Arris said. “Do you think you could still use Sense Trap for him? I don’t want him to die. A piece of my soul dies every time he dies.”

“Just conjure him again if you see he’s in a trap,” Robern said. “Time it so he doesn’t get killed.”

“The spell is too slow,” Arris said. “Part of the ancienne way is to respect the life that you conjure. These animals and insects aren’t mere tools to be used.”

“I second that,” Filo said. “Arris’s spider, and my wasp are as much of this party as Arris and I.”

“I can’t promise I can keep your Orb Weaver safe,” Robern said. “I’d have to stay ahead of him to watch for traps.”

Arris cast his mana out and conjured his spider. It was born from a ball of mana that inverted to form the glossy black cephalothorax; the legs, pair by pair; and then the jagged abdomen of the Orb Weaver.

The Orb Weaver froze. It stood still as a statue. Arris frowned and knelt to pet the little guy. His spider was roughly the size of a dog, and it was normally thrilled to be out and about.

“Weird,” I said. “Isn’t he normally excited?”

“He’s scared,” Arris said. “Something is terrifying him.”

Filo then cast her mana bar out and conjured her Sphinx Wasp. It too stepped from an inverted ball of mana. It was the same size as Arris’s Orb Weaver and promptly landed right at Filo’s feet. Its exoskeleton sheened deep purple with bands of blue. Its wings sheened rainbows of metallic colors. The wasp stood still as stone as well.

“This is freaking me out,” Filo said as she bent to give comfort to her wasp.

“This is kinda freaking me out too,” Vynk said, bringing his greatsword out and stepping forward to protect the party.

“Guys,” Arris said. He had moved to kneel directly in front of his spider, petting the still insect. Then he gestured at the spider’s face. At its mandibles. “I recognize the bite marks now. They’re spider bites. The mages have been battling against spiders.”