Chapter 24

Spiders and Traps

“Are we all in accord?” I asked.

“Yea, I’m actually happy about my position this time,” Robern said. “I’ll be using all my skills.”

I had a feeling that our journey forth was going to get quite tricky. I’d originally planned on having a formation that was ideal for dealing with enemies that approached linearly. Because there were holes in the tunnels, I felt I could count on spiders coming at us from all angles instead. Formation was nearly useless. We could be attacked from ahead, from overhead, from behind, and from either side. The most important thing was to make sure skirmishes didn’t end up being every man and woman for themselves. That’s why I’d thrown out the old plan and laid out the new one.

Pelle and I were going to be the center of our party. We would stay together and work back to back. Filo, Lep, and Arris made up the next circle. They were our first line of protection. Arris and Lep were behind, and Filo was in front of us. Filo’s Sphinx Wasp covered our heads, protecting us from any descending spiders.

The next line of defense was Vynk. He was positioned in front of the party. His objective was to deal with oncoming threats and carve our path forward. He was thrilled to have the room to fight. I saw a thrill in his eyes when I’d told him his role.

The final piece was Robern. He was going to be the hardest to keep an eye on. Pelle and I gave him some Pyrrhon’s potions to use just in case we couldn’t reach him for whatever reason.

He had a multitude of objectives. He was free to battle wherever and whenever he wanted. He was free to move through our lines to his heart’s content. The only condition was that he navigated us through traps that we were bound to encounter.

His idea was to trigger the traps before we arrived so we could see them ourselves as we got to them. He assured us he could manage that while fighting, and I didn’t argue with him. Out of earshot, I’d had a conversation with Arris. We agreed to direct his Orb Weaver to protect advancing party members from traps that Robern discovered and other potential traps, either by body blocking, or by spinning silk over traps to prevent anyone from falling into them.

“Here they come!” Robern said from ahead of us.

I cast Spectre Sentinel ahead and behind us. Two torches were passed to each statue, which gave us plenty of light to fight in.

By that light, we saw the gruesome spiders. They weren’t normal, not like Arris’s Orb Weaver, which was cute by comparison. These spiders were covered in blushed, wrinkled cat skin. Their eyes were human eyes and each rolled independently. Their limbs were like long fingers, with each one ending in a shattered nail.

They came at us with such speed, that I worried our strategy would fail. Crawling, wrinkled flesh flooded the tunnel from out of holes and darkest shadows.

Each one of my party members fought brilliantly. Our only disadvantage was from overhead attacks. Filo’s Sphinx Wasp was on its own, trying to defend all of us. There were so many flesh skinned spiders that the walls were a sea of wrinkles and long finger-esque limbs that twitched and flicked about.

“Pelle,” I called out. “I’m going to focus on spiders coming down from above!”

“Heard,” she said.

“Filo! Send your wasp to cover Vynk’s head!”

Lep came to Filo’s aid while she managed her wasp. The insect buzzed forward, leaving Pelle and I vulnerable to overhead attacks. I cast Zekaidean’s Anvil ten times in a row and focused on skewering descending spiders with my spearhead.

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I heard Robern’s crossbow bolts smack into flesh and crack through bone. I heard spiders squeal like slaughtered pigs. Lep’s Hand of Flames sailed repeatedly over our heads.The smells of burning flesh wrung my stomach into knots and acrid smoke brushed along the top of the tunnel.

Our tactics kept the battle in our favor. Lep had the advantage of wielding fire spells, which gave him a wide berth of safety. The traps were a nightmare to navigate, and Arris’s orb weaver helped each one of us navigate around them. Pelle was focused on healing Vynk and nearly stepped into a pit. Arris’s spider zoomed in and body blocked her from taking another step forward. He lifted his limbs and screeched at her, pleading with glossy eyes for her to stop.

It was dangerous for the orb weaver. Several times, each of us almost fought him. I saw Arris despair for a moment when he ripped off the orb weaver’s leg without thinking. I saw heartbreak wet his eyes, and I cast Thirty of Gryf to keep the spider back to full health and intact.

The wrinkled monsters came in waves. There were moments when we were able to advance quickly. Then we slowed in other moments as more spiders attacked.

The terrain began to offer new changes. Traps were fewer and far between. Replacing them were heavy metal grates. Robern had stopped our advancement to inspect the new grates since they didn’t glow under his Sense Trap rune. I was glad to see he was distrustful of them.

All our trust was in his hands. We passed over the grates with trepidation, as some spanned from wall to wall and further than we could jump. I heard no spiders beneath the grates.

Our battle forward must have lasted hours until at last, no spiders attacked us. Robern put his back to the wall and slid down in a slump.

“Wow. I don’t know how much longer I would have been able to keep fighting,” he said.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Vynk said. “Better than that dungeon with the jungle. This was a piece of cake compared to that.”

“Well done everyone,” I said.

“Well done yourself Tosin,” Lep said. “You’re not a bad leader you know.”

Robern chuckled and I couldn’t tell what intent was behind the chuckle. I was starting to care less and less what he thought.

“Yea, I’m pretty pleased with your strategy,” Arris said.

Filo nodded her agreement before casting Elder Azure Mana Totem. Then she said, “Mind if we take a break for an hour or so?”

“Thank Felke,” Robern said. “Finally, someone’s got a good idea.”

“Hey Arris,” Vynk said. “I almost killed your spider a couple of times. I’m not complaining, because he saved me more than once from pitching straight into a trap.”

“I warned you where all the traps were,” Robern said. “I’m the reason you didn’t fall in one.”

“No, man. Arris’s spider saved me. It’s hard to keep an eye on where you put your feet when you're fighting. I’m telling you, the little guy saved me.”

“Yea, ok,” Robern said.

I drowned out their conversation as I sat against the wall and lost myself in thought. Robern had undergone a change in his behavior since our first dungeon foray. I noticed that he was becoming more and more intolerant of other people’s experiences, thoughts, input, and direction. He seemed to have something to prove to himself. I could only hope he didn’t cost us one of our lives.

If I hadn’t had Arris’s spider watch our backs, would one of us have died? Is that what I would have to do from now on? Anticipate that Robern would be neglectful? If I confronted him on how crucial Arris’s spider was to our success, several things might arise from that. Unpleasant things.

I’m afraid Robern would find out I purposefully had the spider lookout for us. I’m afraid he would then feel betrayed that I didn’t put my full trust in him. That might create even more distrust between him and I. Robern most often had Vynk on his side, so this could tear the party in two.

He could then refuse to follow my guidance from then on out. I’m happy to let others lead, but Robern had a deficit in thinking about our safety.

The other thing that might happen is that he simply ignores anyone else’s direction. If it’s just me, then I could tell him to protect Pelle, and he might abandon that directive simply because it came from me.

Going forward, I had to be very careful how I managed Robern. I needed to make sure he had no clue when I incorporated backup plans to his actions. The other thing I could do was pass on my ideas to Arris, Lep, or Pelle, and have them share those ideas out loud. That way Robern would be less inclined to fight against them since the ideas didn’t seem to come from me.

“Want some?” Pelle said, handing me a piece of bread.

“Yea thanks,” I said.

“Whatcha thinking?”

“I’m thinking about the spiders. It’s interesting that the mages and spiders were at odds, don’t you think? I thought dungeon minions all got along, or worked together.”

“Remember the poem?” Arris said. “It sounds like this dungeon is going to lead straight into the fifth dungeon chain. If the two dungeons are connected, wouldn’t it make sense that there are monsters at odds with each other?”