Chapter 2
Prince Vallen and Zane
The rolling hills of the countryside looked especially green and lush on this day. The handsome young man gazed out across those fields from atop his poised white horse with mixed emotions. He brushed a stray hair from his eyes putting it back in its place and smiled as he took in the scenery. A gentle breeze played across his skin and tufts of fluffy white nature floated by on that breeze. Dapples of wildflowers accented those green fields with flashes of color. The temperature was perfect, not too hot and not too cool. A light rain washed across the land earlier in the day leaving everything refreshed. Villinsk was a marvel that way. The weather usually remained tempered and pleasant. He listened to the songs of the birds, music to his ears. He so enjoyed the outdoors. Vallen, the young lord of this land, enjoyed the sight of nature in bloom more than just about anything. He loved the wilder lands and spent much time perfecting the ways of a tracker and wilderness guide. Menyane, God of Nature, was his personal patron and he often paid respects to the reclusive deity. He spent considerable effort attuning himself to the land. Below the surface of this tranquil paradise lurked a disruption. Something had invaded his domain, he could feel it in the air, like a tiny whisper in the back of his mind causing the hairs on the nape of his neck to rise. He trusted his father would likely scoff at that idea, but Vallen knew better. He prided himself on those skills as well as his riding skill, and skill with a sword or bow. Zane on the other hand found it all boring and tedious.
“Prince Vallen, when can we go hunt the foxes, or a deer? Pull your head out of your ass and focus dammit. I’d settle for a rabbit or even a pon-pron about now. I just want to kill something. Standing around gazing at nothing is so… damn… tiresome. A tree is a tree, and a flower is a flower!” He sighed heavily.
Zane was the scruffy one, languid and crass. He leaned against everything as if standing were a chore. They were roughly the same size and build but polar opposites. His dark hair hung limp in his face and his beard had not been groomed in weeks. Even his clothes always seemed as if they had missed their last cleaning. His dark blue eyes remained hard, pragmatic, yet searching for danger or excitement at every turn. He was the consummate mercenary. His tight lips rarely found anything besides a frown or a sarcastic smirk.
Vallen chuckled at the comment. The handsome blue-eyed youth always maintained a well-groomed appearance. Like night and day, he was optimistic and proper. His jet hair was trimmed and combed neatly with a part to one side. He wore a carefully trimmed beard and the fancy clothes of a nobleman. Vallen was tall and trim with an athletes’ build. He carried himself with poise and a ready smile.
“You know I hate that name. I am no prince, Zane.” The well-groomed youth flipped his deep green cloak over one shoulder as he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun of late afternoon while scanning the tree line ahead. “You should learn to appreciate the world around you.”
Zane laughed. “Poor little rich nobleman with his massive manor, sprawling lands, prize mare, fancy clothes, and that magical cloak.” He rolled his eyes. “To the rest of us, you’re a prince, so deal with it. Isn’t your family distantly related to the royals? That might as well make you a Gods-damned prince. Besides, it’s a lot easier to appreciate the world when you’re rich!”
“If I’m the prince, then why do you always treat me like I’m your servant? Why shouldn’t I send you away if you have no respect for me on my own lands no less?” His deep blue eyes met the dark, stormy eyes of his long-time friend. A moment of serious pause passed between them.
Zane stared back long and hard. He scoffed at the question and laughed. “Easy, because you need me, Prince Vallen. You need someone with a more realistic view of the world, someone not staring at everything and everyone through a sappy rainbow filter with his head shoved up his ass.”
Vallen shrugged and sighed with a chuckle. Zane had always been this way and they had been best friends as far back as he could remember, at least since his mother’s passing when he was but six summers. Vallen considered himself lucky to have met the boy when he did, when he needed a friend the most. He flinched as that traumatic time passed through his thoughts like a shadow across the wall. Vallen forced his attention back to Zane and the present. He doubted the man would change anytime soon. Plus, he just might be right, even if he’d never tell him so.
“Enough of this prissy heart to heart shit. My ears are bleeding,” Zane grumbled. “Let’s go find something to hunt, something to kill. If I have to watch you smile at the clouds any longer, I’ll lose my damn mind!” The youth kicked his dark horse into a gallop and raced away down the hillside. Vallen grinned and galloped after him on his pristine white mare.
The men rode across the fields in silence for some time before reaching the edge of the forest that bordered his land. The Forest of Shade was known for its dangers and its mystery as well as its dark beauty. This particular forest was very old and stood long before men settled Villinsk. Many called it a magical forest. Rumored to be a haven of the elves and fey, like the Wisp Forest, the old wood always intrigued the young lord. It was also known as a frequented path leading from town to town and connecting several of the smaller villages in the countryside to the border-town of Dunabar in the west. The Manique Estate was quite expansive. Most of these settlements were at the least aware of Lord Arken Manique and his handsome son, Vallen. Upon reaching the edge of the wood, Vallen pulled his mare to a stop and hopped from the saddle like a trained professional. After tying her to a tree, he squatted and began examining the ground closely.
“What is it this time? Did you find a mushroom with a crooked stem? No… wait… it’s a frog with a blue ass.” Zane grumbled. “That doesn’t look like you’re tracking a deer or a fox. Don’t tell me you’re going to do something stupid again. I don’t have time or energy for your horseshit antics today, pretty-boy. The rain made me tired.”
Vallen ignored his crude comments and grumbling. “Look here, these marks are from arachnidia and something else. See the handprint shapes. They must be in the area. But they rarely leave the forest unless something disturbs them. They prefer caves or dark forests. They are reclusive and choose the shade over direct sunlight.” The young man began surveying the trees for signs of webbing or dead bodies left in the wake of the spider creatures. He would be surprised to find them building a nest so close to the open fields. A pon-pron skittered into sight in the branches above and stared down on them, but he found nothing else.
“Why on EL would you want to track deadly spider monsters? They can’t taste good. What the hell is wrong with you?” Zane scolded. “Let us find something easier to kill like a bird, a squirrel or that pon-pron.” The cotton-tailed lizard darted away as if it understood what he just said. The scruffy man rolled his eyes and shrugged nonchalantly. He leaned against a tree.
“Zane, they are dangerous to everyone, and they are on the move. Look at all these tracks. It’s a whole cluster of them. Plus, there is something else here, something bigger. Whatever this track is could be hunting them, driving them out of their natural setting and into more populated areas. The people might be in danger. There are villages around here. But what on EL hunts arachnidia?”
Vallen brushed two fingers across a large indention in the ground. It looked like some sort of paw print, a very large paw print at least as big as a huge bear with bigger claws and strangely shaped pads. The digits seemed longer and oddly spaced. Whatever made the print was nothing he could identify. This beast did not belong to the area. Vallen knew his lands and his tracks well. He prided himself on such knowledge. The size of these claws suggested a predator. Something this big could be very dangerous and destructive to the balance of the land. It was big and quite heavy by the depth of the indentions.
“How many times do we have to cover this topic, you pompous ass?” Zane hopped from his dark stallion and met Vallen’s gaze squarely. He even tilted the man’s face his way to be sure he held his full attention. “You are a spoiled nobleman’s son, not the savior of the free lands of Villinsk. The people of the lands live their lives while we live ours. They don’t expect, need or even want your damn help, Prince Vallen, so leave them the hell alone and let them cope with whatever shit life throws at them.”
Vallen bit his bottom lip and sighed. He jerked his face away from Zane’s fingers. The handsome man rubbed his hand over his trimmed beard slowly. He debated the idea for a second before untying his mare, named Shield, from the tree and swatting her backside. She was trained well and would return to the stables at the manor directly. Zane groaned loudly but followed suit, doing the same with his stallion. He knew where this was headed. Vallen took up his bow, knocked an arrow and began one of his favored tasks, tracking. The man’s face grew intense and serious. He followed the trail of the arachnidia. Zane sighed and fell in line. The path was easy to follow with his trained eyes. Their movements were erratic but mostly remained on the forest floor. That bothered Vallen since they should stick to the trees unless they were in a hurry. The distinguishing marks of their hand-like feet proved easy to spot, especially with so many of them together. He estimated at least half a dozen in the cluster. After further evaluation he decided that the larger beast, whatever it was, also tracked the cluster of spider-things. Those tracks were much harder to spot. His best guess was that the larger creature was herding them, chasing them through the forest, but why? Its pattern suggested at least rudimentary intelligence. What was the purpose?
“This is stupid!” Zane hissed irritably. Vallen continued his tracking. “Fine, fine! Ignore me as usual,” Zane grumbled while falling in line behind his best friend. The scruffy man was quite stealthy when he chose to be. He pulled forth his own bow and knocked an arrow, mirroring Vallen. A frown clung to his scruffy features. It was clear he considered this a waste of time.
The pair crept along at a slow but steady pace. Vallen’s cloak, a special gift from his father imbued with magic, allowed him to blend with the forest. It was supposedly a gift from the elves. The idea of the elves with their mystical ways and ties to the natural world always enthralled him. Vallen estimated under an hour had passed since the creatures moved through this area. From what he could tell, they seemed to be loosely headed towards one of the central wagon trails through the forest, the one leading towards Dunabar, a small town wedged between The Forest of Shade and the Fellis River at the very border of Villinsk territory. A cluster of arachnidia could cause serious harm to the remote settlement. Who knew what the larger beast might stir up?
“The trajectory of their course carries them towards Dunabar. We must warn them, Zane.” Vallen studied both directions. It was clear he debated returning home first since dusk drew near. The Forest of Shade was not such an inviting place after sunset.
“If you are set on this fool’s errand, we could return to the manor, collect our horses, and take the road around the forest. Using the side roads, we’d be to Dunabar in two days easily,” Zane suggested.
“But we could reach the town by daybreak if we continued onward without turning back. There are many wagon trails through the forest that provide better shortcuts.”
“You mean if we continue onward through The Forest of Shade in the dark, chasing an entire cluster of deadly giant spiders and something big enough to spook them?” Zane scoffed. “Do you even hear yourself? That sounds like a fantastic fucking plan, Vallen. No wonder your father does not include you in the monthly sessions to patrol the estate or in his council meetings in Lapolin.” The scruffy man rolled his eyes and shrugged. Those words cut the young nobleman deeply. He always sought his father’s approval but seldom found it.
“Lives may be at stake here, Zane!” The nobleman snapped. Zane poked at a sore spot. “This isn’t a game. My father still sees me as a child. I can’t help that. I can help this.” Vallen’s deep blue eyes grew hard and angry. A crease formed at the center of his brow.
“Don’t give me that everything hinges on my heroism look. You aren’t the damn savior of the lands, Prince Vallen. You’d do well to remember that. People die every day no matter what you do, like it or not. You are not a God. We don’t even know if we can reach the town in time to make a difference. What if we get there and the beasts have already killed and moved on? What then, hero of the realms? Are you going chase them abroad, cross the borders of Villinsk? Track them through the wildlands beyond? I suppose we could ride all the way to the sea. Someone else in the world might be in danger. Perhaps you should travel all Pangias or even all EL and set the world right.” Zane surveyed their surroundings in disgust. “I don’t like walking and I don’t like being in the forest after dark, it’s fucking stupid, suicidal.”
“I’ll remind you that I’m trained under some of the best instructors in the land…”
“… In both archery and swordplay.” Zane finished his sentence in a mockery of his voice. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that shit a thousand times. Why are you even debating or seeking my approval anyway. You know what you’re going to do. Get on with it!” Zane stomped past him, taking point as they arrived at a solid trail through the forest. It looked to be a well-used wagon trail.
Vallen moved after him in an attempt to catch him, calm him. The last thing they wanted to do was get angry and careless. He strode into the clearing and paused immediately. Vallen hissed and Zane froze. It was their signal for caution. Vallen crouched, examining the trail floor closely and his eyes grew wide. He broke into a jog down the trail with Zane joining his side.
“Are you going to share,” the scruffy man asked in a whisper. He did not like this at all. He gripped his bow tightly.
“The aracnidia took to the trail in a hurry. They are on a hunt, the cluster of them.” Vallen looked upset, worried.
“Lucky bastards. That’s all I wanted for my day.” He sighed. “A hunt of what exactly?”
“Not what but whom. From the tracks I spotted, judging by their freshness, I’d say they were hunting a lone figure, most likely a woman or young boy. But there were other tracks, a pair of large men I’d guess by the boots not too far ahead of the lone figure.”
“So, you’re saying the kid will be fine.”
Vallen scowled. “That means three people are in danger, Zane. They can’t stand against an entire cluster even if they are trained.”
“And the larger beast?” Zane grew tense, focused. “Where the fuck did it go?” He scanned the dark trees as if expecting it to leap at them any second.
“Its tracks veered to mirror the trail. Apparently, it did not want to reveal itself. It’ll be moving slower in the trees if it’s still following them. The strange thing is it seems too big to move so stealthily. Something that size should stick out like a sore thumb in the forest. I can barely find its tracks when I know where to look. Now it seems even more like this beast was herding them, directing the arachnidia towards their prey, these travelers. That’s not natural.” He broke into a faster pace. “We must hurry. The likelihood that these people will outrun or even become aware of the cluster in time is unlikely. Arachnidia are stealthy and quick. These things are cunning hunters. They have rudimentary intelligence. Some believe they have their own language. Their venom disorients, sedates its victims, paralyzes so they can feed.”
“Oh, then we should definitely hurry, Prince Vallen. Who else might save them?” Zane hissed sarcastically. “Have you thought this through? How exactly will we stop them if we do catch them? You counted a half dozen arachnidia. They are dangerous creatures when encountered alone. And by your own estimation, the estimation of the greatest tracker-hero in the lands, there is something big enough to scare the entire Gods-be-damned cluster skulking through the shadows waiting to strike. This sounds like a bad plan, Vallen, a very bad plan. Think it through.”
“Shhh… I hear something.” Vallen cupped a hand to one ear.
Both men froze in their tracks. In the distance they heard a faint noise, a scream. Vallen and Zane exchanged looks and Vallen broke into a mad dash down the trail. Zane sighed heavily then followed with much less enthusiasm.
“Why does he have to always be right?” Zane grumbled. Vallen glanced back at him with a smug grin. His bow was ready in hand with an arrow still knocked.
The men raced down the winding trail coming across numerous tracks deeply set into the earth. It looked like a set of smaller booted feet covered by many hand-like prints. Their depth and angles let him know that a chase was afoot. The resounding screams in the distance also helped to illustrate that point.
“I don’t think we can catch them in time to stop this,” Zane wheezed at Vallen’s side. Vallen only grimaced and pushed to run faster leaving a trail of flying dirt in his wake.
The men ran and heard the cries grow louder, closer. Then the screams adjusted with shouts, men cried out as did the woman. They were still quite a distance away. After that burst of commotion silence settled back over the forest. Hearing the end of the cries did not bode well for the victims of the arachnidia cluster.
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Zane grabbed Vallen’s arm, jerking him to a stop. His scruffy friend looked him in the eye and shook his head sternly from side to side. Vallen pulled free of his grip determined to keep running, but the scruffy man tripped him and then tackled him to the ground. The pair rolled across the dirt, struggling and fighting until Zane hauled back and punched Vallen square in his jaw.
“Stop!” Zane hissed in a deep whisper. He used one hand to pin the man’s shoulder to the trail. He drew his fist back for another punch. “They’re dead! You know it and I know it. A half dozen arachnidia are nothing to scoff at. How are some random wanderers going to fend them off?” Vallen spat blood to the trail and tried one last time to throw the other man off him. Zane was strong for such a lanky figure. They were roughly the same height. He held Vallen down, glaring at him.
The look in Vallen’s eyes told Zane everything he needed to know. Vallen was as sure as he that those screams ended in death. The nobleman shrugged the other man off once he stopped resisting. His eyes grew glassy. They both crawled to their feet, dusting themselves clean. Vallen paused to wipe the forming tears from his face. They were tears of anger. He was mad. Mad at the arachnidia, mad at the circumstances, mad he wasn’t faster but mostly he was mad that Zane was right. He stood collecting his bow and readying an arrow. The young nobleman detested this feeling of helplessness. Zane was always saving him from himself. That was the worst feeling in the world to him, being helpless. He remembered that feeling from the day he lost his mother, and it haunted him ever since. He fumed in silence for a moment before speaking again.
“We will move stealthily. Arachnidia have been known to take their prey alive and string them up for a later meal. Their venom paralyzes. They use their webbing for storage mostly. If we are lucky then they might still live…” His words trailed off in obvious doubt. He refused to make eye contact with Zane.
Zane chuckled. “Yeah, alive. Wake up and smell the blood. We both know better than that shit. It is the single creature that stores its food. Clusters devour in blood-crazed feeding frenzies.” Vallen shot him a warning glare. “What? You want to go at it again? You know it’s true.” Zane shrugged. “Let us proceed with caution. Who knows, maybe the corpses will have some valuables to make this little trek worth the effort. If we hurry, we might just be able to reach the manor again before it’s too dark, so we’ll have proper light to count the coins.” Vallen glared again and Zane shrugged again. “The spiders don’t need coins, but I do. You can whisper some stupid prayer to your nature God over their corpses. See, we both win.”
The men crept forward at the edge of the trail. Zane made sure to remind Vallen of the lurking beast out in the wilds somewhere. That helped them speed their steps. The sound of snapping twigs caught Vallen’s attention. He raised his hand gesturing them to a halt. Another snap followed by more and more so that it soon became rustling. Something moved towards them in the brush. It seemed oblivious to the need for stealth, tearing through the foliage. Whatever it was sounded big. Vallen slipped behind a thick tree and readied his bow. The light waned but the sun had not set yet. Shafts of light pierced the thick canopy in random places. His enchanted cloak let him all but vanish. Zane did the same thing at a nearby tree. They exchanged glances and Vallen gave the signal. He leapt clear of the tree cover into the path of a gruesome sight. A large, man-sized spider thing with gray fur matted with goo dragged the shredded corpse of a tall man. This corpse appeared to be in bad shape. The man’s nose was ripped off and he was missing an eye. Several puncture marks marred his destroyed face. Four of the spider’s legs gripped the man in their black chitinous hand-like appendages while the other four legs dragged them both along. Just behind the first arachnidia was a second one. This one used two arm-like legs to drag another thicker, shorter man with a shaved head. The man was swollen and bluish from all the venom running through his veins. There were so many bitemarks it was hard to tell where one ended and the next began. If he still lived that would not last long. The amount of venom alone in his system would insure death. It appeared as if this second creature had lost a couple of legs in the scuffle. One shiny black leg was missing entirely while the second leg hung limp in a shattered mess behind it. No other beings were in sight.
Vallen immediately loosed his arrow, sinking it directly into the face of the first spider. The creature hissed and clicked wildly as it dropped the body to claw at the arrow. Zane fired an arrow, too, but missed the mark. Vallen almost wretched when he saw the body of the taller man convulse and heard it grunt. The man missing the eye and nose weakly groaned something unintelligible. His lips and tongue were too swollen to talk. He still lived! Ragged snotty breaths escaped through the bloody hole where his nose had once been.
The second arachnidia, alerted by the sudden ambush, also dropped his prize and lurched forward. It moved just as fast on six legs. It leapt to the tree where Vallen hid, sticking to the surface like second nature. Two of its clicking hands reached out to grab his bow, jerking it from his grip and tossing it into the brush. The creature was strong. Vallen dropped backwards away from its sticky grip and hit the ground in a roll that brought him back to his feet holding his long-bladed sword in hand. He tossed his cloak back and struck a practiced pose, ready for a fight.
“Come for me if you want to die,” he shouted a challenge. He was unclear on whether or not these things could understand the common tongue. They were savage and animalistic but intelligent enough.
“Watch your flank!” Zane shouted as he darted to take cover across the trail on the opposite side, far away from the fight. He fired another arrow but that one missed its mark, too. “Damn,” he hissed. He was usually a better shot. The scruffy man had nothing to worry about. The creatures did not even seem to notice him. They were completely focused on Vallen.
His warning came just in time as Vallen spotted the first spider-thing crawling from the brush behind him. It circled around for a better angle. The arrow imbedded in its face was broken and that shaft jutted from the center of its many black eyes leaking yellowish goo. At least one of the large black domes appeared ruptured. Chelicerae clicked noisily and the injured arachnidia hissed their challenges as they advanced on the man. Vallen scanned the area desperately. Maybe this was a mistake after all. He recalled there being a half dozen of these things. He saw no others. He glanced at the bodies of the men. The thick one did not move, but the taller one jerked ever so slightly and moaned. The sight was horrifying. They must have put up one hell of a fight if only two of the cluster remained. For the briefest of moments, he wondered about the screams. Where was the girl? But he had more pressing issues to contend with.
As if he could read the man’s mind, Zane shouted from hiding. “Forget about the damn girl! She’s dead! They probably ate her ass in the frenzy! You need to focus on saving your own hide, idiot!”
The creatures timed their assault. They chittered back and forth in their strange language then leapt at the same time from both sides. The two hairy spiders came flying with their hands grasping. Vallen took a step back and dropped to one knee. He leaned into the more injured creature, the one missing its hind legs, sinking his blade into its exposed gut. The clink of his blade puncturing the chitinous shell rang out and the spider hissed loudly. Yellowish goo spurted forth covering his hand. Vallen felt those jointed hands grab his arm, his neck and the back of his head as he shifted his weight to use the leaping monster’s momentum against it. He carried it overhead and slammed it into the other spider, knocking that one off trajectory and sending it sprawling to the trail in a tangle of shiny black legs and wriggling black fingers. The one still impaled on his sword had a grip on him with one hand tangled in his hair. It struggled to draw closer to inject its venom. Vallen did not resist the attempt. He needed to time this just right. He grabbed one of those stiff legs and pulled the spider closer to him, thrusting his blade deeper into its bulbous body then wrenched his arm back and forth to slice it open. The spider flailed wildly hissing then stopped moving altogether. Its remaining legs curled into its body. The other creature righted its stance and Vallen abandoned his sword, leaving it lodged deeply in the dead creature. He dove for his bow, snatching it up and rolling onto his knees. He searched for his companion, but Zane was nowhere to be found. The coward always had a bad habit of disappearing at the most inopportune times. He knocked an arrow and fired. His aim was true. The shaft sank into the belly of the leaping arachnidia. It hissed and soared through the air to complete the leap landing squarely atop Vallen. He felt many hands grabbing him about the legs, arms and waist as he was slammed backwards into the ground. His head rang from the impact. The spider-thing was heavier than expected.
“Get off me!” he shouted as he desperately struggled to break the iron grip. “Zane, help me!” He cried but there came no answer.
The spider scuttled to reposition itself, adjusting its fangs to his belly. Those rows of black eyes stared in his face with the shattered eye leaking around his arrow shaft. Vallen struggled with all his strength. He had a dagger in his boot but was not sure if he could reach it. The bow was lost, and the sword remained in the belly of the other creature several feet away. He broke one arm free and punched the thing in its shaggy side. It felt sticky and solid but did not react. It was too busy lining up its bite. He saw the fangs flex open and watched them sink into his gut as he shouted for help, flailing away on the creature. The bite stung terribly, like a jagged pair of knives being forced into his belly. He tried to struggle, to break free but it held him pinned firmly to the ground. It lifted its head, blood dripping from its face to gaze into his eyes. It chittered something. Was it mocking him? Those fangs moved towards his neck. With his one free arm he reached out and grabbed the arrow shaft stuck into its face. He jerked the shaft side to side tearing open another of the creature’s eyes causing it to recoil with a hiss and release him. Its hands rubbed where the goo poured from its head. In that briefest of moments, Vallen drew forth his dagger from his boot and jabbed it into the hissing spider’s face, repeatedly. He heard Zane in the background shouting “Kill it! Kill the fucker!” and he did not hesitate. He stabbed it so many times that his hand was covered in yellow sludge. He cut himself on its fang. His friend was there, stabbing it with his own dagger. The last arachnidia was no longer attacking. It only twitched every so often as a spasm of nerves jarred its body.
Zane suddenly stood over him laughing victoriously. “We did it! We killed those gross bastards! Suck on those blades you harry freaks!” He helped Vallen to his feet, smiling proudly. The smile was a rare sight. “Now to loot the bodies,” he exclaimed with uncharacteristic glee while rubbing his hands together.
Vallen felt woozy. He stood unsteadily and reclaimed his bow then sword. The tingle of the venom racing through his body terrified him. He paused to drink water and rinse his infected wound while Zane looted the thick man’s corpse.
“Use the antidote in your pack,” Zane called out as he emptied the man’s coin purse. He had less of value than the mercenary hoped. Poor bastard.
Vallen had forgotten about the antidote mixtures he carried. He acquired them from an alchemist that his father retained, in case of just such an incident. Well, maybe not just such an incident as this, but in the case of an accidental encounter. They did live out in the wilder lands on the fringes of the nation. This definitely qualified. It took a few minutes for the general antidote to take effect. Vallen felt as if his limbs were freezing up, going numb and then that warmth returned slowly. He could feel his fingers again through the tingles.
Zane noticed a silver and red jasper ring on the other corpse. He moved to steal that man’s coin pouch then tried to pry the ring off the man’s swollen finger. The finger flexed. The man’s one remaining eye fluttered open, staring at him in shock. A weak groan escaped his shredded and blue-tinged mouth. Something dripped from the hole that was once his nose.
Zane jerked away with a disgusted gasp. “Fuck me! This poor bastard is still alive… just barely.” The scruffy man looked to Vallen who was busy trying to recover after taking the antidote. Zane made a grimace and shrugged, raising his dagger. “It’s for your own good, poor bastard. You don’t have a nose. You’re missing an eye. There’s so much venom in you it’s seriously doubtful you’d survive with the full focus of a skilled Hamaleon priest right now and we’re miles from the attention of any healers. You’ll thank me from the other side, buddy.” He brought the dagger to the man’s swollen throat and pressed it firmly. Slowly but skillfully, he slit Seed’s throat eliciting one final breath before the lone eye took on a blank stare.
Vallen raced to Zane and shoved him off the man. “What are you doing? You can’t just…” He stared at the man with the slit throat, knowing he was dead. He looked at his scruffy friend and balled his fists. He could not form any words through his anger and shock.
Zane glared back without remorse. “What? He was dead anyway. It was a mercy killing. I would hope someone had the acorns to do that to me were situations reversed. There’s no way we could save him! You know that! This poor sap looks like he wasn’t so gifted in the looks arena to start with and who the fuck wants to live without his eye and his nose? Plus, look at the size of him. We would struggle to carry him let alone reach any damn help in time.” He patted the dead man’s shoulder. “You rest now buddy. Go find whatever heaven or hell you’ve earned.” Zane continued with his looting of the body.
Vallen fell to his knees and crawled away. He felt so sick to his stomach. Some of that was the venom flushing through his system but most of it was emotion. He vomited. This was all too much to bear. His best friend just murdered a man. The worst part was that he could not argue Zane’s point. The man was horribly mutilated and filled with spider venom. Still…
Zane ignored his friend’s dramatics. What was done was done. The mercenary did not doubt his decision. He returned to searching the dead man’s body for valuables. He wanted that fancy jasper ring. It would not budge from the swollen finger and so he took his dagger and clipped the finger at the knuckle, allowing the ring to slide off the bloody stump easily. A few wipes on the dead man’s clothes and it was clean, good as new. He slipped the expensive looking ring on his own finger and admired it. “Nice fit. This wasn’t a total loss after all. Look at that beauty.”
Vallen whispered a tearful prayer to Menyane, God of Nature, to accept these poor souls and return their energy to the land in the cycle of life. He could not meet Zane’s gaze. His mind raced to dark corners. What if these men had families, children waiting for them at home? He eventually crawled to his feet as his feeling returned and began to stagger further down the trail. He still needed to find the girl’s body and administer a prayer. It was the right thing to do. He staggered, nearly falling and suddenly his friend was at his side. The scruffy man caught his arm and shouldered his weight. They continued down the trail with Vallen leaning heavily on Zane for support.
“I have to hand it to you, Prince, you were pretty good back there. You handled those spiders like a true mercenary.” Zane chuckled and patted his face.
“No thanks to you.” Vallen coughed. “I could have used some help.”
“Nah… you did just fine on your own. And I did help. I warned you about the flank. Besides, I’m not the kind of guy that fights toe-to-toe anyway. That’s for honorable fools. I prefer a surprise advantage. I’m a cunning fighter.” Zane cast him a wink. “We live longer.”
“You’re a coward is what you are.”
“Fuck you!” They shared a chuckle as they hobbled down the trail.
Vallen could not help but scan the surrounding trees for danger. His gut burned like fire, and he doubted he could put up much of a fight in this state. They passed the initial sight of the arachnidia ambush and found the other four spiders dead. This had been an impressive battle. Those men were capable combatants. He also confirmed his suspicions about the lone figure, the girl. To his surprise she appeared to have escaped. Her tracks continued at a fast pace away from the slaughter sight. Good, she lived if something else did not get to her. That was a miracle in itself.
Vallen took a deep breath to steady his trembling body. He heard the faintest of whispers in the back of his mind. Whether that voice was his conscience, Zane mumbling in the background or an exhaustion-induced hallucination was hard to say. “Be strong… do not relent… your skills are needed.” On second thought, it definitely wasn’t Zane. The words were too nice. Great, now he was going crazy.
* * * * * * * * * *
The sun disappeared completely; darkness claimed The Forest of Shade. The wood lived up to its namesake. The place became darker than dark with insects singing and the calls of strange birds. The sounds in the night were a comfort to Vallen, though. It would be the absence of sounds that frightened him here. That would signal something dangerous in the area. So far, he found no further signs of whatever beast was hunting those arachnidia. That was a good thing. Maybe it lost interest or was frightened away by the combat? The nobleman doubted he could challenge anything else tonight. He and Zane bantered back and forth about various topics. They avoided a discussion about what happened with the man earlier. Vallen could not bring himself to revisit that horror. The idea of the mercy killing would require much internal debate to reconcile completely. Their long and shared history left no void on subjects to discuss as they walked. Zane wanted to return to the manor house, but Vallen insisted on delivering his warning to Dunabar. There was still some large, potentially dangerous and unknown beast in the vicinity even if the spider cluster was defeated. He also reasoned that the girl might need some antidote. In under a half hour, they came upon the flickering light of a campfire and voices in the distance. It sounded like a group of people, perhaps even a caravan. It would seem the mystery girl reached safety after all. She was a very lucky girl. Not many could encounter a cluster of arachnidia and live to tell the tale. Vallen wondered briefly if she knew those dead mercenaries, or if they just happened upon her at the right moment. Those men undoubtedly saved her life. If not for their staunch resistance she would have been torn to pieces by the cluster. He was amazed she was able to escape at all.
“Do you suppose she knew them?” Vallen voiced his thoughts after a moment of silence. Zane seemed confused. “The dead mercenaries, do you suppose this girl knew them?”
Zane frowned. “Who cares? She lived. That’s the miracle here. She should be thanking the heavens and probably the hells, too, for that. That mystery girl might have had to sell her damn soul for this kind of luck.” Zane twisted his new ring on his finger, admiring the reddish stone and the quality of its craftsmanship. “What do you think? Red Jasper? Suppose it’s pure silver? It looks like a fancy man’s ring, like your people.”
“If she did know them, you may need to hand that ring over,” Vallen stated with raised eyebrows.
Zane shot him a scowl. “Over my dead body. We earned this!”
The mention of “we” made the young nobleman chuckle and sigh at the same time. It made his stomach hurt. Vallen paused to smooth his hair into place, brush his beard with his fingers and straighten his cloak in an effort to seem presentable. He looked to Zane, but the man rolled his eyes. The nobleman composed his stance and walk, then strode towards the campsite. He spotted a walking stick, nicely carved with intricate designs down the shaft. It just happened to catch the glint of light from the campsite. He collected it and continued towards the group. He could hear the heated conversation and spotted several interesting figures seated around the large campfire. It was a sizeable group. Three wagons, horses and a couple of mercenaries rounded out the lot. He wondered if they realized how lucky they had been to avoid those arachnidia.
“Don’t pat yourself on the back too hard, Prince. These people don’t know you and they don’t know how much danger they were in. You’re still no hero of the lands in anyone’s eyes but your own. And there’s another threat out there. Don’t forget about that or we came all this way for nothing.” Zane smirked from the shadows. The mercenary had stopped several feet back. He was not following his friend.
“Enough already. Can’t we just be satisfied with stopping this threat? Where are you going this time, Zane? Why are you so antisocial?” The languid man shot him a scowl and melted away out of sight, not wanting to show his scruffy face in the light. He was never a big fan of people in general.
“Keep an eye out. We don’t know where that other thing went, and we don’t need it sneaking up on us. I’ll be watching my back. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, Prince.”
Vallen called after him in a whisper though he had already vanished from sight. He turned back to the campsite and entered with his hands raised holding out the walking stick as an offering in a gesture of friendship. He tried not to look as weary as he felt.