The Savage Caves - Chapter 16
The Savage Caves: Original Story by T.H. Lain
A Fan-Fiction Reimagining: Walthus Proudstump
Chapter 16
Lidda continued to follow Tazerg’s lead, the others close behind her. The previous night’s sleep - well, was it night? She had no idea what time it was. Day, night. It could be either, the halfling woman thought as she walked beside the goblin. She was happy she didn’t have to walk behind him. The little goblin stank of sweat and blood. Occasionally he would stop, listen for something that even she couldn’t hear and then continue on. He avoided the halls with heavy spider webbing, though, so she was grateful for that. The fewer giant spiders she had to come across the better.
Though she’d struggled to figure out where exactly they were, up and down meant almost nothing to her in the underground, she did a decent job of keeping pace with the manic guide. He was very nervous, obviously, but that made it harder to follow what he was saying. Lidda wasn’t a scholar of the goblin language and sometimes he’d say something that went right over her head. She was happy for the little bit she did know but trying to piece together everything felt exhausting and she just wanted to be out of this hellhole.
She would never travel into another cave as long as she lived, she decided.
They came to a large bridge of stone. It was so long that Lidda couldn’t see the end of it but for a moment it felt familiar. She looked up, the blue glow surrounding them just enough light for her excellent vision to pick out another bridge right above her. “Tazerg,” she said. “Where are you taking us?”
The goblin seemed to process this for a moment, nodding and pointing to the bridge.
“Lidda follow. Meet with Nelnek. Old goblin. Plan to kill Rezrek. Need plan.” He said.
The halfling nodded. That made sense. Better to have a plan on how to kill a bugbear than not. She nodded, turned back to the group and explained the situation.
"Is this the bridge beneath the one with the falling creatures?" Jozan asked, nervously looking up as he did so. Lidda watched his eyes search the darkness above.
“I think so,” Lidda said, only partially certain it was the same bridge. The distance was too great; she couldn’t tell enough about the bridge above them to be sure because of the lighting.
“Oh, good.” Naull murmured sarcastically. “Let’s see if we can avoid being dropped down upon this time.”
Jozan heartily agreed. “I’d second that very strongly.”
“Alright. Let’s move.” She motioned to Tazerg, who scooted forward with his weapon out. His eyes must’ve been much better than hers, Lidda thought. She tried to recall if Thissa, the goblin she’d spent a few months with when she was trying to impress the Half Moon Guild in Volanth, had good night sight. She was a great pickpocket, Lidda remembered, but she did most of her work during the day. A goblin was surprisingly good at getting into and out of a crowd without being noticed. She’d been impressed.
She shook her head. It isn’t important now, she mused. What mattered was that Tazerg was leading them and he knew where he was going. That meant he could probably lead them out after they’d dealt with the bugbear. Bugbears, she shook her head as she remembered. Tazerg said there were several.
“Ugh. Just my damned luck.” She whispered to herself.
“Damn luck.” Tazerg repeated what she’d said and she laughed. Jozan seemed less amused.
“Maybe we shouldn’t teach the goblins how to curse, Lidda.” His tone was chiding but she blew it off.
“You take the fun out of being stuck underground, surrounded by things that want to kill us.” She rolled her eyes and fell back in line with Tazerg.
The expanse this bridge stretched was immense. The smooth stone surface had a few rocks here and there, probably from the ceiling above and the little octopuses that had attacked them moving. What the halfling could see of the natural stone walls was minimal but they were a good stone throw away. She vaguely wondered if she could run and catch the wall but immediately dismissed the thought. That would be a long fall. The massive bridge split off to the left up ahead, a much wider walkway but Tazerg ignored it. When Lidda went to ask about it, he waved his hand at her.
“No. That way down to Spider Mother den. Not go there.” His tone was serious and he seemed focused.
“I’m sorry, what is a spider mother?” Asked Jozan.
“Biggest spider. Mother of spiders.” He responded in a tone that Lidda tried to convey; she promised herself she’d try to brush up on her goblin the next time she was in Volanth.
“How big,” Jozan began his question, only to be cut off by the sound of something skimming off the hard stone at their feet. It bounced away, careening into the darkness and striking the stone wall beyond them. To her trained eyes, it looked like a crossbow bolt. She whirled around, her keen eyes searching the darkness and found the glint of metal hidden in a crevasse like the one they’d slept in. A figure was crouched there, aiming a crossbow bolt at them - it had barely missed them. Lidda yelled, pointing to the area the creature was hiding in.
“Archer!” She yelled, shoving Tazerg forward with a grunt and waving to the others to follow. They had to find cover. The walkway had nothing to hide behind and they’d be easy pickings if they didn’t move! Another bolt whizzed by her head, slamming into the wall behind her. Had she been another inch taller, it would’ve struck her forehead. She yelped. Regdar cursed, yelling at Jozan to use the shield to keep them covered. But the priest couldn’t see where the attack would be coming from. Just as the figure loaded another bolt. Lidda caught movement from her left - a stream of man-sized spiders exploded from the shadows to the left and scurried over the bridge towards the group.
Lidda screamed - though if it was fear or just anger, she couldn’t tell.
“Naull!” Regdar yelled, pointing to the horde of spiderlings that swarmed forward. The young mage, who’d hiked up her robes to run faster without worry of tripping, turned and began the incantation of a spell. The words were cut off by a pained grunt and Naull stopped running, looking confused and staggered to her knees. Lidda looked back, seeing a blossoming red stain spread out over her back. She’d been hit!
The halfling skidded to a halt, turning on her heel as gracefully as possible and leaping her way back to the fallen girl. She shot her head towards the figure, who was still crouched. Lidda couldn’t get a good look at it but the creature looked smaller than the bugbears they’d fought. But definitely bigger than a goblin. The halfling heard the unmistakable sound of a crossbow being loaded.
Regdar yelled for Naull again but this time it was laced with fear. He’d turned and drawn his large blade. A spider had cleared the distance to him and with a great swing he cut the creature down, sending the dead thing tumbling down into the darkness. But there were so many more spiders. They crawled over the bridge, under it and all along the walls. Several of them, partially hidden in the darkness, seemed to rear their backs up and Lidda narrowed her eyes. A thin stream of silk exploded from the spinnerets they had, casting out a strange line of webbing that slapped against the stone bridge and barely missed Jozan. He gasped, swinging the shield towards them and using the edge to cut through the thick strands. Several remained, though, and the spiders used these as bridges to reach the group. Lidda saw that other spiders were moving for her and Naull, who lay gasping on the ground.
“Ugh,” she mumbled, squeezing and unsqueezing her hand as Lidda looked at the wound. The bolt was buried deep in her back and might have punched through to her lung. She couldn’t be sure and she didn’t have the time to figure out how bad the injury was.
“Come on, girl, we need to GO!” She shouted, trying to pull the woman up. But she was too heavy and Naull slipped as she took to her feet, stumbling forward and almost slamming into the floor. Lidda cursed and a trio of spiders scuttled towards them, mandibles gnashing as they quickly closed the distance. Naull turned her hand towards them, yelling an arcane phrase.
“Furrus ferain!”
Flames burst from the girl’s hands and Lidda watched as they roasted the spiders alive, their bodies seizing as the flames greedily ate at their carapaces. They curled up, collapsing into themselves as the bodies became like ash; one tipped to the side and fell into a pile of grey and black cinders. The illumination gave Lidda the opportunity to see how truly damned they were.
Over a dozen of the spiders were swarming around them; several attacking Jozan and Regdar, who now stood back to back. They kept the creatures at bay but it was a losing battle. There were too many of them. More were coming to take the place of the ones Naull had killed. But the archer hadn’t fired again, Lidda noted. She looked over and saw a small bugbear, looking at the two women with a curious expression. She couldn’t tell what it was and a great shifting noise behind her drew Lidda’s eyes away.
From the left, a great pair of spider’s legs emerged from a large alcove. They were massive; probably ten times Lidda’s height and the halfling felt her breath catch in her throat as she and Naull watched what pulled itself forth into their vision. Even with the dim lighting, they could see the huge arachnid crawl from the hole and reared up towards them. It swarmed with a dozen smaller spiders, each as large as Regdar, and the terrible beast locked its glassy black eyes onto them. A deep, strange hissing noise spilled from it and the great spider moved slowly forward. If it was moving slowly because of how big it was or because it wanted them to feel as much fear as possible before it killed them, Lidda couldn’t be sure.
She whimpered.
“Oh gods,” Naull said, drawing a ragged breath.
The titanic thing stretched its long legs out, easily finding purchase against the wall and the bridge. Regdar yelled for Lidda to get Naull to them but the halfling didn’t think she could even if she wanted to. The spider was already on them. Lidda brandished her blade at the big thing, hissing in turn as it drew its head towards her. The mandibles clacked menacingly and Lidda was certain they were longer than she was tall. She gulped. At least she’d die protecting someone, she thought grimly.
“I guess Belmer was wrong,” she said to herself. She felt Naull shift behind her and the woman was speaking some phrases. Lidda hoped it was a spell that would whisk them all away.
Tazerg yelled something in goblin at her and she turned, seeing him dashing forward in the confusion of it all. His bare feet slapped the stone and he waved his hands, screaming.
“No hurt! No hurt Spider Mother!” He shouted, out of breath by the time he skidded to a stop before Lidda. He held his thin little arms up towards the giant spider and, to Lidda’s surprise and relief, the thing stopped. It seemed to regard Tazerg with curious eyes.
“No kill spiderlings! Mother’s children listen to goblins!” He shouted, pointing to Regdar and Jozan; both were covered in blue blood from spiders killed and they looked confused at Lidda, even as they readied themselves for more strikes. She nodded furiously, shouting.
“Stop attacking! Stop!”
Jozan let his mace drop to his side but didn’t turn his shield away. Regdar didn’t even lower his weapon but he stopped mid-swing. The spiders around them seemed to hesitate, as if suddenly they needed a command to continue. The entire cavern went silent as Tazerg lowered his arms and looked into the eyes of the giant spider; its mandibles clicked and shifted erratically, at least to Lidda, and it seemed confused as it swayed back and forth. Tazerg held his hands up, dropping his weapon, and looked almost like a horse trainer to the halfling. He almost cooed at the giant arachnid, affecting a defenseless posture and nodding at the creature as if they shared a connection.
“No, Mother. No hurt Tazerg’s friends. Please.” His goblin was soft, soothing even and Lidda was impressed.
Mostly by the fact that they weren’t being sucked dry by all of these damned spiders but still, impressed.
She palmed her sword. Tazerg must’ve heard, since he shifted himself back and bit and hissed quietly at her to stop. She did so.
“You’re the boss,” she commented but he didn’t even seem to register it. He moved his hands back and forth, shifting slowly and the spider seemed to be following his hands.
It looked almost hypnotized.
“Tell me you can control spiders, Tazerg.” Regdar’s voice seemed impossibly loud in the cavern and Lidda translated for the swaying goblin spider-tamer. The goblin nodded.
“Goblins find strange rock, long ago. Speak to Spider Mother.” He let his hands drop.
Lidda was stunned. She didn’t even translate those comments.
Naull elbowed her, wincing a little as she did so. The mage was bleeding a little puddle onto the stone.
“Oh! Right, right, sorry. Lots happening, you know?” She gave a humorless chuckle and explained.
“How?” Jozan asked.
“Well,” Naull said, shifting herself to stand up. She was unsteady but Lidda helped as much as she could. “Mages of legend could create items that allowed them to not only speak to animals but assume their forms, too. Maybe there was such an item and the goblins found it - the rock may be a magical artifact.” She looked fascinated.
“Tazerg,” Lidda asked. “Do you have the stone?”
He shook his head, still focusing on the spider. “Rezrek took. Killed Tazerg’s father. But Spider Mother remember Tazerg.” He seemed confident about that.
Lidda exchanged a look with Naull, who shrugged and then hissed at the pain of her wound.
“Don’t worry, Naull.” Lidda said, stealing a look back at the waiting bugbear now shrouded again in darkness. “I’ll make sure he pays for that.”
“Let’s just be thankful we aren’t being eaten right now, I think.” Naull’s comment was deadpan and Lidda had to suppress a chuckle.
Tazerg continued his shifting dance; hands up, back and forth moving as if in a pattern. It was like he was keeping the focus of the Spider Mother and that was keeping her children from killing them.
“Spider Mother protect brood,” the goblin said finally. “Not bad. Just protect.” He nodded. “We go. Slow.” He dropped his arms very slowly and the spider seemed to grow more still, her mandibles moving slower as the goblin took a step back.
Lidda turned to the bugbear. “Hey, asshole!” The figure shrank back, trying to make itself smaller. “Don’t do anything stupid like, I don’t know, shoot at us. You might hit one of the spider babies and that’ll really piss momma off.” She couldn’t be certain if the creature even spoke the same language but it didn’t fire.
That was at least a good sign, she thought.
Naull managed to shift back to Regdar, who took hold of her and she draped her arm over his shoulder. Jozan backed away, with Lidda and Tazerg following slowly behind. The goblin still kept the gaze of the spider, which watched every step they took. From behind them, Lidda thought she heard a noise like shuffling boots. A growl followed and the halfling woman rolled her eyes as she turned back, seeing the dim blue lichen illuminate two bugbears walking towards them on the bridge. They were almost fifty paces off and had done a great job of being silent, up to a point.
Neither bugbear looked like they were interested in a civil conversation.
“Gods, damn it.” She said with a sigh.
From her perch, Leden watched Fidul and Dulf approach the humans. She’d watched with fascination as Tazerg had stopped the spider mother from killing him and the others, even though Rezrek had the magic stone that made her listen to him. She was sure it would’ve snapped them all up and it would be done. But as he’d swayed, she watched in fascination. She’d shot one of them but now she wasn’t sure she wanted to keep firing at them.
She shook her head. She didn’t want to be part of this - she turned away as the sounds of battle reached her ears. Slinging the crossbow over her shoulder, she shifted the pack of bolts at her side and began to climb down from her perch. If the humans lived, so be it. Maybe they’d kill Rezrek and she could leave this place. If they died, then she would tell Rezrek that she’d tried but Dulf and Fidul would take the glory.
That was fine with her.
Regdar knocked the great morningstar aside, barely keeping the weapon from stoving his head in. He’d seen the damage such a weapon could do even with a helm and the strength of the bugbear would make the strike even more deadly. He had to keep it from scoring a solid strike, armored or not. He stepped back, screaming aloud and swinging his blade in a wide arc to keep the creature at bay. It didn’t give ground though. Instead it kicked out, catching the flat of his blade and unbalancing him. He stumbled back, grunting as he rolled close to the edge of the bridge.
The spiders had held off before. The little goblin Tazerg seemed to be able to control them. But now swarmed around the group again, keeping their distance as the giant mother hissed and shifted her head to snap at his companions. Naull had thrown a shield of magic up and the massive thing’s mandibles had skated off of it, showering blue sparks all over the now web-covered bridge. The hiss of the great spider was almost deafening this close.
Regdar ducked, avoiding a swipe of the bugbear’s paw. Jozan was trying to keep himself between Lidda and Naull. The other bugbear slammed its club against the shield, again and again. The battering, ringing noise echoed in the large cavern and Regdar could tell the priest was losing ground.
His distraction cost him. The morningstar glanced off of his right pauldron, sending him to the stone floor with great force. He nearly lost his grip on his sword. The bugbear dealt a powerful kick to his stomach and it knocked the wind out of the older warrior. Stars twinkled in his vision as he tried to stand. He felt the creature lift him up, a sudden wave of stench washing over him. It was so intense he was only just able to keep himself from vomiting. The thing smelled like it was already dead. It howled something in a tongue the warrior didn’t understand and he swung, connecting solidly with its jaw.
The bugbear barely registered the strike but Regdar felt something rattle loose. The beast growled, spitting blood and a broken tooth into the man’s face. The blood reeked and Regdar gagged, his body sagging as the creature dropped him to the stone floor. It shoved and the warrior had the wherewithal to drop to the floor. The bugbear overextended and nearly tripped over him.
Jozan yelled, his mace dealing a glancing blow to the bugbear attacking him.
Naull was in the process of casting a spell and Lidda couldn’t stop cursing; it was a steady stream of arcane phrases and halfling expletives shouted so loud they almost drowned out the clicking from the spiders surrounding them. Tazerg jumped forward, stabbing his little dagger into the meat of his bugbear’s thigh. It screamed, punching down but missing the little humanoid. Tazerg hissed, twisting the knife and tearing it out. The bugbear roared and brought the morningstar down, striking Regdar’s leg as he shoved the goblin aside. Pain exploded through his knee and he yelled, bringing his blade to bear and striking at the bugbear. The warrior’s blade was turned aside and he hobbled away, getting some distance between the creature and himself. He tested his leg.
White pain lanced through it but he could walk. That was what mattered.
Naull shouted the end of a spell and he saw it settle over the bugbear he fought; sparkling colors followed the sand she’d thrown. He dodged away, trying to get back from the spell and he watched Tazerg’s eyes flutter shut before he collapsed to the ground unconscious. The bugbear blinked a few times, then turned its head to Naull. It growled something in its tongue to the other bugbear, who gave a violent kick to Jozan’s shield that sent him back. It battered the priest’s defenses hard with its club, then reached out and tore the shield from Jozan’s arm.
The scream that escaped the younger man’s throat told Regdar that his arm was broken. The bugbear slung the shield towards Naull, whose face grew pale as death. The shield struck her in the shoulder as she tried to dodge. She screamed as well and stumbled back, her foot slipping past the edge of the bridge.
Regdar knew if she fell, she’d be killed.
He rushed to the bugbear, gritting his teeth against the popping in his knee, and swung his weapon low. The blade connected with the heavy boot of the creature and sheared through it easily, taking the foot at the ankle as it passed through. The bugbear howled, suddenly unbalanced, and toppled to the side.
Naull slipped over the edge, Lidda trying desperately to catch her. The young mage managed to grab the side of the bridge before she fell into the darkness but Lidda wasn’t strong enough to pull her up. Naull’s limp right arm, useless after the shield strike, couldn’t support any weight. Regdar pumped his arms and tried to reach them. But the fallen bugbear hurled its morningstar and struck him in the back, sending him sprawling as more hissing spiders crowded around him. They didn’t attack but it was only a matter of time, he knew.
He looked up to see the other bugbear grab Jozan by the head and begin to squeeze, lifting the much smaller man up off the ground. He yelled, dropping his mace and Jozan’s hands grabbed at the massive paws trying to crush his skull. He grunted, struggling against the thing’s immense strength and it made a horrible laughing noise. It sounded like a pig that had been stabbed; a halting, unnatural sound that filled Regdar’s ears. He struggled to his feet, snatched up his long blade and heard the bugbear behind him yelling. The one crushing Jozan turned, dropping the dazed priest. Jozan whimpered, falling to his knees and Regdar heard a prayer to Pelor pass the man’s lips.
The bugbear put its booted foot on Jozan, looked over to Regdar and shoved him over the side. There was no chance for the priest to catch himself.
Naull screamed for Jozan. She gave a look at Lidda and let go, slipping from the tiny woman’s grasp in an instant.
Regdar cried out.
The bugbear that had kicked Jozan moved forward, easily avoiding the weak swipe from Regdar and delivering a kick to the man’s head that sent him backwards. The dim blue lights around him swirled and black rushed to the edges of his vision. He looked up, his sword lost, and saw the leering face of the unwounded bugbear looking down at him. It smiled, seized his face in its paw and slammed his head into the stone beneath.
Regdar’s world exploded in red, then blackness took him.
Naull fell, spinning end over end into the darkness below. She could barely see the form of Jozan, which raced towards the gathering black beneath them. He screamed, limbs flailing, and she screamed as well. She desperately tore at her component pouch, trying to pull the words of her spell to her mind. They both passed another stone bridge and below she thought she heard the sound of water above the rush of air in her ears.
She took hold of nothing and let out a sob. She pulled her arms close to her body, death screaming towards her as she fell through the air beneath the ground. She felt a sticky web there.
It must’ve been on the ledge when I fell! Her mind practically burst with the realization.
Naull sobbed again, this time in joy. She tore the web away from her clothing, shouting the words of power to her spell as quickly as she could and threw her hands out. Water raced towards her and Jozan.
The blackness took them both.
Though she’d struggled to figure out where exactly they were, up and down meant almost nothing to her in the underground, she did a decent job of keeping pace with the manic guide. He was very nervous, obviously, but that made it harder to follow what he was saying. Lidda wasn’t a scholar of the goblin language and sometimes he’d say something that went right over her head. She was happy for the little bit she did know but trying to piece together everything felt exhausting and she just wanted to be out of this hellhole.
She would never travel into another cave as long as she lived, she decided.
They came to a large bridge of stone. It was so long that Lidda couldn’t see the end of it but for a moment it felt familiar. She looked up, the blue glow surrounding them just enough light for her excellent vision to pick out another bridge right above her. “Tazerg,” she said. “Where are you taking us?”
The goblin seemed to process this for a moment, nodding and pointing to the bridge.
“Lidda follow. Meet with Nelnek. Old goblin. Plan to kill Rezrek. Need plan.” He said.
The halfling nodded. That made sense. Better to have a plan on how to kill a bugbear than not. She nodded, turned back to the group and explained the situation.
"Is this the bridge beneath the one with the falling creatures?" Jozan asked, nervously looking up as he did so. Lidda watched his eyes search the darkness above.
“I think so,” Lidda said, only partially certain it was the same bridge. The distance was too great; she couldn’t tell enough about the bridge above them to be sure because of the lighting.
“Oh, good.” Naull murmured sarcastically. “Let’s see if we can avoid being dropped down upon this time.”
Jozan heartily agreed. “I’d second that very strongly.”
“Alright. Let’s move.” She motioned to Tazerg, who scooted forward with his weapon out. His eyes must’ve been much better than hers, Lidda thought. She tried to recall if Thissa, the goblin she’d spent a few months with when she was trying to impress the Half Moon Guild in Volanth, had good night sight. She was a great pickpocket, Lidda remembered, but she did most of her work during the day. A goblin was surprisingly good at getting into and out of a crowd without being noticed. She’d been impressed.
She shook her head. It isn’t important now, she mused. What mattered was that Tazerg was leading them and he knew where he was going. That meant he could probably lead them out after they’d dealt with the bugbear. Bugbears, she shook her head as she remembered. Tazerg said there were several.
“Ugh. Just my damned luck.” She whispered to herself.
“Damn luck.” Tazerg repeated what she’d said and she laughed. Jozan seemed less amused.
“Maybe we shouldn’t teach the goblins how to curse, Lidda.” His tone was chiding but she blew it off.
“You take the fun out of being stuck underground, surrounded by things that want to kill us.” She rolled her eyes and fell back in line with Tazerg.
The expanse this bridge stretched was immense. The smooth stone surface had a few rocks here and there, probably from the ceiling above and the little octopuses that had attacked them moving. What the halfling could see of the natural stone walls was minimal but they were a good stone throw away. She vaguely wondered if she could run and catch the wall but immediately dismissed the thought. That would be a long fall. The massive bridge split off to the left up ahead, a much wider walkway but Tazerg ignored it. When Lidda went to ask about it, he waved his hand at her.
“No. That way down to Spider Mother den. Not go there.” His tone was serious and he seemed focused.
“I’m sorry, what is a spider mother?” Asked Jozan.
“Biggest spider. Mother of spiders.” He responded in a tone that Lidda tried to convey; she promised herself she’d try to brush up on her goblin the next time she was in Volanth.
“How big,” Jozan began his question, only to be cut off by the sound of something skimming off the hard stone at their feet. It bounced away, careening into the darkness and striking the stone wall beyond them. To her trained eyes, it looked like a crossbow bolt. She whirled around, her keen eyes searching the darkness and found the glint of metal hidden in a crevasse like the one they’d slept in. A figure was crouched there, aiming a crossbow bolt at them - it had barely missed them. Lidda yelled, pointing to the area the creature was hiding in.
“Archer!” She yelled, shoving Tazerg forward with a grunt and waving to the others to follow. They had to find cover. The walkway had nothing to hide behind and they’d be easy pickings if they didn’t move! Another bolt whizzed by her head, slamming into the wall behind her. Had she been another inch taller, it would’ve struck her forehead. She yelped. Regdar cursed, yelling at Jozan to use the shield to keep them covered. But the priest couldn’t see where the attack would be coming from. Just as the figure loaded another bolt. Lidda caught movement from her left - a stream of man-sized spiders exploded from the shadows to the left and scurried over the bridge towards the group.
Lidda screamed - though if it was fear or just anger, she couldn’t tell.
“Naull!” Regdar yelled, pointing to the horde of spiderlings that swarmed forward. The young mage, who’d hiked up her robes to run faster without worry of tripping, turned and began the incantation of a spell. The words were cut off by a pained grunt and Naull stopped running, looking confused and staggered to her knees. Lidda looked back, seeing a blossoming red stain spread out over her back. She’d been hit!
The halfling skidded to a halt, turning on her heel as gracefully as possible and leaping her way back to the fallen girl. She shot her head towards the figure, who was still crouched. Lidda couldn’t get a good look at it but the creature looked smaller than the bugbears they’d fought. But definitely bigger than a goblin. The halfling heard the unmistakable sound of a crossbow being loaded.
Regdar yelled for Naull again but this time it was laced with fear. He’d turned and drawn his large blade. A spider had cleared the distance to him and with a great swing he cut the creature down, sending the dead thing tumbling down into the darkness. But there were so many more spiders. They crawled over the bridge, under it and all along the walls. Several of them, partially hidden in the darkness, seemed to rear their backs up and Lidda narrowed her eyes. A thin stream of silk exploded from the spinnerets they had, casting out a strange line of webbing that slapped against the stone bridge and barely missed Jozan. He gasped, swinging the shield towards them and using the edge to cut through the thick strands. Several remained, though, and the spiders used these as bridges to reach the group. Lidda saw that other spiders were moving for her and Naull, who lay gasping on the ground.
“Ugh,” she mumbled, squeezing and unsqueezing her hand as Lidda looked at the wound. The bolt was buried deep in her back and might have punched through to her lung. She couldn’t be sure and she didn’t have the time to figure out how bad the injury was.
“Come on, girl, we need to GO!” She shouted, trying to pull the woman up. But she was too heavy and Naull slipped as she took to her feet, stumbling forward and almost slamming into the floor. Lidda cursed and a trio of spiders scuttled towards them, mandibles gnashing as they quickly closed the distance. Naull turned her hand towards them, yelling an arcane phrase.
“Furrus ferain!”
Flames burst from the girl’s hands and Lidda watched as they roasted the spiders alive, their bodies seizing as the flames greedily ate at their carapaces. They curled up, collapsing into themselves as the bodies became like ash; one tipped to the side and fell into a pile of grey and black cinders. The illumination gave Lidda the opportunity to see how truly damned they were.
Over a dozen of the spiders were swarming around them; several attacking Jozan and Regdar, who now stood back to back. They kept the creatures at bay but it was a losing battle. There were too many of them. More were coming to take the place of the ones Naull had killed. But the archer hadn’t fired again, Lidda noted. She looked over and saw a small bugbear, looking at the two women with a curious expression. She couldn’t tell what it was and a great shifting noise behind her drew Lidda’s eyes away.
From the left, a great pair of spider’s legs emerged from a large alcove. They were massive; probably ten times Lidda’s height and the halfling felt her breath catch in her throat as she and Naull watched what pulled itself forth into their vision. Even with the dim lighting, they could see the huge arachnid crawl from the hole and reared up towards them. It swarmed with a dozen smaller spiders, each as large as Regdar, and the terrible beast locked its glassy black eyes onto them. A deep, strange hissing noise spilled from it and the great spider moved slowly forward. If it was moving slowly because of how big it was or because it wanted them to feel as much fear as possible before it killed them, Lidda couldn’t be sure.
She whimpered.
“Oh gods,” Naull said, drawing a ragged breath.
The titanic thing stretched its long legs out, easily finding purchase against the wall and the bridge. Regdar yelled for Lidda to get Naull to them but the halfling didn’t think she could even if she wanted to. The spider was already on them. Lidda brandished her blade at the big thing, hissing in turn as it drew its head towards her. The mandibles clacked menacingly and Lidda was certain they were longer than she was tall. She gulped. At least she’d die protecting someone, she thought grimly.
“I guess Belmer was wrong,” she said to herself. She felt Naull shift behind her and the woman was speaking some phrases. Lidda hoped it was a spell that would whisk them all away.
Tazerg yelled something in goblin at her and she turned, seeing him dashing forward in the confusion of it all. His bare feet slapped the stone and he waved his hands, screaming.
“No hurt! No hurt Spider Mother!” He shouted, out of breath by the time he skidded to a stop before Lidda. He held his thin little arms up towards the giant spider and, to Lidda’s surprise and relief, the thing stopped. It seemed to regard Tazerg with curious eyes.
“No kill spiderlings! Mother’s children listen to goblins!” He shouted, pointing to Regdar and Jozan; both were covered in blue blood from spiders killed and they looked confused at Lidda, even as they readied themselves for more strikes. She nodded furiously, shouting.
“Stop attacking! Stop!”
Jozan let his mace drop to his side but didn’t turn his shield away. Regdar didn’t even lower his weapon but he stopped mid-swing. The spiders around them seemed to hesitate, as if suddenly they needed a command to continue. The entire cavern went silent as Tazerg lowered his arms and looked into the eyes of the giant spider; its mandibles clicked and shifted erratically, at least to Lidda, and it seemed confused as it swayed back and forth. Tazerg held his hands up, dropping his weapon, and looked almost like a horse trainer to the halfling. He almost cooed at the giant arachnid, affecting a defenseless posture and nodding at the creature as if they shared a connection.
“No, Mother. No hurt Tazerg’s friends. Please.” His goblin was soft, soothing even and Lidda was impressed.
Mostly by the fact that they weren’t being sucked dry by all of these damned spiders but still, impressed.
She palmed her sword. Tazerg must’ve heard, since he shifted himself back and bit and hissed quietly at her to stop. She did so.
“You’re the boss,” she commented but he didn’t even seem to register it. He moved his hands back and forth, shifting slowly and the spider seemed to be following his hands.
It looked almost hypnotized.
“Tell me you can control spiders, Tazerg.” Regdar’s voice seemed impossibly loud in the cavern and Lidda translated for the swaying goblin spider-tamer. The goblin nodded.
“Goblins find strange rock, long ago. Speak to Spider Mother.” He let his hands drop.
Lidda was stunned. She didn’t even translate those comments.
Naull elbowed her, wincing a little as she did so. The mage was bleeding a little puddle onto the stone.
“Oh! Right, right, sorry. Lots happening, you know?” She gave a humorless chuckle and explained.
“How?” Jozan asked.
“Well,” Naull said, shifting herself to stand up. She was unsteady but Lidda helped as much as she could. “Mages of legend could create items that allowed them to not only speak to animals but assume their forms, too. Maybe there was such an item and the goblins found it - the rock may be a magical artifact.” She looked fascinated.
“Tazerg,” Lidda asked. “Do you have the stone?”
He shook his head, still focusing on the spider. “Rezrek took. Killed Tazerg’s father. But Spider Mother remember Tazerg.” He seemed confident about that.
Lidda exchanged a look with Naull, who shrugged and then hissed at the pain of her wound.
“Don’t worry, Naull.” Lidda said, stealing a look back at the waiting bugbear now shrouded again in darkness. “I’ll make sure he pays for that.”
“Let’s just be thankful we aren’t being eaten right now, I think.” Naull’s comment was deadpan and Lidda had to suppress a chuckle.
Tazerg continued his shifting dance; hands up, back and forth moving as if in a pattern. It was like he was keeping the focus of the Spider Mother and that was keeping her children from killing them.
“Spider Mother protect brood,” the goblin said finally. “Not bad. Just protect.” He nodded. “We go. Slow.” He dropped his arms very slowly and the spider seemed to grow more still, her mandibles moving slower as the goblin took a step back.
Lidda turned to the bugbear. “Hey, asshole!” The figure shrank back, trying to make itself smaller. “Don’t do anything stupid like, I don’t know, shoot at us. You might hit one of the spider babies and that’ll really piss momma off.” She couldn’t be certain if the creature even spoke the same language but it didn’t fire.
That was at least a good sign, she thought.
Naull managed to shift back to Regdar, who took hold of her and she draped her arm over his shoulder. Jozan backed away, with Lidda and Tazerg following slowly behind. The goblin still kept the gaze of the spider, which watched every step they took. From behind them, Lidda thought she heard a noise like shuffling boots. A growl followed and the halfling woman rolled her eyes as she turned back, seeing the dim blue lichen illuminate two bugbears walking towards them on the bridge. They were almost fifty paces off and had done a great job of being silent, up to a point.
Neither bugbear looked like they were interested in a civil conversation.
“Gods, damn it.” She said with a sigh.
From her perch, Leden watched Fidul and Dulf approach the humans. She’d watched with fascination as Tazerg had stopped the spider mother from killing him and the others, even though Rezrek had the magic stone that made her listen to him. She was sure it would’ve snapped them all up and it would be done. But as he’d swayed, she watched in fascination. She’d shot one of them but now she wasn’t sure she wanted to keep firing at them.
She shook her head. She didn’t want to be part of this - she turned away as the sounds of battle reached her ears. Slinging the crossbow over her shoulder, she shifted the pack of bolts at her side and began to climb down from her perch. If the humans lived, so be it. Maybe they’d kill Rezrek and she could leave this place. If they died, then she would tell Rezrek that she’d tried but Dulf and Fidul would take the glory.
That was fine with her.
Regdar knocked the great morningstar aside, barely keeping the weapon from stoving his head in. He’d seen the damage such a weapon could do even with a helm and the strength of the bugbear would make the strike even more deadly. He had to keep it from scoring a solid strike, armored or not. He stepped back, screaming aloud and swinging his blade in a wide arc to keep the creature at bay. It didn’t give ground though. Instead it kicked out, catching the flat of his blade and unbalancing him. He stumbled back, grunting as he rolled close to the edge of the bridge.
The spiders had held off before. The little goblin Tazerg seemed to be able to control them. But now swarmed around the group again, keeping their distance as the giant mother hissed and shifted her head to snap at his companions. Naull had thrown a shield of magic up and the massive thing’s mandibles had skated off of it, showering blue sparks all over the now web-covered bridge. The hiss of the great spider was almost deafening this close.
Regdar ducked, avoiding a swipe of the bugbear’s paw. Jozan was trying to keep himself between Lidda and Naull. The other bugbear slammed its club against the shield, again and again. The battering, ringing noise echoed in the large cavern and Regdar could tell the priest was losing ground.
His distraction cost him. The morningstar glanced off of his right pauldron, sending him to the stone floor with great force. He nearly lost his grip on his sword. The bugbear dealt a powerful kick to his stomach and it knocked the wind out of the older warrior. Stars twinkled in his vision as he tried to stand. He felt the creature lift him up, a sudden wave of stench washing over him. It was so intense he was only just able to keep himself from vomiting. The thing smelled like it was already dead. It howled something in a tongue the warrior didn’t understand and he swung, connecting solidly with its jaw.
The bugbear barely registered the strike but Regdar felt something rattle loose. The beast growled, spitting blood and a broken tooth into the man’s face. The blood reeked and Regdar gagged, his body sagging as the creature dropped him to the stone floor. It shoved and the warrior had the wherewithal to drop to the floor. The bugbear overextended and nearly tripped over him.
Jozan yelled, his mace dealing a glancing blow to the bugbear attacking him.
Naull was in the process of casting a spell and Lidda couldn’t stop cursing; it was a steady stream of arcane phrases and halfling expletives shouted so loud they almost drowned out the clicking from the spiders surrounding them. Tazerg jumped forward, stabbing his little dagger into the meat of his bugbear’s thigh. It screamed, punching down but missing the little humanoid. Tazerg hissed, twisting the knife and tearing it out. The bugbear roared and brought the morningstar down, striking Regdar’s leg as he shoved the goblin aside. Pain exploded through his knee and he yelled, bringing his blade to bear and striking at the bugbear. The warrior’s blade was turned aside and he hobbled away, getting some distance between the creature and himself. He tested his leg.
White pain lanced through it but he could walk. That was what mattered.
Naull shouted the end of a spell and he saw it settle over the bugbear he fought; sparkling colors followed the sand she’d thrown. He dodged away, trying to get back from the spell and he watched Tazerg’s eyes flutter shut before he collapsed to the ground unconscious. The bugbear blinked a few times, then turned its head to Naull. It growled something in its tongue to the other bugbear, who gave a violent kick to Jozan’s shield that sent him back. It battered the priest’s defenses hard with its club, then reached out and tore the shield from Jozan’s arm.
The scream that escaped the younger man’s throat told Regdar that his arm was broken. The bugbear slung the shield towards Naull, whose face grew pale as death. The shield struck her in the shoulder as she tried to dodge. She screamed as well and stumbled back, her foot slipping past the edge of the bridge.
Regdar knew if she fell, she’d be killed.
He rushed to the bugbear, gritting his teeth against the popping in his knee, and swung his weapon low. The blade connected with the heavy boot of the creature and sheared through it easily, taking the foot at the ankle as it passed through. The bugbear howled, suddenly unbalanced, and toppled to the side.
Naull slipped over the edge, Lidda trying desperately to catch her. The young mage managed to grab the side of the bridge before she fell into the darkness but Lidda wasn’t strong enough to pull her up. Naull’s limp right arm, useless after the shield strike, couldn’t support any weight. Regdar pumped his arms and tried to reach them. But the fallen bugbear hurled its morningstar and struck him in the back, sending him sprawling as more hissing spiders crowded around him. They didn’t attack but it was only a matter of time, he knew.
He looked up to see the other bugbear grab Jozan by the head and begin to squeeze, lifting the much smaller man up off the ground. He yelled, dropping his mace and Jozan’s hands grabbed at the massive paws trying to crush his skull. He grunted, struggling against the thing’s immense strength and it made a horrible laughing noise. It sounded like a pig that had been stabbed; a halting, unnatural sound that filled Regdar’s ears. He struggled to his feet, snatched up his long blade and heard the bugbear behind him yelling. The one crushing Jozan turned, dropping the dazed priest. Jozan whimpered, falling to his knees and Regdar heard a prayer to Pelor pass the man’s lips.
The bugbear put its booted foot on Jozan, looked over to Regdar and shoved him over the side. There was no chance for the priest to catch himself.
Naull screamed for Jozan. She gave a look at Lidda and let go, slipping from the tiny woman’s grasp in an instant.
Regdar cried out.
The bugbear that had kicked Jozan moved forward, easily avoiding the weak swipe from Regdar and delivering a kick to the man’s head that sent him backwards. The dim blue lights around him swirled and black rushed to the edges of his vision. He looked up, his sword lost, and saw the leering face of the unwounded bugbear looking down at him. It smiled, seized his face in its paw and slammed his head into the stone beneath.
Regdar’s world exploded in red, then blackness took him.
Naull fell, spinning end over end into the darkness below. She could barely see the form of Jozan, which raced towards the gathering black beneath them. He screamed, limbs flailing, and she screamed as well. She desperately tore at her component pouch, trying to pull the words of her spell to her mind. They both passed another stone bridge and below she thought she heard the sound of water above the rush of air in her ears.
She took hold of nothing and let out a sob. She pulled her arms close to her body, death screaming towards her as she fell through the air beneath the ground. She felt a sticky web there.
It must’ve been on the ledge when I fell! Her mind practically burst with the realization.
Naull sobbed again, this time in joy. She tore the web away from her clothing, shouting the words of power to her spell as quickly as she could and threw her hands out. Water raced towards her and Jozan.
The blackness took them both.
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