Chapter 14: A quiet escape.
"Run." Was all Bhrook said, taking his own advice. His long legs eating up the distance as countless pissed off spiders give chase. The queen was hissing something fierce, looking for the jackal that dared attack it.
I couldn't spot the canine, the room was almost completely overrun as it is. I put my feet to work, I feel like all I've been doing for a while now is running. But if that keeps me alive then I'm not complaining.
Until after I have my revenge, the abyss can have me then, not before.
The cavern is a maze of stalagmites, navigating it's paths is a bitch of a chore. We make like terrified pigeons, scattering in flight. The cavern feels smaller by the second, more and more spiders flooding every orifice. Bhrook and Quan were ahead by a few yards, decimating any and all unfortunate spiders that came too close.
Watching Bhrook swing his absurdly oversized Warhammer with the precision of a virtuoso, cracking chitinous armour and caving in bones with such speed and ease, his movements seemed reserved like he's doing a slow dance. Around him lays dozens of dead and dying spiders, all broken and crushed.
The spiders were the size of a grown man, decked in green-blue chitinous armour, with spines extending from their segmented legs, dripping venom. I don't want to find out what the venom does.
Quan is a whirlwind of death, flowing in and out among the arachnids, each stroke of his sword rips apart multiple arthropods. Severing spindly legs, cephalothorax and abdomen.
If Bhrook is a virtuoso then Quan is a savant, a dealer in death. His sword sings, and arachnids die. Kassia was right behind Quan, tomahawks blazing with incandescent light as she hacks at legs and joints.
I follow a step behind. My spear worthless in this press of bodies, so I turn my attention to the arachnid queen. It has given up on locating the jackal and turned it's ire on us. Scuttling towards us on all eight legs, it's movement jerky like a drunk bug the size of a house. it was fast for it's size.
"Quan, queen inbound." It was meant to be a scream, but came out more of a squeak. Something about a lumbering house size spider evokes primal fear even in the most stoic of hearts.
Running on the corpse of the dead has reduced the pace of our movement, the bodies were piling up faster than i can scale them. I'm falling behind.
The arachnids were catching up, their thin spear-like legs easily piercing the chitin of their fallen brethren. The queen not far behind, bulling through her underlings, crushing them under her immense weight. It was closer to me than I thought, how Is it so fast with it's size? Fear zips through me.
"Quan." This time it was a proper scream fueled by terror.
Unfortunately for me, Quan was surrounded by more than a dozen arachnids, he'll not make it in time to save me. At the rate the queen was moving, it'll catch me In a few more seconds, I need to do something. And fast.
"Down." A gutteral voice booms across the cavern. I didn't think twice, throwing myself flat on the hard ground. I nearly missed what happened next.
A huge hammer arcs across the air, smashing into the arachnid queen with such force it sends shockwaves through the entire cavern. The cavern lights dims, like a giant hand covering the light of a candle.
The hammer bounces off the queen, leaving a small crack in her chitin armour, it circles around killing or crippling dozens of spiders before flying back to it's owner. The giant just saved my ass.
The queen turns to Bhrook and let's out a hiss, from my place on the floor I stare up at the underbelly of the queen. It was without armor and fleshy. Without thinking I heft my spear by the haft, channelling so much vita I shake from the overflow, I jump straight up like a projectile released from a slingshot. Slamming into the queens underbelly spear first.
I didn't know what to expect, but my weapon sinking up to my wrist wasn't it. The queen doesn't even notice, my attack was akin to sticking a needle into a creature the size of a house.
My allies were almost at the lip of the exit, but each second more and more spiders poured in. I could scarcely make an inch not crawling with arachnids. Worse, they seem to be variants among them. Smaller, faster, darker, more compact. Their main point of attack appears to be the spines nesting upon their backs, which they fire with enough force to pierce solid stone.
I hang under the rampaging queen, holding on for dear life. An unconscious Kassia has made it through the exit, carried by Quan, multiple spines sticking out of her body. Bhrook is kiting the queen away from the exit, smashing through clusters of spiders like a hammer to eggs. Their spine projectiles unable to penetrate his armour.
It would have been a great plan, if I wasn't stuck to the underside of the queen, who by each minute was leading me further away from my escape.
"HERON. Where, the fuck...are you?" It was Quan's voice. I could answer, but that would put me in more danger than I already am. As is, nobody notices my presence under the queen, if I reply they would be on me in seconds. The moment seemed to stretch, and then collapse in on itself. I stay quiet.
"Go. I will find." Bhrook's rumbling voice is loud enough to send pebbles scattering. I see the conflict on Quan's face, he wants to find me, but he also has to get his daughter to safety. I quietly urge him to take her and leave. The majority of arachnids were focused on Bhrook, with a few lazy swings of Fíngr he slices clean through the last trio of spiders harassing him.
More peel away from the cluster, shooting out spines. He takes one last look around, finally his eyes find mine. I nod. Understanding, he turns to leave, carrying his daughter on his shoulder.
In moments I could no longer see Quan, he moves fast. Half a dozen spiders give chase, but they'll never catch him, if they somehow managed to, only death awaits them in the end.
I turn my attention to more pressing matters, how do I escape my predicament? I scan my surroundings, there's got to be a way out. Come on, Heron, think. Ahead Bhrook is making his way towards a crevice that looks too small for me to squeeze through. How does he hope to get through?
The cavern was growing more dim by the second, I spot a nest of tunnels coming up ahead, just a few paces shy of where Bhrook was heading. A quiet escape wasn't in the cards for me, I have a feeling this is gonna hurt. A lot.
I prepare to jump, hoping I get the timing and angle right, else...well, I wouldn't need worry about what comes after a few minutes. Bhrook has made it to the crevice, the shadows wreathing him becomes sludge and seems to flow like syrup. Right before my eyes Bhrook oozes into the crevice and is gone in the space of a heart beat.
I am left behind. Alone. And surrounded by enemies.