1.19: Lady Mallica and the Spider Caverns II
Blinding red light filled the chamber and an explosion of energy sent the spiders flying back away from me. A glowing chain made of blood red energy came out of the back of my left hand and wrapped up around my arm all the way to the top of my bicep. The same dark red energy took shape in front of me, and then formed the familiar silhouette of my master. Waves of dark energy kept the spiders from getting close to us, and I looked up at him as the light faded and winked out. His feminine form pressed against me and pulled me into a tight embrace before he glanced around the room.
“Get in a bit over your head did you, my little one? Well… it’s time to show you a taste of my true strength.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to him, so I merely nodded and reequipped my armor. He held out both hands and a giant claymore appeared in each. Bringing both blades together, he swung them and struck the ground hard. A shockwave traveled along the cave floor, instantly incinerating any spider caught in its path. All of the eggs save for the one I was holding were destroyed in an instant, and he ran ahead towards a tunnel that descended further. My other clan mates made it through the passage right as I was turning to follow behind my master.
“Allie! Wait! What the hell just happened?”
I stopped and turned to face Emelia and the others. I set the egg down at my feet and spoke softly so that my master wouldn’t overhear me.
“Wait here. I’ll explain when I get back.”
I held up the arm with the glowing chain and blew her a kiss. After spinning around quickly, I ran to catch up with my master. I stepped over countless spider corpses as I descended into another large cavern. I heard the sounds of my master speaking with someone, and I slowly entered the area. Sitting in the middle of the room atop a spider the size of a pickup truck was what appeared to be a girl no more than 10 or 11. Her skin was almost the same color as my master’s and she had four red pupiless eyes. She wore what looked like a tattered sundress made of spider silk, and had jet black shoulder length hair. When she spoke, she did so in a voice that sounded exactly like a child's laced with dark undertones. It made goosebumps rise up on my skin to hear such a sweet innocent sounding voice coming from such a demonic creature.
“Is this another one of your whores, Mellic? She certainly looks like something your perverted mind could come up with.”
“Yes. Allexus is my servant. I altered her body to make her into the perfect killing machine. I even came up with a new enchantment that allows me to benefit from her kills. Would you like me to show you how deadly she’s become?”
She snorted through her nose and shook her head.
“If your whore fights anything like you… it won’t be much of a display. You always were too reliant on your enchanting skills, brother.”
The girl turned to me and grinned.
“Have you figured out that he’s not what he appears to be, girl? My brother may try to lead you to believe he’s all brawn and no brains… but he’s just as cunning as he is cruel.”
“You’re lucky I can’t move, Mallica… otherwise I’d remove that pretty head of yours and feed it to your children”
I looked over at my master and noticed that his body was completely covered in several thick layers of webbing from the neck down. I wondered why he didn’t break free and overpower her due to his much higher level, but when I looked at him I saw he was only level 31. The lack of a skill description on the [Summon Master] skill meant I had no idea what it actually did, but apparently when I summoned him it reduced his level to the same as mine.
The small girl held her hand up and the massive spider folded its legs and crouched down. She hopped off and landed nimbly on her feet before walking slowly towards me. I towered over her, but I still felt immense waves of power coming from her. She motioned with one finger for me to come to her, and I moved very close. She beckoned again and I knelt down in front of her. She spoke with her voice barely above a whisper.
“Let me let you in on a little secret, girl… My brother is unrivaled when it comes to enchanting skills, but he lacks any abilities beyond that.”
She giggled, a sound that would have been adorable if it didn't sound so sinister, and turned back towards the giant spider as it made a chittering noise. She turned her head and glared back at me.
“Nelva tells me my other children have captured more enemies in one of my birthing chambers… friends of yours?”
Panic surged through me and I nodded grimly. She waved one of her hands to signal something, and I looked around. After a moment several bear-sized spiders walked into the cavern pulling several bodies covered in spider silk. My clan mates had been encased in webbing and my heart sank when it appeared that they weren’t breathing.
“Relax, girl… your friends are still alive… for now. My children prefer to eat their prey while it’s still squirming.”
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the silk on one of the bodies started turning to ice, and I knew I needed to make a diversion to allow Emelia time to escape. I quickly glanced down at the chain on my left arm and saw that most of it had changed to a dull gray color. The timer for my master’s summoning was running out quickly, so whatever I was going to do, I needed to do it now.
My palms lit on fire as I cast my [Demonfire] spell, and I threw both of the large fireballs across the room. One struck my master’s right arm, and the other hit the massive spider in the leg. The spider queen growled at me and waved her hand. Webbing rose from the ground and started covering the lower half of my body, and I used the last of my MP to ignite my entire body in [Demonfire]. The webbing burned away, and I unsheathed my sword and focused all my demonic speed on attacking the small girl in front of me. Just as I was about to close the gap and bring the blade of my sword down on her tiny neck, the massive spider moved in front of her to take the blow. I sliced through chitin and flesh, and an enormous spider leg fell to the ground. I went to attack again, but Mallica had already cast several spells that hit me in the chest. My body refused to listen and stood motionless no matter how hard I focused. The spider queen was about to say something to me, when my master flew across the room and drove both of his blades deep into the large spider’s head. It thrashed around a few times and collapsed onto the floor.
“YOU DARE?! I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU!!”
Mallica roared and a wave of energy knocked me and my master backwards. Due to my paralysis, I toppled over and wound up hitting the floor with a heavy impact. The demon lord spread his wings to stop himself from being knocked over, and drew his blades back in preparation for another attack. He flew quicker than I could have imagined and each of the massive claymores whistled as they cut through the air. For a moment I thought he was going to cleave his sister in two, but just as he was about to make contact with her, his massive body crumbled to dust and fell to the floor. I couldn’t move my eyes or head to see, but the summoning spell must have ran out at the worst possible moment. Mallica stomped her way over to me, and cast another spell at me. I felt my body move on its own as I stood up and looked at the small spider queen.
“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t make you kill yourself? You killed my firstborn daughter… and for that alone… I should make you rip your own heart out. You would-”
Dark green blood poured from her mouth and I felt the spells on my body release. I looked down and saw the tip of a large ice spear sticking out from her ribcage. Emelia was on her hands and knees catching her breath, and I pulled out my sword. With a swift motion, I cut Mallica’s head from her body and watched the headless corpse fall to the ground. I ran over to check on Em, and she looked up at me and shook her head.
“Get… The… others… out!”
I used my sword to quickly free the others, and they all sat for a moment gasping for air. I ran from person to person, making sure that each of them was alright, before returning to Emelia. She was standing next to the spider queen’s corpse, inspecting it closely. As I walked over, she turned and put one arm around me.
“That was too close, babe. When I saw the webbing start to cover everyone, I thought the next thing I was going to see was the sanctuary. Back there… How- How did you kill all those spiders? There were hundreds of them, and it looked like they had been blasted apart.”
I sighed and pursed my lips.
“I uh… I summoned my master. I had literally seconds to spare before my ability ran out, and I did the only thing I could think of. He cut through the spiders like they were nothing, but I didn’t realize his level would go down to mine… so… the spider queen was able to overpower us. If your ice touch hadn’t frozen the webbing that was covering you, I would have no idea what to do. You saved everyone Em. Not me, not my master… you.”
I pulled her into a tight embrace and grabbed her face gently in my hands. I kissed her over and over, covering her face and neck in sweet passionate kisses. She pulled away slightly and kissed the tip of my nose. I set her down, and breathed a huge sigh; partly from relief, and partly from weariness. I turned to face the others and cocked my head in confusion.
“Hey, where’s Aeryn?”