Now that he was on the other side of the doorway, he could see a faint, sickly looking, yellow light coming from hundreds of small orbs in the rather large atrium on this side of the landing. It took him a moment to realize why there seemed to be a gap in the otherwise densely clustered orbs. Something large blocked the orbs’ light about twenty feet further into the room. Raising a shaking hand, he pointed his finger at it, summoning the power of the xatherite. The fireball bloomed in the air between him and the creature, streaking towards its massive form. The light shed by the fireball illuminated the room to some extent. It resolved the shadowed mass into a man-sized black spider with its abdomen displaying a crimson, four-foot-tall hourglass.
The fireball spell hit the spider near where its abdomen and thorax connected. Two of the legs on its left side were burned in the blast, hindering the monster’s movement considerably. Drew pushed himself to his feet while the spider struggled to maneuver its body towards him. Its bulk and injuries prevented the normally rapid movement it used to hunt down prey. He held one hand low and flat, the other pointing at the spider, waiting for a shot at a vital spot. Minor acid dart’s damage wasn’t high, but if he could hit an eye or two with it, he might be able to keep on the spider’s injured side long enough for fireball to eat through its health pool.
The spider raised its two front legs. Wickedly sharp blades became evident even in the dim lighting, with the front left leg notably lower than the right as it tried to compensate for the damage he had already caused it on that side of its body. The ambient light was just barely enough for Drew to get a sense of what the much larger creature was doing. When the spider had finally managed to shift to face him directly, he flicked the fingers on his left hand and an acid dart shot towards the left side of the spider’s head. Drew was hoping to disable an eye, but the darkness prevented him from being able to see if it scored any damage. One of his hands immediately began the series of seals to summon a dancing blade while his other hand was still held flat and ready. Drew edged to the right, hoping to stay on the weak side of the spider, who was beginning a slow and painful looking shuffle towards him.
Opting to close the distance with the spider’s weak side, Drew dashed forward. His cone of frost raked the arachnid’s flank, encasing the left front leg and a considerable portion of its body in ice just as it tried to slice at him with its leg. The sound of ripping cloth and the burning feeling in his arm told him that he hadn’t dodged quickly enough. He mentally cursed the heavy boots he wore that made his already slow movement speed even worse. Still, he had managed to avoid being impaled on its sharp leg
Dancing Blade flashed into being and immediately sliced towards the last good supporting leg on the spider’s left side, hacking a deep wound through the chitin and causing blue ichor to spray into Drew’s face and mouth. The nearly crippled beast took another burst of damage as an arc of electricity was emitted from his elbow, colliding with the already damaged leg. With a crack of protest, the leg gave out, sending the hundred-pound spider crashing into the ground near him.
Drew stumbled, spitting out the vile tasting ichor. The uneven ground and heavy impact combined, causing him to trip. His chin bashed against the cement floor as he crashed, rolling into several of the orbs lining the room. Fighting through the pain that seemed to fill his entire body, he stumbled to his feet again. The spider was thrashing around in the middle of the room but was unable to get close enough to him with its good legs to do any damage. Drew warily backed away, casting his long-range spells that weren’t on cooldown for the next half a minute. The third fireball he launched managed to finish the beast off. As the red glare of the spell faded, the spider twitched once, twice more, and then went still.
Casting his eyes around to see if there were any other hostiles, he put his back against the wall, keeping an eye on the door. He was waiting for the furry biped to reappear now that the spider was dealt with. His breath was coming in ragged gasps, and his good hand began to form the seals for refresh. The seconds it took to cast the yellow spell seemed like an eternity to Drew, whose head was still ringing from the hard impact of his chin against the floor. Blood trickled from the two major wounds on his temple and shoulder, mingling with his sweat and causing his uniform to stick uncomfortably to his body.
Refresh did its job. Drew felt his mind and body renew, recovering the dangerously flagging energy levels to which the fight had reduced him. However, it did nothing for his open wounds, and this didn’t seem like a place where he could tend to his injuries. Immediately after finishing refresh, he began to cast mana guard, not wanting to take another blow from the hairy beast without its protection. Dancing sword disappeared, and he pressed his hand to the wound on his shoulder, worried about bleeding too much.
Inspecting the orbs now that he wasn’t under obvious threat, he realized that they were eggs. He was standing in a nest of thousands of spider eggs. He shivered, his mind and training fighting against the shock that his body wanted to succumb. Refresh could only do so much for him; his vitality had been bolstered but was draining away just as quickly with his blood. He needed somewhere safe and he needed it soon. He took a step towards the stairwell. His only hope now was getting to the other watch floor, where hopefully someone was still alive. As he edged past the spider’s head, he realized that the eggs weren’t the only thing glowing in the room. An intricate crystal in the shape of an X had formed between its eyes; it glowed a soft green that seemed reassuring when compared to the sickly yellow luminescence of the eggs.
Some instinct caused him to reach down and touch the crystal. As he did, the gentle light intensified within it, filling the entire room with a brilliant emerald color before fading away. The crystal crumbled into dust and a blue screen appeared at the edge of his vision, which he ignored for now; he could worry about the messages later.
He stumbled out of the nest, picked up his torch, and made his slow and laborious way up the stairs. The palm he pressed against the wall for support left a bloody smear. His eyes were focused on the open space in the middle of the stairwell, watching for another attack.
Afterward, when he thought about it, he couldn’t remember how he’d gotten up the stairs, through the door, or the hallway beyond it. Pain and the need for safety pushed any other thoughts from his awareness.
The large metal door, like the one he left a few hours ago, filled his vision. He kicked it twice before collapsing against the wall, letting out a muffled grunt as his shoulder met the rough bricks. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was a brilliant white light.
Chapter Six — How long
Awareness came slowly. The dream he had been having seemed more like a nightmare than anything else. Spiders and crystals, blood and fire. One hand reached out, trying to find the warm form of Zoey sleeping next to him. Drew’s hand found hair, and he stroked it gently. He loved her curls.
“Normally, I’d ask a guy to at least buy me dinner before letting him paw at me like that.” The unfamiliar voice was female, which caused all sorts of alarms to go off in his head. Drew’s eyes shot open. Sitting next to him was a moderately tall brunette, she had an oblong face with brilliant light blue eyes. Her hair had been let down, clearly against the military regulation her uniform dictated she should be following. She looked to be in her early thirties or late twenties and was wearing a disheveled dress uniform, the insignia on her collars designating her as a 1st class petty officer with a name tag that read Sabin.