Then the colored light was gone, and Regdar moved fast toward Lidda. The halfling was sitting on the ground, bringing her short sword in front of her and waving it uncertainly at the spiders lying motionless in front of her. The things looked dead.
A loud crack! sounded behind him, and Regdar turned to see that Jozan had finally managed to smash the dueling spider with his mace. The priest was breathing hard, dripping in sticky yellow fluid but otherwise unhurt.
“All right,” Lidda gasped, “what’s all this then?”
Regdar said, “I don’t know.”
“It was a color spray,” a voice said. All three whirled to face a young woman who was walking slowly toward them. “It worked nicely, didn’t it? Nuance my a—”
“Who are you?” Regdar demanded, stepping toward her.
The woman stopped and put up both hands as if to ward him off, though the fighter was still a good ten paces from her.
“It’s all right,” she said.
“You did that?” Lidda asked, standing. She was obviously trying to look at the newcomer but was having a hard time keeping her eyes off the spiders. “You killed them.”
“You cast a spell,” Jozan said, stepping up next to Regdar. “A well timed and well executed one at that, I must say. We all three owe you thanks. Young Lidda in particular.”
Lidda sheathed her unused sword and started dusting herself off. All three of them looked a mess. The halfling had a strange expression on her face. She looked angry, somehow, maybe frustrated.
Regdar ignored her moods and turned to the young woman. She was pretty, and Regdar rarely thought that about women. For a soldier women were just… well, it wasn’t possible to be married and fight for the duke, so he always assumed that would come later, after he retired.
Regdar actually shook his head. Where were these thoughts coming from all of a sudden?
“I’m Jozan,” the priest said, “a cleric in the service of Pelor. My traveling companion here is Regdar, who served the Duke of Koratia and now serves the temple as well, and—”
“I know my own name,” Lidda said, “thank you, Jozan.”
The halfling approached the young woman stiffly, reluctantly, and held out her tiny hand. The stranger leaned over and returned the handshake.
“Lidda,” the halfling said, “and I owe you one—damn it!”
The young woman was as confused by the outburst as Regdar and Jozan were, but she managed to say, “Naull. My name is Naull.”
Regdar repeated the name in his head: Naull. He found himself smiling, and when Naull looked up at him, all he could do was bow.
“They’re not dead,” Naull said, glancing between all three of them.
Lidda turned around, backing up almost into the young woman. The halfling regarded the motionless spiders with a grimace and said, “They aren’t?”
Regdar tightened his grip on his sword and looked at the spiders. They appeared dead from where he was standing.
“The spell just kind of knocks them out for a few minutes,” Naull explained. “When they wake up, they’ll be blind and kind of stunned. That only lasts another few minutes as well, then they’ll be back to normal, and likely none too happy.”
Regdar looked at her, and she shrugged, half smiling at him. He wasn’t sure what to say.
“What do you mean ‘a few minutes’?” asked Lidda.
Naull shrugged, looking a bit embarrassed. “Well, it’s not an exact science, but if you want to kill them, you should get on with it.”
Regdar and Jozan needed no further prompting. They made absolutely certain that each of the five stunned spiders were cut into at least two pieces or smashed as flat as parchment. Lidda refused to look, and Naull turned almost as many colors as the light from her spell.
“Done?” Lidda asked after the sounds of cracking carapaces stopped, not turning to look.
“Done,” Regdar told her.
“Good,” the halfling said. “Let’s go wash up and get a good night’s sleep.”
“We’re not done, Lidda,” Jozan said.
“Oh, come on!” Lidda said, stomping her foot.
“You’re looking for where they came from,” Naull said.
Regdar raised an eyebrow and met the slim woman’s warm gaze. “Would you happen to know that?” he asked.
“Me?” answered Naull. “Oh, no, sorry. I’ve never seen spiders like this before. I was just on my way to Fairbye when I heard all the shouting and scuffling around.”
“Well,” Jozan broke in, “you’re right, anyway. We will need to find the source of these spiders… Their lair, if they have one. If you can do that spell again, we’d appreciate the help.”
“No!” Lidda answered for her. She turned on the woman and almost fell to her knees. “Say no. Don’t go with them… seriously. If you go with them, then I have to go with them because I owe you one now, and I just so do not want to go with these suicidal maniacs. You were going to Fairbye… Let’s go to Fairbye.”
Naull looked confused, turning to Jozan with silently pleading eyes.
“Lidda forgets that the people of Fairbye were about to string her up,” Jozan said, “and will be happy to finish the job if she returns without me. Do you mind me asking, Naull, where you were coming from? You’re not exactly on the road here, and Fairbye isn’t a terribly popular destination.”
Naull didn’t seem as if she was too eager to answer the question, but after a second or two of glancing back and forth between Jozan and Regdar she said, “I live in a… a… a sort of country house just north of here.”
“Your family’s estate?” Jozan asked.
“My teacher’s,” the young woman answered. From the look on her face, Regdar could tell she didn’t want to elaborate. Instead she changed the subject. “You three don’t look like you come from Fairbye.”
“Just passing through,” Regdar said.
“On your way to…?” Naull asked.
“We need to clean up this spider problem,” answered Jozan, “then Regdar and I are on our way to New Koratia.”
Naull’s eyes sparkled, and she grinned, showing straight white teeth. “I’m in,” she said.
Lidda threw herself to the ground, flopping over on her back. “What is it with you people and these thrice bedamned spiders?”
“Justice, Lidda,” Jozan said. “Have you learned nothing?”
Lidda closed her eyes and said, “Is it too late to just be lynched like a normal person?”
5
They found pieces of a dead raccoon and knew they were on the right track. It was getting dark fast, and Regdar was getting nervous even faster. The spiders were dangerous enough when they were easy to see, but the deeper they got into the forest, the more they walked, the more the deep wound in Regdar’s calf reminded him of just how dangerous the creatures could be.
“Webs here,” Lidda whispered. There was something about the dark woods that made them all want to whisper.
Regdar looked up and saw that the web went sixty feet or more up the tall, old-growth firs. He had his sword in his hand but couldn’t see any spiders.
Something heavy crashed through the underbrush behind him, and he whirled, his sword out in front of him. There was just barely enough light filtering through the tall trees for Regdar to see that it was Naull.
She looked up at him from the ground, pine needles scattered in her hair and clinging to her clothes.
“Sorry,” she said. “I tripped.”
Naull smiled weakly, and Regdar sheathed his sword. “Let’s move away from these webs and camp.”
“Camp?” Lidda asked. “You mean sleep out here?”
“It’s dark,” Regdar said. “We can’t even see to walk. It’s too dangerous.”
Regdar looked at Jozan, who nodded and started moving off into the darkness. Naull stood up and brushed the pine needles and dirt off her clothes.