6 days....
The excitement was palpable as a group of townsfolk gathered outside the Riverside inn, weapons in hand and kitted out with whatever armour they had. Some of the men were wearing garments, hastily reinforced with leather and padding by their wives, the soldier wore their chainmail and the captain, shield in hand, wore his his notched breastplate, polished to a bright sheen over a suit of heavy chain.
Prād was doing warmup exercises, stretching his lean, well-defined muscles, his breath leaving a trail of steam in the frigid morning air.
With the wounded out of commission, the raiding party consisted of a total of fifteen people.
"All right, listen up," boomed the captain's voice. "The dryad has agreed to help us but we must not attack any spiders except in self defence. She will try to control them while we kill the ettercaps. Assume that they are hostile but do not chase if they run. March!"
"...treating us like soldiers when...." "I wonder what a dryad looks like...." "What if the spiders don't let us get the treasure?" Murmurs and snippets of conversation reached the captain's ears as he lead the group into the forest. At least they were obeying orders - a necessity for a successful battle. The dryad was a big variable. Jack Slate did not like variables, in his experience, they often lead to death.
As the group neared the temple, they suddenly stopped. In the middle of the cracked, paved pathway, was a man-sized hunting spider, its carapace scarred from the recent battle and next to it stood Karya with one hand on its head, her vibrant, graceful form adorned with a long garland of growing flowers surrounded by honey bees.
Most of the men gawked at the sight while Sanjaya stepped forward. "Greetings lady Karya. We are pleased that you have joined us. Allow me to introduce captain Jack Slate. He is leading this expedition." The captain nodded in acknowledgement.
The dryad glanced over the small force of humans, her eyes settling on Prād for a moment before addressing the captain with her strange, lilting accent.
"There are three ettercaps in the temple. One in the left columns, one in one of the rooms to the right and one near the rightmost altar. There are also thirteen giant spiders, two with the ettercap in the columns, two with the ettercap on the right, four with the ettercap at the right altar, two at the entrance door and three near the main altar. The forest has not managed to find the spider queen, perhaps she is no longer in the temple. I have made sure that they are currently unaware of your presence though that won't last as you approach. Spiders are extremely sensitive to vibrations."
Jack squatted down, one eye on the hunting spider and drew the outline of the temple as he remembered it with a stick. The men drew closer, warily stealing glances at the dryad. "Is there any way in other than the front gate? Or maybe some way to lure them out?"
The dryad's emerald green eyes became distant for a moment. "Not unless you can climb, there are many places where the walls are cracked and overgrown. I can speak to the spiders at the entrance, they are already wounded and might be convinced to retreat for a while."
"Maybe we should rush into one of the empty rooms on the right," suggested Sanjaya. "If we can get inside, they can only come at us one at a time and will be easy to kill," he glanced at the dryad, "or dissuade." Some of the men nodded in agreement.
"Fighting so many in the open would be a problem," agreed the captain, "but we would have to run through the courtyard and into an unknown building where there may be webs or traps. It's too risky."
"Perhaps I can restrain some of them," offered the dryad. "The forest protects her servants and the plants will heed my command."
Jack Slate weighed up his options. In a straight up fight, he had no doubt that the enemy was superior, but if the spiders didn't want to leave their webs, if the dryad could restrain some of them and convince others not to attack, the enemy would not be coordinated and could therefore be beaten in a series of smaller battles. But this relied heavily on the dryad. Was she really on their side? The fey had their own agenda and could not be trusted. What guarantee did they have that she wouldn't lead them into a worse situation? Maybe the ettercaps had taken her spiders, but she could turn on them the moment she had them back, adding her strange magic into the mix and restraining his men while they were slaughtered. Having come to a resolution, the captain stood up.
"Listen up, here's the plan. Lady Karya will talk to the spiders at the gate and get them to retreat. If this works, the archers will climb the wall and we will head in and fight our way to the columns on the left, since there is only one ettercap there. We kill that ettercap at all costs. Once it is dead, Karya will command the spiders not to attack and we will not provoke them. Karya, you follow us and prevent us from being attacked from the right. Archers, you will also focus on the right flank. Put arrows in anything that comes out. If things go badly, I will command an orderly fighting retreat with archers providing covering fire."
"Stuart!"
"Yes sir?"
"Lady Karya is critical to this mission, you will stand at her side with your weapon ready and protect her from any harm. You will not let her out of arms reach. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir!"
As the soldier approached, the hunting spider raised its front legs and crouched back, ready to pounce. The subtleties of the captains orders were not lost on the dryad. She rhythmically tapped her fingers on on the spider's head, it lowered its legs and retreated into the forest. She didn't want it coming under the ettercaps' influence anyway. These humans were no threat to her while there were trees around and she knew that this gesture would display trust.
A short march later, the huge doors that dominated the outer walls of the temple came into view through the webbed tangle of trees and vines. Sanjaya marveled again at the architecture. 'Why make an entrance twice the height of the walls,' he wondered.
At the edge of the tree line, Karya signaled the group to stay back and approached the doors, Stuart in tow. She shot a disapproving glance at the soldier but did not stop him. Within a few minutes they returned, "The spiders at the entrance will not attack. They have retreated into their webs beneath the gopuram far above the ground. The spiders are cold and slow and will not easily move. In a few weeks, they would normally enter a state of torpor for the rest of the winter. You should go quickly, before the ettercaps can mobilise them."
"You heard her men, lets go. Archers to the walls, the rest of you follow me!" with that, the captain began to jog towards the temple followed closely by the rest of the warriors while the archers, Sanjaya in last place, made their way to the wall that Prād had previously climbed.
Breathe in.... The crisp morning air and metallic rustle of moving chainmail. The smooth texture of his iron-capped quarterstaff in his left hand. This jog was barely faster than a walk, 4 steps. The soft, cold ground beneath his feet. Breathe out. Resisting the urge to overtake the armoured men in front of him, Prād settled into a new pace, far slower than usual, his body naturally wanted to run faster but his role in the unit was to flank the enemy once the soldiers in front engaged. Upon reaching the towering doors, Prād continued to jog on the spot, his muscles barely warmed up while the soldiers in front, lead by their captain filed through the gap. Strange, he thought, the corpses of the hunting spiders were gone.
Breathe in. Prad visualised the energy flowing within himself, centering it in his chest for now, his mind's eye watched as white light extended down his arms and he felt his hands tingle. A slight wave of horripilations washed over his body. He was ready.
Passing up his crossbow, Sanjaya climbed the wall. The vines and cracked stone making his ascent relatively easy. Once he reached the top, the woman next to him - the only female in the group handed back his weapon. "Thank you." Sanjaya took a moment to marvel at the temple before loading his crossbow. From his vantage point atop the wall, he could see a flat stone roof supported by numerous columns. Toward the rear, two pyramid shapes protruded, the left one slightly larger than the right. Focusing on the task at hand, he crouched on one knee, aiming towards the temple, ready to release his bolts at any sign of movement. The nine the soldiers quickly formed a double line - spearmen behind swords and shields and began to march towards the columns near the left outer wall, followed by Prād, the dryad and Stuart. Captain Slate, torch in one hand and shield in the other, marched slightly ahead, burning away any strands of web that crossed their path.
The humans had returned with their fire and steel and with them, the cursed dryad. The humans must have freed her. With the hunting spiders dead along with one of their kin, there was no way to keep her in check. Now she was here, her vibrations telling their spiders not to attack, that they would not be harmed. The ettercaps thrummed the webs, trying to coordinate, but the spiders were reluctant and slow, many of them still feasting on the fresh corpses of the hunting spiders that they had dragged back to their webs. It was too cold and many of the spiders were no longer hungry - only the closest were beginning to respond. Spiders did not naturally cooperate and their instincts, along with the mixed signals were working against the ettercaps.
"They're there!" Shouted Prād, pointing into a mass of webbing within the columns along the outer wall. Even with Prād pointing them out, most of the men could not see the spiders.
"Dylan, Brax, ready your oil we'll burn them out!" commanded the captain "Keep Marching."
Karya rushed forward, "Wait, let me try, I need to get close."
"From the right!" yelled a voice from the wall, followed by a volley of arrows as spiders from within the temple began to emerge. Most of the arrows clattered harmlessly off the temple columns. Despite their height advantage, it was still a fairly long shot. Sanjaya had not used his magic, the range was too long - his limited ability did not allow him to extend the trace of ether that far. He frowned in disappointment as he wasted another of his precious bolts. Only one arrow had struck true, its shaft sinking into a spider's abdomen but this did little more than enrage the creature.
"Get back to position Karya! Guard the flank! Men, stick to the plan, burn the webs, let the spiders run!"
From between the columns thick strands of webbing shot out ensnaring Dylan and another nearby soldier. The men struggled against the pull as they were gradually dragged towards the webs.
Cursing, the captain burned away the webs trapping Dylan. Sticky and singed, at least the man could move. "Throw now!" Hindered by the residual webs, Dylan's aim was off, his flask of oil smashing uselessly against one of the columns. Brax's aim was better. Oil poured from the open flask into the webs that had caught it, followed closely by the flaming arc of Jack Slate's torch. The webs were dry beneath the stone roof and with oil as fuel, swiftly ignited. One of the spiders was caught by the flames, while the other spider and ettercap escaped out into the open.
Whispering in the melodic language of the fey, Karya raised her arms and the vines climbing the temple responded. Under the control of the drayd's magic, they twisted and groped at the emerging spiders. One of the spiders was caught, the vines wrapping around two of its legs and locking it in place while other vines reached towards its body. The rest of the spiders, along with the ettercap that was commanding them, slowed to a crawl as they maneuvered and struggled against the hostile plants.
As fangs and steel clashed, Prād darted around the warriors to flank his opponent. The ettercap had sunk its fangs into the soldier in front of it, easily penetrating the links of chainmail and injecting deadly venom. Using the force of his momentum, Prād slammed his iron-capped quarterstaff onto the hunched shoulder of the ettercap followed by a hook kick, causing the abomination to stumble and allowing the swordsmen to inflict grievious wounds to its soft belly. The captain's shield smashed into the face of a giant spider while his sword sliced off its legs. The spearmen behind him finished off the wounded creature. The other spider, its bristles smouldering from the fire, sank fangs the length of a sword into the chest of the soldier whom it had webbed, piercing his heart.
Two spiders and an ettercap had cleared the vines at the temple and were moving at full speed towards Karya and Stuart. The third spider, struggling against its restraints was beginning to make headway. The vines could not hold it.
"Focus the ettercap," shouted Sanjaya, his crossbow bolt flew uselessly towards the mass of fangs and legs unable to find its target. He couldn't hit at this range, but perhaps his other magic would work... if anyone asked, he could always blame the dryad. Resolved to a new course of action, he began to draw on his reserve of ether, hoping that his companions were too focused on the fight to notice. The woman next to him had only slightly more success, her arrow bit into the side of the ettercap, barely penetrating its tough, leathery skin. Other arrows were harmlessly deflected off its exoskeleton.
Karya released her focus on the vines - they had done their job. She opened her arms in a gesture of love towards the closest spider, communicating her goodwill and releasing the full force of her fey charm, but to no avail. This spider was hungry and had been thoroughly incited by its ettercap master. Perhaps she would have more success with the others. Momentarily distracted by the dryad's allure, Stuart shook his head and moved to defend.
In the midst of battle, an ettercap was in serious trouble. It was surrounded, one of its spiders dead with the humans that had killed it closing in. Its other spider, burned and scared, was not listening. Ichor dripped from wounds on its torso, one arm was useless from the blow to its shoulder. Its allies were too slow, their careful coordination had fallen apart. There was only one thing left. With its good arm, it tore the throat out of the soldier that it had poisoned and turned its fangs on the captain, determined to join him in death. But before it could think any further, the world faded from existence as an iron-capped staff penetrated its brain with a sickening crack.
"Spears, hold off the spider! Swords, protect the dryad! Move!" Under the urging of the dryad and threatening stabs of the spears, the burned spider, its master slain, retreated over the outer wall.
Meanwhile Jack and his men had engaged another two spiders that were being driven from behind by an ettercap. The third, previously bound by vines, had succumbed to Kary's charms and followed her request to retreat into the temple. The soldiers' attacks were focussed on a single target, leaving numerous punctures and gashes on its carapace, but they couldn't kill it fast enough. The other spider, free from distraction lunged at the captain, sinking its fangs into his sword arm and injecting a dose of paralytic venom. Jack staggered and threw it off with his shield as his arm began to go numb. They needed to end this fight quickly, but there was no way to reach the ettercap with the horse-sized spiders blocking the way. From behind the spiders, the ettercap, pelted by ineffective arrows, lashed out with strands of web in an attempt to bind the soldiers for easy execution.
Prād shifted around the fight, keeping a reasonable distance and looking for an angle. He had learned his lesson last time and would not rush to fight the ettercap alone. As the spearmen turned to support the swordsmen, Prād waited for an opportunity with absolute focus and slow, measured breaths.
Sanjaya released his spell, the giant spider that had bitten Jack Slate was barely within his range. The ether, following the will of the caster, condensed to cloud its mind and put it to sleep. The spider slumped, its thorax touching the ground, but almost immediately, it shuddered and rose back up. His spell had failed, the target was too strong and full of octopamine. He could sense that he had nearly succeeded, but he was just not powerful enough. If he had reached the second circle, he was certain that he wouldn't have failed. He had one other spell that he could try - his only offensive magic, but it was flashy and would certainly expose him. Besides, with the size of the spiders, he was fairly certain that the spell would not do lethal damage. Feeling useless, Sanjaya reloaded his crossbow.
The third ettercap moved within the columns supporting the temple, despite its best efforts, it had only managed to bring two spiders with it. Its brethren were in trouble and it needed to hurry, but the spiders were not cooperating well. Still it would be there soon....
The four spearmen rushed into battle, followed by a sluggish Dylan who had been bitten by the spider that they had driven off. Spears pierced the flesh of a spider as the men defended their captain, but one of them over extended and the spider struck, pulling him down with its forelegs and sinking its fangs into his back, the leather that he was wearing barely providing any protection. Paralytic venom flowed into the man's veins as he weakly struggled against the spider's hold.
Jack tried his best to attack, but his arm was not responding properly and his weakening strikes were ineffective. Next to him, Stuart stuck his sword deep into the thorax of his opponent, finding a chink in its exoskeleton as it reared to strike. Instead, it was forced to retreat, hemolymph gushing from the ghastly wound.
With a spider in retreat, the path between the swordsmen and the ettercap became clear and as the ettercap lunged at the wounded captain, Prād made his move. 'Now.' With a whoosh of released breath, Prād sprung forward, sprinting the short distance between himself and the ettercap, his bare feet on the cracked stone inaudible over the din of battle. Breathe in.... The ettercap caught a glimpse of movement with its eye clusters - too late. The monk launched himself into a flying kick, his mind's eye flowing his ki down his leg, reaching his heel at the moment of impact. The ettercap sprawled and as it hit the ground Prād brought down his quarterstaff, both hands clutched near the base, with a brutal strike. The staff cracked with the stress of the impact, shattering the abomination's exoskeleton. Using the last of the strength in his sword arm, Jack thrust down, his blade easily penetrating the broken carapace of the abomination at his feet. His arm stopped responding and his fingers lost their grip, leaving his sword sticking from its back. At that moment a crossbow bolt thunked into the prone creature. Sanjaya had finally found his mark. The ettercap struggled wildly, flailing and biting in its death throes. It was still alive, but barely.
The third ettercap, seeing the fall of its brethren, urged its spiders forward, but Karya was aware of them. She raised her hands and again the vines climbing the temple writhed and snaked out, following the will of the dryad and momentarily binding the three creatures.
Wounded by numerous stabs with an arrow it its abdomen, its master dying and confronted by swords and spears, the only spider remaining in combat retreated, leaving a bluish trail of hemolymph as it dragged its bleeding body up the columns supporting the roof of the temple.
"Form up on me!" commanded Jack Slate, raising his shield towards the entangled enemies as Stuart finished off the thrashing ettercap. "We've nearly won." One of the spiders escaped the vines and immediately retreated into the temple.
"I can't hold them much longer," called the dryad.
"Ready men! Avoid the spider, I'll draw the ettercap's attention. Surround it and kill it."
As the dryad released her spell, the men charged forwards, but the spider and ettercap fled. Unhindered by the webs strewn between the temple columns, the ettercap easily outpaced the men, effortlessly scaled the outer wall and disappeared into the forest.
The townsfolk let out a cheer. They had won.