By Richard LeBlanc
Chapter Two
The sun rose over the dark swamp. The shadows began to slowly fade - as the night reluctantly gave into the day. Lord Arachnid stepped over the web covered skeleton - the remnants of the man that had made the unfortunate mistake of wandering down that path.
"I think it is time that we move on from this place Nibbles. The peasants here are as boorish as those of the last place we left. Can you think of any reason to stay?" he asked. His hood slowly stirred and a small fist sized spider crawled out from the hood and perched on his shoulder. it made several quiet chirping noises. Lorf Arachnid quietly laughed and then sighed.
"I suppose you're right...trouble!" he stated. he extended his arms outward - a thick fog rose up from the ground. Seconds later, a blast of arctic air froze the water and trees above him. He looked up and saw several spiders frozen solid.
"Run!" he shouted out. The spiders in the area quickly scurried away. Lord Arachnid then waved his hands - the fog evaporated. He hurried over to where the spiders had been encased in ice and did what he could to get them out - but it was too late - the drastic temperature drop killed them.
"My children..." he muttered. It was then that he heard the sound of someone laughing.
"I heard there was a plaiswalker in the area - but all i see is a boy and his bugs." a voice taunted.
"You tread a thin line." Lord Arachnid warned as he turned around. In the air - he saw a man dressed in pale blues and whites. He knew that the man was a plainswalker - and he knew that he was the one responsible for the dead spiders.
"Am I? I can see by the look in your eyes that you are itching for a fight. I would love to oblige - but my schedule is really booked." the wizard taunted.
"Tell them that you are tied up!" Lord Arachnid hissec. He projected webs at his foe much as a spider would a common bug. But with a wave of the wizard's hand - a wall of ice rose up between the two. Lord Arachnid growled. His eyes glowed.
"A wall won't stop me!" he shouted. he wound his arm back and shattered the wall of ice as though it were made of glass. he looked up and saw the wizard lightly clapping his hands.
"A giant growth spell - how - you. We will continue this at another time. Until then." he concluded. he began to slowly fade from sight. Seconds later - another creature began to appear. Lord Arachnid studied the cloud like shape - and knew what the wizard had left in his place - A Mist Dragon.
"It would have to be one of those." he muttered. The dragon appeared. It let out a mighty roar and then looked down at what it believed to be prey.
"I am going to have to do this just right." he told himself. The Dragon dived down to attack.
"Enjoy a terror spell!" he stated. a black bolt of power shot up at the dragon - as expected, the dragon became mist and vanished.
All was quiet.
Just then the dragon appeared from behind him. It roared at the wizard.
"Shut up!" he retorted. he projected several webs at the dragon's mouth. The webs clamped the powerful dragon's mouth shut. Again he took aim with a terror spell. But once again it vanished.
"Oh - this is going to take forever." he muttered. He scaled up a tree with the skill and grace of a spider. Within seconds - he was on the highest branch. He closed his eyes and listened - there wasn't another spider for miles around.
"Perfect. Bring on the storm." he stated. dark clouds began to roll across the sky. heavy rains began to pelt down. Then - just as predicted - the dragon returned. Lord Arachnid smiled - he pointed a finger at the muzzled dragon. From the churing skies above - a small narrow funnel began to descend. As more seconds passed - the funnel grew large and larger until a monstrous tornado touched down. the dragon turned and saw the twister heading its way and vanished. The tornado passed by. Lord Arachnid then pointed again - another funnel descended. The dragon once again returned - it saw the approaching funnel and tried to vanish - but this time it couldn't.
"Tapped out." Lord Arachnid stated sweetly. The dragon tried to fly away from the funnel - but the powerful winds sucked the dragon in. The wizard watched as the dragon was spun around and around. Within seconds - he could tell that the beast was dead. He snapped his fingers. The two tornadoes vanished. The skies cleared.
"Too bad it wasn't your master." Lord Arachnid muttered. he quickly climbed back down the tree and looked at the damage that his fight with the dragon had caused.
"That is no way to treat a forest." he said to himself. he placed a hand on the growd - green energy emanated from his hand. He watched as the land began to restore itself. Within minutes - the forest was as good as new.
"Now that i have taken care of that - i think it is time we find that arrogant bug of a plainswalker. what do you think Nibbles?" he asked curiously. The spider in his hood popped its head out and chriped. Lord Arachnid laughed and shook his head.
"I couldn't agree with you more. Come. I think it is time that we scout around a bit." he suggested. the wizard and his spider familiar made their way out from the forest to find the mysterious plainswalker that had attacked them.
To be continued...
