By Richard LeBlanc
Chapter Six
Almost half a day had passed since Lord Arachnid had razed the town. He was now in the remains of an almost forgotton ruins. All of the stone pillars that once extended upwards - were now no bigger than common tree stumps. if there was anything of value here - passers by or the wizard himself would have found it - or would they?
"This is most puzzling Nibbles. Why is this place calling to me? There is no mana in the land - there is no life here - hell, if i had to wager i would say that there has been no life here since this place started eroding. What do you think? Should we stay or deal with - with - what is that?" he began. he walked over to one moss covered rock. He knelt down before it and began to remove all of the dirt and growth from the stone. Once he was done - he saw several pictoglyphs that were almost in perfect condition.
"Why do these look familiar?" he asked himself. Nibbles crawled out from his hood. It looked at the markings on the stone and began to chirp.
"The cave? I almost forgot about that." he replied calmly. He reached into his pouch and pulled out an ancient parchment that was badly burned. His mind flashed back to his encounter with that mad hermit. He remembered the mad rantings of the hermit - of deadly spiders. he had believed them to be just that - mad rantings. The spiders the hermit spoke of - he had no knowledge of - and he knew of every spider in existance.
"Yes - it similar - no - it's the same. The pictures - the markings. Hold on." he stated. He created a web before him and then looked at the old and heavy looking tablet.
"A little drink of my special potion should do the trick." he began. he took out a small vial andtook a sip. he put the empty vial back into his pouch and then effortlessly lifted the stone up and pressed it agaist the web. After a few seconds - he released it. The web held it firmly in place. He then unfolded the burned parchmant and placed it beside the stone.
"Maybe - the hermit wasn't mad after all." he muttered. Nibbles crawled up onto his shoulder. It looked at how perfectly the two pieces of the puzzle fit together.
"In the days - of old - the people of Crae - the strongest empire - faced their most dire foe." Lord Arachnid slowly translated - carefully moving his finger from picture to picture.
"The tiny spider - that was ignored - has killed off the strongest among...that's it? Oh this is not good. It's real. This spider - this potent - deadly spider - really exists. But how is it possible? How could no one have known of this - this odd little spider?" he asked as he pointed to the small picture that was carved into the stone - of a spider. he stared as the pictoglyphs for a few moments and then shook his head.
"I think this is more important than my petty feud with Miseorn. If this spider exists - I must find it and bring it home. Imagine - a long lost relative - long forgotten - returned to the fold." he said almost in a state of hypnosis. Nibbles crawled atop its master's head to better see the ancient puzzle before them.
"Have you seen any spider like that before?" he asked. The spider chirped.
"No? This is all so strange - so unbelieveable. It would almost be easier to believe this to be just the figment of a madman's imagination - but - it can't be. That old hermit died - almost a hundred years ago in that island cave. That would mean that he was one of the survivors of that city - Crae." he stated calmly. the spider on his head chirped.
"Yes - and more of them ended up here. Most likely before he did." he agreed and added. With a wave of his hand - the tablet and parchment vanished. Not a second later - the ground around him began to shake. He closed his eyes and could feel a powerful spell being cast.
"Armegeddon." he muttered. the ground began to crack - water rose up - forming dozens of small floating islands around him. Just then - the shaking stopped - the spell ended. he tensed up. he knew that the spell was just to get his attention. His link to his power - his mana - had been temporarily interrupted. It would take him a few moments to be back to normal.
"Nibbles - i think you should get down." he suggested. The spider chirped and hopped down to the ground before the wizard. Lord Arachnid sighed and shook his head.
"So be it." he stated. Mere seconds later - a dozen merfolk archers rose up from the waters and fired at the two targets. All of the shots missed the two - but not by much. Lord Arachnid concentrated. he could feel his ties to his old swamps.
"Time to teach you whelps some manners." he stated. A single wispy swirl of black power spun around the spider wizard. he then performed a dark ritual. The swirling power tripled. he then cast another dark ritual. A pillar of power spiraled around the spider wizard.
"A touch of pain - a loss of breath - i cast thee now - my pestilence!" he called out. A dark wave of sickness began to spread out from the wizard. Small scars appeared on the spider wizard - and Nibbles - but the dose was strong enough to kill all of the merfolk assassins. Lord Arachnid looked around like a caged animal. he could not sense any other creature artifact or spell near him.
"It is done." he replied coldly. with a wave of his hand - the pesilence mists that were hovering in the air faded. he could feel his ties to the old forests returning.
"I think we both need a little sip from the stream of life." he commented. with a casual gesture - a small trickle of water began to pour out from a solid stone. The wizard and the spider drank from the waters. all effects they had suffered from the pestilence mists - had healed.
"It seems as though our gracious host doesn't want us to leave. Oh well. I guess we'll just have to deal with him first. Come on Nibbles. I don't want Mr. Wizard to think that we forgot about him so soon." he stated calmly. the spider leaped up and landed in its master's hood. The two then began to make their way towards their enemy's fortress.
To be continued...
