Dave ignored the exchange and took the opportunity to cast a spell of his own. He quick-cast Alcoholic Cloud centered on Seimion’s face. The arachnid scoffed and said, “You’ll have to do better than that,” as a few words of magic scattered the cloud. Dave did notice, though, that the spell seemed to be cast more sluggishly than before. Maybe the totem’s other effects were taking hold.

  Between Seimion having to deal with that attack and wasting his time trying to smash the mirror images of Dave, Hannah was able to do her job. The three spider legs on the back left side were suddenly no longer on solid ground but were sinking into six feet of soft mud.

  Dave didn’t delay but rushed forward and triggered the phasing ability of his sword, once, twice, three times in rapid succession. His movements, enhanced by Max’s skill, allowed him to sever all three of those back legs.

  Seimion screeched, and the battle looked to be half over before it had barely begun. However, Dave wasn’t that lucky. The same tarry substance that had oozed out of Holstein came into play here. Instead of oozing out of the stubs left by the severed limbs, it flowed out with the force of a fire hose, and in less than three seconds flat there were three fully formed and wholly undamaged legs.

  Seimion scoffed, “Perhaps now you know the power of my pact with the Master. This sort of power could have been yours, but now you will die screaming. Perhaps I will save you as an incubator for my mate’s eggs. How would you like that? You can be the food when a new swarm of spiderkin are born.”

  Dave ignored the gruesome threat and thought. There had to be a way to take this thing down. At that moment, Daichi and Jackson attacked from one side while Max and Kraden, wielding a giant spear made from his own hand, attacked on the other. Powerful fists, wind axes, enchanted swords, and spears pierced its side. The monster cried in pain, which turned to laughter as a faint yellow aura shone around it.

  He then learned what the Wyer’s Woven Net buff was. It was a trap spell. Tendrils of fine mesh in a sickly yellow engulfed Max and the others. Only Daichi managed to fully dodge the spell.

  That was not good. More than half their firepower was gone in one defensive spell. At least Mira called out, “It must have been single activation because the buff is gone now.” Then a second later she cried out in victory, “His Haste and warding are down now too.”

  Immediately heat stone grenades, a fireball from Emiri’s wand, and a lightning bolt from Dave all struck the creature. With its warding down, it took visible wounds from each attack as hundreds of points were shaved off its health. Seimion pounced forward but was much slower this time, and Dave easily moved out of the way while scoring a long gash to the creature’s underside.

  Dave had not been its target though. Instead, it slammed into the totem. A pair of thrusting attacks from its legs smashed the totem and ended the debuffing effect. “You forget it isn’t just this body you have to worry about. I am a far mightier caster than any of you children, and you were warned. Now pay the price.”

  With that, Seimion spat out a word of magic, and Mira cried out that she was blind. Seimion charged at her, and Dave had to slam into the creature, trying to tackle it despite knowing how much stronger it was. He managed to knock it off target, so it didn’t smash Mira, but still its mouth opened wide, and green globules that looked like nothing so much as thick phlegm landed on Mira. The effect was immediate as she began screaming, and her skin started to blister and pucker up. Her mage shield hadn’t even slowed the attack.

  Dave was struggling with a pair of the massive legs when at last a wall of stone shot up from the ground to protect Mira, and he heard Emiri casting spells to save their daughter. This was not going well, though. Four of their members were down, and they had yet to do any sort of significant damage.

  Daichi attacked again and landed his fists with the terrible power they possessed against the spider body, but even then its innate resistance to blunt damage might be too much. From the other side, Deoca had started to pepper it with arrows. Each one glistened with flame or electricity as she added elemental attacks to each. Neither of them seemed to be slowing it.

  Seimion started chanting a longer spell, and even without Mira’s ability, he could tell that it was a dark summoning, something very evil. He couldn’t be allowed to finish that spell. Dave again leapt and activated the phasing ability of his sword while casting Fleeting Fury. It would wear him out, but he needed everything he could muster. Its defenses were mostly down, and even the mage shield it had summoned prior to beginning its spell wouldn’t hold up to Dave’s attacks.

  With offensive stance activated, each of his sword slashes were delivering hundreds of points of damage, and the phasing effect allowed him to bypass its shielding. He was literally cutting Seimion into pieces, but still it continued to chant its dark spell. Finally he got past the legs and delivered a wide cut that took the humanoid head from its shoulders.

  The spell ended, and the creature lay in a dozen pieces. From the edge of the temple grounds they heard Bishop Tengur shouting, “It’s not over. As long as it has its unholy pact, it will continue to regenerate.”

  Sure enough, the black ooze was flowing out far too fast, and body parts were reconnecting. Even the head formed again in less than ten seconds.

  Dave felt despair for a second. There was nothing to do against an enemy that could heal that fast, if not even beheading could take it down. Unlike trolls, which couldn’t heal from burns, the numerous scorch marks on its body from fireballs and heat stones healed up just as smoothly as any other wound. The electrical damage from Deoca’s arrows did nothing either. Even the shadowy trap that Balayria had placed didn’t permanently impair it.

  Dave saw Emiri stand up from around the stone wall where Mira lay shuddering.

  “You foul thing. This is too far. You nearly killed my child.”

  Seimion only laughed. “I’m impressed that you were able to stop the venom. That alone is a great feat, but you all couldn’t defeat me on my own. Empowered by my master, you have zero chance.”

  At least by this time, Jackson had managed to cut himself free with his wind axe, while Kraden had reshaped his spear into a saw and freed both himself and Max. Dave took in the surrounding faces. They were nervous, some scared, but all were determined.

  Emiri said, “Hold him still. Let’s see if we can’t break that connection he has with whoever is empowering him.”

  Seimion laughed, but no one bothered to question her. Dave, Jackson, Daichi, Hannah, Kraden, Jaselm, Max and Kraden all leapt in and tried to hold one of the massive legs. Dave quick-cast Mass Lesser Enlarge even as he tried to hold the creature still. Because of specializing in it, the mana cost and cast time had gone down significantly. And because it had no cooldown, he quick-cast it a second and third time until all eight of the defenders were ten feet or taller.

  The spiderkin was still much wider than they were, but the spell greatly enhanced everyone’s strength, so they were able to hold it still. Each took cuts and piercing wounds. Several cried out, but none gave up. As they struggled to hold on, Dave heard Emiri casting the spell that had ended so many of their fights. She apparently hoped that a consecrated area would sever the connection that Seimion had with his master, and Dave thought she might be right given the way the creature had not rushed onto the temple grounds.

  Still, the spell took a minute to cast. It was too much to hope that they would be able to hold it still that long. Balayria had used her Glitter Dust to try to blind it. Deoca was attacking from range and planted arrow after arrow into the humanoid head and shoulders. Each was pushed out by the black ooze, but repeated arrows into the throat seemed to be enough to keep even the high-tiered caster from completing a spell.

  The seconds dragged on, and first Hannah and then Jackson were shaken off. Kraden’s wooden hand and foot seemed to have latched themselves onto the leg he was holding and were spreading across its surface, piercing in and bursting out as roots grew. Finally with two legs down, all the rest of them were shaken loose, and the creature reared back, looking to drive its two front legs into Jackson and Hannah, respectively.

  Dave tried to move to protect his son, but he had been thrown too far away. Even Daichi wasn’t able to reach him in time. Only one man, the one whose Crimson Vanguard class specialized in movement, was able to reach him in time. Max flung his body in the way of the descending spider leg. It pierced him through and pinned him to the ground. Not content with that, Seimion put two more legs into Max, who screamed each time as his body was torn to shreds.

  Then, while looking directly at Dave, Seimion pulled with the three legs that impaled the enlarged form of his friend. Max was ripped into pieces, and no black ooze was available to patch him back up.

  Dave felt a berserker frenzy come over him as Seimion said, “See the first of your friends fall. At least he will be spared becoming food for my children.”

  The area lit up as Emiri’s spell was finally finished. Seimion was neither a fiend nor an undead, so the circle couldn’t directly harm him, but it still flashed into light with power, and Emiri yelled, “Hit him with everything you’ve got.”

  As she screamed it, Dave’s first strike landed and sliced the creature wide open in front. Miraculously no black ooze sprayed out to close the wound, and instead green blood flowed down it.

  “What? What have you done, lying priestess?” Seimion screeched, but Dave ignored him.

  Each of the others rose to attack too. A squad of paladins burst forth from the temple grounds, each with several soldiers in tow. They must have decided it was now or never. Hannah caused earthen fists to pound down on Seimion as Daichi’s dragon fist went off with explosive power. Jackson screamed too and, with tears in his eyes, lashed out almost too quickly for the eye to follow with his wind axe.

  Above, Emiri’s celestial clone flew in on white wings and began thrusting a sword born of her spell into the spider’s back. Dave continued striking with slash after slash, and each of them ate away at the spider mage’s health. Kraden’s vines had begun to burst out of not just the leg where he had attached himself but now also out of the black chitinous body.

  Seimion lashed about, and all of them took wounds. Two paladins and a dozen soldiers were all killed in the fury of his attacks. Dave began to worry that this wouldn’t be enough. He cast Spatial Bite, but his aim was off a bit, and it simply took off one of the legs rather than the head he had been aiming for. Still, it seemed to hurt the spider badly.

  “Enough,” Seimion roared. “I will not be undone by children.” As he spoke, a bright blue mage shield sprang into being all around his body. It was much brighter than any such shield Dave had seen, and when he tried to cast Spatial Bite again, he found that he couldn’t get the spell to form within the shield.

  He looked at the spider. It was in bad shape. Missing three legs, roots killing it from the inside. Scorch marks all over its body. He didn’t waste mana trying to cast another Assess Enemy but could tell that Seimion was pretty near death. Then he saw with frustration that both of the humanoid hands reached into a bag on its back and drew out potions. They were a brilliant sparkling ruby red that looked far brighter than any of the potions Dave had ever taken. Based on his experience, the brighter the health potion, the stronger it was. He could only guess how much health these would heal.

  Dave cried out in frustration as he saw victory being snatched from them. He looked to see if Mira might be able to invert the shield like she had done in the dungeon, but she was still unconscious on the ground. Jackson was nursing a clearly broken bone, and the rest of the team looked even worse for wear. Only Deoca, who had stayed at range to use her bow, didn’t show any obvious injuries.

  Then, wonder of wonders, he saw Emiri sneaking up under the spider. A dagger in her hand. Dave’s heart swelled with pride, and he didn’t think he had ever loved his wife more than in that moment. He watched as she plunged the Mage Slayer dagger up. It pierced the magical shield without any difficulty, and despite how small the dagger was compared to the massive beast, it wasn’t the physical damage that made this weapon so dangerous to casters.

  She shoved the dagger in as a complete sneak attack, and it dealt staggering damage. The shield burst, as did half of the creature’s carapace. It simply split open like overripe fruit. Dave didn’t hesitate, but made sure Seimion was finished by casting a Spatial Bite that took the monster’s screaming head straight off its shoulders and deposited it in a pocket dimension.

  With a sigh that was echoed all around him, Dave collapsed to the ground. He looked at the body of the spiderkin, which now reverted to its normal shape and size, albeit without a head. The body was still disgusting, but it was adorned with all manner of magical items. Under any other circumstances, Dave would have been thrilled to have overcome such a challenge, thrilled at the prospect of loot from a creature who had reached Tier 6 even if only through some kind of transformation trick.

  But loot was the last thing on his mind now. Now all he had were tears for his fallen friend. A friend who had died saving his son. Even with his family around him, Dave felt more alone in the world than he had since arriving here. Max had been that kind of friend that you didn’t even know you needed, yet filled a place in you that worked just right.

  They had been apart for months after the battle in Eris’ Rise, but they immediately picked up and began sharing inside Earth jokes. It didn’t matter that on Earth, Max would have been from his father’s generation, not Dave’s. They just had a camaraderie that couldn’t be explained to those who hadn’t shared it. Under his breath he simply muttered, “Semper Fi, devil dog.”

  In the aftermath of the battle, many things were lost. There was an entire section of the city to clean up. Her father had insisted that Seimion’s remains be kept under guard inside the temple. Mira was chomping at the bit to get a look at what kind of items such a powerful caster had, but again her parents had said that could wait until after the funerals for the dead. Anything else would be disrespectful.

  Mira didn’t quite agree. Oh, she cried about Max’s death. She had truly liked him, and he had treated her like a daughter for the couple of weeks they had spent together back when Sara had been kidnapped. That didn’t stop her from being curious, nor could she see how her curiosity dishonored Max or the other fallen in any way. Still, she respected her parents’ wishes and didn’t try to sneak in to check out the loot.

  They hadn’t said anything about looking for stuff at the battle site, so she volunteered to scan the area for any magical traps that Seimion might have left behind. They were both grateful and seemed to think that anything that kept her busy was a good thing. Another wizard had shown up to help. He was an ambassador sent from the sun elves.

  The sun elf was very different in appearance to the moon elves she knew. The features were largely the same, but whereas they were dark and somber both in appearance and demeanor, the sun elf was light and jovial. Mira might have been shocked if she knew that Master Jaems was one of the more serious minded of the sun elves. Still, she couldn’t help but think that he was cute.

  The two of them ended up searching the area inch by inch to check and double-check for traps. Mira had a healthy respect for Seimion’s spell craft and, even with him dead, didn’t want to dismiss the possibility that he had left nasty surprises. Eventually late the following day they came across a small vial that had a mysterious silver liquid inside it. The substance positively radiated magical potential to Mira’s sight, so she picked it up and tucked it into her robe after first checking for any trap spells on it.

  Interlude 4

  Naraan’baatar walked into the clearing. This was the spot where it would all begin. Spring came slowly in the mountains, but over the next few weeks the other tribes would all gather here. The sky was clear, and he breathed in deeply. It felt refreshing after weeks of being cooped up during winter.

  There was still frost everywhere, but that was life in the mountains. Naraan rolled his shoulders and stretched. A smile crossed his lips. The Ironclaw clan warriors and shamans were checking the area. It was a spot well known to all the clans as a meeting spot, although it had been more than a generation since the last kurultai.

  The kurultai was a traditional gathering between the clans. Technically, any clan first could call of the kurultai, but in practical terms, only the summons from a clan that was seen as strong enough would be heeded. The Ironclaw was clearly the strongest clan now.

  Naraan smiled to himself. It would be interesting to see which clans arrived first. Those who came first would be seeking to establish themselves as an important part of any campaign. Those who came last would be trying to demonstrate their importance and seeking concessions.

  He knew who would be named khan. It wasn’t the ultimate conclusion that was at stake. It was all the minor details. The festivals and games that would occur as they gathered would also be enjoyable. Naraan knew his brother was looking forward to the wrestling matches, and his sister to the opportunities for gathering more information.

  The kurultai would be good for many reasons. He would find some wives and bind the other clans to him. The feasting would excite, and blood would run hot. There was a great deal of work ahead of him for the next few months. It would all be worth it, though. This was the beginning of the age of the orc.

  Hundreds of miles to the south, the tribes of centaurs were also starting their spring migrations.

  “I tell you again what the spirits demand,” Apolashi-nari said. “They warn that we must move west and north.”

  “Bah, that is the direction of the two-legs. Why would we want to be any closer to those stunted creatures than we have to be? Here we have everything we need,” Wohali-diwi replied. He was the chief of a small tribe and didn’t care to be told what to do by the medicine woman of the Tin’nuk-tan tribe. They might be allies, but he would swim the eastern sea before he believed they didn’t have their own agenda, and Apolashi-nari was the worst of them.