If I still had ears, I’d be grinning to both of them. Freddie’s boss has no idea what he’s getting into. At least his relaxed smile falters a bit when he turns and sees the look on Freddie's face.

“What’s wrong?” he asks the younger, before looking around. Nah, there’s no traps around. Well, aside from that quest, heh.

“Uh… you remember the big spider that Yvonne’s group rode to go fight Neverrest?” asks Freddie, unsure how to actually explain what that quest entails. The small big guy nods.

“Ah, yes, Miss Yvonne. I wish I could have given her more insight to her unique condition.”

“Well, that big spider is Tiny.”

He blinks. “That’s not tiny at all.”

Freddie smiles. “Yeah… I think the dungeon named him that just for that kind of reaction. Tiny is also the boss of the maze,” he says, and motions for his boss to follow. At the hedge maze, the scene is now a little different than usual. I had Fluffles clear the maze while the two were walking from the cemetery, and he’s now coiled at the entrance, and the usual runners are all standing around chattering, confused at the change.

Freddie sees everyone and raises his voice for them all to hear. “The dungeon has a quest in the maze for High Priest Torlon. To loot Tiny’s chest.” The crowd goes silent for a moment, before murmuring about the news. Torlon looks like he’s starting to understand the magnitude of the quest now, as Freddie turns to face him.

“See… there’s a couple chests in there that people try to get, and Tiny tries to catch them before they can. Oh, and there’s dire rats that try to steal your stuff sometimes, too. Anyway, Tiny has his lair in there, and some people have said there’s a chest in there, too, but nobody’s been able to get it yet. Even Mr Tarl hasn’t been able to get it,” he adds.

To his credit, Torlon looks more intrigued than concerned. “And if Tiny catches you, he webs you and you get carried out? I remember hearing something about you losing something to a spider guardian?” He thinks for a few moments before speaking up again. “Are we allowed to fight Tiny?”

The young orc scrunches his face up in uncertainty. “Uh… kinda? I think just about everyone has taken a swing at Tiny, but he doesn’t seem to take it personally. He tends to take weapons away after webbing people who try to attack, though?”

The gnome smiles and seems to start warming up; hopping in place, wiggling his fingers, just getting the blood pumping. “Maybe if I was more of a fighting class I’d try my luck, but I’m not. Did you know, Freddie, that I wasn’t always an adherent to the Crystal Shield?”

“Uh… I mean, you had to be a kid at some point, right?” he replies, clearly having no clue where the priest is going with this.

The gnome laughs as he starts casting little sparkles over his head, I guess to get his mana pumping, too. “I used to be an illusionist, before I took up The Shield. I was pretty good, too, even by gnome standards,” he says with a bit of pride. “So I think I’ll just have to try to stay out of the way of this Tiny!”

With that, he seems to be ready, and turns to face Fluffles. “I’m ready to brave the dungeon’s challenge.” My noodle nods and slithers to the side to let him pass. Freddie looks like he wants to go, too, but he’s a bright kid. He can see that his boss wants to do this on his own. And it’d probably be more difficult for him to use an illusion to keep them both hidden from Tiny.

Not that I expect Tiny will be fooled. He’s got thin webbing all over the place, so he can feel where people are. Unsurprisingly, the gnome vanishes as he enters the maze, and the hunt is on. Tiny doesn’t seem too concerned, though, and does his typical thing when actually pursuing someone. He starts webbing certain intersections closed, opening others, and patiently weaving his trap.

I notice one of the other chests being opened, and the potion and coins vanishing. Looks like he’s going to try to do a proper run of the maze, too. I think he’s going for each chest, not just the big one at the end. More mana for me, so I’m not gonna complain.

At the second chest, I get the feeling he’s realized his invisibility isn’t working, as I can hear him tapping the lid of the chest after he’s looted it. Probably trying to think of a way to beat my big leggy-boi.

The gnome reappears and crouches down. Looks like he’s spotted the webbing. “Ah… that complicates things.” He soon smiles, though, and starts creating… shoes? They sure look like shoes. Probably illusionary shoes? How’s that going to help him against Tiny?

He jumps and lands with the shoes at the same time, and I understand how that’ll mess up Tiny. They’re not just illusions of sight, but illusions of touch, too. He laughs before they all scatter, and he takes off in a different direction, too.

Tiny pauses as he feels the change, and I keep an eye on the real gnome. I don’t tell Tiny anything, though. This is supposed to be a fair chase. My big guy seems to think for a few moments before changing his tactics as well. There’s two other chests before the main one, and Tiny knows he wants them both. So he doesn’t need to know where the gnome is, just where he’s going to be.

So Tiny has to just play the odds and hope he gets lucky. Or be patient. Tiny picks a chest and stakes it out, and Torlon makes his way to the other chest. He’s even subtle enough to wait for several shoes to get there before he opens it, and doesn’t leave until they all get there.

He seems to be planning while he waits for his illusions to converge. I’m not sure how, but he can definitely sense the other chest, and also the main one. He seems to look from one to the other, before making up his mind. “Play by the rules…” he says to himself, before he starts to pick his way towards the last of the simple chests.

He fleshes out his illusions as he makes for the chest, and I only know which is him because I’ve been paying attention with more senses than Tiny can bring to bear at a distance. They’re some pretty serious illusions, too, as one trips over a big web snare and is hoisted up as it closes around it.

The gnome lets it dissipate with a little pop, and the others start moving in. Tiny seems to be enjoying himself, at least. He throws webs, he throws illusions into webs, he actually lassos and hogties one of the illusions, too. Then I notice I’ve lost track of the real Torlon. There’s only three illusions running around now, at least I’m pretty sure they’re all fake. It’s getting difficult to tell.

It’s not until I feel the chest being opened that I know where he is. I can’t even see the chest being opened. It looks untouched still. No wonder he’s proud of his illusions. I give him a couple seconds to get away before telling Tiny only the last chest remains, and the big guy is surprised and impressed.

He takes one of Teemo’s shortcuts to his lair, while Torlon weaves his way through the maze to the goal. Tiny gets there first, of course, and has enough time to weave a tangle around the last chest. No more sneaking up to take it while his back is turned.

The priest/illusionist comes to a stop as he sees Tiny’s lair, and Tiny guarding the last chest. The trees make a dense canopy overhead, giving some room for vertical movement, but not much. Sunlight filters through, leaving it bright enough to still see clearly, but also producing shadowy areas to potentially hide. A thicket to the north is Tiny’s actual spawner/lair thing, and the chest and spider are more or less in the center.

Torlon surveys the area, before his eyes land on Tiny. “It’ll take more than a simple Phantasm to distract you now, hmm?” he says with respect in his voice. Looks like he’s been having a harder time than I thought he might be, which is great. His fight so far with Tiny has been making me some good mana, and I get the feeling it’ll be a drop in the bucket compared to whatever will happen next.

He raises his hands and a large shape starts to form overhead. “Simulacrum!” he shouts and it suddenly comes into focus: a giant wasp. I’m… pretty sure it’s an illusion? The leaves seem to be rustling from the beat of its wings, and dust and detritus from the ground is being blown around, too, so it’s difficult to tell. If it is fake, Torlon’s pulled out all the stops to fool every sense he can think of.

“Blur!” he shouts and his form becomes hazy, indistinct… and multiplies. There’s four of him now, as well as the big wasp.

But Tiny hasn’t been idle while Torlon prepared. A large web flies at the wasp, as Tiny tries to deal with the major threat first. Its stinger sweeps through the air and slices the web in half, though it can only dodge part of it. The wings are entangled, forcing the angry thing to land with a puff of dust. Its feet even leave marks on the ground as it charges Tiny, and the two grapple.

The blurry Torlons, meanwhile, all take wide routes to the webbed chest, and start slowly working through to it. I’m pretty sure all he has to get through it is some knife or something, but I still don’t know which is the actual Torlon.

Tiny and the wasp tumble and wrestle, trying to web or sting their foe into submission. My spider knows to keep the two ends of the wasp from getting too close to him, but focusing on defense like that makes it difficult to get any offense going properly. And he’s against the clock, as well as the wasp. It doesn’t need to even hurt him, it just needs to keep him busy long enough for Torlon to get the chest.

Looks like Tiny has a plan for that, though. As they wrestle and roll around, he manages to slowly steer them towards the other half of the large web. He manages to land the wasp on its back on the web, sticking it to the ground for just long enough to get his spinnerets into gear. Just as he gets it restrained enough to no longer be a problem, the wasp vanishes… as do the other illusions.

The initial webbing was never cut in half. Tiny stands over a pile of restraining web, and the large one he threw. Over at the chest, a single Torlon stands, breathing heavily and leaning on the freed chest.

“I hope… this counts… as a win…” he huffs, wiping sweat from his brow. It sure counts in my book. Tiny agrees, and walks forward. Torlon stiffens as he approaches, but the big guy just waves a leg at the chest, and the gnome gives a tired smile.

“Whew… heh. That took everything I had. Well, let’s see what’s in the chest.” He smiles and hefts the large lid up, coins spilling as the seal is broken. Once he gets it open fully, he stares at what lays atop the pile of coins and gems. His battered shield.

Tiny reaches over and plucks it from the pile and brings it to his mouth, giving it a solid bite and a new chip, before offering it to the stunned priest. He accepts it, his hands tracing each ding and nick, each scratch and chip, memories clearly filling his head. A tear falls and he smiles at Tiny.

“Thank you.”