XXXII.

The King in the North offered me gold and asked for mercy. I took the gold and made his kingdom my vassal.

The Queen of the South offered me magic jewels and asked for mercy. I took the jewels and some of her territory.

The Kings of the East offered me slaves and asked for mercy. I built an army of free men and took everything they had.

I never knew defeat, nor did my people. And now, waiting for death in my bed, I wish the world had learned the one lesson I tried to teach my whole life: Never trust someone unconditionally nor give them everything they want. Take what you want, give something you do not care in return and call it “negotiation”. If it does not work, use brute force.

And do not let anyone break the pride of the people of Fiandel.

Akia Issa Nkosi – Final Words

*

Arthur feels the cold sweat running down his forehead. His body is rigid and his back is glued to the bole of one of the trees in the forest.

He opens and closes his eyes tightly, blinking and hoping this is just a nightmare. The will to live screams louder than any other feeling in his body.

He moves his head slowly, sliding his hand through the tree and trying to see what is placed at a distance, close to the body of the slaughtered horse. After Rinlia’s return, the group heard the sound of several creatures and, before they had time to escape, the creatures arrived from multiple directions.

It did not take long before the first one came into view. In the same spot where Rinlia had been a few moments ago, a spider the size of a dog appeared among the vegetation and launched itself over the dead horse. Its paws moved quickly, lacing the animal with her webs and, with great effort, tried to move the dead body.

Arthur, paralyzed in front of that image, felt his arm pulled by Rinlia, who put him on his back against a tree and positioned her index finger over his lips, asking for silence. The boy can see that all the others have also hidden themselves: Yvanna is positioned on a nearby tree, with Nafaester on her arms; Galaaz stuck his belly to the ground, hiding among the vegetation; Rinlia is next to Arthur, hidden by the same tree; and, finally, Thiago is crouched beside a bush, pressing Gaenar’s body against the ground, preventing him from drawing the attention of the beasts.

By putting his head to the side, Arthur is able to observe that the spider on the horse has company. Others appear from the vicinities and, as a group, about ten arachnids lift the animal’s body and rotate it, wrapping it around their webs and encapsulating it until it is completely wrapped in a cocoon.

The process is slow and, while they are doing that, other spiders’ approach, slowly, to watch the task. They come from different positions and the sound of their movement makes it difficult to predict where others would emerge.

Rinlia also perspires, but not for the same reasons as Arthur. She perspires because she is able to notice that, judging by the movements nearby, other arachnids will soon appear in the exact place they are using to hide.

*

The walls of Barsen’s prison seem to move with the blink of an eye. Sometimes they seem distant and unreachable, encompassing the whole world. Sometimes they seem extremely close, awakening a claustrophobic feeling in the ogre, approaching his body and hands, turning the place into a stone coffin that surrounds his delirious body in the midst of pain and isolation.

He knows that not much time has passed since his arrival. Even though he is unable to know precisely “when”, he understands that this is a recently created type of hell.

The pain from the injuries sustained during the monster’s attack on the lake intensifies, he feels his chest tightens and his lungs seem to be more and more unable to work properly over time.

The position in which he is placed is also a problem. His arms are placed above his head, so that his legs cannot touch the ground properly. This puts the weight of the body on his arms and, after a few hours, the numbness gives way to a sharp pain in the limbs that seems ready to pull them out at any moment.

-Brother…

His voice is not as strong as it used to be. His eyes no longer have the grandeur of the moment he arrived. His mind, however, is as clear as day.

He is able to make out the traces of the ogres on the face of the guard responsible for putting a small amount of water on his lips.

-We are not brothers, prisoner.

-Brother, help me. I… I have to go home.

The other ogre, dressed in heavy armor, with golden and red colors, use a handful of seconds to contemplate the prisoner’s face. Unlike Barsen, this guard does not have a youthful face. His eyes have wrinkles and expression marks. His fangs are yellowish and the hair combed in braids over his head has more white than black strands.

His look at Barsen is one of pity.

-You won’t be able to go home, young one. You should know that by now.

The guard turns around and closes the prison door, leaving Fiandel’s soldier alone with an uncomfortable truth.

He would not return home. Of course not. After all, he would not say what Aetna wanted to hear, even at the cost of his life. If only he could-

No. He promised that he would not betray Rinlia after joining her as a subordinate. When she chose him to be the second in command, he made a promise and created a debt. A debt he has not yet paid.

Barsen notices the prison walls shrink, ominously approaching his body.

A coffin made out of stone.

A sign of days yet to come.

*

Yvanna, from the top of her tree, is the first to notice the arrival of the Arachnes nearby. They are horrendous creatures, with hairy legs and long bodies, moving with spectacular speed and using the vegetation to maneuver among the trees with supernatural agility. At this point, it is evident that there are at least two dozen giant arachnids in the nearby terrain.

With the nymph’s body in her arms, she uses one hand to gesture to Rinlia, asking her to start moving immediately. They need to go as quickly as possible, otherwise they would not be able to escape.

Rinlia points to the West. Her goal was simple: To run in that direction so they could get as close as possible to the territory of the lakes of Peace, where the fauna was less aggressive.

It would be a delay and would certainly make it more difficult to find the lupines, but she had no other good options. With a gesture to Thiago, she points to the West and signals to the werewolf’s heels. Although apprehensive, the soldier cuts off some of the ties below the creature’s knees, allowing him enough freedom to run – or to not have to be dragged along.

Yvanna looked at the nymph in her arms and smiled.

-You should not try to do anything. – She whispers, her lips close to Nafaester’s ear. – Or I will throw you to them.

The nymph doesn’t seem intimidated, but also shows no sing that she will disobey the order.

Yvanna positions herself on the branch, ready to jump and start a run on land with the prisoner in her arms.

Everyone’s heartbeats are accelerated. The sound of spiders moving and their own breathing form an unpleasant cacophony, which gets worse by the second.

Rinlia touches Arthur’s shoulder. The boy was paralyzed like a stone.

-Run close to me. – She whispers. He would never question an order at this point.

The elf closes her eyes and visualizes the door to her home in Fiandel. She takes a deep breath, searching for memories of what she does not want to lose. The reason why she needs to run with all her might.

The door to her home in Fiandel, opening to her.

-Now! – The voice is an order that resonates among the trees. A unified race starts at a point where the elf realized that there was not a cluster of enemies.

Rinlia guides them, making space between the vegetation with her own hands – since her sword was lost during the battle against Nafaester – and regardless of the wounds caused by splinters or thorns found along the way.

She is closely followed by Arthur and Galaaz; the next one is Yvanna, who carries Nafaester’s body; at the end of the line are Gaenar and Thiago, both slower than the group for different reasons: The werewolf is slow due to the restrictions of the vines and Thiago is slow because his ankle, injured during the fight against the golem, is starting to fail him.

The race has a peculiar sonority for different points of view. This happens because, a few meters away, it would be difficult to hear any signs of movement. From the fugitives’ point of view, however, it seems that there is a real war of sounds on all sides: the sounds of their steps, the sound of vegetation removed by the arms and legs, their own uneven breathing, the beat of their hearts and, mainly, the legs of spiders moving behind them.

These spiders close the distance with incredible speed, passing over natural obstacles with ease.

Rinlia, at the same time as she guides the group, also realizes that some members are falling behind – Thiago most of all, feeling the ankle failing him.

After reaching a space with no trees, she realizes that there is no way they can keep running like that. Although some enemies had stop chasing them, a high number of spiders remained on their trail.

That is the moment she hears a howl of pain. After completely stopping the run – and being imitated by everyone – she sees the one who let out the yell: Thiago, who falls face down on the edge of the glade, drawing his sword and swinging it towards his leg.

The soldier takes two members of an Arachne in one movement. The arthropod, feeling the loss of its limbs, screams in pain and retracts the fangs that, until then, were stuck in Thiago’s leg.

Galaaz uses the moment to attack the spider and, in one bite, pulls blood and a large part of its lower body. The arachnid retracts its paws and, curled up, expires.

-Thiago, are you okay? – Rinlia places herself over his body, without facing him. Instead, she looks into the space between the trees, seeing a group of arachnids that is approaching her group.

The soldier tries to get up, but the leg does not respond as he would like.

-My sword. – He says with all the strength he can gather in his voice. – Use my sword.

He knows that he won’t be able to stand. The elf notices the gesture and looks at the pommel of the sword he offers to her. When she looks down, she can see the hole in his thigh where the spider’s fangs penetrated moments before.

-Sit down for now. We will see what we can do about this.

The soldier does not hear the commander’s words. As soon as she picks up the sword from his hands, he closes his eyes and pass out.

-Damn it! – Yvanna exclaim after realizing that he lost consciousness.

The vampire throws the prisoner’s body to the ground and, with one movement, puts the werewolf on the ground too. They try to protest, but with the cloth over their mouth, they are unable to say anything. Yvanna steps on their chest and points to the floor. It becomes clear that she will not let them get up immediately.

-It is the venom of the Arachnes. – The wolf grumbles, placing himself next to Rinlia and noticing the other spiders that slowly approach them, as if studying the best way to attack.

-We’ll see that later. – Rinlia says, trying to convince herself. The hand that holds the sword, however, trembles. – Yvanna, I will need your help. You too, Arthur.

-What should I do? – The boy feels desperate when counting the spiders that come from all directions. There are at least fifteen of them, all ready to attack.

The vampire approaches Arthur and puts her hand on his shoulder, pointing the direction of Rinlia’s back. Yvanna herself looks to the same direction.

-We know you did something to protect the wolf. Use that again. – Her voice is in a monotone; however, she is unable to hide a slight tremor in her hands. – If nothing works, use this.

She offers one of her daggers to him.

-I don’t-

Arthur wanted to protest, but there would be no time for that. He accepts the small blade at the same time the spiders advance, plunging themselves like a plague over their bodies. Arthur, unable to deliver any effective blows, knows that his only option is to dodge.

Yvanna uses her hand to grab the leg of the first spider that launches itself on her body and, with the same hand, she launches the first spider over a second. The Arachne is used as a mace by the strength of the vampire, who crushes two enemies with one movement.

Rinlia uses the sword in a fluid way, dodging the first attack and cutting in half the first Arachne to launch itself at her. Then, with a flick of the hand, she produces small flames that launch themselves over the heads of two spiders. Scared and confused by the flames, they are unable to dodge the sword stroke that falls on their heads.

Galaaz feels at home. After all, he was used to hunting among lupines and Arachnes are occasional enemies in this forest. With precise jumps, he launches himself on the spiders’ bodies before they can attack, giving him the opportunity to crush their stomachs with the weight of his paws and the strength of his fangs.

Upon realizing that Arthur was having difficulties, Galaaz launched himself at an Arachne that was about to jump on the boy’s body. With his arms scratched by the spiders, Arthur does nothing but work as a bait so that Yvanna and Galaaz can attack the animals without much resistance.

The teamwork is satisfactory, and they are able to take down the first dozen enemies before anyone else was poisoned. This is the thought that crosses Rinlia’s mind a second before the second wave of spiders reaches the group. Now, they are not ten or twenty.

There are at least one hundred spiders surrounding the group.

“The first attack was only to buy time.” The elf realizes, feeling her own breath loses its rhythm as despair grows in her mind.

While they were occupied defeating a dozen arachnids, a hundred others, practically on top of each other, deadly surrounds the group.

*

*