Carol's POV:

I sent Tom ahead and climbed the wall of my dome to get my battlegear. I blew the dust off my mithril armor as I strapped on each piece firmly. I strapped on my front greaves and slipped on each of my other four claw caps. I locked the greaves attatched to the lower claw caps in place before settling into the bottom half of my shell armor and locked it into the top half which hinged over to make connecting it easier. My top half was a normal half-plate that had s spaulder already attached, I pulled it on and pulled the belts tight to keep it in place. I equipped my helmet and slipped into my fingerless elbow length gauntlets. I wriggled a bit to adjust the fit and looked at my reflection in a mirror in my web, I was a six-legged siege engine if I say so myself.

I rappelled from the top of my dome straight down to the ramp and skittered the rest of the way to the door. I drew my wands once I got out of the library and forced mana out into them as well as my front two claw caps. I used the glowing mana to etch the word haste into the air in front of me, then stepped into it. My heart pounded wildly as I charged through the street at triple my normal running speed. Right as the gate came into clear view a ball of white hot energy struck a crowd of enemies and melted a considerably large hole in the portcullis. I could have walked through it if not for the raging inferno on the other side.

I thought it might have been the enemies' doing, but then I remembered that I wasn't the only wizard in Border Town anymore. I scanned the top of the wall, looking for Thomas, but I couldn't see him until I ascended the wall. He was motionless on his back, mere inches from falling back into the courtyard. I was livid... A roar tore its way out of my throat as my emotions instantly went from being a cold lump of logic to scarcely contained steaming rage.

I scanned the battlefield for a target to unleash my pent up ire upon and spotted the knights in the distance. I stepped off the wall and landed heavily with my legs braced to absorb the impact. Still under the affect of my haste enchantment, I furiously scrawled runes into the air as I marched purposely towards the center of the knight formation. I felt my muscles swell with strength and the air around me crackle with wild mana as I passed through each complete rune, titanic strength, steel skin, predator's scent, aura of despair.

As I entered the optimum ragne for the knights to charge I saw their commander give the order, but the horses refused to budge. The training of the warhorses had taken over and rather than bolt, their urge to stay perfectly still when scared had kicked in.

I broke into my own full speed charge, with my six arachnid legs gripping the turf and launching me at full momentum at my targets. The knights dropped their lances and drew short swords as they dismounted the petrified horses. I dug my rear claws into the turf and halted my charge immediately, I put my front claws out and aimed my spinnerets up into the air over my head. I started spouting gobs of sticky silk into the air to act as low altitude artillery fire.

The balls of sticky thread wouldn't kill, but I didn't want them to. I wanted to pin them down to give me lots of time to torture those who would take my dear pupil from me. I sheathed my wands and grasped a pair of handles that were in the side of my carapace armor, drawing two war axes from within my posterior armor. I ended my bombardment just before a small group of knights entered my range and pounced the leading knight. I speared through his shoulders and thighs with my claws and fought with his fellows as he squirmed and screamed under my weight.

The three remaining knights formed a loose triangle with one to my left and right repectively and the third right in front of me. I balanced on my front and rear claws still pinning the injured knight to the ground and used my center claw on each side to parry the wild swings and launch probing jabs at the two on my sides. The knight in front I pressed hard, slinging a near endless stream of attacks and profanities as my axes whisked through the air.

The knight out front was well trained, even in his heavy armor he was dodging my attacks. I couldn't score more than a glancing blow off him. His companions however, were not so spectacular. I battered them relentlessly while I kept him from getting an attack in with my axes. The fight was going well until arrows started to fall around my pocket of melee among the trapped knights. I responded by impaling the knight on my left and holding his screaming form above my head like a living shield. The knight screamed like a banshee until a mass of arrows punched into his back and he went limp. The knight on my right hadn't been holding up well against my attacks to begin with and had become a hedgehog under the falling arrows.

The skilled knight who had been troubling me before hadn't escaped unscathed. He was still standing, but I could see that a stray arrow had penetrated through the back of his right kneecap. I remembered a random quote I had read in a book from Thomas' memories, "You used to be an adventurer, eh?" I asked rhetorically as a malicious grin filled my face. I pried my talons out of the knight I pounced and charged the injured knight in front of me, I pinned him and wrapped him tightly in my silk. I made sure he could barely breathe as I whispered in his ear, "Death will not be the end for you." I bit him and injected my paralytic poison into him before scampering off to annihilate the archers that were still firing arrows into my corpse shield.

As I approached the firing line the arrows stopped imacting into my improvised shield so I looked over its shoulder at the firing line. They were dropping their bows and pulling out hammers with a fist-sized head and a spike on the back end. I dropped my left axe and reached into a satchel to pull out a highly polished pyramid made of onyx. I jerked my claw out of the corpse and jammed the pyramid into the hole, I probed around in the body until I was elbow deep into it. I shoved my hand up under the ribcage and pushed the pyramid into the heart before pushing mana into it.

The corpse started to twitch as it I pulled my hand out of the hole filled with coagulated gore. The body stood as I released it and its eyes were filled with an ochre glow. I pointed to the archers and it turned to face them. "Kill" I ordered my new death knight, and it charged off at the soldiers who were soiling themselves as they realized what I had just done.

My rage was practically spent as I watched the death knight tear limbs off the soldiers that were too scared to flee or strangle the ones it caught with their own intestines. One of the archers came directly to me and begged for mercy. I almost spared her. I sensed magic flowing through her so I bit her just like the skilled knight from earlier. Letting her go when she could be a potential threat later would have been a mistake.

I had the guard captain collect the captives and drag them back into the town. I watched as he left the town and became an armored skeleton roaming the battlefield to collect the survivors and to drag the horse corpses into the town. I had the bellows worker carry my unconcious apprentice to our home and sent for the apothecary to tend to him.

I removed my armor and collected my chosen captives from among the few survivors and brought them into my library. I opened a hatch that was obfuscated on the first floor and carried them in. I decided I would spend the free time I had breaking their minds and convincing them to divulge their secrets to my books. After a few hours, the captain showed up in my library demanding to know if Thomas would be punished for his wanton destruction of the north gate. I felt the rage take root in me once again, "You listen here you sack of skeletal shit," I began, "My apprentice is not to blame for your stupidity! Furthermore, if you even consider harming or demanding anything of a person who was injured protecting this town, I will personally turn you into a scrimshaw windchime."My threat wasn't empty and he knew it, but it's obvious that skeletons aren't known for their brains.

The armored skeleton drew his sword and tried to bar my path leading to Thomas, I balled up my fist and struck his breastplate. My enchantments were still active, when my fist collided with his armor it deformed like a sheet of tin. I twisted my fist in the impact crater and his arms became locked in postion by the constricting armor. "Threaten me again captain, I dare you." I growled in a low tone next to where his ear would have been before shoving him aside and stomping up the stairs.