The disgusting odor grew stronger. If Xerxes hadn’t already encountered such olfactory assaults on multiple occasions, he would definitely have shrunk back from it. In fact, behind him, he heard a retching sound coming from Satahsusar.

And Ninsunu said, “In the name of the Pontifarch. That smell….”

In the darkness ahead were spindly white legs, followed by a pale, glistening body and a maroon ‘head.’ It was exactly like the Abhorrent that Gandash had summoned, except larger.

He gripped his sword and bent his knees. What to do? Slice off legs? Or try to stab it? Did these things have hearts or brains? How did you kill them? During the fateful battle with the female Abhorrent, he hadn’t learned much other than they could take immense amounts of damage and still keep fighting. And they were stronger, even than mages.

“I don’t think it’s a spawn,” Xerxes said. “It’s too big.”

The thing crawled toward him, its dozens of spider-like legs moving in waves as it pulled itself through the corridor. Unlike the smaller versions, the reddish ‘heads’ actually resembled mouthless human faces.

“Careful, Xerk,” Ninsunu said. “If it’s a juvenile, it could have powers.”

“I know.”

The legs, he thought. I’ll go for the legs. If it can’t walk, it’s not going to be as dangerous.

He was preparing to jump forward when something caught his attention. Movement further down the tunnel. More legs.

“There’s more than one,” he said.

The first one was about five cubits away, with the second one only a few cubits behind the first.

“What do I do, High Seer?” he said.

“Back out into the open,” she said. “That way I can help you.”

“Okay.” However, he had already identified the best position to launch a blow, and he didn’t want to lose that opportunity. The Abhorrent slid a bit further toward him, and he jumped. The corridor was narrow but tall, giving him just enough room to bring the blade down and to the left.

His blade slashed through five legs at once, sending the whitish stalks flopping to the ground amidst gelatinous ichor that pumped from the severed ends. The Abhorrent made a hissing sound—from where, Xerxes wasn’t sure, as he still couldn’t see any mouth—and shrank back briefly.

Okay, this isn’t so bad.

He used that moment to back out of the corridor into the courtyard, keeping his eyes on the monster the entire time. It only took seconds for it to apparently forget about its injury and crawl forward.

Off to the side, Ninsunu reached into her spell component pouch.

Glancing in the other direction, he tried to locate Satahsusar, but didn’t see her.

Don’t tell me she ran off, he thought.

As the wounded Abhorrent came closer, Xerxes prepared to deliver a second blow. The first attack had been successful, so it made sense to follow up with more. As it reached the doorway, he jumped forward again. It flailed two or three legs to block his blow, but he chopped through them. His blade continued, biting into the thing’s side and causing a brief spurt of blackish internal fluid. The stench in the area grew stronger.

It hissed and struck him with its legs, but he dodged to the left and pulled his blade back before swinging it from a downward position. It chopped right through the Abhorrent’s reddish ‘head.’ Taking advantage of his momentum, he pulled the sword back and then stabbed it straight into the thing.

He twisted the blade and then angled it straight up, slicing the creature nearly in half from middle to top. It shuddered and shrieked, black blood and milky ichor splattering everywhere. The stench became overwhelming. The creature then collapsed, and Xerxes backed up, feeling more confident than ever.

“See, they’re not invincible!” He flicked his sword through the air hoping to get some of the blood and gore off of it. It only helped a bit. There wasn’t time to fumble for the cloth he’d brought along for that purpose. It would have to wait.

He heard a thump next to him and looked over to see Satahsusar. So, she hadn’t fled.

“In that case,” she said, “I can’t let you have all the fun.”

She held a long curved dagger in each hand. Where she’d been hiding them on her person, he had no idea. Satahsusar held the blades with confidence, the way an expert fighter would. But her two, small blades were very different from his own longsword, which was roughly two cubits from end to end. He had a big advantage in reach.

Meanwhile, Ninsunu still hadn’t taken out any spell component to cast a spell. “How many more are there?”

“At least one,” Xerxes said. Even as the words left his mouth, he saw the second monster crawling out into the open, all of its legs intact, its pale body glistening with slime. “The legs are stronger than they seem. They—”

Seemingly making a point of ignoring him, Satahsusar jumped forward, her knives flashing as she removed four legs from the Abhorrent. She danced backward just in time to avoid a followup leg swipe from the creature.

“They’re not manifesting any powers,” Ninsunu said. “So they’re not juveniles.”

“Agreed,” Xerxes said, he bent forward on one knee and struck from above, his sword completely avoiding any legs while cutting into the thing’s back.

It swiveled and swiped at him, and one of the sharp, claw-like ends snagged his pant leg, ripping it open. He jerked the sword out of the Abhorrent’s body, then jumped back to avoid more leg swipes.

“Need to be more precise than that,” Satahsusar said, lopping off a few more legs, then burying a knife deep in the thing’s head. Ripping the knife downward, she successfully ended its life, causing it to flop down next to the other.

Was the tide of battle turning?

Satahsusar tsked. “I really don’t see why everyone is in such a tizzy over a few overgrown spiders. They’re no different than—”

Xerxes saw more motion in the corridor. “Hey,” he interrupted. “It’s not over yet.”

Pursing her lips, Satahsusar said, “You ought to show a bit more respect for—”

This third Abhorrent didn’t waste time. It leaped forward like a jumping spider, its target being Satahsusar. She let out a squawk and jumped back, but the tips of the thing’s claw-like legs snagged her skirts, tripping her. One of her knives clattered to the side. As she fell into a seated position, Xerxes swung his sword, severing the legs that had grabbed her. There wasn’t time to help her to her feet. He tried to slash some more legs, but this Abhorrent was either smarter than its fellows, or perhaps it had learned from observing them get cut down.

Xerxes’ sword touched nothing but air, and then the thing was on him, its legs flailing at him from all directions. Almost immediately, it snagged some loose parts of his clothing. His sleeve at the elbow. His pant leg.