Amazonia

  Daemo Wolf-spiders came skittering out of the gate as Titan reached it.

  The monsters were large as men, with greenish-yellow skin and chitin armor plates, their bodies resembling a Direwolf’s but with six spindly legs armed with claws, which they used to grip their victims while draining them of blood. They were savage creatures but not stupid, flowing around Titan as his steel sword bit deep into a Wolf-spider's back.

  It gave an inhuman cry as he wrenched out the blade and jammed it through the creature's skull. The Wolf-spider dissolved into yellowish-green goo, which disappeared into the sands as Titan swung his sword in an arc, ready to defend himself against the monsters that should’ve been mobbing him.

  Hades' hairy armpits, they're moving past him and streaming towards us, at least a dozen of them. Titan took a step to go after the creatures, but then a shadow in the Hades gate caught his eye and he turned back as they scuttled towards the others. The leading edge closed in, ready to attack. Wait, what are they doing? The Wolf-spiders stopped as if waiting for the rest of their group to catch up before they attacked. "Domina… Az," Dancer... Io, said behind her in a worried voice, "they've never acted like this before."

  "A Daemo sorceress controls them," Fox said as she hovered overhead. "At a guess, they will focus on Lord Paulus until he is dead, then try to escape."

  "Over my dead body," Troll snarled... Cotus, his name's Cotus. He whipped his black Artifact great sword over his head as he shouted, "Come and fight me you demons."

  The last one joined the pack and they rushed the gladiators. Fox swooped past Amazonia’s head, flinging sand at their faces as she flitted up and down their line, and several stopped to rub at their eyes with the joint of their forelegs. One crouched the way they did before they leapt into the air and Az yelled, “Fox, behind you." She whipped her head back as a Wolf-spider jumped into the air straight towards her.

  A grey oval doorway formed in front of her. Fox swooped through it and the doorway vanished a moment before the Wolf-spider reached her, the creature falling head first into the sand as two Wolf-spiders skittered towards Az.

  Amazonia stood fast until the first monster was almost upon her, then leaped forward, the blade's red runes flashing as the sword sheared through the creature's legs. It pitched head first into the sand and Dancer stabbed it in the belly, the monster giving a piercing shriek and dissolving as the next one leapt for his throat.

  He spun away. Heart of Hades, he's never moved like that before. The spear knocked several legs out from under the creature as it swept past, staggering it, and Dancer stabbed it through the abdomen, pinning it in place. Az was already moving, swinging the blade down onto the chitinous plates covering its head and deep into its skull. This one dissolved as well, and she raised her sword as it bubbled and melted away into the sand.

  Nomad... the twins, were carving up a Wolf-spider, fighting as if they were one person, while across the arena Titan fought something big and tentacled, though most of it seemed to be keeping itself inside the chamber. Cotus wrestled with another, his sword stabbing the creature one handed while his other hand grabbed the plate on the back of its head to keep it from driving its fangs into his throat. The rest of the Wolf-spiders were attacking the guards, Ragnar snarling as he fought the ones trying to slip past him and attack Dominus.

  "I'll help Cotus," Amazonia yelled at Io as she took off running. "Keep the rest off Dominus."

  "On it," he yelled back and started running as a Wolf-spider tore out a guard's throat.

  Her attention focused on Troll… Cotus, Az reached the Wolf-spider and swung, shearing through one leg, then the other, as she planted her feet and reversed her swing. The monster staggered, pushing away from Troll, who rolled and grasped his sword in both hands as he got to his feet.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Something slammed into Az’s back, knocking her face first off her feet as fangs scraped across the Artifact plates. With the bloodied sand rushing towards her, Az instinctively rolled, landing on her back with one hand on the sword. The creature hissed and went for her throat.

  The Rune sword flicked up and as the creature’s jaws closed on her armored forearm, the Wolf-spider impaled itself on the blade. The Wolf-spider bucked, trying to bite through Artifact as she released the hilt with her other hand and jammed her fingers into its eye. The monster shrieked and let go, pushing off her, her hand barely grabbing the sword's hilt before it was carried away. The blade coming out of the wound made a sucking sound until the monster was free. Amazonia rolled to her knees as the creature crouched as if ready to leap.

  It couldn’t see Troll behind it. He swung, his blade crunching through chitin as the Wolf-spider shrieked one last time and dissolved into slime. Az took a moment to catch her breath as Troll… Cotus, he’s Cotus, grinned.

  Then a grey oval formed in front of Amazonia and Fox flung herself into the gladiator’s arms. She was moving incredibly fast and knocked them both over despite her lightness, while the ghostly image of a grey, hairless, bird-like creature the size of a warhorse, with wings at least twenty feet long, swooped over them and disappeared. Amazonia gaped in horror as the ghostly monster disappeared. "What in Hades' name was that?"

  "Shadow Raptor," Fox gasped, trembling in her arms. One wing had been shredded by the Shadow creature's claws, Fox grimacing in pain as her pale wings reabsorbed into her body, which returned to normal. "I was hiding in the Shadowlands because I didn't think I'd be any use in the fight, but then the Shadow Raptor found me. Please don't make me go back there."

  Az gave her a smile as she surveyed the battlefield. "I don't think you'll have to."

  All the guards were down, either dead or wounded, but only two Wolf-spiders remained. Io had one pinned as the Twins descended upon the other, Cotus running over to help Io make the kill. On the other side of the arena, the large tentacled creature was blocking the opening of the Hades gate with its body, its remaining tentacles feebly twitching while Titan fought across it with something still inside. Dominus was on his feet with a guardsman's sword in each hand. He had a cut on his forehead dripping blood down his cheek, while more blood soaked the side of his tunic, but he was alive.

  He raised a sword in Amazonia’s direction and she returned the salute, pulling Fox up with her as she rose. "Wardogs,” she yelled, “once the last two are dead, join me at the Hades gate so we can finish this."

  Ragnar reached the Wolf-spider before Cotus and chopped off its head with a blow from his axe. "Hold on a moment and Dominus and I will join you."

  Az shook her head. "Remain in front of the Eagle gate in case something slips past us. With luck, it'll be wounded, and out of breath from running towards you over sand."

  He raised his sword and turned around as Dominus called out, "All of you are free and I am no longer a lord. Call me Paulus."

  “Alright, Paulus then.” Strange to think of him as anything except Dominus, yet I like the way his real name rolls off my tongue. "Let Ragnar take the lead should you be attacked."

  Bitter humor touched his face as he called back, "Yes, Domina."

  The rest of Az’s Wardogs joined her and they took off at a steady jog towards the Hades gate. Movement caught her eye and she glanced at Cotus, noticing one of his side plates was swinging back and forth, holding on by a rivet. "Troll… Cotus, are you hurt?"

  "I was, but not anymore. Hey," Cotus raising his voice, "anyone else starting to think of himself as the creature tattooed on his back?"

  Io replied, "I thought it was just me."

  "Us too," the twins said in unison.

  "I'm trying to hold onto Ghost," the Daemo said, nude and not ashamed of it, "but Fox is winning." The grimace on her face says she’s still in pain, but toughing through it and keeping up, which was more that I'd expected, but 'Fox is winning', isn't. Later, I'll start thinking about what these tattoos are doing to the others and the Rune sword to me. Maybe a lot later, like after a couple flagons of wine later.

  They reached Titan, who stood with his sword raised but no longer fighting. "The Daemo monsters are retreating into the chamber," he said as Az stopped beside him. "Now that you are here, let me get rid of this," Titan driving his blade into a half-shut eye, "so we can goad them into attacking." The creature blocking the gate dissolved, and the gladiator’s formed a semi-circle with their weapons raised around the shadowed entrance as greenish-yellow tentacles slithered out and wrapped themselves around the rusty bars.

  Then the tentacles slammed the gate shut, which locked with a metallic clang as Fox cried out behind them, “The Eagle gate, it’s opening."