Eight red eyes, glowing the in the dark, met his gaze.

  “Down!” He shouted, throwing himself to the ground, and pulling Lochlan along. As they hit the ground, something flew right over their heads.

  “Alaric?” Clara’s panicked voice rang. “What’s going on?” Elizabeth shouted. Sarah’s cursing barely reached his ears.

  “Up, up.” Lochlan pulled him on his feet, then immediately pulled him aside. A jet-black leg struck the ground where they were standing just a moment ago. Cracks spread across the obsidian floor.

  It can bloody break obsidian! He gulped as the leg raised again. He could see the spider’s body on his peripheral vision now, and it was much larger than he dared fear.

  It’s entire body was wrapped in spider silk, resting slightly above the ground, in a cocoon. It’s two side legs, and two front legs were out in the open. Each leg was long enough to reach anywhere in the chamber, and clearly strong enough to create cracks in obsidian with a single hit.

  If we get hit, we’re dead. And even Clara couldn’t bring back anyone from that… probably.

  “Spread out?” Lochlan suggested, quickly stepping away from Alaric as the creature’s leg lunged at him. The young man jumped back, causing the leg to miss, then unsheathed his sword and swung it with all the strength he could muster. The metal blade struck the spider’s leg with a thud, and bounced off, leaving only a small, harmless scratch.

  “…fuck.”

  His gaze darted to the creature’s main body as its leg lifted and lunged at Lochlan again. The creature’s head was protected by a fanged jaw, clearly strong enough to bite his head off with ease.

  How do I get close? They clearly couldn’t harm the legs. The sword’s weight gave him no comfort at all.

  As he pondered, he noticed the creature’s jaw open. Eight eyes focused on him, and it planted all four of its visible feet firmly in the ground, then spat.

  The sticky blob of silk passed by him by a large margin and hit the wall behind.

  At least it’s a shit shot.

  Once again a thud sounded. Lochlan had slammed the dull edge of his sword against the creature’s leg again. This time, the creature seemed to flinch a little. It’s gaze turned to Lochlan as it swiped its leg towards him. The young man stepped aside just in time to only get hit in the right shoulder.

  “Lochlan!” Alaric called out as the young man fell to the ground with a gasp.

  “It’s bloody strong!” He cried out as he scrambled to get up. “I’m good though – look out!”

  Alaric ran to the side as the leg struck the ground where he was a few moments ago. “We need to get to the main body – hitting the legs is useless!”

  “How?” Lochlan was back on his feet already. He grasped his sword tightly, but his balance seemed slightly off. He stumbled as he stepped aside and swung the blade rather weakly towards the creature’s leg. His shoulder must have been hurting quite a bit.

  I don’t know! He shot a quick glance over his shoulder. Ava and Sarah were nowhere to be seen, though their grunts and curses as they worked on cutting off the webs blocking the way were reaching his ears. Even if they hurried, they were still a way off, and it was going to take some time for them to clear a path to get here.

  We need to do this ourselves. As much as he hated that thought, they simply didn’t have a choice. “Hit its leg again when it misses you.” He moved to the far side of the room, as far away from Lochlan as possible.

  Spiders didn’t have good vision, despite having eight eyes. So if it was solely focused on Lochlan, maybe it wouldn’t see him. God, please don’t see me.

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  The jet-black leg struck the ground again. Lochlan nearly fell down as he stumbled aside, then slammed his sword against the leg, over and over again. The spider planted its feet firmly to the ground, propping its body up ever so slightly.

  Alaric kicked the ground, dashing between its two right legs. It spat the sticky blob of silk towards a stumbling Lochlan. The young man gasped, and tried to move out of the way, but the mass of silk hit his leg.

  “Ah.” He stumbled backwards, then regained his balance. “You missed a bit you ugly bug! I can still walk!” His shout seemed to annoy the spider as it raised its leg again.

  Alaric dug his blade to the side of its body, in the spot between its two right legs. The creature screeched, its legs flailed around wildly, pulling spiderwebs down from the ceiling and walls. It’s jaw snapped at him, catching the sword before he could pull back.

  He felt something crack, and before he could react, the blade snapped in half where the spider caught it. Wide eyed, he ran back. Something hit the ground behind him, then again, then a third time. Cracks spread across the floor beneath his feet.

  We’ll drop down if this keeps up. If there was a down. All the other spires had a way down – but then again, they didn’t have gigantic spiders guarding their mana cores.

  “It broke your sword?” Lochlan asked in disbelief.

  “It what?” Sarah’s voice echoed from the narrow hallway. “We’re halfway there – are you two ok?”

  “We’re alive.” Alaric replied, then glanced at the creature. It moved its right legs closer to its body while it lifted its front left leg. Did I slow it down? Or was it just protecting its wound in case he tried to do the same again.

  But I can’t. Not without a weapon. With clenched fists and a tight jaw, he looked around. How do I kill it? He ran to the side as it’s leg struck the ground one more time. There has to be a way.

  Now that he didn’t have his blade, he felt defenceless. The creature seemed even more terrifying than before. It’s jet black legs were a single strike away from ending his life. The crimson light of the flames created long shadows, dancing to their whims.

  He stopped in his tracks. I’m an idiot. He raised his gaze to the crimson flames. They were burning in stone basins placed somewhat high up on the wall. It was about half a meter higher than he could reach, but… He bit his lip. There has to be way.

  Disorganised piles of silk and cocoons were stacked up against pretty much every wall, nearly a meter high each. He could easily climb them to reach the flame. But what then? Was waiting for Ava and the others even an option?

  He glanced at Lochlan, who had once again drawn the ire of the gigantic spider. His arm was bloody – the leg must have scratched him. He could have died. I can’t just watch and do nothing. He couldn’t afford to wait. Waiting was the same as killing Lochlan and probably letting himself be killed as well.

  “Lochlan, do you see anything wooden there?” His voice immediately drew the attention of the beast. It planted its legs firmly, preparing to split again.

  “No,” Lochlan ducked, looking at the ground near the wall. “Just a bunch of silk and cocoons.”

  Alaric clicked his tongue, then also ducked just as the creature spat. The lump of sticky silk stuck to the wall behind him. I need something flammable. His gaze turned to the cocoons. Silk was flammable.

  I can put myself out. Clara could heal him. It’ll be fine. It was probably not going to be fine. I don’t have a choice. Waiting wasn’t an option anymore. Summoning his courage, he dashed towards the nearest pile of cocoons. Each was about as large as his fist. He tried not think about what was inside the bloody things.

  He snatched one off the ground. He felt a few sticky strands of silk, but easy tore it off the rest of the pile.

  “What are you doing?” Lochlan asked wide eyed.

  “Stay close to the entrance, and close to the ground!” There was no time to explain. The spider reared back, preparing to spit. It’s eyes glimmered with hunger and hate. The back of the gigantic cocoon it was in started to move.

  His chest tightened. If it became fully mobile, there was nothing either of them could do. He needed to finish this before then. Kicking the ground, he ran along the wall, stepped on an oddly gargoyle-shaped cocoon, and leapt into the air, towards the brazier.

  When the cocoon touched the crimson fire, it burst into flame. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he stumbled forward, then threw it at the cocoon enveloping most of the spider’s body.

  The entire web network connecting it to the cocoons in the chamber burst into flames almost simultaneously. The creature flailed about, spitting more silk to him, while also trying to free itself from the now flaming webs.

  He hadn’t regained his balance when it spat, so the wide, stickly web wrapped around his left arm and torso. He stumbled backwards. Lochlan caught him before he fell and pulled him closer to the entrance. “I’ll get the mana core, wait here!” The young man dashed back towards the creature, tearing the mana core off its pedestal and rushing back towards Alaric as the creature’s legs flailed around wildly.

  Smoke filled the room as the silk continued to burn. It carried the scent of burnt flesh and hair. Alaric gagged, covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve. His eyes watered, and lungs burned from the smoke he inhaled.