The sound jostled Beasley to awaken, crossbow in hand. “What was that?” He whispered.
“Just a spider, my miniature rogue.” The paladin smirked, “But now that you are awake, I will retire and you may begin your shift.” He stood up and made his way towards his bedroll.
“Well then,” Beasley kicked his blanket off himself with a grunt. “I guess I don’t have any choice do I?” He sniveled all night as he found a small rock to perch on as everyone else slept. Zander continuing to make quite a racket with his snoring, Beasley just turned his back on the party in spite. He saw something moving like a line of ants across the wall. He stood up to examine the phenomena before him on the wall and it was not ants, but lines of spiders crawling up the wall. “What a peculiar sight,” Beasley spoke to himself. “I have never seen so many spiders” He spotted the spiders continuing on their path up the wall. He slowly followed with his eyes, the miniature march of these spiders as they continued into a hole about ten feet off the floor. A large tree root began to move as the spiders collected around it. Another root moved, and then another, Beasley began to back up realizing that those were not tree roots but rather legs of a large spider.
“Oh Hell!” Beasley yelped in warning as he drew his crossbow and let loose a bolt into the spider’s large beady eyes. “Time to wake up fellas!” Beasley kicked Solcloud on his way in backing up and fell onto Zander. As he fell, he let loose another bolt that crashed into the roof of the cavern above the spider.
The spider pawed its way out of its lair as smaller spiders fell to the ground. Solcloud drew his sword and began to curse the fact he could not sense this large spider. The spider dropped, leapt at Solcloud, and with lightning reflexes sank its fangs into his chest, piercing his armor like tin under a hammer and spike. With a startled look on his face, the paladin’s eyes rolled back into his head and dropped like a rag doll. By this time, Beasley had reloaded and fired another bolt at the aggravated spider.
Zander watched his associate of the cloth fall and with a roar of anger, he flew into a rage. Flailing his hammer in the air and with both hands, he slammed the hammer square into the back of the giant arachnid, a crash of thunder echoed through the tunnels as the spider landed to the ground with an empty thump. Gore from the spider dripped from his hammer as well as his armor, Zander panted as he fell to a knee in exhaustion.
Mayvn still slumbering rolled over and put his back to the party. Zander and Beasley spent the rest of the night on watch together after mending Solcloud of his wounds and stripping him of his armor so he may sleep more soundly. Zander pounded out the puncture holes in the paladin’s armor.
“That was quite an amazing feat, my large comrade.” Beasley had to talk to calm his nerves. “How did you do that?”
Zander, hunched over the armor and a rock as an anvil, solemnly spoke. “I don’t know. You have seen me do it before, it just happens. I have a mighty temper and when people are in danger I can think of nothing else than protecting them.
Solcloud was dying and would need healing right away, no time to waste. I felt the only way to save him was to quickly dispatch that dreadful spider.”
“That could really come in handy.” Beasley traced a line in the dirt as he continued. “It can also be a hindrance when we need you the most. You are as though a mindless juggernaught. What happens if we all need a spell from you?”
“That is why I am ashamed, it is my ogre blood.” Zander continues to hammer at the breastplate. “I am sorry.”
“No, don’t be.” Beasley walks over and looks Zander in the eye. “Don’t be ashamed of your ancestry; use it to your advantage. Goodness knows I have.” With a smile and a pat on the back, Beasley sits down and lies back on the rock Zander is sitting on and pulls up the blanket and looks up to the giant makeshift blacksmith. “You all right?”
“Yes, thank you, my friend.” Zander grins apprehensively. “Go to sleep, Othr watch over you.” He pats his friend on the head as Beasley slouches down and closes his eyes for a few more hours of rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment