Ep 2 - Kas The Mesmer

Daviez was running through the stone corridors. 

Fast.

As fast as his short Asuran legs could take him.

Ahead of him, Cadaver Brokenbones was also running, but the Charrs legs, being longer, took him further.

"Run Cap!" screamed the Necromancer back. "Run or you're gonna be their next meal!"

Behind them, a group of spiders was in pursuit. And there were a lot of them.

The two companions had entered the dungeon looking for some loot that they would be able to sell at the Black Lions Trading Post, because their funds had started to run low, as usual.

They found a mithril chest in the middle of a hall, and as Cad started to unlock it, the spiders started to appear.

Initially, the two of them had tried to stand their ground. Cap slicing and dicing through the arachnids, while Cad would call up their dead bodies as his own personal army of undead, and they were actually succeeding.

But then she appeared.

The Toxic Spider Queen.

She had descended behind the two of them from the ceiling without a single sound. The screeching cries of her offspring as they were being slaughtered, alerted her to what was happening. And she came in their defense.

As Cap was cleaving his way through legs and fangs, Cad had taken a moment to do you what he had done over the last few weeks. When the going got tough... Cad got a little weird.

"Naked fight!" Shouted the Charr over the screeching of pain coming from the spiders.

He ordered his minions to protect him as he sat on the cobble stoned floor, and started to take off one of his leather boots. Struggling to pull the boot off, Cad fell backwards on the ground. Although the light was dim in the room, Cad realized that it had gotten darker all of a sudden.

He looked up, still trying to pry his boot off his clawed foot, and that's when he saw her.

The Toxic Spider Queen stood over him, drool dripping from her fangs, and Cad could have sworn that all of her eyes were looking straight at him. She rose on her back legs, and Cad jumped to his feet in an instance. As big as he was, he was very agile and quick. Maybe something in his genes passed on from a feline ancestor.

She fell on the spot where the necromancer had been a couple of seconds before, hitting the ground with her fangs.

Cad ran past Daviez, squashing spiders along the way and screaming at the top of his lungs, "NO NAKED FIGHT! NO NAKED FIGHT!"

The pirate looked back and saw for the first time in his life the Toxic Spider Queen.

At the time, he didn't know her name, all he knew was that she was big, and he was not!

In one motion, Daviez sheathed his great sword on his back, jumped over the few spiders that were in front of him and started running after his Charr companion.

The Asura looked back and saw that the spiders had started their pursuit of the two of them. The Spider Queen let out a hiss that sounded more like a cry of fury and set off after them also. As she ran, she spread her fangs and with an exhale, she spat out a blob of venom that flew over her children and hit Daviez on his back.

The blob splattered against the great swords sheathe and transformed into smaller blobs of venom. One of the smaller drops managed to find its way between the Asuras clothes and hat, and settled itself on the pirates skin, seeping into his bloodstream through his pores.

The effect wasn't immediate, and Daviez continued to run for his life, feeling a strange tingling on his neck.

"Run Cap!" screamed the Necromancer back. "Run or you're gonna be their next meal!"

The two companions ran through the corridors, Charr in front and Asura right behind, turning left and right, through rooms and halls, making their way back to the entrance of the dungeon.

The few torches that hung on the stone walls that were lit, would flicker as they ran past, but the mob of spiders that followed would extinguish the light with the sheer size of their numbers.

The pursuers had grown in number as they ran after the two intruders. Climbing out of holes and crevices, they came in all shapes and sizes.

Cad looked back and saw that there were more spiders than before, and that the Spider Queen was urging her young forward with hisses while she overtook some of them trying to get to the adventurers.

He looked at Daviez and could see the Asura was changing color. His light grey complexion was now a dull white, and the pirate was starting to fall behind. If he continued like that, he would be overtaken by the spiders in a matter of seconds.

Cad stopped and turned to face the small pirate and the mob behind him. He started to move his lips in a whisper as he waved his hands in a strange pattern. A yellowish green fog started to emerge on his fingertips, and the Charr continued his silent chant as Daviez got closer and closer.

Daviez was struggling to continue to run. He was finding it harder to breathe, and his legs were feeling more and more heavier. As he ran, his vision was also becoming blurred, with the torches and stone walls blending in to each other in a darkened kaleidoscope of colors.

And then, all was black.

Daviez fell to the floor, and the Spider Queen hissed louder.

The first spiders were nearly upon the fallen Asura, when a great big yellow green circle started to emerge from the ground in front of them. But that didn't stop the arachnids from continuing forward.

The leader of the pack was in jumping distance of the unconscious pirate, and decided to leap and get the first strike in. As it flew in the air, a pair of black bone hands shot out from the phantasmagorical well and grabbed the spiders back legs, dragging it back into the hole. Arms started flying from within the well to grab any moving spiders within their reach, and just as the first pair, dragged their prey into the yellowish green well.

Cad opened his eyes. The spell worked perfectly.

He ran to his companions side, picked him up, and threw him over his shoulder.

"Hmmm, free xp!" Said the Charr to himself.

The necromancer continued to run through the dungeon, and he didn't have to look behind to know that the spiders were still chasing. The clicking of their feet on the stone, and the hissing of the Spider Queen, was all he needed to know that the chase was still on.

Cad turned a corner and ran into an enormous hall. At the end of the hall, he could see the giant stone stairs that would take him to the entrance of the dungeon.

His heart was pounding, and his muscles were aching from all the running, and now from carrying the small pirate on his shoulder.

He started up the stairs and looked around as he ran. The walls of the hall were gradually being replaced by spiders. When the Charr had reached the top of the stairs, only the massive double doors and a portion of the walls next to them, didn't have an arachnid body on it. The screeching and hissing of the insects became louder with each new arrival.

Cad pushed forward, and mustering what little strength he still had, prepared himself to ram the doors with the shoulder that didn't have the Asura on it.

The doors exploded into pieces as Cad flew through it.

Daviez was sent flying through the air like a rag doll. Unconscious. Lifeless.

The Charr got up slowly from the ground and looked for his partner, his head still dizzy from the strain of what had just happened. He found him a few meters to his right, not moving. As Cad walked towards the Captain, he started to fumble in his pouch for a vial of antidote. He wanted to run, but his body refused, so he complied with what his body told him.

He knelt besides the Asura, turned him over and let some of the liquid drop into the wide open mouth of his companion.

Daviez let out a low moan. The antidote was working.

"Hehehe! Lucky Cap!" Mumbled the necromancer. "Luckiest rat I have ever seen!"

He turned back to face the dungeon entrance and felt the pain.

In front of him, the Spider Queen stood. Her fangs inserted deep into the Charrs chest.

Cad fell to his knees. Then slumped forward as the giant spider retracted her fangs from his body.

The Spider Queen stood on her back legs and gave out a massive hiss of victory. She stared at the fallen duo, and made her way slowly to the Asura. She had noticed that he was still moving, and she didn't want him to be able to fight back. She wanted to finish him..

She was upon him. The drool dripping more with the knowledge of fresh prey on her mind. All she had to do was insert her fangs into him. She bent down and started her descent on the small body of Daviez. Her fangs glistening with the venom that was going to be injected into him.

All of a sudden a light shined behind the massive spider. White, pink and purple burst all around.

"Leave!"

Daviez heard the word faintly. It was a woman's voice. Light, soft and kind. It wasn't a scream, but it had authority to it.

"I said leave! Go back to your dungeon, Spider Queen!"

Daviez managed to lift his head and looked beyond the spider.

There, a couple of meters away stood a human female. Slender, long blond hair and a short skirt dress. She held a great sword in her hands. The sword glowed with the strange mixture of white, pink and purple. Around her body, what appeared to be small crystals floated around her.

The giant spider turned, and without any notice, ran towards the female, hissing at her all the while.

The human lifted her left hand while still managing to hold the great sword in her right hand, and whispered some words.

Immediately, three new forms of the human appeared. The spider stopped, confused to what had just happened, looking at each of the clones in bewilderment. It hissed at one, then at another, still trying to figure out what was happening and then ran towards the closest figure.

In what could be called as a coordinated dance, the four figures attacked the spider. Each mimicking the others moves. Rays of light hit the spider from every direction, making it cry out in pain.

The spider flung itself at the closest of its adversaries, and passed right through her. As it landed, the clone blew up in a burst of light, and the spider screeched in pain.

Another of the clones ran towards the spider and without stopping, threw its great sword at the arachnids body. The sword hit the spider in its abdomen, and the Spider Queen let out another cry of pain. The weaponless clone continued to run at the giant spider, when it was next to it, the clone exploded into another ball of light, setting the arachnid in flames.

The Spider Queen screeched in pain once more, jumped over the human female and ran into the opening of the dungeon where the wooden doors used to be, body still engulfed in flames. Her screeching faded away as she ran through the dungeon to her nest, and all her children followed, hissing and screeching with their mothers pain.

The female walked over to the fallen Asura, and smiled as she knelt beside him.

"Hello little one." She said. Her voice soft and sweet. It gave Daviez a sense of comfort. "You don't look to good."

Daviez could only muster an Uh-huh as a reply.

"My name is Kas." She said as she picked the Asura up in her arms.

"Here, let me carry you".