Blasted Bugs
Blasted Bugs
SPACE “The blasted bugs are determined to get us,” Alasdair calls out. “We can try to escape them in this tunnel,” he finishes, looking to the darkened tunnel at the back of this cavern.
SPACE Alasdair enters the water and begins to swim away.
SPACE Picking up Tarsis and shaking her, Conner asks her, “You live?”
SPACE She gives no answer.
SPACE Tharg and Conner enter the water, limp bodies draped over their shoulders. Hooking his left arm around the neck of Tarsis, Conner begins the side stroke to Alliandra.
SPACE The bow-wielding elf peers about the cavern nervously, trying to pinpoint the source of the resurrected chittering. Though by far the more intimidating of the two strangers, the other, shorter elf is the one who seems to take charge.
SPACE “Drop the fucking bodies; they’re bug bait!”
SPACE Dumb looks take the faces of the group. Who is this strange elf? Can we trust either of these strangers? Do they have a plan to defeat these arachnid enemies? Or are they leading us into a trap? Despite these questions, the lack of time causes compliance.
SPACE “Move your big asses to the narrow end of this cavern!” he says to Conner and Tharg, who continue making their way to where Alliandra and Garn rest.
SPACE “I've got a plan,” the smirking elf winks at his partner.
SPACE Dropping the Tarsis’ tiny body onto the sand, Conner smiles at Alliandra and opens his mouth to speak. Tharg props Kavan up on his shoulder and seems to be waiting for someone to tell him what to do next. They both spin about as the chittering noises start back up.
SPACE The bossy elf says something to the other stranger and then runs towards where Alasdair has stepped up from the deep water and back into a knee-deep tunnel area.
SPACE “Let’s go!” the elf calls over his shoulder. “Everyone get in this tunnel! Now! Let’s move!”
SPACE Seeing no alternative, the majority begins to move. Grant tosses the buglight toward the rest of the group and begins descending into the water.
SPACE Garn looks a bit bewildered by all the commotion, reports of fallen allies, and possible escape routes. Finally, the big man decides to follow the voice of his longest-standing friend and yells, “Grant! I’m coming!” and begins making his way toward the dwarf’s position.
SPACE “No, Garn, no!” comes the gruff-throated answer. “Swim to the other end of the cave! The damned buggers are right behind me!”
Garn complies without complaint.
SPACE Grant takes a giant step backward, swings his arms, and then jumps feet first into deeper waters, grabbing and plugging his nose on the way down. The old dwarf lands with a splash very near where Alliandra still rests. Alasdair is swimming approximately two strokes behind the bossy elf.
SPACE The chittering feels like it is upon the group as they hurry their way toward the back tunnel. The chittering sounds like hundreds of the creepy crawlies coming from both ends of the cavern. Is it the echoes? Or are they surrounding us?
SPACE Both elves join Alasdair in the shallow tunnel. The bossy elf rifles through his backpack and pulls out three flasks, handing one each to his companion and Alasdair. He uncorks his own flask with his teeth, spitting the stopper into the water, and begins splashing its contents all about the walls and water. Alasdair and the other elf do likewise.
SPACE By the time the barbarians cross the coral beach and swim their way to the back tunnel, iridescent rainbow hues cover most of the water’s surface and stick to everyone’s clothing.
SPACE Oil.
SPACE It is apparent now that this elf does have a plan.
SPACE The others shuffle by the elf. His arm has been wounded, most likely by one of the spiders. It is bleeding badly. He smiles at the others as they pass, gritting his teeth through his smile at the pain.
SPACE “Anybody don’t want to get burned up better keep on moving to the back,” he says. Needing no prompting, the group shuffles passed him just as the first spider peeks its head into the cavern where Grant stood only moments ago.
SPACE The chittering was loud before their arrival. Now, with the hungry arachnids making their way across the ceiling, the sound is ear-splitting. The spiders enter one after another, each one pausing momentarily to hone in on their prey before advancing.
SPACE “Hurry!” Alasdair screams to Grant, who is still doggy-paddling his way toward the rest of the group. The spiders see Grant struggling to escape their feast and three of the group drop onto the beachy area and race toward him.
SPACE The chittering increases as the spiders close in on their first victim.
SPACE The elven archer jumps in front of his bossy companion and fwip! fwip! fwip! fires arrow after arrow in an attempt to gain Grant a few seconds more to reach safety.
SPACE Two of the three arrows hit their mark, halting two speeding spiders just long enough to give Grant the leeway he needed. The archer stows his bow and bends down to lend Grant a hand getting out of the water.
SPACE “Run!” the archer yells, taking off down the hallway to where the rest of the party is standing.
SPACE The bossy elf begins yelling a series of tauntings at the approaching spiders.
SPACE “Come on!”
SPACE “Come get some of this!”
SPACE “Bring it here, you hairy motherfuckers!”
SPACE “I ain’t running!” he yells to the oncoming stampede of Labrador-sized arachnids.
SPACE The spiders draw ever closer as the bossy elf takes a few steps back, out of the oil splattered area of the tunnel, and then puts one knee in the water. He remains motionless, not even looking at the impending attack.
SPACE The spiders drop from the ceiling onto the walls and close in on the hallway from both sides.
SPACE Twenty paces… fifteen paces… ten paces…
SPACE Half a dozen spiders are in the hallway now, racing across the walls and ceiling after their meals.
SPACE The elf begins rubbing his hands together and then stands suddenly as the last spider enters the hallway.
SPACE “FLAMMICREMUS FLAGRO SUCCENSIO!”
SPACE There is a blinding flash as the entire hall erupts in flames. The blast slams into the group, knocking the bossy elf back a good ten paces or so. Tharg and Conner, the two closest to the blast of the rest of the group, also fall back a bit, though they do not lose their feet. The heat touches every last member of the group. The echoes of chittering spiders is replaced first by the whoosh of fire eating oxygen and then the noisy crackling of fire. The bossy elven magician regains his feet.
SPACE “Did you see that shit?!” He begins to jump and dance and whoop. “Cain came to bring the pain! Ha, ha!”
SPACE The others don't quite know what to think of the sight before them. Curled up, crunchy, burning shells of once dangerous enemies now lie smoldering in the still burning water. A feeling a relief tugs at their sleeves.
SPACE “Ochretia, you’re next, you eight-armed bitch!” the mage yells.
SPACE No sooner do the words escape his lips, however, than a screech from the blaze spins him around just in time to catch the weight of a heavy arachnid square in the chest. Knocking him to the floor, and knocking his breath from his lungs, the spider screams its protest of death as smoke wafts up from its singed hairs.
SPACE Jumping to action, Tharg and Conner leap at the thing with their weapons ready. Tharg strides forward and kicks the thing far off back into the bluish burning tunnel. The flames have died down and more forms begin to stir, mostly those at the rear of the hallway.
SPACE Conner and Tharg advance, weapons held high overhead. Tharg emits a hearty bellow as he charges headlong into them. Within seconds, spiders who were not killed in the inferno are either dead, dying, or fleeing. Some of the arachnids, choosing their own survival against a measly meal mush to hard fought for, disappear back into the hallway they came from.
SPACE “Tharg! Conner!” Alliandra calls after them as they begin to pursue. She is kneeling over Grant’s exhausted body, tending to his wounded shoulder. Blood has soaked through his shirt and covers much of his chest. “Let them go. We have to get out of here.” Garn, also crouched beside the injured dwarven warrior, nods his agreement.
SPACE “I agree,” the elven archer adds. “They will be back, and with increased numbers.”
SPACE Alliandra stands and approaches the two elves. “You are elven.”
SPACE The newcomers stare at her dumbly as if she had stated the obvious.
SPACE “I thank you for your help, but where did you come from? How did you know we needed help? Why were you following us?” And, as if that weren’t enough, “Who are you?”
SPACE The elves look at one another for a moment before answering.
SPACE “My apologies,” the archer concedes, bowing slightly to Alliandra’s stern expression. “My name is Cyrdan, and, yes, we were following you.”
SPACE “Were you aboard The Salty Death?” she almost accuses.
SPACE “No,” he replies. “We are not pirates, but, please, we must hurry before the fyrquai return…”
SPACE “The fur-wha?” Garn stutters, standing to join Alliandra’s side. His weapon is still unsheathed.
SPACE “The fyrquai,” Cyrdan repeats, taking a peek over his shoulder. “The spiders,” he explains, “but, please, I will explain later…”
SPACE Far off in the distance, the chittering begins again. Now the entire group looks off to the other side of the cavern.
SPACE Alliandra is dissatisfied, “You can explain on the way,” and begins barking orders.
SPACE “Alasdair!” The minstrel rests with his back against the far wall, behind her. “Help Grant. He is weak.” Standing, Alasdair grabs the dwarf up by his healthy arm and assists him down the tunnel. “Garn, you grab the buglight and lead us that way,” she points down the darkened tunnel. “Tharg, Conner!” The two barbarians stand front and center. “Bring Tarsis and Kavan. I’ll not leave them for the spiders, dead or not.” The men walk off and scoop up the limp bodies. Casting a glance at Cain and Cyrdan, she adds, “And keep an eye on these two.”
SPACE Cyrdan’s face contorts almost indignantly, though he remains silent.
SPACE Garn leads the expedition forward into the darkness, illuminating the cavernous hallways as best he can with the small and dwindling beetle gland. This tunnel opens back up to the cave full of charcoal etchings. The skeletal remains scattered about the area is a familiar landmark, as is the enormous depiction of Ochretia.
SPACE “Start talking,” she says to Cyrdan.
SPACE “Cain and I were hunting in the jungle when we saw some seamen drinking from our watering hole. Thinking them pirates, we followed them. They started following the road, so we assumed they were locals. That’s when we saw him (points to Garn) carrying an elven maiden through the bush.
SPACE "We had to follow him. We didn’t know if he had killed her or if the seamen had killed her. After he left her body in the grove, we continued to follow him to the beach. We watched him enter the cave and then he and (points to Alasdair) him were attacked by the fyrquai.” He pauses at that point, hoping his answers have satiated the priest.
SPACE “Alliandra?” Garn calls. He is apparently confused as to which way to go next.
SPACE The cleric looks about the cavern, hoping for an easy answer.
SPACE “If we go back the way we came in, we run the risk of encountering more of these…'fur-kway'—”
SPACE “Fyrquai,” Cyrdan corrects her.
SPACE “Fyrquai,” she repeats. “I think we should go this way,” she decides, pointing down the hall to the right.
SPACE “But that could lead deeper into this cave,” Alasdair protests. “Two of us are dead and Grant’s hurt pretty bad. We have to get out of here.”
SPACE “That leads out,” Cyrdan states.
“Good,” Alliandra says.
SPACE “Not good,” the elven archer continues. “It also leads directly into the hobyah village.”
SPACE “Hobyah?” Alasdair is almost afraid to ask. If hobyah means anything like ‘fyrquai,’ he wants no part.
SPACE “Goblin-kin,” Cain pipes up. “Only more dangerous.”
SPACE “We have no other options then?”
SPACE “It would be easier to skirt around the spiders than enter the village,” ventures Cyrdan. “They have heavy patrols. More dangerous than the fyrquai.”
SPACE Alliandra stares at the elf for a long moment, then points at Grant. “I need to get him to a healer. The poison runs as we speak.”
SPACE The cave is silent.
SPACE “There is a town about 2 clicks from here,” replies Cyrdan. “We can go there. There is a healer.” He ponders for a moment before continuing. “It is the same distance either route we travel.”
SPACE Tharg drops Kavan’s body to the ground with a splash, rubbing his neck.
SPACE “Me hungry.”
DM's NOTE:
