Exit

SPACE The group rests, pondering their options.

SPACE Alasdair and Garn stand staring wide-eyed at the huge cave painting of Ochretia.
SPACE “Hey,” Alasdair says, “that's the statue Garn and I saw in the woods.”
SPACE Alliandra seems lost in though when they approach her. Alasdair points to the painting. “I don’t think we have anything to fear from her,” he says matter-of-factly. “She already had her hands filled.”
SPACE “You saw a statue of this icon?” Alliandra asks.
SPACE “Yes, in the jungle near where we left Sable,” he replies.
SPACE “Tell me, Al,” the priest asks, seeming genuinely concerned, “was there any signs that the statue was a shrine… offerings, burning urns, and the like?”
SPACE “Afraid so,” replies the bard, knowing full-well the implications of what he is about to report. “Skulls. Fresh ones. Blood still stunk and there were flies.”
SPACE “Stinky,” adds Garn for color.
SPACE “Then the Arachnid Queen’s influence is active here,” Alliandra states grimly.

SPACE The bard and cleric speak while Cain boasts of his earlier feats.
SPACE “Goddam, did you see those spiders light up back there? Blast, that was some cool shit!” he says, elbowing Cyrdan jovially.
SPACE “Yes,” a hardly amused Cyrdan replies. “That was some ‘cool shit’.”

SPACE “So, what do you think?” the priest asks of Alasdair. “Can we afford to trust these two?”
SPACE Alasdair looks her in the eyes and stiffly answers, “Can we afford not to? I mean, our options aren’t looking so keen right now.”
SPACE Alliandra nods. “Which way, do you think?”
SPACE “Maybe it's a good idea to avoid those hobyah-things if we can,” Alasdair thinks aloud. “I didn't like their description one bit,” he adds. “I think that we may get back to the cave safely. Those fur-guys seem to dwell only in the interior of this maze of tunnels and we still have the fire going,” he says, holding up a torch he lit from the leftover blaze in the hallway. “We can use it to keep them away if they return.”
SPACE Alliandra nods again, but does not answer. She looks off in the direction of the hobyah village, then very carefully at Cyrdan and Cain. Finally, she reaches a verdict.
SPACE “Well, you’re the local expert here,” Alliandra says to Cyrdan. “If you say the hobyahs are too dangerous, then we skirt the spiders. You’re in charge.”
SPACE “That’s right!” Cain quickly jumps in. “We are in charge: not you and not your buddies over there, but us! “And another thing,” he adds without allowing time for a rebuttal, “me and my buddy here just saved all your fucking asses, so let’s quit with the goddam interrogations!”
SPACE “I had every right to suspect you!” Alliandra forces. “You both showed up out of nowhere and then admitted you’ve been following us; not to mention all the events we’ve been through in the past few days…Blast! the last few months!… So don’t you come raising your voice at me!”
SPACE “Blah, blah, blah,” he replies. “Look here, sister,” his voice takes on a distinctly threatening tone that draws the attention of both Garn and Tharg. “Me and Cyrdan are in charge. If you don’t like it, I’m sure that either the spiders or the hobyahs would love to pick their teeth with your bones.”
SPACE The reality of that statement holds Alliandra’s tongue.
SPACE “Now, after we get out of this fucking cave, we will discuss what you all owe me. I know you just got off a slave ship. The whole lot of you are worth as much as the ticks off the balls of those baked spiders back there, but I have a nice arrangement in mind…”
SPACE Alliandra’s eyes narrow in on the man. “Why you loose-tongued, little idle-witted maltworm!”
SPACE Tharg advances on Cain menacingly. “She good. You listen,” he instructs.
SPACE Cain turns to square off with the towering warrior. “Oh, yeah, that’s it,” he taunts. “You want some?”
SPACE “You rude; you swear. Mummy said we no swear. Me fill you mouth.” With that, Tharg swings a huge hand in the direction of Cain’s face, but, by the time the chivalrous barbarian reaches his mark, Cain is already moving behind him. A quick succession of rabbit punches leaves Tharg holding his torso.
SPACE “Aarrrggh!” Garn growls, rushing the trouble-maker to aid his companion in sticking up for Alliandra.
SPACE Cain easily side-steps the charging man and, throwing a handful of sand at him , yells, "SOMNUS CUBICULUM OB-—"
SPACE Thump! He never finishes.
SPACE Conner, having moved behind the mischievous mage, thumps the smaller man on the head with a downward fist. Cain’s eyes flutter momentarily and then he falls to his knees, lingers for a split second, and then falls face-first to the water. Conner picks the man up by the back of his pants and slings him over his shoulder without uttering a word.
SPACE All eyes fall on Cyrdan who shrugs his shoulders and begins walking back in the direction the group had entered these arachnid-overrun caverns. “Let’s get going.”
SPACE “Me think you have good idea,” Tharg says to the elf. “You new. Me no trust. We kill spiders together, though.” It seems Tharg is letting the elf know where he and his unconscious companion sit with him. “Tharg hungry.”
SPACE Cyrdan drops his backpack from his shoulder and hands Tharg a pouch of dried beef rations. The barbarian loses all sense of seriousness and quickly devours the food.
SPACE “Me still no trust,” Tharg says, “but like you better than him.” He thumbs in Conner’s direction where Cain’s unconscious body still hangs over the big man’s shoulder.

SPACE The chittering starts and stops a few times on their way out the cave, always echoing off in the distance.
SPACE “They’ll think twice about coming after us again so soon. The fire really shook them up,” Cyrdan says.
SPACE “They’ll think?” Alasdair inquires.
SPACE Cyrdan nods. “The fyrquai are a special breed. They live in nests of 60 or 70 spiders and operate much like a beehive.”
SPACE Alasdair’s stomach turns at the thought.
SPACE “The ones we saw were drones, probably scouts. Soldiers are bigger, more poisonous. Fyrquai can think in the same sense as a bee. Take one bee and he can’t figure out to feed himself. Take a hive full of bees and they almost qualify as intelligent.” Cyrdan chuckles. “They even have a queen,” he finishes.

SPACE Once in the relative safety of the antechamber of the cavern, Alasdair sits Grant on the sand and then moves the campfire to block the tunnel and relights it with his torch.
SPACE “That ought to keep them away,” he says and then proceed to the seemingly forgotten chest full of clothing left at the rear of the cave. “No sense letting these go to waste,” he justifies, taking out new clothes to replace his own wet attire.
SPACE Conner drops Cain against a wall near the slowly spreading flame, and than he and Tharg begins skewering fish after fish for the group’s next meal.
SPACE Alliandra begins tending to Grant’s shoulder, ripping off some of his already torn shirt.
SPACE “I’m fine,” Grant says gruffly.
SPACE “Then why are you bleeding all over me?” Alliandra rebuffs smartly, pulling her cross from underneath her robe.
SPACE Cyrdan looks on as the cleric lays her free hand on Grant’s head. The dwarf’s eyes close gently and he fidgets a bit to get more comfortable, preparing for the spell.
SPACE Alliandra prays and begins to sway back and forth.

SPACE “Tu waffa, ain loc tu waffa… Tu waffa, ain loc tu waffa… Tu waffa, ain loc tu waffa…”

SPACE Her necklace glows a soft red as she chants. She speeds up, her voice growing louder and louder, until eventually, she stops. Her necklace loses its glow slowly like hot coals cooling off.
SPACE Grant is sleeping peacefully by the time Alliandra backs up and props Grant into a more comfortable position on the ground.
SPACE “You needn’t worry about the poison,” Cyrdan assures her, dropping to one knee beside her. “The fyrquai’s poison is docile; its effects are immediate but the poison does not remain to circulate.”
SPACE Alliandra nods. “Thanks,” she says.
SPACE Cyrdan looks at her for a long moment. He offers her a helping from his dried beef which she accepts.
SPACE “You look so familiar to me,” the elf says to her.
SPACE “Not likely,” Alliandra replies and bites off some of the jerky.
SPACE “No, I suppose not,” the elf agrees. “Still…”
SPACE Seemingly eager to change the subject, Alliandra asks with her full mouth, “Venison?”
SPACE “Kuni-kuni,” Cyrdan corrects her. Seeing her blank expression, he adds, “It’s a tusked pig common in this area.”
SPACE They rejoin the others who sit relaxing fireside, their bellies full of cooked fish and fresh fruits, where Alliandra begins conducting a similar ritual on Cain’s snoring head.
SPACE Cyrdan looks amazed. “You’d heal him despite what he said?”
SPACE Alliandra sits back on her heals, pulling her cross out once more. “I am a cleric of Prieldan, Healer of Healers, patron of the hurt, the injured, the sick, and the mortally wounded. It is my duty to heal any in need of it.”
SPACE The telltale glow and the words bring an easy feeling to the group. Upon finishing her chant, Cain begins to wake. The bloodflow stopped, his wound quickly closes and scabs.
SPACE “Besides,” she smiles, “now we don’t owe him jack.”

SPACE “Where to next?” Alasdair asks of no one in particular.
SPACE A period of silence relays the unspoken.
SPACE “Well,” Cyrdan interjects, “as I said, we are quite near a few settlements. Nothing fancy, really, just a few fishing towns, but you all look like you could use a little ‘nothing fancy’ about now.”
SPACE Looking around at the ratty-haired, long-bearded, sweat-stenched characters attending the fire, no one could disagree.
SPACE “Cain and I have a room in Deepbush already,” the elven archer goes on. “And it is closer. However, Hok Liggle is a larger town. You’re less likely to draw attention to yourselves looking as you do if we head there.”
SPACE “Make that two dead bodies,” Cain adds from behind. Turning to look, the group sees the now conscious Cain crouched over Tarsis’ body, his hand on her wrist, apparently searching for a pulse.”
SPACE “We bury her in a grove,” Garn states with a sorrowful look. “Like Sable.”
SPACE “We could bury leave her in the same spot as Sable,” Alasdair surmises. “Its close to the road and I’d like to get Alliandra a look at that statue.”