Fighter by Isaac Hooke

Author:Isaac Hooke [Hooke, Isaac]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
Published: 2019-03-30T16:00:00+00:00

16

Malem allowed the mob spider to guide him to the appropriate arachnid, which lurked on the floor before a glowing portal of light. The monster was able to provide a mental path of the route the arachnid had taken to reach that portal, so that Malem was confident he could lead his companions to the appropriate chamber.

“Okay, it’s the portal,” Malem said.

“Any sign of Euryale or her minions yet?” Grendel asked.

“No,” Malem said. “Though I’m sure she’s lurking in hiding somewhere along the way.”

“So, the question is, do we make a run for it?” Timlir said.

Malem frowned. “Too risky. I have no doubt she’ll emerge somewhere along the way. Without Zach’s debuff to protect us, we’re all doomed. No. We have to draw her out somehow.”

“She was proud,” Grendel said. “If you taunt her, or her former lover, it’s possible you could illicit some sort of reaction.”

Malem chuckled. “So you want me to piss her off, do you? I’m not sure I want an angry Gorgon after me. But then again, we don’t really have much choice, do we?”

“Unless you want to journey inside the keep…” Xaxia said. “And into her waiting trap.”

“No.” Malem gazed up at the stone-walled building, and at those gaps where balconies once resided before crumbling away. He realized what he was doing, and quickly averted his eyes.

“You don’t trust the debuff?” Gwen asked.

Malem shook his head, and said, sarcastically: “Is it that obvious?”

“Pretty much,” she replied.

He raised his voice, and shouted. “Hey, Euryale. Come get me, you ugly bitch! I’m the descendent of the man who killed Mephiticus!”

“The rival was a woman,” Grendel said softly. “Not a man.”

“I’m the descendent of the woman who killed Mephiticus!” Malem called. “Come get me, Euryale!” He drew Balethorn. The blade hummed hungrily for Zach. Malem clamped his will down upon the sword, and the droning stopped. “Come get me!”

Nothing. He hopped to the viewpoints of different arachnids the mob spider had deployed around the courtyard, but saw nothing out there.

“Don’t think it’s working,” Aurora said.

“You think?” Xaxia commented.

Malem felt a sudden inrush of air, headed toward the dragon, like some implosion. “What was that?”

“The debuff zone just expired,” Zach said. “I’ll go ahead recreate it.”

But then the dragon’s body began to solidify. From the tail forward, living scales became dead stone.

“Oh,” Zach said. “Shit.” The transformation accelerated, and in seconds the stone reached its lips, and the dragon froze completely.

Malem slumped, gasping from the drain caused by the boomerang effect. He rolled behind the dragon’s body for cover.

“We’re under attack!” Malem said. “Take cover! Eyes shut! Rely upon the arachnids!”

The mob spider was still next to the main entrance to the keep, so it clambered inside and hid in the hall, which was apparently clear; meanwhile, Wendolin, Aurora, Gwen and Xaxia dove in beside Malem next to the remains of the dragon.

Malem hopped his mental viewpoint between the spiders deployed along the perimeter of the courtyard, until he spotted the Gorgon and her four minions. They were approaching

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