Spider_Jerusalem
Explorer
“An arm for an arm.”
Thalin stood under the ice. His hair lay thick on his head as he gazed up at the dripping funnels that hung above him. The bowels of the castle were absolutely silent. His father could be looking for him but Thalin didn’t care. This was his place. It was his sanctuary where the ice grew a little more every day till they joined like the glassy pillars that spread about him. His candle shook. It would time for training soon, but the cold had crept deep and Thalin felt his young bones cry out. He turned to go but was jarred back as his arm snagged on a pillar of ice. His flesh was stuck fast. A sudden sense of horror flooded Thalin’s mind as he pulled the flesh from the arm like skinning a newborn wolf. There was no pain.
That is when Thalin’s eyes snapped open. The dull blue room greeted his vision. The entranced face of the drow child Sliinith gazed eagerly at the mage’s reaction. Thalin went to speak but a pain drove down his arm and caught his heart like a vice. He wrenched his head sideways to see the skin of his right arm spiralling into a mesh of silk nests. He was not dreaming now. Each thread of skin was a fingers width and the arm up to the elbow was a web of bleeding strings. An army of slick black spiders worked over his arm, slowly loosening more skin.
Sliinith smiled as Thalin’s face contorted somewhere between shock and despair.
“For Lyle,” soothed the child, “this is the only fair way, mage. An arm for an arm.”
“Stop,” gasped Thalin, “Please!”
“Soon. Soon. My spiders are almost full. It is such a shame you didn’t tear any more limbs from that poor man.”
“He tried to kill me!” strained Thalin, his face a mask of sweat and pain.
“I know. But you killed him instead,” nodded Sliinith as if a business deal had just been completed, “and through a rather elaborate set of promises, I am he who must ensure that you don’t forget what you did. Lyle was a popular man. I’m sure you would agree.”
Sliinith let an errant spider drop to his delicate hand. It crawled with purpose to a finger nail then leapt smoothly into the air and landed in the shadows near Thalin’s feet. Sliinith looked the mage over. His arm would never heal, but more importantly than that, Sliinith was quite sure that he had created a lasting impression. The Blackrock’s will be pleased. With an exhausted slowness, he began to pluck each spider from its place and drop them back into the bag.
Milo crunched his eyes shut. Torious never screamed, but Milo could hear the Aasimar’s boots scraping against the guards hold. The fool was probably still trying to get a chance at Robar.
Finally the guards scraped Torious’s chains back into place with a metallic shriek. Robar had gloated over his victory and the intelligence of the capture throughout the threading. Milo had remembered what he could. Robar had detailed how he had followed them by something called Firewalking, that the tall gaunt man who had appeared in Milo’s dream was named Gruulth and that he was the man who had commissioned the capture of not themselves, but the staff that Thalin had carried. It seemed Erifeci was something more than any of them had assumed. Frustratingly, nothing had been said of Thalin.
Robar stalked out, the guards licking at his heels. Milo dared a look at Torious. The Aasimar was staring straight ahead, his face defiant in the flickering light. His scars were tied shut. Ugly black thread crisscrossed each cheek like cheap riding boots. Blood ran a steady patter onto the floor.
It was days before Torious even moved, though the whole time his eyes shone like steel. Milo slept painfully and in fits.
On the third day, Thalin was led back in. His right arm was a sickly limb of silk and blood. Milo couldn’t tell where flesh stopped and spider silk started. Thalin told Milo what he could. That he was tortured by a drow. It was vengeance by the Blackrock family for dispatching their son. Milo wondered why Thalin hadn’t been killed, but came up with no easy answers.
Robar hadn’t been seen since he had laced up Torious, and Sliinith had all but disappeared. Milo, Thalin and Torious had been left to die. The guards rarely came to check on them and the food had stopped.
On the fourth day a lone guard emerged from the tunnel and observed the strung up captives. Torious watched steadily as the guard picked his way around the pit and checked on each prisoner in turn. Thalin locked eyes with the man and felt a strange sense of calm descend. Milo looked away.
Finally the guard stood before all three and motioned with a hand. The shackles that held them fell away suddenly and the three heroes crashed to the hard stone floor. Milo tried to break his fall but his wrists burnt with pain. Torious immediately tensed to escape. Thalin just lay shaking, cradling his arm.
The guard’s features simmered away. Flesh seemed to pinch and fold. Bones slotted neatly apart then back together again. Before their eyes, the guards’ uniform re-stitched into a heavy red cape and Errilinth’s face smiled sadly out. Thalin cried out with a gargle of sheer relief. Torious wavered unsteadily. Milo remained awestruck.
“My friends, we do not have long,” urged Errilinth, her voice low, “you must escape. And quickly. I have done what I can to aid your advance.”
“We thank you,” croaked Thalin as he stood slowly. He tried flexing his fingers but instead ground his teeth in pain.
“Of course. Your time will come to repay me. Now, take the first exit on your left…”
Errilinth’s voice trailed away and her face fell suddenly. Each of the heroes felt a keen wail in their minds. The braziers flickered then fell to almost nothingness. Errilinth whirled to face the corridor.
“I am too late!” cried the old woman.
The small amulet around her neck danced with power and the room was bathed in a sickly light.
The shadowed form of Gruulth stormed from the corridor and without a word loosed a screaming ball of black energy from his hand. It sped across the pit and struck Errilinth in the chest. She collapsed at once.
Gruulth ignored the heroes and punching his hands in the air, drew forth a shimmering nightmare which curled lazily around the necromancer’s fingers before snaking towards Errilinth as she stood to face him. Errilinth brought her hands forwards and held the snarling incantation at bay. Thalin’s mind thundered with brilliant energies as the two powers locked before him.
The stones above them began to shake and mortar rained down. Errilinth was shrieking with hatred as she bulled Gruulth’s magic back towards him. Her skin stripped away suddenly, leaving a weathered husk of a woman. Dust spilled from open tears and dark energies surged inside her.
Thalin knew then that she was a liche. Thalin felt the strands of knowledge in his head knot together. He understood now. But how could he help her against this man?
“Your time is ended witch,” cried Gruulth, his face a macabre mask in the blazing light.
“Your time will never come you fool! What you chase will never be granted!” hissed Errilinth.
A horde of flies erupted from the well and filled the room in a second.
Thalin whirled a brilliant disc of ice and cast it at Gruulth. With a stoop of his shoulders, Gruulth dissipated the ice and sent the vortex of shadows at the fledgling mage. Errilinth cried one last time and threw herself before the spell.
A number of things happened.
As Errilinth was torn asunder, her necklace shattered and the sudden rush of arcane energy blew upwards and outwards. Suddenly, there was sky above.
Milo gasped as the sunlight screamed into his eyes, but the Halflings only instinct was to stumble away. The rubble rained down, a blinding darkness falling as quickly as the sunlight had appeared. Torious found Thalin and hauled him forwards, their feet treading a tough slope of rock leading upwards. A second explosion thundered behind them and all three heroes were cast to their knees. Milo reached the lip of the crater and looked about him.
Ilinvur was a hornets nest on fire. Above and behind him was the shattered overhang of the keep. Debris rained downwards and water spilled from somewhere overhead. Over to his left, Milo saw Thalin and Torious crash onto their backs at the edge of the crater.
A thunderous horn call numbed the echo of the explosion. Milo darted around the lip of the crater, throwing a nimble side step as a lump of stone crashed ahead of him. He pulled up next to his companions and halted for a breath.
Behind them, the pit where they had emerged from sparked with black energy, but dust billowed outwards, suddenly hiding the sun again. Torious hacked a cough and propped Thalin up against his arm. Milo swooned with exhaustion, but battled awake.
“Well,” wheezed Milo, “where do we go now?”
Thalin rolled his head about and saw the red of the Robar guard swarming amongst the rocks. Swarms of villagers descended on the fallen keep, most helping people to escape, but some hauling expensive items from the rocks and quickly slinking away.
“There,” said Torious, his hand pointing to a wide spire that was shaped into a blank scroll, “and we claim sanctuary.”
“That wouldn’t stop Robar,” growled Thalin as he pushed himself to a stand. His right arm shook violently, but he clamped it to his chest with his good hand.
“Well we don’t have much else to go on right now,” shrugged Milo, looking at the state they were in.
Torious staggered over the rubble without another word. As one, Milo, Thalin and Torious were swallowed amongst the shadows of an Ilinvur side street.
Thalin stood under the ice. His hair lay thick on his head as he gazed up at the dripping funnels that hung above him. The bowels of the castle were absolutely silent. His father could be looking for him but Thalin didn’t care. This was his place. It was his sanctuary where the ice grew a little more every day till they joined like the glassy pillars that spread about him. His candle shook. It would time for training soon, but the cold had crept deep and Thalin felt his young bones cry out. He turned to go but was jarred back as his arm snagged on a pillar of ice. His flesh was stuck fast. A sudden sense of horror flooded Thalin’s mind as he pulled the flesh from the arm like skinning a newborn wolf. There was no pain.
That is when Thalin’s eyes snapped open. The dull blue room greeted his vision. The entranced face of the drow child Sliinith gazed eagerly at the mage’s reaction. Thalin went to speak but a pain drove down his arm and caught his heart like a vice. He wrenched his head sideways to see the skin of his right arm spiralling into a mesh of silk nests. He was not dreaming now. Each thread of skin was a fingers width and the arm up to the elbow was a web of bleeding strings. An army of slick black spiders worked over his arm, slowly loosening more skin.
Sliinith smiled as Thalin’s face contorted somewhere between shock and despair.
“For Lyle,” soothed the child, “this is the only fair way, mage. An arm for an arm.”
“Stop,” gasped Thalin, “Please!”
“Soon. Soon. My spiders are almost full. It is such a shame you didn’t tear any more limbs from that poor man.”
“He tried to kill me!” strained Thalin, his face a mask of sweat and pain.
“I know. But you killed him instead,” nodded Sliinith as if a business deal had just been completed, “and through a rather elaborate set of promises, I am he who must ensure that you don’t forget what you did. Lyle was a popular man. I’m sure you would agree.”
Sliinith let an errant spider drop to his delicate hand. It crawled with purpose to a finger nail then leapt smoothly into the air and landed in the shadows near Thalin’s feet. Sliinith looked the mage over. His arm would never heal, but more importantly than that, Sliinith was quite sure that he had created a lasting impression. The Blackrock’s will be pleased. With an exhausted slowness, he began to pluck each spider from its place and drop them back into the bag.
- - - - - - - -
Milo crunched his eyes shut. Torious never screamed, but Milo could hear the Aasimar’s boots scraping against the guards hold. The fool was probably still trying to get a chance at Robar.
Finally the guards scraped Torious’s chains back into place with a metallic shriek. Robar had gloated over his victory and the intelligence of the capture throughout the threading. Milo had remembered what he could. Robar had detailed how he had followed them by something called Firewalking, that the tall gaunt man who had appeared in Milo’s dream was named Gruulth and that he was the man who had commissioned the capture of not themselves, but the staff that Thalin had carried. It seemed Erifeci was something more than any of them had assumed. Frustratingly, nothing had been said of Thalin.
Robar stalked out, the guards licking at his heels. Milo dared a look at Torious. The Aasimar was staring straight ahead, his face defiant in the flickering light. His scars were tied shut. Ugly black thread crisscrossed each cheek like cheap riding boots. Blood ran a steady patter onto the floor.
It was days before Torious even moved, though the whole time his eyes shone like steel. Milo slept painfully and in fits.
On the third day, Thalin was led back in. His right arm was a sickly limb of silk and blood. Milo couldn’t tell where flesh stopped and spider silk started. Thalin told Milo what he could. That he was tortured by a drow. It was vengeance by the Blackrock family for dispatching their son. Milo wondered why Thalin hadn’t been killed, but came up with no easy answers.
Robar hadn’t been seen since he had laced up Torious, and Sliinith had all but disappeared. Milo, Thalin and Torious had been left to die. The guards rarely came to check on them and the food had stopped.
On the fourth day a lone guard emerged from the tunnel and observed the strung up captives. Torious watched steadily as the guard picked his way around the pit and checked on each prisoner in turn. Thalin locked eyes with the man and felt a strange sense of calm descend. Milo looked away.
Finally the guard stood before all three and motioned with a hand. The shackles that held them fell away suddenly and the three heroes crashed to the hard stone floor. Milo tried to break his fall but his wrists burnt with pain. Torious immediately tensed to escape. Thalin just lay shaking, cradling his arm.
The guard’s features simmered away. Flesh seemed to pinch and fold. Bones slotted neatly apart then back together again. Before their eyes, the guards’ uniform re-stitched into a heavy red cape and Errilinth’s face smiled sadly out. Thalin cried out with a gargle of sheer relief. Torious wavered unsteadily. Milo remained awestruck.
“My friends, we do not have long,” urged Errilinth, her voice low, “you must escape. And quickly. I have done what I can to aid your advance.”
“We thank you,” croaked Thalin as he stood slowly. He tried flexing his fingers but instead ground his teeth in pain.
“Of course. Your time will come to repay me. Now, take the first exit on your left…”
Errilinth’s voice trailed away and her face fell suddenly. Each of the heroes felt a keen wail in their minds. The braziers flickered then fell to almost nothingness. Errilinth whirled to face the corridor.
“I am too late!” cried the old woman.
The small amulet around her neck danced with power and the room was bathed in a sickly light.
The shadowed form of Gruulth stormed from the corridor and without a word loosed a screaming ball of black energy from his hand. It sped across the pit and struck Errilinth in the chest. She collapsed at once.
Gruulth ignored the heroes and punching his hands in the air, drew forth a shimmering nightmare which curled lazily around the necromancer’s fingers before snaking towards Errilinth as she stood to face him. Errilinth brought her hands forwards and held the snarling incantation at bay. Thalin’s mind thundered with brilliant energies as the two powers locked before him.
The stones above them began to shake and mortar rained down. Errilinth was shrieking with hatred as she bulled Gruulth’s magic back towards him. Her skin stripped away suddenly, leaving a weathered husk of a woman. Dust spilled from open tears and dark energies surged inside her.
Thalin knew then that she was a liche. Thalin felt the strands of knowledge in his head knot together. He understood now. But how could he help her against this man?
“Your time is ended witch,” cried Gruulth, his face a macabre mask in the blazing light.
“Your time will never come you fool! What you chase will never be granted!” hissed Errilinth.
A horde of flies erupted from the well and filled the room in a second.
Thalin whirled a brilliant disc of ice and cast it at Gruulth. With a stoop of his shoulders, Gruulth dissipated the ice and sent the vortex of shadows at the fledgling mage. Errilinth cried one last time and threw herself before the spell.
A number of things happened.
As Errilinth was torn asunder, her necklace shattered and the sudden rush of arcane energy blew upwards and outwards. Suddenly, there was sky above.
Milo gasped as the sunlight screamed into his eyes, but the Halflings only instinct was to stumble away. The rubble rained down, a blinding darkness falling as quickly as the sunlight had appeared. Torious found Thalin and hauled him forwards, their feet treading a tough slope of rock leading upwards. A second explosion thundered behind them and all three heroes were cast to their knees. Milo reached the lip of the crater and looked about him.
Ilinvur was a hornets nest on fire. Above and behind him was the shattered overhang of the keep. Debris rained downwards and water spilled from somewhere overhead. Over to his left, Milo saw Thalin and Torious crash onto their backs at the edge of the crater.
A thunderous horn call numbed the echo of the explosion. Milo darted around the lip of the crater, throwing a nimble side step as a lump of stone crashed ahead of him. He pulled up next to his companions and halted for a breath.
Behind them, the pit where they had emerged from sparked with black energy, but dust billowed outwards, suddenly hiding the sun again. Torious hacked a cough and propped Thalin up against his arm. Milo swooned with exhaustion, but battled awake.
“Well,” wheezed Milo, “where do we go now?”
Thalin rolled his head about and saw the red of the Robar guard swarming amongst the rocks. Swarms of villagers descended on the fallen keep, most helping people to escape, but some hauling expensive items from the rocks and quickly slinking away.
“There,” said Torious, his hand pointing to a wide spire that was shaped into a blank scroll, “and we claim sanctuary.”
“That wouldn’t stop Robar,” growled Thalin as he pushed himself to a stand. His right arm shook violently, but he clamped it to his chest with his good hand.
“Well we don’t have much else to go on right now,” shrugged Milo, looking at the state they were in.
Torious staggered over the rubble without another word. As one, Milo, Thalin and Torious were swallowed amongst the shadows of an Ilinvur side street.
That is the mark of excellent writing, SJ. 
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
