I spit the black blood that spurted against my mouth. “Do you know what they are?”
“Yes.”
A hairy black leg dropped into my vision. It was impossibly large, as long as a human leg. I looked up to see the maw of a giant spider bearing down on us. Its teeth were sharp needles that lined the entirety of its mouth, and its many eyes were black and unblinking. I drove my sword up into the beast. Black blood cascaded down, and it shrieked before shriveling onto the ground next to me.
“Now!” Elena cried, and we took off at a run. Elena blasted the mist ahead of us, destroying the misty water droplets and revealing a mass of black hairy bodies and a multitude of hungry eyes.
“Spiders. Fuck.” I attacked the mist at our backs.
“Not just any spiders. Here.” Still casting with one hand, Elena grabbed a magic bomb from her pack and handed it to me. I threw it behind us. The deafening blast sent bits of spider flying past us. They thunked into the trees and leaves above, the pitter-patter like a hard rain on the murky ground.
Elena stumbled, her foot caught in the shriveled legs of a felled spider. Another dropped down onto her back, its legs scrabbling at her. I smelled her blood on the air, the barbs on the creature’s legs ripping gashes in her skin as she screamed and fought. I pulled her from its grasp and swung out with my sword just in time. I caught it in mid-pounce and sent its head rolling away into the gloom.
“Another!” Elena handed me a magic bomb.
Despite her injuries, she hurled spell after spell into the mist as we kept moving. The chatter in the woods didn’t stop. Hundreds of legs still followed us, their owners readying to attack. They seemed endless, an infestation of horrors. I hurled the second bomb behind us, the explosion once again echoing through the dark trees before it was swallowed up by the all-encroaching mist.
A spiny severed leg shot through the mist, its barbs embedding into me. I ripped it out, ignoring the blood running from the burning wound. Poison? Elena’s back must have been on fire.
So many spiders had already fallen, littering the ground as we ran farther into Darkwood. I didn’t know if we were running straight to the spiders’ lair or to salvation. I very much doubted the latter.
As Elena hurled an even larger burst of magical energy ahead of us, her powers never flagging, an ear-splitting screech cut through the sounds of battle. The pursuit stopped, the spiders retreating and chattering quietly. Elena inhaled deep gulps of air as we stood back to back once again. Her blood was warm, wetting my shirt as we pressed against each other. Though her powers never waned, her use of them took a toll on her.
I’d seen it before, long ago, her face pale and her body trembling after helping the Trojan army hold off Menelaus’s horde in the first battle.
“Why have you come to this wood?” The strange voice could have been called lovely, the higher tones melodic. But it was mixed with a hissing noise, as if there were two speakers in unison.
“We seek passage to the Bloodkeep.” Elena’s voice rang true and strong, despite her fatigue and pain.
“Why seek death there when you can have it here instead, warrior?” A cacophony of hisses rose around them, seemingly in agreement with the speaker.
“Because I seek more than death. I seek blood. I seek vengeance. And I shall have it all if you will only let us pass.” Elena’s palms lit with fire, a threat of greater magnitude. If they were to die here, better to set the forest ablaze and take these dark creatures with them. She combined her palms into one large orb of flame.
“I once sought more than I should have.” The voice clucked. “I paid for it. You looked upon me, fair maiden. Just for a moment. Did you not know me?”
I was unsure of the creature’s game, but Elena was likely already two steps ahead of me. Just like old times.
“I do know you. What befell you is wrong and always will be so.” Elena’s words were genuine, but she continued to bobble the fire orb between her hands.
Movement caught the corner of my eye. Huge spider legs, far larger than any of the ones I’d seen during the battle, slid out of the mist toward Elena. She tensed but did not stop toying with the fire, a show of strength. I wanted to turn, to strike the creature down, but I couldn’t leave Elena’s back unprotected. Instead of attacking, I turned my head to watch, keeping one eye on the dense fog.
I cursed under my breath as the creature appeared fully, an immense black spider body with the nude torso of a maiden where the head would have been. Long, stringy hair hung to the ground, and her eyes were a glassy black, unblinking. Her mouth was full of the same needle fangs as the smaller spiders, causing the hiss with each word. It was a terrible visage that would have struck a mortal dead from pure fear.