The Land: Catacombs (Chaos Seeds Book 4) (44 page)

Richter decided to open Alma’s status page to invest her new points, when Krom called out.  “One of these things still be alive!”

“Dammit, Sion!” Richter snapped.  He drew his sword and immediately started running towards where Krom was standing. 

“I stabbed every one of them!” the sprite protested as he nocked an arrow.  “In the face!”

Richter grew confused as he saw Krom wasn’t swinging his hammer.  His befuddlement increased as he saw the other party members who were closer just stop and look down when they got next to the dwarf.  When he finally got close enough, he saw that Krom wasn’t looking at one of the spiders, he was looking at one of the cocoons. 

The entire thing was about twenty-five feet long and about four feet wide at the middle.  It was stuck next to one of the stalagmites.  The cocoon was dotted here and there with bloody stains surrounding small holes, evidence that whatever was inside had been fed upon.  Richter could see small movements within the cocoon, weak attempts by whatever was inside to break free.  When he was standing next to the other members of his party, Caulder looked over and asked, “Should I finish it, my lord?”

“Finish ‘it’?  What is ‘it’?” Sion asked. 

“That’s a good question,” Richter said.  “Let’s unwrap our present.  Everyone stand ready to stab and beat whatever this is to death if it doesn’t want to play nice.”  He drew his sword and proceeded to saw into the cocoon.  With his free hand wrapped in a strip of spare cloth, it was slow going, but that didn’t bother him.  Moving too quickly might have risked killing whatever was inside by accident.  The webbing was layered, and he removed one after another until he saw the top of a white scaled head the same color as the webbing.  The head was diamond shaped and the size of a large watermelon; two lids opened, showing yellow eyes and large black elliptical pupils.  Its jaws opened wide, showing horrifying fangs, and a forked tongue shot out from between its jaws.

Richter jumped back. “It’s the snake!  The adder!”

Terrod raised his grey blade, ready to stab it down in the cocoon. “Do I kill it, my lord?”

Richter looked at the drugged creature and knew that it wasn’t a threat.  It continued to struggle to free itself, but it couldn’t manage to break the tight bonds of the webbing.  He used
Analyze. 

*
Come here, my love,
* Richter thought.  He held out his arm and Alma flew down to land lightly upon it.  Her tail wrapped around his wrist and she stared at him inquisitively.  *
I’m going to try to
Tame
it.  If I fail, stun it, cast
Soul Trap,
and then drain it.  Do it as quickly and painlessly as possible.  This creature doesn’t deserve to suffer any longer.*

*
Yes, Master,
* said her small voice in his mind. 

Not wanting to place his hand too close to the adder’s mouth, drugged or not, he moved a few feet away from the area of the cocoon he had already opened and started sawing through the webs again.  Soon he had revealed an area of the snake’s white back.  Not letting himself consider the pain the spell would probably cause, he began casting. 

The spell required both of his arms to move in intricate counterpoint.  The words and syllables were harsher and more guttural than any he had spoken before.  The power began to visibly coalesce on his arms.  It was red in color, not the bright red of Fire magic, but a dark rouge the color of raw, still bleeding meat.  Richter was used to being a conduit for his magic.  His invocation allowed him to manifest a specific result, but the power had always come from elsewhere. 

This spell, however, was Blood magic.  It tapped into a primal force of nature, and that force was him.  His blood sang in gleeful savagery and called for the incomparable beauty of destruction.  His body yearned to dominate and reproduce, to live forever through the immortality of his lineage.  As he continued the demanding spell, he lost control of his restraint and ceased to be restrained.  Petty concerns did not matter.  Kindness, jealousy, friendship, pride, and other weak definitions no longer served any purpose.  His will was all that mattered.  His desire was the only god to be worshipped.  He WAS!

With a savage shout, he finished the incantation and slammed his hand flat against the shale adder’s back.  Dark red light shone all about them, and the energy spilling over from the spell made Richter’s hair fly back and away from his face.  His features were portrayed in a contrast of blood light and shadow, stark and unforgiving.  The other members of his party stared at him, feeling a mix of awe, caution, and fear.  Only Alma and Sion looked at Richter undaunted by what they saw—Sion with acceptance of the darker side of his friend’s nature and Alma in exaltation of her master’s unforgiving power.  The snake bucked wildly for one second, the blood magic banishing the sedating effects of the webs.  The moment seemed to stretch into infinity, unending until suddenly, it did.

The sensation of being pure id left Richter as his conscious mind reasserted itself.  He fell to one knee gasping, each of his status bars decreased by one hundred points.  The effects from each loss—pain for health, mental exhaustion for magic, and weariness for stamina—were all handled with relative ease.  What Richter hadn’t been ready for was the unchecked ferocity of his own deeper self.  It had been terrifying… and exhilarating. 

As the snake continued to writhe, a prompt appeared.

You have bonded your first beast!  The
Shale Adder
.  Treat your bonded beast well and it will serve you unto death.  Treat it poorly and it may turn upon you.  Taming a well-treated beast that has already been bonded is almost a certainty.

Know this!  Your Psi Bond ability is synergistic with Beast Bonding.  You can communicate mentally with your bonded beasts, but the level of communication will still be limited by their intellect.

A new area of his mind unlocked, similar to what he shared with Alma, but dimmer, like a candle compared to a sun.  Richter looked at the snake and thought, *
Stop fighting.
*  The writhing motion in the cocoon instantly stopped.  With a deep smile, he thought, You’re mine now.

CHAPTER 29
 

“Cut it free,” Richter ordered.  He cast
Slow Heal I
and
Summon Weak Life Wisp.
The adder’s health bar quickly refilled, though it still remained too weak to move. 

“Are ye sure, Lord Richter?” Krom asked.

“Do it, and strip the bodies of anything useful.”

Richter walked away from the snake without waiting to see if his orders would be followed.  He knew they would be.  He ordered the mist workers to gather the other cocoons and bodies and bring them to the tunnel entrance.  The adder he ordered to wait by the tunnel and not to harm anyone when freed.  While all of this was happening, he turned his attentions to the traps at the far end of the tunnel.  He wanted them. 

After crossing the distance, he knelt and began to examine them. 

Three hours later, Richter looked up from his work.  He had toiled with single-minded obsession, focused on his desire to take what he wanted.  His efforts had paid off.

You have found:
Tranquilizing Web Trap
.  Durability 5/5.  Item Class: Uncommon.  Quality: Exquisite.  Weight: 0.3 kg.  Triggering this will flood a 15x15 foot area with sticky threads.  Contact with this webbing will slowly drain the stamina of whoever is trapped within.
x2

You have found:
Constricting Web Trap
.  Durability 14/14.  Item Class: Uncommon.  Quality: Exquisite.  Weight: 0.3 kg.  Will wrap whatever triggers the trap in tight bonds that will tighten until the target is killed or freed. 
x2

You have found:
Razor Web Trap
.  Durability 21/21.  Item Class: Scarce.  Quality: Exquisite.  Weight: 1.5 kg.  Triggering this causes strands of razor webbing to shoot in all directions.  Range: 15 feet.

You have found:
Acidic Web Trap
:  Durability 15/15.  Item Class: Scarce.  Quality: Exquisite.  Weight: 0.4 kg.  Triggering this will coat a 10x10 foot area in webbing coated in a caustic substance that will eat through armor and flesh alike.

Richter smiled as he put each into his Bag.  There had been more than thirty traps, but most had been destroyed once they were disarmed.  When he stood up from bagging the last one, he turned towards the tunnel entrance and saw everyone staring at him.

“What?” he asked, confused.  They looked concerned.

Sion walked up and said, “Are you alright?”

Richter shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “Of course.  I was able to grab some great traps.  Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“Ye were over there for hours, yer lordship,” Krom said softly.

“Yeah, but I needed to get them.  I wanted them… so badly.” Richter stared off into space as he remembered that single-minded devotion to his own desires.

Sion asked again, “Are you alright?”

Richter came back to himself and forced a smile onto his face. “I’m fine.  Ready to get out of this damn hole, though, how about you guys?”

There was a round of chuckles and nods.

“Well, did we find anything else good?”

“We did!” Beyan said excitedly.  “The glands from the cutters can be used to make a strong acid, and all the webbing from the cocoons has some great numbing properties.  It is also great at stopping bleeding and infections.  We need to get all of this back to Sumiko.  The egg sac from the queen is also interesting.  It has growth properties that could be used to make several enlarge potions.  The other cocoons just held dead animals, but I did find another interesting thing—”

“Meh, that na be what is interesting,” Krom interrupted.  Beyan glared at the dwarf, but Krom just kept pushing through.  “The tips of the spiders’ legs be hard enough to make +2 arrowheads, and the bigger one’s front legs will make +3 swords.  The axe legs on the queen can make even stronger weapons, but I saved the best for last!  Yer lucky yer arrow took the beastie in the eye, because her armor was hard and thick.  The same way me third wife described me!”  Krom chuckled at his own joke.  “The point be, I could make a good suit of armor out of her shell.”

“That is good news,” Richter said with nod.  He walked over to the stripped carapace and rapped his knuckles against it.  It rang like metal.  Looking around at everything that needed to be carried, he summoned four more mist workers from his personal mana.  The village mana pool had replenished slightly over the last few hours, but the battle had still made a sizeable dent in it.  His personal mana would replenish much faster, and they still had work to do. 

Richter ordered the mist workers to take everything, including the bodies, back to the eastern side of the village.  The grey figures silently started about their task and Richter knew that no matter how many trips it took, the workers would get the job done.  The party members made their way back up to the surface.  While they walked, Richter received some good news.  Except for Sion, Terrod and Caulder, everyone in the group had reached another level.  Jean had actually increased two!  The entire party was in good spirits when they walked outside.  The sun still shone down and the tranquil forest sounds contrasted pleasantly with the life and death struggle that had taken place in the spider nest. 

“Anyone that wants to head back to the village can, but I still intend to investigate the disturbance the hunters were complaining about.”

The party members looked at each other and then Terrod said, “We follow where you lead, my lord.”

Richter smiled at them in appreciation.  He and the other Air magi cast
Haste I
on the whole party over the next few minutes and then they took off.  The adder easily kept pace, sliding through the undergrowth.  Its scales became a mosaic of brown and green, and Richter had trouble seeing it at times despite knowing it was there.  Birds sang above them as they jogged in a southwest direction towards the area the hunters had seen the monster. 

They traveled for another several miles and were almost out of the mist when Richter saw a large track that he recognized.  His heart beat faster, and without consciously deciding to, he picked up the pace.  Alma beat her wings faster and everyone else jogged faster as they struggled to keep up.  Soon he was sprinting and barely heard Sion’s shout to stop.  Not that he listened.  They left the mists.

Richter kept running through the forest, rage building in his breast as he followed the distinctive trail.  Some of the slower members of his party began to fall behind, sweat pouring from their faces.  He forced himself up a hill and pushed through a stand of trees, seeing the meadow that extended below on the other side.  There, only a hundred yards away, he saw a distinctive three-pointed crown.  The rock giant looked up, its mouth smeared with blood, the body of a slain bear at its feet.  When it saw him, it roared both in rage and recognition.  Alma, hovering above, screamed back, and the adder rose ten feet in the air and hissed.  Richter drew his elementum short sword and roared back, “Missed you too, motherfucker!  You and I have UNFINISHED BUSINESS!”