Eye of the Spider

It was about a month after I had nearly blown myself up, my recovery took a while, I was a finally going to get my web…

It was not what I would call a fun lunar cycle. I had been extremely sore, and as it turns out most of my ribs were cracked. I shudder at the alternative. I was pretty discombobulated on my journey home. It didn't hit me until the next day. I almost died, again! It was even from almost exploding. I didn't know wether to laugh hysterically or sulk pathetically in a corner.

Dirk seemed pretty impressed that I survived my encounter with a 'creeper' unarmed. How could I tell people I made a massive explosion, from what was basically a few bits of coal.

Mom was another story altogether. She was constantly crying and acting like I would die any minute. I knew where these emotions were coming from, but that didn't mean it wasn't incredibly unsettling. I started to feel like I might actually die. Thankfully that didn't last long.

Needless to say, I was in bead most of the time. During that time, I just concentrated on getting better. I was actually enjoying just lazing around.

"What is it with me and exploding?" Genuine curiosity danced upon my features. "I mean seriously, how unlucky could I be?"

…

It was great to be up and about again. The downside was Dirk seemed to be working me harder than ever.

"Hey jerk, What even is the point of this!" I was currently in a combat stance, knocking away thrown rocks. People might wonder what was wrong with that? The problem is I'm upside down and my feet are strapped to a tree branch. I couldn't just be hanging. No, I had to keep my stance!

"My amusement!" Dirk laughed and threw another rock at me.

This seemed just stupid. Out of all the ridiculous asinine things that he made me do, this currently took the cake.

Dirk smiled sadly at me for a second and spoke. "After this, your brief little stint with me is over. I've gotten you as good as I can. All you need now is experience."

My jaw would've dropped into the sky if that hadn't been impossible. Was I finally ready? It had seemed that in the midst of training, I had forgotten what it was for. All of this was for some stupid web. Well, some highly important mystic fabric making web.

All of the rest of that evening I wondered listlessly. Finally it was time to get that thread. I had preparations to attend. At last, I could finish the sharpening of my blade. I also needed to get dad's old hardened leather armor resized, the best I could be anyway.

The armor was pretty cheap to fit. It was easier to take material than to add it after all. I also had a bit of a cheat when sharpening my sword. I could look at the type of vis gathered in it. My goal was to increase the telum inside the blade, while trying not to cause any damage.

Telum seemed to reside in weapons. The amount of telum seemed to correspond to the general amount of damage it could do. The problem was that if you sharpened to much or the wrong way, it would drop and you could make the weapon weaker.

…

"This is so boring." I whispered to myself. Who thought following a spider around all day would be fun. I knew I probably wouldn't, but not to this degree.

All of that time mastering the sword, in a tree, was very useful now. I followed it from above, branch to branch, in this thick forest. I most definitely had the high ground. That was until it lead me to a patch of dead trees. Unfortunately I had to stalk it from the ground again.

The place was eerie as one of my neighbors creepy basement. I'd only seen it through the window, but that's unimportant now.

Sparser and less crowded the trees became. That was until I got to the center.

It was huge. A cluster of web towering above me. Swallowing the trees around it, it loomed there menacingly. Various tunnels and openings spotted the outside, while the webs vibrated to the forces inside.

I nearly ran away then and there, but I was determined. Where that determination originated, the world may never know. It might have been the alumentum, tucked very carefully on my person. It might be the fact that my heart drummed at a beat that exited me. Dum… dum dum dum… dum dum dum… du du dum. I had the will to fight.

Picking up a stone I lobbed it at the nest. All nether seemed to break loose. Tens of arachnids stormed from the tunnels, converging upon the impact point. There were around fifty!

Carefully extracting an aluminum, I shouted as loud as I could. I didn't want to damage all of that valuable web after all.

Like a skittering hissing stampede they charged. It looked so grotesque, the way they crawled over one another to get to me.

I reared back and threw my very explosive ball, One left. That massive explosion incapacitated around half of them, packed together as they were. I refrained from using the other one because the functioning eight legged attackers were blown to far apart.

Rushing forward, I managed to catch the closest in-between the head and abdomen, while it was stunned. I managed to take out one more before the daze wore off.

Ducking as one soared over my head, I stabbed upwards. I had been lucky my sword didn't stick. Then I noticed that the other eighteen or so trying to surround me.

I ran back towards the tree line, but I was intercepted. One spider crossed my path, and the others weren't far behind. I couldn't risk being caught up in a fight.

This one pest seemed to have sough the other one die by jumping above me. This naturally meant that it should aim for my legs. It was smart, but still a bug.

Seeing it's charge, I jumped and stepped on its head and vaulted over. I ran as fast as my legs could take me, searching for a low hanging branch. I laughed because there was one not too far away.

This tree was thinner than expected, but I climbed nonetheless. It might seem stupid to climb a tree while running from spiders. That would normally be true, but I had a secret weapon.

Seeing what was left of the spiders gathered around the trunk, I unveiled my last alumentum. Finding a clear path to the ground I threw.

The boom was highly satisfying. That was until I heard a crack.

It seemed that in all my scheming, I had forgotten to take into account the sturdiness of the tree. It was coming down. There then lies the problem, I was still in it!

"Tree powers don't fail me now!" It was slow at first, but I knew that I couldn't get down in time. Carefully climbing against the lean, I got ready. The time was here as the tree started to slope. I ran, dodging branch after branch, as the tree became vertical.

All of my balance was put to the test as I neared the ground. With a thump I was knocked off of the tree, as it hit the ground. Pain flared in my right ankle as I landed. It didn't seem broken, I probably just sprained it.

Joy, that was the feeling I had. I had one. I was suddenly knocked down. It seems like one of them survived. I blocked its mandible with my weapon. We struggled for a while, but its fate was sealed the moment it reared back. My sword pierced its head through the mouth. Rolling the carcass off of me, I took in my surroundings. It was finally over!

I made my way back towards the nest.

It was magnificent. All of that web, all mine. This was a good day.

So, was not my first battle legendary? The smiting of nearly fifty spiders at my hands alone. I guess I'm just being too boastful now, but that sure was hard…