A/N: and here it is. I know I suck at battle scenes, and I try to avoid them whenever possible, but this plot bunny was very persistent and, well... I had to write it. I also decided to make the fight a bit more interesting than in the game. I have no idea why I chose this one though... I'm like Sand in this respect - a good spider is a flat spider. ;) And I apologize for the crappy cliffhanger at the end, but it seemed the only appropriate way to finish this part. Future rewrites are possible though.

OOO

"Never thought I'd be out helpin' a band of stinky goblins," Khelgar grumbled.

Bishop concurred. Running errands was bad enough in his book. Running errands for a goblin chief… Bishop groaned and shook his head. It was so unbelievable it was almost funny. He was used to killing the ugly creatures, not assisting them, but even he agreed that getting rid of a few spiders was easier than slaughtering a tribe of a hundred goblins, no matter how much he wished for the latter to happen. Easier didn't mean more pleasant though… He cursed under his breath as sticky threads clung to his armor, and continued to cut his way through the giant spider web with his sword. Someone would suffer for this, very soon, if he had anything to say in the matter. And he always did.

"We're close now," he threw over his shoulder, not looking at others that followed his lead in silence. "Ready your weapons and try not to trip."

A small ball of white light floated over his head. They had decided not to use torches and rely on the elf's magic instead, for the sake of convenience. He winced at the thought. He did not trust magicians, not after having lived in Luskan. The only reason he tolerated this particular wizard (Sand was it? Hell of a first name. Not that his was any better…) was that the elf appeared to loathe the Luskans almost as much as he did.

He slashed at the remaining threads. The tunnel they came through opened into a large cavern. Glowing yellowish-green fungi covered its walls, but their soft, otherworldly light only seemed to deepen the shadows.

"How many of them are supposed to be here? This place looks big," said the tiefling somewhere behind him.

Bishop ignored the question, scanning their surroundings for any signs of spider activity. He sheathed his sword and reached for his longbow, then squatted down, his muscles tense.

He felt Gina's breath against his ear a second before he heard it, the sensation making the hair on the nape of his neck stand. He smirked to himself. It had to be her. No one else ever got so close to him willingly, especially when he was armed.

"So what's the plan, ranger?" she asked lightly.

He repressed a shudder. Don't look at her. Don't look…

She crouched right next to him, their elbows touching. He wondered if she knew the effect she was having on him, and if perhaps he was doing the same to her. He absently picked an arrow from his quiver and nocked it, never averting his gaze from the shadows. "How about the good old 'kill-everything-that-moves-preferably-without-getting-ourselves-killed' approach?"

He could sense her smile and again fought the urge to look at her. Suddenly she froze and gripped her weapon tighter, staring at something ahead. He saw it too – something stirred inside the cavern. He raised his bow cautiously.

"What is it?" came Shandra's nervous inquiry.

The ball of magic light crackled and dissipated. So much for the elf's usefulness. Bishop was unable to make out anything in the darkness – except for two small glowing objects, apparently moving in their direction. Oh, great.

Sand groaned, confirming his suspicions. "Have I mentioned lately how much I hate spiders?" the elf complained.

"Not in the last five minutes, no," Neeshka retorted.

Bishop pulled the bowstring to his cheek. "Here we go." He released the arrow, not even bothering to take aim. A piercing noise echoed around the cave and one glowing spot disappeared.

"Not bad," Gina commented and leapt up to her feet. "Sand, more light!" she shouted… and charged straight into the cavern.

Before Bishop understood what she was doing, a blinding, soundless explosion filled the air. A few long seconds passed before he finally decided to open his eyes. Hate magic. With a grimace, he blinked a couple of times, adjusting his sight to the new lighting. He quickly glanced around the cavern, noticing not two, but at least a dozen giant spiders – and Gina charging at the largest creature. He swore. Fool girl is going to get us all killed!

"That's what I love about the lass!" Khelgar bellowed and ran after her, swinging his axe and shouting dwarven battle cries.

"Hey, Stumpy, wait for me!" yelled Neeshka, drawing her daggers.

Gina's tactics seemed to have worked surprisingly well. Momentarily blinded by Sand's light spell, the spiders backed away a little, giving the group time to act. Bishop saw Gina dive between the giant spider's legs and roll on the ground clutching her weapon to her side. Before the spider could move, her rapier shot upwards and sank into its radiant abdomen. She rolled over once more and jumped up as the wounded arachnid collapsed on the ground, finishing it quickly. Bishop sent arrow after arrow flying towards the other creatures, if not to kill them, then to slow them down before they got close to either Gina or the others while they were engaged in a fight. The dwarf swung his axe furiously, chopping off spider legs and fending off their palps. Neeshka and Gina were both a blur of whooshing blades, fighting back to back and not allowing the spiders to swarm them. Bishop spun to the left as he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He fired instantly, hitting the arachnid between its many eyes.

"A little help here, wizard?" he snarled, placing an arrow in another creature's abdomen. More spiders were advancing on their positions, having somehow gotten past the melee fighting trio.

The elf muttered something that Bishop only partially understood (As if I ever knew my mother…) and began preparing another spell.

"There's more of them than we thought," Shandra shouted above the tumult of battle. She hurried towards Sand, raising her blade and standing between the wizard and the newest group of four creatures. Bishop took out the leftmost spider with one shot, while Shandra hacked at the rightmost, fending off another one with her shield.

"Sand, hurry!" the woman begged as the spider's jaws reached out for her head.

"Alright, stand back everyone!" Sand called out, stretching out his arm in what Bishop thought was an overly dramatic gesture. Just as Shandra ducked to the side, five magic missiles shot out from the wizard's fingers. Two hit the nearest creatures, killing them on the spot. The other three cleared the way for Bishop's arrows and Shandra, who ran over to help the outnumbered dwarf. In a matter of moments the fighting was over, the shrill noises slowly dying away as Khelgar went about putting the wounded spiders out of their misery. Bishop slung his bow over his shoulder and drew his sword to aid the dwarf in his grim task.

Well, that wasn't too bad, he thought. Maybe his current companions were not just a bunch of useless sniveling fools after all.

He spotted Gina as she cleaned her rapier of the spiders' organic liquids. She seemed unharmed, and he was even more impressed by the broad smile she wore. Hells, she really enjoys the fighting, doesn't she?

She noticed him staring and walked up to him, grinning. "You okay?"

Her smile was contagious and it took all of his willpower to keep the scowl on his face. "You do realize you just almost got eaten alive, right?"

She shrugged. "I might hang soon, so why should I worry either way?"

He had to admit she had a point. They were here to gather evidence against Luskan and so far things were going well… but if anything went wrong at the trial, being hanged was the best she could wish for. Hell, even becoming a giant spider's meal wasn't so bad compared to the other options Luskan law provided.

A chill ran down his spine, but it wasn't caused by his thoughts of Luskans. Something was still wrong. He slowly looked around the cave, bathed only in the ethereal green glow after the light spell had expired. Their four companions stood a few feet away, tending to their minor injuries and talking quietly (except for Khelgar who was shouting excitedly). Bishop examined the surrounding shadows. He didn't see anything unusual or alarming, but it did not bring him any peace. His instincts had never failed him and he'd be damned if he stopped trusting them now. His gaze traveled up the walls that disappeared in darkness about twenty feet above them. Except now there was something looming out of the gloom…

Gina eyed him questioningly. "Bishop?" She turned around, following his gaze, but not quickly enough.

"Down! Now!" Bishop yelled as a huge arachnid dropped down from the ceiling right behind the woman. He had no time to reach for his bow. Instead he yanked his dagger from the scabbard on his chest and threw. It hit its mark, sinking deep into the creature's head with a sickening crunch. Bishop heard Gina and the others scream in alarm a fraction of second before something sank its teeth in his side. The pain blinded him for a moment, but he managed to swing his sword arm once before falling heavily onto his back. The spider screeched in pain, but it refused to let go of its prey. Bishop fought fiercely, kicking and punching the hairy legs. He smashed the hilt of his sword into the spider's head a few times before he lost his grip and the weapon fell onto the stones behind him.

Hell of a way to go, he thought as the enormous palps drew closer to his face.

Suddenly the creature let out another shriek and jumped away from him. Bishop lifted himself on his elbows and tried to inch further away while looking around for his sword. He caught a glimpse of what he thought was the dwarf's axe flying through the air and straight into the spider's side.

"Grab Bishop!" Gina shouted, leaping towards the still writhing arachnid, her rapier slashing and stabbing mercilessly.

He felt someone – two someones grab him by the arms and haul him backwards. "Can ye walk, lad?"

"Yeah," he growled as they helped him up. His side throbbed and burned like fire, and as much as he hated it, he had to hold on to Khelgar briefly as he struggled to his feet.

Gina ran up to them, panting slightly, her eyes blazing. He noticed she was carrying his weapons. "I think that was the last one. Let's get the hell out of here."

"Your first good idea today, dear leader," came Sand's dry comment.

Bishop irately pushed away the hands that still held him and turned away, holding his side. "Let's go."

Gina fell into step beside him as they reached the tunnel. "You're hurt."

He pressed his hand to the wound and glanced down. The leather of his armor was wet from blood, soaking his glove as well. "I'm fine," he snapped, not even looking in her direction. His head was spinning as if he had a few too many ales.

"Bishop, do you take me for an idiot? It bit you."

"I said I-" He staggered and reached out to hold on to a wall. The right side of his body was starting to go numb. The spider's venom was already working its way into his system. He cursed inwardly. He felt Gina's arm snake around his waist while she wrapped his arm around her neck. He tried to fend her off, but to no avail. He hadn't thought she was that strong. Or was it him growing weaker by the minute?

"Damn it, you're worse than Duncan and my father combined!"

"I bet they'll be happy to hear," he muttered as he limped alongside her.

The world around him was starting to lose contours. He couldn't feel his leg anymore. Gina stumbled as he lost his balance, and they were forced to stop. Bishop saw the torchlight from the goblins' camp and relaxed a bit. At least they were relatively safe now. He leaned his back against the wall. He realized he had closed his eyes only when he felt Gina pat his cheek lightly.

"Bishop. Bishop, look at me!"

He lifted his eyelids. She was kneeling in front of him, her face inches from his. He smirked. "Missed me?"

She ignored him and used his knife to cut his destroyed leathers. Any other time I might have enjoyed this, came a cheering thought. He hissed in pain as she peeled the fabric of his tunic away from the gash in his side. He could tell it didn't look good by her torrent of elfish oaths that probably made Sand cringe. He tried to say something, but then his eyes drifted closed again of their own accord. Gina calling out to him was the last thing he heard before he fell into blackness.