Chapter 4: A Dwarf Eating Cave

Kith

Kith wakes up uneasy. He knows what he said last night, and it is true. He hates magic. Magic brought so much pain to his people. That pain turned to anger, and, in his tribe, they took that anger out on him. And his poor mom, not like she could help it. Kith shakes his head, ridding himself of those thoughts. Eris is precisely what he hates; sweet, young, and magical. Everything he isn't. Screw it. He was not going to feel sorry about it. Kith is the first one up and makes his way downstairs. There is only the arsehole barman from last night and a youngling dwarf girl who is sweeping.

"Breakfast?" Kith grumbles.

Not taking his eyes off Kith, the dwarf reaches down and slaps a menu in front of him.

"Gee, thanks," Kith says as sweetly as the face on a hobgoblin.

The dwarf glowers at him a moment longer. Kith gives him his order.

"Stewed Hyena, Spicy Cider Ale, and Elderberry Buns. Four of each." Kith says, batting his eyelashes.

The barman must have gotten a kick out of that because he smirks and walks off to the kitchen. Either that or he plans to do something nasty with their food. Kith decides to walk around outside while he waits for the food. The air is pretty frigid, not yet cold enough to snow. Kith hears a loud banging. Metal against metal. Ah, a weaponsmith, perhaps? He thinks. Kith walks across the narrow dirt road and around to the side of the house in front of him: Damn, just a blacksmith making picks and household goods.

The dwarf sees Kith and stops pounding. "You part of the group going into the cave?" he asks. The man's hands have two bandaged fingers and a few burn marks along his arms.

"Anything you could tell me?" Kith puts his hand up as the man is about to speak. "That I don't know already."

The man closes his mouth and starts to pound away once more.

Kith walks away and back towards the tavern. As he gets to the middle of the road, a little girl approaches him. Kith looks around, feeling incredibly out of his element. The girl says nothing and looks at him.

Then he sees Eris walk up beside him. He breathes a sigh of relief. He waits for her to talk to the girl but nothing. He peers over at Eris, and she smiles at him. As sweet as the face on a hobgoblin. He groans, and she smiles bigger, cocking her head slightly. Damn her.

"Hello," he says rigidly to the little girl.

The girl beckons him to bend down and come closer. "Can you keep a secret?" she asks. She has chubby, rosy cheeks. Her black hair is in a thick braid and almost reaches the ground.

He whispers, "Yes."

The girl tries to speak softly, but it comes out as a loud whisper. "My friend and I like to play on the field next to the cave," she paused, "if you didn't know. One day, we got close and could hear clicking and tapping. The boys dared my friend Garma to go into the cave five paces and run back out."

Kith nods for her to continue.

"She was too scared. But I wasn't scared," she says haughtily. "I'm scared of nothing. I went in, and then clicking and tapping got louder. The ground was sticky, and there were big," she shows Kith the size with her arms, "white pillows on the ground. Then my mom called, and I got out of there." The girl ponders another thought. "I guess am I scared of one thing."

Kith didn't know what to make of this girl. No one in the group could get anything out about the damned cave, and this wisp of a girl was offering it. "Maybe, I should talk to children more often," he says.

Eris bends down to the girl. "That's good. Parents keep you safe. Although, I never listened to my parents. I loved to adventure when I was your age. But you have to be smart about your adventures. Going into a dark cave-"

"Not smart." the girl interrupts.

Eris nods and shoos the girl to play with her friends. She looks so natural talking to the girl.

"What do your parents think of you going on this journey?" Kith asks, curious.

They walk back to the tavern. "If my parents were still alive, I think," Eris laughs. "They would lock me in my bedroom."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize." Kith opens the door for her. Before walking in, she steps up to him. She is so close. He can smell the jasmine oil she uses for her hair. It was all he could do not to close his eyes and breathe her in deep.

"Three half-orcs killed my parents." Eris's eyes flicker. Electric static in one eye, fire in the other. "I've chosen NOT to judge the actions of those half-orcs against all the others." He knows she is speaking to the comment he said last night. "Not all magic users are bad." She walks in and heads for the table where Kosh had already sat down.

Kith closes his eyes a moment and joins her.

Eris

Eris relays all the information the girl had given to them. It was pretty cute watching Kith talk to the little girl.

Eris looks around. "Is Renimil still sleeping?" She asks.

"Last I saw, he was practicing some magic," Kosh mutters. "Damn thing nearly killed me. I couldn't see anything."

She smiles. That meant Ren finally mastered it. She watched him last night until he caught her. She thought about helping him. Then realized that he probably would not have liked that in the slightest. She could sense he was powerful. Just how powerful?

Eris suspected he didn't even know. Blindness would have taken at least another day to learn, and he had just gotten that spell.

She knew what needed to be done if he got his hands on the scroll. That's why the queen sent her. Kosh would have backed up. But could they also take down Kith if he chose to side with Renimil? Could she do it?

Renimil finally joins them. His hair is pulled back in a sleek braid, accentuating his elvish features. He is pretty handsome, but something in his eyes seems… lonely. They all had it. She heard rumors of Kith and Kosh's upbringing. They were beaten, orphaned, and cast out. They probably all thought she was some innocent wisp of a girl. Little did they know. She stood there while her parents were killed. Never once lifting a finger. She was too afraid. Afraid of getting hurt, of her powers she was learning about. She watched as they butchered them. She ran out of the house screaming. The Half-orcs slaughtered another house next door, and when she ran up to the porch, a blood trail led inside. Her scream brought the guards. The Half-orcs made it to the edge of the village and into the trees. They never caught the murderers. Because of that, she could never sleep soundly again in town. Lack of sleep caused her magic to be unstable. After a tiny explosion, she was kicked out by the village. When they saw her, they saw a coward. The kids had no problems telling her too.

Kith

The group finishes eating and heads toward the cave. The wood holding up the dirt to create a doorway is starting to rot away. It was dark, and the only noise the group could hear was dripping. They inch closer with Kosh in the lead. He bends down and lifts something stringy and sticky.

Kosh wraps moss from a felled tree nearby on a thick branch.

The gnome lights it on fire and hands it to Kith, and Kith takes the lead. Kith passes Eris the torch. The others could see well enough in the cave.

There is a pillow half against the wall, half on the floor, as the girl said. Of course, Kith knew what it was. "Kosh," he whispers without looking back.

"I see it."

Kith grips his now unsheathed sword tighter. There are several species of spiders. He hopes these are the smaller ones. But they wouldn't have been able to do this. There are strings of the web connecting from the floor to the ground.

Kith squeezes between the webbing strings, and the group follows. As Ren walks past, his backpack gently brushes against it, unawares to the group.

Webbing shoots from the darkness, catching Kith off guard—the spider leaps at the trapped Half-Orc. The spider's huge teeth sink into Kith's shoulder, and he grunts in agony. The venom works quickly. Kith starts to sweat and feels sick.

Kosh dashes forward and slides between the spider, hacking at its legs. He stands at its back and stabs the creature's back end causing the goliath spider to rear up. Kosh backs up as the spider turns towards him.

A vine appears around the spider and wraps around the creature's legs. The spider writhes against it, screeching. Seeing the spider stuck, Renimil runs towards Kith and gives him a venom antidote he had developed using the venom from the snake they fought earlier. It was a 50/50 chance that it would work on this type of venom.

Kith's vision was blurry, and he was afraid to hack at the webbing since he could hit his feet. The antidote lessens the effects, but since this was from spider venom and not snake venom, he knows this is the best it was going to be.

Eris shoots a ray of light, searing the creature's back end.

The spider's body starts to pulsate blue and breaks through the sticky vines. It rears up, stabbing down at Kosh. Kosh blocks one leg with his dagger but is knocked down. Another leg of the spider spears through Kosh's shoulder and rips its legs out, causing Kosh's shoulder to ooze blood immediately. Kosh grips his arm in agony as he scrambles back to his feet.

The spider turns to face Eris and skitters over to her.

Kosh, now only able to use one hand, runs to the spot still gushing on the monster, and stabs at it.

Black shadows dance around Ren's feet, swirling up his body.

His eyes blacken as darkness discharges from his fingertips and shoots out at the monster. The spider stumbles and shakes itself. The blue on its body shines brighter.

Kith finally cuts himself free and rushes over to Eris. Fury distorts his face as he jumps in the air. He brings his sword down hard at the area the others kept hitting with a roar.

The blue light on the goliath spider starts to get weaker. It stumbles around, unable to catch its footing.

As she aims for the creature's face, drops of flame burst from Eris's hands. Its scream is deafening, shaking the cave and causing rocks to fall from the ceil and more cocooned bodies. One lands on Ren.

"Shit," Ren says, rolling the cocoon off and getting back to his feet.

The spider falls to the ground, legs spread out around him.

Ren pulls Eris back as the spider wriggles on the ground.

Kosh, breathing heavily, falls to his knees, clutching his arm.

Producing an orb of flames, Renimil throws it at the spider's face, silencing it for good.

Ren bends down over the spider and collects more venom.

"Well, that sucked."

"Let's get the hell out of here." Kith replies. He walks over to Kosh and helps him to his feet. Kosh is unsteady at first, but Kith knows if he throws Kosh over his shoulder, the gnome will skewer him in the arse. Kith is staggering as well. They need medical attention fast.

Eris looks down at the cocoon that had fallen on Renimil. Several of them are scattered across the cave and are still on the roof. Eris's heart pounds in her chest.

Kith put his hand on her shoulder. "We should tell them it's safe to come to get their fallen. He pauses as a tear falls down Eris's cheek. He wipes it away. There is no more we can do here. With that, he walks out of the cave.

Eris sighs. She knows he is correct, but it still hurts.