13. ASSAULT IN THE FOREST
Up in the branches Talis could see hundreds of spiders. Four feet across, hairy, and drooling something black and wet. Their yellow beady eyes shone, staring hungrily at them. They were suspended on scores of thin, silvery cords.
Mara whipped out her daggers and rolled aside as a spider dropped over her. Talis grabbed his bow and quiver and raced to help, but his foot landed in a hole and he fell face first in the dirt, his bow flying out of his hands.
Talis spotted two spiders heading towards him and more charged at Rikar and Nikulo. They had to get out of here; there were too many spiders to fight. Three of them lurched at Mara and she dove away and slashed with her daggers. Talis picked up his bow and shot one in the back, sending a green spray through the air. The others zig- zagged over the forest floor as they chased Mara. Rikar ran after her but got in the way of Talis’s line of sight.
“Move!” Talis shouted, running after them.
Mara’s foot caught on a root and she fell and landed hard, her daggers skidding across the ground. She glanced back as the spiders hovered over her, then scrambled to find her weapons. Rikar zapped a spider with a lightning bolt, frying it into oblivion, but another spider turned, coiled up and prepared to strike. Talis launched another arrow, missed, then shot another, sending the creature spinning in a green, twirling mess. It splat on a tree, and its juices started eating away at the bark. What kind of poison was that? Then Talis realized that the spider’s bodies were filled with acid.
“Don’t waste your magic,” Nikulo shouted, running up to Rikar. “There are too many of them.”
“Behind you,” Mara yelled.
Turning, Talis spotted one mid-flight in its jump at them. Rikar quickly summoned a silvery sword and sliced the spider in half. More charged. He flinched, stabbing and cutting the fat beasts until a pile of green spider parts and goo lay at his feet.
“Don’t touch it…it’s acid! ” Talis shouted, pulling Rikar’s arm.
Mara backed into a corner, surrounded by spiders. She slashed stubbornly and they snapped forward and flinched back. Every time he scanned around, more kept coming. He shot the two creatures surrounding Mara, but others charged her. Talis felt a furry leg brush his hair. He fell, aiming up, and sank an arrow into another’s fat underside. He rolled away as it splattered onto the ground.
Talis grunted. He was out of arrows and there were too many of them, anyways. He grabbed a thick stick and glanced around. Yellow eyes danced in the dark. Mara went to slice a leg off, but another curled up and hurled a sticky glob of venom over her face.
She froze and fell over.
Talis charged at the spider, yelling and kicking it away from her. He brought the stick down hard against its neck.
Nikulo huffed up to them and stared at Mara. “What happened?”
“She’s poisoned,” Talis said, and slammed a fist on his leg.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Nikulo said. Sweat poured down the sides of his head, and his eyes shone. A huge spider followed him, as if tamed and obeying his command. His hands were over his temples as he stared at the creature. It scampered over the ground and grappled two more spiders coming at them.
The creatures were everywhere. Hundreds of yellow, gleaming eyes locked on them.
“Which way do we go?” Nikulo said, and twirled around.
Rikar was feverish, exhausted from his use of magic. He summoned a curved blade, shimmering five feet across, and slashed as fast as he could. He was tiring and in danger of being consumed by magic.
“Be careful,” Nikulo yelled, whirling around to face his friend. Rikar was drenched in sweat and his eyes were locked, unfocused.
Talis knew he had to act, so he started breathing loudly, a hissing breath, the kind used to create Fire Magic. In a trance, the forest had turned blood-red. Nikulo reached out to stop him, then jerked his hand back in pain.
“Get down!” Talis shouted, and Rikar and Nikulo dropped. Through the haze of his view, Talis could see the spiders closing in on them.
Then an intense heat ignited from his palms, exploding out in all directions, a circular wave of fire ripping through the forest. Spiders ignited, curling up, and the trees flamed up. The air smelled like burnt hair and roasted chicken. Rikar and Nikulo rose, glancing around, shocked that the forest was aflame. They were surrounded by a circle of angry flames and the fire roared to an inferno, dashing up the trees.
Talis stared at what he’d done. How did he cast the spell without killing himself? He felt weak from the exertion, but his senses burned, vivid and alive.
“That was amazing!” Rikar said, his eyes surprised. “How did you cast that spell?”
“I…I’m not sure how I cast it…” Talis glanced around, concerned that the flames were stalking towards them. “But we’re going to die if we don’t get out of here soon.”
“Help me carry Mara.” Nikulo bent down and they lifted Mara together, and hobbled in a direction without flames. The fire ring extended out a hundred feet, and as they passed the fire, Talis glanced over his shoulder. I did it, I really did it right, he thought, feeling a wave of confidence wash over him.
As they left the burning forest, Talis couldn’t help but notice Rikar and Nikulo glancing at him, their faces beaming awe and jealously. Finally they reached a bed of soft pine needles, and they lay Mara down.
Talis clenched Mara’s hand and searched for signs of life, but her body was rigid but still warm.
“She’s still breathing, but her body is all clenched up by the poison.”
Nikulo interrupted him. “Rikar, can you hold Mara? I'll need it to give her a potion. The spider's venom… locked the flow of electrical energy. If I can…release the poison's hold.” He placed both hands on Mara’s jawbones and his hands shook with intensity, waves of healing light flowing out. When the light built up inside her body, Mara’s face softened and the tension in her muscles melted away.
Then Nikulo took off his backpack and withdrew a sack containing several crystal vials. He noticed a glob of poison sizzling away at her jacket, and he took a knife and scooped it up, placing it inside one of the vials. Talis thought he glimpsed a curious smile crossing Nikulo’s face as if he’d just discovered something incredible.
“One more herbal remedy, I think that will do it…” Nikulo rummaged through another bag from his pack while Rikar assembled wood and lit a warm, crackling fire. Nikulo pulled out a potion, and inspected it with satisfaction. He opened Mara’s mouth and poured the liquid down her throat. Her eyes fluttered and color slowly returned to her cheeks.
Mara squinted and glanced around suspiciously.
“Why is everyone staring at me?” She tried to get up but Talis held her back.
“Rest-give yourself some time to recover.”
Talis told her the story of what had happened after she was poisoned and Nikulo interrupted him to tell the part about Talis casting magic. Mara settled back, face flushed from the fire, her eyes beaming in pride at Talis, and she reached out to hold his hand and soon she drifted off to sleep.
He felt a wave of homesickness strike his heart as he gazed at Mara’s face. She could have died out here in this cold and unforgiving land, and Talis knew he could never forgive himself if that had happened. Yet Naru might already be in more danger than here, maybe another attack had killed more people… The Elders of Naru were counting on them to help their city. Maybe Rikar was right to continue on their expedition. Every day counted…
“We’ve lost our horses and whatever we had in our saddlebags.” Rikar glanced around the dark forest.
Talis swung his backpack around. “Still have these… And I kept a good bit of gold and silver coin inside. We can resupply and maybe buy horses up ahead at the inn.”
“What do you think we’ll find out there on that island?” Nikulo said, his eyes tired and red.
Talis shrugged, staring into the fire. “It must be worth it…worth all the risk. You weren’t there to see Master Baribariso rise from his grave and transform into an immortal. When he pulled the Surineda Map from a mist, I knew this was a gift from the gods.”
“There are many gods and many masters,” Rikar said, his face dark and gaunt. “But I do not doubt there is something powerful and special out there on that island…”
