On the other hand, I was now facing the spider without the cover of a shield or a weapon with long reach. I pulled the barbarian’s battle-axe off my back and gripped it in both hands. With its heavy, sharp twin blades, it had the potential to inflict crushing damage—if I could get in close enough without being perforated by those wicked fangs.
I quickly realized that trying to win a battle against this behemoth using agility and acrobatics would be futile. Its eight legs gave it a massive edge in terms of speed and maneuverability. No, the way I was going to beat it was with raw strength. And maybe a god-tier dose of courage.
Good thing I was a god.
I had already been a strong fellow prior to becoming a deity, and now, I was even stronger—far stronger than I looked. I could swing this battle-axe with as much power as the brawniest barbarian warrior. If I could hit the spider in just the right spo, and manage to put all my power behind it, I’d be able to end this fight very quickly.
The problem was getting close enough to strike right between the crawler’s eyes, burying the head of this battle-axe deep into its brain. That vulnerable spot, the chink in its armor, as such, was 10 feet off the ground, protected by huge fangs and many powerful limbs.
I still had a few assassin’s tricks up my sleeve, however. One trick that would work perfectly. More difficult in a suit of full plate armor, but I figured that with my enhanced strength, I’d be able to do it.
I started backing away from the spider, pretending to be searching for an opening. I made a few convincing surges forward, swinging at the beast with the battle-axe, all the while drawing it closer to the huge walls of Aith. The spider’s controller would want me cornered so that the creature could tear me apart. Perfect. The best way to lure someone into a trap is to have them think they’re luring you into one.
When I was just 20 yards from the wall, the spider lunged for me. With a few rapid swipes of the battle-axe, I battered its fangs away, almost severing one of its legs. I had my back to the wall. It was time to make my move.
“Oh, shit,” I yelled, “I’m trapped! How could I have been so stupid!”
The spider, thinking it had me cornered, hissed slowly and raised its fangs, ready to charge. I turned and made as if I was panicking and fleeing blindly toward the wall. And as I’d hoped it would, the spider pounced from behind me, thinking a hot meal of fresh god meat was within reach. But as I reached the wall, with the thundering legs of the spider a yard or two behind me, I activated my hamstring muscles and leaped. As soon as my feet landed on the wall, I sprinted vertically up the massive stone blocks. As the momentum of my vertical sprint started to drop off, I launched myself backward in a tumbling pirouette, which I turned into a somersault, battle-axe gripped in both hands. The spider reared up to pluck me from the air, its fangs poised to strike and its jaws open, but I used the momentum of my spinning rolls to inject tremendous power into my final blow. I came down like an eagle, crashing through the spider’s waiting legs and slamming the battle-axe down between its many eyes.
The blade bit into the creature’s brain. The spider jerked and lurched from side to side, limbs scuttling madly in different directions. Even though I was almost thrown off it in the chaos, I held the axe firmly in place. With one final great shudder, the spider crashed to the ground beneath me, its eyes glazed over.
There was a moment of silence as I stepped off the dead spider, until a roaring applause erupted from my army. From Aith, though, there was nothing but silence. I flipped open my visor and glared up at the many slit windows in the walls.
“Well?!” I roared. “I did it, without magic. The eight-legged fucker is dead. Now, do what you said you would: Open these damn gates!”
To emphasize that I wasn’t playing around, I closed my eyes, hurled part of my spirit and a small chunk of my life force into the dead spider, and resurrected it. Gasps erupted from the slit windows as the spider’s eyes turned a shade of luminous yellow-green. The beast, now undead, stood and walked calmly over to me.
Still no response from behind the walls.
“Should I kill another one?” I yelled. “Send out your whole damn army of crawlers. I’ll take ‘em all on!”
I turned and looked at Friya. She shrugged at me before I returned my gaze to the walls. After an excruciatingly silent few seconds, the gates of Aith opened with a creak and a drawn-out groan.
“You and your party may enter the city,” a voice called out, “but your army must stay outside the gates.”
I went back to join my party.
“Keep your wits about you,” I said as I mounted Fang. “And follow my lead.”
Everyone nodded their agreement, and I noticed that Isu was wearing a hood that covered her face. I doubted her horns would be all that out-of-place in a city filled with spider-people, but she had mentioned that she’d visited the place before, so maybe she didn’t want to be recognized?
Atop Fang, I led my party into the city, where I finally saw the Arachne with my own eyes.
They looked far more human than I’d imagined. They were tall, skinny, and long-limbed. So they were sort of spidery in that way, and they were clearly not completely human. Four large spider legs jutted out of their backs,
