Dueling Dungeons (Rogue Dungeon 5) - Chapter Fifteen

Web Walking

Zyra, known colloquially and not a little fearfully around the Troll Nation as “Our Lady of Darkness,” held up the final stretch of webbing she and Ick had woven. She smiled behind her lacy veil as she watched Roark go through the quick and powerful postures to cast the Discordant Inversion hex.

Truth be told, she was admiring the Dungeon Lord. His new Draconic Chaos Harbinger Evolution perfectly accented his lean, muscular frame, and the thick armored scales and deadly-looking horns cut quite an intimidating figure, even amongst the other Dungeon Lords.

If looks and position were all Roark could lay claim to, she might have been easily able to cast him aside, but the Lord of the Troll Nation also had more than his fair measure of ambition, a deep and underhanded cunning, and a streak of wildness she rather liked. He was a fool for not realizing that he needed her when he returned to his homeland—if for nothing else, then to make certain he survived—but that, too, spoke to something that set him apart from the other Dungeon Lords she’d known. Azibek wouldn’t have thought twice about bringing anyone and everyone who served his purposes into the mouth of danger—would, in fact, have sent them in alone rather than go himself.

Roark… Roark felt concern for people who were not himself. Wanted to protect them. She glanced at the low-level Changelings, Pebblekin, and Bêtes running around nearby, constructing Smithies and carrying scrap. He wanted to protect even those far below his level. Creatures any other Dungeon Lord or Hero wouldn’t give a second thought to.

With a final forward thrust of Roark’s fists, the glowing web of Discordant Inversion flashed in the air, then transposed itself into his Initiate’s Spellbook. Not wasting any time, he knelt and inscribed the rune for Discordant Inversion at the center of the final unHexed section of webbing.

“That should do it,” he said once the inscription had taken. He stood and looked from Zyra to Ick. “Take care not to cast any spells while you’re in contact with the web. Hexes don’t differentiate between friend and enemy.”

Zyra stored the final web in her Inventory. “Unlike Infernali-turned-Chaos Harbingers, I don’t rely on magick. A sharp blade and a virulent poison are more to my taste.”

“I’m well aware.” He held up his Clearblood Ring and smirked at her, making her black heart stutter in her chest. Bloody damned fool. Herself as much as Roark.

“Let’s go, Ick,” she snapped, turning on her long arachnid limbs and drifting closer to the base of the Vault.

The Nocturnus made his polite goodbyes to Roark. A moment later, he fell in beside her.

They came to the edge of the siege line and searched the sky for Heralds. With the golden walls of the hive shining like noonday throughout the night, not a shadow could be found so close to the Vault. Instead of sneaking up under the cover of darkness, they would have to watch for a period of inactivity from the Heralds, then Wall Walk for all they were worth.

“Apologies, Lady of Darkness,” Ick said in his rasping insectile voice, “but you seem more cross than usual. At times, it is wise to bring something out into the sunlight, such as it is”—he gestured with half of his many arms toward the brilliant Vault—“to avoid spoiling.”

“I’ve brought it out more than enough for one lifetime,” Zyra said, scowling up at the sky, searching for the telltale sparkling streaks that followed Heralds in the night. “I’m ready to let it spoil for a while. You can’t change a Jotnar’s mind.”

Ick’s mandibles clicked as he chuckled. “Does Our Lady not mean Draconic Chaos Harbinger?”

“Whatever he is on the outside, he’s a Jotnar at heart.” She nodded up at the blackness beyond the glow of the Vault. “Sky’s still. Shall we?”

“With one final adjustment,” Ick said. He lifted his humanoid arms to the night and began to sing a low, buzzing tune accompanied by a series of flowing postures.

Silvery moonlight flared all around them, and Zyra fought the urge to flinch. She’d seen the devastation Ick’s Moonlight Sonata could bring to bear on even high-level heroes.

[You and other allied chimeras of the School of Night Magick within a 15-ft radius have been Strengthened by 11% with Halo Around the Moon, duration: 1 minute.]

Zyra relaxed and lifted one of her right arms to inspect her hand. Her skin usually glittered with darkness like a crushed sapphire in the night. Now, however, she shined with vivid silver light so intense it was almost hard to look at.

“It is not an exact match for the Vault’s golden glow,” Ick said, his dark rubbery tentacle hair and limbs shining as brightly as she was, “but it will keep us from casting dark spots on the surface for any Heralds overhead to see.”

“Stealth in brilliant light,” Zyra said, unable to keep the awe from her voice. “I may have been a bit too dismissive of magick before. I need to learn this spell, Ick.”

“Continue your studies in the School of Night,” he said, brushing tentaclelike hair from his face. “With Isara’s core fueling your progress, nothing of our practices is beyond your reach.”

Making one final check of the sky overhead, Zyra and Ick darted across the dusty red dirt between the allied forces and the base of the rock chimney the Vault perched upon. Zyra had done a bit of rock climbing to get the Ingredients for her Septic Brewmaster quest, and though Roark spoke of the activity as a staple of entertainment from his childhood, the task hadn’t impressed her as particularly fun. With her Orbweaver Wall Walking ability, however, scaling the treacherous cliff was as simple as walking across a floor. She stepped onto the sheer wall, and gravity adjusted to pull her to the rock.

Nearby, Ick gave her a nod, barely visible through the Halo, then began paying out the ladder he’d woven for the allied forces. With deft motions, he anchored the sturdy creation in cracks and crannies with powerful webbing. He would meet her at the top when he was finished with the crucial task.

Zyra continued upward, wondering idly whether she could find a way to cross her Reaver Shadow Stalking ability with this moonlight-stealth of Ick’s. Crouching, she closed her eyes and imagined disappearing into a pool of light rather than the usual dark.

When she opened her eyes a moment later, she had progressed fifteen feet in a single step.

[You have unlocked Diurnal Prowl, Level 1! Step into the light and travel to any other well-lit area within a 15-ft radius.]

Grinning with satisfaction, Zyra Prowled up the side of the Vault, reaching the space above one of the landing ports in mere moments. She took out the first stretch of Hexed webbing and got to work. Like Ick, she anchored the spidersilk in natural faults around the wide opening.

This was the part of their plan that required speed as much as precision. If a Herald tried to fly through one of these openings before they were all covered, he would raise the alarm, and then not only would their element of surprise disappear, but doubtless the rest of the swarm would spill out and attack like Slaughterwasps in a kicked nest.

A bright form flickered across the surface of the Vault, stopping her heart. She had Cursed Longknives in hand before she realized it was only Ick, already done with his ladder. The Nocturnus was an unassuming creature, but powerfully competent. She resheathed her weapons.

With a silent dip of his head, the Nocturnus acknowledged her graciousness for not sending him to respawn, then quickly joined her stretching webbing over landing ports. Whenever Halo Around the Moon expired, they both carefully emptied their hands and stepped away from the applied webbing, so Ick could recast the brilliant stealth buff without fear of the spell being inverted by Roark’s inscribed Hexes.

They were making good time. Soon nearly every port on the Vault was secured, and Ick had retreated down the ladder to signal the first shift of webcrawlers to venture up. Zyra turned to one of the final ports and began searching for natural places to affix the webbing.

The silky strands were almost invisible against the light, unless you turned to exactly the right angle. Even then they looked impossibly delicate, as if a touch would tear the entire web away. That was not the way of Arachne’s Pride, however. Each strand came with a Strength of six times her Dexterity—which, even before her evolution to Orbweaver Ravager, had been one of her greatest stats. There was a tiny loss of .01 breaking strain per foot of length, but weaving the strands into a reinforcing web negated that cost.

Movement out of the corner of her eye snapped her out of her musings.

A trio of Heralds in shining plate were approaching the opening she was busy working on. The closest stretched out white-flecked wings and pulled a massive sword, preparing to launch himself into another attack on the troops below.

“Let’s show these Infernal fools that we’re nothing to be trifled with, even without our beloved commander in residence,” the Herald said, an arrogant smile gracing his lips.

The others chuckled and drew their weapons as well.

Quickly, Zyra Prowled to the top of the opening and tore away the anchor points, but didn’t drop the web. Instead, with her second pair of hands, she dug three vials of Screaming Silence from her Inventory.

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Screaming Silence

Item Type: Ultra-Rare Agonizing Poison

Effect 1: -8 HP per second for 60 seconds or until the corresponding antidote is consumed.

Effect 2: Target is Silenced for 60 seconds or until corresponding antidote is consumed.

Effect 3: Target experiences Hellish Agony for 60 seconds or until the corresponding antidote is consumed, resulting in a temporary 20% decrease in Intelligence and Dexterity.

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The Heralds ran a few steps and leapt, wings pumping.

For a few beats, anyway.

Then they were tangled in Zyra’s web. Shocked cursing ensued.

Zyra dropped down behind them, looping the sticky, silken trap around the confused Heralds. At the same time, she smashed the vials against each one of them with lightning precision. Having multiple sets of arms was so terribly useful.

Immediately, their shouts died, as though cut off by a knife’s edge. They continued to flounder and shout, but no sound issued from their throats. Their Health bars flashed green as the Poison of the Rotting Sun drenching the web and the poison from Screaming Silence ate through their skin.

Without waiting for them to recover, Zyra planted her booted humanoid foot on the side of the thrashing, tangled pile and shoved them over the edge.

The powerful webbing held, dangling a makeshift bag of struggling Heralds over the precipitous drop to the red dirt below. Zyra Wall Walked out to join them, filling all four of her hands with Longknives dripping with the sunmetal-corroding poison and Cursed to deal Necrotic Damage.

The Herald with white-flecked wings regained his senses first. His huge sword was pinned uselessly between him and a roan-winged female Herald. Twisting in the webbing, the white-flecked Herald squinted, and his eyes locked on Zyra. Prying from beneath himself, he cast a brilliant flare of Solar Glory at her.

Zyra crouched into the light and triggered her Prowl ability, vanishing in an eye blink only to reappear a moment later on opposite side of the dangling web. She was just in time to see Solar Glory backfire in a spectacular flash of crimson as Roark’s Discordant Inversion hex activated. That inverted spell alone carved away more than a quarter of the Herald’s Health.

The Herald tried to shout something, perhaps a warning to his fellow entangled Heralds, but the Screaming Silence held his tongue fast.

About that time, the roan-winged Herald caught sight of Zyra and tried her hand at magick. She must have had far more powerful spells, because the backlash from her attempt to kill shot Zyra with a Divine Missile ate through more than half of her own Health.

The third and final Herald, trapped at the bottom of the writhing bag of winged trash, had either caught wind of his comrades’ folly or hadn’t been much of a magick user to begin with. Rather than even looking for his assailant, he was trying to saw through the spidersilk with a gleaming silver dagger. Clearly the smartest of the lot.

“I knew I couldn’t count on you fools to finish yourselves off.” Zyra sighed and spun her Cursed Longknives.

Prowling into the light, she reappeared inches from the web-cutting Herald’s face.

“Surprise.” She planted two of her Cursed Longknives hilt-deep in his throat. The blades were wide enough that, side by side, the pair nearly beheaded the Herald.

He spluttered out metallic golden blood while she pinned his dagger-hand to his chest with another Longknife. His Health bar flashed green once again as more poison coursed through his golden veins. But it refused to drop below fifty percent.

Zyra bared her teeth in a frustrated snarl. Damned high-level mobs. Luckily, she knew the solution to failure: keep stabbing.

With a flurry of precision strikes, she put her four arms to good use tearing away at the helpless little birdy’s Health bar, until finally, the last blinking green sliver drained away. The Herald’s corpse went limp in the bottom of the bag.

Zyra equipped her Longknives with another dose of Virulent poison each and turned on the female Herald. The spell slinger tried to take Zyra out with an Angelic Lance, but Zyra crouched and effortlessly Prowled away, spinning as she stepped out of the void and swinging her Longknives.

[x2 Stealth Multiplier] flashed across her vision before the female Herald realized she was being attacked.

Zyra didn’t let up. Thanks to her Mega-Evolution, she had Stamina to burn.

Time after time, the Tornado of Death power-combo proved itself worth the gold she’d spent on Griff’s training. She would have to remember to thank the weapons trainer again for helping her level it.

Sending the female Herald for respawn took far less time than her web-cutting comrade—a true spell caster, then, instead of a tank or hybrid Herald. Not to mention, she’d already done in more than half of her own Health with Discordant Inversion before Zyra stepped in.

Flush with the pair of victories, Zyra re-poisoned her blades and turned to face the last Herald.

There was fear in his eyes, but with a twang, the Herald’s massive sword sliced through his side of the web sack. He tumbled out into the night, throwing his wings wide to catch the updraft.

Cursing under her breath, Zyra hurriedly attached a rope of spidersilk to the Vault’s wall and tied it off around her waist.

The Herald’s wings beat at the air and he banked toward one of the last two unsecured ports.

Zyra aimed just ahead of him and leapt, wind whipping at the veil across her face as she plummeted. She slammed into his head and shoulders, plate armor crashing and something in one of his wings snapping like a dry twig. His mouth twisted in a silent roar of pain and anger, and he shoved his massive sword upward, trying to run her through. Zyra dodged, but it scored along her ribs, opening up a hole in her side.

Hissing, Zyra triggered Arachne’s Pride, spinning web faster than she ever had before. The Herald pulled back his sword for another strike. He sliced through one of her many legs, but that was the last hit he managed to land. Zyra’s undamaged arachnoid legs turned and twisted him as she fed out sticky silk, winding the Herald up in a bundle of wings and armor and limbs.

When he was well and truly immobilized, she sank her fangs into his throat. A twinge of guilt twisted in her chest. It felt a tad… unfaithful, perhaps… to envenomate someone besides Roark, but her brief concern disappeared when she was rewarded with a notification.

[Ravaging Cytolitic Venom injected. Prey takes 8n Cytolitic Damage per second for 30 seconds, where n is the Orbweaver Ravager’s Alchemy Skill Level. Additional 8% chance to Paralyze.]

She blinked the notification away with a thought, then dropped him like so much dead weight.

All that metal skin must’ve been incredibly heavy, because he plunged like a stone. Red dust puffed out in a cloud when he crashed into the dirt, and even from her height, Zyra could see the shallow crater around his immobilized body. She laughed gleefully as a squad of allied troops swarmed over the powerless Herald, falling on him with stabbing swords and slashing knives.

With the threat taken care of, Zyra climbed back up the anchoring strand of spidersilk and finished stretching Hexed webbing over the final three landing ports, still chuckling to herself.