Soulforge Legacy Series

Eight tiny beady faceted eyes caught the light as the first creature rounded the bend. Mandibles longer than my arm clacked against each other. All the while, its eight feet stabbed into the ground hard enough to crack it. Each moved with enough speed that the stone chips sprayed around it.

A flare of light sliced across the distance. For a moment, it connected our group to the monster. Then the stake exploded, taking three of the creature’s legs with it. A wailing cry filled the air. Both a cry of pain and for help.

Dozens of cries echoed off the canyon walls as its companions answered its call. “Cressida, I told you to keep them from calling for help!” The Captain yelled as she pulled out her twin blades.

Flares of magic filled the area as each person started to cast spell after spell. Some layered themselves together. Building upon each other as their casters started to build some defenses. Other spells struck out as a pair of the massive creatures turned the corner.

While one used its legs to scale the wall to avoid its companion, the other didn’t give a fuck. It climbed over the hurt creature, killing it.

Water crested over the nearest bank, rushing forward as the earth around it moved. Almost like it had been shoved to the side by the water. Opening a path for the water to follow. But even as the water passed by, the level seemed to drop. Likely as the dry and cracked ground absorbed every drop it could.

Small ripples in the air around the mounds was the only warning any of us had as finger sized spears of stone were torn from the mounds to attack the creatures. Dozens hit each creature with enough force to stagger the things. But that was it. Whatever the creature was, its carapace was strong enough that none of them managed to get into their bodies.

Not that any of that seemed to matter as a moment later the smell of ozone filled the air as the air itself flared with light. Blinded, I was unable to see what happened, but given the sounds of two wet explosions filled the air, I was sure the creatures were dead.

Unfortunately, they were just the first creatures to reach us. And by the time my sight returned, I found myself staring at over a dozen of the things. Each of which charged at us. They climbed the walls, crawled over each other, and even attacked their brethren as they tried to get to us first.

Of course, as the rest of the group attacked the closest monsters, I watched the ones in the back. Unlike the rest, they had stopped and dropped into an odd stance. And while I could feel a bit of mana gathering, it felt thin, almost wispy.

Without warning, the four gathered in the back each shot out lines of white. Not at us but at the area around us. The lines splattered against the stone and stuck fast. Their texture reminded me of something I had grown used to seeing.

After all, spiders were everywhere and they did a fairly decent job at clearing up the bug population. However, unlike their earthly cousins, the creatures here created much larger threads. Ones thick enough to stop cars, assuming they were just as strong.

Light blue flames appeared around me as I started to freak out. Sure, I knew the creatures were amazing, but they were fucking creepy. Always waiting, staring at the world without a care as they waited for their next victim. None of the fuckers had been allowed in my apartment for that very reason.

My emotions were only pushed further by the fact that these things thought of me as their next victim. Something that would only happen over my dead body.

Flames shot from me, striking the spiders that had just started to use the threads to make their way toward us. To my shock, the flames did little to no damage. Even the spider threads seemed to just slough the flames off.

So apparently the whole fire and spiderwebs thing wouldn’t work here. Which was fine for people with more physical attacks. Even Kiran’s flame covered stakes worked.

For me, this was akin to making me powerless. Sure I had other attacks, but they were nothing compared to my fire. Fire that didn’t even have anything physical to them. Just pure heat.

Actually, there was something I could do. I just didn’t know how well it would work. Especially as the webs were seemingly impervious to extreme heat.

Mana flared from me as I targeted the nearest spider thread. As soon as it reached the material, it vanished. It wasn’t used. It wasn’t eaten. It was just, not there. Almost as though it was moved somewhere else in an instant. But where?

Before I could figure the issue out, the first spider reached us. Everyone else was distracted with the swarm crawling all over the place, leaving me as the only one that could react as it dropped down from above.

Muscles full of mana, I leapt to meet it. I expected my blade to cut through a bit of the chitin before getting stuck. Or, barring that, for the strike to rebound off of it entirely. Neither was the best option, but both would serve to deflect the creature from its target.

So it came as a complete surprise when my blade sheared through the body with nearly no resistance. Of course, this also meant that there was nothing to slow me down as I flew toward in the direction the spider had dropped from. Or, more importantly, the thread it had jumped from.

Flailing my tail and twisting, I managed to get myself turned around. While there was no chance I could maneuver myself around the thread given the time I had, I was able to have my feet hit the thread and not my face. Feet that stuck to the thread the moment it touched it.

Vibrations rippled out from my point of impact and to the spiders beyond. Even those on other threads seemed to sense it as their heads snapped in my direction. As one, the horde changed course. Ignoring my companions as they rushed at their newly trapped prey. Me.

Now, this might be a bit of an issue, if not for the fact that this location also allowed me an unobstructed view of the entire battlefield. One that was slowly filling with bodies and dust as both sides attacked.

While my earth magic was weaker than my fire, that didn’t mean I couldn’t use it here. In fact, I already had a spell that could take advantage of this situation. Sure, I had only ever used it one time, but that one time had proven just how effective it had been.

Mana rushed from me and into the surrounding stone. Carving it, shaping it, and compressing it. Both to create hollows and to form the projectiles. Next came the water. Something that was a bit tougher, but not impossible. It just took some mana. More mana than the rest of the spell would need, but what would one expect given where we were?

Last, but not least, came the heat. While I could spend copious amounts of mana on generating heat from nothing but mana, there were better options. Namely the stone on top of the canyon. Stone exposed to the sun.

Now, it wasn’t all that hot, yet, but it wasn’t cold either. The sun had been out for a few hours now. During which time, the stone had spent absorbing it, heating up.

Stones shattered and exploded as I yanked enough energy from them to cool them by a dozen or so degrees. Sure, I could have caused the stone to freeze, but the mana requirement to pull that much heat from one area was more expensive than generating the heat from nothing.

Every erg of heat went into the water. Flash boiling it. All around me, stone violently exploded outward. The attack caught the spiders by surprise, striking every one of them without remorse.

Unfortunately for me, none of them were killed by the attack. Stunned yes. A decent majority were even hurt. But not a single one of them were killed.

The group below me didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the opening. Attacks flew out to hit spider after spider. Spears of water. Stakes of fire. Shining threads. Mirror images. The team threw everything they had at the spiders.

The spider’s numbers plummeted and their bodies started to pile up. Enough that the ground was covered in them. And while the walls were free of bodies, that didn’t mean they were untouched. Gore, both blood and viscera, covered every surface.

Just as it looked like the fighting was winding down, something roared into the air. Its call was deep and powerful enough that the very earth shuddered. As the sound washed over us, the spiders seemed to shift tactics.

Instead of racing toward us, hurling attacks at us. They raced around. Many of them even raced toward the top of the canyon. Running. Not from us, but from whatever was coming. Not that anyone let them. Each of us continued to strike out.

Me, I used my fire to destroy the stones below them. To use the blast damage to take the creatures down. While it wasn’t all that damaging, the concussive force was enough to at least stagger them. Sometimes I managed to even get lucky and knock one of the spiders off the wall. Some of whom hit their companions, taking them down with them.

Soon enough, the rest were dead or gone. Leaving us with whatever was coming. While we could run, I doubted any of the people here would. Especially not the Captain. Judging by how she was hopping from foot to foot, she almost seemed excited.

Then the corner we had been using as a bottleneck exploded. Rocks ranging from little pebbles to human sized, pelted the area. One of them nearly took me out. In fact, if not for the spider web that I was still stuck to, it would have. But, just like me, the stone found itself stuck to the thread.

Of course, all of that energy had to go somewhere. Thanks to whatever had just appeared, the wall the thread had been attached to was thoroughly compromised. Enough so that the energy tore the thread from it.

As I fell, the world slowed. Not because of the fall, but because the cloud of dust was shoved back by the roar of the thing that had just forced its way out from below. Barely large enough to fit in the canyon, the spider matriarch glared at us with its ruby red eyes.

Liquid dripped from its mandibles, hissing as it splashed against the ground. Every one of my teammates didn’t hesitate as they attacked with everything they had.

White hot stakes shot from Kiran as fast as he could throw them. Given his agility, the attack was almost as fast as some automatic machines.

Threads speared out from one side of the canyon as Olenna tried to contain the beast. To slow its movements.

Small dots of fire filled the air, striking at the creature from every angle.

Three copies of Beatrix raced along the threads as she rushed to strike at the monster. Her attacks hitting anywhere and everywhere she could reach.

Water rushed forward. Grabbing and containing the legs even as it raced up each. Each movement following Mako’s gestures as he started to dance and weave mana and water together.

Space warped and twisted as the very cliffs started to crack and fissures formed. Rocks that fell were accelerated into a blur and directed to strike at the creature.

Spheres of a darkness nearly on par with space appeared next to the spider. Striking at the creature with enough force to cause the air to vibrate. There were even a few that seemed to be trying to eat the creature. Though, oddly enough, none of the attacks made any sound.

The coordination, power, and skill was very impressive. And it did nothing. Well, that isn’t true, it seemed to piss the thing off. Enough so that its eyes almost seemed to narrow as it did something.

A moment later, its head pulled back a fraction before it spit in our direction. Everyone scattered as the spit ate through everything in its path. Water vaporized. Threads burned. It even managed to catch one of the mirror Beatrixs.

The mirrored copy wailed as the liquid burned away her skin, exposing the muscle beneath. Only to burn that away. It kept eating until there wasn’t even a pile of bones left. And it did this so fast that the spell didn’t have time to collapse from the amount of damage it had taken.

Instead of running away or doubling down on their magic, the entire group raced inward. Sunlight glinted off various pieces of metal as they pulled their weapons out.

Annoyed at that fact that I was stuck, I turned my attention away from the fight and to the thread that was still holding me hostage even as it swung around like a pendulum. While I could probably cut it, there was always the chance that it wouldn’t and I couldn’t afford to get my blade stuck. And while burning it didn’t work, that didn’t mean that I didn’t have any other options. It was just that the other option was going to take way more mana than I was willing to use.

Well, that and the fact that I had never even tried this. But there is always a first time for everything. With that in mind, I pulled on the heat. Not from the thread itself. Given how mana that touched the thread vanished, it wouldn’t work.

Instead, I pulled it from just around the thread. Not just enough to cool the area around the thread down to ambient. I pulled every bit of heat I could. Pouring massive amounts of mana into the process as I continued to pull.

The tiny amounts of water in the air froze and started to fall. I didn’t let it. I grabbed every bit and forced it to form into a shell around my target. Keeping the cold area as contained as I could as I poured yet more mana into the process.

Suddenly, with a crack, the thread shattered. Having finally gotten its hold on me, gravity pulled me down and I let it. Only maneuvering my body so that I landed feet first facing the monster.