另类小说人亚洲小说

Chapter 28

Cave Spiders

Most spiders, I learned, were not like the Children of Anansi. They would eat, and eat, and eat until there was nothing else left, and then they would eat each other.

“Not an issue with normal size spiders, but these ones grow to the size of dogs. We’ve seen them carrying off our sheep. We figured we needed to do something about it before they started carrying off our people as well.”

They readily agreed to hire a dozen warriors, two bearers, and two linkfolk. For a full seven-day cycle.

The leader of the warriors was Melchidore, who earned double what her soldiers did.

.....

Her soldiers were a sad lot, no fewer than eight bandits, and only one dreamer.

Kismet crinkled her nose. “Uh, do they ever bathe?”

“Not daily like us, that’s for certain.”

Kismet just had to bathe twice daily; her fur was shedding, and it was easier to clean one tub than everywhere she got to during the day.

Me? I was amphibious. Not a big fan of lye soap due to the pain it caused my eyes and nose, but just floating in the water was relaxing.

That said, we were regarded as freaks by those who only showered monthly.

In any event, we were all sweaty and smelly by the time we reached the crevasse. It was a rent in the earth, with a cave clear at the bottom of it.

“All right people! Set up camp, I want double torches down there, and eyes on from up here.”

“W-Wait, what? We’re paying you to work today!”

Melchidore kept her voice even, if not pleasant. “And today we marched. For three quarters of a day, not the half you told the Guild. Half a day’s march, we would have the energy to enter the cave today. But I’ll not risk the lives of my soldiers for your lies. Today we set up camp, and keep watch. Tomorrow, we go in.”

“Your Guild shall hear of this!”

“Only if you dare tell them. Torches, now! We light them at dusk!”

Well, those weren’t the torches we normally carried, being on the end of six-foot poles. But they were bulky rather than heavy, and the holders were quickly pounded into the gravel at either side of the cave.

“Did you hear something?” one of the warriors asked.

“Nobody heard anything.”

And nothing did come from the cave before dusk.

Each of the torches burned for two hours, being larger and wrapped differently than a normal, carried, torch. Therefore, there were two shifts at night for linkfolk, with a total of four torches each.

I was on first watch, when the spiders began filing out of the cavern. They were larger and more numerous than we had been told.

“I’ll wake the others.” I said, while they strung their bows and cursed the western farmer’s community.

Melchidore woke instantly, and didn’t need me to repeat what was going on.

“Everybody AWAKEN! Grab your bows and spears! Don’t worry about armor, we haven’t the time to don it! GET MOVING NOW!”

#

It’s amazing how disciplined convict archers can be when failure means death.

There were dozens of spiders, some as small as my torso, and they were fast.

“Kismet, put the butt of your torch in the ground! We need to go get replacement quivers.”

“I can’t. This ground is too hard!”

It was, as I discovered myself.

“Lean the torches up against rocks, like this.”

We scurried to get quivers twice before it was over. The bottom of the crevasse was littered with spiders from the size of me to as large as an adult male.

“That seems to have it.” Melchidore unstrung her bow. “Four guards, just in case. Linkboy, get down there and change the torches out now.”

Well, that was – something I survived. Dead spiders will twitch for a while, but none of them suddenly righted themselves to bite me in half, or bite a lung and drown me in venom.

The new torches caught readily from the old, and save for individual spiders the rest of the night was quiet.

“All right, squad one, link lizard, with me. Squad two, get a fire pit about there. We burn the spiders, just in case.”

We advanced cautiously. When we encountered a lone spider, one soldier would spear it to hold it in place while another killed it. Whenever someone got bitten, they would drink a concoction that was supposed to help, and all of us would leave to escort them back to camp.

At the end of the day, five of our twelve soldiers were in pain, or near feverish, all of them pale and puking and useless.

There were fewer spiders on day two, and only two soldiers were added to the sick bay.

On the third day, the farmers arrived in a group of seven.

“How may I help you, gentlemen?”

“There were spiders in the fields this morning. We’re here to tell you to do your job.”

“Rhishisikk, forward.”

“I’m here.”

“Tell these men your status.”

“I am an indentured servant to the Guild of Guardsmen, Porters, Drovers, and Linkboys. I am currently employed as a linkboy, sometimes also called a torch bearer.”

“Your status in a court of law, boy.” She said.

“Oh. I am a Truthspeaker, and my oath is strong enough that my word is admissible as evidence. To make this discussion short, your negotiator clearly stated no more than two dozen spiders are in this nest, none of them larger than a dog.”

“Dogs grow big around these parts.” One of them said, holding his hoe as though it were a weapon.

“Regardless, having slain more than four times the volume of spiders contracted, Melchidore has the legal right to declare the contract fulfilled, and to order us to leave now.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Melchidore waved a hand at her downed soldiers. “These valiant warriors are ill with venom from your spiders. We’ve held the line here, at great cost to ourselves. If you’ve spiders in your fields, then they’re coming from a place other than here. I mean to slay every spider in this nest, and burn their eggs before they hatch. And then, we’re going home.”

There was further argument about exactly what had been contracted, and many of the farmers spat upon me, but there was no violence.

#

There was also no entry into the nest that day. “If they wanted me in that den of horrors, they shouldn’t have talked so much off my sanity meter.” She said to her soldiers.

Two soldiers were recovered enough to join the next day’s delve, though one (Caulder) died in the fight to clear out the egg chamber.

There were no other exits to the cave complex, and true to her word Melchidore saw every last spider slain, if not burned. All told, seventy-three spiders of the two dozen we were contracted for were no longer in the world.

We packed up camp and began the march home. The farmers intercepted us.

“Our work is done. What can we do for you, gentlemen?”

“We found the other nest. You need to clear it.”

“In point of fact, I really don’t. I have done more work and at higher cost than you paid for.”

“We paid for more days!”

“We are low on arrows, almost out of anti-toxins, and run clean out of patience. Just under half my soldiers are poisoned, and I’ve more need to get them cared for than to put up with your bullshit. Now move aside.”

“Or what?”

She sighed. “Do not force this issue. We’ve killed your spiders, and more of them than agreed. Your own lies are why the Guild didn’t send the men or supplies to do more.”

“So what? We just die when those eggs hatch?”

“Hire another squad, being honest about what you need. The Guild will give you a fair price.”

“And if the eggs hatch before then?”

“Hire a fire mage, or move away, or die. We have done more than agreed, and are going home.”

“Over our dead bodies.”

“Only if you force this issue.”

“We’ll get our full refund from the Guild, and have you enslaved for this crime!”

“By all means, file your complaints. File a legal complaint if you feel you have one. But if attacked, we will defend ourselves.”

“There’s enough of us. We can keep you here until you see reason.”

“We have given you the wrong impression, then. Our work is done, and we are saving the lives of our own by returning quickly to town. Cost the Guild those lives, and you’ll get no terms for a team to come out here for your remaining nests.”

.....

“We’ve just the one. If you would come-”

Melchidore laughed, then turned her head and spit. “And what if there is another nest, and then another? After so many lies, how are we to trust you?”

“You’re stealing our coin by leaving early!”

“We’ve made our position clear. We’ve done well more than agreed. You want more work, you need to get the Guild more money. If you’re truly that short on coin, ask the Guild for a loan. Our rates-”

“Enough of this!” screamed the one with the hoe. “Briar Strike!”

#

Melchidore had no shield, but threw up an arm quickly enough to protect her eyes.

“Attaaaack!” screamed the hoe, charging alone.

The soldiers calmly strung their bows, letting him approach.

One fired an arrow through his foot, pinning him in place. He howled in pain, cursing us as oath-breakers and his fellows as cowards.

Melchidor removed plant thorns from her face and ears.

“Jackal-headed Anubis take your soul!” She turned her head and spit. “Spears to the front! If they block our way, just kill them as bandits!”

They cursed and spat and threatened, but they also backed away.

“And this is your report?” Reynald asked.

“I’ve no clue what is written on that paper.” I said. “I know what happened and when, but I cannot sign a report I cannot read.”

Reynald’s mouth had become a narrow line. “I assure you that what you have said is what is written on that paper.”

“When there is a Truthspeaker willing to vouch for that, then I will affix my signature.”

“And that is your final word?”

“Such are the terms of my oath. Spoken or written, I will tell no lies. The oath says nothing of mistakes, and I will err in favor of keeping that oath rather than risk breaking it.”

“Yes or no. Is your final word that you will not do such a simple thing for the Guild?”

“No. I will not foreswear my oath, not for you, nor anyone within this guild, nor for anyone outside it.”

“There will be consequences for this decision. Now get out of my sight.”

One of those consequences was that Cosimo escorted me to the Shrine of the Sun, where Apollo and Ra both had alcoves. Once properly assured of the words I was signing to, I made the marks for my name on the paper.

There were other consequences, but I’ll cover those as they insert themselves into this tale.

Tangars assessed the condition of my gear harshly, which I expected. I hadn’t expected he would do the same to Kismet.

“That’s not fair!” she complained. “And why didn’t you tell him that?”

“Do you think that would change his assessment?”

“No, but Hector would have done that for me.”

“Would he?”

“I’m certain of it. Maybe I should sleep in Hector’s room instead of yours.”

What? Where had THAT come from?

“I’ll miss you but-”

“Yes you will! Why should I do anything for you, when you will do nothing for me? I hate you!”

She had few enough things, and the move didn’t take long at all.

I had trouble getting to sleep that night, so I played with Black Snake. She, at least, didn’t seem to hate me.

In the morning, I laundered the sheets, and still didn’t get all her loose hairs out of them.

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