We searched the area in pairs, but couldn’t find any trace of him in any of the parts of the cave we had already been in. We regrouped back in the spider queen’s chamber, and prepared ourselves for whatever awaited us further in the cave.
“I sent him a ssage, but he hasn’t responded yet. He must be unconscious sowhere. He wouldn’t just wander ahead without us… sothing must have grabbed him, Allie.”
“We’ll find him, Em. Don’t worry.”
We descended through another series of tunnels and finally ca upon a large group of giant truck sized spiders in front of Aeryn, who was completely nude standing motionless.
“Aeryn… are you ok?”
I heard a familiar giggle and Mallica walked out from behind him. She looked older, perhaps 18 or 19, but still had the sa general features as before. Sothing was wrong with her, however. Her skin was cracked in several places, and her back had a large split that ran from the base of her skull down to her tailbone like sothing had crawled out of her.
“You can shed your skin. That’s why you looked so young.”
She leaned against the closest spider for support and laughed.
“Right you are, girl. I can see… Why my brother likes you. The company you… keep is pretty impressive… as well. I didn’t anti- anticipate your attack… mage.”
She inhaled deeply and appeared to have caught her breath.
“Right as you hit with that lethal ice attack, I moved my consciousness back to one of the skins I had shed before. It won’t sustain indefinitely… just long enough for to do what I must.”
She gestured with her hand, and I felt the familiar sensation of being paralyzed. She reached down and pulled at the silk dress she was wearing, tearing it from her body. She knelt besides Aeryn as he lay down in front of her, and took his cock into her hand. She pumped her fist up and down a few tis, and then moved her face very close to his. We watched as she bit down onto his neck and sank her fangs into him. His body jerked a few tis, and she held him down with one hand. After lifting her leg over his body, she eased herself onto his waist and lowered herself onto Aeryn’s erect mber. She sighed and let out a small moan as he sank deep inside of her. The paralysis spell forced us to watch as she rode him up and down, with slow steady movents of her hips. She leaned down and bit his neck again, and a trickle of blood flowed from her lips. She picked up speed slightly, and started bouncing up and down on his cock. Her pert tits jiggled with every movent and I could tell she was getting close to her peak. Her legs shook slightly, and her claws raked across Aeryn’s chest. I couldn’t see Aeryn’s facial expressions, but I knew his body was at least enjoying what was happening. He thrust up into her as she descended, causing him to go deeper and the spider queen’s eyes rolled back into her head as she ca. Aeryn sat up and pulled her into a tight embrace as he pushed as deeply as he could go. From the look on his face, I could tell he was filling her with his seed.
The two remained intertwined for a mont, before Aeryn relaxed and laid back onto the cave floor. Mallica bent forward and kissed him passionately for a few seconds, and then pulled away and sat back on her haunches with Aeryn still deep inside of her. Her chest trembled as she gasped for air, and she rolled off and lay next to him. She held up one of her hands over his chest, and layer upon layer of thick silk shot from her fingertips and palm, completely encasing Aeryn’s body.
“My… children… need… a leader...
She collapsed back and her body shuddered and turned into ash as she died. We felt the spell release and we rushed forward, stopping just short of the giant spiders. Braylon moved to attack the nearest one, when Aeryn’s voice rang out.
“DON’T!”
Aeryn’s hand poked through the webbing he was encased in, and ripped it away from his body. He stood up slowly, leaning on one of the massive spiders to balance his legs. His skin had adopted the sa unnatural whitish hue as Mallica’s, and he now looked at us with his four jet black eyes. His hair had lightened to an almost white shade, and the muscles on his body bulged obscenely. He stretched out his limbs and nodded to the spider next to him. Each of the giant spiders that were blocking our path moved back and allowed him to walk forward.
“I can control them. Mallicandra… their mother... She feared that without a leader her children would be prey to others who might venture into the caves. When she took I thought she planned to kill … but after she told that she wouldn’t harm you guys if I helped her… I did... whatever she needed to.”
He glanced back at one of the large spiders behind him and then turned back towards us.
“Are you… are you OK, Aeryn?”
He laughed and nodded.
“I’m more than OK, Em. This body… it’s amazing.”
He reached down and picked up a few small rocks. He squeezed his fist and then opened it, releasing the handful of dust he had crushed the rocks into. He smiled at us and held his open palm downwards; a string of silk shot from his hand and covered the ground below him. He opened his character stat screen and showed it to us.
“All my skills changed. Hell, even my class changed.”
Looking at his character screen, it reminded a lot of mine; his demonic nature gave him many of the sa abilities that I had. All of his demon summoning skills were gone; and in their place was [Summon Spider Army] and [Summon Monstrous Spider]. His new body also ca with the addition of several levels of [Unard Fighting Proficiency].
“You’re a badass, Aeryn! You might be able to take on Allie now.”
He scoffed and shook his head at Bray’s comnt before turning his head to the side and glaring his eyes. He motioned with one of his hands and the giant spiders lumbered off down another tunnel. He sighed and turned back to us.
“Apparently we weren’t the only ones to accept this bounty. The spiders tell there’s a group of 20 or so Angelspawn attacking from a different entrance.”
“20?! What the hell?”
He closed his eyes and stood motionless for a mont before his two pairs of eyes snapped open.
“They’re all lower leveled. The highest level that the spiders can see is a level 19. They fight really well as a group, though. What they lack in power they make up for in numbers. Shit… after we killed so many getting in here, the spiders aren’t able to mount much of a defense.”
I glanced around at the other mbers of my clan. We were in pretty bad shape after the intense battle through the caves, but the concern written on Aeryn’s face forced to evaluate our options. Before I could say anything, however, Judas stepped forward.
“Aeryn, how can I help? Just tell where to go and I’m there.”
Aeryn shook his head and sighed.
“I can’t ask any of you to help. Hell… I don’t even know why I have the urge to help the sa spiders I was just hacking to pieces. It’s strange but… I feel a sort of connection to the spiders that I can’t explain.”
I rembered Mallica calling the spiders her children, and wondered if the connection Aeryn felt was anything like that. It astounded just how much the ga affected our emotions. The developers did say that Holy Damnation used in-ga mood altering technology, but nothing that would lead to any permanent out-of-ga effects. That level of control over a person’s emotions would easily explain Aeryn’s change of heart.
I closed my eyes and thought for a mont. Given our superior level and the sheer number of spiders under Aeryn’s control, helping the spiders defend the caves wouldn’t be too difficult even with our depleted health. It was hard to formulate a strategy without knowing exactly what we were up against though.
“Aeyrn, can you see exactly what we’re up against?”
He closed his eyes and I assud he was looking through one of his spider’s eyes.
“They have 9 mages attacking in tandem using all different types of spells. I count 4… maybe 5 archers… and a mix of 5 paladins, warriors, and other close range fighters.”
“OK. Gim a minute… I’m thinking of a way that we can help you and not end up getting our asses handed to us.”
The group of Angelspawn mostly consisted of long-range combatants, so getting up close would be the easiest way to take them down. The best way to do that would be to distract them and then attack from the flank when their attention is focused elsewhere.
“OK, here’s what I’m thinking… I’m going to summon my entire demon army and attack them head on. I know it sounds stupid... Just hear out! Once I'm getting their attention focused on , you guys use one of the side tunnels to loop around them and attack from the sides or behind them. Aeryn is going to lead the group because he’s the only one of us who can navigate the tunnel system quickly and efficiently. I’m going to need to find a way to signal you guys though… hmmm.”
Aeryn reached down and a small spider no bigger than a quarter crawled into his hand. He walked over to and placed it on my shoulder. I nodded to him and he gave a thumbs up.
“Cool, that’ll work. Once they’re completely focused on , attack swiftly and relentlessly. Any questions?”
“Allie, attacking them head on is suicide, even for you… wouldn’t it be easier to stay together?”
I shook my head.
“If their group was mostly close range I’d say yes; but given that they are very heavily focused on long-range, we’d be torn to shreds in a full frontal assault. I may take a beating… but I’m going to give as good as I get.”
They each nodded to and Elia stepped close to with a concerned look on her face.
“Stay safe, gorgeous. We’ll see you in a few.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed quickly before turning and walking back to the others. Aeryn stepped forward and stared in the distance with his four jet black eyes. A small spider the size of a football crept up and he waved his hand.
"That spider will lead you back to the first chamber where we killed Mallica's other body. From there backtrack to about the halfway point from where we first entered and you'll find the Angelspawn. We’ll get in position and wait til they’re all focused on you, Allie. Kick so ass, 'kay?"
I smiled at him and nodded. He ran forward and led the others through a nearby tunnel.
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