Breaking Destiny (Shadows Over Shandahar Book 5)

Adrianna walked briskly down the hall, her fingertips lightly touching the walls as she passed. She had foregone the disk, as she was wont to do nowadays, choosing to walk instead. It gave her the opportunity to touch the walls of the citadel, which she loved to do, for they afforded her some warmth in the chilliness that pervaded.

Abruptly she stopped.

To her left there was a stairway. She frowned. I've never seen this here before; I wonder where it goes? She placed a foot on the top step, but hesitated. I have to meet the Master for a spellcasting session. He hates it when I'm late. But I have a few moments to spare. It certainly won't take that long to indulge my curiosity.

Adrianna continued down the stairs. In truth, the citadel had done this every once in a while, shown her passageways she'd never seen before. They usually led to some secret place the citadel felt comfortable revealing to her. Once it was a waterfall made of gold-veined marble, another time a shrine to gods and goddesses whose likeness she'd never seen before. The difference this time was that she had someplace else to be, and she was compelled to make her way downstairs to a place she had never been before in spite of the consequences.

Down, down into the depths of the citadel she went. Once she reached the lowest level, she moved through the corridor that stretched ahead of her. It was dark, and she cast a Light spell. She didn’t have to create the light itself, but simply create a small portal and take it from one of the rooms above. The light circled her as she moved, easily showing her what lay in ahead.

Hells, this place is creepy.

Large, intricately woven spiderwebs stetched across the corridor. She marveled at the thing that would have made them, and within a few moments she decided to leave. For the life of her, she could neither understand why the citadel would have chosen to show her this place, nor could she recall why she’d been so terribly compelled to go down there in the first place. Not only that, she would probably be late for her spellcasting session and forced to endure the Master’s ire. Muttering a string of epithets under her breath, she turned around to head back to the staircase.

Click, click, click.

Adrianna froze and stared into the darkness ahead, her senses screaming at her in warning of impending danger. She heard a scraping noise followed by a series of other unfamiliar sounds.

Then she heard it again. Click click click.

Her breath hitched in her throat when, from out of the shadows before her, emerged a terrible creature she thought would have existed only in her worst nightmares. The legs were spread all around the body, each one touching the walls of the surrounding corridor. The head was big, but not nearly as large as the abdomen, which seemed to take up the entire hallway.

Oh gods...

Adrianna forced herself to breathe, forced herself to rapidly assess the situation as her every instinct told her to run. At this vantage point, she could see no way she would be able to squeeze past the creature if she were to find the chance. Either she would have to run in the other direction, or immobilize the spider and climb over it in order to reach the staircase she knew lay beyond.

Giving into her impulses, Adrianna spun on her heel. She sprinted down the hallway and away from the staircase that had brought her there, careening around the first turn she came to. The sinister sounds the spider made as it moved through the corridor dogged her footsteps, making her move faster than she ever thought possible though a place so dark, her only light given by the circling orb that sped along with her. She knew it was very possible she would become lost, especially when the corridor branched off into three more, but it didn't trump her fear of the thing that followed.

Adrianna went down one side passage and then another. Before long, she had no idea how many turns she'd taken. Her thoughts were borne of desperation. Why in the Nine Hells does Master Tallachienan have a monstrous spider in the corridors beneath his citadel, a series of passages that seem more and more like a dungeon maze? Why does he have a dungeon at all?

Her strength flagging, Adrianna lost herself in a few more passageways before finally stopping. She couldn’t run forever. Taking a few deep breaths, she turned back around to meet her fate.

Within moments, the spider was upon her. It stared at her from multiple eyes, eerily assessing her potential. She cast a Cloaking spell, taking the scene of the wall behind her and using it to obscure her location. As long as she didn’t move much, the spider wouldn’t be able to see her before she could do it some kind of damage.

Adrianna cast a Flamesphere spell, watching as it struck the spider’s large abdomen. The monster emitted a shrill shriek before it turned towards her, immediately discovering her location. Adrianna managed to jump out of the way as it angled its abdomen towards her and shot out a stream of white material. She realized afterward that it was the same material it used for its web, the sticky white stuff clinging to the wall that had once been behind her.

Adrianna focused on another spell as the spider readied itself for its next attack. The electrical energy coursed from a storm atop a mountain in one of the Heavens and out of her fingertips, hitting it in the head. She heard the eyes sizzle, and once more the creature emitted a shriek. Then it was rushing her, its legs carrying it to her as quickly as the lightning she had just cast. The flexible front legs sought to capture her, and she could see the poison dripping from the fangs at its gaping maw. She was barely able to dodge the creature within the narrow confines of the corridor, succeeding only because it had been blinded by her spell. It scuttled past her, but more swiftly than she would have thought possible, it was turning around and rushing back.

But Adrianna was also fast, her blood singing through her veins with the rush of battle. She waited, and as one of the legs got close enough, she crouched low and found the courage to reach out...

The spell discharged, the monstrous limb shifting color as it solidified into ice. Adrianna scurried away and heard the splat of webbing material hitting the wall nearby, making her curse beneath her labored breaths. Then, in spite of the darkness, she spied something lying in the corridor in the near distance. Desperate for anything that might help, she lurched to her feet. She rushed over, and to her surprise, it was an old, dusty shortsword.

Without hesitation, she picked up the blade. Hearing the creature behind her, Adrianna spun around and aimed her blow at the leg she had frozen. The sword arced through the air and landed on the intended target. The limb shattered with the impact, pieces of it flying in all directions. The monster faltered and stumbled, screaming as it lunged for her. Once more, Adrianna was fortunate and managed to scramble away at the last moment. However, the spider found a way to angle its abdomen towards her, and again the white material issued forth.

This time Adrianna wasn’t able to entirely escape the spray. She screamed as the sticky substance caught her free arm and pinned it to the nearest wall.

Her heart slammed against her ribcage as she struggled against the sticky web. The material was too strong for her to break, but it hadn’t affected her sword arm. As the spider lunged, she swung the blade, masterfully stabbing the creature in one of its withered eyes. It screamed and lurched back, but it was only a moment later before it was lunging again. Adrianna swung the blade once more, this time stabbing it in another eye. Fluid poured from the wounds and the creature scuttled back.

It was at that moment the spider seemed indecisive. Dear gods, please leave. Please leave...

Suddenly it attacked yet again. It was a bit slower, but she barely had the strength to stab it again in one of its many eyes. Emitting one last shriek, the spider shrank away and made its way back down the corridor from whence it had come.

Breathing heavily, Adrianna leaned against the wall. Sweat ran down her temples, trickled between her breasts and down the furrow of her back. I'll rest here for just a brief moment and then leave before the monster changes its mind and comes back to finish me off. She looked down at the blade in her hand. Dear gods, thank you so much for the gift. And the skill I used to wield it...

She had never heard of unnamed gods bestowing skill upon someone, for only the most devout priests or priestesses deserved this honor, but it felt like a miracle and she wasn't about to complain. She had wielded the blade as though she had studied it for many years, wielded it the way her sister would have.

With no small amount of effort, she hauled herself off of the wall,  and just as she was about to walk away, she felt a pull on her arm. Adrianna gave a silent scream and struggled, trying desperately to pull away from the web material that bound her to the stone. She cried for a few moments, tears as silent as her screams, not wanting to bring the creature back to her. She then remembered the sword.

You can do it...

Her sword arm ached and trembled with the effort, but she awkwardly held it over the sticky strands and began to cut. More sweat coursed down her back to soak her tunic, down her face to drip onto the stone floor. Her breath came in ragged gasps and her body shook with the chill.

Again, the blade saved her as she ultimately cut her way to freedom, and when finally it was done, Adrianna dropped the sword and allowed her body to sink to the floor beside it. The clang of metal on rock was jarring and not what she had intended. Her every instinct yelled at her to leave this place, but her legs refused to answer the command and she felt the cold as she lay there. Her teeth began to chatter, and as she curled within herself, she grabbed the sword lying nearby. She brought it close to her chest as she drew her knees up and put her head down.

Just in case the spider comes back for me, just in case, just in case...

Then, in spite of attempts to remain lucid, she slipped into darkness.