Empyrean 18: Broodmother (Patreon)

Amelia, here!
Hi everyone. So we have made some pretty big changes to the overall story of Empyrean. I have updated previous chapters - the biggest changes are in chapter 16 and 17, if you want to go back and have a look so this one will make more sense. There are some minor changes to chapters before that if you'd like to read them again :) but overall, the main changes are from chapter 17 and into the rest of the story.

Thanks, as always, for reading! Looking forward to hearing your feedback

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“Ada, we need to turn back,” I said frantically.

“Come, let’s—”

Before the celestial could finish her thought, thick twists of web grabbed her tail. Her claws dug into the rock, but she couldn’t pull herself back. Within seconds, the spider held the lizard dangling in front of her.

I couldn’t hesitate. I uttered the spell that would release a fiery arrow onto the mother.

You have critically injured a level 20 broodmother!

As the arrow struck her collection of beady eyes, the fire caught the small hairs against her skin and set her aflame. The broodmother let out a fearsome hiss before dropping the lizard.

“Ada, use fire!”

Adalinda hit the ground with a mighty thump. She turned her body quickly and looked up to the spider, letting loose fire breath.

A hostile entity has evaded Adalinda’s attack.

The broodmother was still hanging from the ceiling, too far for the small lizard to reach. I scanned the room quickly, but there was nothing that would help her gain height. I summoned another arrow, this time aiming for the web that was holding the spider suspended.

My first shot completely missed the webbing. I cursed softly and looked at my companion. Three spiderlings were converging on her position.

“Ada, look out!” I warned.

Without delay, the lizard swung her tail around and knocked two of the spiderlings back. She dug her claws in the third, ripping its body in half as she pulled her hands back toward her body.

The mother, still on fire, had turned her attention to me. She shot coils of web in my direction, trying to catch me. Thankfully they moved slowly enough that I could dodge out of the way, but it made shooting my arrows more challenging.

Swaying side to side in the small tunnel, I barely missed the slugs of web. Still prancing around, I shot two more arrows, and the last one finally caught the lattice holding the spider up. The broodmother twisted her body and clawed at the fire catching her web. But it didn’t take long for the flames to consume the web, and she fell to the ground.

Right onto Adalinda.

Adalinda has sustained critical damage. Her health is at 40%!

The mother let out another scream.  Three more spiderlings dashed out of the darkness straight toward me. I held my arrows ready and, one by one, shot them into the creatures until I was left alone with the last. It had come too close for a ranged attack. I slipped out my stiletto and started slashing it.

A level 10 spiderling has injured you! Your health is at 32%.

The little spider and I tugged back and forth for a while before I managed to slice it open, killing it. The thing had chased me back around the corner, and I could only see a dim light from the mother’s nest. I took a second to catch my breath, then jogged forward.

As I turned the corner again, I saw no signs of Adalinda. The mother was still sitting where she fell, knitting web back so she could suspend herself again. There was a strange crunching sound coming from beneath her.

I couldn’t afford to take a lot of damage, still, so I did what I could. Holding arrows ready, I uttered my spell and released them toward the broodmother’s golden head.

You have injured a level 20 broodmother!

A hostile entity has evaded your attack!

You have injured…

…

Some arrows hit her squarely in the head, and others missed. They weren’t doing enough damage to kill the mother outright.

I ran to the other side of the chamber and called out to the creature. “Hey, ugly! Over here!” It was a risky move, but I needed the spider on the ground and off the lizard—if she was still alive.

The spider let out a screech and shot more webbing at me. I continued to run in circles around the room, far enough away from the mother that she couldn’t reach me, and easily dodged the tendrils. As I ran, I eyed the mother. She had shot four sets of webbing at me, to no avail. She lifted her legs and stomped down in frustration.

Then she started crawling toward me.

I let out a small yelp and ran faster, but the spider was quick. The muffled sounds of her legs against the moss in the chamber were rapidly getting closer. I took a chance and quickly looked to where Adalinda had been and saw the lizard lying still.

“Ada, I need you to wake up!” I called.

The spider was going to catch me. I finished my circle around the chamber and slid into the closest tunnel. The smallest I could find. And a dead end.

I pushed my back against the dirt that padded the tunnel, holding my legs away from the broodmothers attempt to catch me. Swipe after swipe, the spider grazed my shin with her hairy tarsus, coming ever closer to the hook she needed to pull me out.

We were officially trapped.

✵ ✵ ✵

“ADA! Wake up!” I called out desperately. I couldn’t let the lizard die. Not now.

The broodmother, still clawing at me, was covering the entrance to the tunnel entirely, blocking my sight of the chamber. My darkvision potion had worn off, and I couldn’t see through the ominous darkness without any of the light in the room.

But I couldn’t stay here and wait to die.

I summoned light’s fury into my hands, grabbing aimlessly at the legs of the spider.

You have critically injured a level 20 broodmother!

My hands buzzing with the power of light, I lunged forward and managed to grab onto the spider’s leg. A blue force emanated through the broodmother and into her body. The creature pulled her leg out and scurried aside. I barely managed to let go so she didn’t pull me with her.

With a clear sight of the celestial, I called out once more.

“ADA, MOVE NOW!”

I saw a slight movement from the lizard. Six spiderlings were converging on her position.

“Come on, you can do it,” I pleaded.

Then I heard it. The first sign of life. “Elana?”

I couldn’t help but smile slightly. “You have enemies coming toward you. Fight or move!”

I had to help my companion. I moved closer to the tunnel entrance and started shooting more arrows at the spiderlings. To my left, the broodmother scurrying along the wall of the chamber, trying to spin her web once again.

I hit two of the six spiderlings. Adalinda was starting to move, but she was in trouble.

Or so I thought.

Once the celestial gained her consciousness back, she let out a breath of fire against the spiderlings. Without much resistance, they stopped moving. When Adalinda closed her mouth, nothing remained but burned husks.

The broodmother screeched toward the celestial with an immense speed. Yet again, Adalinda breathed fire out. This time, though, she held her head down against the hold that had formed when the spider fell on her. The fire reached up and created a wall between her and the spider. Our foe stopped in her tracks, clearly scared of the raging flames.

I took my chance and started shooting at the soft underbelly of the broodmother. Arrow after arrow hit the large creature’s skin until, finally, she herself caught fire.

The broodmother staggered. Adalinda cut off her wall of fire and leapt forward, digging her claws into the eyes of the spider. She pulled down hard, blinding the creature.

I continued shooting my arrows until the mother fell still noiselessly.

You have killed a level 20 broodmother!

You and Adalinda have gained 3 levels and 3 attribute points.

Your fire magic skill has increased to 20, reaching rank 2.

Your light magic skill has increased to 18.

Your summoning skill has increased to 15, reaching rank 1.

Adalinda’s natural armor has increased to 17.

Adalinda’s tooth and claw skill has increased to 17.

Ignoring the Game messages, I ran to my companion. “Ada, are you okay? You took quite a hit.”

The celestial looked at me. “I can’t believe we survived that,” she said with widened eyes.

I chuckled a little, trying to wipe away some of the red and green blood from her scales. “Barely. Let’s have a look around.”

I walked toward the spider and inspected her body. The coloring was unlike anything I had ever seen, so much so that I almost regretted killing such a captivating creature. But I had one main question on my mind; what was a thing like this doing hiding in the sewers under Mesina?

A question, I thought, that would hopefully be answered later. Odenna would know, possibly. For now, we had to make our way out. I looked around the chamber. To the left, slightly away from the original tunnel we came from, was a body.

“Ada, I think that was the blood you were smelling,” I said, pointing to the sight.

I walked toward it to see that the body was one of a dwarf. His beard had become entangled with the moss, but he hadn’t fully decomposed yet. The body was fresh. That must mean this spider hasn’t been around for all that long, I mused.

I crouched down and pulled the dwarf’s body from the wall it was leaning against. It fell over immediately, and behind him I saw a book, a ring, and a potion.

The target is a basic ability tome: basic analyze. You do not have the required skill, insight, to learn his ability.

The target is an apprentice’s ring, +2 Magic. This is a rank 1 ring and increases your Magic attribute by 2. This item has no requirements to equip.

The target is a minor healing potion.

“Damn,” I muttered. Another ability would have been useful. I was starting to feel like a one-trick archer, and my summoning skill was not high enough to learn summon elemental yet. But, thankfully, the ring was a very useful find. I pocketed it and the potion, taking the ability tome with—just in case I could sell it for some money.

You have equipped an apprentice’s ring. Your Magic has been increased by 2.

I turned to my companion, who was licking her wounds. “Do you want to take the health potion?”

“No, I can unmanifest. You should take it,” Adalinda replied.

“Alright, but then you should do so now. We can’t take any more chances like this.”

As the celestial turned to mist, I drank the potion. It wasn’t much, but it would give me enough health to make the last leg of the journey to Odenna. The last snag, however, was that I could no longer see in the dark. I took a moment to check my and Adalinda’s statistics.

Health: 42%. Mana: 15%. Psi: 100%. Stamina: 100%.

Adalinda’s health: 40%. Mana: 50%. Psi: 40%. Stamina: 30%.

Cringing slightly at our conditions, I knew I would have to channel again. The only way I would be able to see now is through light’s fury, and I did not have enough mana to sustain that all the way to the new city.

I sat down in the least blood-soaked area I could find and lay my hands against the moss. As the green, slimy texture ran along the underside of my fingers, I felt its energy converge into me.

Your mana has been fully recharged.

Your channeling skill has reached level 17!

Sighing in relief, I looked up to see the full moon lighting the way in the chamber. Nighttime had come, and it was time for us to move. We had taken enough of a detour.

Charging my hands with light’s fury, I moved toward the tunnel we came from and back to the main sewers.

It was time to see Odenna.