The spider let itself fall toward Vax, using the same tactic Trinket had, trying to crush its prey underneath its legs-and presumably to sink its fangs into a convenient midday meal. "I've got this."īefore she could finish the sentence, the spider overhead screeched loudly, the sound echoing against the trees. Vax held on to his dagger and held his ground, clearly trying to uncover the spider's weakest points. She reached for her quiver once more, backing away to the edge of the clearing, keeping the trees behind her and her eyes on the spider. "Get out!" she whispered at her brother and her bear. The creature hissed sharply and reared back, front legs stretched out toward Vax, and in that instant it was easy to see how much larger it was than the other two spiders had been when it stretched out, it was nearly the size of the brown bear down below. The weapon cut through the arachnid's outer shell and stuck there, right next to Vex's arrow. When the spider shifted and dashed to one of the lower branches, Vax weighed his dagger and threw it with precision. Trinket ambled closer, snout pointed up and hesitation in his gait. "Looks like we woke Mama Spider," he said. Vax held his daggers at the ready and squinted up at the trees too. She narrowed her eyes as the spider skittered up higher, until it disappeared from view. She heard it impact, but the spider kept prowling the trees overhead, seemingly unbothered by a meager shaft. Vex twisted toward the movement, grabbed another arrow, and sent it toward the large arachnid. The scarring along its thick legs indicated it had seen and survived its fair share of fights. They could hear the spider rustle overhead. It hurtled through the air without a target and struck a tree.Ī large shadow clambered into the trees and disappeared between the leaves. A twig snapped, and she reacted immediately, swinging her bow in the direction of the sound and letting an arrow loose. To Vex's left, something crackled in the undergrowth. Back-to-back, they scanned the forest, ready to attack if the spider jumped at them. Vax held blades in both his hands, and kept his back toward his sister as the remaining spider circled them. To full-blooded elves, they might appear too young to be this weathered and wary, but to any perceptive observer, it was clear they came by their caution honestly, and they moved with a grace brought on by years of traveling around together. Dark-brown hair-messy from their time in the woods-slender physique, practical clothes, and deadly weapons. To anyone who might observe the half-elves and give them no more than a cursory glance, the two looked exactly the same. "Skill, thank you very much." She grabbed a new arrow from her quiver and placed it against the string, keeping an eye on the trees around them for the last spider and the largest of the three. Unlike the first one, this one fell and remained motionless, its legs broken and askew. Its leap interrupted, the spider crashed to the ground like the first one had. For the briefest of moments, no more than a heartbeat, both the spider and the arrow sped toward each other-then the arrow hit, with a satisfying thud, directly underneath the creature's jaw. The bowstring reverberated next to her ear, and the wooden shaft of the arrow curved through the air. It rounded the tree and when it reappeared, it darted across an overhanging branch and made to leap at Vex.Īs soon as the spider jumped, Vex let her arrow fly. The four smallest eyes tracked their every movement, while the larger eyes on top reflected the speckled sunlight, giving them an eerie glow. Like the first, it was the size of a large dog or a wolf, its hairy legs at sharp angles and its eyes focused on the twins. One of the spiders scuttled up a large tree-dashing around the thorns that covered the bark, lending the forest its name-and circled the trunk. Vex breathed out and focused on her target. Still on top of the spider, Trinket growled and looked around the narrow clearing in the woods for the other arachnids, ready to jump on another one if the need arose.
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