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Out of the corner of my eye, a flash of silver shone between John’s hands. He had conjured a net of spider-thin silk. I hoped he knew what he was doing because that thing didn’t look like it could hold a fish, let alone a rampaging manticore.
Hairy legs burst through the trees. Ten of them. Not a manticore, but a hideous tarfangtula. The oversized spider creatures that lurked in the nature reserve resembled a red-kneed tarantula... if the spider had ten legs, ten globular eyes, and was bigger than a pony.
Everybody froze.
“What are the odds it’s passing through?” Dot said out of the corner of her mouth.
Its ten bulbous eyes focused on our party. Unable to pass up free food, it lunged for the closest elf.
“I think that answers your question.”
I shot off crossbow bolts, aiming for its bulging eyes, and was rewarded with a screech of pain and yellow gunk running down its ugly face.
The spider-like nightmare lashed out, its fangs clacking at elves as they darted in, their blades flashing to cut its bristling legs.
Clicking sparked off in the surrounding forest. More tarfangtulas crashed into the clearing.
I shouted a warning as they surrounded us.
Clawed legs towered above us, half the height of the enormous trees that soared towards the sky. I dodged as one came down where I had stood.
Dot snatched a blade from a fallen elf and dashed around the clearing with vampiric speed, hacking at their tough legs. I shouted and waved to draw their attention before firing off another crossbow bolt at the nearest one.
The two men, or whatever they were, from another realm backed up against a tree, holding up their net as if something that flimsy could protect them.
Sylvana had her elves well trained. Using their superior agility, they weaved among the monsters, hacking and shouting.
I spotted the pattern. They wanted to drive the creatures away without more injury. Dzraking elves and their respect for life. All well and good until you were up against fae abominations that wanted to kill you.
Dodging legs and aiming my crossbow, I made my way to the captain.
That horrible clacking came again as the tarfangtulas clicked their mandibles together in some spider language. Those that could move ran into the forest, disappearing into the shadows of the trees. A pathetic, half-dead tarfangtula dragged its oozing body across the ground in a desperate attempt to reach its comrades. I put it out of its misery.
“Why did they just leave?” Sylvana asked, looking around the clearing in confusion.
“Almost like they were afraid of something…” The words died on my lips as a gigantic creature leapt through the undergrowth.
The musky scent of male lion mixed with sulphur filled my nose, and my eyes watered as I choked on the stench. As I blinked back tears, I took in the huge cat.
Cat was an understatement. This monster was bigger than a van, bigger than the enormous tarfangtulas which had fled just moments ago. It was dzraking huge.
It had the tawny body and head of a lion on steroids, with a bushy red mane sprouting from its neck. Its fur ended at the base of its tail, where it faded into dark scales with crimson spikes dotted along the ridges. The spikes grew larger as they reached the pointed end where an enormous scorpion stinger pulsed. Two gigantic blood-red wings sprouted from its back, tucked against its golden-brown fur.
It growled when it saw us, and its cat body shuffled, preparing to pounce.
I yelled a warning, recognising the behaviour all too well.
The manticore leapt, pinning an elf with its massive paws, crushing the armour as if it were cloth.
I loaded a silver-tipped bolt, careful to avoid the stinging metal, and aimed my crossbow at its head. It moved at the last second, and the arrow grazed its skin. But it was enough.
The creature whipped round, its tail up, ready to strike. I readied another bolt, fired, then rolled as it pounced towards me.
Not fast enough. The tips of its claws grazed my arm, drawing blood as it cut through my jacket. Dzrak. This was a good suit.
Dot zipped forward, her sword in hand. It growled and swatted her with one paw. The manticore’s claws closed in.
Dzrak this.
