The Jewel of Turmish - Mel Odom [126]
Haarn looked up, knowing what he would see.
The giant spider, opal eyes blazing without pity as it slid down a single strand, dropped toward him, closing on him before he could run.
Broadfoot had arrived seconds before, so silent on his great padded paws that no one knew he was there. Druz had slid from the bear's broad back and crept as close to Haarn as she'd been able to. She'd seen the spider web a moment before Borran Kiosk had murdered the young girl.
Broadfoot raced from the shadows, snarling and roaring, raising himself to walk on his hind legs, wobbling from side to side in a manner that would have been comical if the whole situation wasn't so filled with the threat of death.
Throwing herself the last few feet as Haarn stopped short of the spider web, Druz caught the druid around the waist with one arm and pulled him away. They hit the ground hard.
She was up before he was. Shaking off the effects of the harsh landing, she gripped her long sword and faced the spider, aware that her move might have saved Haarn from the arachnid but it had left them both open to attack from Borran Kiosk.
The spider approached on all eight legs, standing taller than Druz. Her mandibles moved and dripped green ichor.
Broadfoot slammed into the skeletons, scattering them. The bear's undead foes jumped to their feet and fought again, protecting their master. Their bony fists sounded like mallets as they struck the bear, but Broadfoot gave as good as he got, smashing the skeletons and breaking pieces off of them with each swipe.
Haarn struggled to his feet while Druz slapped away the leg the spider-woman stretched toward them.
"Get up," Druz said to Haarn. "We've got to get out of here."
The spider-woman laughed, using both her front legs now to test Druz's defenses.
"You shouldn't have come," Haarn said.
"What was I going to do?" Druz asked.
She freed a dagger from her boot, blocking every attempt the spider made to reach her, but she couldn't maintain her position. The spider-woman kept forcing her back, and there was only the wall behind her.
Across the street, Borran Kiosk turned and spoke a word to Broadfoot. The bear had broken free of the skeletons, leaving at least two of them in broken shambles behind him. Before Broadfoot reached Borran Kiosk, the mohrg flicked out a hand. Violet fire sparked from the skeletal hand touching the bear's broad head. Borran Kiosk dodged away as Broadfoot became an inanimate lump that looked like a taxidermist's project. Without a sound, the bear smacked onto the cobblestones and lay there limp.
Carrion stench, the odor of dead things, filled the street, and Druz knew it came from the bear's body. Borran Kiosk had slain the mighty ursine with just a touch. The cold realization of what she faced daunted her. She backed away from the spider-woman, but nausea welled up in her guts.
"Catch her," Borran Kiosk commanded. "I want her alive."
Unable to compose herself against the carrion stench coming from the bear, Druz was no match at all against the spider-woman. Before Druz could move, the giant spider had her trapped in two strong, hairy legs. She tried to break free, but the nausea kept welling up in her and doubling her over. She tried to tell Haarn to run, but she couldn't even get that out.
Calculating and cold, Borran Kiosk crossed the street.
We lost, Druz thought as her stomach tried to empty. She gazed at Haarn, who stood with his back against the wall. He held the jewel they'd come for in one hand. His scimitar was in the other. She knew he wouldn't give it up.
Borran Kiosk stopped ten feet away. His thick purple tongue darted out from between his jaws, the length of it coiling in restless abandon in his hollowed-out stomach.
"If you give me the jewel," he suggested, T might let you live."
Haarn shook his head. He stepped forward and threw his scimitar.
The blade whipped end over end, flying straight at Borran Kiosk. The mohrg flicked out