160 An infestation ... (1/2)
Grabbing the map on his desk, he put four weights on the corner to hold it. On it, Leilade could see the vast network of tunnels and caverns that had been scouted. She could also see an extremely important red dots near the bottom, while the top was surrounded by many blue dots. Then, the commandant began to explain the situation as clearly as possible.
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”We have managed to hold the line here and here. This part is, wait a second.” Getting a small bottle of water, he carefully leaked a few drops of water on a red dot that was on the left part of the map. Soon, it disappeared. ”That nest had been taken care this morning. But I am certain that by the end of the week, it will reappear. What we do is just hold, without any chances of truly fighting back. Each time we burn a new nest, another one appears on another front. It's a nightmare.”
”Why are they only attacking you here? Why can't they just leave the mountains and attack from the outside?” By starring at the map, Leilade could see tunnels clearly indicating that there was a way out for the spiders. There was not a lot of those, but after so many years, the queen must have at least dug a few other tunnels. Otherwise, it would be even easier than she first thought.
”Well, you see, it's the best part of our enemies. Strangely, they all hate each other as much as we hate them. The dragons love to feast on those spiders and the orcs in the West. The greenskin tribes will not back out of a fight, and even if they served as an alternative food for the two others, they are not easy prey. Because of this, the few times they amassed an army sufficient to overthrow one of the outposts outside of the Foundations of Iron, the drakes took care of them.”
Laughing about that, she could see why the dwarf was happy. And why that engineer and, therefore, the king, asked her to deal with the spiders first. Even if the dragons, drakes, and wyverns living above them were the most powerful, their sizes prevented them from directly harming the habitations deep inside the mountains. On the other hand, those eight-legged monsters were permanently fighting the dwarves and the ratmen, causing casualties every day.
”As for digging new tunnels, do you believe we would let them do that? Many miners are constantly hearing the stone, trying to determine if someone is being dug. And even if their legs are as hard as iron, they are not appropriate to efficiently dig a tunnel. We always have enough time to dig one of our own, fill it with explosives, and make the two collapse.”
Shaking his head, he focused the discussion on what was truly important. ”But let's make this thing a past. If you are not afraid of dying, the best way you could help us would be to go there!” Using his index, he pointed at a red dot that did not seem to be larger or any different than the rest. In fact, it was not even the deepest.
”We have no idea where the Spider Queen is, or even if there is only one of them. For the ratmen, there should be at least two of them, as they had seen many changes of behavior in the past. Because of this, we also don't know where is the main nest. So, if you could get to that location and kill everything, it will help us greatly.”
Carefully reading the map, she understood now why that place had been chosen. It was a bit hard to see in the huge network of tunnels, but this red dot represented a huge hub, crossing dozens of tunnels at once. Just by being here, she could impede the way the spiders traveled and was directly on the path of the monsters. Even if it seemed good enough for the dwarf, it did not meet the expectation of Leilade.
”Too slow, what is the point of me standing there doing nothing? No, I will just destroy all of them, nest after nest.” Hearing such boastful words, the two dwarves were shocked. Already, just by reaching the place the commandant pointed and holding it, she would be swallowed by a sea of spiders. Only if she survived long enough will the monsters stop attacking with all their strength and only send many small groups to exhaust her.
In truth, when he was asking her to do that, he only wanted her to act as a bait for a moment, to divert many spiders from their nests, allowing his men to destroy all of those that were too close. Even if she retreated before reaching her target, as long as she stayed outside ten minutes it was already a victory for him. But now, she wanted to kill all of them? Not even in his dreams, he thought of it.
”I have memorized everything. If you could clear out those that are close to your position that would be quicker.” Not even waiting for him to answer, she left without Glini, as the ranger did not felt that he should accompany her. Raising his head, he saw the other dwarf looking at him with a weird look. ”Can she do that? By herself? What is she?”
Remembering what happened in the throne room, he wondered how much he should tell. But if their help was lacking, he worried that she would be mad once more. Fearing more the crazy soul than his own king, he divulged everything. ”Sh-she killed two wyverns, beat down the Iron Beards and the King that was wearing the artifact of Ironskull. And it wasn't even hard.”
Sitting on a chair, the commandant had his mouth wide open. He knew very well how were the defenses in the throne room, and how strong were the Iron Beards. They were the one responsible for protecting the king, yes, but they also were the ones that hunted the dragons. And succeeded. If the rangers often dealt the killing blow, without the protection of the Iron Beards, they wouldn't be able to do it.
”But why is she here? Is she from Pankow?” Nothing was free in this world. No one would do such a thing and expect nothing in return. But Glini could not inform him of something he also didn't know. ”I don't know, but she definitely is not from Pankow. Just remember her name, Leilade Octavius. With a bit of luck, it will soon be associated with the end of the spiders.”
”Leilade Octavius. Leilade.” Murmuring that name, he finally got up. ”You are right, if she is that powerful, why not benefit from that? You can stay here or accompany us, your choice.” Staring at the now smiling commandant, the ranger felt his legs shivered. Still trying his best to not show his fear, he calmly refused the offer.