162 Ending the Queen ... (1/2)
Because of the pure mayhem that was happening near their Queen, it provoked a lot of confusion in the ranks of the spiders. Even if they had some free will in their everyday moves, not completely controlled by their mother, the latter could still send them orders and messages. And as one would expect when that creature was filled with fear, her intense emotion spread among her offspring.
If for Leilade, whether they were fearful, scared, angered or anything alike wouldn't change anything, it was not the case for the dwarves and the ratmen. Filled with determination after hearing an army of undead was coming to help them, they were still a little bit doubtful about the effect it would have on the ongoing conflict. After all, this stalemate had lasted centuries already, beginning after the Age of Darkness.
But to slap the nonbelievers in the face, everyone was baffled to see the previously never-ending stream of spiders dwindled to just a pitiful handful. Even now, all the underground fortresses of the dwarves that had begun their assault stumbled upon the same situation. Whether it was empty nests, deserted tunnels or just a few small spiders protecting it, it was nothing like they remembered. Some even pinched themselves to see if they were dreaming.
”My-my apologiesss for doubting them, commandant. They are ssstrong be-beyong belief, sreek sreek.” A monster fully armored was looking with his evil red eyes at the same dwarf Leilade talked to. To be fully honest, the latter was not looking any less surprised than his interlocutor, only that his helmet hid it well. Nodding a few times to gather his spirit, he managed to dispel his stupor.
”What can spiders do to something already dead? You don't have to worry about us, we are not like those insects, powerless against something without being able to use magic. Between your sorcerers and our runes, we wouldn't be defenseless.” As he was saying those words, a glint appeared briefly in the eyes of the armored ratman. Even if he was praising their new ally, it did not mean they would trust it unconditionally. But because the two thought the same thing, he was slightly less fearful.
Pondering about Pankow, he was not really knowledgeable about it. Like his dwarven counterpart, anyone sent to the depths of the Foundations of Iron would always be the latest to be informed of something. Therefore, besides knowing that the undead had never attacked the Iron Kingdom before, none of the ratmen, and even none of the dwarves knew how suddenly they turned from peaceful neighbors to helpful allies.
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Returning to the front, he gazed at the burning spiders that were still hesitantly attacking them. There was nothing in them like the ferocity they displayed during all those years. Their absence of fear toward death or injuries, their fighting spirit, until their last breath. No, sometimes they charged, sometimes they retreated, sometimes they even stood there until an axe or a flame touched them.
Grabbing the binocular on his waist, he could see that this nest won't pose any problem again. As the last spider was killed, the cleaners began their work. A few ratmen removed their heavy armor and put a strange outfit. Later, they began to fix huge metallic barrel on their back, with the help of the dwarves. Gripping the cannon-like barrel that was linked to the thing on their backs, they began to rotate a small lever on its side.
Red flames immediately began to spread from it, burning to the ground all the spider webs that were blocking the way. At the same time, they could hear the screams of the halfway born spiders that were dying in their cocoons. Watching the spectacle, they suddenly saw a vast amount of spiders incoming from a tunnel. But to their surprise, the moment they spotted the dwarves, they rushed toward them, without even attacking anyone.
Because of their numbers, there was always a few that managed to bypass the warriors in the front. The only weird thing was that instead of surrounding those fighters and kill them, they only wanted to head deeper, making it a bit harder to slay them. After all, between something that was desperately trying to dodge and flee and something that was rushing toward your weapon, one was easier to touch. But even if the spiders numbered to the hundreds, it was nothing they haven't seen previously.
Quickly, all the monsters that had tried to break through had been killed. Even the ones that were climbing the ceiling and the walls had been either turned into ash or shot down because of the rifles and crossbows. Approaching the body of a heavily injured spider, the commandant of the two races fighting could still see it trying to run. Even with half of its body immobilized by the axe on his back, three legs were madly grabbing the ground, slowly advancing the burden behind it.
”What madnessss co-could make them behave like that?” Before anyone could answer the ratman, they heard the sound of more spiders arriving from the same tunnel. Only it was far louder than what was produced by those small monsters. ”The soldiers. Get ready!” After killing so many of those eight-legged creatures, they had naturally learned the differences between each type of spiders.
If the smallest were called the workers, since they were most of the time the one sent to spread the webs the closest to the dwarven fortress, they were also the weakest. Above them were the ones that were nearly as tall as the ratmen warriors. The small traces of green on their head and their size was oftenly used to differentiate the two. But the way they walked was enough for those that fought them for decades to immediately know what will appear.
”BY IRONSKULL'S BEARD!” The shout of the dwarf quickly grabbed the attention of everyone, as they could gaze upon the thing that was now visible. The putrid smell it carried quickly swarmed the cave, letting a bad taste in the mouth of everyone. Beyond that atmosphere of death, decay and rot, its appearance looked that it came from a nightmare.