Venom and Fang

The mountain path had been stomped clear by the passing of adventurers. Though it had been worn clear the sunlight trickled through the trees to cast a web of shadows on the ground. Rich, green ferns grew sparsely along the path; they rustled with the leaves as the breeze carried though the mountain peaks.

One of the ferns began to skitter across the ground. Eight would be leaves carried the fern along keeping to the shadows. It paused for a long moment before daring across the sunlit path. Passing into the light its bristled legs revealed it was in fact not a fern at all, but the spider quickly vanished across the path back into the maze of shadows. All was still again, save for the faint rustle of leaves and the steady footsteps of approaching adventurers.

Tousling his head with a heavy sigh, the tauren warrior followed slowly after his troll companion. The troll pulled the hood of his robe over his balding head to protect it from the sun. The bull looked over his shoulder at the long path behind them wondering how far behind were the pastures of Mulgore. Twirling his nose ring he dismissed the thought. It was time for moving forward, and not to be looking back. This time was the horde’s time, not his own. Even though he longed to be back in Bloodhoof Village he had made a commitment to pay back Thrall’s horde for their protection they had offered from the centaur.

Apis remembered when they had finally put the village back together. It was not nearly as large as the village they had left. The tauren had to pack up their things quickly while Thrall was holding the centaur at bay, and many things which would have been taken on their long march had to be left behind.

- - - -

The ground shook. The large bulls were stampeding all across the village in a mad effort to gather as many supplies as they could before the centaur returned. Thrall had pushed the villains back, but it was only for a matter of time. Apis dashed to the nearest of the kodo drawn wagons while carrying several long poles which had previously fashioned the inner workings of a teepee. He loaded the frame pieces quickly and turned to his nearest clan mate.

“Sister,” he shuffled through a bag of various elixirs and potions. Pulling out several healing potions he handed them to the girl, “Go and take these to the green skins. They will need their strength if the centaurs return.”

Immediately he set back to what he was doing, carefully he began to roll the hides coverings of the dwelling. The hides were covered in simple hand paintings, some of hunting powerful thunder lizards and others of great losses to the marauding horse creatures they had come to despise. He could not help but wonder where they would go. Where would it ever be safe from the centaur?

The battle cry of the orcs rose once again from the edge of the village. There was no time left. The centaur had returned, and in far greater numbers. Even from where Apis was he could see the orcs would have to fall back. He slammed the half rolled hides into one of the wagons and wrenched free a large totem. Wielding the totem as a club he charged to the aid of the green skins. If they were to act as protectors he would not let them shoulder the burden alone.

What seemed like the entire Kolkar nation came crashing into the tauren village, and the ground shook anew.

- - - -

The warrior was so lost in the memory he did not notice his companion kneel in front of him to inspect a plant. The bull nearly trampled the troll before he was able to leap out of the way. “’ey mon, ya gotta be lookin’ w’ere ya is goin’! Get outta dat ‘ead ‘n’ see da world aroun’ ya!” Lukantan knelt back down to carefully cut the leaves from the weed he had been examining. Apis did not respond, but the priest was used to that by now. Instead they continued on their way.

The path slowly began to turn north, yet he rolling mountain pass remained gentle. As the companions approached a fork in the road they noticed a wooden sign hanging precariously from a post recently pounded into the earth. The troll rubbed his eyes before stooping down to read:

Warning: Proceed into Sishir Canyon west of here at your own risk.

Besseleth and her eight-legged children of the forest have claimed this canyon as their webbed lair.

''Maggran Earthbinder in Sun Rock Retreat has placed a bounty on Besseleth. Slay her and bring proof of your killing to Maggran; there you will receive your reward for disposing this eight-legged menace.''

Lukantan looked over his shoulder at the large bull, and gave him a questioning look. Apis replied by simply shaking his head. “C’mon mon! We be needin’ dat reward.”

“I am not here for a reward, but to pay back the debt we owe the orcs,” Apis said flatly.

“Clearin’ out dem spiders surely be ‘elpin’ da ‘orde ta be securin’ dese parts, mon,” Lukantan pressed. Apis stood for a moment looking up the web laden path and flicking at his nose ring. Lukantan rolled his eyes at the big bull and began walking into the spider’s lair. Shruging his shoulders the warrior followed after.

Almost immediately Apis began to notice movement in the trees all around then that did not follow the pattern of the wind. At his feet the white globs of spider eggs writhed and wiggled as if something were moments from escape. Light began to slowly slip away, yet it was still early in the day. The tauren looked to the sky and found it was hidden from view by a large network of webs. Apis would have expected these spiders to feed on insects as most do. Instead there hung all manner of creatures in the webs above him, birds, squirrels, and even curiously rats and rabbits. It was almost as if they had been carried up into the webs.

While he was staring upward he walked right through the sticky veil of a huge web. What felt like hundreds of tiny spiders began to crawl across his body. Apis began to shake himself violently and clap the ground. The thunderous blows quickly scattered the spiders. Once he was cleaned of the bugs the two waited to see if he gave given them away. Oddly nothing seemed to have heard them, or it did not care.

As they moved further in larger spiders began to scurry past their feet, they did not even seem to care about the two intruders. It only made Apis curious as to how many brave adventurers had attempted this feat before them. The pathway opened into what should have been a clearing, but the abundance of thick spider webs made it feel more like a cave. Everything was deathly still.

Lukantan motioned to the far side where a huge brown spider crouched. From the lack of movement Apis guessed it was asleep. With a nod from his priestly friend Apis charged the creature. Besseleth was stunned by the sudden attack, but quickly recovered. She let out a terrible shriek. Dozens of the smaller spiders rushed to her aid. Besseleth’s children began to swarm the warrior while she slinked away. Slowly the masses of spiders were pulling Apis to the ground. All he could hear were the kinking of their jaws against his armor. For a moment he wondered how much venom each of those bites could hold. Then Lukantan was at his side letting loose a horrific scream which scattered the arachnids.

Finnally free of the insects Apis moved to intercept Besseleth. She was ready for him this time and flung him back against a tree before vanishing herself into the canopy above. The two companions tried to peer through the layers of webbing without success. It looked as though they would be unable to complete their quest. Besseleth had beaten them simply by running away.

As they turned to leave she came crashing back down. Lukantan whispered some words of power and a thin shield of light appeared around him just as the beast slammed him to the ground. The weight of the creature hit the priest so hard it pressed his protective shield into the earth. Apis came running back to his friend's aid, slashing at the spiders legs. As soon as he had pushed the spider to the side Lukantan faded from view. The spider stomped at the indentation where the priest had laid.

In a furious rage she turned back to the warrior. A swift kick from Besseleth landed Apis on his back. She quickly pinned him to the ground, and with a quick thrust she bit deep into him. Her fangs pierced through armor and to the bone. Apis cried out in pain as the venom burned into his body.

That was when Lukantan reappeared. His slammed his dagger into the creature’s eyes as quickly as he could stab. Besseleth stumbled back blindly. The air around her darkened and hissed wreaking her body with pain. With another word from the priest the spider erupted into holy flames. Besseleth flung herself about for a moment more then fell still.

Lukantan looked back to where Apis lay. Green foam and smoke poured out of his wound. The tauren let out a hacking cough, splattering the ground with blood. Lukantan ripped the large venom sac from their fallen advisory. He cut it open and poured the contents into a small phial. Then he pulled the weeds he had collected earlier and crushed them as completely as he could before mixing them into the phial as well. He poured the mixture into the fallen warrior’s mouth. Instantly the green foam and smoke dissipated.

Apis climbed to his feet, “You just keep coming in handy in so many ways.” He cut off the spiders fangs and tossed one to Lukantan. The priest twilled it in his hand seeming oddly distant. “How would you like one of those in your balley?”

Lukantan’s head snapped up, “W’at ya talkin’ ‘bout mon?” He gave Apis a dark glare.

“The fang, how would you like one of those in your belly?” Apis replied, surprised by the trolls reaction.

“Ya mon, ‘ow ‘bout we be getting’ our reward now?” The troll began to make his way quickly towards the path muttering under his breath. Apis could not make out the words, but they sounded very similar to those of the Kaldorei. He decided he would let this odd behavior go and followed after.