Common Clay

It took him only an hour to find the signs of the fight. From there, it was only a handful of minutes to track the spiderling down.

The thing was only a troll spiderling, with a couple of legs broken. Enessa had apparently gotten a few good hits in, and he felt a burst of pride over it. He probably hadn’t done nearly as well, his first time getting ambushed.

He obliterated the thing with a single slingstone. Then he went on to hunt every single spider within the nearby area, clearing them out of their holes, their trees, everywhere. Clay left a trail of corpses that would have been impressive even during a frenzy.

Then, as the light faded, he made his way back to the farmhouse, only partially satisfied. There would be more spiderlings, and worse, the next day. He couldn’t let his friends face them, not alone and unprepared.

It was going to be a busy week.

The next morning, Clay was up early. He’d said his goodbyes to his worried parents, who seemed reassured by his lack of gaping wounds, and then settled in for the night. As usual, he’d woken early in the morning, and then gone about his hurried chores. By the time the sun was rising, he’d already cleaned his farm house, run through the small, planted section of the fields searching for weeds, and collected a handful of dead rabbits from snares he’d set the day before. By the time the adventurers knocked on his door, he had already cleaned them and prepared some food for the rest of the day.

He opened it and confronted the same group of adventurers that had come before. They seemed far less happy and carefree this time. Enessa looked solemn, for once, and George still seemed pale. The only ones with the same attitude were Lord Frensfeld, whose lack of interest was even more pronounced, and Sir Leonard, whose preternatural calm was exactly the same.

“Welcome, everyone.” He gave them a serious look. “George, Enessa, are you all right?”

The [Dragoon] gave him a thin smile. “Yeah, thanks for asking.”

Enessa simply nodded, but her expression was still painfully haunted. Clay felt another flare of anger, but he tried to focus on being concerned. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Leonard shook his head. “No. I’m afraid this is definitely a job for us. As long as we are more careful.” The deliberate emphasis on the words made George and Enessa wince, but the man continued without looking back at them. “The only thing that we may ask of you is to store a few of our supplies and provide us a place to rest later on.”

“Absolutely. Anything you need.” Clay nodded, retreating into the farmhouse. Enessa handed over a bundle, which he hid away inside the house. He tucked it away in a good spot, and then brought out a handful of simple buns, something they could eat on their way through the Tanglewood. “Here. I can have more for you here tonight.”

“I do not know if we will be there that long, but thank you.” Leonard smiled and bowed. The others followed suit, even the [Noble]. Clay returned the gesture, holding it until long after the adventurers straightened. Charles stepped over to shake his hand as the others walked towards the Tanglewood. Enessa paused long enough for him to give her a hug, which she returned without much enthusiasm. Then his friends went along behind Leonard, walking as if they were going to their deaths.

He waited a few minutes, long enough for them to be well gone. Then he retrieved his gear and started after them. Whether or not they knew it, they were all going to be just fine today.

Their friend was going to make sure.

At the very least, they were moving carefully.

Perhaps it was the presence of Sir Leonard, or maybe it was the painful reminder of their own mortality the day before, but the adventurers were being nearly as cautious as he had been when he first entered the Tanglewood. It had made it easy to catch up to them, at least. Less easy to hide from them, however, as they moved through the woods, peering at every tree and leaf.

If only they were paying as much attention to their feet.

Clay watched as the group slowly approached a mantrap spiderling’s burrow hidden under a mat of dead underbrush. He’d spotted it from so far away that it seemed like it was glowing. It was almost painful to watch Charles scanning the forest and somehow miss it. How had Leonard not seen it? The man was an experienced adventurer. They were supposed to be able to detect threats easily!

He nearly groaned as they kept getting closer to the burrow. It was already too late to kill the thing himself. They’d see him creeping through the forest too easily. Leonard might have been willing to dismiss a farmer living on the edge of the Lair’s territory, but one that he caught inside the Tanglewood, armed and hunting, was going to be… notable.

After a few moments of gritted teeth, Clay worked his way around the group, getting as close to the burrow as possible. Then he started a [Chant].

The Drums of Earth had a maximum range, beyond which it would be nearly useless. Fortunately, he’d had plenty of practice using it against elder mantraps. Fooling a spiderling was as simple as falling out of a tree. He felt the spell settle over him and reached out to the earth in front of the spiderling burrow.

A moment later, the spiderling launched itself out of the burrow, chasing a foot that wasn’t there. It froze a moment later, its armored body going rigid as it realized it had been deceived.

Fortunately, it was too late for the thing to hide again. George immediately shouted and pointed at it, and the others scrambled to get into position to confront the monster. To his surprise, Lord Frensfeld stood alongside Charles, forming a small shield wall, with George and Ned on the flanks. Enessa guarded the rear, while Leonard and Maribel occupied the center. It was a solid formation, one that presented a barrier of shields and weapons to the enemy while the magic users brought their powers to bear.

Confronted with that threat, the mantrap spiderling squealed in rage. It skittered back towards the hole, paused, and then ran east, towards Scout’s Hill.

It made it two leaping strides before Charles called out something Clay didn’t understand, and a burst of flame exploded out of the soil. It knocked the mantrap spiderling over on its back, and Ned sprinted forward, axe raised.

When it came down, Clay relaxed. It was a smooth response to a real threat, something that they’d obviously practiced. Nobody had been put at risk, nobody had been exposed, and the team was already in position to deal with the next threat.

Unfortunately, they had also only been able to respond that way once the threat was out in the open. If he’d left them to figure it out, at least one of them would be down—and he didn’t have the same confidence that Maribel’s magic could save them. Not from a mantrap spider’s venom, at least.

He watched as they clustered around the monster, with George poking at it with his lance. Enessa and Charles ignored the body and went over to where it had appeared from. Clay slowly ducked back behind a tree, trusting in his ears to help him.

“…it came from here. See?” He heard Charles tap something with his sword, making a hollow sound. Clay smiled; they’d found the burrow. “It’s perfectly camouflaged. Look at how the leaves are stuck on there. We could have stepped on it without seeing anything.”

“There’s a fun idea.” Enessa’s voice was low, and she sounded angrier than he’d expected. “What do you want to bet that it is a lot more poisonous than the other one? That burrow’s not big enough to drag one of us in, but if all it needs is one bite…”

Charles grunted. “You have a point. This isn’t the same kind as what attacked you and George?”

“No. The other one had longer legs and was hanging from a tree.” She spat on the ground; an especially ugly sound coming from her. “That makes two different kinds, right? From what they said at the Academy, that means we’re looking at two Guardians inside the Lair at least, right?”

“Yeah. Two at least, maybe close to three. It can’t be more than that, though. If it were…”

Their voices faded as they rejoined the others, and Clay slowly let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He waited a few more moments, and then slowly peeked out again. They gathered around Leonard, all listening to the older man as he told them something. Then they spread out again, moving through the forest. He noted they were now examining the ground as well, something that gave him an immense feeling of satisfaction.

While they searched, Clay slipped away. There was plenty more to do.

They didn’t run into a troll spiderling until nearly an hour later.

It wouldn’t have normally taken that long, but Clay had been thorough the evening before. There hadn’t been any telltale corpses, a fact that he put down to the remaining spiderlings in the area. He hadn’t seen any adults making their way through the forest, at least.

This time, things went a little better. All he had to do was use Ballad of Air to set the thing swaying gently away from the branches it was hiding under—something that could have happened normally, with the right breeze—and Enessa spotted it immediately. George responded with almost frantic speed, hurling the lance at it with one terrified shout.

The weapon pinned the thing to the tree immediately, where it twitched and died. Clay tried not to snort in amusement as he drew back from his hiding spot. Hopefully, George would calm down for the next one; losing your weapon permanently mid-fight was not the best idea. Of course Clay had done it too, and without teammates to back him up, so he guessed he wasn’t one to criticize.

Once again, the adventurers gathered around the spider, but this time, they were a bit too far away for him to overhear anything. He shrugged aside his curiosity and looked to where he guessed they would go next. At this rate, maybe they could handle these things even without his thumb on the scales.

One could only hope.

Right around noon, Sir Leonard apparently decided it was time to turn back. By that point, they were picking out the various troll spider hideouts and mantrap burrows on their own. He only had to help them with the trickiest ones, but for the most part, they were starting to feel more comfortable with the Tanglewood. A good sign for the future.

As they turned toward home, he skirted around them again, looking for the chance to get ahead of their path. At least they weren’t turning straight back along their previous route; he didn’t know if the corpses were attracting adult spiders currently, but he didn’t think they were ready for that kind of challenge yet.

They were being just as careful about going out as well, which boded well. He reluctantly left them behind, doing his best to go along with the course he guessed they would take. There was a temptation to kill everything he found, but instead he left more clues on the less obvious ones. If they stayed together and kept their heads, they’d probably be fine.

He arrived at the farmhouse well in advance, giving him plenty of time to stow his gear in the rafters and double check the rest of his house. Clay had just finished getting ready when he heard a knock at the door. Already? They had to have rushed getting out; not the best choice. Plastering his polite smile on his face, he stepped over to open it. “Welcome, adven—Olivia?”

She grinned up at him, surprising him all over again. “Sur…prised?”

Clay backed away to give her space to come in. “What’s wrong? Why are you breathing hard?”

Olivia staggered over to a chair and collapsed into it, still gasping hard. “Need…to…gain…[Fortitude].” She gulped a deep breath. “Ran here.”

“All the way from the shrine?” He looked at her, feeling baffled. She was wearing a modified version of her robes, he noticed. They were more of a tabard that extended down over pale breeches. Her hair had gone a bit wild as well, and there was sweat sliding down her face. “That seems like a long way.”

“Not…all the…way.” She grimaced, obviously trying to breathe normally. Her efforts weren’t exactly succeeding. “Just…enough.”

“Well, take it easy. You can’t gain everything in a day.” He patted her carefully on the shoulder. “You don’t want to pass out on the way here.”

Clay took a cup of water from the barrel and handed it over to her. She accepted it gratefully, and soon enough, she’d recovered. He debated offering to use Pure Touch for her, but he didn’t know if that would be something she would take offense at. “So, what brings you all the way out here?”

Olivia fixed him with a green-eyed stare. “Have you seen them?”

He didn’t have to ask what she meant. “Yeah, I have.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“If it were just Charles and the others, I’d be fine. Leonard and Lord Frensfeld, though…”

“I agree.” She smiled a little when he raised his eyebrows. “Sir Leonard was asking quite a few questions of the Rector. He was curious about your Choosing, actually. At least he was before they came to visit you.”

Clay grimaced. “I think he used a [Charm] to check on me. Why didn’t it show him?”

Olivia leaned back, toying with her cup for a moment. “It’s possible the [Charm] is more limited than the Orison. For example, what if it only showed him your [Class] and not your level?”

He thought about it for a moment and then chuckled. “That…could be it, actually. It would explain why he hasn’t dragged me back to the capital yet, at least.”

She studied him for a moment. “You believe he would not stay to finish the Lair?”

“I think if the Guild cared about the Lair, they wouldn’t have sent a bunch of novices to deal with it.” He shook his head. “One of them almost got George the other day, and this morning I had to…tag along a little to make sure it didn’t happen again.”

“Dangerous.” She looked down at her cup, as if reading things in the water. “I agree. It does seem that Sir Leonard’s priority is the Rogue. If that is the case, he might abandon the mission against the Lair as soon as he has you secured. Given that we only have a few more days before the next frenzy, it would be a disaster.”

He pictured Enessa and the others trying to handle the spiders without Leonard’s leadership—or worse, the village being hit by a flood of spiders when all of the heroes pulled back. “So, no telling them yet?”

“Not yet.” She nodded. “We need to find what we can expect first. If they can kill the Lair, then we need them to do that first. Then we can go from there.”

Clay nodded, and then paused as he heard conversation outside. He glanced at Olivia and then stood to go to the door. When the knock came, he opened it immediately. “Hey! Everyone okay?”

Enessa beamed at him, her good humor obviously restored. “Yeah! We did pretty well out there.” She stepped into the house and paused, looking around at its humble furnishings. Then her eyes fell on Olivia and she paused, uncertain. “Oh! Are we…interrupting anything?”

Clay felt his face flush. “No! Of course not.”

She gave him a skeptical look, amusement tugging at the corners of her lips. “Okay. Come on in, everyone!”

Charles followed her through the door, and then Maribel and the twins joined them. Clay shook their hands as they came in, clapping Charles on the shoulder. They all looked jubilant; even George looked far better than he had been.

Then Sir Leonard and Lord Frensfeld came in, looking around the now crowded space. The older adventurer seemed amused by the farmhouse, as if more entertained by the new adventurers’ enthusiasm than paying attention to the surroundings. Frensfeld merely eyed Olivia with surprise, and then a hint of disdain that made Clay’s fists clench, before simply standing quietly to the side and waiting for the conversation to die down.

Clay ignored him, instead turning to see Charles introducing himself to Olivia. She accepted his hand gracefully. “A pleasure to meet you, Sir Charles. Clay has told me so much about you.”

“All good things, I hope.” Charles gave her a warm smile. “I hope he hasn’t been troubling you too much.”

“He has been a…good friend, actually. It has been refreshing to get to know him.”

Enessa smirked a little, glancing at him in a way that he thought was far too knowing. “Oh really? When we were still here, he was always the one dragging us into some crazy plan or another. I’m surprised he hasn’t tried the same with you.”

Olivia glanced at Clay and then bit her lip for a moment. “I find that…difficult to imagine. He’s been so calm lately.”

Charles covered a cough with one hand that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Enessa rolled her eyes and adopted the stance that Clay recognized as her story-telling posture. “That seems like he’s turned over a new leaf then! Cause let me tell you, back when we lived on the other side of the Smallgroves, he was constantly dragging us into the woods for some reason or another. Why, one time he said his father wanted us to find a lost pig, so—”

Abruptly alarmed at the direction the conversation was going, Clay stepped forward to try to interrupt, but George tapped him on the arm before he could. “Hey, these are our supplies, right? Just want to make sure I’m digging into the right packs.”

“What? Oh, yeah, those are yours.” George grinned and rummaged through them. Clay noted the dark circles still there under his eyes and grew worried. “Are you still doing all right? Charles told me about it yesterday.”

“Yeah, I’m healing up just fine. I’m only a little tired.” George touched a spot on his left arm, one where there were two punctures in his surcoat. “That monster absolutely got the drop on me. I hadn’t been careful enough, and if Enessa hadn’t been there…” He shuddered.

“She was there for you, though, and you’re still standing. That’s what counts.” Clay knelt down and shook him by the shoulder a bit. “Anything you live through, you can learn from.”

“Wise words, Goodman Evergreen.” Clay looked up to see Sir Leonard watching him, his eyes curiously sharp. “The cadets did well today, and I was encouraged by how Sir George recovered from his injuries. Syr Maribel’s skill was a fortunate help, but we should not stress her abilities too far, should we?”

George gave an uncomfortable laugh. “You are right, Sir Leonard. I will keep that in mind, going forward.”

“Good. I would hate to see such a promising future cut short.” Leonard nodded slowly, giving Clay another searching look.

“Well, I say you still owe her a gift or something, cousin.” Ned swaggered over and thumped his ‘twin’ on the shoulder. “It’s the least you can do after scaring the daylight out of us the other day.”

“Always free with other people’s money, aren’t you, Ned?” George tossed a packet of hard rations to Ned, who caught it with a grin. “I said I’d make it up to her, and I will. Just keep out of it, if you’re capable.”

Ned’s eyes were just as full of mischief as they ever had been. “Oh, I’m capable all right. Maybe not willing.”

“It was nothing, Sir George. Just doing what I could.” Maribel smiled gently at them. She’d been watching Enessa, Olivia, and Charles talk with a vaguely dissatisfied air, but she seemed less unhappy now. “We all must fill the part the gods planned for us, after all.”

She glanced at Clay as she said it and then turned away. He blinked in surprise. Maribel hadn’t always been so cool towards him before; perhaps as a [Commoner] he was beneath her notice now. It was hard not to wince at the implication, so he covered it with a shrug and a grin. “I suppose so! In that case, is there anything else I can help you with?”

Lord Frensfeld stepped up alongside Maribel, resting his hand on her shoulder briefly. Then he turned to speak, his voice calm and measured. “No. I believe that we can take our leave of you, at least until tomorrow. Am I correct, Sir Leonard?”

The veteran adventurer raised a single eyebrow, but nodded slowly. “Yes. We shouldn’t take up too much of the goodman’s time. Let us head back to the baron’s manor, and then we can return tomorrow.”

“…and then his dad had to fish us all out of the creek!” Enessa finished up her story with a triumphant laugh; even Charles grinned widely. Olivia, for her part, stayed as sober as ever, but Clay noticed her biting her lip and struggling not to chuckle as well. He gave her a stern look, and she blossomed into a full smile at him, a rare blessing. Then he rolled his eyes in exaggerated annoyance at his friend.

“Are you finished making me look bad, Syr Enessa?”

“Only for today, Clay, only for today.” She gave him a gentle shove on her way towards the exit. Charles joined her, shaking his hand; George and Ned had already shouldered the supply packs and gone. Maribel and Leonard had vanished with them.

Curiously, Lord Frensfeld had stayed behind, despite carrying one of the packs himself. He looked at Olivia, his face curiously blank. “Novice Shrinekept, do you require an escort back to town?”

Olivia rose and gave him a formal bow. “No, my lord. Thank you for your concern.”

The [Noble] hesitated for a moment and then bowed in return. He looked at Clay and then spoke in a strained voice. “My thanks to you, goodman. Good fortune to you both.”

He left, his back stiff and his stride seeming angry. Clay watched him go for a moment, wondering again what Charles saw in him.

“Your friends still care very much for you.” Olivia smiled gently as Clay looked back at her. “I am glad you were able to protect them.”

Clay nodded. “Well, I’m glad for it. It’s just too bad they probably think I’m the world’s laziest farmer.”

She laughed. “Truthfully, you aren’t exactly focused on it, are you?” He winced a little at the statement, and she shook her head. “They will know someday, of that I’m sure. Remember, what you are matters more than what they see. You are every bit as much a hero as they are.”

Despite himself, Clay felt his cheeks warm. “Thank you, Olivia.” Then he sighed and stretched. “I suppose I should get some actual farm work in, though, before the day is over. My parents might have helped me out yesterday, but they have their harvest to get in now.”

“I see. I wondered how you had managed all of it.” She glanced around. “How are they?”

“Mostly they are well.” He grimaced. “They did…find out, though. You might want to brace yourself for a visit from my mother.”

“Oh. Oh.” Olivia looked suddenly flustered, and she wiped her hands on her tabard. “That should…be fine. I will try not to disappoint.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. They just want to make sure I’m not being foolish.” He remembered the story she’d just heard. “Or at least, not more foolish than they are used to.”

Olivia giggled, something that took him completely off guard. She grinned openly. “I suppose I will do my best to reassure her then, though I am not quite certain of it myself.”

“Your confidence is overwhelming.” Clay rolled his eyes and then picked up a spade from his stack of tools. “I have a bit of weeding to take care of, but thank you for coming.”

He started for the door, but stopped when she tugged on his sleeve. She was bright red now, for some reason. “Would you mind if I… helped a bit? I could still use the training. It might help my [Fortitude] or [Might] a little.”

Clay raised both eyebrows, and then nodded. “Sure! I’d be happy to have the help.”

She smiled again, this time a smaller, shier thing. He led the way out to the fields and began her education in all things farming.

The work with Olivia in the fields went fairly well, even with him having to tell her which of the plants was a weed and which were not. Fortunately, missing the morning had not apparently invited a massive invasion of pests, either, so the work was not too bad.

Olivia seemed fascinated by it all, even when it came time to cut back some more of the thornbushes and other overgrown weeds along the edges of the field. She even helped a little, though she tired quickly swinging the sickle. It was hard not to laugh as she wielded it in awkward, halting swipes at the grass.

Eventually, though, she grew tired enough that she needed to start for home. He offered Pure Touch tentatively, and she accepted without hesitation. Then he sent her on her way without much further fanfare, with aching muscles and a satisfied smile on her lips.

With those tasks done, Clay went out to check his snares again, finding another rabbit that he cleaned and cooked. His dinner prepared, he retrieved the weapons from the rafters and headed out into the Tanglewood again. The adventurers had done well, but there was far more work to be done if he wanted to stop the next swarm.

It took him remarkably little time to reach Scout’s Hill. Once there, he ate a bit of hard rations while he watched the spiders down below, memorizing their patrols. They were still not flying as they had before, which showed the elder troll spiders were still wary, but they wouldn’t be enough to stop him, even with that measure of caution. He took particular care to study the webbed trees between him and the Lair. He’d done enough to weaken their numbers and strengthen himself. Now it was time to start invading.

{Elder Mantrap Spider slain!}

Clay looked down at the twitching elder spider corpse, backlit by the spreading fire in the distance. They’d gotten that much easier to kill, now that he had [Spiderbane] applying fully to them. He no longer felt the bonus from [Defiant] when he faced them, which was curious. Had he actually gotten to be at their same level now?

He studied the dead monster for a moment longer and then broke off to wait for the reinforcements to come. The more of them he killed, the less would be between him and the Lair, and he only had a little over a week to finish things. There wasn’t any time to waste.

There was a rustle in the trees, and he grinned as he got into place to deal with the elder troll spider. Then he paused. Instead of beginning the Canticle of Ice, Clay hid himself as best he could and began the Orison of Soul instead. He hadn’t really put it to use yet, at least not against his real enemies. Part of him wondered what it would tell him.

As the monster approached, he focused his concentration on it. The things had not grown any prettier during his brief absence, even if he seemed to be able to tell exactly where he could hit it to do the most damage. Those too-large eyes practically glowed as weak points as did each of its joints.

Then he finished the [Chant], and he blinked as his [Gift] displayed new text for him to read.

[Elder Troll Spider]

[Rank: 6, Type: Spider, Status: Vassal of Tanglewood Lair]

[Type Kills: 12, Deaths Caused: 14]

[Instincts: Hunter Killer, Cannibal, Stalker]

He blinked, studying the words. The name was familiar. Did the monster’s rank mean the same thing as a [Class] level? If so, that would explain why he no longer had [Defiant] activating. The Type Kills was interesting; he guessed he had killed at least twelve of the things.

Then the meaning of Deaths Caused struck him, and his eyes narrowed. Did it include animals? Other monsters? Somehow, he doubted it. His blood ran cold as he realized how murderous this thing really was, and he released the Orison’s power to start the Canticle instead.

The thing never even saw the ice that took it.

A few minutes later, Clay was watching through a small thicket of dead bushes as an elder mantrap spider spat wet filaments of web across the burning trees nearby. The flames hissed and went out as the thing advanced. Clearly, it didn’t want his fire to burn all the way to the Lair, which was a pity. A wildfire would certainly have helped clear the way much faster.

He finished the Orison as he watched it, comfortably hidden from its eyes as it worked.

[Elder Mantrap Spider]

[Rank: 6, Type: Spider, Status: Vassal of Tanglewood Lair]

[Type Kills: 11, Deaths Caused: 8]

[Instincts: Defender, Cannibal, Lifedrinker]

Clay glanced around at the dead trees and grimaced as he realized what [Lifedrinker] probably meant. Given enough time, perhaps these things would spread that poison to the entire valley. This one wouldn’t, though.

Releasing the Orison, he began the Ballad of Air. As the elder mantrap scooted forward a little to spray down another blaze, he finished the [Chant] and grabbed it. It squealed in surprise as he rolled it up and forward, its bladed limbs frantically slashing at the wind that carried it. The spider was tangled in the burning webs before it could free itself and by the time it staggered, burnt and blinded, from the blaze, he was already waiting at the edge of the territory. It had time to give off a pained cough before he called on the Flame-Tongued Song to set it alight and finish it.

When he left the area behind, the fire had only grown. Another eight souls avenged, and the path to the Lair was growing ever clearer.