B2 Chapter 178: Pride

The smudge on the horizon that was Holsborrough revealed itself to be a small town, stoutly defended with a thick wall of trunks and earthworks.

As they approached, Kaius was the first to see that their entrance to the city had been shut, a full squad of guards watching the gate. Much like the defenders of Deadacre, they were garbed mostly in chain and leathers, with the stout hafts of their polearms standing tall above them. Astute and vigilant, the guards spotted them quickly.

Kaius waved his hand, calling for them to slow their approach.

Clearly, the men were watching for something, and if it wasn’t a fear of the spider that had plagued this very road only a twenty or so leagues away, he would eat his left boot. Sure, the beast did not seem to be the type to roam far, but he doubted the lord of this settlement would have much interest in taking chances with everything that had been occurring.

“Guess it’s back to pretending to be stupid, again.” Porkchop groaned as they walked to meet the guards.

Kaius patted his brother’s back in sympathy. He knew that Porkchop didn’t care overmuch, and that his brother found plenty of amusement in watching the comings and goings as an observer, but it didn’t mean it was an ideal state of affairs.

“Chin up, It won’t be too long until we can go about our business openly. The second tier should be safe enough, and at this rate it won’t take us long at all.” Kaius replied, raising his hand to give the hardened faces of the guards a friendly wave.

“Indeed,” Ianmus nodded. “While your current course of action is wise, greater beasts acting in long term cooperation with the higher races is not unheard of – at least historically.”

Kaius gave the half-elf an interested look. He hadn’t heard of that before. Stories of greater beasts saving wayward travellers on a whim, sure, but not long term cooperation.

“You’ll have to tell us about them some time. Though, for now I should deal with these guards.” Kaius said, before he picked up his pace and approached ahead of his companions.

The guards waited for him stiffly. As soon as they came within speaking distance, the lead man threw up his hand.

“Halt, delvers. This gate is currently closed until we can confirm the destruction of the spider beast in the woods.” The man said. His tone was stern, and hard, but through his enhanced vision he could see the slight sheen of sweat on the man’s face. He was nervous, though judging by the confident looks he gave them, it was far more about the beast than it was them.

Kaius pulled his badge from his belt, the brushed metal shining in the sun. “Then you’re in luck, we diverted our route to Deadacre to let the town know that the assassin spider is dead.”

The guards froze, backs straightening as they looked at him with a mixture of relief, and disbelief.

“Truly?” one asked from where he stood at the back of the pack, before a quick elbow from one of his colleagues shut him up.

The lead guardsman looked at the offender with narrowed eyes, before he gave Kaius an appraising look. “Regardless of his lack of decorum, I would have to agree with him, do you have any proof? While we’ve had no confirmations of its level, the report we received from the Guild placed it at a higher level than our own. I won’t risk good folks’ lives on a rumour.”

Kaius nodded. He understood. Most of the reason they had done this diversion was to give the local communities a heads up rather than lump on additional weeks of waiting for their mission to be confirmed and word to be sent back. That, and it was a good place to rest for an afternoon before they were on their way.

Moving to their bags, he withdrew one of the arm sized mandibles of the spider.

“I’m afraid I won’t be handing this off for a detailed analysis, with its potential alchemical value, but if any of your men here have an appraisal skill, they are welcome to take a look.” Kaius replied, displaying their trophy to the waiting guards.

“That would work.” The guard leader replied, before he nodded to one of his men.

Young and mousey, the man nearly missed that he had been called upon, until his superior cleared his throat and fixed the guard with a glare.

“R..right! Sorry!” The guard replied, taking a few steps out of the throng of bodies to get a clear look at the mandible and fang in Kaius’s arms.

A second later he hissed, eyes going wide. “Boss! I think they really did it! Says it’s a fang and venom sac from an assassin spider that made use of illusion powers!”

“It’s sergeant, idiot. But thank you, back in with the others.” the guard leader replied, waving at the man to rejoin the rest of the squad.

Kaius nodded at the words, stowing their prize, before he went to meet the sergeant who had approached them. Stepping up, he clasped the man’s hand firmly.

“This is the best news I’ve had all year. I don’t know how you did it, and I don’t care – thank you, having that trade route down was making life tough for folks here, let alone everyone who was lost.” the sergeant said, a wide grin splitting his weathered face.

“Just getting paid, sergeant.” Kaius said with a slight shake of his head.

“But you ain’t getting paid to go out of your way to let us know as soon as you could, for that you have my thanks.” the guard leader replied. “Tell me…those that it took, was there any sign of them?”

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Kaius winced, thinking of the shattered ruins of caravans they had had a cursory pick through.

Seeing his expression, the guardsman’s mouth hardened into a thin line. “I see. I’d held out for some slim hope that it was one of those spider types that hoarded their food, but I suppose it was not to be.”

“We don’t know for sure. The only things we saw were shattered wagons lumped in the tree line. No bodies, or remains. The chances are slim though. It didn’t seem the type, in my uneducated opinion.” Kaius replied grimly.