Sporemageddon

Death Cap - Twelve - Picking Whether to Run or Fight

Death Cap - Twelve - Picking Whether to Run or Fight

If I couldnt run, then the entire fight-or-flight equation became very easy to work out.

I tugged my leg up as hard as I could, which did nothing but shift my foot around and make my socks bunch up uncomfortably in my boots. There was some sort of sticky white substance on the ground, I noticed. Just a few lines of it spread across the floor. Spiderweb?

A squeak next to me had me looking up. The spider rats were approaching.

Not quickly. The rats were still smaller than I was, and they seemed somewhat cautious. They spread out in a wide semi-circle, beady eyes locked onto me even as they slunked back into the shadows.

I moved my makeshift lantern around so that I could keep an eye on all of them. I counted twelve. Then I counted ten the second time I tried to keep track of them all. Oh, come on, I muttered.

I was afraid, yes, but more than that I was frustrated. This could have been avoided if I had been more careful. If I had gone slower I might have noticed the webbing on the ground. If I had brought better lighting I might have seen the spider rats in the centre of the room. If I had enough power, then this situation wouldnt even be a concern.

Tossing my lichen vial to my free hand, I opened my satchel and pulled out my mask. I figured I had seconds to act before one of the spider rats decided to make a snack out of me, so I hurried to slip the gas mask on. It made it so that every breath I took had to be forced through the filters, and then every exhale made the mask warmer against my skin.

I didnt complain too much. It was needed for what would come next.

Hey, ratty-ratty-rats, I murmured. The spider rats ticked and chittered. Look, food. I grabbed a [Brown Horse Head] and tossed it out ahead of me. The mushroom bounced on the ground and rolled to an ungainly stop a few metres away.

I waited, aware that the rats were still getting closer. Had some of them moved behind me? Were they using pack tactics? That was just... really rude, actually.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Not taking the bait, huh? I asked the spider rats. Thats fine, thats fine. My hand squeezed around a large, puffy mushroom in my satchel, one surrounded by a thin layer of cloth to keep it safe. I pulled the [Dead Mans cough] out and looked around me for the biggest concentration of spider rats.

It was to my left, partially hidden behind a rock tall enough to reach my knees. Spidery eyes glinted in the dark behind the stone. I pulled my arm back, then threw.

The mushroom sailed across the air about as well as one could expect a mushroom to fly. It flipped on itself, then with a hard smack hit the side of the rock and burst apart.

In my mind, I imagined a huge cloud of spore particulates rising from the impact zone in a perfect sphere. The reality was a lot messier.

Most of the spore travelled out in a line off to one side, missing everything except for the floor. A few though, burst upwards and hung in the air. There was a breeze coming from the rushing water that had a small dusting of spores travel across the room.

Damn, I muttered.

I dont think I hit a single spider rat. What I did do though, was anger the entire lot of them.

They hissed and spat, and a few of them raced forwards towards me. In a panic, I swung my bag out towards the nearest and it jumped back and out of smacking range.

I pulled out a second [Dead Mans Cough] then flung it hard against the ground ahead of me. It burst apart, leaving a starburst of spores against the ground but also throwing some into the air. I grabbed a third and squeezed it, the ball puffing out a cloud of swirling spores ahead of me.

A couple of the spider rats were caught in the cloud and they started to hack and cough.

I worked to keep my breathing steady and low, aware the entire time that my mask wasnt perfect. It was made for someone with a lot more jaw than I had. It wasnt impossible for some of those spores to sneak in.

My foot suddenly pulled free and I half-stumbled back.

Of course, I immediately stepped into another tangle of web. Damn it! I swore.

One of the spider rats jumped, and I screamed like the little girl I was as it tackled me. I batted at it even as its limbs tried to grab at me. Then I got my hands around its torso and pushed it away. Its mouth was open, hissing with mandibles covered in what I could only assume was poison.

I blasted it with [Blight].

The problem with that particular attack was that it wasnt fast-acting. I saw the magic shove into the monsters flesh, rotting it away, but it was moving along a millimetre at a time, and each little advance was draining my mana.

But only a little?

The dungeon! There was a lot more ambient mana in the dungeon than out of it. Which meant that I could push out more!

I did just that, firing off a burst of [Blight] all around me that had the nearest spider rats backing off. Then I threw the one that had jumped at me away. It landed on its back, then flipped around.

Its only then that I noticed the scratches on my arms and sides. Its feet were tipped in nasty little claws that had cut right through my clothes.

You bastard! I shouted. I plucked out another [Dead Mans Cough] and beaned the rat in the face with it.

It squeaked, head jerking back as it ate a mouthful of poisonous mushroom. I didnt watch it choke to death. Instead I flung another mushroom down at my feet, creating a small cloud around myself. The next one to jump at me would regret it.

Ducking down, I looked at my boots, then the webs across the floor, then I focused. With [Aura of Growth] acting as a sort of aiming tool, I pushed mana under my boots, then switch that to [Blight].

The webs rotted, and just like that my feet came free with a disgusting squelsh.

It would have been easier to take the boots off, I think, but I wasnt about to leave my boots behind. Theyd been expensive!

I started to back up towards the entrance, watchful not to put my foot in more webs. There were a lot of them, but most were thin and probably wouldnt do much to slow someone down. The spiders spat and hissed, following after me and matching every step I took.

A few had their hissing cut off by nasty coughs, and I saw a couple of them clawing at their throats near the back of the group.

Served them right.

The moment I was next to the entrance I pulled out a juicy [Dead Mans Cough] and slammed it against the edge of the exit. A small cloud of dusty spores filled the exit before me, hopefully preventing anything from running after me.

And with that, I turned and ran.

I was not ready to take on more of those spiders. Not yet.

I retraced my steps through the previous room of the dungeon, following the hanging lights that illuminated the explored sections towards the exit.

Today hadnt been a waste... but it wasnt great. I hissed as I touched my arms. They hurt. The cottony material of my shirt was doing a good job of absorbing the bit of blood but... no, I needed to clean out the little cuts and bandage them.

My hands were covered in spores though. Very poisonous ones. Cursing my poor luck, I rubbed my hands against my pants and continued towards the exit. I came onto the room with the bridge in the middle. There were a lot more people milling around it now than there had been a few hours prior.

I kept my head down, whipped off my mask to avoid looking too suspicious, and slipped through with a group crossing the bridge in the opposite direction.

I paused on the other side. A man was looking over a pile of crates. Wooden ones, with rope handles on either end. He looked like an adventurer, but his gear was strange. He had armour on, but also an apron and a helmet with a lamp on it. Lots of vials too. What really caught my eye were the piles of dark blue mushrooms in the crates before him.

Moving to the side, I paused for just a moment, then took off running. He barely glanced my way, not until I swept by and filched one of those blue mushrooms and stuffed it down the front of my overalls.

Hey! he shouted.

I was already sprinting away.

I couldnt have the entire adventure down here be a waste.

***