Garnets Set in Silver (A Skyrim Adventure)

Garnets Set In Silver- Chapter 3: The Claw and the Stone

"Ugh! Disgusting!" Yvora groused as yet another spider web adhered to her face. She swiped at it, trying to rid herself of the sticky strands. "It's in my eyelashes. Ecch. Is there anything crawling on me?"

Ralof chuckled, swinging his axe against a wall of webs blocking their path. "Believe me, lass, if whatever made these webs was crawling on you, you'd know it. Bigger than a good-sized dog, these creatures."

"Delightful," she muttered, removing the last of the web from her skin with a shudder. Just as Ralof cleared the last of the sticky obstacle, a skittering sound echoed through the stone corridor. "Speak of the spindly-legged devils."

"Watch out when they spit. Their venom will freeze up your blood." Ralof took point, creeping along the wall. A trail of webbing hung from his axe, the glistening strands refracting the dim light into ghostly colors.

Yvora drew a pair of daggers and moved to follow. The thought of a spider "bigger than a good-sized dog" made the slender weapons and the slender elf holding them feel small, but in situations like these, fear was a death sentence. Renewing her grip, she slipped into the silk-encrusted opening and crept into a patch of shadows. A few feet ahead of her, an enormous spider clicked its mandibles against some desiccated thing wrapped in sticky webs. The pallid light in the cavern winked off its eyes, eight points of onyx in the bristly face. Monstrous black fangs, each one as long as her forearm, steadily dripped with a greenish ichor that formed a rimy pool at its pointed feet. Yvora scanned the room, counting three of the beasts. Not such a problem if they could catch them unawares.

Luck was not with them. As the pair leapt into the light-Ralof taking out one of the spiders with a well-timed axe between the eyes-two more spiders descended from great holes the ceiling, clacking their mandibles hungrily. Dancing backward, Yvora whipped a dagger into one of the arachnids as it lifted its front legs. Sticky fluid burst from the bloated body, spraying her with foulness. The hideous thing kicked and hissed, rolling about trying to dislodge the stinging dagger from its body.

To her left, another monster reared up and spewed a ball of venom at her. Kicking away from the wall, she managed to get out of the missile's immediate path, but a small splash connected with her shoulder. Immediately, her arm went dead, numbed to the very bone with a painful coldness. Her remaining dagger clattered to the floor. Weaponless but far from helpless, the elf quickly cast a flame spell, launching a steady stream of fire into the creature's ugly face. The flames licked greedily along the spider's bristly body, reducing it to a smoldering corpse in seconds. She gave it a kick for good measure, sighing in relief as the cold finally melted from her muscles.

A solid ball of bristling flesh slammed into her back with a screech, bearing them both to the ground. Yvora twisted and writhed, trying to dodge the drips of freezing venom and the battering legs. The beastly thing lunged and hissed, thick, viscous blood spurting out of its dagger wound. Thinking quickly, she grabbed two hairy legs and pushed up and over with all her strength, rolling the spider onto its back and, more importantly, onto the still-crackling body of the burnt spider. A patch of embers sizzled into her attacker and it quickly abandoned its would-be prey, scurrying into a web-covered wall to escape. Unfortunately for the spider, Yvora had no intention of abandoning her prey. Retrieving her daggers, she chased after it and went into a flurry of cuts and jabs, drawing vile, brackish blood with every strike. The spider gave a few weak swipes and lunges, but it could not withstand the bared fury of the Dunmer.

"I think it's dead, elf. You can stop now."

Snapping about, Yvora saw Ralof standing over three dead spiders, looking pointedly at the hacked-up corpse at her feet. Shuddering in disgust, she wiped the daggers on a patch of webs. "I thought this one was dead before. Better safe than digested."