Rise of the Spider Goddess Read Online Free Page B

gods.”
    â€œAnd why would we do this?” Brigit asked absently. She feigned disinterest quite well, Nakor thought.
    â€œThe jewels themselves are quite valuable, and would make a more than suitable reward I think. You are welcome to keep them, after the spell is performed. But more importantly, I ask that you do this to right a wrong that has lasted for hundreds of generations.”
    â€œHow valuable are these jewels?” Scrunchy asked.
    Calugar smiled. “Each one is approximately the size of a man’s fist.”
    Scrunchy immediately made a fist and studied it. A grin spread across his bearded face. “When do we leave?”
    Hours later, they walked toward a small crack in the cliffside.
    Wait, what cliffside? What just happened? I thought they were in a cabin in the woods. Where are they supposed to be now?
    â€œShut up and stop asking so many questions.”
    â€œI am unable to enter the temple of Panich, except to cast the spell of freedom,” Calugar called out from behind them. “But I shall be waiting for you when you return.”
    The six of them entered the temple, but only five emerged, days later. Scrunchy and Serina had gotten into an argument on the second day. They had been on the verge of coming to blows when Scrunchy turned and stormed away in a rage. It had been hours later when the rest of the party stumbled upon his remains. Nakor shivered. The rats who lived in the temple were thorough. It had not been a pretty sight.
    Poor Scrunchy. Healers continue to search for a cure for “Killed off because the player got bored and wanted to make a new character.”
    Calugar welcomed them back, healing their wounds. He had found a young girl to replace Scrunchy in the spell, a magician named Caudi. Later than night, he led them into the temple and began his spell, the spell he claimed would free his god, Kohut.
    It was, for Nakor, one of the worst mistakes of his life. As the spell was cast, a searing pain ripped through his body. When it ended, Olara, a goddess of evil, stood before them all. “The Spider Goddess,” as she preferred to be called. She looked at them all for a moment, then winced in pain. Seemingly unable to tolerate being within the temple that had imprisoned her for so long, she fled into the darkness of the night.
    â€œYou lied to us,” Serina hissed angrily.
    Calugar nodded. “I did,” he admitted. “It was the only way to accomplish what was necessary to free Olara. I do apologize for deceiving you.”
    â€œYou apologize?” Roth asked incredulously. In disgust, he sent a bolt of magic at the elven priest. Effortlessly, Calugar deflected the spell into the ground.
    â€œIf you do not leave now,” he warned, “you will be destroyed. This is not my wish, but it is the will of my mistress.”
    Olara eventually killed him for allowing them to leave.
    Over the next few months, the surviving members of the party were killed, one by one. Serina and Wanni were killed together, while hunting for food. Caudi had been assassinated as Nakor watched helplessly, too late to do anything but slay her assassins. Roth had been killed by a mounted knight who ran him through with his lance. Less than a month after freeing Olara, Brigit and Nakor had decided their only hope of survival lay in getting as far away from Olara as possible. Brigit had traveled hundreds of miles north, where she lived still. Nakor had gone in the opposite direction, making his home in an abandoned castle.
    * * *
    â€œThat was two years ago,” Nakor concluded. “Olara has left me alone ever since, until today.”
    â€œAre you sure that was one of her priests?” Galadrion asked.
    He looked up. Galadrion was standing in a corner of the room, listening. He hadn’t even heard her walk in.
    â€œThe one in the black robes was,” Nakor answered. “The amulet around his neck was shaped like a spider. Olara’s other