A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"They definitely don't seem too bright," Beam mused. There were only two left now, but unless they made the same mistake as their brethren, he couldn't see a way to reach them, not without wading through the sea of giant spiders that had begun to gather on their crossing point.

They showed no signs of moving. Instead, they shot more webs from their abdomens and renewed the web bridges for the spiderlings towards that middle island, securing it as an objective, whether that was their intention or not.

"Should I take them out with my arrows?" Nila asked.

It was a gamble at this distance. Unless they were distracted in some way, they'd have plenty of time to see the projectile coming and dodge. It seemed to Beam to be poor strategy to use up the last of their ammunition on something with such a small chance of succeeding.

"Nah… Let me try and create a better shot for you," Beam said, noting the fallen tree that he'd seen earlier. It only went halfway across the river, but it looked sturdy enough, far sturdier than the slippy log he had been forced to use against the Goblins.

He knew if he wanted to make something happen, now was his only chance, before the spiders noticed that crossing too and started sending their webs towards it.

He ran at the log, weaving his way through some of its still green branches, and he jumped into the river from the end, expecting it to be just as shallow as it had been once he leapt off the middle island.

But the water here was deeper and before he knew it, he was in up to his chest, forced to swim the rest of the way across. The spider's many eyes flickered towards him, noting his struggle with the current. They hissed and ran his way before he could make it to the bank.

When he put his arm on the rocky ledge in an attempt to heft himself up, the first of them lunged. Its fangs narrowly missed his head as he dodged to the side, diving under the water, using his meagre swimming skills to attempt to find a better spot to land.

No arrow flew his way yet. The opportunity hadn't been good enough. He silently commended Nila for her patience, hoping that it was not just a lack of regard for his life.

When he surfaced, he was slightly further up stream, as he grasped the banks of the river to haul himself against the current. It was a little shallower here, nearer to the middle island, and his feet could find purchase on the bottom, enough to give his movement a little more diversity.

The second of the spiders came towards him now from the right, as the other came charging from the left, barring his way onto the land seemingly completely, and the little spiderlings were there too, covering up any land that he attempted to put his hand on, threatening a bite.

Some even jumped in at him, seemingly without regard for their own life, as they risked it all to merely land a single bite.

It was odd behaviour. Uncharacteristic for a species that was usually so individualistic – to give everything for the good of the colony.

Beam tutted in annoyance, beginning to regret his plan, as he dove under water again, attempting to go deeper so that they couldn't track him. He feigned going upstream, but then, without surfacing, he went downstream instead, tracking back to where he'd attempted to get out before.

When he surfaced this time, with a hand on the ledge, there were not any fangs there to greet them. The spiders weren't fooled entirely, however – their excellent eyesight had noted that something was up, as they stood frozen in place, rather than being fooled upstream as he'd intended.

They hissed when they saw his hand on the rock and came sprinting towards him, both spiders at once, their fangs dripping with venom. But Beam was already halfway through hauling himself up onto the bank by now and he rolled to escape their attack, somehow making his way to his feet clutching his knife, though he was breathing heavily now.

The spiders' backs were to the river as they focused everything on him and a swarm of spiderlings came pouring his way to obstruct his footing. But Beam had already achieved his aim. With such perfect conditions, Nila would never miss. The arrow flew, taking out the spider on the left.

And just as the spider on the right turned in alarm, Beam seized the opportunity to end its life, punching his knife deep through one of its eyes.

It took hours to clean up after that. Beam managed to sever the bridges before too many spiderlings escaped, effectively trapping several hundred of them in the centre of the river. But the other few hundred that remained were a problem that was hard to deal with safely.

The strategy that they settled on was mainly just abusing the creature's lack of intelligence and continually provoking them into jumping into the river themselves. They'd lay out sticks upon the fallen tree that Beam had used to cross the river on, and they'd set them in range for the spiderlings to jump. Then, when enough had gathered, they'd simply kick the stick and let them drown.

It was grim work and it felt almost cruel, like stepping on ants, but it needed to be done and slowly but surely, they exterminated the last of them.

Then finally, they went back into the forest from where the giant spiders had come running. There they found the creatures' nest – a web fortress set high in the trees. Two injured giant spiders had been left behind to guard it, but they were swiftly dealt with, along with the many thousands of eggs that had been laid there.

"It almost feels like we should burn it," Beam said, wrinkling his nose as he crushed the last of the eggs.

"I know what you mean… If even a few of them survive, they'll start another colony like this and who knows what trouble they'll cause if they're left alone again," Nila said. "To think that such a threat existed so close to the village. Just like the Hobgoblin – it's strange, isn't it? The monsters seem like they're getting more powerful."