Ko 01 early access, p.29
KO-01. Early Access:, page 29
part #1 of Koyesta Online Series
“Too bad,” her brother lamented. “Having air support would be nice.”
“Right!” Michael chuckled. “Just hover up there and drop some bombs or oil or whatever. They couldn’t touch you!”
Rose nodded her approval. “That would make things easy.”
“But I can’t,” Madison said with a shrug. “And we don’t have any oil or bombs.”
“Actually, I think we have two more of the Molotov cocktails left,” Cole corrected here.
“We could use them to set these webs on fire too,” Rose said with a wicked grin.
Michael grinned and held up his hand for Rose to slap. “You go, girl!”
“And take out the whole forest.” Madison shook her head and gestured to the huge swath of webbed forest. “If this stuff burns like the other webs, it will set the trees on fire. If they go up…”
“It could spread to the trees around us,” Rose finished dejectedly, dropping the hand that was about to slap Michael’s hand.
“Only you,” Michael said in a deep voice and pointed to Rose. “Can prevent forest fires!”
“Madison is right,” Cole growled in frustration. “That might make things easier and kill the spiders, but there’s a good chance it would set the entire forest on fire. The ground inside is probably wet from the water in the river, but the trees themselves look dry. They’ll go up quickly.”
“Not to sound insensitive.” Michael scratched his head and then shrugged at them. “Why do we care what happens to the forest?”
Everyone turned to stare at Michael, but he just shrugged. “Guys, it’s just a game. These aren’t real trees, and this isn’t a real forest. Does it really matter if we burn the whole thing down?”
The group exchanged glances. Madison bit her lip. They might not be actual trees, but it didn’t feel right to her. It might be a simulation, but the forest was beautiful - well, when not infested by spiders. The idea of destroying it just didn’t sit well.
Madison thought of another reason not to. “The forest goes all the way back to the farms around the city. If we set the whole forest on fire, it will reach the town. If that happens, it could burn down the crops - maybe even the homes. I know… I know… they’re not real homes, but still. Plus, I’m sure the townspeople won’t thank us for that.”
“Valid point,” Cole pointed out. He looked around. “Not to mention… we’re in the forest. Who's to say we can outrun a forest fire. It could kill us and destroy our loot.”
Rose made a face and then gave Michael a stern look. “I don’t feel like being burned alive.”
Michael put his hands up. “Hey, burning it was your idea!”
“I didn’t say to burn the whole forest down!” Rose objected.
Madison sighed and looked around while her cousins had some back-and-forth banter about whose idea it was to set the forest on fire. From where they stood, she could see the remnants of the tree they had cut down. Madison thought back to how they’d felled the tree and blocked the chimneys.
They’d been so careful cutting the tree. They’d done it just right so that it landed exactly where they wanted - or close enough. She suppressed a giggle as she remembered Michael waiting until the last minute to get out of the way of the falling tree. Madison had thought for sure he’d be flattened.
Stopping her train of thought, Madison cocked her head and looked at the tree. Then she turned and looked at the other trees around the area. She held her fingers up, lining up the trees’ trajectories. She smiled. “Hey guys. I have an idea.
“What if we chop down a couple of trees so that they fall on spider-ville over there,” she said.
“Spiderville!” Michael grinned. “I love the name!”
Ignoring her cousin, Madison continued. “We can chop them down, so they fall on the spider nest over there.”
“Spiderville… spiderville…” Michael sang softly. “Does whatever a spiderville can…”
Cole looked skeptical. “That’s not going to do much. Maybe just flatten a few spiders that happen to get caught under it.”
“... can you get caught, in a web,” Michael continued quietly. “Yes you can, it’s a spiderville. Look out… here comes the spiderville.”
“Michael!” Rose hissed, hands on her hips. “Listen up.”
Her cousin rolled his eyes. “Fine. Tell us about cutting down trees.”
“As I was about to say,” Madison continued. “What if we cut the tops of the tree, but not all the way. Then, when they crash down, the tops will break off and fall into that hole where the matriarch was.”
Cole made a face. “I don’t know if that’ll work… I mean, we’d have to cut it at just the right spot, so that the top snaps off when it hits and goes into the hole.” He looked skeptical and pointed to the wall of webbing. “We can’t see past the webs.”
“We still have rope, right?” Michael asked with a mischievous grin.
They all looked at him suspiciously. Even Cole arched an eyebrow. “Yes.”
Michael’s grin grew even larger. “I’m thinking… tree flail.”
Rose screwed up her face. “Tree flail?”
“Tree flail,” Michael confirmed with a nod. “A flail is basically a stick with a ball attached to it with a chain. So, instead of cutting the tree at the top, we tie ropes around it. At the end of the ropes, we can put logs. Or better yet, spiked logs!”
Cole’s eyes lit up. “Right! The tree falls, the logs on the ropes swing down into the pit!”
“Whack! Whack! Whack!” Michael rocked his hand back and forth, emulating the movement of a pendulum. “Even if we don’t get her, it should really wreck the spiderwebs in there.”
Rose gave them a skeptical look. “Do we have enough rope?”
Madison nodded. “We have some and I remember seeing more in the gnoll cave.”
“And then what? We hit her with a… tree flail… and she’ll come up to investigate?” Rose asked.
“That’s the plan, right? Lure her out and fight her up in the open?” Michael asked.
“Good point,” Rose agreed but still looked wary.
Madison bit her lip. “The problem is. We have to place the ropes at just the right height so the logs swing into the pit. If we’re too high or too low, they’ll miss.”
Rose shrugged. “Can’t one of us just climb the tree and figure it out?”
“We probably only have enough rope for one try - two at the most. I think we’ll need something better than eyeballing it,” Cole commented.
“Like what?” Rose asked.
“We could,” Madison began as an idea came to her, “measure the distance with a rope. Then we pull the rope back here and use it to measure how far up the tree we need to put our… uh… flail ropes… or… whatever they are called. You know, like a measuring tape.”
Rose’s eyes opened wide. “You mean… go… in there… into the spider nest?”
“Not spider nest… Spiderville,” Michael corrected with a grin and began humming some tune Madison couldn’t quite place.
“Uh… that’s suicide,” Rose gasped. “Those spiders would kill anyone going in there really quick.”
“Normally, you would be right.” Madison smiled. “Whoever we send, it will need to be someone fast.” She looked over at Michael, who was looking down at Buddy. “Someone maneuverable. Maybe… someone with a mount…”
Michael’s head popped up and he looked at her wide eyed. “Woah! Woah! Woah! Wait… what? You want me and Buddy to go into spiderville?”
Cole clapped Michael on the back. “Well, you ARE the only one with a mount.”
“Yeah but…”
“And you’re fast,” Rose added with a smile.
“Well.. yes… but…”
Madison mirrored Michael’s normal grin. “And maneuverable.”
“Not to mention, it will be easier for you to get back here from the town if they kill you,” Cole added.
“Which they probably will!” Michael retorted. He looked around at the others and his shoulders sagged. “I’m not going to be able to talk my way out of this, am I?”
“Nope!” they all responded at nearly the same time.
“Fine!” Michael growled but then he put on his normal grin. “But if I’m going into spiderville… I’m going naked!”
“Eww,” Rose said, her face twisting in disgust. “Are you serious?”
Michael rolled his eyes. “Don’t get your loincloth all twisted. I meant, someone needs to hold my stuff so I don’t lose it when I die.”
“Then we have a plan,” Madison said. “Michael holds one end of the rope; he breaks into the webs and goes to the edge of the pit and then drops the rope. We mark this side of the rope, then pull it back and use it to measure how high up on the tree we need to put the… flail ropes… flail arms?”
“And Michael gets eaten by spiders,” Rose said with just a bit too much enthusiasm.
52
Madison and the others watched Michael as he surveyed spiderville. He had stripped down to his loin cloth and now sat atop Buddy. He frowned. “Go in there, find the edge of the pit and drop the rope. That’s all, right?”
“That’s it,” Cole confirmed. “Just go in there and get to the pit.”
The group had moved closer to the spider webs to make sure their length of rope reached the edge of the pit. They’d staked down the rope so none of them actually needed to be nearby when Michael started his run.
Madison shuddered. From here, the spiders moving around the webs were much more evident. She remembered the spiders from the tunnel and all of the bites. It wasn’t something she wished to repeat.
“And then get eaten,” Rose added.
“Uh, yeah,” Michael retorted. “Try not to sound so happy.”
Rose just grinned in return.
Michael frowned. “And what if the rope doesn’t make it to the edge of the pit?”
Madison shrugged. “It should. It can’t be that far in there.”
“If that rope is tight against the stake,” Rose suggested. “We’ll wait until you return. You can tell us how far past the edge of the rope the pit is.”
“I guess,” Michael replied, his frown still in place.
It was hard to fault him. Michael knew he was going in there to get bit over and over again. Madison wasn’t sure she’d be willing to do the same in his place. Yet despite his mischievous nature, she knew Michael had a heart of gold and would do anything for his cousins.
“You can do it, Michael,” Madison told him, patting him on the back. “Go be a hero!”
“That’s me… Spider-snack,” he replied with a grin. “The hero.”
“Alright, Spider-snack,” Cole said, slapping him on the back. “You’d better get going.”
Taking a deep breath, he nodded and sighed. “While I’m coming back from the village, you guys get the tree ready. When I get back, I want some serious payback on those spiders.”
“You’ll get it,” Madison promised.
“I’d better,” Michael snapped and took the end of the rope from Madison. “Otherwise, the next time you need something measured - one of you gets to go to spiderville!”
Making a loud clicking sound, Michael dug his heels into Buddy. “Hi-ho, Buddy, away!”
The big cat let out a roar and then leaped forward. They cleared the twenty feet to the webs in two bounds and then leaped through. They punched a hole through the spider web curtain that surrounded spiderville and then disappeared inside. The entire time, Michael sang at the top of his lungs. “Spiderville! Spiderville! Does whatever a spiderville can!...”
As Michael and Buddy disappeared into the webbed area, the spiders they could see stopped what they were doing and scrambled after him. That’s when the messages started.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 3 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 2 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 3 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 3 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 4 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 2 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 3 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 3 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Madison gritted her teeth, wanting to look away but knowing she could not. There were so many bites. Knowing what the hornet stings felt like, she sympathized with Buddy and her cousin.
Glancing at the others, she saw that Cole and Rose were glassy eyed too. They were watching the messages scroll by in their HUDs. They kept scrolling. And Michael kept belching out his “Spiderville” song.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 4 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 3 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 4 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 3 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 3 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 2 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Looking down, she watched the rope as it uncoiled. It had gone quickly until they entered but now had slowed down. And kept slowing down. But Michael was still pulling it. He and Buddy were still moving.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 4 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 3 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 3 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 3 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 4 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 2 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Just before the rope had all but used up, they heard a shout from inside the web. “FOUND IT!”
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 4 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 3 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 3 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 3 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Zachatolus Catfriend for 4 damage.
Zachatolus Catfriend is Poisoned.
Forest Spider bites Buddy for 2 damage.
Buddy is Poisoned.
And then the rope went slack and his “Spiderville” song resumed, although weaker this time. The messages kept on scrolling but they had no idea where he was. Would Michael somehow make it back? Then she saw the messages they had all known were inevitable.
Zachatolus Catfriend has died.
Buddy has died.
Everyone was quiet for a long moment. Michael had been a trooper. He had managed to make it through who knew how many spiders, all the way to the pit. And he’d done it while being bitten over and over.
“Well, at least he did it,” Rose said soberly. “I knew he would.”
Madison furrowed her brow at her cousin. “You knew?”
“I wasn’t going to tell him that,” Rose replied with a grin that rivaled Michael’s.
Rolling her eyes at the elf, Madison bent down and marked the rope with a piece of charcoal they’d taken from the gnoll area.
“Okay, Michael will be heading back once he respawns,” she told the other two. “Let’s haul the rope back and then get started on making the flail arms… or whatever they’re called.”
Cole and Rose nodded, and the group quickly rolled up the rope. Madison was just happy no spiders came along with it. Once they had the rope, it was her turn to climb the tree and mark the spot on the tree based on the length of the rope.
She’d volunteered, but Madison didn’t really care for climbing trees. This was especially true of the one they’d chosen. It was the closest to the spider area, but it seemed to have fewer handholds than the trees around it. Still, if she fell, at least she had wings to allow her to glide down. The other two had nothing to break their fall.
Madison carried the rope with her, tucked into the belt at her waist. Her end was tied to a second rope, which was also tucked into her belt along with the remaining strands of rope they could find in the gnoll area.
Cole was at the bottom, watching for the mark. As soon as he saw it, her brother yelled up to her. “Right about there!”
Hanging onto the tree with one hand, she carefully pulled out the charcoal and marked a thick line across the trunk. Next, she took the ropes she’d tied together and slipped them over a thick branch. She let the other end drop to the ground. With any luck, they’d be able to use it like a winch to hoist the thick logs up.
“Rope secure!” Madison yelled down. “Give it a try!”
She saw and heard the rope being pulled by her brother and watched it zip along the branch. “It’s working!”
“Awesome!” Cole yelled. “Tie off the other ropes while Rose and I chop logs! Once we’re done, we’ll tie it onto the winch and haul it up to you.”
“Ok!” she yelled down. Anchoring herself between two branches, she used a smaller length of rope and wrapped it around the tree trunk and then around herself. She tied it off, securing herself against the tree.
After testing the rope several times, she began tying off the ropes that would be used to hold the logs. By the time Michael and Buddy finally joined them, they already had three sharpened logs attached to the tree.
