Moonlight shone in the starry sky, tonight was surprisingly free of clouds.
Valerius went to check on Elara's condition. Unfortunately, her leg had to be cut off and the poison still lingered in her bloodstream.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
The poor young mage looked nothing like her previous energetic self. It was evident from the bags under her eyes that the arachnid had traumatized her greatly.
Her body was frail.
"My lord," Elara straightened herself and gave him a faint smile, "I am feeling better now. Thank you for coming here to see me."
"No," he retorted, "it is me who should be thankful to you for everything you've done. It was only your courage and bravery that prevented our town from a huge threat."
Elara stared at an empty space for a while, her gaze distant,
"Courageous you say? But there wasn't anything like that. I was frozen, terrified for myself. And if my lady hadn't come at the right time—"
The girl fell into deep thoughts,
"—I mean it's not my place to take credit."
The silence fell heavy for a moment, then Valerius ultimately decided to ask the question. He did empathize with her situation but in order to get information— being careful not to trigger her trauma wasn't a luxury he could afford at the moment.
"So what happened exactly?" He asked with a hesitant tone.
Elara did not answer immediately, seemingly dozing off into the memories of last night. When she spoke her hands began to shiver slightly,
"It was the …arachnid. That same creature we've kept our eyes on as a potential threat. He had acquired a vast army of his own kind ...they obeyed him out of …out of fear."
Her breathing grew quicker slowly,
"...not only that. He ..he had managed to somehow evolve. I am sure he had become a …spirit creature."
Valerius raised his brows, but it wasn't completely out of his expectations.
Elara shifted uncomfortably on her bed,
"—and he was …terrifying."
Her body began to tremble,
Valerius saw her frightened and immediately tried to comfort her, "It's alright. You're safe now."
However, she grabbed his hand,
"No it's not just his evolution, my lord. I saw in his eyes— they were the eyes of a predator hiding nothing but …hunger. He strives for more. He…"
Her condition only worsened by the moment,
"...he understands …understands everything. He will kill us, he will kill all of us."
"It's okay," he hugged her trembling self, "he's dead. The arachnid is dead."
"Dead?" She thought for a moment, then a wave of relief washed over her, "yeah right. He's dead."
As the situation calmed somewhat, Valerius called for the nurse and placed Elara in her care.
As he walked out of the room, processing the whole situation—a hint of regret appeared on his face. He shouldn't have Elara guard the west gate last night.
Out of all the mages, she was the only one without any direct combat experience. Back in the war she was a researcher, meaning her work was to aid the forces by solving problems.
If it wasn't for the scarcity of soldiers in this place, he would never have dispatched her on the battlefield.
Then again, if he had only soldiers here this place wouldn't be so different from the place they all wanted to escape.
Valerius heaved a deep sigh. He could not let himself hang over the grief. He was a leader so he had to act like one.
The arachnid, the tyrant leader, was dead.
Of course that was what he told Elara, and was something she witnessed herself. But in reality Valerius wasn't fully convinced.
Last night's attack was too organised to escape his attention. Thus he had asked mages Arden and Vala to retrieve his corpse from down the hill.
And the news they came back with, wasn't convincing either.
"We found a number of fallen enemy corpses on the site but they were all in pretty bad shape."
Arden concluded in his report.
Vala sighed and explained properly,
"What he means is that my lord, there weren't individual corpses but a huge pile of mangled flesh which we believe could be the work of other creatures, I mean nocturnal hunters."
"...Or?" Arden spoke with dramatic expression, "it could be that the arachnid made it out alive and escaped into the forest."
"Ah.." Vala rolled her eyes, "You really think anyone could survive a fall like that? With two sharp spears plunged into it, at that."
Arden gave her a devious smile, "don't forget we never saw the large body as Elara and Lady Sophia described."
"That's because it was turned into a pile of flesh before we arrived, you moron," Vala snapped.
"Exactly my point," Arden gave a proud smile.
Vala looked at him in disdain, "...then what about dragging marks? How come we never saw any of them? You are aware that a wounded, seemingly alive body has to drag itself to escape aren't you?"
Arden raised a brow, "I'm working on that."
They continued to argue with each other until Valerius intervened.
"it's enough, you two," he said. "You don't have to investigate it further—not now at least. Go home for now. I'll take a patrol and will head home as well."
With that he dismissed them and saw them still bickering with each other while leaving.
While all evidence directed towards the fact that the arachnid was dead, there were still suspicions in his mind as well.
Like first, the flesh was mangled up to the point no one could differentiate between the bodies.
Which meant there was no evident proof that suggested that the tyrant leader was really dead.
Not to mention he was the mastermind behind last night's attack as well. Which was planned very well for a creature species supposedly having low intellect.
It showed the arachnid's planning abilities and the extents of his thinking.
There might be another attack in future if the tyrant leader is truly alive.
And there was no telling who he might lose next time.
It could be anyone.
Needless to say his one wrong move could make the town pay dearly.
So, there was only one way of knowing the arachnid's condition and to make sure the next attack never happens, be it from any species.
Valerius has to visit her— the only one who could have the answer.
— — — — —