Chapter 143: Iron Spider

Chapter 143: Iron Spider

Once she was P'tashPak'r, the Exalted General of the 10th Host, beloved of the queens, champion of the Many-Legged Army.

Once she was P'tashPak'r, the cripple.

And only a few days before, she was P'tashPak'r, the abomination in exile.The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

No more. She was going back, returning to her exalted rank of general. She would command an army and lead it to glorious victory with the bonus of killing her most hated foe. This was how she had dreamed things would happen one day, and now it was so. It had been so many years in coming, that she had almost lost her dream...

It had all begun with Gilad and that final duel. She had been so proud when she was named to fight in the ceremonial duel that would end the war. Her opponent was weak, with barely half her number of limbs. She knew that no rat could prevail against her. He should not have been able to be beat her. It was only through some travesty of fate and the power of the enemies’ insidious cheesy snacks had had caused her loss. He had gone berserk when she wounded him, foaming at the mouth, and his limbs possessed a hideous strength. The ratkin champion had broken her limbs one by one even as her poison worked to kill him. He had gone entirely crazed at the end, his claws tearing at her body and ripping parts off of her limbs, one by one. The final insult was him standing on her back as his army cheered him. To her dismay, she had heard the hissing laughter of many spiders. Spiders like winners, and had nothing but contempt for those who failed.

That had been the end of her time as a warrior and the start of many years of pain and slavery. First had come the humiliating years after she had lost the duel with her enemy, and the subsequent defeat of her army. No one came to carry her from the field of battle, or to end her life. Barely alive, her spiderlings had carried her legless body from the field of battle, and cared for her wounds. She found herself bumping along in an empty, discarded wagon pulled by two lobotomized humans that her spiderlings had stolen from the slave pens. The stupid things barely lived long enough to get her back to the edge of the great nest.

No family or clan came to her aid. To the rest of the Spider Clans, she was an embarrassment. An example of what happened when you lost a duel and an enemy could pull off your legs one by one. No thanks were given for her loyalty during the wars. No one came to pay homage to her. She was forgotten and tucked away in a dingy little web with only the last of her progeny to aid her. Only the thought of one day finding Gilad, Warlord of the United Tribes had kept her from despair.

It had galled her that one day, as she lay helpless, a dwarf of the Dark Tribes had walked into her lair. She'd heard the noise as he had slaughtered the spiderlings that vainly tried to defend her. He'd made war on them in the traditional way of the dwarves, smushing foes beneath the tread of their heavy iron boots. When he saw her, he whistled long and loudly, proclaiming her to be, in his words, 'One dented little bit of defective trash heap'.

And now, now she was back! They needed her desperately. The lesser generals had failed the queen, and it was her genius in battle that they trusted. Her army was assembling and she would march upon Limburger Hollow, slay Gilad, and become again one of the Queen's trusted generals! She saw it all in her mind, over and over, as she marched through the caverns, trying not to trip on the uneven flooring.

"Has the abomination showed up yet?"

"No, your majesty, it's still slowly walking along like some drunken beetle. It has to use the caverns, not the web way. It is far too heavy and clumsy."

"Fine. When she finally gets here, send her over to Big Cavern with Spotted Shrooms. It's flat and she'll trip less. Start lining up her troops in there and let her have the fun of reviewing them, while they feel the shame of serving such an abomination of nature. Add 1 contingent of the Queen's Own, two banner bearers, and Six units of wolfen shock troops. That should look good."

"!!!! You're giving that mad-thing all of that?" The queen contemplated eating her latest advisor for questioning her, but decided that the statement was one of those times that any good advisor really should speak up. The thought of wasting good troops in this little war was abhorrent to her.

"Of course not! They'll line up with the dregs we are sending with her to Limburger Hollow, march out behind It, and then peel off at the cross-roads and rejoin the regular army. Its force is a blunt instrument that will deliver a shock to our enemies, maybe even break into the Hollow and start killing civilians. My hope is that she draws off their military and keeps it tied up. My army will be the one achieving victory!"

"Whew. Sorry I doubted you ma'am. That...thing makes me uneasy."

"Understandable, and my condolences. I'm sending you to It as Its second in command to keep things organized. Try to fade into the back of her forces as she charges, and sneak back to us. I value your services greatly."