“Then I shall send out two thousand,” snarled the premer. “I will know what my army is up against.”
“Make it five thousand,” suggested General Luggar.
“Five thousand men for a patrol?” balked the premer.
“Whatever attacked the last patrol did so without even one of the men returning to us,” justified the general. “With each patrol we send out, we subject the men to another hour of sleeplessness. Send out five thousand, and get the job done.”
“Then we can all sleep,” Cardijja nodded in reluctant agreement. “See to it.”
General Luggar left the premer and delivered Cardijja’s orders to another general. The chosen general was not happy with the task, but Luggar knew that he would obey. Luggar returned to the premer and reported his actions.
“You never did like him, did you?” asked the premer, referring to the chosen general.
“Not ever,” smiled General Luggar. “He has always been a pompous bore. While I hope that his men survive the patrol, his loss would be welcome.”
“Do not get your hopes up,” chuckled the premer. “He will undoubtedly keep well behind his men. In fact, he will be the first one to return.”
An hour passed by as the general and the premer waited for word from the patrol. Many of the men in the camp cheered when the large column left to investigate, and most of them were now asleep. When the screams finally came it was an irritating sound to the premer. He was quickly losing the feeling of terror, and instead was becoming angry at the mystery of the attacks. Rallying shouts mixed in with the screams, and Cardijja nodded in satisfaction.
“Finally,” stated the premer. “Our men are fighting back whoever is trying to scare us.”
No sooner had the premer spoken then the rallying shouts ended. Only the screams remained, and they eventually tapered off to silence again. Cardijja cursed loudly and went storming towards the perimeter bordering the jungle. General Luggar ran after him.
“Where are you going?” shouted the general. “What are you doing?”
“I intend to find out what is happening if I have to lead a patrol myself,” snapped Cardijja.
“You can’t!” shouted the general.
Premer Cardijja ignored his friend and headed for the perimeter. When he reached the perimeter, one of the sentries shouted and pointed. Cardijja immediately stopped and stared into the jungle as General Luggar came up alongside him. They both stared in amazement as Motangan soldiers came stumbling out of the jungle and into the encampment. The premer shouted for them to report, but they either did not hear him, or they chose to ignore him. Each of the men stumbled along clumsily, their eyes wide open and staring blankly.
“They are in shock,” frowned General Luggar. “I have never seen anything like it before.”
One of the soldiers tripped and fell. Instead of getting up and following the others, he just stayed on the ground and began babbling. The sentries around the man stared uncomprehendingly, but Premer Cardijja walked over and grabbed the man by his arms. He pulled the soldier to his feet and then slapped his face hard. The soldier blinked in confusion. Cardijja felt the man’s limbs trembling. He slapped the man again.
“Tell me what you saw out there?” demanded the premer. “Tell me.”
The soldier stared at the premer for a moment before a glimmer of recognition showed in his eyes.
“Spiders,” the soldiers said haltingly.
“More insects,” scowled the premer. “Do Motangan soldiers now run from insects?”
“Not insects,” quivered the soldier as he almost fell over. “Spiders. Bigger than a house.”
Premer Cardijja stared in disbelief, but General Luggar rushed over to help support the crazed soldier.
“What did the spiders do?” asked the general.
“They eat people,” swallowed the soldier as he began to sound more lucid. “We found hundreds of men wrapped up in their webs. It was when we tried to free them that the spiders struck. They trapped us.”
“How did they trap you?” asked Premer Cardijja.
“They built webs between us and the camp,” answered the soldier.
“How did you manage to return?” asked General Luggar. “Did you cut through the web.”
“No,” the soldier shook his head. “You cannot cut through the web. Someone found a way out and the rest of us tried to follow. We had to crawl under a fallen tree, but the spiders noticed us escaping. They came after us. They want to eat us.”
“Have this man taken to my tent,” Premer Cardijja ordered General Luggar. “We need to hear more of this tale. Get a healer to join us there.”
Chapter 33
News from the Front
Premer Cardijja stopped pacing around the inside of his tent and turned to face the soldier that had been interrogated. The soldier looked haggard, his eyes deep in their sockets and his hair matted down with perspiration, but not as bad as he had before the healers got to him. The soldier looked up expectantly at the premer.
“You may go now,” the premer said softly. “Do not discuss your trip into the jungle with anyone.”
The soldier rose from the ground and bowed to the premer as he backed towards the tent flap. In a moment he was gone, and Cardijja shook his head as he pondered the information that had been gleaned from the soldier. Several minutes later the flap ruffled as General Luggar hurried inside.
“We have a problem,” the general informed Cardijja. “Only several hundred men managed to return from the jungle, but they are quickly spreading the word about the giant spiders. If we don’t act immediately, the men will start to desert.”
“I was suspecting as much,” frowned the premer, “although I had hoped that we could contain it.”
“What will you do?” asked the general.
“I will do what I must to preserve my men,” answered the premer. “You are to instruct the sentries to kill any man trying to leave the jungle. I also want the leader of the mages, Cymelange, sent to my tent immediately.”
“Do you think the mages can help?” questioned Luggar.
“They must be able to do something,” nodded Cardijja. “We have no other choice. The men need a night’s sleep, and they will not get it on the plains. These spider creatures must be vulnerable to something. Let the mages figure out what it is.”
General Luggar nodded and retreated from the tent. A few minutes later a black-cloaked mage entered, his eyes darting suspiciously around the interior of the tent. Cardijja did not care much for the mages, but he found the mage leader particularly distasteful. The black-cloak had never even had the decency to hide his contempt for the soldiers.
“You sent for me?” asked Cymelange.
“I did,” Cardijja nodded informally. “You are to gather your mages and kill the huge spiders. I want the task completed immediately.”
“It is much wiser to attack them in the morning,” balked the mage. “We have never encountered such beasts before, and we may need time to develop the proper strategy to defeat them.”
“This cannot wait for the morning,” snapped Premer Cardijja. “My men must get some sleep.”
“Mages are not like your soldiers,” retorted the black-cloak. “We do not just charge into the jungle and kill things. We will study the creatures first. Perhaps we will try a spell or two to see what affects them the most, but that will be impossible if we cannot see them.”
“Then illuminate the jungle,” countered the premer. “Do not tell me that your mages are not capable of such things. I have seen it done before.”
“And everyone around for leagues will know where we are,” argued Cymelange. “Such a display will surely call the horsemen down upon us.”
“I am not concerned about the horsemen while we are inside the jungle,” snapped Cardijja. “Let them come and attack us. In fact, I would welcome that right now. It would take the minds of my men off of the jungle. In case you hadn’t noticed, the men are on the verge of hysteria. They have not had sleep in days, and word of the spiders has soared through the camp like a contagious disease. By morning there will be no camp if the spiders are not destroyed now.”