Slowly the thing on the floor rose, gleaming wetly in the purple light. It had the upper torso of a large, well-formed man, but below the waist it had the bloated body of a gigantic spider. The pale human flesh was scored with stretch marks, red striations that showed where the flesh was changing too quickly. At the waist those marks were worse and sometimes devolved into shreds of split skin from which the vast spidery form had erupted, leaving bloody streaks of gore. Eight, segmented legs spread out to a diameter of at least fifteen feet. They were long and thin and a deeply polished black, much like the obsidian cast of the bloated body they supported.
The nightmare turned toward Calvin and the others, and Calvin saw that above the eyes in the oh-so human face were two more sets of shiny black orbs. The thing opened its mouth and half a dozen tiny black spiders dribbled out. From within the creature's mouth, two long, sharp, mandibles extended.
The thing rose on its eight legs and took a step toward the group. It moved with that unsettling scurrying step so many spiders had, seeming almost to jump it moved so fast.
Guillermo screamed and turned to run. With amazing quickness, the creature shot forward and drove one the sharp tips of one its legs through Guillermo's torso, impaling him and then casting him aside.
Perez howled with rage and brought up his M-4 and stared firing. The noise shook Calvin from the daze he had sunk into and he too brought his rifle into play. A split second later, Tessa joined them. The cave was lit up with the muzzle flair from the three machine guns.
The spider thing was unharmed.
Calvin said, “What the hell is that thing, Decamp?”
Decamp said, “An aspect of Atlach-Nacha. Not quite a god. Far more than human.”
Perez said, “How do we kill that fucking bastard?” His eyes were wide and wild; the man’s cousin was dead. Calvin had heard enough tales of the Perez family to know he was broken up about it. Still, the grief would have to wait.
“You don't,” Crowley said. “We do.” He was smiling again. Calvin shivered.
Decamp said, “We have to get to the stone. See if you can distract the creature.”
Calvin said, “I got one magazine left.” He rammed it home into the M-4 and then started firing rapid bursts from the rifle, aiming at the monster's head. As he did so he scrambled across the uneven cavern floor. Tessa did the same, also on her last clip.
One of the creature's legs shot out and Calvin twisted away. The sharp tip still tore through the fleshy part of his leg, and he bellowed in pain as he toppled. The spider thing rushed toward him. Tessa put herself between the creature and Calvin and emptied her weapon at the scrambling horror. The creature didn't even slow down.
“Decamp!” Calvin yelled.
Decamp looked back over his shoulder. He said, “Jonathan, get the stone.” Then he hopped down and ran to where Calvin had fallen.
Tessa swung her empty rifle and sent it spinning at the creature. So far the thing hadn't made any sound but Calvin saw that it was grinning around its mandibles. The damn thing was enjoying itself. A moment later, it wasn't. The thing threw its head back and emitted a high pitched screech as Decamp's oddly glittering sword cut through one of its legs.
The spider thing whirled and lashed out at Decamp with another leg. Decamp stepped to one side, avoiding the thrust, and sheered the tip off the attacking limb. The creature staggered back, favoring its wounded legs. Then, without warning, it lunged at Decamp and this time managed to strike him with the side of one leg. The impact sent the slender man tumbling.
The spider thing hissed and started toward Decamp. Calvin looked over to where Crowley was standing by the stone. It was almost as tall as he was. Crowley muttered to himself and closed his fingers around something that Calvin could not see. He lifted his closed hand and as Calvin watched, an orange flame ignited around Crowley's clenched fist. Crowley drew back and struck the stone. The surface of the standing stone cracked, and the purplish energies surged and flickered like a candle in a strong wind.
The spider thing stopped stalking toward Decamp. Its head whipped around and its six eyes glared at Crowley. “No,” the thing said in a sibilant, echoing voice that pounded at Calvin’s head like a tidal wave. Not heard so much as felt. It began to lurch toward Crowley, its progress slowed by its injured legs. It wasn't coming fast, but it was coming.
Calvin fumbled for his 9mm. He knew it wouldn't do any good but he couldn't just sit there. He glanced at Crowley again. Crowley struck the stone a second time, making bigger cracks in its surface. Flares of energy rippled and bled along those cracks.
“Not fast enough,” Crowley muttered as he saw the spider thing bearing down on him. He leaned forward, opening his hands. Whatever he’d clenched in his fist was gone. With a strength Calvin would have thought impossible, he tore the standing stone out of the ground, his feet sinking into the arid dirt as he strained. His body turned and he hurled his prize at the creature. The stone struck the spider thing and it stumbled and fell. But the stone, though lined with cracks, was still in one piece.
The spider creature slowly stood. Crowley crouched and then hurled himself over the creature. The monster made an awkward turn, trying to keep Crowley in sight, and in doing so, turned directly into a sword thrust from Carter Decamp that tore through the thing's abdomen. The great, swollen orb split open, disgorging a flood of black ichor, swimming with small spiders.
“Nice one, Decamp,” Crowley said. He lifted his hand again and this time his fist blazed with a white light. Crowley brought his fist down on the fallen stone and it shattered, sending fragments flying around the cave. The sound was as loud as a church bell struck by a hammer, and then everything went black. The purple light was gone.
It was Perez who got his mag-light working. He played the beam around the room, showing the lifeless hulk of the spider thing. The tiny spiders that had been swimming in its blood were dead as well.
“Is it over?” Calvin said.
Decamp said, “It's over. The spiders outside will have returned to normal size and they're probably as dead as the ones in here. That kind of metamorphosis carries a price.”
Tessa said, “Calvin we need to get you some medical attention asap.”
“We'll help you get him back to the van,” Crowley said. “Your radio should work now and you can call an ambulance.”
Perez said, “What the fuck happened here?”
Decamp produced a penlight from a pocket and stepped over to the fallen spider creature. The arachnid parts of its anatomy seemed to be shrinking away, leaving the form of a nude man. Decamp shone the light on the man's hand and something glittered. A wedding ring.
Decamp said, “I can speculate. This man, whoever he was, found this cave. Perhaps a landslide opened it, or maybe he was digging. He found the standing stone, a relic from antiquity, and somehow it came to life.”
“And created those freaks?” Tessa said.
“Yes,” said Crowley. “The stone is incredibly old, from a time before recorded history. There were dark things living in those days.”
“You sound almost as if you were there,” said Calvin.
Crowley flashed that dark grin of his again. His eyes locked with Calvin’s. “Do I?”
Decamp said, “The Eldritch energy from the other side poured into this man, changing him and taking over his body. He was a vessel for one of the entities that flourish in the outer dark. The spiders were just a side effect.”
Crowley said, “And that's all you need to know. Let's get Calvin out of here.”
“You two are going of have a lot of explaining to do,” Calvin said.
Crowley said, “Probably not.”
And he was right.