Tanila looked up and saw the shapes of two spiders dropping quickly toward them.

“Two!” she shouted while casting a spell.

Her ice spear began to form and took off, flying straight into the face of the spider above Batrire. The spider screeched as it fell twenty feet to the floor.

The second spider saw its ally go down, dropped to the floor under its own power, and lifted its abdomen, spraying Tanila with a web blast.

She conjured a wall of air a few feet from her, and the liquid hit it, splattering all over. Some still made it past, falling upon her and starting to harden.

The spider then turned to Batrire and hissed, shooting liquid webbing at her, dousing her from head to toe.

“Taunting!”

Max felt the aura and could sense every spider turn to focus on the dwarf. Even the one impaled on his weapon immediately turned its attention toward Fowl.

Using the opportunity, Max lifted his weapon high into the air and slammed the spider into the ground, slicing his weapon through it. The spider was cut in half, its legs wriggling repeatedly as everything inside it gushed onto the floor.

A fireball slammed into the one Tanila had already hit with an ice spear. The smell of burning filled the air, and a hissing screech filled their ears.

Fowl held off both remaining spiders as best as he could as they attacked from the front and behind. Thankfully, his armor was too thick for them to pierce when they bit down on him.

Frustrated, Max shifted his stance and made a full swing, driving the hammer side of his weapon down on the head of the spider behind Fowl.

Green ooze and other matter exploded everywhere from the force of his blow as he drove the spider's head right into the stone floor.

Another ice spear came from Tanila, this time bigger, having had time to grow. It pierced its head, causing it to roll over and die.

With only one spider left, Fowl landed two hits against the creature's eyes before Max joined him and killed it with a well-placed attack.

“I’m going to punch Tom in the mouth!” shouted Tanila as she pulled at the spider web all over her. “This isn’t my idea of fun.”

Fowl laughed as the web seemed to stick to his armor less than it did to the others. “I don’t know, that was pretty fun, I think.”

Max sighed and shook his head, ignoring his dwarven friend's attempt to goad Tanila into cursing again. He easily pulled the sticky spiderweb off of himself. His strength tore through it like Tom's had through Tanila's spell.

Looking down at the five spider corpses around them, Max tried to imagine how other groups would fight these things without someone like him.

“This tunnel is going to make things incredibly tough for a normal group,” he said, pointing into the darkness above them. “Those two that dropped down from above almost got Batrire.”

Their healer shuddered as she nodded, cutting off the webs sprayed on her from the spider that had gotten past Fowl. “I really hate spiders. Did I mention that already?”

“About twenty times in the last ten minutes, my love,” Fowl replied as he started to remove the massive fangs from the spider corpse near him.

“Well, it’s true!”

Tanila watched Max as he replayed the fight in his mind again. “What are you thinking?”

“Besides the fact that we almost lost Batrire if I hadn’t detected those two spiders?”

“Yes, besides that fact,” she said with a groan.

“You and Batrire need to pay less attention to Fowl and me. These things aren’t bad; the webbing is a pain, and I can’t sneak up on them since it's on the ground, so they feel the vibrations. You obviously can kill them easily,” Max said as he pointed at the still-smoking corpse. “That just means we must be smart and keep our eyes open. You’re technically five levels above them right now, but something tells me the deeper we go, the higher level they will get. That means eventually, they will get harder.”

“Ignore Fowl and stop healing him. I got it,” Batrire joked as she used a knife to cut herself free from the webbing she couldn’t just pull off. “I’m guessing the real problem isn’t for the tank but for everyone else.”

Max nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out. “Tom was right. Clearing this dungeon at our levels isn’t about the actual fight; it’s learning how to fight against creatures that come from all directions. We also need to make sure to defend those who will die to a bite or two versus the tank, who can’t be damaged that easily.”

“It's about bloody time,” Fowl grunted as he finished collecting the third set of fangs. “I’m tired of always being the one who needs to get healed.”

Tanila sighed, knowing Max was right.

“I guess this means we need to go deeper into this awful place.”

Nodding, he smiled at Tanila. “Don’t worry. I’ll do my best to keep you free of any more webs.”This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She grinned, and Batrire groaned. “I wish my man would say those words to me.”

Tanila turned red, and Max glared at Batrire, who started to laugh. “I didn’t say you were her man; I just wished my man would say those words. Anything else is on the two of you.”

Fowl chuckled and tapped his metal helmet.

“I’m ready if you all are. Just remember, my Taunt is down for a little bit.”

Having learned a little about the dungeon, the next fight went better, with only Batrire getting covered in webbing when another group of spiders attacked, just like the first group. Soon, Max and the others had figured out that two or three would always attack from behind. Max would have to leave Fowl to fight the first two or three, with Tanila assisting via spells, while he waited for whatever tried to ambush the back line.

Batrire shuddered as she shook her hands, allowing Max to pull the webbing off her. “This stuff makes me feel so gross. Why does it have to be spiders?”

“It’s always going to be something,” Max answered as he finished getting her free.

“Four from behind and three from the front. I’m not sure I can keep up the mana output needed for that long,” Tanila said as she sat on the ground. “Blind only does so much since they have so many eyes, combined with the webs they feel on the floor.”

“Ice prison worked,” Fowl said as he cut out a set of fangs. “Your ensnare spells were weird, though.”

Max nodded, chuckling slightly. “I guess getting all eight legs is a pretty large task.”

“The experience is kind of bad, though,” Batrire complained. “Even only sharing it three ways it seems awfully slow compared to the dungeon break.”

“I think we’re doing fine,” Max said. “We really need to at least beat the first floor, if not the second.”

Grunting in agreement, Fowl finished harvesting and storing all the fangs.

“At least we haven’t had to use–”

“Shut it!” snapped Batrire as she glared at Fowl. “Don’t you dare jinx us!”

“Bah, beer and sausage, woman! There ain’t no jinxing nothing. Either the gods will it, or they don’t.”

Leaning against her staff, Batrire shot daggers at Fowl with her eyes. “I guess the gods might want you to sleep on the floor for a week.”

“Fine…” Fowl replied, turning away from his upset healer. “Let’s just keep moving. Speaking of beer and sausage, I’m getting hungry.”

“On you!”

Max cursed under his breath at Tanila's warning. With his sonar, Max knew precisely who ‘on you’ referred to, but no one else would.

Fowl was tanking the three spiders like a pro, slamming his shield, hammer, and even an elbow into them as they surrounded him. Realizing he didn’t have to worry about getting hurt, the dwarf was content to get yanked in three different directions simultaneously.

Max saw the spider lunging for him, apparently angry about the axe he had tossed at one in the air. Its ally had fallen, landing on the axe and driving the massive blade deeper. He was sad there had only been two axe-wielding ogres in the entire section of the dungeon break he had looted; they were amazing.

“I got it!” Max replied as he planted his feet and swung his weapon downward at the lunging spider, slicing it like a hot knife through butter. The spider fell apart mid-air as its intestines and green goo splashed all over him.

Gagging as some got in his mouth, Max was thankful he had closed his eyes in time.

Don’t shout while killing something…

A stone wall slammed into a spider's face as it lunged for Batrire, and Max was on it before it decided which way to go.

His weapon tore through its back, filling the tunnel with the sound of a wet crunch and screeching as the hammer part of his weapon smashed through it.

Tanila breathed hard as Max smiled at her. “Nice work!”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a grin. “Says the warrior who could probably solo this dungeon. I’m almost out of mana after that fight. Eight of them isn’t a joke.”

“True, but you were amazing. Those ice spears and fireballs were–”

“Seth,” Fowl said loudly, interrupting Max’s praise of Tanila. “Seriously… we’re friends, right?”

Max tilted his head quizzically and looked at Fowl.

“Seriously. Just ask her out already. You don’t got to–”

The ringing of wood on a metal helmet rang out, and Max couldn’t help but smile as Batrire lowered her staff that had just bonked Fowl in the helmet.

“Hey! Why did you–”

“Shut it!” Batrire said, her face leaving no doubt of how serious she was.

“But–”

“I swear to Ockrim that if you don’t, I’ll personally stick my foot so far up your arse you’ll taste the goo from all these spiders I’ve stepped in.”

Fowl didn’t say another word, and Batrire nodded her head sharply.

Max glanced at Tanila, who was looking everywhere but at him.

“Maybe we should call it a day,” Max said slowly. “I think we could all use a break.”

“That would be good,” Fowl answered, his voice a little gruff through his helmet.

“Alright. Let’s finish harvesting these fangs, and then we can head back.”

Max walked next to Tanila as Fowl and Batrire had gone a little ahead. The lightstone gave off a glow from where the two dwarfs were.

“Tanila?” Max finally said, able to hear how fast her heart was beating.

“Yes?”

He wanted to sigh, scream, and shout. Inside him, he fought a battle against whatever his skill was, yet at this moment, that seemed like no big deal compared to telling Tanila how he felt.

“I’m not the best with words, but I think Fowl was right.”

He sensed her looking at him, so Max turned, looking up slightly at the taller elven mage. He could feel her whole body trembling slightly. She was just as afraid as he was.

“What exactly was he right about?” she asked, her voice slightly strained but still very steady compared to how he felt his was.

Groaning, Max smiled when he saw a smirk appear on her face. “You're not going to make it easy, are you?”

She said nothing, yet she never took her eyes off his.

“I hope you realize I have feelings for you; I’m just unsure how to deal with them.”

“Feelings? What kind of feelings?” Tanila asked, her face a little flushed but her voice steady and strong. He could see her eyes widen slightly and sense her pulse rate matching his.

Max took a deep breath and went for it.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop. Looking up at her, he smiled softly.

“I like you, and I care deeply for you. I can’t say I’m the best when it comes to talking bout how I feel because I’m not certain–”

Max found the words had stopped coming out of his mouth as a pair of lips suddenly were pressed against his.

He ignored the sound of someone hollering ahead in the tunnel since it wasn’t a cry for help. Instead, he reached out and drew Tanila close, ignoring the fact that they were standing in a dungeon covered in spider guts and pieces of web.

All he could think about was how he felt in that moment.