21 Chapter 20: The Shield Wall

Luca and the rest of the team were tossed through the air, roughly propelled by the force of the ability Steel had activated. I really should have listened to my gut and forced the issue, thought Luca, as he looked forward. Luca almost wished that he hadn't looked as he saw his body was flying straight towards one of the more giant nearby trees. Luca was on a collision course, and though he tried to manipulate his wings and alter the flight path, it made no difference. In resignation, Luca folded his arms over his head and braced for what he thought was going to be a rather painful impact.

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The sound of his body colliding, crashing into the tree, was loud, and Luca fell to the ground with a pitiful gasp, stunned from the impact. That really hurt, he thought. When he had impacted on the tree, Luca was positive he had broken something. He had felt a sharp stabbing pain that followed the sound of ribs breaking, which followed the sound of bones fracturing with a sickening snap after the crash.

Falling to the ground, Luca heard another snap as he landed on the grass below. Thankful in part for the minimal cousin the green carpet provided. From within his chest, Luca could feel loose bone rubbing against raw nerves. The site creating for him another source of sharp and lingering pain. A warning from his body that damage had been received, and that for the time being at least, he wouldn't be healing

As Luca groaned in pain on the ground, he looked to see how the rest of the party was doing, only to find the others were similarly struggling to collect themselves, each in the same sort of state that he was. Steel stood alone against the monster that had descended on them. Undaunted, she stared the monster straight into its many many eyes as she held both of her hands up, her entire body straining as she did. As if she was holding up the very weight of the world. Her body glistened with a metallic hue, having activated her defensive abilities.

The monster lingered above Steel, its jaws salivating as it continued to try and bite at her. Luca judged by the outstretched appendages it was a giant huntsman spider. A real monster, significantly larger than any man or animal Luca had ever seen. At that moment, Luca knew pure unadulterated fear. This was a killing machine, and it had been stalking them for miles. Waiting for gods only know what reason before attacking them, finding them an easy enough meal to be worth the trouble. The thought made Luca cringe.

The Spider was quickly the size small yacht or plane, and seeing how hungrily it looked at them jolted Luca with a fear he had never known before, completely eclipsing the fear he felt on the road when his father was killed. This was a primal fear that touched on nerves and instinct deeply ingrained in his primal brain. It took every ounce of courage Luca had to not run away screaming.

The Spider had thick, coarse brown hairs covering its appendages. Each of the hairs was standing stiff. Luca knew on an instictive level each of those hairs would be sharp as needles. Venom dripped freely from its mandibles. The Huntsman Spider backed away from Steel, and for a moment, Luca could the strain on her body relax, only for the Spider to redouble its efforts as it tried to pounce on her again, eager to consume her hoping to catch her off guard during an involuntary recoil.

But still, Steel did not recoil, she was a tank, and she was not defenseless. The Huntsman Spider's jaws bit deep into a now translucent blue shield of magic that Steel had erected between her and the Spider. The shield was a power unto itself, enforced by Steel's protective factor and fueled by both her vitality and mana. It was a formidable power, but still, no power could hold forever. The sheer strength of the force behind the Huntsmen Spider's attacks was pushing Steel backward and forcing her feet through the grass and into the dirt as the magical shield sparked under the constant strain. Luca could see as he struggled to get up that the Huntsman Spider's mandibles had gotten caught within the shield. It struggled to remove the fangs it had got trapped. Long appendages trying to pull them free.

"Move it now. Everyone or she's going to die" Screamed Tatiana as blood dripped into her eyes from a minor cut above the eyebrow. "Throw everything you've got at it while Steel has the monster immobilized." Hearing the words commanded seemed to work on everyone as the scattered team got moving, motivated to engage the Spider in combat. The commands worked to get the scattered team moving. Though Luca didn't really know what he was supposed to do to help. The maul he had been carrying had been knocked out of his hands when he was sent flying by Steel's force ability. Though Luca didn't know what he was supposed to do.

Doesn't matter if I don't know what to do. Doing something is better than sitting around and doing nothing, hoping to live through this. I promised myself never again after the Highway with dad and never again includes now, with that thought motivating him, Luca shakily got up off the ground.

When Luca stood up, the pain he felt in his chest only increased exponentially, but he pushed it aside out of necessity. This was a time he just needed to do, and not hold anything in reserve. To survive meant he needed to dig deep and do something now, and with that, Luca started moving towards the Spider. Even as his teammates pulled ahead of him, already to engage the Huntsman Spider. None too soon either as cracks and faults began to show on Steel's metallic form, adding another degree of urgency to the battle. The girl really was in danger of dying.

In front of him, Luca saw that 2Face was running at full speed, and then some as his silhouette became a red blur that trailed behind him lingering like an after image. Luca realized the man had used an ability to buffed himself, an ability that at the least increased his speed, and likely a lot more. 2Face darted under the hind legs of the Huntsman Spider, swinging the broad-sword that he carried. The blade biting into the legs of the Spider. But though the blade met its target, it did not cut deep enough to harm the Spider, causing it to hiss in a fury, becoming thoroughly enraged.

The wounds on Steel's body began to heal as the cracks in her form began to seal themselves. From off to the side of the battle Mother stood within a white floating double triangle. His lips moving as he pulled the life directly from the trees and vegetation around them. Their colors rapidly changing from green to brown as he challenged their life force directly into Steel.

But it was not enough. Though Mother was successful in healing Steel, his spell was not able to restore her vitality or the magic she had used up in the creation and maintenance of the shield that was keeping her alive. In its frenzied, furious state, the Huntsman Spider was able to roughly jerk its head, causing the shield to shatter like glass. Steel in an exhausted state was unable to use another ability to impede the Spider's movements.

With a quick and terrible scream, the Spider's mandibles bit into the metallic flesh of her neck, decapitating her and silencing the sounds coming from her mouth into a muted gurgle. For Luca and the rest of the party, time seemed to stop for a moment as they all saw Steel fall before reaching her. With one sweep of its unhindered legs, the Spider swatched the body aside, knowing it would have plenty of time to consume her later at its leisure.