This time, she did not even have to focus. Ripples spread out from under Ryn's feet to all edges of the cavern. The ground vibrated and sang to the tune that she wanted.
Again, the spiders came, this time in greater numbers than before. Ryn had sent out enough vibrations to call all of them. Crystalline bodies moved like the tide coming in.
Ward didn't charge as he had before; he stood there, shields at his sides, calm and waiting.
The ground shook with violent force as earthen walls jumped out of the ground in the spiders' paths, forcing them to clump together to fit through a narrow path. Ryn had control over one of her elements now.
Ferric's chains darted out from his arms, latching around the spider at the head of the pack. With a quick pull, the spider was sent flying right towards the group of four.
"Ward, catch!"
His shields came up as the spider landed directly on top of them. This time, he didn't fall to a knee; he wasn't even pushed back a single inch. Lightning arced up his arms with great intensity, flowing through his shields into the body of the spider. Many lines darted throughout the translucent body of the spider in rapid succession.
"Fire in the hole!" Ward flung the creature to the front clump of spiders, trying to make their way through the barricade Ryn had made.
The moment it landed, the creature exploded in blinding yellow light. Every spider within a twenty-foot radius was shattered by the blast, sending pieces flying all around the tunnel.
Another cluster of spiders hit the funnel-like barricade.
"Ryn, it's our turn now." As Argent said this, dark tendrils appeared underneath each of the spiders in their shadows. They wrapped around each of their legs, tethering to the ground.
Ryn aimed a simple earthen arrow towards the ceiling of the cavern with her bow. It looked like any man-made arrow in shape, but something was different; it hummed, almost pulsing at the same rate as the mark beneath her shirt.
As the arrow hit the roof of the cave, vibrations branched out from it. Stalagtites started to form above ten of the spiders held by the tethers. Once they were fully formed, they came crashing down, impaling each of them; the light pulsing in their bodies faded as they crumbled to the ground.
"We've softened them up, now we go in!" Argent shouted as he moved in like a blade of moonlight.
He no longer had to think about his steps; his body simply flowed. Shadow coiled around his shoes, rising to his shins like living smoke. He was sliding through spider legs, vaulting over strikes, shadow blinking only when needed.
Now, each stab with his dagger shot out a piercing white light beam, tearing straight through the spiders' bodies, leaving a gaping hole. The axe took to the power of shadow, the markings on it pulsing stronger now as element crawled and coiled around it. Every time the axe hacked into a spider, remnants of the shadow stuck to the wound, degrading and corroding, the crystal around it over the course of time.
If his light seared and burned, his shadow swallowed and consumed.
Ferric was a blur of metal and speed. He threw his right chain forward, it headed his call and wrapped around the body of a spider. However, this time, instead of pulling the spider, he launched himself. As he flew through the air, the chain released and coiled back around his arm, just in time for him to bring both fists down, shattering his target instantly.
He was now in the middle of the spiders' pack, surrounded yet again. This time was different; every piercing leg that came at him, he dodged with ease, and every bite flew right past him. His chains were swinging around, crashing into spiders all around him as he moved.
When he would see an opening, chains would wrap around a crystalline body and pull it fast towards him, allowing him to punch it mid-air as it came into range, sending shards flying. His chains were no longer just an item he was using; through his element control, they were now an extension of his very body.
Ward drove straight into the main cluster of spiders, putting his shields forward and bulldozing through. Each spider that hit his shields exploded from a blast of lightning.
Periodically, through the ground beneath his feet, lightning would spread out, stunning the spiders around him. In that moment, he turned both his shields flat, swinging around in a whirlwind of lightning. The shields ripped through the crystalline bodies, cleaving them in two.
Ryn stood in the back, firing arrows with perfect precision. The arrows she was firing weren't made of earth; they were something else, something new. Arrows made of pure pale blue light.
She had been tracking Argent's movement again, using the vibrations in the earth to predict where he would be and when. As the spirit arrows hit their marks, they sank in slowly. Their light matched the pulse from within the spiders' living bodies. Once they were in perfect sync, the spiders would freeze, unable to move.
Even when a spider did manage to slash at Argent's body, his giant's mark would flare up, and it would just glance off, like crystal hitting stone.
"So this is what the giants felt like on that first day when we struggled to leave a scratch on them."
Even though Ryn was focused on supporting Argent with arrows, that didn't mean she wasn't supporting the others as well. Every time a spider came up on Ferric or Ward's blind spots, a wall would shoot up out of the ground blocking its path.
All around, crystal bodies shattered. Blue lights dimmed, and the sound of skittering turned to silence. Only one lone spider remained.
"He's mine!" Ferric started running towards it.
"Not if I get there first!" Ward rushed in from the other side.
Right as they reached the spider, both swung; Ferric's fists and Ward's shields came together with blurring speed. Then nothing.
Argent had blinked into existence behind the creature. As he did, the shadow moved up and swallowed the spider whole; within a single flash of shadow, it was gone.
"I may have learned a new trick; looks like I am going to take the win on this one."
The spider appeared on the roof of the cavern; he had used his shadow blink on the creature. Argent slashed his dagger in the air as an arc of light formed and slashed upwards, slicing clean through the spider as it fell to the ground.
Only the sound of breathing remained.
Hard.
Fast.
Victorious.
Ward leaned forward on both shields, sweat rolling down his temple.
Ferric let his chains hang limp, chest heaving.
Ryn lowered her bow and exhaled shakily.
"We… did it," Argent spoke as he surveyed the cavern.
Ferric laughed breathlessly. "About damn time."
Ward nodded, still catching his breath. "I'd say that qualifies as progress."
Ryn smiled, tired but glowing. "A lot."
Around them were piles of shattered spider crystal, glittering like broken glass across the cavern floor.