"The voice," I realized. "It's bait. The spiders learned to mimic human speech."
"Help us... please help..." The voice came again, but now I could hear the wrongness in it. Too many syllables, spoken in the wrong rhythm, like a recording played back imperfectly.
A spider launched itself from the left passage. I ducked, slashing upward with my Kobold Fang Dagger. The blade bit deep, and the bleeding enchantment activated, dark ichor pouring from the wound as the creature collapsed.
Two more dropped from above. Kira's hammer caught one, sending it flying into the wall with bone-crushing force. The other landed on my back, fangs seeking my neck. I rolled desperately, feeling them scrape against my reinforced leather armor.
Morrigan's blade flashed, severing the spider's head with surgical precision. "They're hunting as a pack," she warned.
The skittering sounds were getting closer, coming from all directions now. Our light revealed glimpses of pale, segmented bodies and clusters of black eyes reflecting the crystal glow.
"We need to move," I said, pointing toward the right passage. "Standing here makes us easy targets."
We fought our way forward, weapons swinging at anything that moved in the darkness. The spiders were fast but fragile. A solid hit would crush their exoskeletons, spilling noxious fluids across the stone floor.
But there were so many of them.
"There!" Kira pointed ahead. "Chamber opening."
We burst through into a larger space, and immediately I knew we'd found something important. The chamber was littered with the remains of expedition equipment. Broken weapons, torn packs, pieces of armor covered in the same slime that coated the walls.
And bones. Lots of bones, picked clean and scattered across the floor.
"Torrhen's expedition," Morrigan said grimly, kneeling beside a staff topped with a distinctive crystal formation. "This is Archmage's personal focus. He never would have left it behind willingly."
The skittering sounds had stopped. The spiders weren't following us into this chamber. That should have been reassuring, but it wasn't.
"Why aren't they coming in?" I asked, scanning the shadows.
"Because something else lives here," a new voice said from the darkness. Human, but different from the mimicked calls we'd been hearing. Older, raspier, with the weight of years and madness.
A figure emerged from behind a pile of bones and equipment. Human once, but changed. His skin was pale and translucent, showing dark veins beneath. His eyes had taken on a compound quality, reflecting light like an insect's. Patches of his flesh had hardened into chitinous plates.
"Welcome," he said, his voice a mixture of human speech and insectoid clicking. "Welcome to the Sanctum's nursery. I've been waiting so long for fresh material."
Behind him, more figures moved in the shadows. Other expedition members, transformed by years of exposure to whatever force ruled this place. Part human, part something else entirely.
"The spiders," I realized with horror. "They used to be people."
The sight reminded me of the cocoons we'd seen in the Crimson Labyrinth, people transformed into something else entirely. But this was worse. Those victims had at least been unconscious during their change.
"Evolution," the transformed figure replied, mandibles clicking with satisfaction. "The Sanctum provides for those who serve it faithfully. We've become so much more than we were."
Kira raised her hammer, but the creature held up a hand.
"Oh, you can fight if you want. But the eggs are already laid. The larvae are already growing. Soon you'll understand the gift of transformation."
I looked down at my arm, suddenly aware of a tiny puncture wound I hadn't noticed during the fight. When had I been bitten? A quick glance at Kira and Morrigan revealed similar small wounds on their exposed skin, barely visible pinpricks that could have happened during any of the spider attacks.
The bite. They'd injected something. All of us.
"When?" I asked, fighting down panic. "I didn't feel anything."
"The smaller ones," the creature explained with that horrible clicking laugh. "While you were distracted fighting the large ones, dozens of tiny spiders were already at work. Their bites are nearly painless, but the venom is quite potent."
"How long?" I asked, fighting down panic.
"Hours," the creature replied with what might have been a smile. "Less if you struggle. The transformation feeds on stress and fear."
Around us, the other transformed humans began to close in, moving with that same unnatural coordination as the spiders. We were trapped in a nightmare nursery, and time was running out.
"Well," I said, gripping my dagger tighter, "at least now we know what happened to Torrhen's expedition."
My Threat Assessment skill kicked in, analyzing the situation. Six transformed humans, but they moved awkwardly. Their bodies caught between human and spider reflexes. The leader was favoring his left side, probably an old injury. Two others showed signs of incomplete transformation, making them slower but potentially more unpredictable.
"Stay close," I added quietly to Kira and Morrigan. "We're getting out of here. Leader's got a weak left side, and the two on the right are off-balance."
"Going somewhere?" the transformed leader chittered, his compound eyes reflecting our light. "The venom is already working. Soon you'll see the beauty of transformation. Why struggle against inevitability?"
"Because I'm stubborn that way," I replied. My skill was highlighting the perfect moment to strike: when the leader shifted weight to his stronger right leg. "Now!"
I lunged forward with my Kobold Fang Dagger, targeting exactly where my skill indicated.
The bleeding enchantment activated as the blade bit into the creature's chitinous arm plating. Dark ichor began pouring from the wound, and the transformed human stumbled backward with a shriek of pain and surprise.
Kira's hammer caught another transformed human in the chest, sending him flying into the pile of bones with a sickening crunch. Morrigan's curved blade flashed in the crystal light, opening a deep gash across a third attacker's face.
The remaining transformed humans pressed their attack, but they moved awkwardly, their partially changed bodies struggling to coordinate between human and spider reflexes. We had the advantage of mobility and desperation.