Along Came A Spider [Solo]

The chill night air clung to me, thick and heavy with most. People rushed back and forth, trying to finish their last few deeds before the day fully ended, the press of people around me was a bit stifling. The smell of dust and bodies, flesh and sweat, swirled around me, clogging my nose. There was an feeling of anticipation dancing on the wind, something that prickled at the back of my mind. Something was going to happen, and soon, but what it was I couldn’t tell. As my boots clacked on the smooth cobblestone of the street, it wasn't the strange anticipation in most of the people I was passing wasn’t what was filling my thoughts.

No, they were more pre-occupied with the fact that I was now fairly certain that someone had been following me for quite some time. Days, perhaps? They were good, whoever they were. I had stuck to crowds, and used several tricks I knew to throw off pursuers, but nothing I tried managed to shake them. Even when I knew there was no one around - when I was standing on an empty street, I had looked around and never seen another soul. And yet the feeling of being watched, being followed, had never abated. Even when I took to the rooftops, darting across the buildings, I still soon enough felt those watching eyes upon me once more.

As I pushed through a cluster of babbling women, they shrieked and pulled away from me. It was a common reaction - I was a large, usually grumpy individual from what could be seen, and my silver eyes were far from natural. I didn’t particularly care about their reaction though - no, they were fools who were gathering in the middle of a busy street, instead of pulling off to a cafe or something to share the inane details of their lives. If them being frightened by me got them off the damn road, then that was perfectly fine. My feet carried me past them and away as my thoughts churned, turning over possibilities of who could be watching me.

They weren’t a member of the Hand, no, they were not one of Amari’s group. That organization thought I was dead for now, and I was back in Alerar for the time being, out of their reach. It worked better for me if they thought I was dead now while I was trying to become stronger so I could go back and drag her free. If it had been a member of the Crimson Hand, I had no doubt that I would have been swarmed already, or worse, encountered another one of the Hand’s heavy hitters. I didn’t think another fight would go as well as my encounter with the samurai known as Zero had - he still had humanity in him, and enough concern to reason with. If it was someone like that psychotic little succubus thing? Someone like that, I’d have to fight to kill. I doubted Amari would blame me if it came to that, she was a ruthless woman these days. Still, l didn’t want to have to deal with any of the Crimson Hand, not for now. I didn’t need to draw Ulrokesama’s gaze my direction, not yet.

I stepped around a cart as the man pushing it nodded his head to me. It clacked and clattered on its way, moving down the cobblestone street. I shook my head at the poor bastard who was still trying to work so late at night. Well, at least with those gossiping women out of the way the carter would have an easier time of it. I turned and continued striding down the street. The cart was louder than my footsteps, but in time it faded as I moved away, heading through the streets. I turned my thoughts back to the mystery of who was after me.

This person, my watcher, had avoided being seen in situations where the Crimson Hand would have attacked me. So I could put them out of my mind. It also wasn’t a member of the Lily’s army of messengers - they would have just come up to me without any concern, none of this stealth and hiding, and watching. Unless Philomel or one of her chiefs was checking up on me, trying to be unobtrusive about it. If so, I would have to go find one of them to talk to, and let them know their attempt had been unsuccessful.

Or was this someone trying to judge me for something? Examining me to see if I was worthy? I snorted and drew my coat tighter around myself as I turned a corner and continued into the alley. I doubted I would ever be worthy of anything other than killing things.

Perhaps a member of the Academy was trying to watch to see if I was suitable a job, or a scientist had hired someone to observe their genetic experiment? I frowned and glanced at the windows of the buildings around me. As the night fell, people drew their curtains shut, and the empty, dark windows looked more like vacant staring eyes in the shadows. Watching, waiting. Hungry voids. I shuddered and pushed that thought out of my head.

What I needed to do here was figure out what my observer was waiting for, what kind of situation they needed before they would spring their attack. In my opinion, the best way of handling a surprise attack was to turn it around on the one who thought they held the element of surprise. If I could just draw them into a situation where I knew they would feel safe to approach - whether that was an attack, or just to talk, then I could turn the tables on them when they struck.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked across the shadows around me - the feeling of being watched had just returned. Four hours, that was the longest I’d gone without my unseen follower. So then. Had that been a break for final preparations, or just a pause because I was in busy crowds?

Whatever the case was, it meant that something was going to happen in regards to my personal little encounter here. The moon was growing higher in the sky, and people in the streets were thinning out as they went home for the night. I felt my muscles tense up and a grim smile split my lips beneath my mask. I needed to draw whoever this was out, and an empty lot was nearby. It would have to do. I walked faster down the ever tighter, narrowing alley as the walls loomed around me, feeling like they would crush me at any moment.

It didn’t take long for me to get to the lot High walls surrounded it, meant to keep normal citizens out until the construction was finished. That was fine for me - it meant there was even less chance of a bystander being drawn into this confrontation. I easily scaled the fence - thick mesh and barbed wire were little impediment to me as I threw myself over the edge and into the construction yard. The place was, as expected for this time of night, empty. The only illumination was the soft, shimmering silver light of the moon.

The faint sounds of the city outside still reached me, faintly. Distant calls and the sound of carts and wagons being dragged across stone, clattering about their business at the end of the night. I knew none would come here, not now - the deliveries for the place would come in the early hours of the morning, not stretching into the deep darkness of the night. I shifted, flicking my collar to get rid of some of the mist that had gathered against it before glancing around me.

Beams and ropes crisscrossed the site, the half-hollowed shell of a building in the midst of progress. The signs of progress covered the ground in an intricate spiderweb of shadows, stretching across the ground in a network that left little untouched by their dark grasp. Moonlight and shadows danced back and forth smoothly, darkness and light swirling together and slowly drawing the eye inwards, trapping and ensnaring the mind.

I tore my gaze around, breaking the subtle spell the play of light had woven over me. I could not afford to be distracted right now. I looked around intently, refocusing on my actual problem. The feeling of being watched had momentarily abated as I went over the fence, so I had an idea that who, or whatever, was following me was on the other side. This was my best chance of -

There. A faint movement, a flicker of shadow against shadow, darkness that swept along the inside of the fence. A pool of inky darkness slipped over the edge of the barrier, and if I had not been intently watching for it, I could have very easily missed it. Some sort of shadowwalker then? With some power that allowed its user to hide in the very darkness? A potent stealth tool, and one that was clearly magical. I kept my face carefully bland as I swept my eyes along the area, giving no sign of the fact that I had spotted my pursuer.

A magical tool made it clear that this was no Aleran. Most of my kin still detested magic in nearly all of its forms, even the mundane and useful. No, something as advanced as shadow-stealth was not something they would go for. And that was no technological tool, either - no, the pool of shadow had been too small as it swept over the edge, too contained to be a form of cloaking or light obscuration. I dropped my hand onto the hilt of the Saw-Spear as I continued to look around, preparing myself. My pursuer was here, and I finally had some clue of who or what it was. But it was nowhere near enough. Eliminating one option, even a rather sizable one like ‘it’s not an Aleran, in Alerar’, left far too many variables possible. I gritted my teeth, my attention fully focused on the patch of blackness that was slowly drawing nearer to me. They would make their move soon, and that would give me what I needed, I hoped.

I kept moving, slowly pacing back and forth as I scanned the fence. I never directly approached the shadows that marked my watcher, but as I walked back and forth on my small patch of ground that I was striding along, it drew closer on its own. So, they wished to ambush me, catch me off guard. Whoever this was, was sorely mistaken if they thought I didn’t know they were there. I was drawing them in, luring them closer - and then the tables would turn and I would finally know who was following me.

I was on my way back across the uneven ground, passing by one of the upright pillars that were holding up some of the half-finished building, when my mystery follower finally decided to make their move. They’d merged their patch of shadow with the shadows of the pillar, so if I hadn’t been keeping track of them very specifically, I would have had no idea that they were there. They were good, I was once again forced to think as the shadows erupted from the ground, and a form rushed at me out of the darkness.

If I had not been ready, had not been prepared and aware that they were there, that first assault could very well have finished me off. Limbs blurred around me, lashing out from multiple angles, trying to entrap me and bring me down, sharp, catching claws tearing through the air at my clothes, at my garments. But - but I had been ready, had known that the attack was coming. I dropped to the ground, dodging beneath the flurry of strikes. If I didn’t have abnormal reflexes, if I wasn’t faster than a normal being - the attack could have ripped me open. It didn’t.

I hit the ground and rolled back to my feet, the Saw-Spear snapping out from its sheathe as I stared at the beast that had attacked me. It was - similar, dreadfully so, to a drider. Spider-like body, monstrous and grotesque, bulbous and hairy with eight limbs. Six legs held it off the ground as it turned around to face me, black and chitinous as the claws on the end dug into the earth beneath our feet. But if that was the case, then it would have just been a giant spider, a bit unsettling but not too bad. No, what made it disgusting and repugnant, and impossible, was the humanoid head that glared at me with a ferocious hatred. Unlike a normal drider, there was no torso with the head - it was just a head, twisted and contorted to replace the spider’s head. Emerging from either side of the head were the remaining two limbs - ropy, thin things, like worms almost, with ominous looking stingers on the end. I swallowed, once, and shoved the revulsion down.

“Tststs You.” Aaaand it could speak. Its voice was unnatural, a grating yet reedy sound, and its eyes blazed with anger as it studied me. “You will feed me, Ar’Tuel” What. This thing thought that I was - that I was an Ar’Tuel?

Did that mean that it was hunting Amari? Had meant to pursue her? And what did it mean that I would feed it? I narrowed my eyes, my fingers tightening around the hilt of my weapon. I couldn’t let that slide. I might not be able to be close to her, but if some fucking spider thing was trying to find her, I was not going to let it go. I gave a loud snort.

“I don’t know what you want from me, fiend. But I won’t feed you a damn thing but my blade.” I flicked the Saw-Spear out to full extension, the jagged blade locking into place. The loud clack dragged the abnormal eyes of the thing in front of me down, to the blade, but they soon enough returned to me, burning with that hate - and now, I could see, a hunger. I snarled behind my facemask. I did not want this thing to ever lay those eyes on her.

“I will consume your essence, shining one. You will sleep forever and I will go on.” For a moment, I stilled. Consume my - consume Ar’Tuel essence. This thing preyed upon Ar’Tuel. It could kill her.

It could kill Amari.

That thought shot through me, and ice followed in its wake. Not shock, not fear. Fury. Rage so hot that it froze. This thing threatened her, this thing could kill her. No. Even if I had not already reached that decision, there was no way, no way at all that I could let this thing go even one step further than this night. It had to die, had to die here and fucking now. Silver tinted my vision as sound rushed away, my senses narrowing as rage drowned everything else. This fucking abomination thought it would kill me, thought it could kill Amari. It would not draw any breath come morning. I would bathe in this abomination’s blood for its gall to try to strike at her.

I crouched down, and the thing mirrored me. The two of us glared at each other across the shadow-strewn lot as the moonlight swirled around us. The spider-thing’s hate filled, pitch black eyes locked with my blazing silver gaze, and I did not know in that moment which of us desired the other’s death more. But I knew which of us would get their desire. My blade would drench the earth in this thing’s life blood, and it would expire here. I snarled, teeth bared behind the leather mask. The beast answered me with an inhuman shriek, an impossible cry that ripped through the night air.

In the back of my mind, behind the silver-tinged fury, I wondered how many people would hear that, how many would feel terror as the monstrous sound split the night. It was so obviously unnatural that I doubted any of the normal people, Alerans who relied on science and progress over magic and mysticism, would be able to process it. That was fine, though, wasn’t it? Because it wasn’t the normal person’s place to worry about the monsters in the night. It was mine. And I was a bigger monster than this spider could hope to be.

Which one of us moved first, I don’t know. All I know is that at some point, we were dashing, flowing back and forth as we attacked. Claws and stingers lashed out at me, trying to impale me and run me through. But without the advantage of his sneak attack, my eyes focused entirely on the abomination, I was able to easily weave my way through the strikes, shifting my body back and forth around the outstretched limbs, slipping past them with my own unnatural reflexes. I lashed out, trying to catch the thing’s leg with my Saw-Spear, but it managed to pull back, retreating out of the way of the jagged blade before I could catch it. I let out a low snarl again as I jumped back, narrowly avoiding the stab of one of the worm-like ‘arms’.

Back and forth the two of us went, neither one of us able to land a solid blow on the other. I could see why this thing was dangerous - it was fast, able to keep up with me, and it had far too many limbs. It was able to use its extra limbs adeptly, lifting onto just four legs at times so it could strike at me with both arms and two of its chitin covered legs. A normal person would not have been able to keep up with this monstrosity, would have been overwhelmed by the flurry of attacks.

I was able to keep up, barely. I was once more grateful for the genetic mutation I had subjected myself to when I was missing my memories - this was not the first time that the changes that had been wrought within my flesh had given me an edge against one of the beasts that haunted the night. I dropped out of the way of a blow, enhanced reflexes letting me slip my shoulder out of the way of the stinger. My foot scuffed the dirt, kicking up a small cloud of dust as I launched myself forward, throwing myself into the face of the spider-abomination. Its pitch black eyes widened, and its horrid mouth let out a guttural noise that I faintly registered as shock.

I didn’t have time to bring my blade around. Didn’t have time to punch or kick the thing. So - I slammed my head forward, smashing my face against the thing’s. My hat flew off my head as the spider beast reared back, and I staggered back myself as my head swam. That had been… stupid, but it had worked. The thing seemed dazed, and had clearly not been expecting the sudden attack. It shook its head, and glared at me as it leapt back further. It proved, here, that it was a spider, as its six legs smoothly clambering up the beams of the building. It hissed down at me, and I snarled back up at it. Damn thing, retreating where it thought I could not get it?

“You fight in vain, Ar’Tuel. I will feed tonight!” Again that rattling, ready, unnatural voice. I felt a glimmer of satisfaction in the back of my mind. This thing still thought I was an Ar’Tuel. I didn’t know why, but that was fine with me, if it meant that it was fighting me, dying here, instead of trying to go after Amari. I snapped the Saw-Spear into its primary state, the blade closing over my hand and shortening down. I was planning on jumping up there after the damn thing, and having the blade extended would just increase the likelihood of accidentally getting caught up in the ropes that were strung across the building. I crouched down, preparing to leap up - when the thing let out an unnatural shriek again. This time though, there was more than the ear-splitting sound.

A wave of black smoke shot out from the monstrosity’s mouth, expanding into a massive cloud. The dark cloud swept across the construction site with an alarming speed, and washed over me before even my enhanced reflexes could let me react. It - the cloud stank. It stank fiercely, like tar mixed with feces mixed with rotting flesh, and even through my treated face mask the smell was so strong that my throat closed up as my body tried to retch. My eyes watered as the pungent aroma washed over me, and I leapt to the side, throwing myself back as I tried to avoid what was obviously a follow-up attack.

Which…. Didn’t come? I rolled to my feet and stared up at the thing, as it glared back at me with a slack-jawed expression. I didn’t know if that boded well for me, or horribly. I quickly pulled my mask and spat to the side, trying to clear some of the utterly foul odour from my mouth, my eyes remaining locked on the abomination.

“NO!” The thing was now clearly enraged. What in the name of the moon was that cloud, that my being relatively unphased by it filled the abomination with so much anger that I could hear it dripping in a single word?

“No no no NO! You are supposed to be an Ar’Tuel!” It’s rage was distorting the spider-thing’s voice even more than it had been before, and just listening to the thing speak was making my head throb in pain. “You reek of their light! It clings to you!” That… I narrowed my eyes. That breath attack had been meant to make an Ar’Tuel weak then? Suffer, or possibly easy prey? Well - it seemed my game was up, this thing now realized that I wasn't what it sought.

“ I HUNGER. I will feed on your dregs then find the Ar’Tuel that has touched you so, and consume them!” The thing launched itself at me then, springing from the beams that it had been perched on. It was fast - faster than it had been up to this point. I had only a heartbeat or two before it hit me - too fast, this time, too fast for me to react to it was on me -

I shifted. Between one heartbeat and the next, as it shot through the air towards me, my body changed. It alteration started at my heart, rushing out through my body carried by my blood. My skin turned lighter, no longer coal black but a dusky gray.

The spider-abomination crashed into me, sending me sprawling. I bounced off the ground with a painful, dull ‘whump’. One of the tendril arms shot at me, trying to stab my stomach. I didn't have the reflexes to avoid the attack, not now changed like I was. But what I did have was defence.

The stinger slammed into my skin. Pain blossomed across my gut, a throbbing ache. But - the stinger bounced off, skittered across my skin, tearing a hole in my clothes. Bared to the night air and the light of the moon, my stomach was a pebbly gray. The monster stared down at me in confusion, it's hideous face twisted as it tried to understand what it had failed to stab me. I snarled, and punched.

The spider reared back, letting out a twisted, shrieking cry as a purplish ichor flew from its mouth. My fist had crumpled in its chin and shattered teeth. I rise back to my feet, wincing as the ache in my stomach told me that even with my stone skin, I would be bruising. I flipped myself up to my feet, landing heavily. My feet crunched into the soil below before I kicked my dropped weapon back up into my hand. It must have flown when I was knocked to the ground, but with the spider recovering I had a chance to breathe.

Breathing heavily, blood dripping from its face, the abomination snarled at me. I snarled back, letting the stone recede from my skin slowly. While the added defense was useful, what I really needed was the speed and reflexes to hit this thing. I couldn’t rely on letting myself get hurt to give me openings to hurt it back. I let the Saw-Spear swing back to its locked position, and readied myself as the abomination snarled at me again. It seemed that its anger and fury were robbing it of its ability to speak.

That suited me just fine though. This thing’s voice hurt to listen to, made my brain ache in unusual ways. SO if it was losing the coherence of speech - all the better. But then it was moving again, scuttling along the ground rapidly towards me. Fast, damn fast, but without the added speed from launching itself from a height at me, it was manageable. It was time to start turning the tables on this abomination, I couldn’t let it fucking leave here and hunt her down. I crouched down as it rushed at me.

Then sprang forward, intercepting it. The damascus edge of the Saw-Spear bit into its hide, tearing into it, leaving a gash along its flesh. The creature let out a howl and smacked at me, trying to hit me with one of its legs, but my rolling lunge carried me out of the way of the retaliatory strike before the creature even began it. I rose to my feet behind the thing, dirt and dust falling from my clothes as the drider’s purplish ichor dripped to the ground from the tear on its flank. It hissed at me as one of its waving ‘arms’ pressed against the wound, and I felt a vicious grin split my lips.

It could bleed. I could hurt it. That meant I could slay it. I know my punch had already shown that I could hurt it - but there was just something so, so, satisfying about carving into the beast with my blade, and watching its blood fall to the ground. I felt it, then, that creeping, darkening hunger in the back of my mind. This thing bled. And I would make it bleed, for daring to threaten Ri. It wanted to hurt what was mine. And while I was not yet strong enough to free her - oh, I was strong enough to make this thing suffer for its arrogance.

I didn’t know why this thing said I ‘smelt’ of her light, but that didn’t matter. It had chosen poorly, wrongly, and now it had come to its death. The two of us stared at each other for a moment longer - and then the beast rushed me again, darting across the ground. It was foolish - but not stupid. It was probably ready for me to try jumping past it again, might even be counting on it. So I didn’t. I ran forward, and my eyes could see the way its waving arms spread to the side, no doubt readying for me to jump by so it could stab me.

Instead, I hit the ground, sliding beneath it. Stone, rock, and dirt ground against my back through my clothes, and I swung upwards, trying to gouge out some of the beast’s stomach. The drider abomination was having none of that, though, as it leapt upwards, narrowly dodging the edge of the jagged blade. Damn. I jumped back to my feet as the creature landed nearby, staggering a bit as it did so. I could see that bloodloss was starting to get to it, at least somewhat. I triggered the mechanism on the Saw-Spear, the blade swinging out and locking into position, and readied myself. I was done with this thing.

It was wounded, weakening. I was bruised, but still relatively whole. We both knew who had the upper edge here and now, as we stared at each other under the light of the moon. It couldn’t retreat - if it needed Ar’Tuel essence to continue living, then it likely couldn’t heal naturally, which meant that it needed to kill me to consume whatever ‘light’ remained in me, before it could try to go for its next victim. Its distorted eyes flicked away from me, scanning the area around us, leaving my form for only a moment or two.

Too long. As its eyes left me, I sprang into action, hurling myself forward, finally going on the offensive and taking the fight to the beast. The tip of the Saw-Spear dug into the earth as I ran, tearing a light trench in the soil of the construction site with every step I took. Those twisted eyes returned to me, widening as it realized its mistake - but by then it was too late, I was in its face and lashing out. The Saw-Spear swung forward, arcing upwards - and met where one of the abomination’s legs met its body. Jagged teeth bit into hardened exoskeleton - and the carapace lost.

With a grunt of exertion and a twist, my blade tore upwards, ripping through chitin, flesh, and sinew. Purple-black ichor gushed from the wound as the drider’s leg fell away, and I felt a surge of exultation run through my body as the thing let out a shriek of pain. I didn’t let up, though, and as the creature tried to move back and away, I stayed on it, moving forward to match its retreat. It let out another of those gaseous clouds, spewing that acrid, putrid smoke directly into my face as I pursued it.

I ignored it. To me, this cloud was nothing more than a foul smelling smoke, even if it did make me slightly dizzy for a moment. Nowhere near enough to stop my dogged approach. But now - now the thing was injured in a big way, there was a gaping hole right there in arm’s reach. I let the Saw-Spear fall to the ground from my hand, and it clattered loudly as it bounced off stone as the two of us moved away from it.

The beast apparently thought this meant that its cloud had actually affected me, because it stopped fleeing. That was a big mistake on its part, because it meant that I was moving even closer as it stopped - and then the spot where the leg had met the body before I severed it really was in arm’s reach. So I did.

My fingers sunk into the hole, digging into the meat there, burrowing through the resistance with ease. There was another shriek of pain from the abomination as my fingers hooked into the flesh, tearing through it. I held on as it tried to jump away, and I heard a cracking, splintering sound from its shell as I gripped it tight. My weight was just enough to keep it from moving, though the muscles in my fingers grew sore after that attempt. Still, I let a wide smile cover my face as the thing tried to scrabble backwards as I moved forwards, driving my hand deeper and deeper into its flesh.

But as I let my sadistic impulse run free - it cost me. I stopped paying attention to what the drider was doing, aside from its frantic attempts to back away from me as I drove my arm into its body. My hand and arm were buried almost up to my elbow at this point, and I could feel the hot, sticky flesh around my arm, and the warm rush of blood that was flowing down my side from the abomination’s injury. It was heady - exhilirating me in a way few things ever did. The way it squirmed and tried to get away as I flexed my hand, tearing and gouging at its insides brought a savage gleam to my eye. All that mattered to me right now was this - the pain I was inflicting on it.

Which is why, when the damn thing stabbed me in the stomach, I was not aware, not ready to move, unable to dodge. One of its waving tendril arms had finally wriggled into a position to exact retribution upon me, and the drider did so readily. The thing gouged into my stomach, and I felt the stinger emerge from me back. Blood dribbled from my wound as my eyes went wide in agony. It had torn straight through my guts, and out through my back, but luckily had missed my spine so I wasn’t paralyzed.

The two of us jumped away from each other, agony etched into our features. The burning in my stomach was hellish, and I could feel my head swim as bloodloss affected me. Damn it, damn it. I had gotten arrogant. This thing was a hunter, like me. Of course it could fight through pain. The thing hissed at me, and I snarled back.

“Hah. you will die now, tainted one. You can’t heal from that.” Damn, it could still speak. But it was getting weaker, because the unnatural, brain jarring tone to its words was fainter, less prevalent. Of course, so was its voice in the first place. I shook my head, once. This was a nasty wound, extremely painful, and if I wasn’t careful, might have killed me. But on its own, if nothing else happened - I would heal, in time. I smirked - and saw the anger on the thing’s face. “No!” Ah, it realized I would heal. The black cloud washed out, over me - and for the first time, I could feel it affecting me. My gut burned, the edges of the injury stinging and hurting in a way I had never felt before. It felt like each and every nerve had been set on fire, dipped in acid, then frozen. It let out a wheezing, maniacal cackle - and I leaped back, snatching up the Saw-Spear. The movement sent a fresh wash of pain surging through my body, and it nearly sent me to my knees in agony.

But I pushed through it, pushed on. I had to. If I died - then this thing would eat me. Then it would go after Ri. And my stupid Dawn-Girl would accept that with open fucking arms right now. I couldn’t let that happen.

I.

Could.

Not.

So I pushed on, ignoring the way I felt my intestines trying to shift, sliding around in the newly vacant space inside my stomach. It was a rather unique pain, one that I had never felt before, a sensation that I vehemently hoped I would never experience again. But I ignored it. I wasn’t crippled, heavily injured but not crippled. I could still move, could still fight. And this thing could still die.

The drider abomination was reeling itself - its movements were slow, sluggish, as it tried to back away from me. I advanced, step by step, picking up speed as I blotted out the pain in my stomach. I broke into a run - and the creature let out a terrified shriek. The sound sent a tremor of vicious pleasure down my spine. It was scared of me, knew what was coming. The creature tried to protect itself - one of its stinger arms shot out at me, trying to impale me once again.

I wasn't distracted this time. I was angry, furious, and it was slowing down as its lifeblood pumped out of the hole I had plunged my fist into. As the wavering arm raced towards me I shifted, dropping out of the way of the strike. The stinger shot over my shoulder - and I snapped my blade up, tearing along the fleshy arm with my blade. The creature let out a shuddering cry as its blood gushed from the wound, cascading down onto my side and back. That arm was well and truly maimed now, dropping limply to the ground like a giant noodle.

Then I crashed into the monstrosity, my shoulder slamming into its face as I hit it at full speed. The impact jarred my stomach injury, and a wave of fresh, hot agony rolled across my body. But I pushed through, clenching my teeth hard enough to hear them grind audibly, and smashed my fist into the reeling drider’s chin. I didn't want this damn thing trying to buy itself time with its breath attack again, or trying to flee from me.

It tried though, scrabbling backwards on punch-drunk legs, wobbling like an off-kilter top as it tried to get away. Stunned, missing a leg, an arm crippled - I was not surprised when the thing lost its footing on the uneven soil beneath us. It went down in a heap, crashing to the ground in a jangled, purple-streaked mess. Before it could hope to recover I struck again, darting closer to its prone form. My blade lashed out, tearing into the soft flesh of the stinger arm that was still uninjured.

Far more easily than before, the Saw-Spear tore through flesh, creating a jagged, ripped up stump. Then I spun my blade around and plunged it into the ground, the curved teeth glistening with the creature’s blood just in front of its eyes. I knelt down, ignoring the way my own purple blood was staining my clothes from the hole in my abdomen.

“You die here, fiend.” I spat the words out through my pain. There was a moment of silence, the still night air hanging. Like the world was holding its breath, anxious to see what the inhuman thing did.

I had to admit I wasn't expecting it to begin laughing, a disgusting, twisted, warped sound that grated on my ears. Each laugh sent a fresh wave of its blood - or ichor perhaps, it was rather thick now that I had a moment to look closer - surging from each of its wounds.

“Ha. I die here, you die tomorrow, tainted one. If you are all that is left of the Ar’tuel, then my poison is incurable. Only their blasted light can heal it once it has set. Ha, hahahhahaha-” its wheezing, warped laughter cut off as a gush of blood shot from its lips. I stared at it in shock. What? Was that - was that why the burning hadn't abated in my stomach? I gritted my teeth. Damn him. Damn this thing to hell.

I knew an Ar’Tuel. Knew her well. Ri. There was no way I was telling this thing of her existence though - I didn't know if it was the only one of its kind, or if there was a legion of these spidery abominations lurking in the shadows, itching for any word from this one.

“Then I die knowing you failed.” I forced myself to my feet, using the Saw-Spear as a crutch to push myself up. The creature’s black eyes swiveled to follow me as I rose, looming over its collapsed form. That moon-damned smile stretched across its lips, and I snared. It started to say something - to mock me one last time, to spout off some insult or something. I didn't let it.

In one fluid motion I tore my blade from the ground and planted it into the abomination’s forehead with a cracking squelch. Its black eyes went wide, staring at the jagged damascus buried in its head. Then with a shudder, its face went slack, eyes going blank. I ripped the jagged weapon free, sending a slight shower of bone and viscera scattering onto the ground, and the creature collapsed fully, sinking down to the ground as the last vestiges of life left its rapidly cooling carcass.

I sagged down, nearly falling back to the ground myself. Adrenaline had been what kept me going through the pain - adrenaline and sheer rage at the gall of the abomination, at its temerity to try to kill me, and Amari. With the threat dead, though… the burning pain in the hole in my stomach was nearly enough to make me black out. That was when something astonishing happened.

The damn body began to dissolve into a black sludge. It was like it was decaying in accelerated time - its carapace cracked and splintered, thinning out and gaining holes all over. The fleshy bits that I could see sank inwards like a failed cake, turning to black goop at a rapid pace. Then the goop began eating away at what remained of the shell of the carapace, or the carapace also began to decay.

Age. This thing had been preying upon Ar’Tuel to keep itself alive for who knows how long, and now that death had caught up to it, time was reclaiming what it had been cheated of. I was watching unknown centuries, eons perhaps, take their toll all at once, and it was a disgusting sight. Thankfully, the decay was so rapid that there was barely a whiff of the smell of rotten, fetid meat, before it was gone. Soon all that remained of the drider monstrosity was a black slick on the ground that looked like spilled oil, and a gritty black dust that blew away in the next errant gust of night air.

Then I blinked, and I was at the gate. Lock torn, chain dangling loose and free. Cobble beneath my feet. Concerned voices rushing around me - a few screams. Lights, bright and glaring shone in my eyes, flickering and dancing. A hard mattress - someone had stripped me? Scratchy sheets on my skin, covered only by bandages around my midsection.

Pain.

Darkness.

Thread Title: Along Came A Spider [Solo]
Type: Workshop
Full Rubric: No

The Huntsman receives:

EXP= 1300
GP= 150

Rewards to be added soon.

Rewards added.