Chapter ten Fallyn
Chapter ten
Fallyn
The cool metal of my new curved dagger felt comfortingly sturdy in my hand, though I may as well have my grip on a toothpick for all the good this thing was going to do me.
As this thing emerged from the corpse of its mother, I dove for the sword of the fallen, melted guard.
It was heavier than I’d anticipated but it felt so much more substantial, I couldn’t afford to care.
I put my dagger in my belt so my second hand was free to help point the sword in a way I hoped was menacing.
The childlike arachnid scuttled and oozed out of its deceased mother’s abdomen, chittering and clicking all the while.
Its head stayed at just the wrong angle, as if it were attached somewhat sideways.
Its movements were fast and sporadic. Unpredictable.
It was odd, watching two or three movements happen, followed by a brief, assessing pause.
“What in the name of the gods is that thing?” someone cried out. The thing’s head swiveled to it, a sadistic grin widening on its face.
“Attack!” one of the guards yelled. I heard one scream for a volley, and sure enough, archers appeared from above, as if Ares had sent them himself.
Fear dripped cold and thick down my spine as its too many eyes landed on me.
And paused. Even as blades came for it, its studying gaze didn’t leave me.
Its legs whipped out, skewering one guard and crossing blades with another.
While its body was soft, its legs glinted in the overhead sunlight.
It was made of or reinforced with a steel-like material.
Flames wouldn’t do much, not without prolonged exposure.
A plan formed in my head. One that would probably lead to my death, but here’s hoping.
The elements would do little good. I threw my magic at it, tying it down in thorns like I did its predecessor.
And I ran.
“Behind you! It’s coming!” someone screamed in warning behind me all too soon.
Good. I could lead it out of here before any more life was taken.
I ran as fast as my legs would carry me towards the forest behind the city. Into the foothills of the mountain where the dense, dark forest reigned supreme. I could lose it in there.
I could hear it behind me, slow at first as it shook off my creeping vines.
My heart stopped in my chest, fluttering before picking up again double-time.
Fear in the air was palpable. Electric. And belonging entirely to me.
The sword felt heavy in my hand, slowing me down, but I didn’t dare drop it as I raced through the winding path toward the trees.
I turned the corner as fast as I dared, hearing it struggle to turn with me.
Its razor-edged feet scraped the stone road, sending sparks everywhere as it struggled to find purchase.
I surged ahead, relief building at the sight of my goal straight ahead: the forest’s edge, the canopy above providing sufficient shadows to hide in and large trunks to break the line of sight. Perhaps turn it onto easier prey.
My lungs and my limbs were burning, trying desperately to outdo one another. I desperately sucked in air to fuel my legs as I pumped them harder still, racing for the exit. If I could get this thing outside of Este Valnor, the people within would be safe. Myself, on the other hand…
I would figure it out. It was just born, how smart could it be? I risked a glance over my shoulder to see its face far too close to mine for my liking. Like it could snag me now if it chose.
It was playing with its food.
Fucking gods. My magic whirred along the surface of my skin, snapping and chaotic, a defensive energy of its own, a last-ditch effort to deter this thing as it chittered tauntingly behind me.
I swear I felt its breath on my neck. With a scream that was as much revulsion as it was terror, I flung my newfound sword at it, the movement jerky and largely uncoordinated with my momentum carrying me the opposite direction.
It made a jeering sound that reminded me of a taunting laugh, but it was far enough back from me that I couldn’t have cared less if it laughed at me.
I’d earned my breathing room I was so desperate for.
The thing about spiders was when you knew where they were, they were less scary. It was when you lost track of them and you didn’t know where it’d turn up next that haunted you.
So, of course I’d lost it. And of course it wasn’t the other way around.
I didn’t know how, so I certainly wasn’t stupid enough to trust that I was actually successful.
I kept my new dagger in front of me to guide my way with violence if the need arose, battling my fear that begged me to turn heel and flea.
Instead, I surveilled the area, while opting for stealth over speed.
I turned, my eyes sweeping every outline of every tightly packed bush, shadow, and hollow.
The lack of any kind of noise, no birds, no scurrying animals, no twigs snapping, told me more than my eyes could.
I was still very much not alone. It was only confirmed when my foot refused to take another step, no matter how hard I tried.
Glancing down, it wasn’t hard to see why.
Sticky white filaments stuck my leather boot to the forest floor.
A cold sweat dripped down my back in the single moment before all hell broke loose.
Figuratively speaking. With trembling fingers, I fumbled for the dagger in my belt loop, desperate to to cut the sticky silk away.
It wasn't soft like thread, like it looked.
It was wet. Fibrous, and clinging stubbornly to everything it touched—including the dagger.
I pulled hard, my heartbeat rioting in my ears, but the silk had taken it.
I would have laughed bitterly if it wouldn't have given my position away.
"Come on," I pleaded, trying once more to violently wrench it from the sticky fibers. When that didn't work, I turned my attention back to my boot. I eyed the dagger with frustration, hating abandoning the weapon. "Come on. Please."
A gurgle that was most likely an excited laugh drew my gaze upward. Its greyish, mottled skin, like that of a corpse, was well concealed in the dense foliage. Its legs held it aloft above me, out of my immediate line of sight. My pulse lurched.
“Fallyn.”
Its lips—if it had lips—didn’t move, but its head cocked further to the side.
It knew my name. Hades below, what was this thing?
I gritted my teeth at the monster as it crept closer to me.
But I was far from done or defenseless. I ripped my boot off, content enough to leave it there in the web despite all the coin I’d spent to get them.
The sticky web wasn’t quite everywhere. It was doing its best to drive me towards it.
Raising my sword and my magic to my defense, I leapt forward, grateful to feel the dry, non-adhesive ground beneath my socked foot, even with the bite of pain as roots stabbed into it.
I didn’t wait around to be excited. I threw my weapon up with all my strength as I sought to pass under the spider’s belly, hacking and slashing as I went.
The clang of metal on metal was enough to make my heart pound, far too close to my head for my liking.
It hissed, I couldn’t tell if it were surprise or pain as my sword dragged through—something. I didn’t see.
My sword must have hit though. A drag slowed me momentarily and I was spattered in something putrid, green and acidic. I screamed through the burn as it ate away at my skin, my clothing. I didn’t dare stop. I didn’t dare look behind me.
“Fal-lyn.” Its voice stretched my two-syllable name, drawing it out between that chittering sound, its tone completely without expression of any kind.
Its non-demonic voice sent another tremor of horror down my spine, fueling my legs further into a run. I had no destination, nowhere to go. I just had to run.
“Fallyn!”
This time when I heard my name, it wasn’t the toneless, unnatural voice it had been using. My legs almost stopped moving.
“Father?”
I knew it wasn’t my father. He was gone, but his voice jarred my mind, stuttering my steps just enough. My knees softened as the pain of my father’s death returned to me through the hellish realness of this demon’s mimicry, and it was the opening the spider needed.
It attacked, launching at me the way I’d seen spiders lunge at what was caught in their webs.
I got my blade up just as its fang sunk into the tender flesh of my shoulder.
Searing, burning agony ripped through me.
Sparks of flame poured through my arm, rendering it useless.
The only thing that gave me hope was that I wasn’t alone.
Its gods-awful scream rang through the air, tangoing with my own.
My arm was useless, the pain unspeakable, but my hand was white-knuckled on my sword which was plunged into the heart of the spider.
“Go back…” I gritted my teeth to get my voice above the pain, “to the hell that spat you out.” I twisted the blade, watching it squirm.
Through the fiery anguish in my shoulder, I twisted, relishing in its screams. It reversed, slowly, dislodging my blade from its abdomen.
It hissed at me, its body caving in on itself like a spider that had just been drenched in a waterspout.
This was my chance.
I advanced, thrusting the dagger at it in warning. “Do you want another bite?”
It retreated with a weak roar, though I had no doubt it was watching, waiting in the shadows.
I retreated backwards, not giving the demon my back.
I picked up my pace, wincing as the burn down my arm and hand intensified.
I was forced to drop the dagger, the metal of the hilt hissing and beginning to bubble.
I cringed. If that’s what the metal looked like, I was fearful of seeing my shoulder.
It sure felt a lot like that. As predicted, the monster lunged again, slower this time, green acid pouring from its open wound.
The same acid that was dissolving my flesh currently.
I would not die here.
I lashed out with my magic, thinking of something sharp and pointy.
I closed my eyes, both to focus on my magic at the center of me, and so if death plucked me from this realm, I wouldn’t see it coming.
A scream let me know I was successful, but when I opened my eyes to a blurry sight before me, I knew I was running out of time.
The thing wasn’t dead. But it was on the ground convulsing around a myriad of wooden spears in its soft underbelly and screaming and that was good enough for me. I turned and fled.
I ran as fast as my weakened legs would carry me, listening for signs of pursuit: twigs breaking, branches bowing, leaves being trampled.
None reached me and I couldn’t tell if that were a blessing or a curse.
I ran blindly through the pain, hoping I was running in the direction of Este Valnor.
If I could get there, they would get me to Thaddeus.
He could heal me. He could save my shoulder. But I just had to get there.