Six of Ruin (Heirs of Irenwell #1) ✔

Chapter 18: Devouring Fears

I froze.

I forgot anything else existed.

Disgust filled me from head to toe.

Voices and sounds drowned out and all I could hear was the gentle tap and my raging heartbeat. Nausea filled me and I wasn't capable of turning around.

My mind swarmed with random thoughts. I was in a hollow tree trunk, small, confined space.

Safe from the wolves, sure.

But I stumbled into someone's home.

Oh, Goddess.

Mustering all possible courage I possessed, I turned my head slowly.

Eight-legged, hairy creature, larger than my own head, hung on the silver, silken thread, its eyes fixated on me. All eight of them.

Its hairy legs touched the top of my shoulder, almost as if caressing me.

I stared at the spider, my jaw clenched, my heart stuck in my mouth. The spider stared at me, as if politely asking me to get the fuck out of its house.

I've never felt such overwhelming fear. My mind could not comprehend, I could not move. Its legs dangled in the air, brushing against me, sending waves of nausea through my body.

I was going to faint.

The rational part of my mind began tugging at me. Colours were important, right? In the darkness of the tree trunk, the spider appeared black, but it could have been brown.

Which ones were poisonous?

Fuck.

Slowly, I moved away from the arachnoid creature, but the space was too confined for my taste. The staring contest continued.

Until my vision blurred and Rixen pulled me into his mind again.

He was on the ground, branches scratching against his skin, digging through his tunic. Blunt pain gripped his muscles and bones.

The wolf was on top of him, its canines almost grazing his skin. Rixen pushed the wolf away, but he was pinned to the ground.

Out, out, out.

I blinked, returning to the tree trunk and my fellow arachnoid, which was now on the ground, slowly climbing up my leg.

I screamed and pushed it off, but the spider caught my silver shoe and wouldn't let go. I shook and I shook, with utter desperation, until its grip loosened and it ran away from me.

I breathed in, blood pumping through my veins.

The outside world finally reached me. Rixen managed to get up, but he staggered back, apparently lost somewhere else.

"Fuck." I said out loud. "I'm pulling him in."

"Yes!" Rixen shouted. "Stop it! Damn it! It's a spider!"

Alright, alright. I took in a sharp breath and turned to the spider. It cocked its head to the side and for a moment it felt like it was mocking me.

I lifted my shaky finger, trying to appear intimidating, "Alright. Hello spider. I am going to call you Amelia and if you try to bite me or climb on my leg, I will scream."

The spider did not seem to understand the message.

I imagined the panic coursing through me and leaving my body in waves.

The spider moved and I screamed.

"Stop it! Stop that!"

The spider stopped.