Arachnid

Chapter One

Solar sweep XXXX
Day 6

I don't know what to do. She's just so hungry. She's gotten to 8e too 8ig to leave the hive. Now I have to find the food for her. The only thing she eats is the corpses of passed on trolls. Am I supposed to kill people? I can never picture myself committing such a cri

THUD.

As I heard a sudden unknown sound coming from my left, I jumped in surprise and got to my feet. I turned toward where the sound had come from. In front of me was another troll. A lower blood, from the looks of his clothes. A couple of leaves fell down swiftly on top of him. Connecting the dots, it would appear he had just fallen from the tree I had my back against as I wrote in my journal.

In a panicked tone, the first thing I asked him was, "A-Are you okay?" What a stupid question. I mentally face palmed at my ignorance. Of course he's not okay. He just fell about seven feet on to his head! However, the troll stood up and gave me a goofy looking grin.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," he told me, scratching the back of his head. "Don't worry about me. At least I didn't land on you!" He began to chuckle a little, which slowly got quieter and faded away. I scanned the troll up and down. His horns were long and sticking out the sides of his head. I didn't see a lot of trolls with horns like his. His hair was spiked up with reddish-orange streaks. His black and orange shirt had no sleeves and his legs were covered with plain black pants; typical clothing for a lowblood.

I held my journal close to my chest, still trying to re-catch my breath. He was a little bit taller than me, but for some reason, I didn't feel intimidated. Maybe it was just how much he smiled, despite not even knowing who I was. I was clearly much higher than him, but all he did was smile.

"What were you doing up there?" I asked him, adjusting my glasses. His eyes widened a little. He tilted his head to the side as he spoke.

"You know, just.... basic rust blood stuff." Rust blood. I'm not sure who started that trend, but whoever did clearly has no heart. Calling a low blood such a name is disgraceful. It saddened me that this boy accepted the label.

I shouldn't even be speaking to this troll. A blue blood like myself should stick with my own kind. A real tragedy, but that's just how this world worked. I suppose a little talk wouldn't kill me. After all, nobody else is around right now.

My mind was immediately changed at the sound of a distant screech. Oh, no. It's her. This is so embarrassing.

"Uh.... Um.... I really need to go." I started to turn the other way to head back to my hive, but was stopped by the boy grabbing my wrist. I could actually feel the blue on my face. If I had a top eight list of most embarrassing moments of my life, this would be one of them. I turned my head to face him, my journal covering up to my eyes.

Realizing what he had done, he quickly let go. "S-Sorry! I just, uh.... really wanted to know your name.... before you left. I can start. I'm Rufioh. Rufioh Nitram." I heard another screech from afar, even louder than the last.

"Serket," I said. "Aranea Serket!" Without letting him say anything else to me, I ran. I ran back to my hive, the source of the piercing noises. Well, not the hive itself. But what lied inside it.

I climbed up the slightly steep slant of rocks and boulders until I reached the opening. My hive was built into the side of a mountain. It was the only place big enough for her. My lusus, Spidermom. I stepped into the hive and walked toward her, stopping about five feet away. I had to cover my ears from all of her rage. Goodness, was she huge. She takes up so much space, the hive might as well be hers. Which is precisely the reason she's so angry. I had to calm her down once again.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you can't leave the hive and hunt." I started to reach out my hand to touch her forehead, but she made a low growl. I pulled my hand away and continued. "I can't hunt for you. That's murder." Angry with me, she screeched out once more. I had no choice. "Okay, okay. I can.... try to find you some food."

I left my hive keeping my poor, starving lusus. I really didn't want to kill anybody, but my life is on the line here. She's going to eat me eventually if she doesn't get any other food. One main problem was my closest friend. She is extremely strict with rules and laws. She would never forgive me if I killed trolls for lusus lunch. I just don't know what to do.

I sat on a rock ledge of the mountain outside the hive. On the ground was a group of lower bloods, but not much lower than me, playing a game with a throwing disc. They looked like they were having lots of fun. It must be a wonderful feeling to have so many friends and not having to worry about keeping your lusus alive. You know what would be nice? If an accident miraculously happened right in front of me. Maybe the throwing disc is thrown too hard, or it hits the wrong place in the body.

What am I thinking? These are such dark thoughts. Is this because of my lusus, or is this just who I am? It certainly must be Spidermom. I would never think such things. But I really do need a dead troll right now.

"I'm doomed," I mumbled glumly. "I should feed myself to her now and get it over with." Before I do that, I needed to write a note to anybody who cared about me enough to wonder where I had gone, which isn't too many people. I wasn't the best at making friends, but for some reason, I was quite talented at unintentionally making enemies. What a life I'm fated to have. A life about to end short.

When I turned back toward my hive, I stopped and looked up. A much taller troll towered over me. She wore a long, green dress with a zig zag pattern going down the middle. Most of her hair was cut short. The only exception was two long strands that reached down to her waist. Her horns were also very long, and they curled into a loop. Her eyes weren't normal, either. They simultaneously flashed multiple colours, the left never matching with the right. It wasn't her appearance that startled me. It's what she had in her hands.

In her left hand was two sticks I assumed were weapons. They had an aura around them, colours flashing the same as her eyes did. In her right, she held a troll. A bloody, lifeless troll. It took me a minute to realize who this woman was. I began to take small steps away from her.

"Y-You're....!" I had stepped too far. Before I realized it, my foot stepped over the edge. My eyes shut tightly, but I didn't feel myself fall. Instead, I felt an arm around my torso as I was pulled back forward. "You're.... the Demoness."

The Demoness. I didn't know she really existed. She was more of just rumours and myths spread around to scare people. I had done my research. The immortal Demoness who no longer speaks because her former master never allowed her to. Nobody knows why, but the Demoness is well known for ending the lives of young trolls. Why had she saved me? Logically, such a person should have allowed me to fall to my death right there.

The Demoness let go of me. Suddenly, she held out the dead troll to me. Was she actually giving me a dead body? Carefully, I took hold of it. It didn't smell too bad, so I assumed it was recently killed.

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked her, less scared of her than before. She took the sticks she was holding in each hand and she began to spell out words in thin air. Even the words flashed colours.

Do not be afraid. I will not harm you. Take the troll. Feed your lusus. I ask of nothing in return.

She raised a stick and pointed it over my head. I spun around to face the way it was pointing. More words appeared in front of me.

There is hidden area near where I lurk. You will be able to find it without trouble. Whenever you need to feed your lusus, take from there.

The words vanished. I looked back to thank the Demoness, but nobody was there. I felt a sudden burst of happiness. I could finally feed Spidermom without worry. I don't know why the Demoness didn't just kill me on the spot, but that thought didn't matter to me. I dragged the body she gave me back into my hive.

"Look, Mom! I have food for you!" I exclaimed proudly. I set it down in front of her. She hungrily devoured the body, getting swamp green blood in her fangs. She let out pleased noises. I have never been more happy than I was right now. I knew one troll wasn't going to be enough. I set out to the hidden area to get more.