Bloodlines

Chapter 6: Old Habits, Old Vices

Sylvia stood up, brushing the dirt from her trousers. She could barely hear the scurry of the spiderlings as they hurried after their brood mother, frantically trying to keep up with her wild pace. Sylvia sheathed her two scimitars, they made a gentle clink noise as they hit the bottom. She then picked up the trail, and started after her companion.

"Moron," she muttered, "always cleaning up after his messes, getting him out of trouble."

She grumbled as she maintained a light jog, surprised at how fast the spider had hauled ass out of there, dragging Darian behind it. She could visibly see where he was dragged, with broken twigs here, clumps of web there. This was not a new thing with Darian, Sylvia had often had to save him while they were on a hunt as teenagers. This situation reminded her of the time they had hunted a werewolf pack together. This is the story Darian had brought up in the tavern a few nights ago, with the two-headed werewolf.

"You got yourself into a different sort of sticky situation," Sylvia giggled, reminiscing. Darian had fallen head over heels for a young boy in the local village, even taking him out for a drink. Turns out, he had been in the two-headed werewolf's pack, and was supposedly scoping out the hunters and their skills, acting as a form of spy. Broke Darian's heart to pieces, but breakups are a little easier after you decapitate the guy.

Sylvia cut her memories short as she approached a dense patch of forest, covered in large spiderwebs. The stench was worse here, and Sylvia had to pinch her nose as she peered over a ledge into a gaping black hole. The entrance was covered in web, and a few smaller more normal sized spiders scurried around the entrance.

"Bingo," Sylva said, her nose curling at the smell. She had found the nest, and undoubtedly Darian's location. Steeling her courage, she entered the cave. Inside it was warm, slightly damp with the distinct smell of corpses. She soon stopped suddenly as she heard a sharp snap, and looked down to find human bones.

"That explains the smell," she whispered to herself, making sure to watch her step. Although insectoids rely on their sense of smell, making loud noises sure wasn't helping her any. As she made her way through the cavern, nose pinched, she soon happened upon a large raveen. Peering down, she saw it went further down than the eye could see. Luckily, Sylvia traced the trail of Darian's body going across the raveen. So with a quick jump, she made it across and found herself in a large cavern. In it dangling from the room, were multiple bodies all wrapped up in cocoons of silk, lifeless and motionless. This appeared to be the "kitchen".

"Darian!" she whispered harshly. She could not tell if he was here, however saw no further trails leading from the room. With no other options, she decided he had to be one of these bodies.

"Screw it," she said, and got out her knife set. Using her throwing knives, she started cutting people down, careful to catch each body as it fell to avoid raising the alarm. Some bodies were still alive, and Sylvia had to cut them free to check if it was her friend. Others crumbled as she caught them, clearly all bone having had the life and blood sucked out of them. Finally, she found Darian in one of the cocoons.

"There you are, come on now," she whispered, gently patting him on the face as she cut away the web. The others were beginning to stir, about five in total not including herself and Darian. Darian's eyes flickered open.

"Sylvia? What are you doing at the day spa?" He asked dazed, clearly not with it yet. Sylvia rolled her eyes, helping him to his feet. He soon realized where he was, and his eyes opened wide.

"Oh no, no way not this," he said, looking around for his weapons. His axe had fallen directly below him when the spider hung him up, and as he picked it up a few spider lings crawled out from underneath.