Drachne

Warning: The strangest reluctance scene you've ever read.

Also, thinks are about to start getting... Weird.

---

"Whatever you're planning, stop." Suleos declared as he arrived in the elven camp.

He saw the commander leaning on a tree stump beside a fire. Beside the man and trembling was a tiny rattan woman. She squealed as she spotted him, disappearing into the undergrowth with a spray of dirt and mud-stained feet. The commander gave an irritated sigh, and rubbed a couple days growth on his chin, "And who exactly are you?"

"Saint Suleos. The bastard who is here to kill your arachne." He snapped, "Who the fuck are you?"

The elf sighed, "Then the empress got one of my messages, at least. I am Lord Leolian. The bastard who knows where your arachne is. And who her allies are."

The unigrad smiled grimly and approached the fire, "Point made. Unfortunately, I know firsthand how fucking hard to kill that they are. I killed her mother, and had hoped I'd got all the eggs. What can you tell me?"

"This here, is Reet. He was her prisoner." Leolian waved at an elf, "I have to assume she allowed him to escape on purpose. She's not the one behind the draug, apparently... But she did turn Lord Elan into a lich. And Elan killed the other surviving arachne you let escape."

Suleos winced, "How sure are you that she isn't forging an undead army, Reet?"

"Girl doesn't know what the fuck she is." The elf replied, "But that's not going to last. She's got three servants of her mother, teaching her. Mostly teaching her how to fucking breed, right now."

"Servants?" Suleos' stomach dropped, "An adderan, a lamia, and a salamander, by chance?"

Reet blinked in surprise, "No salamander... A torug. How the fuck did you know?"

"I told you. I killed Vess." Suleos replied flatly, "But we're right fucked. Palantok by himself is a curse like the kitsune pissing on us from on high. However... Vestra is the real danger. That bitch... Godsdamn, I had hoped she'd stay fucking buried."

Leolian frowned, "Palantok's grip on reality seems... Weak. He summoned a godsdamned fortress out of the ground, but maybe we can utilise his madness. I had thought the torug would be the greatest threat. Being an immortal, and everything."

"I'm immortal. The torug is just hard to kill." Suleos shook his head, "No, Vestra is the biggest threat. Just thank the gods that Kisten isn't with them, yet. The lamia was the old queen's eggbearer. Which, unfortunately, means that her spirit is intertwined with that of the new queen. She has access to the arachne's magic. And skill like no mage you've ever known."

The commander winced, "This darkness? Any hints what the arachne is up to?"

"She's angry. Undisciplined." Suleos shrugged it off. "Let me run things down for you. See what more you can tell me. The torug is a demigod. Thank the fuck. It means he's forbidden from attacking any living champion of another god. All of you are fucked, but I belong to the Golden Kitsune. He can't lift a hand against me. Saint isn't a pointless title."

"Another god? Hard to believe we're against the divines here, but who does he serve?" Leolian asked, showing doubt but intelligence.

Suleos winced, "If it's the same one as Vess had? He's a slave to the Green Goddess. Who hates the Golden Mountain for destroying half the Tangles in creating the empire. Sorry. Gods are... Difficult, at the best of times. They have no sympathy for our lives. We're just tools."

Leolian nodded grimly, "Noted. Next?"

"The Great and Wondrous Palantok." Suleos winced. "In his era, he was the foremost mage in the entire world. He's probably a bit slower, now he's older. However... You know the gateways? The fast travel points scattered that the humans used to establish their empire?"

The elf nodded, "They wouldn't have conquered us without them. Once we knew Kaden had deciphered their use, we tried our best to find a way to break them, but utterly failed. The only one that was destroyed, that I know of, was destroyed by Irrlichdan."

Suleos nodded, "Palantok invented them. He was the chief mage of the Aurasine Empire. You can guarantee a fortress summoned by his hand has distorted reality around it. It's unlikely that a catapult could actually hit the walls. The adderan is... Creative. A force sent to sneak in may trigger a trap and find themselves in multiple locations at once. Not dead. A soul divided, a mind fractured. He prefers insanity as his weapon of choice, over death."

"Shit."

The unigrad rubbed one of his temples, "Understatement. And just so we're clear... Adderans have exactly zero use for their eyes. This darkness won't be affecting him. He sees by tasting the air. You're at a massive disadvantage."

"Makes sense. I assumed as much. Like the lamia, in that way." Leolian stated, "Now... What makes her access to the arachne's magic so terrifying?"

Suleos sighed deeply, "Arachne magic... It's bound up with time. If you were to attack Vestra, and she survives the first strike... Then she'll turn back the clock. You'll do the exact same attack, unaware, but she'll be waiting for you. There are limits. She can only step back a few moments, and her injuries won't be turned back. But... You can't kill her."

"You don't just mean hard to kill. She could be taken out by attrition, too many attacks to avoid them all. There's something more." Leolian observed.

He nodded grimly, "Vestra can't die until the arachne does. Their spirits are intertwined. And you can bet your ass if you try and murder that bitch, Vestra will be undoing it. Both have to die, simultaneously, with a single strike."

The elf sat down in exhaustion, "Negotiation, then. We can't win. But she hasn't shown any inclination towards her role. Reet says she was complaining that the guards were insane, she didn't want to be queen."

"That's not going to work." Suleos disagreed, "The arachne's magic has woken up... Let me ask you. Have you heard... Music? A kind of sad song, almost like a harp?"

"Eh... Yes." Leolian shivered.

He nodded grimly, "That was her rewriting the world. Knowingly or not. It's... Seductive. Anyone who hears it will eventually either go batshit insane, or become enslaved to her will. Become undead without ever having died. Your soul just... Rots away."

"What the fuck?"

Suleos sighed, "I heard it. In the capital. I was hoping that I was wrong. Distance doesn't mean anything. The woman is already beginning to change this world. Forcing her will onto us. She'll start changing the weak-spirited, soon. The starving. The sick. The desperate living on the streets will become besotted with her. And she has as much choice about it, as they do. She can't stop it. It comes as naturally as breathing or thinking. This is just what an arachen queen is."

The elf sighed, "So... What do we do?"

"Find Kisten."

"Huh?"

Suleos sighed, "Vestra is one eggbearer. The other was a white salamander, by the name of Kisten. If one lives, then both do. However, if Kisten isn't here, then she's probably on the run. Elan killed the queen's brother. Kisten should have protected him. But Vestra is still alive, so Kisten wasn't killed either. If I can get my hands on her, I can kill Vestra without ever facing her down. We need that advantage."

The elf rubbed his chin, "The tanukiki, Reet."

The other elf looked up, "Oh. A wild doggirl got caught up in things. She said that... The Golden Kitsune was forcing her to side with the arachne. The lamia seemed to think the bitch was... An eggbearer? What exactly is that? Her soul wrapped up in the queen, too?"

"Gods preserve us." Suleos shivered. "A dog? With the power of a god. That's what this shadow is. Damned void. The tanukiki is the one who is angry, not the arachne. Pray we can get this done before she gets pregnant, or the game is up."

---

Flick let out a sobbing howl from the hidden corner of the fortress she had made her home. She was lost, hungry and cold. Terrified that the spiderwoman now wanted in her pants, and that the goddess was never going to let her escape.

Her pained voice was answered by the wolves of the forest. She didn't just hear them, now. It was weird, but she could feel them. The dull-minded creatures couldn't express thoughts as clearly as her, but she could feel them. Feel her panic making them angry, making them want to protect her, like she was part of their pack.

Flick had never wanted to be a cleric.

She had thought that stupid point in her life was long forgotten, until she saw the scorpion. She'd only been a pup, really, when she had her life twisted inside out by the kitsune.

As far as mages go, clerics are a mixed bag. They have no magic of their own, receiving their power directly from a fucked up divine who only vaguely cares about the cleric's existence. One moment a cleric could call down fiery mountains out of the sky, and the next that won't even be able to heal a tick bite.

Flick had never seen any evidence that the kitsune had granted her a fucking thing. Apart from taking her virginity, and forcing the neko on her, Flick hadn't had much to do with the kitsune.

The goddess had abandoned her the moment she got what she wanted.

Now, the fox was telling her that she was going to get screwed by a giant spider, and she was going to get pregnant. There was no negotiation here. The blonde kitsune didn't know the meaning of the word, consent. All she knew was that the mortal world was her plaything.

All of them were either tools to be broken in pursuit of the eternal bloody war between the gods, or they were boring and irrelevant.

Mischief probably considered herself merciful for giving Flick a heads-up that she was planning to borrow her womb. The tanukiki had never, ever, wanted to get pregnant. She was a free spirit of the forest, there was no way in fuck that she was going to make a decent parent.

Maybe that was what had happened to her own parents. She had been abandoned in the forest, because that was what tanukiki did. If the others were as free as she was, then maybe all of them were just fucking awful parents.

"Oh, stop your pouting already. It's... Boring." A voice whispered in her ear.

Flick's fur stood on end and she breathed in sharply, "Goddess."

A different voice answered her, from directly above her head, "Nope. Just an assassin who really wishes she knew how to fix all of this."

The doggirl's head flicked upwards, and she spied the shine of Drachne's black eyes in the darkness. She fell flat onto her back, "Fuuuck! Fuck that's terrifying! Can you please learn how to make a damn scent or noise or... Something? I nearly pissed myself!"

"Sorry." Drachne said coolly, lowering herself and landing gently on her three feet in front of her. Not that her feet made a noise when she touched down. The woman sat, cross-legged with her third leg sticking out to the side. "I... You were stabbed. I was worried."

Flick winced and touched her side, causing a puff of something horrendous to touch the air. She gagged, "Yup. It's festering. Why... Why would he do that? He seemed like he wanted my help."

"He was playing with you. And me." The spider said tiredly, "If you survive, it means that I, or one of mine, have the capability to deal with it. Alchemy or magic. If you survive, it would also be reasonable to believe that I would then trust you. He'll come back to you, convince you, and then you might have a chance at gutting me in my sleep. Because we'd assume your loyalty."

She shivered, "Creepy. And creepier that you say this like it's obvious."

"Super obvious and boring tactic. It's one of the tactics that was deployed in one of the many, many failed assassinations of Irrlichdan. I was required to study them all, learn the weaknesses and strengths of each plan." Drachne answered simply, like she was discussing the most base academic thing.

"If I don't survive?"

The spider sighed, "Either I'm a callous bitch who doesn't care if a prisoner dies, or utilising poison may be an effective method of attack. They'd probably try and gas us, in that case."

She winced, "Well, fuck... Are you? You'd let me die, wouldn't you? If it made them back off."

"Nup." Drachne disagreed, "I mean, Orist would order me to let you die. That's the situation that would benefit me the most. So just to screw him, I'd save you. But more than that, I despise what the temple made me into. If I have a choice in it, not one more damn person is going to die around me. Friend, foe, or terrified tanukiki."

"Not just 'cause I'm your... Eggbearer?"

Drachne's fangs clicked, "I've had sex twice in my entire life, girl. I really, really, am not ready to be a mother. I don't care what anybody says. Elan's my boyfriend, and I'm not interested in a fucking harem. Did you know my mother had two? And her tastes were obvious. A lamia and a salamander, apparently. Mum had a thing for scales."

Golden fur, soft like silk, brushed against Flick's face. "If you want to understand... If you want to know who you are... Kiss her."

"Beast and anthromorph." Flick said quietly, "Your mother had one of either. With scales. Sounds like she was political, even in that."

Drachne gave a bitter laugh, "I noticed that, too. I mean, how hard is it to just let people marry for love? Let the girls get the boys or whatever tickles their fancy! I used to spy on the companions at the temple. They had full classes on how not to fall in love. And the elven empress fucking despises a bit of girl on girl. What's the big fucking deal? I mean, I obviously like dick, but it's supposed to be about love."

"You love Elan?"

The fangs clicked nervously, "I... Think so? He was just trying to steal my venom. So he was a dick. But he was the first person who saw me as a vulnerable woman first, monster, second. He took my virginity, I took his life. Whoops. So there's some guilt, there. But... Yeah. I think I might. Even if I'm still pissed he was trying to use me and discard me."

Flick laughed and shrugged, "I've never been in love. The goddess was just fun. And I've never had a problem with girl on girl, for the record. I did walk in on my favourite manwhore getting absolutely pounded by an orcish dick, once. That was harder to stomach, but probably just because of the smell, to be honest. My Sam, stinking of orc seed. Eugh."

"Why do orcs always friggin' reek?" Drachne laughed, "Even if I couldn't see their auras, I used to joke with Orist I could just follow the dead plants. And I don't have a nose like yours!"

She blew at her leaf, "I know! Just imagine what their strongholds smell like! All those bodies crammed into a building without any fucking windows."

"Oh, there's a lot of fucking in orcish strongholds. But no windows." Drachne laughed, "Their chiefs all have massive bloody harems. You're expected to screw one of their women if you're talking to the chieftain. The whole time. It's supposed to make it harder to lie or some shit, but I reckon it's just because orcs are misogynistic assholes."

Flick laughed, "Well, what do you expect of a bunch of pigs? Oink."

"You ever seen a stronghold?" Drachne asked carefully, "I haven't. This is the first time they let me out of the capital."

She shrugged, "Once. Bunch of orcs passed through to the north. They had a stronghold here for about six months. But... I don't exactly seek out people. I'm a loner, Drachne."

"I can see the threads of your aura. You've got, like, twelve wolves linked to you. I wouldn't call that alone, even if they're not conversationalists." The spider deadpanned.

Flick breathed in, "You can... See it? I'm not just going crazy?"

"Weird magic. I don't recognise it." The spider blinked some of her eyes tiredly, "It starts out as your lucky green, spirals into something black and nasty, like tar, and then turns elvish at the wolf's end."

"It started when you made me scream." Flick said accusingly.

Drachne shrugged, "Cool. So probably my fault, then. My bad. What's it like?"

"That's... It?" Flick said in disbelief, "You link me with a bunch of primitive dogs and it's just, your bad?"

"I've got no fucking idea about my magic." Drachne sighed with resignation, "If I could undo it, I would. But I'd undo the dark if I knew how, too."

Teasing lips kissed Flick, making her heart flutter, "She can't. But you could. You can take back the darkness. Let in the light. All you have to do, is kiss her."

She shook her head and took a deep breath, "Guess you feel like the world's trying to fuck you, too."

"Always." Drachne laughed, "When my egg was found, they reckoned I was dragonkind. Irrlichdan's heir. Then I turned out to be a monster. So they taught me how to kill and forbade me from talking to anyone, let alone making friends. This conversation we're having? Literally the longest conversation I've ever had in my life."

"That is incredibly sad." Flick said honestly. "I've had longer ones with a guy inside me."

"Well, aren't you the lucky thing." Drachne said bitterly.

She whined, "Oops. Sorry. I... Sex isn't a huge deal for me. I worked a whorehouse, once. But it's easier for me than you. I didn't mean to -"

"I'm fine. I don't want to be a monster, so I wouldn't attack you for insulting me, Flick." Drachne interrupted her. "I meant it, when I said no more death. I'm going to find a way to save you, make the elves stop hunting me, and disappear. That's my goal."

She sniffed at her wound again, "So... On that selfish note..."

"Oh, you've got about a day before I need to deal with it." Drachne said as if it were obvious, "I'm waiting for it to hit the numb stage. That'll make it easiest to deal with, unless we let the fucking snake help."

Flick frowned, "Wanna expand on that?"

"Vestra's saliva can heal you. Right now. But she'd also try and fuck you. And she's got this weird hypnotic quality. All lamia do. It's why you always hear about sailors coming back with a lamian mistress and expecting their wives to be okay with it." Drachne clicked her fangs, "I'm not okay with that."

The doggirl panted nervously, "Right. Thanks. Other option?"

"Wait until it hits your bloodstream. When it does, I can neutralise it with a bite. Then we just have to carve out the rot, and let you heal. Elan's a decent alchemist, and I reckon you are, too."

Flick whined, "I hate both options."

"Then. Fucking. Kiss. Her." The kitsune snarled angrily in her ear, before biting down on it savagely.

The tanukiki yelled in pain and grabbed, feeling the puncture marks on her ear. The spider vanished silently, and Flick smelled the marking pheromones fill the entire room. A few rats and birds that had taken shelter made a beeline for the nearest exits.

"Any idea what bit you?" Drachne whispered in her other ear, making Flick jump in surprise.

"Uh... The Kitsune. The goddess." Flick mumbled, "She wants me to do something, and I'm ignoring her."

Laughter boomed in the empty space, and the spiderwoman reappeared. Sitting down whilst shaking her head. She struggled to talk through her laughter, "I... I just... Thought that you... Were as... Crazy... As Palantok!"

"Nothing's as crazy as that fucking snake!" Flick snarled indignantly.

Drachne laughed more, "Not even a wild doggirl with an on-again off-again relationship with the foxgod of fucking people over!"

"Um... Yeah." Flick gave a small smile and felt her tail start wagging, despite herself. The more she talked with the arachne, the more she felt like they were old friends. More than that. They felt like they'd been pups together, grown up in the same pack.

The spider wiped away a tear from laughing, "So... What's the ol' betrayer goddess want, o' great and divine tanukiki?"

"I am not like Palantok!" Flick whined at the teasing, "She... Well, I think she wants what Vestra wants. Promising the world if all I do is... Kiss you. Apparently it's the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Personally, I think she'll make you go rabid and... How exactly does a queen get anyone else pregnant? You don't have a dick, do you?"