So this story has a lot of things, "kinks" if you will, that may be of interest. It has oviposition (egging) which is kinda niche but I enjoy it. It also has aphrodisiac venom and stuff so, y'know, heads up if you're sensitive to that! And, of course, features a spidergirl. Ooooh spooky.
If you're into all those things, I think you might dig this!
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You've never lived unless you've felt the brush of fletching against your ear.
Or so Vex had always said. Of course, that was just bullshit she said when deep in her cups and high off a successful job. When it happened in reality, she barely noticed the brush of fast moving feathers on skin for the hammering in her chest and the steady pounding of her feet. Only when the 'plink' of the arrowhead bouncing off the stone arch in front of her did she realize what had happened.
It had nearly killed her. Or injured her grievously. And an arrow wound was not something she wanted to take given her current surroundings. The City of Shifting Sands had an extensive waste management system and was the cleanest urban centre in the Four Lands, but she was still running through a sewer. Breathing through her mouth was mandatory.
She ducked under the arch. Grated drains above let in a little light, but most of her path was cloaked in darkness and only sheer luck kept her from clipping her head on one of the many arched passageways that ran along the sewer's length. Or stumbling on a crumbled bit of masonry and plunged head-first into the teeming grey water river to her right. No score was worth that.
She thought about the gems in her backpack and amended that statement. Maybe some things were worth that, if she wanted to get away in one piece with the biggest single-day haul she'd ever stolen.
Another plink of iron against stone, letting her know the guard hadn't given up the pursuit. Usually the rent-a-swords gave half hearted chases to appease their paymasters. This one was going full tilt AND loosing arrows at her. Either his boss would castrate him if he lost this much wealth, or the man was paying Big Coin. Money and fear made people do crazy things. She should know; she was in the middle of one.
The path ahead became pitch black. Either a dead end or a section of the city without grates. She risked a leap over the sewer water to the other side of the tunnel and kept right around a bend, hoping to lose her pursuer. Rounding the curve, she spotted a crack in the wall just deep and wide enough to get her slim frame out of sight! The pursuit had been a workout, and her muscles ached for a moment of respite. Although it was possible that her effort wouldn't fool the guard and he'd use her being trapped in a confined space against her. The image of being used for target practice after pinning herself into the alcove came to mind. Not a pleasant thought.
For lack of better options, she figured it was worth the risk. Despite her agility, she wasn't one for stamina, and the chase had come after a very taxing burglary and exfiltration. It would only be a matter of time before the guard caught her. This was her chance to, at the very least, catch her breath.
Vex shucked her her backpack and shoved it into the crack first, then shimmied into the break herself and tried not to wince as sharp chunks of stone bit into her palms and scraped against her knee. She kept squeezing herself in until she couldn't move any farther. Then, she waited. The heavy footfalls of the guard were hard to miss even with her heartbeat pounding in her ears. A flash of dull metal was all she saw as he sped by, then he ground to a halt. There were two more branches up ahead, but at the pace she was going, it would have been impossible for her to make it that far fast enough to avoid being seen unless she really hauled it.
Vex held her breath and hoped he didn't put that together. Seconds crawled by in the deathly silence as she waited for his next move. Her lungs were going to burst for want of air. Then, mercifully, he heard him dash off down one of the passageways. She'd done it. Safety at last!
And then the ground gave out.
For an indeterminate amount of time, she was falling. Sometimes in freefall, sometimes after bouncing off a hard surface, but always descending. The lack of light made orientation impossible, and it was all she could do was tuck and keep her head and neck protected.
When she came to a halt, all the impacts rushed into her body at once and she groaned. It was like her whole body was bruised. She began the laborious process of looking for broken bones. Miraculously, it appeared she'd made it to the floor intact. She knew she'd be stiff as a board come morning, however. But at least she was alive.
With slow, deliberate movements she sat up. Her backpack's right strap had broken in her fall and now the bag hung loosely off her other shoulder. Panic seized her when she noticed the flap was open. Had she lost them? Her hands dove in, moving aside her climbing gear and her disguise. With audible relief, her fingers touched the silk bag at the bottom of her pack. A fortune in rubies, sapphires, and other precious stones. Enough to buy her a future.
"I don't get many visitors," a feminine voice said, her words echoing off the walls around Vex. The thief shot to her feet, momentarily ignoring the pain, and reached for her knife. All she found was an empty sheath. She must have dropped it in the fall. So much for her luck. She looked around for sight of gleaming metal, but saw only bones. She yelped, stumbling off the pile of remains and dashing til she had her back to a wall. There she caught her breath once more, her eyes snapping from one side to the other.
She was in a natural cave, that much was clear. Stalagmites rose from the ground like the teeth of some gargantuan predator. In corners where water collected, bioluminescent fungus grew in fat toadstools, casting what little light there was yet leaving voids of pitch black large enough to hide every nightmare Vex could remember.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" she asked the darkness, hoping she'd imagined the voice. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light but she saw nothing but the irregular bumps and elongated lines of a hundred scattered skeletons. Heads of cows, sheep, and other livestock reassured her, though perhaps it was just wishful thinking. A flicker of motion caught Vex's eye. She cowered, searching around for an object to use as a weapon and only coming up with a large bone, possibly a bovine femur. She wielded it like a club, purposefully ignoring the faint scratch marks under her palm that could only have been caused by large, sharp teeth.