Edited by PennLady
This is a copyrighted work of fiction. All rights reserved.
Qiang pushed his head through the tunnel opening. The webbing snagged on his antlers and stuck to his mane. He shook his head and pushed further in. The web should have broken down under his force, but instead tangled around him. He shuddered. This was not working.
He focused heat against the webbing and it melted away, but it stopped melting when it was off him. His choices appeared to be creating a larger entranceway or becoming smaller. Smaller meant more easily trapped. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be concerned about escaping a Jorogumo web. These were far from normal circumstances. But the energy required to melt his way through would be a tremendous drain. He condensed himself down to seven feet and made his way through.
The webbing under his feet was slimy and the whole of the web smelled a bit of stagnant water. The base web provided purchase, but tended to become stuck to his feet and claws. The further he pressed in, the more slimy it became. The water seemed to at least cancel out some of the natural properties of the web. Qiang smiled. At least she hadn't managed to completely integrate the two energies yet. It did, however, make for treacherous footing. One misstep found Qiang skidding down an incline. Qiang was careful not to flounder for a hold and further lose control, so it was in a somewhat controlled slide that he exited the tunnel into the main web, and into deep water.
Qiang flailed as the water closed over his head. He spun around, but could not see the tunnel entrance. He stilled himself; while he could hold his breath for a long time, fire required oxygen and so did he. He oriented himself as best he could and looked around. As he did, every angle was through shadowed water. At the far side he thought he could see the web.
He traced what he could of the web's design with his gaze. It appeared to be a dome shape that encompassed the water. The fluid itself was stagnant and diseased, much like the Jorogumo herself, and cut through with inky darkness and shadows. As he more closely examined his surroundings he realized the Jorogumo had built not only a web but a lair, not unlike his own. She may not have fully integrated Sebastian's power, but she was certainly making good use of what she had. He also had to wonder where she was. Jorogumo hunted primarily through trickery and ambush. As he was aware of her tricks, that would leave ambush as her prime hunting method. He would have to be careful.
He reviewed his options, up or down. The best hope of up would be to break surface for air. He doubted there would be a surface to break. Down might afford some means of slipping out of the web at its mooring points. Down it was.
Qiang propelled himself downward with several powerful thrusts of his tail and felt something brush him in the water. He jerked his tail in the other direction and the movement forced him off course. As he tried to right himself something again moved past him in the water and he felt legs scuttle against his tail. Again his tail lurched away almost involuntarily, throwing him further off course.
He recognized the game and refused to play it. He pushed forward and ignored it when she began to graze his tail. Her movements against his tail became more pronounced, and always against different areas. He managed to flick her aside a few times before she came in near the base of his tail. He was about to slap her with the end of it when he felt her latch on and bite deeply into his tail.
Qiang bit down on the roar before it escaped him, but he still lost some breath in the process. He rolled around to see the Jorogumo clamped onto him. He was about to reach around and pull her off his tail when the burning that was beginning in his lungs gave him an idea. Fire may not burn in water, but heat still conducted through it quite well.
He closed his eyes and focused on not only the fire, but the heat of it. He stoked it until he burned nearly white hot just below his scales. Then he released it into the water. He opened his eyes to steam and bubbles as the water around him started to boil. With a scream, the Jorogumo released her hold. He continued to pump the heat into the water, hoping to boil the Jorogumo alive if need be. The Jorogumo did not oblige. The water vanished from the web leaving Qiang hanging mid-air and unprepared for the sudden pull of gravity. He hit bottom, hard. The slam into the ground forced the rest of the breath from him, but he was able to gasp in breaths from damp air around him. He stood up and looked for the Jorogumo. He spotted her, high in the dome of the web. He could see scald marks and burns on her human torso. He noticed something else. Scutes, like on the underside of a dragon, were beginning to form on her lower human abdomen and down the underside of the spider body. He had to wonder what other changes might be taking place. While he wasn't pleased with the implications, he tried to find a way to turn it to his advantage.
He returned his attention to the ground and the mooring of the web. It was secured to the trees and several large rocks. The trees were water-soaked and useless, but even wet the rocks would conduct heat. He started to head over when he realized his tail was becoming dead weight. Looking back, he could see where the poison was seeping into his skin and scales. There was little pain, but black lines of contamination penetrated down into his flesh, blighting it. The flesh itself was turning dull as the scales began to whither, soon to drop off. With a snarl, Qiang went back to the rocks. He started to heat them and melt away the webbing. But his fire was ebbing low, dangerously low. He managed to detach a sizable section of webbing before he had to rest. He looked back up to the Jorogumo. She watched, waiting for the poison to weaken him further.
Qiang returned to his normal size. The large web accommodated him as he took up much more room. More importantly, the poison had much further to travel now. He was still weakened, and far away from a place to heal.
He reviewed his options. He could flee, return to his lair, heal up and take up the hunt for the Jorogumo later, but he rejected it. There was too much of a chance he would never find the Jorogumo again. Or he could continue; they were both weakened and damaged, though, more and more that option looked like mutually assured destruction. He sighed. So be it.
Qiang lunged at her. His claws carved deep furrows into her spider half and he noticed the feel of scales amidst the fur when he struck. He couldn't quite get a grip on her, and she danced from his grasp as a thick tendril of webbing seized him around the chest and drug him back down. He lay there, panting.
The Jorogumo examined her wound. It was deep and ichor was oozing out the two furrows the dragon had left. She glared down at him. She attached a guide line and lowered herself closer to the dragon until she was dangling above him, but still out of reach.
"You can just flee. I know you can," she said
Qiang said nothing.
She cocked her head at him. He was an impressive dragon and quite handsome. But from the looks of it, he was starting to die. She could only feed off live prey, and she knew he wouldn't let her get close enough to try to feed off what was expiring. She tried again to get him to leave.
"What is the point, laying here and dying?"
"That I might watch you die also."
She looked at the wound. It was very ugly. "I suppose I might yet." She looked back. "But I might not and if you don't get the strength to break out you will die."
Qiang laid his head down and closed his eyes.
"Fine," she snapped. "A death that serves nothing is wasteful. But if that's what you want, so be it."