Seras made her way through a long winding tunnel, followed closely by the floating specter and the irritable red demon. Of over a dozen tunnels trailing away from her dungeon, this was the first to reach anything significant.
"Gragh! How much longer woman?" The Reaper was still pouting, she could see. Well, she had every reason to be annoyed with him, after he had turned the hatchery into an abbatoir.
The Imps had discovered a large open chamber that contained a pool of water fed by a small stream, populated by small, blind cave fish. Hidden among the stalactites on the cave ceiling were the spiders who made their home there.
Normally, Seras wouldn't have wanted anything to do with arachnids, let alone giants. However, both the Mentor and the Reaper has told her to make them her minions.
"Spiders are easy to please, and their silk can be used for more than just trapping enemies."
"Fragile, stupid, easily crushed under hoof" the Reaper drolled. "But in your case, you take what you can get."
As they entered the chamber, Seras could swear she had just entered another world. Crystals in the rock faces glittered like diamonds, and the stone itself seemed to have taken an otherworldly sheen from collected water vapor. Stalactites reached down like the fangs of a hungry beast, while stalagmites grew upwards like petrified pine trees. Spiderwebs draped between the stone formations rippled and fluttered like silky curtains. The pool in the center of the cave filled a depression that looked like the footprint of some great giant. Here and there she could see pale fish the length of her finger in the opaque fluid.
A chittering noise brought her gaze up to the ceiling, where her red eyes reflected in those of roughly a dozen large spiders the size of dogs. Repressing a wave of disgust, Seras performed a small curtsie in her uniform.
The largest of the group, with a body the size of a horse, drifted down on a length of silk to land before her. While the rest of the pack remained hidden, this one seemed to be sizing Seras up, determining whether she was a meal or a threat.
Seras looked to the Mentor for guidance. "What do I do now?"
"Simple-minded creatures like this normally bow to the will of a Keeper without any fuss. This one seems more intelligent than the others."
Stepping forward, the creature did its best to mimic a bow. "This one is leader of this nest."
"Hmm" the Reaper seemed to take a bit more interest in the situation. "A talking spider. Haven't seen that before. Does it do tricks?"
"Intriguing." The Mentor drifted closer, looking the large arachnid over from mandible to spineret. "Where did you learn to communicate?"
"Many winters ago, this one was a loyal servant of one like you." It gestured towards Seras with a long pedipalp. "This one drank from a pool of shining water, and its thoughts became clear. The master made this one leader of his kind."
"Ah. A mana pool. That'd do it."
"This one and his kin were prized for our silk. Ours were the softest and strongest of any eight-legs. The master gave us warm, fresh meat for our babies. We gave him wealth."
The spider seemed to shiver then. "It did not last. The master's enemies came, with great fire and walking bones and the hated flying maggots! Many of us were slain in battle, alongside our beloved master. So many..." If spiders could cry, he would have been weeping a river. "This one led the survivors into the deep caverns, where the walking bones could not follow."
Seras looked to the spiders who still clung to the ceiling like their lives depended on it. The last time someone came, they had driven them from their homes.
The giant spider motioned to the pool, and almost seemed to sigh. "This has been our sanctuary for many winters. It has been a hard life, and food is often scarce. But we can hide no longer." He stepped forward, and drew up to his full height to look Seras in the eyes. "What is your decision, Keeper?"
Using the Keeper transportation powers the Mentor had taught her, she summoned a plump chicken from the hatchery to her hand. With a quick and merciful twist of the neck, she offered the fat hen to the spider. Gingerly grasping it with both pedipalps, he sunk his fangs into its breast and seemed to hum with pleasure at the taste of fresh, warm blood. Rather than suck it dry, he quickly wrapped it in silk and passed it along to one of his kin.
With the rest of his pack descending on silk strings behind him, the giant spider presented himself proudly before the trio. "This one is called Strix. We are yours to command."
Doing her best to imitate Sir Integra, the young keeper introduced herself. "You may call me Seras Victoria." She offered her hand, and Strix accepted it with a pedipalp in the closest thing to a handshake a spider could offer. In the back of her mind, Seras could feel a link between her and the spiders of the cave forming.
........
She stood in the large chamber, admiring the simple beauty of the cave while her imps escorted the spiders to their new home. In one corner of the room, she found a wall that glittered brighter than the others, and taking a closer look, found that it was speckled with stones of varying size and color.
The Mentor, who had been looking over her shoulder, suddenly burst out in a fit laughter.
"Ahahaha!" He had a look of almost childish glee on his face as he took in the gleaming facets of the gems. He called over to the Horned Reaper, who had been trying - and failing - to catch one of the blind fish in the pool. "What was that you said about nuggets?"
(Posted Thu, 20 Nov 2014 23:23)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.