Joan may have had the body of a child, albeit an older one, but she was still someone with thousands of years of memory and maturity to draw on.

She could be an adult.

She WOULD be an adult.

She could do it for just a few minutes.

She was mature.

She had willpower.

She--

She was already touching the silly elf statue thing that was probably cursed despite the fact she knew she wasn’t supposed to.

Joan gave a soft, disappointed sigh at herself. It wasn’t fair. How could she end up in a small shop with so many strange, ancient objects and NOT want to poke some of them? Old statues, ancient swords, what she was pretty sure was a golden coffin. The small shop all but screamed ‘mysterious magic’ in her ear. In fact, she was fairly certain that the owner of said shop was a fae of some kind. Not just an elf with fae in his lineage, but an actual fae. When he’d brushed past the two of them to lock the door to the shop, the smile on his lips reminded her so much of the Nameless One.

But the place was filled with so many strange, ancient things and she couldn’t help suppressing the urge to poke most of them. She was the worst hero ever.

“Joan, please don’t do that,” Zorn said with a soft, exasperated sigh. “You don’t know where its been. I’m sorry, Dervish.”

“It’s fine,” the man said with a light laugh. “The magic on it has long since faded. She’d hardly be the first to feel the urge to poke it, anyway. There’s nothing out on the main floor that’s truly dangerous to others. Now then, Zorn. It took a few strings but I managed to find a few things that might suit your needs.”

“Really?” Zorn asked.

“Indeed,” he said once more. “I was also gifted something quite special I think you’d be absolutely delighted in. You see, we don’t get many dwarves here.”

Joan ignored the talking and walked along the shop floor, lightly brushing her fingers along an ancient, bronze chest piece. It looked familiar, she wondered if she’d had one like it as the Hero. The reflection in it looked cloudy and dark, as if she was cloaked in shadows. Definitely magic of some kind.

Joan felt a light snag on her leg when she took a step, but when she looked down there was nothing there. She gave a shrug, probably caught her breeches on something. The shop was filled almost to the brim with ancient magical trinkets and objects, she’d need to be more careful.

“What, does the ring only work for dwarves?” Zorn asked.

“No, no,” Dervish said. “This is something different. I can’t say for certain how it was acquired, but it is quite rare. They say many centuries ago that under the mountains the dwarves raised these creatures in their grandest cities. Riding them into battle as steeds. The greatest of them were said to be all but ghosts, shifting with ease through this reality and the next. Their venom was said to be able to restore the magic of even the greatest of their mages with a single bite.”

“Sounds expensive,” Zorn said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Perhaps,” Dervish said. “But for you, I’ll allow a very special price.”

“Of course you will,” Zorn said.

Joan rolled her eyes. She had to give the shopkeeper credit. He certainly knew how to build up a sale. She reached out and picked up a bracelet. It felt warm in her hands, though she knew she had seen them somewhere before. She grinned a moment later when she realized where. The bracelet looked simple, dozens of little strings woven together into a single small cord. But when triggered it would unravel and the string would turn into rope. A useful, if simple tool. She wondered if she should get it. Maybe--

Joan felt another tug on her tunic. She turned around and, sure enough, she’d walked a bit too close to a small shield and the edge had tugged on it.

“It’s an empty cage,” Zorn said.

“It was here, I swear it was here,” Dervish said. “The shell is here. Some of it. But… this doesn’t make any sense. Where is it?”

“Is something wrong?” Joan asked.

“No, it’s fine,” Zorn said. “Dervish is just trying an old trick. I just want the ring.”

“It’s not a trick, I assure you,” Dervish said. “Look, the silk woven egg with little blue speckles. It must have hatched! But… oh dear.”

“Should have gotten a better cage,” Zorn said with a light laugh.

Joan rolled her eyes and looked down at the bracelet again. Maybe she could get it. She reached up to scratch her shoulder and froze when she felt something very, very soft and fuzzy on her shoulder. She pulled her hand back in confusion and looked down.

And screamed.

Eight eyes stared back at her. A blue fuzzy spider, nearly three times the size of her fist, was perched on her shoulder. Despite its massive size, it felt so light she could barely feel it. But oh, she saw it now.

------

The Hero plummeted below, the ground having crumbled beneath him. He flailed wildly, trying to grab something, anything. How had it come to--

Then he hit something. It was soft, sticky, odd. It gave somewhat, making him drift down but not stopping his fall entirely. Then there was more of it. He felt himself hitting it, connecting with something sticky and springy until, finally, whatever it was stopped his fall. He was suspended in the air, at least he was pretty sure he was. A net of some kind? A trap? Whatever the trap was, its owner would soon feel his fury.

His sword flashed into his hands and light burst forth from the sword and--

And for one of the few times in his life, he realized that there were things every bit as frightening as the demons.

Hundreds, possibly thousands of spiders surrounded him. On the walls, on the ‘net’ he’d fallen into. He stood suspended over hundreds of eggs. The movement on the net was from some of the spiders moving towards him. Some of them were as large as wagons, while even the smallest of them were nearly the size of his fists. Some were black, some were white, some were blue and seemed to almost glimmer in the light. But so many of them were coming towards him.

The net wasn’t a net at all. It was a web. He let out a battle cry and became a windmill of death and destruction. Cutting, tearing through them. He didn’t know how many he killed, how long he had fought. The horror of what nearly happened, however, had managed to haunt him for days after. He’d never been afraid of spiders until that day.

After, however, they were one of the few things even he respected. Thankfully, for all of the threats and horrors the Demon Lord and Inferno God used against him, spiders were never amongst them.

------

“Get it off GET IT OFF!” Joan screamed. She tried to shake it off, but a moment later it just disappeared, seemingly fading out of reality. “Where is it? Get it off! GET IT OFF ME! No no no NO! Ew! It’s going to bite me! It’s--”

She felt a sharp, sudden sting in the back of her neck. She went entirely still before she felt the amulet around her throat get a little warm. Oh, how thankful she was that she made sure to wear it everywhere now.

“Got it! Gah, it’s a-- huh?” Zorn asked.

“Don’t move your hands,” Dervish said. “It’ll come back. One second, just… here. Put your hands in this.”

“What in the, ugh, fine, it-- GAH!” Zorn yelled. A moment later Joan heard a metallic clink, followed by a light clicking sound. “What the hell IS that thing? Joan, are you okay?”

“Did it bite me? It bit me, didn’t it?” Joan asked. “Is it off?”

“It’s off,” Zorn said. “Don’t move. Let’s see if… yeah. That’s blood. It definitely bit you. Does it hurt?”

“Only a little,” Joan said before rubbing the back of her neck. There were a few drips of blood, but the mark was so small it took her a few moments to find. “I’m wearing the amulet though.”

“It seems like today is your lucky day,” Dervish said with a light, nervous chuckle. “They say the ghostnid’s bites are good luck. That--”

“How is that good luck?” Joan asked before whirling on the man. He held a small, metal cage in his hands. Inside it the little blue spider was staring back at her, its eight eyes unmoving. That is, until it disappeared again. She let out a shriek and shook herself off, trying to get it off again. “Is it on me?”

“No, no,” Dervish said with a light chuckle. “It’s a magic cage. It can only go through things when it returns, but so long as it’s inside this it shouldn’t be able to get out again.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Joan said bitterly.

“I just want me ring and to get out of here,” Zorn said angrily. “After that you better be giving me a hell of a deal.”

“A deal?” Dervish asked sheepishly. “I already have. Why, they say that the ghostnid’s bite is pure luck. A true blessing, as it were. As they are only attracted to those who the fates themselves have chosen. It’s not fatal, either. Spider venom such as theirs can’t even kill an elf, let alone a human.”

Joan just glared at the man and wondered if it would be considered bad form to burn the shop down with him in it. She let out another shriek when the spider appeared in the cage again. “Ugh. Just keep that thing away from me. Zorn, get your ring and let’s go, please.” She tossed the bracelet back onto the shelves before turning and storming off to the door. Unfortunately, as it was locked she couldn’t go outside and slam it to make her point, but she desperately wanted to.

Joan just felt more annoyed while the two bickered and negotiated over the price. She could feel the spider’s eyes on her still, sending little shivers down her--

Then she froze when she realized that wasn’t the spider she was feeling. That strange sensation of being watched. She looked around for a moment, but she was certain of it.

‘Free me.’

The same voice she’d heard once before. Distant. Disjointed. Weak. But it was certainly there. She turned around to face the spider once more. It wasn’t possible, was it? Was it possible the spider had--

She quickly shoved that thought aside and rolled her eyes. The spider had only just hatched. There was no way that voice was a part of it. It was just coincidence. Besides, whatever had been scrying on her was to the north somewhere, probably. Also, she wished it would stop STARING at her. It was creeping her out. More than the weird person who was somewhere spying on her. Which she didn’t think was possible, but apparently it was. She reached up and rubbed her shoulder again. She swore she could still feel it weighing her down.

“We’re going,” Zorn said.

“Get everything you need?” Joan asked.

“Of course,” Zorn said. “How’s your neck?”

“Don’t remind me, I just want to go,” Joan said with another shudder. She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck, trying not to think about those eight eyes watching her. Worst of all? When she glanced back the cage was empty again. She gave another shudder. She really hoped she wasn’t going to have nightmares about that later.

“Are you okay?” Zorn asked after a few minutes of walking.

“Yes,” Joan said.

“I wouldn’t imagine you’d be scared of spiders,” Zorn said with a light laugh.

“I fell into their webs once,” Joan said.

“You mean walked through it?” Zorn asked with a snicker.

“I mean I fell through a collapsing cave floor, fell about forty feet into a web filled with thousands of spiders, some the size of houses, and had to fight my way out of their nest as they kept trying to get their legs on me,” Joan said. “It left a bit of an impression and I’d really rather not think about it.”

Zorn stared at her with his mouth open. “Wait. As… as this? I mean, I know they’re pretty harmless to humans, but a nest of them might--”

“They’re not harmless,” Joan said, unable to keep the viciousness out of her voice. “Trust me. I was the Hero then. It was a different experience entirely. So can we PLEASE stop talking about it?”

“I… sorry,” Zorn finally said.

Mercifully, he did as he said and she was granted soft, merciful silence on the walk back to their temporary residence. Still, Joan couldn’t escape the sensation of its little legs crawling over her body or the thick, strange webbing clinging to her. She was going to have so many nightmares about this. She knew she would. What she wouldn’t give to just bury those memories again.

MelodyAvant

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