Seventy years ago.

A young spider was running through the forest. She did it again. Leaving her spider colony to explore the forest. And again, she was in danger. This time, she was followed by a huge salamander that was permanently spitting acid at her. She wasn't hit yet, but all the trees that were hit instantly vaporized around her. The salamander was strong. There was no way she could fight it. Maybe if she came back to her web, there would be a chance. But she couldn't risk it. Because a lot of her fellow spiders would die before they could defeat the salamander. Getting away would usually not be that hard. Spiders were moving through the forest like none other species. Trees or large rocks couldn't stop her because she just ran sideways along it. The ground doesn't matter, as long as her legs have a ground she can run on it.

But the salamander... It just destroyed everything, running through the forest like a bulldozer. The spider hoped it would run out of acid soon. That's how she could survive. The only way to see the next morning. As she was running she was scolding herself. Why would she take the risk again? She could have an easy life. But, no. She did it again. Inwardly she decided that she would never leave her web again. It was boring, but peaceful.

The trees behind her, the Salamander not just ran over them, whenever it came in contact with one of them, they melted. It wasn't only the acid the salamander was spitting. The whole body must be covered in acid. The spider was worried. Even if it can't spit anymore, it will still follow. Doesn't matter, she shouldn't think about that right now. Left, right, left, right, don't move in a straight line. That's what she was taught and it saved her life over and over again.

Then she realized something. She became slower. Her body became tired. And the salamander was closing up to her. She thought she might have the stamina advantage. But no, she wouldn't be able to flee anymore before the salamander stopped. Panic began to grow in her as she realized that with every step she made, her chances to survive became lower.

Maybe a hole would save her. A hole that the salamander couldn't enter. But no, the salamander would just spit its acid in there and the spider would die immediately. It was hopeless. And the spider was about to give up, when... the sound of the bursting trees behind her suddenly stopped. What happened? Did the salamander stop? But why? Questions were running through the spider's head.

'Doesn't matter, run!' she thought, before she heard a loud Bang behind her! What's happening? Another Bang! The salamander... it's fighting something else. She was now sure about that and suddenly stopped. She should just keep running away. But there was this urge in her. Someone helped her. Maybe not intentional. But maybe it was intentional. So she just can't run, right? But if it was intentional she would be in debt. Wait, no. Even if it wasn't intentional she would still be in debt by whoever saved her. Still, her common sense was screaming at her to just run away. But she ignored it. And slowly made her way back.

On her way back, she heard explosions. The ground under her was trembling. She knew enough about salamanders to know that they can’t cause explosions. Their main weapon was acid and physical strength. Whoever fights there is strong, there weren't many monsters that were able to cause explosions. Actually, she only knew of one. An Oni she met a while ago. He was strong. Probably the strongest monster she had ever seen. No, without a doubt the strongest monster she had ever seen. But maybe, there was someone even stronger in front of her. With 8 shaking legs, she made her way to, she was sure about that, probably her doom.

What she saw when she reached the edge of the very few left trees surprised her. She expected another monster. But there were humans, fighting the big salamander. She had seen humans before but she was always told to avoid them by any means. Most spiders in the forest were mindless monsters, so they almost always assumed that they were all the same. And there was another problem. She could understand them, but she couldn't communicate with them as she wasn't able to speak. And so, she had no choice but just watch the intense fight.

There were three humans. Two women and a man. One of the women had a broadsword and was directly fighting the salamander. She must have some kind of acid resistance as she was able to fight the salamander in close combat. The man had a crossbow and was continuously firing arrows. But he wasn't just shooting them without a real target. He aimed for the eyes and the salamander realized that, so he had them closed most of the time. And that made it easy for the woman in the front to hit the salamander with her big sword. The salamander was already bleeding, big cuts all over its body. He won't be able to take this much longer. However, the most impressive was the last woman. She had a staff and fired large fireballs at the salamander. And all of them hit, leaving horrible burnings all over the salamander's body.

The spider immediately knew that it's just a matter of time until the salamander dies. It won't have any chance. The humans were strong, even such a beast that would kill most of the monsters in the forest wasn't an opponent for them. But they were still careful. Not dropping their guard and making dangerous moves. They looked like they had fought many battles before. The spider was impressed. And so, she kept looking. It took them only two minutes until the salamander was barely able to stand. One eye was already destroyed as the salamander opened it in a desperate move and got immediately hit by an arrow. Only the shaft was still seen as the powerful arrow burrowed into the eye. The air was smelling like burned flesh, as the fireballs still left big marks on the huge body. The head and the front legs were red, blood running from deep wounds everywhere. The only thing left for the salamander was shooting acid balls around. But the woman in the front was dodging all of them with ease. She must have had some drops but did not look like she was in pain. Her armor probably had an acid resistance, the spider assumed. They were well prepared for this fight. And the salamander let out a painful and desperate scream. The spider didn't even know salamanders could make such noises.

And that was also the reason why they were here. Not to save the little spider, their goal was to kill the salamander from the beginning. They were just too well prepared for a coincidence. The spider thought that she must have helped them as well. The salamander must have been exhausted because it was chasing her through the forest for a while. Lucky humans. Although, they didn't look like they even needed that. For now, the spider was just happy to be alive.

The fight ended without a surprise. After a few more minutes the salamander dropped to the ground. Dead. And the humans were cheering. The spider had the urge to thank them, but well, she also had the urge not to die. And so she was waiting. The humans were walking around the salamander now, they seemed like they were proud of their catch.

But something concerned the spider. Salamanders were continuously producing acid in their bodies. They usually let it out the mouth or over the skin. But after they die, they don't let it out anymore. However, the acid was still produced. So the stomach keeps inflating, until... it explodes. There were two ways to avoid this. Run away or cut their stomach open so the acid just runs out. But they didn't do either. They were still calmly looking at the huge corpse. They didn't know. Was this something unknown to humans? The spider could only guess. Maybe they didn't know because everyone who witnessed it died. The acid will be spread over a large area. So it wasnt unlikely.

The spider was racking her brain. What should she do? Should she warn them? But how? They saved her so she had to do something. One of them had a crossbow and the other one was able to shoot fireballs. And they were experienced adventurers. She would probably die before she could come even close to them.

There was only one minute left. Maybe two. 'Please leave. Just leave or you will die.' The spider thought. From afar she could see that the stomach was slowly growing. But the humans didn't realize.

“What is this?” The woman with the broadsword suddenly said. And she was looking at the stomach, she finally realized that it was growing.

“Don't get too close. The acid might still be dangerous. And your armor was expensive!” The woman with the stuff said and laughed.

“Hey, I paid for it by myself!” The swordswoman said and puffed your cheeks.

“Yea, only because we give you most of the money every time we kill such a beast.” The man with the crossbow said.

“That's unfair! I'm always in the front so I need the best armor! Also, you all agreed to that.”

'Oh, no.' The little spider thought. The mage and the man were now a fair amount away from the corpse. But the woman with the broadsword was slowly approaching it.

“What... is this?” The stomach of the salamander was about to explode.

It was then. The mind of the spider blanked. She had to do something and she had to do it now. The humans were focused on the corpse. So she jumped out of the trees. With all her strength left she ran towards the woman. Besides being small, spiders were fast on their eight legs. However, their body wasn't very durable. The spider completely ignored the fact and rushed towards the woman. Fortunately, the humans were distracted. The spider was about to reach them, as they finally noticed her.

“Hey!” Screamed the woman with the staff, instantly aiming at her. But the spider was fast enough. She appeared in front of the woman with the sword and rammed in her stomach with all her might. The attack had enough power to throw the woman a few meters away. 'Just enough range so she wont die.' The spider thought. She turned around and was about to run away, as...

Boom!

The stomach of the salamander exploded and she fainted.