Ch. 01 - Spider's Web

"Let's make it feel incredible." Caroline scooped up Aster's head, holding it carelessly, pulling at her hair and squishing her cheeks as if she were made of playdough. The faerie dust had almost entirely disappeared, but Aster could still make out a thin strand of shiny saliva trickling from Caroline's plump lips. Aster's eyes widened and her own lips parted, desperate to taste the sweet liquid again. She watched as it stretched downwards, growing thinner and thinner until it...

Snaped

Aster could feel its warmth on her lips, seeping slowly into her mouth, sliding down her tongue and into her throat. She tried to swallow but she didn't have the strength. It was the most wonderful taste Aster had ever experienced in her life. Sweeter than goblin sugar and more soothing than rosemary tea, it made Aster's mouth buzz.

Caroline dropped Aster's head back down, the saliva that hadn't slid down her throat trickling back out from the upturned corners of Aster's satisfied smile. A faint gargling sound escaped from her throat as Caroline began to brush gently back and forth across Aster's clit.

"It's not every day that someone as ripe and delicious as you wanders so foolishly into the forest. My daughters will be overjoyed to feast on such a delicious meal."

Aster could feel the pleasure between her legs growing stronger and stronger with every stroke. It was traveling straight to her brain, filling it up, replacing the rest of Aster's thoughts. Filling it up fuller. And fuller. And fuller. Aster knew that eventually it would be too much and her brain would pop, rendering her a mindless, wet mess, as dumb and helpless as a cobworm.

She was teetering on the edge now, one stroke away from falling off, never to return. She wanted it more than anything in world.

More than she wanted to live.

Aster shivered in delight as Caroline's sticky soft webs began to wrap around her again, picking up where they had left off. They wrapped tightly up her legs, squeezing the soft flesh of her thighs together like dough. If Aster had been capable of thought, she would've wondered how Caroline was capable of wrapping her up while rubbing at her clit at the same time.

She wasn't.

Caroline's fingers had slipped away just as Aster was about to experience the most incredible orgasm of her life. Aster's feeble brain - drugged and sleepy and stupid - had broken, leaving her stranded, teetering, on the cliffs edge, where she would stay forever. Aster would live in that moment, the moment just before orgasm, for the rest of her short life, unable to experience anything but pleasure. The pleasure of Caroline's finger on her clit. Caroline's breasts in her face. Caroline's webs on her body. Caroline's voice in her ears.

Endless, overwhelming pleasure, holding her delicately on the edge without ever letting her tip over. She would hang there until she starved to death, assuming Caroline didn't eat her first, trapped in her brainless bliss until her very last breath.

Caroline's webs, spun from the tips of her black, pointed fingers, continued to wrap their way around Aster's firm body. They wrapped around her tightly, highlighting her wide hips, small waist, and flat stomach.

It was truly a shame to kill someone so stunning, but she would taste so good.

By the time Caroline was done, all that remained of Aster's former self was her lustrous purple hair, swaying lightly from side to side, the rest of her body wrapped in webs.

Aster had been turned into a smooth, shiny doll. She no longer had any defining features, reduced to nothing more than the shape of her body. Faceless. No longer human. A collection of delicate curves - a shiny, girl-shaped sack - dangling from the top of Caroline's cave.

Waiting happily to be eaten.

***

Aster awoke groggily. Her muscles felt sore, and her head ached. Harsh rays of sunlight shone through windows vignetted with grime. Where was she? Last thing she remembered, she was...somewhere cold? No...somewhere warm. Right? She had been in the forest...picking honeyseeds...she had picked too many...and Caroline stopped to help her. Caroline...

Caroline.

Every muscle in Aster's body tightened as the world was consumed in a frigid, dreadful, shadow. With all the might she could muster, Aster tore at the webs surrounding her body, throwing them to the side.

"Glad to see you're awake."

Aster's head snapped to the right, desperate to locate the source of the voice. Where was she? Where was-

Demeter?

The tall, brown-haired woman sat in a chair in the corner of the room, her face buried in a book that looked to be several hundred years old. Aster looked down at the webs that had been encasing her so tightly a moment ago, confused to see nothing but scratchy bed sheets strewn wildly across the bed.

"I...I..."

Demeter closed the book with a loud clap, silencing Aster. She looked up at the purple-haired girl with tired eyes, eyes filled with an unmistakable disappointment - annoyance, even - but also a hint of relief.

"You were caught by a spider-kin."

"I..." Aster strained her memory, trying as hard as she could to remember what was real and what had been a dream. "I...was..."

Demeter stood up from the chair with a sigh, setting the book on the chair behind her and stretching her arms up to the ceiling. She walked with a controlled pace to Aster's bedside.

"I told you to stay here."

"But I-"

"I told you. To stay here."

"I...I'm sorry, Demeter." Aster hung her head in shame.

"You're not strong enough, Aster. Not yet."

Aster nodded in understanding. She felt like a child being reprimanded by her mother. A small, weak child, incapable of doing anything on her own. Demeter's brow furrowed in contemplation, unsure if she should say what she was about to say. It could give Aster a false sense of confidence, but she deserved to know.

"The spider you encountered was unusually cunning."

A soft thud on the bedside table drew Aster's attention to the spot where Demeter had just tossed Aster's pouch of honeyseed.

"There are a variety of predatorial beast-kin that linger by naturally sedative plants like the honeyflower, striking their prey at the height of its lethargy." Demeter plucked a seed from the pouch and held it in her flattened palm. "Your spider wasn't content leaving it up to nature. There's venom on these seeds. Excreted from its salivary glands and sprayed in a fine mist over all the flowers, it's venom tastes just as sweet as the honeyseeds but contains a tranquilizing neurotoxin."

Aster's mouth suddenly felt dry. Almost...empty. She licked her lips, not entirely sure why.

"If I'm correct in my assumption that you alone plucked that flower bed dry, and the seeds in this patch are all that remain, you consumed enough venom to sedate a full-grown dairy cow."

Aster's ears burned in embarrassment at her own gluttony. Demeter took a deep breath.

"You ran an incredible distance given the amount of venom you consumed. I was impressed."

Aster's heart fluttered, but Demeter wasn't done talking yet.

"I also observed the spider's sexual captivation technique. There are certain beast-kin for whom such practices are common, but I've never seen a spider-kin employ such trickery.

Any pride Aster felt was suddenly and immediately washed away as her memory finally came rushing back to her. She remembered Caroline's body, soft and warm, embracing her. Squeezing her. She remembered Caroline's breasts, like enormous pillows, rubbing back and forth across her face. She remembered Caroline's fingers, stroking her body lovingly, rubbing her clit passionately. The feeling of Aster's denied orgasm, and all the pleasure it brought with it, flooded her tired body, making her pussy clench uncontrollably beneath her billowy nightgown. She could hear Caroline's voice and taste her saliva, both so sweet and soothing, making Aster feel wanted. Loved.

Aster's hand twitched, eager to fly between her legs and finish what Caroline had started, but Demeter's voice brought Aster back to the present where she immediately filled with immense and overwhelming shame. Shame, not that Demeter might see her in this state, but that she still harbored such lustful feelings towards somebody - something - that had tried to kill her.

Eat her.

"But most impressive of all," Demeter continued, "was that she managed to elude me. I can count on one had the number of beast-kin that have done so." She spoke without so much as a hint of pride in her voice. For better or worse, Demeter always spoke objectively.

Aster could feel the uncomfortable feeling of tears welling in her eyes. Gods, she felt so helpless. So useless.

She felt like a failure.

"I don't deserve to be alive," Aster whispered. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. "If I didn't have you to save me, I would be dead."

Demeter took another deep breath, closing her eyes in thought. "No, you wouldn't be."

Aster sniffled.

"Spider-kin only feast once a month. Twice during the winter season. That one had eaten a stoutbeast less than a week before it caught you. And they like to eat their prey alive, meaning it would've kept you alive for at least another three weeks."

"I doesn't matter if it kept me alive for another year," Aster cried, her lip quivering and words shaky, "I would've just hung there until she ate me."

"I don't think so."

Demeter sat gingerly on Aster's bed, looking into her eyes intently. Aster wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"You are one of the most resilient people I've ever met, Aster. The amount of venom you had coursing through your body when I found you was far more than you had ingested from the flower bed alone, enough to permanently cripple a member of Princess Leona's royal guard. It likely would've even had an effect on me. A spider-kin, especially one so clever, doesn't use that much venom unless it needs to. No matter what it did, I'm certain it couldn't have kept you sedated for three weeks. You would've found a way out before it was too late."

Aster bit her lip as a sheepish smile crossed her face. She knew Demeter wasn't complimenting her (Aster wasn't sure if Demeter even knew what a compliment was), but it didn't make the words any less special. Timidly, Aster reached out a hand to touch Demeter but thought better of it.

She was reminded of the night when they first spoke. It hadn't taken Aster long to realize that Demeter's speech was calculated and indifferent, yet her words still filled Aster with an unusual warmth and confidence that nobody else's ever had.

"Um...Demeter...when you met me on the farm, you told me that all one needs to be an adventurer is a curious spirit. Do you really believe that?"

"Yes." Demeter's response was quick and firm. "But you need more than that to stay alive."

Aster hung her head as defeat and embarrassment consumed her once more. She opened her mouth to apologize but Demeter spoke before she could.

"...that's why you have me."

Aster felt a spark of hope flicker within her. She almost thought she could hear a faint sweetness in Demeter's voice. She reached forward in search of the older woman's hand, finding that she had already stood up and moved across the room without making a sound.

How does she do that?

"Now get up," Demeter commanded, "we have work."

Aster's eyes widened in surprise and disappointment. "Wha- I...I thought you said we were going to enjoy the city for two days before we started work!"

"I have been. You've been asleep on that bed."

"I...but...that's not fair."

"What's not fair is me spending half of last week's commission on the moonflower I needed to flush out your system." Demeter's words were snarky, but she spoke them sincerely without a hint of malice. "You'll be paying me half of your commission until the debt is repaid."

"But-"

"No. Up. 30 minutes until we rally."

Aster pouted as she slid out of bed, wobbling slightly as her tired muscles remembered how to stand. As she steadied herself, her eyes focused on the staff propped against the corner of the room. Her staff! With excitement and an outstretched arm, Aster drew it to herself, smiling with pride at how much she'd improved since meeting Demeter.

She used it to support herself as she took a step forward, ambling slowly to the washroom. A glint caught her eye and Aster couldn't help herself from glancing at the pouch of honeyseeds on the bedside table. They were glimmering so beautifully in the sunlight, like pearls. Aster's mouth began to water and a dull ache throbbed between her legs.

Just one. One isn't enough to do any damage, right?

The bag sinched closed and Aster could hear Demeter's irritated tone from the other room.

"Don't even think about it."