The Spider's Parlour

The Spider's Parlour

Miriam was warned not to stray from the path. The hunters and the traders in the village all told her that the road through the Tanglewood had its own hazards at the best of times, and wound through the forest as though a line randomly drawn on the map. But it remained the safest way through the Tanglewood, oft travelled though seldom by those venturing alone. Most stuck together in groups, many going in caravans that all but ensured safety, as few predators or creatures, or occasional brigand, what few were willing to brave the woods and stay just off the road to avoid detection, wished to tangle with a more heavily defended company as it passed through.

Miriam thought she could slip through swiftly with her cloak, a cotton weave laced with many fabrics and dyes that made it almost impossible to see amongst the shrubbery should she go dead still.

She thought it would be a simple affair to cut through the forest, especially since she spied a path that branched from the road. Not one well travelled, but a path all the same, perhaps abandoned out of fear or forgotten entirely.

Now the auburn-haired woman was lost in the woods. She still had the path, but she had passed by a break in the route some time back, and when she began to fear her attempt was more foolish than calculated and doubled back, she could not find the other side of the path.

Afraid of getting even more hopelessly lost, she felt her only option was to keep following the path before her.

The sun was still up, but that didn't offer her much comfort; the thick canopy of the leafy-green trees all around her filtered much of the sunlight, leaving only the odd golden strand to paint motes of pale yellow on the ground, shifting and winking in and out as the leaves of the trees shifted in the nigh-imperceptible breeze.

The trees were tall and straight, though their tops branched broadly, and their limbs often crossed over one another, though never did they touch directly.

It was the bushes and the brambles that snaked between the trunks along the ground that made traversing the Tanglewood difficult. There were patches and routes between, but they were few and untrodden. The occasional clearing could be spotted off between the trees, but never did the path Miriam was on take her to such a clearing.

She could only hope that she'd eventually emerge on the other side of the woods and find the main road again, or at least be led to a place she could shelter in come night, and resume her crossing on the morrow, or attempt to retrace her steps.

She understood now that the Tanglewood was a genuinely hazardous place, and not just because of the disorientation it inflicted on those that strayed from the safe roads; on more than one occasion, she had heard strange noises that did not seem like birdsong or the call of woodland critters. And several times, she thought she saw shapes skulking between the trees in the distance, but the veiled gloom of the forest made it hard to make out whatever she saw.

It only encouraged her to move swiftly, and hold her cloak close. She did not wish to be caught in the open, so to speak, come nightfall. And it would only grow dark much swifter as the sun dipped towards the horizon, the trees and thick shrubbery obscuring what light tried to penetrate the depths of the Tanglewood.

She kept her pace up, grumbling to herself, and reaching into one of her pockets to fish out some hard crackers lined with wax paper. Her attire was simple; flaxen shirt dyed green and dark cotton pants that went to her ankles, with some simple leather shoes somewhere between black and brown, depending on what light one saw it in. And of course, her camouflaged cloak. Hardly a cloak of invisibility, but certainly the next best thing. It also kept her warm and in wetter climes kept her dry.

Right now, she only hoped it would keep her hidden from unfriendly eyes, a mere green shape moving amongst the trees that might be lost the moment a potential threat came investigating. And if it was a bit more attentive, fail to notice her if she stayed still and kept to the greenery.

Though she would have to keep her gaze lowered; her blue eyes were quite striking, bright and visible from a distance. It was one of her most recognisable features, given her build was nothing special. Feminine and shapely, yes, but not as voluptuous as some of the more alluring women of the village, particularly those that earned their keep at the tavern.

Miriam wasn't one to flaunt herself. She was like many other women in the village, hard workers. And woe be to any who believed the women, no matter their occupation, of her village would suffer any slight.

Right now, however, Miriam was not feeling particularly brave. What lurked in these woods, likely did not care much of the ferocity of humans.

As she finished her crackers, she spied something odd up ahead; thin strands of light that glinted in the occasional sunbeam that pierced the woodland canopy.

As she neared, she realised they were indeed strands, but not of light; of silk. Threads of the stuff hanging from tree to ground. Ahead, more webbing was visible, thicker strands that better caught the light, or became too thick to be all but imperceptible.

Fortunately, none of it crossed the path, but it made Miriam nervous; she did not know what created them, and she could not see any spiders or other silk-weavers clinging to the webbing or nestled amongst the trees.

She forged on, however, hoping that nothing would ambush her or give her grief.

She walked for some time more, and her nerves were only growing more frayed as the webbing around her grew far thicker than should have been normal. It was like the woods had been overtaken by hundreds of spiders, thousands even, of great size. But still she could not see any.

She began to contemplate retreat, that perhaps risking the break in the path to find the first stretch was a less insane idea. She did not like the way the webbing changed the lighting around her, pale and diffused. It was so thick, curtains of the stuff gently swayed in the breeze, whilst thick bands bound together trunk and branch and ground.

But then she saw a clearing ahead, a good, wide space with what appeared to be an old campfire circle dead in the centre.

Thinking that perhaps she may have found some place safe to rest, she entered into a short jog to the clearing; it was covered in dried, dead leaf litter, the amber and brown detritus rather thinly layered, but it exposed no spots of dirt or grass beneath or between each overlapping leaf.

There were some old metal pots arrayed around the edge of the clearing, and some clay jars lined up against a fallen tree to the left. Directly ahead was a great boulder that she had not noticed thanks to a thick curtain of webbing on the path leading to the space. The rock slightly overhung the edge of the clearing, and Miriam spied an old hide spread for sleeping on.

Beyond that, there was not much else to the clearing, but she did notice that it was open to the sky... mostly.

Rather unnervingly, the encroaching webbing had formed something of a canopy over the clearing, allowing sunlight through, but diffused and pale, casting an eerie hue throughout the space.

She wondered who could have made the space, used it... especially since she saw signs that it had been visited recently, what looked like human footprints leading away from the hide bedding.

She pondered this, until she heard a sound that made her almost yelp, and certainly jump a little.

She looked up at the boulder, having heard a scrabbling sound against it, but saw nothing.

She backed up towards the campfire, holding her arms close to her chest as fear began to take hold. Perhaps she should've tried finding her way back after all.

She looked to her left. And then to her right. She went still, and felt dread in her. Then she whipped around behind her.

Nothing.

As far as she could tell, she was alone. Perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her.

Then a shadow fell on her. She didn't notice it at first, in the diffuse lighting, but once cast over her eyes, her heart began to race.

Somehow, she knew it wasn't a cloud.

She slowly turned her head upwards, and her blood turned icy.

Above her, hanging upside down from the webbed canopy, was an enormous spider; it was at least double the size of a horse, if not counting the legs... with the legs, the spindly limbs of chitinous blue-black carapace certainly kept that ratio and more, each leg carefully picking its steps.

It was smooth, almost glassy, but it did not reflect the light from this angle, with strange white and red markings adoring its bulbous but slightly angular thorax.

But instead of a head with slathering mandibles, there was a long extension to the body that Miriam could not immediately identify, silhouetted against the light through the webbing... until it bent back and revealed itself to be the upper torso of a beautiful if monstrous woman.

She was naked, with a hefty bust that hung towards the ground as gravity tugged on her globes, but they nonetheless possessed a youthful pliancy.

She had black hair that hung far, and were she upright, would have lightly framed her face and reached the small of her back, just above where her human body met the spider's.

Her skin was pale, but it was contrasted by dark markings that started from where her flesh melded with chitin, running up the sides of her torso, framing her breasts, and ending just beside her eyes... which were a deep red, not unlike the legends of vampires, though she lacked the slit pupils those tales spoke of. They had the same hungry light, of course, and above her eyes were three sets of much smaller, gem-like protrusions that looked like extra, if simpler, eyes, only enhancing her spidery nature.

Her lips, plush and soft, were parted to reveal less inviting teeth, sharp and complemented by four fangs, the two on her upper jaw much longer and thinner, like needles.

Her mouth was twisted into a devious grin, which only filled Miriam with terror. The spider woman's ears were pointed, though not as long as tales of elves spoke of.

But there was no tale that told Miriam what this creature was. Terror and beauty in one monstrous form.

She couldn't help but step backwards involuntarily, prompting the spider woman to chuckle deviously.

"'Welcome to my parlour, said the spider to the fly~'" she recited. It was a rich voice, sensual, but predatory. Full of womanly charm, but utterly treacherous, to man or woman.

Miriam stepped back again, unable to utter a single word. She couldn't even bring herself to scream. But the spider woman only approached, each careful step plucking a clawed 'foot' from the webbing. Miriam couldn't fathom how the thing was even clinging to the webbing, but it seemed perfectly comfortable striding along the silk threads.

"What is this~?" the spider remarked. "Does the fly not wish to join me in my parlour~?"

She giggled wickedly.

It was at that point Miriam decided to run, turning around to bolt the way she came, letting out a scream.

But her flight was cut short after only a few steps, as she slipped on the leaf litter, which proved far less stable when attempting to run on it suddenly.

That was when she discovered a layer of silk carefully hidden beneath, a fine sheet of sticky webbing that clung to her palms.

Miriam shrieked, trying to pull it off, but it only got her more hopelessly entangled in the fine threading.

Which gave the monster looming overhead all the time in the world to descend to the ground with a disturbing grace, not that Miriam noticed until the spider woman was standing over the struggling woman.

She rolled onto her back, whimpering silently, eyes almost bulging as she saw this creature grinning down at her, pedipalps twitching around her crotch, where the human spied a thin slit and slightly puffy vulva.

Miriam, however, cared little for the monster's apparent nudity, feeling like a scream had caught in her throat, and couldn't bring itself to escape.

"Aw, the fly has gotten themselves stuck~" the spider woman mused, licking her lips. "Poor little fly, caught and bound, stuck and trapped~ To become a meal, in the spider's parlour~"

Miriam started to blubber.

"P-Please, no!" she pleaded, struggling even more to extricate herself from the webbing.

She didn't have much time to beg or contemplate the horror of her situation or the circumstances of her fate, for the spider woman suddenly plucked her from the ground, threads of sticky silk clinging to Miriam's body, and lifting the layer of dead leaves like a carpet before the strands were snapped by a quick swipe of the spider's forelegs.

Miriam struggled, but the spider woman was quick, and seemingly adept at dealing with writhing prey, using their legs to juggle Miriam dexterously, before the woman felt her shoulders grasped by the spider's human arms.

She was hauled up before the monster, who licked her lips hungrily... and perhaps a little erotically, as though feasting and fornicating were not far removed acts for her.

"Just a quick bite~" the spider crooned, using her pedipalps to hold onto Miriam's hips, keeping the struggling woman from slipping free.

Miriam was about to start bashing on the spider's head, before they suddenly leaned forward, and sank their fangs into Miriam's shoulder and neck.

Miriam ought to have screamed out in agony. Instead, there was only a shocked gasp, her eyes widening and her pupils shrinking to pin pricks.

It didn't hurt as much as she expected, and the pain faded almost instantly, to be taken over by a buzzing warmth that quickly radiated from the location of the bite, the spider woman gently 'chewing' with her jaws and jerking her head every so slightly downwards.

The warmth intensified, and the buzzing turned to a strange tingle that seemed to overwhelm the muscles in her limbs and her torso. They no longer responded to her, and erratic, spasmodic twitches began to rock her body. Worse, the heat seemed to concentrate on 'certain areas' of her body... her nipples, and her vulva, in particular. She couldn't comprehend it, but arousal was starting to spread throughout her body, and her skin became suddenly sensitive to touch, even light caresses surprisingly pleasing.

Another gasp left her lips as the spider woman released her neck, fangs sliding free of the bite wounds left upon the curve where neck met shoulder, tiny rivulets of blood trickling from the punctures. Which were promptly lapped up by the spider woman, boasting an inhumanly long and dexterous tongue.

She let out a seething sigh of delight, as though Miriam's blood was delicious.

"Mmm, you will be a good meal~" she said.

Miriam couldn't muster the strength to respond; the paralytic venom was spreading throughout her body, though it seemed to have left her organs and her head alone, though it was harder to move her neck. Unfortunately, it seemed to also serve as some sort of aphrodisiac, a potent one at that; Miriam's body was hot, and she could feel her undergarments getting wetter by the moment.

A small shivering whimper left her lips, but it quickly turned to a gasp of uninvited stimulation when the spider woman suddenly pulled Miriam tight against them, their larger breasts squashing against Miriam's.

They attacked her neck again, only this time with lecherous licks and kisses. Slow and teasing. She felt their lips press to her skin, gently suckling and draping those oral folds against her sensitive throat, before sealing her victory over the human and planting a kiss upon Miriam's mouth.

Her eyes widened a little in response, but she couldn't fight the spider off, only endure as their lips meshed with hers, and their tongue wormed into her mouth, the prehensile length easily tangling up Miriam's muscle, and probing further into her throat.

She should've gagged as she felt it probe so far, but it seemed her reflex had been suppressed, perhaps by the very venom that now coursed through her veins.

As much as it wasn't affecting the muscles in her head quite as much as the rest of her body, the effects on her mind were apparent, her arousal deepening, a soft euphoria descending upon her mind.

The kiss went on for quite a while before the spider woman broke it off, giggling deviously, whilst Miriam panted softly.

"Now it's time to get to the real meat~" the spider crooned.

A timid yelp left Miriam's lips as she was then manhandled some more, and whined in terror as she felt the spider start stripping her attire from her body. First her shirt and cloak, and then then the simple cloth brassier that kept her bust from chafing against some of the more coarse garments she wore.

The spider woman took a good long look at Miriam's breasts, licking her lips and leaning in to give one of the exposed nipples -- erect from that terrible venom -- a long, salacious lick.

Miriam whimpered and gasped, unable to stop the pleasant sensations that arced through her nerves when teased in such a manner.

The spider started rubbing her breasts to Miriam's then, chuckling lowly and licking their captured human's cheek before shifting Miriam about, so they could use their pedipalps to begin stripping the rest of the woman's attire.

Her long pants and underwear were pulled down in one go, and then removed altogether, along with her boots.

Now Miriam was totally naked before this treacherous monster, much to the creature's delight.

"You look delicious~" they said. Miriam could only whimper in response. This was followed by a startled shout as she was suddenly taken beneath the spider's great body... and suddenly found himself being wrapped up in sticky silk.

She couldn't fight back, as her body was still twitching against her will, spasming like a dying insect, though the burning sensitivity she felt was anything but the touch of death.

She whimpered as she was wrapped in layer upon layer of sticky silk, slowly cocooned in wrapping that covered her from head to toe... save for her crotch, her breasts, and her mouth. Her arms were bound together and crossed just below her bust, with her legs held together and kept straight. She was still twitching and struggling involuntarily, but once she was completely bound, it was just a twitching, elongated sack the spider woman had to deal with.

Unfortunately for Miriam, the silk was surprisingly soft against her skin, and though layered thick, she could feel touch through the webbing quite acutely... a hand gently brushing across her stomach with a sensual pressure, another gently playing across her head.

All she could do was gasp and whine, the spider woman starting to grope their hapless quarry with a surprisingly pleasant touch. Miriam couldn't rightly see through the silk, as only light seemed to filter through the sheets of the cocoon, leaving the world around her only defined by bright and dark spots and smudges.

Her hearing, however, was only slightly limited, the spider woman giggling rather heartily, quite pleased with her handiwork.

"You look lovely, all wrapped up, like a gift~"

Miriam felt a finger tug down her lower lip, and then a thumb brush across both. She shivered, unable to resist the sensations being toyed with like this presented her. That damned venom was too much.

Suddenly, she felt herself being hauled up into the air, a twitching, dangling cocoon containing a helpless woman awaiting an uncertain fate.

She felt her back being pressed to a stretchy sheet of something, more webbing most lightly, and then the touch of the spider receded.

She was held in place, firmly adhered to the web, though it shifted a little thanks to Miriam's lingering involuntary jerks and spasms, though they were growing a bit less frequent now. Not enough to stop the spider from being pleased by Miriam's reactions to the venom.