TRC - Lord of the Glass Desert Ch. 17

Anika frowned, "Don't be so sure of that. They may lack military discipline, but those who join the Reavers quickly learn to be scared of Gaboh, and now Tavik. If Gaboh's punishment for trying to leave the Reavers was public torture and death. Tavik made it clear thought the same way about deserters a few days after Gaboh died. The Reaver screamed he was just gathering berries until his last breath. I think it was more to make the men fear Tavik than because the Reaver did anything wrong."

Kal sighed and shook his head slowly. "Sacrificed as an example. Any possibility some of them might be interested in another chance at freedom? Maybe the craftsmen, or the cooks?"

"Unlikely," said the arachne. "The craftsmen were appointed to do the jobs after the last ones tried to escape or died some other way. These aren't men with years of experience in their crafts, just bandits told to do the job under threat of death. The only ones you might be able to convince are the servants. Most of them were merchants or wagon drivers the Reavers kept to take care of the ape-girls' needs. Once the girls left, they were charged with cleaning up after the Reavers."

"How many of them are there?"

"Maybe twenty, but don't expect them to help us. Most of them saw their companions tortured and killed for trying to run. These are broken men who only do what the Reavers tell them. They also bear the Reaver tattoo, so unless you see them getting ordered around, they're nearly impossible to tell apart. The only thing I can offer is that I think most of them stay up here," she pointed at a small building in the northwest corner of the map. "Gaboh kept them up there so the other Reavers wouldn't hear them having sex with the apes."

"How do the Reavers know which ones are the servants then?" asked Kashka.

"I... I don't know," said the spider.

The mage pondered the news of the servants for a moment before speaking. "If there are only twenty, then they are probably known around camp by their faces, or maybe something they wear. Regardless, if they aren't allies, they're just men we don't need to kill. What about taking the camp out in stages?" He tapped the camp's perimeter, "We take out the guards patrolling over here, then the men in the barracks, then disappear. It will put the Reavers on high alert but will also thin their ranks significantly."

"I'm not sure about that," said Anika while staring at the stone map. "We know they have the belts... Wait... The belts! That's how we can tell the servants apart. They didn't give them belts!"

"Makes sense. You wouldn't want your captives to be extra strong. That'll help us weed out the non-combatants. What were you saying about the belts before that?"

"I believe those belts came from the royal armory and were meant for the royal guard. But this number of belts would have been for footsoldiers. I don't know what kind of armor or weapons may have been wielded by the guard's elites. If we take out those in the barracks then come back later, it will give them a chance to outfit the survivors with much better equipment."

"Any idea how much better?"

"Carvings on the labyrinth walls portray a prince throwing lightning while another breathed fire. Depictions of the king showed spears bouncing off him as he ordered large golden cats to rip apart his enemies. I assume they were gold. Robbers scraped anything precious off the inscriptions long ago."

The mage frowned. "That's too bad. So it sounds like a single attack is safer. Although, I'm a little worried about the prince's and king's abilities. If Tavik got ahold of those... We'll just have to be careful.

"Alright, so Kashka will handle the sleepers in the barracks. I'll fly up above the temple and deal with the archers from above. Anika, can you take out the men at the storehouse?"

"As I said, they'll make a lot of noise, but yes."

"Not to worry. Once I start dropping their archers, you'll be lucky if they notice the Reavers screams."

"I have one request," said Anika, lifting up her abdomen. She pointed at the glass-like hairs growing on the top and back. "I'd like to have all of these available before we go after the bandits. Luckily, mine grow back in a few days, instead of having to wait for my next molt like the smaller versions of me."

Ria rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. I'm sure it's 'only' because you want your hairs to grow back," she said with a couple of lewd thrusts of her hips that made Anika's face turn bright red.

"Actually, this will work out," said Kal, ignoring the sprite. "I'm worried about the princes' armors and want to see if there's some way to counteract their effects. This will give me time to study."

"I think I might have a way to help Anika make her little spear-hairs go further. The poison will take a little to make, but she should drop a man with one needle instead of four. It'll just take a little longer and you'll need to be careful not to touch the tips afterward," Kashka chimed in.

"Will it stop them from screaming? I hate it when they scream," said the arachne.

"No, nothing I can mix up acts that fast. How exactly do those hairs kill your prey?"

"I don't know other than they cause intense pain after a few seconds. Can pain alone kill someone?"

Kashka shrugged. "Not that I've seen, but that doesn't mean it can't happen."

"If I didn't believe extreme pain could kill a person, I would after watching that Reaver die yesterday."

"Really?" the cat-girl asked. "What makes you think pain alone killed him?"

"The expression on his corpse was... relief," said Kal, his tone somber. "In his final moments, it looked like he preferred death to whatever torment those hairs cause. At least it was quick. As much as I hate bandits of all kinds, I'm not into torture or prolonged suffering."

"It's either use my hairs or pounce on them and rip their head off," said Anika, sounding annoyed. The human and cat's criticism of her special hairs was beginning to get on her nerves. She wasn't expecting them to look over at her with curiosity.

"Can you do that?" asked Kal.

"Probably," she said, suddenly nervous under their stares. She wasn't sure if they were horrified by her claim or impressed by it. "I haven't actually tried on a human, but I did get mad and pull the leg off a boar when it stuck me with a tusk." Anika made a motion with her foreleg of yanking the imaginary boar's limb to the side.

"Gruesome as it sounds, that makes me feel a little better. I was worried those hairs were your only defense."

"I could bite them too, but it only makes humans want to mate with me. It paralyzes other animals but still doesn't do the inside-melting." The arachne shivered, "And they just slurp it up. That's so gross."

Kal clapped his hands to distract the spider from her thoughts. Her face was starting to turn a little green. "So we have a plan?"

"I think so," said Kashka before looking toward Anika.

The arachne sighed. "It's only six, and they will be distracted," she muttered while staring at the diorama of her old home. The spider wore a hesitant smile as she looked up at the other two. "I've only ever attacked one Reaver at a time."

"You'll be doing the same here. Attack one, dispatch them as quickly as possible, then move on to the next," said Kashka.

"You make it sound so simple."

"In a way, it is. Ria, store this please," said Kal, waving at the map. "Move fast, strike hard, make sure they can't get up and stab you in the back later. That's a lesson I had to learn the hard way."

"I, for one, am glad you still haven't learned it very well," said Kashka as she took a tiny book out of one of her pouches and started flipping through the pages.

"Okay, you have a point."

Anika looked between them. "I'm missing something, aren't I?"

"Kal and I met when I tried to kill him," said the cat without looking up from the book. "His magic nullified my first two attempts, and my owner was going to kill me if I failed again. I was desperate," she glanced up to glare at Kal for a moment, "and exhausted when we finally fought. The smart thing to do would have been to kill me. Instead, he just knocked me senseless then saved me from a trap my owner implanted in me. From my perspective, I'm glad he isn't thorough about not leaving enemies behind."

"In fairness, there weren't any other enemies on that roof, or we may not be having this conversation," said Kal.

Anika stared at the cat and human, "How can you two talk about nearly killing each other so casually?"

"Because it was unfortunate at the time, but those things needed to happen how they did for us to be here. When her owner tried to poison her after I knocked her out, I got the impression she may not have been hunting me of her own will. So, I took a chance."

"Since you brought up poisons, there are a few plants in here," she held up the little book, "that I've never seen until yesterday." Kashka looked up at Ria, "Do you mind coming with me?"

"What?! But they're going to..." the sprite pointed at Anika, and Kal then made a couple of rude motions with her hands. When the cat-girl just raised an eyebrow at her, Ria slumped in the air and mumbled, "I guess so."

Kal chuckled as he untied Ria's bag from his belt and handed it to Kashka. Still grumbling, the sprite followed Kashka out of the tent and down the tree.

After seeing them off, he turned to his guest. Anika seemed to be having trouble breathing as a bright red blush spread across her face.

"Stand over there, please," he instructed, pointing in front of the tent's entrance before ducking into the alchemy lab. Kal reemerged holding a length of rope with knots tied along its length in one hand and parchment, quill, and inkwell in the other.

Seeing she hadn't moved yet. Kal set the items near the door to the library and took Anika's hand. He led the confused arachne to where he indicated, then turned her around to face the extinguished firepit.

"Um... what are you doing?" she asked as Kal retrieved the rope and writing instruments.

For a moment, he appeared to ignore her as he concentrated before saying a word she couldn't understand. In the same manner as the firepit's cooking rack last night, wooden posts sprouted from the floor near the wall while the top rose up behind the table legs and continued upward before laying over top the legs. Kal set everything down on the newly-made table except for the rope.

"Kashka told you I wanted to examine you, didn't she? I'd like to start by taking some measurements. I've seen descriptions of arachne in books but never one with long hair or a body shaped like yours. Hold still, please." Kal knelt next to her foreleg with the rope and extended it up its length, brushing across the silken hair and making her shiver.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"The hairs on my body are very sensitive. They help me 'see' what's going on around me," Anika explained.

Kal moved away and jotted his measurements in the parchment. "Then how do you move through the jungle with all the plants brushing up against you?" he asked as he came back and measured her second leg.

"When I'm on the ground, that 'sight' fades. I don't notice it nearly as much. That's also why I mainly stay in the trees."

"And you can't make it fade here?"

"Uh, no," she said as another shiver ran through her. "If I'm on the ground, it's usually for a specific purpose. There's nothing to distract me in here."

As he returned from writing down the second set of measurements, she asked, "Do you really think I'm pretty?"

"Yes."

"All of me?"

Kal hesitated for a moment. "That's more difficult to answer, but first, do you remember the alarune I showed you out on the road?"

"Yes."

"What you saw is just a tiny part of her body, essentially just the flower. The rest of her is below ground, consisting of roots, vines, and a large hollow bulb beneath. I love all of her, including the vines that could rip me apart and the strange mouth in her bulb. But while I love those parts and they have given me moments of great pleasure, I'm not attracted to those parts, only her human-looking flower. I think the best answer is to say that I find all of you pretty and interesting, but I only find your human parts attractive. I hope that doesn't upset you."

"Upset me? No, not at all," the arachne replied, her voice distant. In her head, Anika was trying to comprehend that a human male just called her pretty and attractive. That he wasn't interested in her spider parts didn't bother her that much. After all, he still thought her spider body was pretty and...

"What do you mean by interesting?"

"I've never seen anything like you before," said Kal as he went over to the table and jotted down the numbers for her two back legs on that side. "Even in my books, there are no arachne with your style of body. While your human parts look to be around the same size as the average woman. Many of those arachne are much smaller and build intricate, sticky webs to catch flying prey. But you create sheets instead of strands and pounce on your prey instead of using a web. The only thing remotely like you back where I live are tiny jumping spiders, and they have very different body shapes from yours."

Kal walked around behind Anika. "What are these?" he asked about the two finger-like protrusions on the very back of her abdomen.

"Those are my spinnerettes. I use them to shape and place my silk," she replied. As a demonstration, she brushed her spinnerettes across her abdomen's rear, collecting some silk. Anika touched the spinnerettes to the carpet near one rear leg then pulled a sheet of fine strands across to the other leg where she anchored it.

Kal knelt down to inspect the gossamer threads. "Is it safe to touch? I won't get stuck, will I?"

"No, I only used sticky web on the ends."

"How many different kinds of webbing can you make?" he asked, pulling the sheet of woven strands up and letting them snap back to the floor.

"Sticky, non-sticky, sheets like this, anchor thread, and signal strands."

"You mentioned signal strands, but what is anchor thread?"

"The very thick strands that most of my home is built on are anchor threads. Imagine those sheets twisted into a single, thick rope. I do have another kind of silk..."

Kal looked up at the spider's odd tone to see her blushing bright pink again.

"It's for... attracting mates," she said, then turned away quickly.

"I'm guessing it's scent-based? Something that coats the silk?" he asked, trying to make her feel more comfortable by ignoring her embarrassment. It appeared to work as her face returned to its normal color when she looked back at him over the rest of her body. Kal stepped over the sheet of silk and between her back leg and abdomen while holding up the length of rope. "Remember, I've never met one of your kind before. I don't know where you are sensitive or where I should absolutely never touch."

Anika thought for a moment, then lifted her abdomen upward. Kal was more than a little surprised by the body part's dexterity. "The light areas on either side are where I breathe," she said, pointing to the patches with a back leg. "Please don't touch those. There's also the opening in the middle. That's... that's where the male's seed goes when I want to have babies."

Kal raised an eyebrow. The opening was about the right size, but he wasn't sure about putting anything in there. "So, when you brought back a husband, this was how they mated with you?"

"Oh no. They mate with me up here," she said, pointing at her groin. "I make a little silk pouch and push their seed into it. Then I hold the pouch over myself back there and squeeze it out. After that, I just hope it takes." Finishing her explanation, Anika blinked rapidly for a moment. Her eyes widened, and she gasped as she turned and stared straight ahead. "I can't believe I told you that."

The mage smiled in amusement at the arachne. "Would it increase your chances of an egg if you removed the need for the pouch?"

Anika's head whipped around. She stared at Kal in complete disbelief. "You would do that?"

"Kashka told you I might help you if you wanted children. I'm not saying I will put my cock in there, I don't even know if it's made to accept a human, but I can just hold it there as I finish."

The spider's entire body shivered as a low moan escaped Anika's mouth. "How long will this take?" she asked, pointing at the rope in his hand.

"A while," said Kal, smirking as he held the rope against her abdomen. After taking the measurements of her body's bulbous rear section and writing everything down, he came around to the back leg on the arachne's far side. After walking the rope up the leg like the others, he frowned and did it a second time. "Anika? This leg is shorter than the one on the other side. Did something happen to it?"

The arachne sighed, "When the Reavers set my home on fire, that leg got badly burned. I ended up losing the bottom half."

"You can regrow your legs?

She nodded. "It takes a few molts, and as you can see, it never gets back to the same size."

"That's amazing. I don't know many non-plant monster girls that can regenerate like that. Do your human parts molt?"

"Ew, no. I don't even know how that would work."

"I only know how reptile monster girls and harpies molt. I have no idea at all how it works with you," said Kal as he measured the next leg.

"I gorge myself for about a week, eating as much as I can catch and even going out and hunting at night. Then I seal off my nest, stand in one spot and wait. A few days go by as my new body finishes growing. When the pressure of my new body pressing against the old gets uncomfortable, this part," she tapped the carapace right behind her torso, "loosens. I peel it up and wiggle the rest of my body out. I have a stick I keep nearby I use to speed things up. Then I let my new body dry and harden for the next day before things go back to normal."

"What do you do with your old shell?"

"Travel in a random direction and drop it somewhere in the forest. Without the rest of me, it's surprisingly light."

Kal stepped in between her front legs and began walking the rope around the outer edge of her carapace. As he approached her human back, she leaned forward and revealed a nicely shaped bottom.

The mage froze. "Wait, what?"

Her head turned, so the glassy eye behind her ear pointed at him. Kal could see the worry on the side of her face as she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. Your human and spider parts aren't put together the way I thought. It looked like your back attached directly to your carapace." As he spoke, Kal recalled Anika scuttling away after their first meeting and realized it would have been impossible for her to lean forward in such a manner if she were built like a centaur. Instead, her spider body connected about mid-thigh with thick knee-like joints covered by chitin. The front of her carapace also had an indentation for her bottom to fit into.

"It's disgusting, isn't it?" Anika asked. The arachne's torso vibrated in fear.

"No, it's not disgusting at all, just unexpected," he replied, trying to alleviate any of the spider's anxieties. "Stay bent forward like that, please," he instructed while stepping out from Anika's legs and around to her front. "Can I ask you some very personal questions?"

"I suppose," she said while lowering her body to rest on the carpet. Anika's leg-like pedipalps extended forward along each side of her body, bringing up memories of a contortionist act he saw once only with furry, insectoid legs instead. As she laid down, the mage watched her muscles relax from the effort of holding her torso horizontal. Kneeling beside her, he ran a finger along the indentation in the middle of her back left by her carapace's upper plate. The skin there felt thick and leathery