Day 57 / Spiderwebs
When Garret came to, the first thing he noticed was that he'd been stripped naked and completely bound and gagged by a cocoon of thread. The second was his splitting headache, and the third was that something was carrying him. Garret remained limp and tried to pretend like he was still unconscious. Ow… His head felt like it was in a vice… even if he wanted to cast and free himself, he doubted he'd be able to focus on a spell. He needed to lay low and pretend like he was still out. Maybe they'd leave him alone long enough for his migraine to disappear.
With a soft thud, whatever was carrying him swung him off its shoulder and onto a mound of… something. Garret momentarily tensed, surprised by the sudden movement. Was he about to be discovered? A few minutes passed, and it appeared the answer would be 'no'. It seemed he had just been placed here for safekeeping. Experimentally, he tried to ignite a hand, but his head throbbed and severed his connection to the magic, confirming his suspicions. It seemed he had to play the waiting game. At least, somehow, the thread didn't inhibit his breathing.
As minutes (maybe hours? He couldn't tell.) passed, things came and went, dropping more bodies on the pile. Garret assumed they were arachnae, but with his vision blocked and hearing impeded, there was no way to know for certain. The fear of the unknown, the dark, and his helplessness without his magic lead to a very tense period of time as he laid here, wondering what his fate would be. Beneath him, he occasionally felt something squirm, probably another bound person, but most of the bodies on the pile had either exhausted themselves while trying to escape, or had simply given up.
Another hour (?) crept by, but Garrett's headache showed no signs of subsiding. Damn, maybe he'd actually damaged something up there… he'd need to get the priests to look at it once he got back. If he got back. A thirst began to creep up on him, and the fear he had felt before was starting to be replaced by restlessness. How long were they planning on keeping them there? Perhaps he shouldn't have asked. Soon after, the sound of voices approaching signaled his wait might be at an end.
"That's all of them, then?"
"Yes, mistress. Um, I-I think so."
"My dear, you need to be more assertive. You've got a long way to go if you wish to truly become one of us… now let's try it again. Is that all of them?"
"Yes, mistress!"
"Much better. What do you think, Charlotte? Not bad for our first catch."
"Took them long enough to get here... I thought The Order would've had more balls than to wait years to counterattack."
A fourth voice joined the conversation.
"But our little trap has finally paid off… we caught more men in a day than we would have in a year back home."
"Mmmm… and they'll keep coming. I know The Order. They won't leave their friends behind."
The sound of chitin on rock filtered through the web as one of the arachne began to move towards them.
"A good catch indeed…" The first arachne's icy voice came from directly above. She must be standing right over top of him.
"Now tell me, Ilona, which one was that fire mage?"
Fear immediately surged through Garret and he broke out into a sweat. If he could cast, a cocoon wouldn't hold him… but they knew that too. They'd be sure to deal with him first! He reached for his magic again. If he was going to escape, it was now or never! Throb. As before, though, his head refused to cooperate… But the reply dooming him never came.
"… Ilona, I believe I asked you a question, darling."
"Uh. I-I, Uh…"
"Spit it out, dear."
"I-I-I forget, mistress."
There was a long pause.
"…I'm sorry, my dear, I didn't hear you. Could you repeat that?"
Her icy tone had been replaced with a much softer, more gentle voice, but somehow that just made it sound even more terrifying. Garret could have sworn he heard the other arachne audibly gulp.
"I-I-I-I'm sorry, mistress! I just put them all into a pile and forgot who went where!"
That statement caused relief to flood through Garret. Goddess bless you, you stupid fucking newbie. I'll kill you last!
"One more time?"
"I'm sorry! I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry! It completely slipped my mind and I-KYAH!"
A loud slap cut her panicked apology short, causing even Garret to wince in sympathy. Poor girl.
"… You do realize what it means for us if he gets free, right?"
The other girl sniffled. "Y-yes, mistr-AH!"
Another loud slap interrupted her again, followed by an angry rebuke from her apparent superior.
"No, I don't think you do! If you understood, you would never have been so careless! You're worthless!"
Slap.
"Useless!"
Slap.
"You're not fit to call yourself an Arachne!"
Slap. Wow… If she kept this up, she'd end up doing The Order's job for them…
Illona stopped replying, just sobbing softly as she accepted the abuse. After the 'mistress' had satisfied herself, she cooed to her in a soft voice.
"Oh no, don't worry my dear… It's alright... I don't blame you, I blame myself. I clearly didn't teach you well enough. But it's ok, after we deal with these men, I'll fix that."
Ilona just whimpered in reply. Something told Garret he didn't want to know what an arachne's 'education' involved.
"Now then, get to work. Your forgetfulness was dangerous, but once we get some venom in them, the mages won't be casting any time soon."
"Y-Yes, Mistress..."
"You too, Charlotte. Sabrina."
"Yes Ma'am!"
Garret's heart began to pound upon hearing the mention of 'venom', and he tried to free himself again, first by fire, then by squirming when his magic failed. He didn't know what that poison had in store for him, but if it was related to mamono, it couldn't be good.
"Mmmm… Looks like someone's getting in the mood. Ilona! Go practice on him."
"Y-Yes, Charlotte."
The 'leader' had apparently scurried away while Garret was trying to escape, and now the orders were coming from one of the other arachnae.
"Pick 'im up and do your thing, but let us watch. Can't have you fucking this up too."
Evidently their 'mistress' wasn't the only one showing animosity towards the new recruit. Ilona gave no response, but by the tapping sound of legs on stone, had moved to comply with their command. Garret felt two arms gently wrap around him and effortlessly lift him off the ground, followed by two spider legs that grabbed his lower half once he was vertical. Despite having several layers of web separating him from the arachne, they did nothing to dull his sense of touch. As she clutched him against her body, he felt, the smooth, hard, spider chitin against his legs, the soft, heavy weight of her breasts as they pressed into his chest, and the warmth of her breath on his neck. She held him gently in her embrace for a moment, before one of the other spiders prodded her to action.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Get on with it!"
"R-Right!"
Her arms shifted as she clutched Garret tighter to her and leaned towards his neck. Almost inaudibly, he heard her whisper 'sorry…', then felt a shot of icy pain as a pair of fangs bit into the skin between his shoulder and neck. Said pain was quickly replaced by a comforting warmth that began to spread up his neck and across his chest as he felt the venom get injected into him. A second later, it was over, Ilona relaxed, and he was carefully lowered to the ground.
"Alright, that seemed fine to me. At least you can do something right. Now let's get to work on the rest of them. Once they marinate in our venom for a while, spells will be the last thing on their mind."
As the spiders worked, Garret had nothing to do but wait. He felt the venom slowly working its way through his body, spreading that pleasant-feeling warmth down his back, into his head, and across to his other arm. It was making him more sensitive and more susceptible to a mamono's touch. When he experimentally wriggled, the sensations of the thread sliding across his affected body parts caused him to shudder in pleasure. Once it eventually reached his groin, a fire was lit with him. His cock sprang to attention, and the sensations of the silk sliding across it as it grew nearly caused him to cum right there. He had to get out of here! He had to escape! If he didn't, he'd… what would he do?
As the poison washed through his head, other thoughts began to intrude. Why should he try to escape? It felt so comfortable in this webbing, he should just relax and enjoy it. Ilona seemed like a nice girl, being her husband wouldn't be so bad. Hell, with the amount of abuse she was getting, she deserved a bit of happiness. These thoughts slowly coalesced, forming an organized voice in his head that urged him to submit, but the logical part of his mind rebelled against it. This was the same thing that happened with the youko! This wasn't him; this was the corruption talking! Having experienced it before, once he recognized what was happening, he found it easier to resist. He just had to push back, focus on thoughts opposite the intruding ones and make sure they won. Of course he still had to escape! Of course being forced into 'marriage' with the enemy would be terrible! The fact that Ilona would be happy didn't matter at all! She was evil! She was not human, and she stood against them!
The unique nature of arachne venom made things more difficult, though, and drove his thoughts down a path he really didn't want to go down. It ate away at his inhibitions and inflamed his lust, as expected, but it also degraded his pride and sense of self. Why did he think so highly of himself? Arachnae were superior beings, he should be happy to listen to them. Why did he care about being bound and their penchant for abuse? He was theirs; it was their right to do what they wanted to him. Why was he trying to resist? It would be so much more pleasant for him once he submitted and learned his place.
Resisting this forced him to think like, presumably, an Arachne, and that was subtly terrifying. Why was he thinking so highly of himself? Because he was strong! He was superior! Why did he care about being bound and abused? Because these insects dared to harm him! Why did he try to resist? Because he could never submit to such lowly creatures. The world was his, and they belonged at his feet! They were his toys! If he wanted to kill them, he would! If he wanted to torture them, he'd take pleasure in it! These thoughts, too, created their own voice echoing in his head.
Then another voice, quieter but no less insistent, appeared and tried to pull him back. This was going too far. He wasn't a monster, he wasn't sadistic, he wasn't like them. You're Garret! A soldier of The Order, not a monster and not their prey.
As time crept by, a three-way battle for Garret's soul raged within him, one voice pulling him to submit to the monsters, another fighting it, encouraging him to become like them, and a final one desperately pleading for him to hold on to his humanity. There was only one upside to his situation: though the venom was transforming him to better suit the arachnae, it also was slowly getting rid of his headache…
The arachne 'mistress' returned just as the others were finishing up and voiced her approval.
"All done? That's wonderful. We'll distribute them to the rest of the colony once the venom's had time to do its work. Charlotte, Sabrina, you're free to go… Ilona, I believe we have some education to get to."
"… Y-Yes, mistress."
It would be a few hours until they returned.
During this time, Garret began to formulate an escape strategy. His mental battle was still going on, but he was getting used to the venom's effects. Despite what the arachnae claimed, its effectiveness lessened over time as his body adapted to it, rather than intensifying or holding strong. Evidently that wasn't the usual case, though. The pile of humans became increasingly noisy as time went on, with people wriggling and moaning in pleasure as the venom took them. Their movements caused more of the silk to slide across their sensitive bodies, pleasuring them further and causing them to moan and squirm again. It was a dangerous loop that meant none of them were likely to escape on their own. He'd need to find a way to pull them out with him when he fled... He tried to ignite a hand again, and this time managed to get a small spark. What ever that venom and demonic energy was doing, at least it was helping his head, he just needed a few more minutes. The tapping of legs on stone, though, indicated he might not get that…
"For our next class, we'll need a man… Ilona, pick someone. I'll show you how to properly train your prey."
A moment later, Garret found himself being lifted up again, then slung over a shoulder.
"Hmm… Why did you pick him specifically?"
"… H-he was my first, mistress…"
Clearly not first lover, but maybe first bitten? Either way, it didn't matter. The sentimentality of it caused an exasperated sigh and a pause that Garret could only assume was caused by the mistress rolling her eyes.
"… Very well… but don't get any ideas. You're to break him, not fall in love like a school-girl."
"Yes, mistress…"
"Now come. Let's get him set up in your cave."
Their journey lead them downwards, deeper into the mountain, much to Garret's displeasure. He tried to keep track of the twists and turns as they went, but eventually gave up. The 'storage' room would likely be empty by the time he freed himself anyways, and there was no guarantee it was anywhere close to an exit. When they arrived at their location, he was lifted up again, then pressed against what he could only assume was a spider web. Ilona gave him an experimental shake to see that he was properly adhered, then released him.
"Good, he seems well secured."
A moment later he felt someone pull him from the side.
"…Very well secured, indeed. Ilona, I'm going to attend to something, cut him out of there and get him tied properly for our next class. I think even someone as stupid as you can manage that."
"… Yes, mistress…"
The monster began to walk away, though she paused and called a final instruction before venturing out of earshot.
"Don't take too long, dear, you don't have to be gentle. If he bleeds a little, it doesn't matter… it might even be for the better."
… Gulp. Before Garret had a chance to dwell on this, though a spider-leg came down and carefully cut through the lower part of the cocoon, freeing his own legs. A pair of strong hands quickly grabbed them and forced them apart with inhuman strength, before wrapping threads around each ankle and fastening them to the web with a set of complex knots. The same happened to his hands as the thread on his chest was cut, and Garret soon found himself spread-eagled, barely able to even wiggle. Despite her mistress' words, though, Ilona maintained a methodical, careful pace as she removed the web from him. Once his torso was bare, he felt a hand skate over his shoulder and lay against his chest for a moment before she focused her attention on his head. As the thread blinding and gagging him was removed, for the first time in what felt like ages, Garret was free to see and speak again.
The naked arachne crawling over top of him was beautiful, though that description seemed redundant when discussing mamono. Heavy, pendulous breasts, disproportionate to her slender frame, brushed against him as she removed the last few threads. Her medium-length, brown hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and her eyes, though he couldn't tell the colour, sparkled beautifully in the glow of the luminescent fungi that gave the cave its lighting. Her spider half was less attractive and somewhat unnerving, but was also different from what he expected a spider-monster to look like. It wasn't black or purple like the archetypal arachnae, hers was composed of various shades of brown chitin, almost like a garden spider, and her abdomen, more rounded than usual.
Moving back to the much more pleasing human half, under ideal circumstances, Garret would have probably complimented her skin, phrasing it as 'flawless' or 'porcelain'. Unfortunately, at the present time, it was anything but. Large, colourful bruises spread across her mottled skin, some looking to be from blunt force, others forming narrow bands from whips or bindings fastened too tightly. The girl just looked beat up, worn down, tired… her face matched this as well, with an almost blank expression displayed upon it, and her beautiful eyes had an empty look to them. A mamono wasn't supposed to look like this…
When she finished securing him, Ilona shifted to his side and… sat? Whatever a spider did to rest, beside him on the web, but didn't touch him. Garret looked at her warily, expecting to be assaulted at any moment, but she just stayed there, looking glumly down at the ground. …Well he wasn't going to complain. His headache was almost gone, but he didn't want to try to cast until he was absolutely sure he could. His internal struggle was still going on, too. Though it was quieter now, the arachne-like voice was telling him to sneer at the girl and defiantly insult her, while the submissive voice was telling him to just lay there, wait, and accept whatever she would do to him. Oddly enough, the voice representing his humanity told him to talk to her, ask her if she was alright. Maybe this was out of genuine concern after seeing her bruises, but Garret shoved that notion aside. He certainly wasn't going to make his situation worse by insulting her, nor was he going to accept it, but he had to pick one of the voices to throw his mental strength behind. Talking with her was the least-bad option, so that was what he would do. But it was only to distract her and, more importantly, to keep control of his own mind! Definitely not concern, he told himself.
Despite his decision, though, Garret still had trouble deciding what to actually say. He eventually landed on just making a simple observation.
"You're injured."
"Yes…"
"…Are you ok?"
"Yes…"
"You don't look ok."
"It's fine…"
That line of conversation continued for a while, but with every question he asked, the arachne only gave a monosyllabic reply. He wasn't getting anywhere like this. Still, though, Garret tried to at least sound empathetic. He just wanted information, though, nothing else. He definitely didn't feel sorry for her… right? Besides, it kept his mind busy and away from how nice her breasts felt against him, or how much he wanted her to-No, no. Not that. With no better option, he mimicked how Annika had tried to talk to him when he was troubled.
"Ilona, talk to me… Are you really ok? What happened?"
The girl stiffened when she heard her name and was silent for a moment before finally replying in a shaky voice.
"No… I don't think I'm ok… I messed up. I failed…I'm a failure…"
At this point, he would have put a hand on her shoulder, but with the webbing in place, his options for physically comforting here were severely limited... How was he supposed to continue this? Interacting with people, let alone comforting them was not Garret's forte.
"You don't look like a failure to me, Ilona."
"No, I am… I forgot who the sorcerer was… If he had woken up before we bit everyone, I… He'd have killed so many of us…"
Keep a straight face, Garret, what she doesn't know won't hurt her. … Yet.
"But he didn't, right? You made a mistake, but you fixed it. You're not a failure."
"No, but… but…" The girl broke down and started sobbing.
"But I can't do anything right! I was never any good at farming, so Father sent me to help with the wagons instead… t-t-then, when our caravan got ambushed, I tripped when I tried to run and the arachne got me! Then they started to teach me how to be one of them, but I can't even get that right! I can't act like them, I can't talk like them, I didn't even manage to snare a single man when we… when we attacked you… a-a-and I forgot who the sorcerer was when they told me to collect the bodies…"
She sniffed and wiped away her tears.
"And now I'm crying to a soldier like an idiot…"
"Hey, it's fine, I won't tell anyone. I'm sorry you went through all that… but I don't think you're a failure. You're still trying your best, right? It'll be fine. And besides:"
Garret squirmed against his restraints for emphasis.
"Your rope-work is very good. I don't think I know anyone who could force their way out of these."
The complement on her bondage skills brought a slight smile to Ilona's face.
"Thanks… but I'm no good compared to my mistress."
"You're better than me at least. I can only do the basic reef-knot, maybe a bowline on a good day, but nothing like these knots."
"That's mostly the web being sticky… the knots aren't too important."
"You're selling yourself short, Ilona. You've got at least one skill you're good at, the other stuff will come in time. You're not a failure."
She smiled again and wiped the last of her tears away. At least he had gotten her to stop crying.
"Thanks, uh… "
"Garret."
"Thanks, Garret… that's really nice of you to say."
He nodded in response.
"So is that how you got your bruises? Your mistress beats you when you get something wrong?"
"… Yes… if you mess anything up, she'll slap you. If you fail your tasks, she'll whip you… if she's bored, she'll tie you up… she does this to all the new girls…"
"That's insane…why would she do that to her own sisters?"
Ilona snorted.
"She says it's for our own good. To make us 'better arachnae'. I think she just hates humans, or, uh… anybody who used to be one."
"A monster that hates humans… Never thought I'd see one of those."
"She said she fought The Order before… maybe something happened…"
"Maybe… but you don't seem happy about it. Can't you leave?"
Ilona shook her head sadly.
"No… if she caught me, she'd treat me even worse. And where would I go? The elves in the forest don't like arachnae, there's nowhere else to live in these mountains that aren't already full of orcs… and there's no free men left in the demon realms."
The Order wouldn't be particularly welcoming either…
"I'm sorry… but-"
"Maybe we could leave together?"
"Get it together! Where is your pride as an arachne?!"
"Maybe I could help."
The voices in his head spoke up, again, trying to pull him into committing to something one way or the other. None of their options were things he wanted, though. Even the 'human' voice was acting monster friendly. Hardening his resolve, he tried to force a fourth option. He just had to retract his partial sentence and tell her '… never mind'.
"Maybe we could leave together?"
What was that!? That wasn't what he wanted! He knew what to say, he planned what to do! Why had he said that instead?! A sudden pressure on his head – no, in his mind, alerted him to what it was. The submissive voice had seen the opportunity and pounced on it. It was getting stronger, and if he didn't fight it, it might engulf him entirely. His failure to force what he truly wanted to say was unnerving to say the least, but he knew his situation now. He didn't have the strength to go his own way when a 'voice' was dominant, he had to strike a balance and prevent any single one from taking over. If he managed to keep their strengths equivalent, they'd fight each other and let him stay him. Mostly. Maybe. At least they had died down for now…
At 'his' words, Ilona's eyes lit up and got a little misty again.
"Do you really mean that, Garret?"
"Yes. Well, first you'd need to get me out of this web, but…. Yeah, I'd like that."
With remnants of the submissive voice still floating around his head, Garret didn't want to immediately contradict it, but he tried to phrase it in such a way that it would help him. If he could get out of the web without burning the energy on a spell, all the better.
"Garret, I…" Ilona paused to wipe her eye. "Can I hug you?"
He couldn't bring himself to say no. When he responded with an affirmation, she skittered across the web until she was directly in front of him, then dove forward into crushing hug that nearly choked him. She realized the strength she was using a moment later and loosened her grip, though she still kept pressing herself against him.
"T-thank you… that's the first time I've felt wanted in… in a long time."
She shivered against him, and something wet fell on his shoulder. She was probably crying as she held him.
The two stayed like this for time and, though Garret was loath to admit it, it felt… nice. And not just because of her breasts pressing against him. By all rights, he should have hated her, but when she was holding him and crying against him, she seemed almost human. Like she was nothing more than a distressed young woman. Before long, though, Garret felt a need growing. Having a beautiful, naked girl hugging them would have excited any man on the best of days, and Garret was no exception. The demonic energy and remnants of the venom pushed that response further and he soon found himself with a rapidly hardening erection. It didn't take long for Ilona to notice it as well and she smiled.
"So you want me like that too…. Well I am a monster after all. Thank you, Garret, I'll help you with that."
Before he could say anything, she dropped down to his waist and immediately enveloped his member with the soft pillows of her breasts. She began to slowly pump them up and down, licking her lips in anticipation as she stared at its head.
"Garret? Does it feel good?"
She paused, looking up at him for approval.
"Yes… Yes, it feels wonderful."
"Get off of me, you stupid bitch! You don't even know how to pleasure a man correctly!"
"Ilona, please… please stop. There's someone else…"
Being with another woman like this, even if the situation was involuntary, felt like cheating on Annika. He needed to resist… do something. He was about to pick his choice when a familiar voice from the cave entrance interrupted them.
"Ilona, dear, what do you think you're doing?"
Ilona froze at the sound of that icy voice, a look of terror on her face. She didn't reply, nor turn around.
"If I remember correctly, I instructed you to wait until my return, not begin fucking the merchandise."
"Y-… Yes, Mistress." Ilona whimpered, looking up at Garret with eyes that pleaded 'save me'.
"I. Can't. HEAR YOU!"
A blast of web splattered across Ilona's back and wrapped around her torso, before pulling back. With her thread, their 'mistress' quite literally pulled Ilona off the web, throwing her to the floor. Ilona cowered where she fell, and the other arachne slowly walked over to her, tapping a wooden rod in her hand as she did.
"You were to tie him up and wait, were my instructions not clear!?"
"I'M SORRY, MISTRESS!"
Whack! With a swing of her arm, the woman delivered a stinging blow to Ilona's side, causing her to cry out and hunch over. If she were fully human, she might have curled into a ball, but arachne biology didn't allow for that.
"I have told you many times. I even warned you before leaving! You're not to be falling in love with your prey until you have broken them completely! Look at him! It's he broken?" She pointed her rod towards Garret.
"N-No, mistress."
Whack! She rapped her across the back, causing her to collapse onto the floor.
"Then why did you!?"
Whack! Suddenly she adopted a sweet, motherly tone that would have sounded comforting if not for the malice that lay behind it.
"Ilona, darling, I don't know what I am to do. I took you into my home, I turned you, I fed you, and I gave you so many lessons on how to become a proper arachne. Why must you repay my kindness with rebellion? Do you really hate me that much that you refuse to listen to even the most simple instructions?"
"N-"
Ilona's response was cut off by another strike of the rod.
"I'm sorry, my dear, but it seems that I've failed as a teacher. I can't show you anything like this."
Whack!
"But don't worry, I know how to fix you!" Suddenly her tone became much more cheerful. "I'll break you like I break a man. I'm sorry, it will hurt, but once you aren't able to think any more, I'll build you back up. I'll start from the foundations and shape you into what an arachne should be. Don't worry, Ilona, one day you will be perfect."
Whack!… Whack!... Whack!
Ilona was forced to the ground and beaten repeatedly. She protected her head with her arms, but her assailant mostly aimed for the back, sides and breasts. Even though she was a monster, even though they were enemies, Garret couldn't bear to watch this. He had to stop it, he had to protect her somehow. Most of the voices in his head were of similar mind.
"Just let it happen… she's the superior being, she can toy with whoever she wants."
"She dares to lay a finger on another in your presence?! Call her! Insult her! Draw her onto you and show her how a true arachne should act!"
"Apologize! You started this, explain it to her! You're the one at fault, not Ilona!"
For once, the 'arachne' voice seemed the most reasonable.
"Is that how you treat all your sisters, you pathetic bitch? Beat monsters weaker than you for your own amusement? I pity you. You're even more worthless than her. You'll never find a husband like that, not a single man would want you!"
With no idea how to properly taunt someone, Garret ceded control of his speech to that voice, well aware that what he was saying was horribly out of character. It had an effect, though, and the spider-woman turned away from Ilona to grin at him with what would have been a beautiful smile of not for, again, the malice underneath.
"Oh, you do speak. Well save your pity, little fly, I already have a husband… or rather, had one."
She began to walk towards him, slowly tapping her rod in her hand with each step.
"Pfft, until what? He managed to get away? I bet he was only with you because you forced him and bolted the minute he got a chance."
Their mistress' smile didn't break, nor did he pace quicken, but Garret could see his words were hurting her based on her grip on the rod tightening and how her knuckles had started to whiten.
"No, actually. We lived a blissful life until you took him. In the last great crusade, your fellow soldiers of that damnable Order put him to the sword in front of me."
She halted and thrust her abdomen forward, launching a spray of thread at Garrett's groin. As it flew, she swished it with a quick motion of her spinneret, causing it to wrap around his clock and balls (in some places, even knotted) in an impressive display of skill. He didn't have time to admire that, though. When the last of the thread landed, she pulled it with a single deft motion, causing it to tighten painfully, crushing his balls, cutting into his shaft, and making Garret gasp in pain.
"C- guh. Careful there, I know you need my cock just – ah! Just as much as I do!"
The spider frowned. Apparently this was something that bothered her even more than him mocking her late husband.
"You're right. As much as I hate it, I do want your cock, or, if not yours, one of the other soldier's we captured. But I will have it on my terms."
She crawled onto the web and raised his chin with the tip of her rod, staring directly into his eyes.
"My husband died pleading for his life. Your Order hacked him to pieces slowly, drawing out his end, but even as they did so, he kept begging for mercy. Now you will suffer as he suffered. I will give you pleasure."
She stroked his shaft 'lovingly'.
"And I will give you pain."
She brought her rod down on Garrett's stomach, hard, causing him to hunch over (as much as he could) and nearly vomit.
"But what I won't give you is release. You will want to cum, but I won't let you. You might resist at first, but soon you will come to beg. And I will ignore you. Weeks and months will go by without relent, breaking your mind and shattering your sanity, but still I will show no mercy. Only when you have lost everything that makes you, 'you', and are reduced to a mindless husk that can only drool, slaver and beg, will I consider letting you cum."
Gods above, this woman had issues… even the submissive voice was starting to tremble, no longer wanting to give in. Was this what their crusades left in their wake? No, Garret, don't think about that, you have to get out of here. With her attention focused on his eyes, Garret reached for the magic and burned the thread wrapped around his right arm. Now that his headache was gone and the voices, mostly under control, nothing was preventing him from casting.
"That's an interesting plan you have there, but you seem to be expecting me to just go along with it. That's not going to happen."
The arachne laughed and drew herself close, putting her face meer inches away from his.
"Oh you don't have a choice in the matter, little fly. You're caught in our web, we can do what ever we w-"
Thud!
Her sentence was interrupted by Garret swinging his free arm into a right hook and socking her across the jaw. Though he couldn't move much in the webbing, he still managed to put enough weight behind it to knock the arachne's human half sideways. The brief look of total surprise when he hit her was something Garret was going to savor for a long time. She took a step back and checked her jaw with a hand, glaring at him as she did.
"You. You dare! I seems I gave Ilona too much credit for her knots."
Garret smiled and glared back.
"Oh no, her knots were fine, they just won't hold me."
He paused, allowing a perplexed expression to creep across his foe's face. Well, voices? What should I do? The submissive one, driven by fear of what was to come, the aggressive one, driven by hate and pride, and the human one, motivated to protect Ilona, all returned with the same answer.
"KILL HER!"
"KILL HER!"
"KILL HER!"
… with pleasure.
He thrust his hand forward and called his magic, a grand conflagration exploding from it and knocking the woman off the web. The energy he spent rushed out of him, causing him to slouch for a moment, but he quickly gathered himself and burned his bindings with another spell, depositing him onto the ground.
"You see, I'm what you were searching after! A fire mage!", the 'human' voice shouted.
Ilonas 'mistress' froze, a look of absolute terror written across her face. Then she turned and scrambled away as fast as she could, trying to flee.
"HOW DARE YOU RUN! STAND YOUR GROUND AND FIGHT!", the 'arachne' voice roared.
He threw a spear of fire at her main body, but she lurched at the last moment and it hit off-center, sinking deep into her spider-half's side. When Garret detonated it, the explosion blew off three of her legs and the women collapsed, skidding forward slightly. Wasting no time, he ran after her.
The arachne was in no shape to fight. With her human half burned and bruised by his fireball, and her spider-half cracked open by his spear, she lay on the ground, gasping in pain. When he approached, she tried to crawl away but couldn't move more than a few inches. Garret crouched down and, careful to avoid the burned areas, picked up and held her human form. Now it was the 'submissive' voice's turn to influence him.
"I'm sorry… I'll make it quick. I'm not a monster."
With that, the hand that was cradling her head shot a spear forward and concluded the matter as quickly and painlessly as possible. Once done, Garret stood up and looked at her lifeless body. Her human-half had been scorched as expected, but her spider-half… despite its hard chitin, his fire had melted into it and burned it away with ease. Even paper would have given more resistance. The discovery that they were exceptionally weak to fire made Garret take a breath of relief. Maybe he'd get out of here yet.
"Garret… you…"
Behind him, sitting beside the charred remains of the web lay the bruised and battered Ilona. She looked at him with empty eyes, but there was a slight hint of something else in them… fear? Or was that longing?
"Stay with her. You were her first, you belong to her."
"Push her down! Dominate her! You're her 'mistress' now!"
"Help her! You said you wanted to be with her, at least escape together."
This time, the voices were weak. They were all fighting each other with equal strengths, they were balanced! That gave Garret the opportunity to force his own will just once before they'd all turn on him again.
"Run, Ilona… I'm sorry…" Was what he said, before he fled the cave.
He couldn't kill her. She was too different… too human. Too pitiable. Even if he wanted to, Garret didn't think he could manage to hurl a spell at her. …But that was fine. No need to feel guilty about your weakness, Garret, you need to save energy in case someone blocks your escape. It was ok to let her live. That's all there is to it, it's just simple pragmatism! And besides… even though he wanted, no, even though the venom was making him want to go to her, he had to save the other soldiers and return to the human woman that was waiting for him – Annika. The arachne, kind and beautiful though she was, played no part in that future.
After he had turned the corner and ran a ways down the hall, though, a thought came to his mind. He had given Ilona hope, willingly or not, then tore it away. Was there a different way he could have done this? A way no one would be hurt? A way he could have escaped without lying? Garret didn't know, and he forced the thoughts from his mind. He had to focus on what lay ahead. Don't think about her, Garret, she's just a monster. You're fine. You're fine.
Author's Notes: I need a drink after writing that chapter… Poor Ilona.
OK, there's a bit to unpack here. Welcome back, everyone, let's get started.
Demonic energy is written to change both a person's body and mind to better suit their 'wife' if they get captured, which is kind of horrifying. Since arachnae are written to be sadistic bondage enthusiasts, it makes sense to me that the energy would make a person more submissive and sensitive. As stated before, though, Garret has a natural resistance to DE, which makes this story possible, but brings problems of its own. Since he is currently in the process of being corrupted by it (albeit at a slower pace), how do I write that? Just giving him random urges to do something felt a little cheap since I could then simply write them off as 'I was tempted to, but I didn't'. It's also boring and doesn't quite capture the internal struggle that I think would have been going on. My solution to this was the 'voices', the mental manifestation of Garret's struggle against corruption. By having him fight them, try to play them off each other, and even out their strengths (by siding with each of them an equal number of times), he can force a few of his 'own' decisions, but is still slowly getting dragged towards becoming an incubus with every 'cooperative' answer. This conflict, I felt, was better than mere temptation and allowed for more interesting scenes, but is still sort of an experiment. I've never written something like this before, so I'm not entirely sure how it'll turn out. That'll be for y'all to judge once the next few chapters are done.
Next, on to the 'mistress'. Garret hates monsters. Why? Not only because of The Order's propaganda/teachings, but also because of the people he's lost to them. Well, that's a dynamic that's super easy to turn around. If a monster lost her husband to The Order, especially if it was in a gruesome manner, I don't think it would be too unreasonable to imagine her beginning to hate them. …But they're also still a monster and basically forced to love (or at least lust for) men. What would that do to their mental state, wanting to hate someone that much, but also being instinctively drawn to them? The answer (in this chapter) is clearly: 'not good things'. The mistress found her answer about how to reconcile these opposing urges in the form of revenge via sexual domination and torture… but then is she any better than the soldiers who tortured her husband? What's going to happen if an Order soldier manages to escape her torments? It's a cycle that keeps perpetuating and ends up hurting 'innocents' (like Ilona).
Arachne biology was fun to think about this chapter. Though it's not explicitly stated that they have venom, I thought it made sense and would help them fit the role of the BDSM-Dominatrix, so I added it anyway. A rarity for MGE profiles, their entry mentioned a physical weakness: fire. The encyclopedia doesn't talk about how to kill monsters, and this is no exception, but from what's written here, you can certainly infer it. The exact text is: "Their main body and threads are weak to fire. For that reason, it's possible to avoid them and their webs to a certain degree if one carries something such as a torch.". A torch is basically nothing, in terms of a fire weapon, but that's enough to scare most of them off and burn their webs. If they, despite being written as a highly intelligent monster, fear a comparatively small flame, their bodies must be really fucking weak to fire. By extension, that makes a fire-mage or anyone with a proper flaming weapon, their worst nightmare, and they'd have to act accordingly. This 'fact' governed a lot of their behavior this chapter.
Ok this is getting long. If I write much more, I'll end up delaying the story again (I do edit these notes as well!), so let's call it here. Once again, thank you everyone for reading and a double thank you to my reviewers. I now know I'm on the right track with characterization, because what y'all commented on is exactly what I was going for. Thanks for the feedback!
Until next time, Sayonara!