Tangled Web

Elise could feel their lifeless eyes upon her, unblinking and hungry. But she paid them no mind as she returned to her ship. The touch of her god upon her was enough to keep these lesser undead at bay and, for those not cowed by the Spider's aura, Karthus commanded to grant her passage. Save for the mightiest of the wraiths, Elise had little to fear on the Isles. True, her deal with the Deathsinger was costly and time consuming, but the safety it guaranteed her was more valuable than any amount of gold she had had to spend on her more frequent trips to the Isles. And the joy of watching Achlys grow was no small reward either.

"Eight years," Elise mused to herself, "eight long years that child has survived in a place where most perish in a day. How have you done it, my little bug? Fate or luck? It doesn't matter which. Something makes you extraordinary, and we intend to figure out what. Your magic is more special than you realize; special enough that the Matron herself has taken an interest in it."

"Oh my dear, you are so eager to help the wraiths. Why waste your talents here? They are dead, there is only so much you can do to help them. The living however, are a different story. I hope that when I finally bring you back with me to Noxus, you will be just as eager to help my associates. We could make you so much more. But until then, I hope you enjoy your gift. Tellstones is such a good way to train your mind. You showed such fondness for the Rose stone. I do hope Karthus plays with you."

As Elise approached her hidden harbor near her god's den, a deep sense of foreboding came over her. Something was off. She looked down at her ship moored safely in the waters. It was still and peaceful. It shouldn't be. By now, it should have been crawling with her spiderlings preparing the vessel for departure, but there was no such movement anywhere on the deck or rigging. The spiderlings that had accompanied her to the cathedral sensed her concern and they looked up to her for answers.

"You sense it too, my little ones," she said, "We are not alone here."

She quickened her pace towards the ship.

"We will be cautious," she promised her brood, "and we shall make sure that whatever unwanted guest has intruded upon us will never do so again."

In the harbor, Elise found her dinghy exactly where she had left it. It appeared completely undisturbed, but when she looked over its edge, she found that it was filled with her spiderlings. At the sight of her, they swarmed out of it and surrounded their matron. Their distress was palpable. She crouched down and tenderly ran her fingers over their heads.

"What has upset you so, my dears," she asked as she took one in her hands, "tell me."

The swarm turned and moved towards the ship. In the pale moonlight, the silvery strands of spider web were visible forming a bridge between the shore and Elise's anchored ship. Elise could tell from a glance that it had been hastily spun, an emergency escape.

"It is upon my ship?"

Fangs clicked together in response, confirming Elise's assumption.

"Then let us go remove it."

Elise's spiderlings pushed the dinghy back into the water and she rowed them out to her ship. She scaled the side of it with ease, the spindly legs growing from her back giving her all the extra grip she needed. As she pulled herself up onto the deck, a gasp escaped her lips.

"Who dares?"

The deck was strewn with the bodies of her spiders, both large and small. If her ship had been attacked by wraiths, she had anticipated discovering the corpses of her spiderlings, but she expected them to either be shredded by claws or shriveled and curled after their life was drained from them, not like this. Her spiders lay with blade wounds on their bodies, precise and deliberate. The largest of her slain brood, one the size of a guard dog, laid scattered, each of its legs having been severed before the final blow pierced deep into the center of its head.

Elise knelt at the large arachnid's side to better examine the wounds. This was not caused by some roving, ravenous spirit; this was intentional slaughter by something intelligent. An acidic rage roiled in Elise. She would find this wraith, she would destroy it, and she would remember its face so that if she ever saw it on these shores again, she could destroy it again.

A crimson mist swirled around her as she donned a form fearsome enough to match her wrath. Her body was wrapped in an obsidian chiton patterned with sanguine marks. Her legs elongated, lifting her monstrous form, on sharpened limbs. Wicked fangs dripped with hot venom as she turned and addressed her brood, her sultry voice now replaced with a harsh snarl.

"With me, my pets. Let us hunt."

With her spiderlings trailing behind her, Elise scoured every corner of the ship's deck but found no wraiths. This left her with no choice but to venture below deck, into far more confined spaces. Although her ship had been modified to accommodate her monstrous form, Elise still found the passageways too narrow for her to be able to comfortably move through them. Down here, her advantage of size and speed could not be fully utilized. For a moment, she considered returning to her human form, but decided against it. One bite from her fangs would be all she needed to reduce most spirits back to mist.

Eventually she came to her personal quarters at the stern of the ship. A haunting green light shone through from under the dark, rosewood door, casting a foreboding shadow over Elise and her brood. Even without the ghostly light, Elise knew that the invading specter was in her chambers. Her spiderlings clicked their fangs nervously and hid below and behind their matron.

"Be still," Elise purred to them.

As she crept towards the door, a desperate, shrill, hiss was heard from behind it. It was one of her spiders crying out. Elise burst into her chambers, her front two legs raised high to better display her dripping fangs. Her ruby eyes instantly came to rest on the intruder sitting behind her desk.

"Ah, Elise," Thresh said in a spuriously warm tone, "I was wondering when you would show up."

The Warden was leaning back comfortably in Elise's captain's chair. His lantern hung passively behind him, casting its unhallowed light about the dark cabin. Beneath his gauntlet, was the hissing spiderling. He kept the struggling spider pinned to the desk, its long legs clawing frantically to try and escape his grasp. The creature was terrified, but unharmed, for now. All Thresh would need to do would be to slam his hand down and the spider would be naught but spatter on the desk.

The sight sent the unfamiliar jolt of fear rushing through Elise's body. She knew of this specter. She had been warned of him. She had spent years considering herself fortunate to never have to directly confront him. The greater wraiths had always been content to ignore Vilemaw, and her god was likewise uninterested in the matters of the Ruined King and his minions. So why then was one of the most infamous wraiths of the Isles sitting in her chair as though he owned it?

In the bottom of her heart, she feared she knew the answer. The wraiths of these Isles were not known for pleasant company.

"Release it!" Elise demanded.

Thresh gave a casual look between the pinned spider and Elise before responding.

"If I do, what then?" he asked, "Will you and your host attack me?"

"It is what you deserve for butchering them."

"My dear Elise, they attacked me first. What you saw above deck was self-defense."

"Release it!" she repeated.

"Very well. As a show of good faith, I shall."

Thresh released the spider. Immediately, it skittered away, fleeing past Elise and up towards the upper deck. With his hand now free, Thresh motioned for Elise to come forward.

"There," he said, "your little pet is free as a bird. Now, let us discuss why I have come here."

"No," Elise sibilated, "you will get out of my chair and you will get off of my ship!"

"No."

"Then I will drive you out, monster!"

With a chorus of chittering cries, Elise's spiders raised their front limbs and bared their fangs as Elise had. Her rage flowed into them, spurring their desire for retaliation for their slain kin. Elise was first among them to attack. She rushed at Thresh.

"Monster?" he scoffed as, in one motion, he stood and shoved the heavy desk aside with one hand, "Elise, I simply came to entreat with you, and I was received with fangs and venom. Are you sure I am the monster here?"

With envenomed fangs, Elise leapt the rest of the distance between them. She sprang forward with inhuman speed, but her foe was, likewise, inhuman and met her attack with one of his own. Thresh clutched the chain of his scythe and whipped it around before him. The skeletal links lashed Elise's carapace, knocking her to the side.

"Oh no," he sneered, "down you go."

Elise crashed to the floor with a thud. Her eight legs scrambled to pull her upright.

"You are being a terrible host," Thresh continued to mock, "you should at least listen to what your guest has to say before attacking."

She eyed him warily as she stepped back to give herself space to transform once more and weave the dark magic her god had given her.

"Surround him," she commanded, her voice once more alluring but no less enraged.

"Ah, so you haven't finished tiring yourself out yet," Thresh said as he spun his scythe around with a practiced indifference, "Go on. Attempt to satisfy yourself. I can be patient."

"I have no patience to spare for you," she replied, "It is reserved for more worthwhile endeavors."

"Achlys, I presume?"

As she spoke, her spindly legs began to weave silk from magic. Infused by her god's power, Elise knew these threads could entangle a spirit just as easily as a mortal. As soon as she felt that she had created a sufficient amount to hold the wraith in place, Elise swept her legs around, sending the silken snare forward.

The webbing descended on Thresh, catching his right side. The length of chain attached to his scythe was held fast to the cabin floor. Thresh gave the webs an inquisitive tug, bemused at how they clung to even his spectral form.

"First you order me to leave, then you attempt to hold me in place," he mused, "So fickle, Elise."

She did not dignify his mocking with a response. Now that she believed she had an opening, she did not want to let the opportunity to burn him with her vile toxins by. Though she found it vulgar, she could more easily envenom her saliva and spit it to poison a foe rather than rely on fangs alone. The scarlet spray of toxins flew through the air.

With his left side still free of webbing, Thresh swung his lantern before him and drew upon its cursed magic. Dark energy emanated outward with sickly light, evaporating the venom midair. Thresh's visage pinched into a smirk and he was about to continue his derisive banter with Elise, but before he could speak, he reflexively pulled his arm back in surprise. He felt a burning sensation.

His lantern had failed to dissipate all of Elise's venom and some of it had spattered against his outstretched hand. He drew his hand closer and examined it with interest. Where the venom had landed on his gauntlet, its light was dimmer. These dull stains continued to sizzle outwards, sending a stinging sensation down his arm. The feeling wasn't pleasant, but it was something. Thresh smirked.

As Thresh was focused on his burn, Elise continued her attack. Without even pausing to wipe the caustic venom from her lips, she transformed back into a spider. She saw that her spiderlings had surrounded their foe and only awaited her command to pounce. She gave the scythe a cautionary final glance to see that it was still bound in her web before lunging at Thresh.

"Now!"

Her spiderlings pounced at once, attacking from each direction. Their sudden movement forced Thresh to return his full attention back to the fight at hand. As much as he had been enjoying himself, he had come to speak with Elise, not kill her, and he knew that the fastest way to begin such a conciliatory conversation would simply be to convince her that fighting him further was pointless. Fortunately for him, breaking another's will was his specialty.

Thresh threw his lantern into the air above him, but rather than simply draw upon the magic and let it pour outward as he had before, he channeled it more directly, forcing the energy of stolen souls to bend to his designs. His left gauntlet shone brilliantly as he held it up to the lantern. The artifact trembled as five streams of magic poured from it and spiraled around him. The Warden clenched his fist shut. At once, the magic warped, taking the osseous appearance of his gauntlet.

The cabin was flooded with a deathly chill as the manifestation of Thresh's magic curled protectively around him. The air was so saturated with the oppressive force that it was a visible haze. Elise and her spiders, already in motion, could not avoid colliding with it. Her spiderlings died instantly, the magic beyond overwhelming for their small bodies, and though Elise did not perish, she felt a death-like torpor sink into her. She collapsed.

It took all her strength to push herself off her sternum, leg by leg by leg. But even as she struggled to regain her footing, across from her Thresh stood impassively calm. She could see her webs burning away from the raw magic that surrounded him. He strode over to her as he spoke.

"Now Elise, we can stop this fighting and talk like civilized people or we can continue this conversation while clawing at each other like monsters," he loomed over her as he said the next words, "It makes no difference to me."

The blunt indifference in his voice stung her pride. He would be heard. She had no choice but to listen. The only thing in her control was her comfort while she listened. With bitter reluctance, she let her monstrous form drop.

"I will listen."

Something resembling a smile crossed Thresh's face. He moved away from Elise, allowing her the space she needed to stand with all the grace her exhausted body could muster. He bent down and picked up her chair from where it had been knocked aside before offering it to her.

"Would you like to sit?" he asked, "You look fatigued."

"Continue to mock me," she responded, anger giving her voice strength, "and you shall see that I have strength enough to resume our fight."

Thresh shrugged and took the seat for himself.

"It was no jest," he said, "I cannot have you collapsing before I am able to say my part."

"Then speak and stop wasting our time."

"Very well. My business here concerns dear, little Achlys, and before you deliver any shallow threat about me harming her, I will tell you what I told Karthus. I do desire to see Achlys survive."

"Why?"

"The same reason you are so invested. She is an interesting girl with interesting magic. We both want to see her grow, Elise, beyond that, does it matter? No, I do not believe it does. What does matter though is that there is a problem with Achlys's soul."

"What problem?"

"One that I believe Karthus is content to ignore."

"Karthus is incredibly protective of her. What danger could she be in that he would not act upon?"

"You are aware of the one who claims he has dominion over these lands?"

"I am aware."

"His mark is already upon Achlys's soul."

"This does not surprise me. I had assumed that you all were bound to him."

"We are, but we are also dead. She is alive but bears a piece of his power. Think of how you are tied to your god; power in exchange for service."

"The sacrifices I make to the Spider are a small price to pay for what he has offered me."

"But it is not your god that Achlys's soul is destined for. She should not have to serve someone who will take and take and take and give nothing back in return."

"She should not have to, or you should not have to."

"Perceptive, Elise," Thresh said with a sly nod, "Yes, I wish to free her soul from him so that someday I may be able to do the same with mine."

"And does Karthus know of this?"

"He knows about the mark on her soul."

"But does he know of your goals?"

"He does not need to. Karthus is a zealot. He claims he desires Achlys to have the freedom to choose who she serves, but I believe he is too conflicted to act upon it. No, he is content to slavishly follow his king without a care for himself, all in the name of death. I do not expect him to understand my discontent. But you, Elise, you understand."

"A bold claim to make," she scoffed, "You do not know me."

"I do not need to know you personally to know what you desire. It is not difficult to imagine; a young Noxian noble woman, hungry to move up the ladder and grow in power and influence hears of a mysterious land filled with powerful magic artifacts and danger. She does not care about the danger though, so she ventures out to claim an artifact and use its power to bolster hers, but on the Isles she finds something greater. She finds a god. But rather than cower before it, she offers herself to it, gaining more power than any of her rivals. All she needs to do in exchange is satisfy its hunger. And she does for hundreds of years, because why should she be content to simply be a noble woman when she could be so much more? Why not hunger? Am I correct in my presumption?"

"The details are lacking."

"Ah well," he said with a shrug, "It is as you said. I do not know you."

Thresh rose from the chair and approached Elise as he continued to speak.

"So here is what is going to happen; you are going to help me in my endeavor for power, and I will assist you in yours, and little Achlys benefits at the same time. A happy bargain all around."

"I agreed to listen to you, Thresh, nothing more. Whether or not I agree to your 'happy bargain' depends entirely on what is being asked. My soul? You know I cannot accept that."

"I would not dream of asking you to part with something so dear. I understand you, Elise. At the end of the day, it is about what benefits you the most, all others be damned. I believe you will find my offer to be quite reasonable. To begin with, I will grant you the most generous thing I can think of; I let you live. You may travel almost anywhere on the Isles, and I will not obstruct you or your work."

"Almost anywhere?"

"The vaults are still mine and I will guard what remains in them jealously."

"That cannot be all that you have to offer."

"Of course not. I would not be so selfish as to not offer you more. What exactly you receive for your services I cannot say though. At times I will require different things from the mainland, and as my needs differ, so too will your rewards, but I promise that you will be adequately compensated."

"You are being deliberately vague."

"If I am, it is simply because I do not yet know all that I will need, not because I intend to keep you in the dark."

"Yet in the dark I remain."

"I never took you for one who feared the dark or those who lurked in it."

"I do not fear it, but I wish to know what is in it."

"A fair request. Perhaps an example will put your mind at ease? Someday I may need a medicinal potion imbued with magic for extra potency to help Achlys's body endure prolonged separation from its soul. In exchange, I may offer you something like this," he extended his right hand to her, revealing a small silver ring resting in his palm. "It has been inscribed with protective runes to ward off lesser wraiths but, as its previous owner learned, such a trivial thing does nothing to impede stronger spirits. I know such a trinket is of little use to you, but other members of your order may benefit from this. I cannot imagine that every member of the Black Rose has been blessed by the Spider."

"The Black Rose? How do you know of them?"

"Do you believe you are the only person the Black Rose has sent here? No, you are only the most successful," he answered as he pocketed the ring once more, "I have watched them come and fail for centuries. Some of their deaths I am even personally responsible for."

"Then I assume you know what we are searching for?"

"Oh, I have a faint idea, but I would never claim to truly know what your Matron's goals are."

"If you were to aid her, I am sure she would see you rewarded."

"No, no. I would not wish to spoil her game. Where is the fun if all the answers are given to you?"

Elise frowned, dissatisfied with his coy response.

"Besides," he continued, his tone now bitter, "I have had my fill of foreign powers promising me rewards for aiding them. If I want to ally with someone, I will approach them."

"Should I feel honored then that you trespassed on my ship and killed my spiders?" Elise scoffed.

"You may if the thought pleases you, or you may feel indignant towards my trespass. Whichever you chose is fine by me. I do not care what your opinions of me are."

Elise's harsh expression shifted to a faint smile as she let out a soft chuckle.

"With your aloof manner of speaking, you would be right at home in the old Noxian courts," she said, "It is almost a shame that you do not look the part."

"Regrettably, there is little I can do to amend my appearance now, but beauty is only skin deep. Is that not how the saying goes?"

"It is."

"Ah, I am pleased to know that my knowledge of expressions hasn't dulled in the past few centuries. But enough talk of appearances, tell me Elise, do we have a deal?"

"For now, Thresh we do, but should this arrangement ever become unfavorable, I will not hesitate to rescind my aid."

"Too many deals in this world are one-sided," he said as he held out his hand to her, "may ours not be one of them."

She took his hand.

"May it not be."