Haunted Spider

If a particularly foolish human were to wander far enough into the darkness at the heart of the forest, they would come across my home. It is, as one might expect of spiders, an intricate and expansive web of woven silk. Unlike ordinary spiders however, my sisters and I weave a touch of magick into our webs. When we pluck the delicate threads, beautiful tunes float out onto the wind. Those closest to death hear the notes the clearest.

Run from death long enough, and our magick soaked melodies will call to you, luring you to us from however far you may be. Once caught in our web, you will wiggle and squirm until you’re even more tightly wound than you began. After a while, our magic takes hold and your soul soaks into the threads. Each thread carries away a tiny piece of you. Ending your suffering and trapping your soul in the web forever, is as simple as cutting the right thread. I am very proficient at finding that thread. Perhaps that is why I am the one tasked with entangling those most stubbornly denying death.

So imagine my immense vexation when a human actually managed to escape my grasp. I lured him in, same as always. He struggled, as they all did. But unlike every other human before him, he broke the strands that bound him. My sister’s played their songs in an attempt to calm him, but that song was meant to draw in the unaware, not reclaim the newly liberated. I chased after him, but he slashed at me with his sword, leaving a wide gash in my thorax. I was not accustomed to prey being in a position to fight back.

My sisters chastised me. It was my threads that broke, I had to make it right. I had to leave my home and give chase to the human. And thus, a spirit built for luring in her prey, set out on her very first hunt.

My attempts at tracking were clumsy at first. I tried too hard to imitate the spineback wolves that roamed the forest in constant search of prey, but I did not share their gift of smell. Eventually, I learned to use my own strengths to my advantage. I might not have been able to smell my prey, but I could sense him. If I closed my many red eyes and focused, I could feel the disruption he caused in the world. He was alive, but he was meant to be dead. Every step he took and breath he stole caused a small rip in reality.

I realized, uneasily, that a part of me was afraid of this human. The wound he had inflicted still wasn’t completely healed. My sisters and I ushered others to their deaths. We were the keepers of souls and ghosts, earning us our title of Haunted Spiders. Unlike the humans whose memories I had seen played out countless times in my web, I could not recall being born. I had simply always been. But for the first time in my long existence, I had felt physical pain. It made me wonder, could I die?

I found him sleeping in an open field. It was foolish of him to let his guard down so completely. Did he really think that death would just let him go? I wound him tightly in my threads while he slept peacefully. This human had made me feel fear, it infuriated me that he would die without feeling the same. But I didn’t dare wake him. He had broken my threads before, I couldn’t chance him doing it a second time. The web absorbed his soul, and the thread connecting him to life shined brightly.

I hesitated too long. A part of me was fascinated by the human who had almost managed to avoid death. I got caught up watching the web weave together his memories. He woke up and began to struggle violently. He managed to free a single hand and grab his sword. I broke the thread with my fangs as quickly as I could. I had fulfilled my duty to my sisters. The human crumpled to the ground, leaving his sword buried deep in my thorax.

My eight slender legs began to feel weak. I decided there was no harm in laying down for a moment to rest. I heard something calling to me from the breeze. It was very familiar. I could be killed after all then, this human had proven it true. I wondered how my sisters would take my death. Would it scare them to realize that they too could die? What would they do when forced to acknowledge that they are living things after all? I closed my eyes, beckoned home gently by the music of my sisters.

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Tidbit for the front of the card:

Run from death long enough and our magick soaked melodies will call to you, luring you to us from however far you may be. Ending your suffering and trapping your soul in the web forever, is as simple as cutting the right thread

This is my entry for the weekly Steem Monster's contest which can be found here:
https://steemit.com/contest/@steemmonsters/steem-monsters-common-card-fantasy-story-contest-week-5
(One day I'll post one of these entries not at the last moment, just you wait and see)