The Spider Queen had fallen, but the ensuing chaos shook Will’s initial relief. The headless corpse, still twitching, became a feast for the swarm, their tide of legs and fangs consuming their former ruler with brutal efficiency.
He rushed to Maya, slumped on the floor, his mind a whirlwind of questions about the amulet. He was relieved it was gone, praying it was lost forever, but a nagging dread told him otherwise. Maya owed him an explanation, but her well-being was his immediate concern.
As he helped her sit up, Jack pointed towards the cavern’s ceiling, his voice urgent. “Look! Up there!” A humanoid figure, suspended by glistening webbing, swayed in the gloom.
“I’m cutting her down. We’ll need to cushion the fall.”
Will shook his head. “Too risky, Jack. She’ll come down headfirst, fast.”
Jack grimaced, conceding the point. His gaze shifted to Kleo, still a towering Arch Demana, her wings shimmering in the dim light. The reverent spiders surrounding her clicked their mandibles, awaiting her command. She was their queen now, their focal point.
Jack waved, gesturing towards the suspended figure, his urgency clear. Kleo nodded, her entourage following as she stepped forward.
She pointed at the cocoon, sending the signal, Cluster. It carried the intent, friend. The spiders understood.
Two Arrakfa, swift and precise, scaled the cavern wall, weaving a webbed cradle to lower the cocooned figure to the ground. Will stood ready, but the spiders worked with eerie efficiency, delivering their burden safely.
Maya, rubbing her head, asked, “What happened?”
Jack frowned. “Later. We need to check on Sela.”
Maya’s eyes widened as she took in Kleo’s transformed state, a mix of awe and terror. What had she missed?
Will knelt beside the cocoon, its lacquered surface reflecting the firelight. He carefully sliced through the husk, revealing pale skin marred by streaks of black and purple, branching like lightning strikes.
He continued, peeling away the cocoon inch by inch. The damage worsened as he reached her chest. Swollen black masses, radiating crooked tendrils, disfigured her torso. Near her heart, a pulsating, blistered mass, beat with a faint, disturbing rhythm.
Will’s stomach churned, and he turned away, bile rising. He wiped his face, glancing at the others.
Maya stood frozen, her hand clamped over her mouth, horror etched on her face. Kleo stared at the ground, her expression unreadable, the air around her thick with tension.
The spiders stood still, their glowing green eyes affixed to the cocooned figure.
The cavern fell into an unsettling silence.
The dreams dissolved, the pain receding into a vast, empty silence. Sela lingered, suspended in the shattered stillness of her mind, its fragments scattered like broken glass across a timeless desert.
A thorn lodged in her heart, and she called it a God.
The winds howled through her hollow core, carving her into something ancient, formless. She was neither the woman she had been nor the being she would become. Her past self, a distant echo, stretched like a shadow across the dunes of memory.
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She pressed it deeper to feel its wisdom, but it laughed and said, “The pain is the wisdom. What more do you want?”
The cocoon fractured, splitting under the tormented writhing within. It tore like a violent birth, exposing the raw, tender flesh of the new. Each rip a searing sting, salt against her ravaged wounds—the sting, a cruel guide, carving a path towards something both agonizing and essential.
So she became the thorn and bled her way into the stars.
The warm, unknown waters of a new fate awaited, their pull irresistible. She surrendered to the inevitable metamorphosis as the winds shrieked and the cocoon fell away.
She would be the thorn. She would be the star. She would ascend.
Jack, his face a grim mask, stood over the cocooned girl. “Let’s uncover her face—see if she’s still alive.”
His expression offered little hope, but Will began to peel away the cocoon’s shards, revealing the right side of her face. Will, expecting death, was startled when Sela’s chest jerked, a sharp, sudden intake of breath. Her eyes snapped open, wide and unblinking.
For a moment, he wondered if it was a reflex, a final, involuntary twitch. Her blank and hollow eyes darted, searching without seeing.
The injuries were grotesque. Her lips, swollen and purple, mirrored the dark streaks that radiated from her eyes, snaking down her neck like jagged, chaotic veins. Will swallowed hard, the sight a haunting echo of the Dark Witch’s visage, a lingering nightmare.
Kleo, back in her human form, knelt beside Sela, her sharp blue eyes dissecting every detail. Sela’s gaze remained unfocused, vacant.
“She’s alive,” Kleo said, her voice strained. “Remove the rest. We need to get her somewhere safe. Maybe the spiders have an antidote, something to help.”
Will and Jack exchanged doubtful glances but offered no argument.
“I know,” Kleo continued, a thread of hopelessness in her tone, “it’s a long shot. But it’s all we have.”
She turned to Maya, who stood trembling, arms crossed tightly. Maya collapsed into Kleo’s embrace, her tears soaking Kleo’s shoulder.
The men resumed their work, peeling the cocoon from Sela’s arms. The damage was equally severe, thin purple tendrils crawling across her skin like spilled ink. As they reached her waist, it worsened. Her pelvis, swollen and bruised in deep shades of black and purple, was laced with jagged, chaotic patterns resembling a dark, intricate tattoo.
Will sat back, his face pale. “Gods, I—this is too much.” His voice cracked.
Before anyone could respond, Sela moved.
Her arms pushed against the floor, lifting her upper body with surprising force. Her head lolled forward, her hollow eyes fixing on Will. A faint, inhuman rasp escaped her lips. Then, she collapsed, her eyes closing.
Will recoiled, shaken. “Those eyes…” he murmured. “They’re unnatural.”
Silence descended, their expressions a mix of compassion and unease. Sela’s body might heal, but her mind felt irrevocably altered, beyond their reach.
Jack exhaled shakily. “We need to cover her. I can’t—” He broke off, shaking his head. “Will's right, it’s too much.”
Maya, her resolve returning, stepped forward. “Agreed. Let’s cover her, get her somewhere safe to rest.” She gestured towards the carnage. “Then we’ll deal with all this.”
The cavern was caked in gore, the bodies of shattered spiders, and the half-devoured abdomen of the Spider Queen. The air, thick with blood and venom, hung heavy.
The nest now belonged to Kleo, and the spiders looked to her for instruction. The nest would have to wait. Sela’s well-being took priority.
The Angels lifted her, their wings warm and strong, cradling her like light-made flesh. They bore her towards the heavens, where the stars waited—watchful, shimmering, their edges keen as blades.
A star fell into my chest, and I thought it was a gift.
The stars kissed her skin, and she reached out, touching their brilliant points with a reverence born of understanding. They giggled, their voices like tiny, crystalline bells, for they were her devotees—ever-watchful, ever-patient.
But it grew heavier until my ribs cracked like brittle trees.
The stars surrounded her, their light an eternal, silent promise. They urged her to ascend. To rise. To become.
“Why do you punish me?” I cried.
The air shimmered as her thoughts rippled outward, a soundless melody that resonated with the stars—her loyal congregation. She cradled their light, her touch gentle, knowing.
“The star pulsed, its light bleeding shadows, and said: ‘To be chosen is to be consumed.’”
Their restless brilliance softened under her touch, their sharp edges folding inward, yielding. She whispered a single promise, a breath of dawn in the vast silence.
Rest now. She soothed them. I will ascend.
And knowing the truth of her words, they stilled. The light faded gently, their restless energy dissolving into a peaceful, harmonious hum.
The heavens beckoned. And she would answer.
