80. Back to the Spiders (Patreon)

Ike retraced his steps and arrived at Wisp’s domain before the sun was high in the sky. He twanged a piece of the web and waited at the edge of the webs.

A smaller spider, about the size of a dog, crept up behind him. Loup whirled around and pounced playfully toward it. The spider darted back, startled. Loup chased, and it fled. She rumbled happily in her throat as she bounced after it, while the spider ran for its life.

Ike watched her for a minute, enjoying her joyful game of chase, then whistled. “Over here, Loup.” It was adorable, but he shouldn’t let her run free when he was waiting on the spiders’ overlord to come by. Wisp had said that she didn’t care about the other spiders, but he didn’t want to cross her limits without knowing about it. There was a difference between not minding when he killed a spider or two, and getting annoyed when his dog harassed her fellow spiders. He didn’t know that she cared, but better not to push it.

“Well, well, well. I didn’t expect you back this soon,” Wisp said.

Ike looked around. Webs stretched in all directions, but he saw no sign of Wisp, or any other large spider. Her voice echoed off the dead trees and deflected off the web curtains, leaving him unable to locate her from sound alone. He backed away, on guard.

“Or at all, honestly. I thought you’d hear of me from the humans and give up,” she murmured contemplatively.

“What mage isn’t a killer?” Ike challenged her.

“Well, well, well. Wise indeed. Of course, the other mages don’t eat their fellow mages.” Wisp paused, then chuckled under her breath. “Most of them, anyways.”

“Mages eat monsters all the time, but here you are, talking to me,” Ike pointed out.

“I knew I liked you.” Thread twanged, and Wisp dropped down from overhead in her human form. She dusted herself off. Standing, she turned to Ike. “So? You come with news, yes?”

“Kind of,” Ike said.

“Kind of?” She crossed her arms.

Ike spread his hands. “I don’t have an answer, but I have someone looking into it. He said it was some kind of…spell array? If he had more, he’d be able to do figure out more about it, but—”

“More? Let’s go get some more, then,” Wisp declared.

Ike startled. “We can just do that?”

“I can sniff ‘em out. I noticed a weird smell on that big guy yesterday. I can sniff it out again,” Wisp declared. She tapped the side of her nose with pride.

Ike squinted a little. Do spiders have good senses of smell?

Then again, she’s an intelligent monster. She can learn skills if she likes. Even if spiders had no ability to sniff at all, she could easily learn a nose-based sensory enhancement skill.

Shrugging, Ike gestured for her to go ahead. “Then, if you would?”

I’m not going to turn down free help on hunts. Plus, I’m a bit curious about this thing, too. What are these spell array rings all about? I don’t care as much as Wisp seems to, but I’m interested.

Wisp took the lead. She bounded from bit of web to bit of web, moving fluidly as a true natural. Ike fell in behind her, Loup following in the rear. The two of them picked their way over the webs, a little slower and far clumsier than Wisp. Every so often, Wisp paused and looked over her shoulder. Clinging to the web, she waited for them to catch up, then darted off again.

Ike followed her at a jog. The further he ran in the webbing, the more he learned how to balance himself on the slightly-bouncy, slightly-sticky surface. He chased after her, bounding along. Loup galloped alongside him, enjoying the game of chase. She ran ahead every now and again to catch up to Wisp. Wisp scuttled up into her web rather than let the wolf get too close. Loup stared up after her, panting happily, then burst off when she ran again.

At last, they reached the edge of the spiders’ realm. The webs fell away, and the woods teemed with life again. Wisp climbed down from the webs, her bare feet impacting the leaf-strewn forest floor. She nodded at Ike and gestured him onward. “We’re close. It’s just up ahead here. In the water, I think.”

“In the water?” Ike lifted his head. He only saw trees ahead of them. He listened, but there was no trickling or running water sounds. Just the rush of trees in the wind.

“In the water,” she repeated. She darted ahead, breaking through the undergrowth. The thick bushes closed in behind her, hiding her slender form. Ike followed after her, and Loup followed in the rear.

He stepped through the tangle of vines and gnarled old bushes and found himself on the edge of a lake. Placid water stretched out before him, as far as the eye could see. A few ducks floated on the surface of the water. A fish jumped, breaking the water in a shimmer of scales.

Ike threw out his arms and backpedaled. His boots slid on the mud. He barely jumped backwards, avoiding a watery fate for his socks.

Wisp chuckled. Ike looked up toward her voice. She sat in a tree on the edge of the bank, grinning down at him. “Almost had you.”

“Get down here.” Ike jumped, reaching for her.

She scurried higher into the tree, laughing. “Can’t reach me! Can’t reach me!”