FSE

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A combination of rain, sweat, and mud matted down Enek's hair as he ran through the forest.

His heart beating fast and heavy to the point where he could hear nothing else but it, he simply sprinted through the brush and trees following the tracks. The rain had turned from a simple drizzle to an outright downpour, and the heavier rain was washing the trail away at an alarming rate. "Asyr, please be alright... I should have pushed her to let me come along!" His voiced was panicked as he spoke out loud to only himself. Though his heart was frantic, it also seemed to be weighing him down. First Taeln, he couldn't bare to lose Asyr now too. The thought crossed his mind, realizing just how important the canine morph had become to him in such a short while. He didn't even know a damn thing about her besides her name, so why was the thought of losing her now hurting him so?

Wanting nothing more than to just shout out for her, calling her name until his lungs hurt. Enek controlled his baser emotions for the moment, urgently following the diminshing trail when a flash of something new on in the tracks ahead caught his attention. The woods ahead were webbed, large and thickly spun. His blood ran cold at the sight. Steeling himself and pulling his shortsword from its sheath, he resumed his pursuit. Straining his mind to recall what he could about the giant spider, Enek was able to recall a few key points. Territorial, tough skinned, incredibly stealthy, and above all, highly posionous. Each new prospect excited him less than the previous as he stepped into webbed ground. Boots catching against the somewhat sticky material every other step, his own subterfuge was likely lost the moment he had entered the creatures domain.

One other important detail was recalled though, these beasts didn't eat their prey immediately. Prefering to save them for when truly needed, what child hadn't grown up seeing a spiders web with an insect trapped within? Looking around the surroundings cautiously, and hoping he could be so lucky to just find her neatly wrapped up somewhere waiting for him. Every hair on his body stood on end as the feeling of being watched came over him. *Breathe, relax.. Stay focused but don't tunnel vision, we can't afford to be ambushed here.* Enek thought to himself, his heartrate slowly settling.

The fingers on his left hand twitched and almost demanded his attention. Sparing only a moment to glance at them, the almost undetectable soft glow from under his skin reminded him of the newest gift he had. However, only having tested small fires for camp, Enek was uncertain he could wield it as a weapon in any capacity as legends often told. A slight tugging came to his mind, and along with it a whisper. The voice was airy, but deep as it echoed quietly in the back of his mind. Its words were lost, and the message wasn't clear. Enek shook his head of the feeling as movement crept at the corner of his vision.

Turning towards it, sword at the ready, he was face to face with a spider easily the size of a wagon. Its multitude of eyes all reflected the image of himself as fangs slid up and driped fluids. Diving to the side and rolling backinto a ready stance, the spider stood now where he had just moments before. Before either could lunge at their foe however, the air was filled with the sound of laughter and a soft applause. "Excelent reactions for a human! Your form could use a bit of work however, I've seen drunks with a finer stance than you." The voice was soft and smooth, like silk caressing his ears. The voice was also quite feminine.

"I'm here for someone that got carried in inside, all I want is her back and nobody has to have any problems here." Enek called out as calmly as he could, his eyes darting to the giant spider every other moment and scanning all around for the voices source.

The reply came as a cold chuckle. "Problems? The only problem here is you taking my delicious looking meal. These fuzzy ones need quite a bit preperation though, unlike you humans which can be so easily eaten." A short ways away infront of him, a creature slides down her own web from the treeline above. The upper torso of a beautiful women, but lower body of a huge and grotesque spider, Enek had heard this creatures names over drunken stories.

A drider.

Her hair was a midnight black, the same color as the chitinous armor that covered the arachnid portion of her body. The forward legs were raised up towards the humanoid portion and cradled a web spun figure between them. Her human hand pulled apart the thick webbing revealing Asyr's face within it. Asyr's eyes were closed and she looked the world to simply be sleeping. The drider covered Asyr's face back up, hugging the body to her chest and stroking where the head would be. "Now why would I let you have such a delicious treat? I caught it fairly in the forest." Her hand continued to rub the webbing affectionately. "Of course if you wish human, you could always take her place and I can release this one back into the wilds. Or..." The drider licked and sucked on her index finger as she looked at him. "You could bargain for her release, I haven't had a human male wander into my sanctum in so long.." Her voice driped with lust and seduction.

Enek weighed his options, the giant spider still loomed nearby and would immediately be a problem if he attempted any hostile action. Trading himself for Asyr would serve no purpose as he likely guessed she'd be scooped right back up once Enek was powerless, as for the final offer... The prospects of sharing a romantic venture with a drider weren't exactly high on his to-do list, nor did the possible outcomes end very well.

*K..i.l..l t.h..em?* The deep and airy voice from before chimed in his head. *We.. have magic, they.. won't be expecting the glade to suddenly go up in flames. Just a single spark, and all this highly flamable web just.. poofs..*

*No, no! I can't just cause a wildfire, and there's no options for retrieving Asyr in that scenario. And she's covered with that very same webbing too!* Enek mentally argued with himself. The idea seemed too ridiculous to pull off and left Asyr in direct danger.

"Your answer my delicious treat?" The driders words snapped him back to attention. "I don't have all day, and I am growing so very hungry." A long and purple tongue snaked from her mouth, dragging it over the cocooned form. The giant spider at his other side hissed, more fluid leaking from bared fangs. After a moment or so of indecision from him, the drider simply sighed. "Prepare him then my pet, perhaps I'll still wring some enjoy out of his body even if he's unconcious." Her hand waved dismissively as she climbed the web back into the treeline.

===

The giant spider hissed at Enek, lunging forward the moment his mistress was gone. Though the sticky web beneath his feet wasn't helping, Enek sidestepped left of its attack. His riposte came with a swift slash right across the creatures legs. The sword cut deep, drawing brilliant angry lines as green blood oozed forth.

Reeling from the counter attack, the beast turned with fangs bared. The spiders eyes focused in on its prey, slowly circling the glade towards Enek.

He held his sword ready for the creatures next lunge, ready to brave the attack for a chance to get in a clean stab. Though he held a steady two-handed grasp on the blade, his left hand continued to itch and drive him mad. The growing insistence hitting a point where Enek could no longer ignore it, he released the shortsword with his left hand and snapped his fingers.

The response was not what Enek had expected. As the small pale flame burst forth in his palm the spider shrieked, raising it's front legs to shield its many eyes and staggering back. "Don't like fire, you bastard?" He took quick steps towards the beast, causing a new shriek each time the light slipped through to its eyes. "Arrgh!" Enek practically growled, putting his arm into a forceful throw and releasing the flame. It soared through the air before colliding against the creature and bursting. While tame within his grasp, once released the fire raged engulfing the spider. As it thrashed about, the smell of meat roasting stained the air.

Exhilirated by the sight, Enek charged forward. Planting his sword cleaning between the eyes of the distracted beast, it clenched its body tightly. Curling into an almost fetal position for spiders, the body smoldered slowly. Worried about starting the very wildfire he hoped to prevent, Enek tried to imagine ice and water. Channeling the feeling just as he had with the fire originally and snapping his fingers, an icy blast of air filled his hand. The feeling was like holding a snowstorm right in his palms. Tossing it at the spiders corpse, it frosted over swiftly and extinguishing the flames.

Taking a deep breath and looking to his frozen and iced over hand, then back at the dead creature. "DRIDER! YOUR BEAST IS SLAIN!" Enek shouted to the wilds, hoping to provoke a response. He didn't have to wait long as the sound of something moving through treeline none too stealthfully came back to the glade.

"NO! YOU...YOU MONSTER! THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE!" The drider dropped from the treetops, crying out at him as she saw the body of her fallen pet. Her eyes were wild as she stared him down. "How? A mere human should have no chance against my beast!" Her breathing was ragged. Her voice before which touched as soft as silk, was rough and harsh like sandpaper instead. "You've taken something I love, so now I shall do the same!" Her face was furious and the drider's own fangs were bared. She turned to flee back into the wilds and Enek laughed.

His dull hazel had taken on an ethereal azure glow as he regarded her laughing. "You think I'm allowing you to leave Drider? Your kind are fit only to wipe my boots off on..." Enek's voice was deeper than usual, lending to an air of command. He raised his left hand which similarly gave off an azure haze and motioned with his index and middle finger, up.

The drider screamed as she was lift off the the ground by an unseen force. Thrashing about, her human hands sprouted claws that dug across his chest. Enek only grinned on at her sinisterly, the pain of the cut not even crossing his face. A wild look in his eyes now, as Enek slowly started closing the fingers on his outstretched hand into a fist. She screamed even louder, this time in pain as the sounds of exoskeleton crunching filled the air. "Vermin... Should die." His sadistic smile widened as the azure glow overtook the entirety of his eyes, changing the pupils in color. Closing his fingers into a solid fist, the crunching of exoskeleton and bone joined in with the wetter sounds sinew and blood being displaced.

===

The screaming had stopped, and all that had remained was an unidentifiable ball of crushed chitin and blood. "Hahaha! You see? Pathetic beasts." Enek's face was spread in a smile as he laughed. "Hrrng!" He cried out, doubling over in pain as he held his head. The sounds of laughter filling his mind, the voice he recognized as the same from before, but it seemed even more familiar than that. The glow left his eyes and arm as he clenched in pain. Looking at the remains of the drider woman, he turned to the side and vomited heavily.

Getting to his feet and wiping his mouth clean, he sheathed his sword and staggered off in the direction the drider and left with his cocooned companion previously. Up within a tree a short ways away from the glade, a number of web wrapped objects hung suspended from the branches. Climbing the tree weakly, he pulled the humanoid one to a more steady branch he could hold both it and the cocoon. Pulling out a survival knife from his pack and cutting gently at it to peel back the webbing. He sighed a breath of relief when he was greeted by Asyr's face inside. Cutting the rest of it off of her, the webbing gave away surprisingly easy until only she was left in his arms.

Hefting her over his shoulder and climbing down to the ground, Enek laid Asyr against the tree and tried to check her vitals. Feeling for a pulse through the fur was no easy task but it was there. Somewhat weak and shallow breathing but they were both signs she was alive. Laughing in relief and wiping his forehead of sweat, he laid his head against her collarbone and wrapped his arms around her. He was surprised when he felt her arms wrap around him, gently rubbing the back of his head. "Alpha... Enek.. " Her voice was quiet. Her eyes had a glazed over look to them, but her breathing had begun to return to normal.

He helped her sit up, offering a hand to get to her feet. She glanced down at her legs and shook her head at him, motioning towards them. The message had been clear enough and Enek slid his hands beneath her, picking her up and carrying her against his chest. The rain had fortunately lightened up at some point as they traveled through the forest. A sound caught his ear and he stopped for a moment, her ears perked towards it as well. The ocean. It was the steady sound of the tides. This perked his spirits up, Malas was a port town so all they'd have to do is follow the coastline now. Although once they got to the city, a new problem would present itself. This Enek knew as he glanced at Asyr from the corner of his eye.