Arachne

 

- Akasia -

 

Hm, so these are the humans who traumatized my cute little sister.
I'm honestly a little bit of two minds about them.
On one leg, they scared her, killed those she held dearly, hurt her, made her cry!
Oh, I can barely contain myself thinking about this.

However, on another leg, they're also the ones who drove her toward us.
They cut all her former ties and hunted her directly into our web.
Thinking about it, I only have her as my sister now thanks to them.
This might be the only reason why I agreed to this game instead of torturing every single one of them till they'd beg me to die, only to continue a while longer for the fun of it.
And I’m not speaking about a single session.
I mean that I would've slowly dissolved their bodies over the course of days.
Maybe even a month, as my record is quite close to this.

There are three important things to mind about this.
First, you need to supply them with enough water.
And regarding food, the liquid from their own dissolved body or that of their comrades will suffice.
Second, you have to pay attention to what parts you destroy, as to make the most of every little pain receptor.
This requires a great amount of patience since if you act too eagerly you might kill them too quickly.
And the probably most important point is to restrain their movement so they won't be able to end their own life.
However, as I said, I have a debt of gratitude to these men, so this race must suffice as punishment.
After all, it's not like I'll just let them walk out of here.

 

"Sister, when do you think we should let Nerysi's familiars go? They're starting to get snappy." (M)

"We'll wait till they're past the first obstacle. Otherwise, it would be over directly. Those two-leggers aren't the fastest." (A)

"If you say so. I'm just getting a little twitchy as well when I see them running." (M)

 

 

I suppose I should instruct them once again about their task.

 

"Stay calm! You can hunt them down in a moment. But don't forget, those humans did awful things to her. So it's on you to make sure that they won't suffer too shortly." (A)

 

I have no idea how well Nerysi's brood can understand this, but I think they just became the slightest bit calmer.
This is promising, as you need a cool head if you want to torture someone properly.
Yet while I already abstain from doing this myself, I want to at least witness their demise.
For this reason, I quickly transform into spider form and rush ahead.
Any moment now, our guests should be reaching the hall directly in front of the exit of this cave and thus the first obstacle.
I reach them just in time to gain sight of their lost expressions.

 

"What is this?!" (Koros)

"Holes filled with liquid?!" (bandit)

"They're churning!" (bandit)

 

And then they see me.

 

"Aaahh!" (bandit)

"Oh, goddess!" (bandit)

"This is the end!" (bandit)

 

Damn, they're panicking.
If this continues they'll already fail directly at the start.
So I transform back to give them some pointers.

 

"Wha-, wha-?" (Koros)

 

Hmm, is this because of my naked form?
It's not like I could stay clothed after I turned into my spider form.
Yet since they stopped in their tracks and now ogle me, this might be the reason.
I once read something about how some humans can only think about reproduction.
Yet I really hope this won't be the case here, as that kind isn't much different from animals and as such not very interesting for my research.

 

"Don't mind me. But you should seriously get going if you don't want to get eaten. So please, show me how you're going to overcome the acid pits." (A)

 

As if to support my words, Masiabi and Eritu come up behind me, which motivates these people enough to run further down to my prepared obstacle course.
I intentionally left some small lines of ground between them, so it's more of a question of how quickly and well they can balance on those.
The acidic gas, which is destructive to human respiratory systems, should add another level of difficulty to this.
Not to forget the biting sensation it causes to their eyes.
Yet they're quite determined, carefully setting one foot after the other, while trying to cover their mouths and noses with their hands.
Though, this isn't how it works, my dearies.
As long as you're still breathing you're going to inhale more of the gas.

 

"Cough"

"Don't touch it!" (bandit)

"Cough"

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" (bandit)

"Aargh! It burns!" (bandit)

 

Huh, it seems like one of them slipped and dunked his foot into the acid.
That was to be expected with how the others were pressing from behind.
After all, with so few legs it's not easy to maintain your stability.
However, now it's getting interesting.

 

"Hey, you should hurry. I think I can already hear the hunting pack!" (M)

 

Masiabi knows surprisingly well how to push those humans. Some of them look anxiously backward.
Yet more important is what the others are doing.

 

"You're too slow! Get out of the way!" (Koros)

"I hurt my foot! I can't move faster!" (bandit)

"Then you're a liability!" (Koros)

 

"Splash"

 

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" (bandit)

 

Hah, this is why humans are so funny.
Different from animals, they're aware of their decisions.
Not just driven by instinct and the wish to flee, this one made the intentional decision to push the other into the acid.
Selfish, surely, but so much more directed in their ways, which makes them so much more interesting.
The others aren't complaining either and quickly step past the dissolving mess of flesh that was once their acquaintance.
Acquaintance, because I am very sure that the word "friend" marks a relationship where something like this wouldn't happen so easily.
Anyway, the first of them reach the other end and rush as fast as they can towards the exit.
Those not as far don’t want to be left behind and try to move away from the acid pits a little quicker.
Yet one is too overeager, stumbles, and pulls his foreman with him.

 

"Aaaaahhhhhh!" (number one)

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!" (number two)

 

Funny enough, the former uses the body of the other to climb out of the last pit.
Yet considering his burnt legs, I'd say he's as well out of this race.
From what I see, the rest managed to reach the exit into the forest, right to the next part of our little challenge.
Since I want to continue watching, I quickly transform again into my full spider form and simply avoid the pits by walking along the intentionally webbed wall.
I might be acid resistant, but not completely immune to it.

And now here come their competitors.
Nerysi's familiars are extremely fast on their legs.
Showing a strong sense of eagerness, but also giving credit to a very effective body build.

Naturally, the bigger ones have a little higher speed than those with shorter legs and soon they reach the acid pits, going for the straight way toward their prey.
But different to those humans, they can traverse the pits far more nimbly, aiming their steps perfectly for the thin barriers between the pits.
Also, the slight acid resistance comes in handy as well.
This way they reach the other side in a blink.

 

 

"No, no, no! Aaahhhh!" (bandit)

 

Oh right, there was still one of them.
Well, I doubt they're going to leave much of him.
On another leg, this buys time for the others.
Speaking of which, I follow along behind them, into the forest.
Due to my greater size, this doesn't take too long.
Also, they're already impeded by the next challenge.
I can't wait to see how this plays out.