The Shapeshifter

Reynard continued to lead the group outside of the cave. Once they were outside the cave he asked all of them to open up their eyes. Their eyes were able to adjust quickly once outside, since their eyes were mostly closed when walking out of the cave.

When they opened their eyes, they were able to see their friends once again. It was then that they noticed that there were two people missing in the group.

"Where is Drei?", said Rezhul.

"And Alex? Both of them are missing.", Zimo quickly chimed in.

All of their heads turned towards Reynard. They knew that it was somehow related to the time when they have to close their eyes.

"Did they get eaten?"

"Did they die."

"Yes.", Reynard replied.

"We should go back and get their bodies right? Or maybe at least a memento of them.", One of them said which the teens nodded in approval.

"Yes, we're going back. Back to the village.", Reynard said grimly.

"But—"

"Shut up! No buts. We're going back."

Then he started walking off on his own. He didn't care whether they would follow him or not, as his mind was currently occupied by something else.

Just when they were walking back, he noticed a vague black silhouette behind a tree just a few meters to the side. Reynard immediately dashed towards it in anger. His movements were swift and he arrived in a second.

"Dad? Is something wrong?", Rezhul asked.

Reynard was unable to reply to his son as he saw the figure hiding behind the tree.

"You!"

...

Back at the cave.

He was coughing up blood when he looked at the Spider Queen. There was fear deep within his eyes, yet there were also signs of defiance in it.

The Spider Queen also looked at Alex. Now those six eyes, were somehow able to transmit clear contempt on its prey.

Finally, Alex couldn't take it any longer and broke the silence.

"J-just why? Why are you doing this?"

"If I say that I'm doing this for no reason, would you believe me?", the Spider Queen replied.

"Of course not. There is definitely a reason behind all of this. I believe I'm not the first one?"

"Correct. There is a reason for this. And yes, you are not the first one and definitely not the last. In fact, you're the fourth time already."

"I know you won't explain everything to me. But can you answer one thing for me? Will I die?"

"To be honest, I don't know. Hehehehehehehe." After a series of creepy laughter from the Spider Queen, it continued, "Will you?"

'What?', Alex didn't know what the Spider Queen meant by those words. Before he could continue to comprehend the words, the Spider Queen crept closer to him and attacked him once again. It sent him flying towards the other side of the cave.

Its black legs moved slowly to him and started talking again.

"You see, when I was a youngling, I dreamt of wandering around the world eating all sorts of fruits and delicacies. Going around, looking at different sceneries. How wonderful the world was then."

There was reminiscence in the Spider Queen's eyes. Shimmering with light, as if it was recalling its happy moments when it was still a youngling, with its family.

It continued, "I remember my Da, leaving, ever so early during the day. Returning at noon, with all kinds of fruits just for us to feast on. I remember my Mum kindly reminding me not to eat too fast to avoid choking. We all ate happily.

"This continued until one day, this happy life of mine were shrouded by the thick fog of burning forest. We were but mere normal animals. We didn't have that much strength in us, nor are we as big as a ball. It would take us some time to leave our home.

"I was so sad when I saw the forest burning. Watching the fire devour the green leaves and then a human came out, holding a weapon of sorts, like a quarterstaff. He kept on burning my home, the forest. I watched every time he snaps his fingers and burn a part of the land. With every snap, I tremble.

"Then the human looked over at our direction. I stood there, frightened. How could he notice us when we are just insignificant creatures that can harm no one, but a fly. Da took me and my Mum as we ran. But the human was far too fast for us. We were caught, along with other kinds of insects living in the forest.

"The next thing I knew, we were already inside a huge white place. I was separated from my Mum and Da, and was then given a long red fruit, Of course back then I thought it was some kind of fruit, but it was actually a red chili pepper. Since my dream was to eat all kinds of fruit, curiosity got the better of me and ate it. My mind became blurry and I was consumed by anger and pain. I attacked all the red and green figures that I saw.

"After a long time has passed, my mind started to return back to normal. When I looked around, I noticed that I was trapped in some sort of transparent box. Then the human placed another insect in the box with me.

"As my mind cleared up by a bit, I saw that it was actually a friend of mine. Han, a Huntsman Spider. I remember he was always a coward, he always the first to run away despite his bigger size than us. Hehe.

"I tried talking to him, but all he does was grunt at me. I still remember his red eyes that was full of pain and fury. He was being restrained by two metal-like sticks. When he was released, he immediately attacked me, I was so shocked at the time.

"I never would have thought that my friend would attack me for no reason. I kept on dodging him, because he was always a lousy hunter, he never landed a hit on me. But after a long time of dodging, I was taken out of the box and was forcefully fed the red chili peppers.

"I don't know for how long I was forced to eat such a thing! And when I came to, I was eating something smelly. It tasted quite well, but the smell of blood forced me to stop. Do you know what it was that I was eating?", the Spider Queen asked.

"..."

"Tell me!", the Spider Queen yelled.

"Your friend?" Alex replied weakly.

"Indeed! It was my friend, Han!", the Spider Queen said. With a swing of one of its legs, Alex, who was still lying on the ground listening to the Spider Queen, was once again attacked. This time, he flew towards the back where the Spider Queen came from.

His body suddenly came to a stop mid-air. His back wasn't hurt much in colliding with the cave walls from before, but some of his ribs and his right arm has probably given out. Lumps of blood were continuously trickling down his mouth to his chin. He tried moving, but noticed that he was stuck in a barely discernible web.

"But that didn't stop there, no! I saw my Mum get in the same box as me. When I saw Mum, not attacking me, I talked with her. I looked around for something to use as an escape. But there was only the blinding white lights that kept on flashing all around us. There were also humans, looking at us. All of them looked at us eagerly. It was as if they were insisting us to fight each other.

"How crazy was that! Asking a mother to fight and kill her own daughter. And for a daughter to fight her mother. Mum kept on saying that everything was going to be alright. But there I was, crying. I was so scared. Then those metal-like sticks were holding my Mum. They were forcefully feeding my Mum those chili peppers. But Mum wasn't having any of that.

"Then the human mage became so angry and used his fist to smash her."

'Tap! Tap! Tap!'

The Spider Queen was slowly walking towards Alex as it talked.

"Seeing that she was still holding on. The mage snapped his fingers and I watched as Mum burn with fire, right in front of my eyes. I tried everything that I could, I tried to use my webs to encase Mum in it, but the fire burned my web away along with my bum. I was so angry that I kept on slamming the box until I started seeing dark spots and darkness covered my eyes."

The Spider Queen finally arrived right in front of Alex. Even though Alex was hanging in mid-air, he still needed to look up to see the face of the Spider Queen. Its human-like face was crying and showed anguish and grievance.

"So it's for revenge? You're doing all of this for vengeance?", Alex asked.

The Spider Queen looked down at him and said, "Of course it is! It's just that I wasn't able to find a family and have them fight against each other. I am still bound by the damned treaty, so I could only act discreetly. Therefore I decided to take children of your age, turn them into a kind of insect and let them fight against each other. It's quite entertaining to watch humans that turned into insects fight themselves.".

"So you're also like one of them?", Alex said.

"One of who?", the Spider Queen asked.

"One like the fire mage, who abducts creatures and let them fight for their lives."

"Yes, of course. All of us, whether it be humans or beasts. All of us becomes what we despise the most. We are all kinds of hypocrites, you and I. The difference is, I found mine and you still don't know yours.", the Spider Queen continued, "Say, what do you despise the most?"