...

The carriage containing Jeanine, Mariot, Constave, and Janice had been traveling for two days and finally reached the Grey Plains. The five women had been subsisting on the usual fare they had brought of boiled potatoes and herbs as well as the occasional snake or rabbit. Their prayers and conversations had been somber and the barren, foggy plains did not bode well.

Valaria and Jeanine had warned the others not to wander off and so far they had heeded but Mariot found herself being drawn to a cave that made up a part of the large black cliffside formation, similar to the serpentine burrows of Duneland.

The lady heard the sound of flowing water from inside and thought she could use a drink. She felt herself being compelled to climb the smooth black rocks into a large open cavern. She soon found an underground pond filled with sparkling water, illuminated by the strange white crystals hanging from the ceiling of the cave. Mariot cupped her hand and began drinking, finding it to be the most delicious water she had ever tasted. The lady then yelped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Tis only I." Constave said, who had also been driven to stay behind Mariot.

"You frightened me." Mariot admitted.

Both women shivered when they heard what seemed to be a chorus of children's giggles echo across the cave.

"What was that noise?" Mariot wondered.

"Are there children here?" Constave asked, "Vampelles perhaps?"

"Perhaps we should leave." Mariot suggested.

The two women turned to leave but then heard the same apparent children sobbing.

"Why are they crying?" Mariot asked, "Can we help them?"

"We need to find the captain and the countess." Constave advised.

The two women turned to leave only to find the entrance darkened and the only source of light coming from the crystals above them. The crystals seemed to be leading down a specific path.

"Maybe we should follow the crystals." Mariot said.

"How is it so dark?!" Constave panicked, "We must leave!"

Constave grabbed Mariot's hand and tried to jerk her along but ran aimlessly in the darkness. Both women screamed as they fell down a crevasse and landed on what felt like sticky strands of silk. They could barely move in the netting and the more they attempted to move then the more they became entangled.

The two women's eyes began to adjust to the darkness as the light from the crystals slowly shined brighter. Mariot managed to tug a few strands of silk into her hand and realized it felt about the same as a cobweb.

"I think this substance is..." Mariot realized in horror.

"It cannot be!" Constave fretted.

A large shadow descended from above and landed on the patch of web. The figure stepped into the light and the two human women hugged each other in fear. The figure was a large woman with grey skin, close to vampelle's shade, unkempt black hair and the lower body of a massive black spider, a hard, jointed carapace with eight legs ending in sharp, pointed tips. The spideress had six yellow eyes, two more or less human, the other four smaller in a row above the human pair. She also had the six arms common to serpentines.

The spideress opened her mouth revealing sharp fangs and a black tongue and gave a malevolent snarl.

<I am called Rockfang.> she announced in a harsh tongue that was almost Bloodmarblian.

Rockfang advanced on the pair at a speed much faster than her size as the women struggled in vain against the webs. The spideress plunged her fangs into Mariot's neck as Mariot gave a pitiful shriek, Rockfang's venom searing into her skin.

"IT BURNS!!" Mariot screamed.

The woman's skin sizzled and melted into a grotesque liquid, mixing with her blood. All Constave could do was scream in sheer terror.

<Cease your racket!> Rockfang ordered, taking a patch of web and placing it over the mouths of the humans.

The woman continued to make muffled sounds as Mariot fainted from the pain. Both women soon found themselves swarmed by the same children who were giggling earlier, Rockfang's countless spiderlings, smaller versions of herself, who also provided her nourishment.

<Get back you miserable brats!> Rockfang shouted, <This is mother's meal alone!>

To make her point, Rockfang picked up a spiderling girl and bit into her neck and arms several times, leaving her a melted, shriveled mess.

<Mama! Mama! Please!> the other children begged, <Don't eat us! We love you!>

By this time, the commotion mixed with the two women's absence had caught the attention of Jeanine, Janice, and Valaria. Rockfang snarled as she felt a rock land on her head and looked up only to see the three women above her, looking over the crevice.

<More meals for my stomach!> Rockfang threatened, <Make them suffer, my little ones!>

The spiderlings obediently swarmed up to the humans and Valaria wasted no time in using her quite inhuman strength to fling them back down into the webs and even managed to snap one boy's neck. Janice herself grabbed a small dagger she secretly carried and plunged it into the waist of a spider girl who had tried to bite her. The girl howled in pain and fell back down into the pit only to be consumed by some of her more aggressive siblings.

"I did'nu mean..." Janice started, "She was gonna rip me guts..."

Janice stated to cry until Valaria gave her a harsh nudge with her shoulder.

"Save your tears, girl." the countess ordered, "We must rescue your lady."

"Keep fighting them off!" Jeanine shouted.

"I'll climb down while these foul beasts are distracted!" Valaria decided.

Valaria did just as she said, jumping down and landing feet first on the webbing. She used the spiderlings' own swarming as leverage to free Constave from the webs and started to carry her. Jeanine took hold of both of Constave's arms and lifted the woman to safety.

<You will not deny me my feast, wretch!> Rockfang yelled.

The spideress scurried toward Valaria who brought out her blade in a flash. Before Rockfang could even grab her, Valaria had already pierced several holes in her stomach, causing Rockfang to hiss and ooze black blood.

The spideress was not to be deterred and grabbed Valaria with all six of her arms, placing her in a crushing hug and causing her to drop her sword. Valaria was equally unmovable and started to break free from the spider's grip with her cursed left arm.

<Impossible!> Rockfang shouted.

Rockfang managed to sling off Valaria's gauntlet, revealing the countess' left arm to be a twisted mass of black flesh with the same texture as rocks and vines. The hand itself was a claw as sharp as Rockfang's own legs. Valaria ripped right into the spider's upper right shoulder and dislodged the arm from its socket. Rockfang panicked and cried and the sight of her own grey muscle and bone as her children began to climb on her back.

<What are you doing, you verminous brood?!> Rockfang questioned.

<Mother's meal! Eat! Eat! Eat!> the spiderlings answered.

The malevolent matriarch had been sufficiently wounded and outnumbered enough to the point her children could overcome her. Rockfang felt dozens of tiny venom-filled bites and her own flesh started to sear.

<Get off of me you worthless brats!> Rockfang ordered in vain, <Please! I'm your mother! I love you! PLEASE!>

Rockfang howled and sobbed in fear as she was torn apart and devoured by her own young. Valaria looked away in disgust as she took hold of Mariot and lifted her up to Jeanine. Valaria climbed her herself, clawing her way into the rock until all five women were safely above the arachnoids.

Valaria suddenly began scratching the rocks with her cursed arm and forming sparks.

"What are you doing?" Jeanine asked.

"Ensuring that these vermin can never harm anyone else." Valaria answered.

Valaria continued clawing and the sparks became a shower, igniting the webs. The spiderlings all scurried over each other as their home became a circle of flame.

Janice was horrified to the point of collapsing into a ball and stopping her ears. Constave did the same and Mariot was still in too much pain to do anything. The spiderlings themselves snarled and clawed at each other, desperately trying to climb out of the flames. It was too late for the spiderlings as many of them were consumed. However, Valaria could not help but notice that one managed to scurry out and right past her.

The four women stumbled toward a brighter part of the cavern, Mariot having to be carried by Valaria. The lady was disoriented, a patch of skin on her neck reduced to a slimy mess from the venom.

"Will milady die?" Janice asked.

"No." Jeanine answered, "The wound is painful but not lethal."

Mariot clutched her oozing skin and peeled it off until the wound was soothed by a spiderling boy lapping the blood.

"I knew one of those things escaped me!" Valaria said.

Mariot, still disoriented, saw the child as nothing more than a normal boy, and the boy happily snuggled her.

<Mama! Be my mama!> the boy said, the only words he could use to convey the idea that Rockfang had been too abusive.

"What is it saying?" Jeanine asked.

"Does it matter?" Valaria said, "He will grow up to be a monstrosity."

Valaria no longer had her sword, but her exposed rockflesh arm was quite lethal. She started to advance on the spiderling but Mariot clutched him tightly.

"Don't hurt him!" Mariot pleaded.

"That is no human child." Valaria argued, "That is a spiderling, a vile race that feeds on humanity, at least as evil as vampelles."

The spiderling responded by licking Mariot affectionately and Mariot kissed him on the forehead.

"My little one." Mariot whispered, "I think I shall call you...Jimmie, after my husband."

"Milady, that is a baddun." Janice advised, retrieving her own dagger.

"Put that away, you little urchin!" Mariot ordered, "You will not hurt my Jimmie!"

"Did the spider's poison break her mind?" Jeanine wondered.

Valaria swiped at the boy but Jeanine grabbed her shoulder.

"Let the child alone, for now." Jeanine advised.

Jeanine cut strips of spare cloth and wrapped Mariot's entire neck. A nasty clot of blood soaked the gauze but otherwise Mariot seemed to be recovering. The five women continued to traverse the cavern, Mariot cradling "Jimmie" in her arms.

<Love you, mama...> Jimmie said, as he felt a warmth and security he had never felt before in his short life.