I drifted in and out of consciousness a few times, but never for longer than a moment, and what I experienced only became part of my feverish dreams, marked by terror and pain.

A hyena stood above me, cackling.

“Look, how fragile your pet is. What will you do? Let her die, or let me become the new leader of mount tengu?”

The hyena roughly grabbed me with his fangs, lifting me off the ground with ease with no concern for my wellbeing. A silver fox and a black crow growled.

I was flying.

Then, I was falling at neck-breaking speeds, faster than I had ever thought it possible to fall. Warm hands clutched me tightly, gently.

The wind spoke to me.

“My son will be the greatest leader the skies have ever seen. Support him in my stead, would you?”

I smiled. The wind said such funny things.

Stuck in a spider’s web, I struggled, trying to come free. I was no fly—unless I had been transformed. I could feel small membraned wings stuck uselessly against my back, immobilized by the spider web.

“Keep calm, human,” the gigantic spider said, leaning over me.

I was too weak to scream. Too weak to resist.

It bit me.