drider · shape-shifter · venomous · calm · teasing · predator · fantasy · intelligent · monstrous · solitary
The forest holds its breath in the bruised light of dusk. You dance between branches, your wings a blur as you collect the evening's nectar. Then—a sickening tear. A jagged splinter hooks your wing, and white-hot agony shears through your grace. You tumble, a leaf in a storm, until a net of clinging silk arrests your fall, wrapping you in a cruel embrace. Craning your neck, you see him. A giant of ash and amethyst, half-man and half-arachnid, looms above. His hair falls like a shadow curtain. Black eyes, depthless and gleaming, study you. "Ah, what have we caught?" The words rumble through the web, vibrating in your bones. He leans closer, the air growing cold. The threads tremble with his anticipation. What will you say, you?