The Spider and the Butterfly

Chapter Ten

Daisy had never felt this scared in her life. As she clung on to Fang as tightly as she could, she could see from behind them hundreds of wasps take off from the oak tree and fly after them. Meanwhile, a terrible windstorm nearly blew the flowers clean off of the ground. The sky was dark and ominous.

"Fang! They're coming!" Daisy whimpered. The spider grimaced, casting a look over his shoulder. Many of the wasps were already too close for comfort. He couldn't outrun them for much longer. Dot and Sage caught up to the spider and jumped on his back. "Wait for us, dude!" Sage yelled.

Daisy opened one eye. "Sage! Dot! Oh, thank heavens you're here!"

Dot managed to smile at Daisy. "We'd never leave you in the hands of those villains!"

"Uh, guys? Maybe we should celebrate the family reunion for later!" Fang panted. "We've got bigger problems to deal with!"

Sage's antennas drooped when he saw the massive cloud of wasps diving through the air toward them. "Oh my God..." he gasped. "Dot! Get your spear ready!"

Poor Fang was getting very tired of running, but he knew he couldn't stop. There was no choice. He looked down at Daisy, who fearfully pressed her face into his chest. Her tears and trembles was inspiration enough for him to run his legs into the ground, if that was required of him. "I won't let them get you, Daisy..." Fang swore to her.

Sage raised his fists as several wasps flew down to attack. With one swift movement, Dot skewered three of them with her spear and threw their bodies off. Her grasshopper friend punched more of them. Fang zigzagged through the grass, occasionally kicking at the wasps or jumping up to bite at them. No matter what they did, more kept on coming.

One red wasp flew level with Fang, glaring angrily at Daisy. Stinger at the ready, it glided towards her. Fang snarled as he batted the vile thing away. More tried to attack Daisy, but the spider kept swatting them to the side. The butterfly was startled to hear Fang yelp in pain as the wasps stung his arm. "No!" he groaned, cradling Daisy as close as he could to his body. "Don't hurt her! Please don't hurt her!"

Sage screamed too, as a wasp landed right on top of Dot and tried to attack her. "Get off, you monster!" he shrieked, kicking it in the side. The wasp fell off Fang's back and was briskly trampled underfoot by the arachnid. Dot scrambled to her feet, only to be engulfed by wasps once more.

"Daisy..." Fang whispered, looking down at her. "I can't lead them to the den, Daisy. They'll corner us there, and we'll be history."

"What should we do?!" she asked.

The spider gave her a pitiful look before glaring up at the wasps. "I have an idea, but you won't like it very much," he answered.

Fang had ran out of Ridpath and straight into a small precipice. The edge ahead was getting closer. "Uh, Fang?" Sage asked. The spider didn't respond. "Fang?! FANG!!!"

With an enormous leap, Fang flew over the cliff, leaving the enraged yet confused wasps behind. Sage screamed, holding Dot close as the group fell to what would have been their doom, if not for the large body of water beneath them. Daisy was nearly half-drowned in the process, but Fang still had the sense to pull her up above the water before she could inhale any of it into her lungs. Unfortunately, spiders can't swim much better than any other insects.

"Fang!" Daisy shouted as he threw her onto shore. Dot and Sage managed to jump beside her, but Fang's arms disappeared under the liquid. "FANG! NO!!!" Tears in her eyes, she almost dove in after him. Sage held her back. "Stop!" he yelled. "You can't swim!"