Kingdoms of old

Chapter 10: A New Dilemma

Tw: Swears

After a long while of searching, I finally found something close to what the spider people look like in this story that wasn't a super revealing illustration of a thicc spooder mommy- 

Credit to k.oobiie on Instagram, I don't claim this as my own art. (I hope I don't get sued- I'm not trying to make a profit off this makeshift excuse of a story ;-;) I found another good representation on DeviantArt by Coloralecante.

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Not too long after the search began, Martha heard the sound of laughter nearby. Ducking into some tall grass, she investigated the noise. Sure as the sunrise, the 3 Spiders were gathered in a clearing.

"Jes, c'mon. We ain't got time for this." Carlo said as he watched his brother play with a tiny Jackalope baby. Jesse whined, "Carloooo! Can't we stay just a little longer? It's not like we're in any imminent danger or anythin'."

The eldest rolled his eyes, "The longer we stay here, the more we're at risk of being found. And if we're found, we'll be captured and executed. Ya know well enough that we're fugitives on the run, any bounty hunter eager to make a pretty penny is tracking us this very moment. Charles, back me up here."

He looked toward the middle brother for support just to find Charles with a phoenix bird perched upon him. "Charles! You're s'posed t' be on my side!"

"Hm? Sorry brother, I'm with Jes on this one. If this is truly a 'safe haven', then no bounty hunter can hurt us here," Charles went back to admiring the beautiful bird.

Carlo groaned, "Ya idiots are gonna get us killed one day..." He looked towards the forest, and to his surprise, a ghost-like being beckoned him closer. "The Hell...?"

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he made his way over. Taking this as a great opportunity, Martha followed the spider-human. A few pixies and fairies looked their way, causing a panic among them. 

Their tiny pleas were drowned out by the rushing of wind rustling through the leaves and branches of the thick forest. Carlo mindlessly entered, almost seeming to be hypnotized by the ghost. 

Before Martha was subject to the same fate, she was pulled back. "What are you doing?!" Shixe exclaimed, bringing Martha back to her senses.

"I was jus'-" She looked towards the forest, the ghost no longer there and completely forgetting why she was headed there in the first place, "I don't 'member..."

"Doesn't matter now, we need to find those two spiders. I was asking around about that forest, and, from what I gathered, if you enter you're supposedly whisked away to a different dimension and all memory of you is lost as well. So I'd avoid going in, no matter how tempting, lest you wish to be forgotten and left for dead." Shixe pulled her away. 

Martha couldn't help but glance back at the cursed woods, she wasn't exactly sure why but it seemed to be calling to her. "Right...I saw em back o'er this way," She pointed towards the clearing just behind some tall grass.

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"We ain't telling ya shit!" Jesse and Charles were tied down to a tree in the middle of the clearing. "How the Hell did we let two nobody's tie us up?! Ya only caught us 'cause we were caught off guard!" 

Charles kicked his brother, "Shut up, we're at the disadvantage. No use in bitchin' 'bout it, they'll probably torture the truth outta us. Look, money's in the bag over there." He gestured towards a satchel laying on the ground nearby. "Take what ya want. Just leave our limbs intact."

Martha glanced at Shixe, signaling him to go search the bag, "We don' want yer money, we want ye t' make an appearance 'fore the king o' the dragons, King Vritra."

"Ya mad or somethin'? I think I'd rather still be alive when we leave this damned island," He gave her a deathly glare. Martha disregarded his snarky remark with a wave of her hand, "Well that egotistic, fire-breathin' lizard wants either yer presence or our heads. And I enjoy havin' me head on me shoulders."

Shixe found a map in the satchel, but it wasn't of any kingdom or of anything he could immediately recognize. He also found a compass but it wasn't pointing north, and when he set it down the magnetic needle went crazy. It was spinning around and around, occasionally switching directions. "What kind of navigational tools are these?"

Charles ignored Martha's arguing and left Jesse to deal with it on his own to look over to Shixe. "Those? They're practically useless; get ya lost in no time," He replied nonchalantly. 

"Then why do you have them? Are they some valuable treasure or something of the sort?" Shixe questioned further. Charles opened his mouth to give another snarky remark but his expression changed to confusion, "Dunno. We've just always had em I guess."

Jesse and Martha's arguing kept escalating until they were just yelling insults back and forth. "WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP ALREADY?!" Both Shixe and Charles exclaimed exasperatedly at the same time. The two bickering fell silent. "Thank you."

Martha turned back towards Charles, "What're ye two even doin' on this blasted island anyways? Here t' plunder the dragon king's lair?" 

"In full honesty, we were hopin' to escape from our old home. We're fugitives, ya see." Jesse kicked Charles when he admitted their cause for running. Shixe put the items back in the satchel, throwing it over his shoulder, "What did you do? There has to be a reason for your running, hasn't there?"

Jesse sighed and let Charles answer, "We were framed fer the murder o' our leader. Unable to convince others o' our innocence, we fled. So now we're wanted criminals on the run."

Shixe and Martha exchanged glances. They stepped aside to discuss their situation.

"We can't just take them to be hung! They'll be executed the moment they step into the king's court!" Shixe exclaimed in an attempt to convince Martha to let the spider-humans go. She shook her head, "It's either them or us, Shixey boy. That lizard with wings'll 'ave our heads or theirs. S' a lose-lose situation."

"There has to be some way to convince him to spare ours and their lives. You've visited this place before, can you think up a way to persuade him?" Shixe pressed on. 

She sighed, "I know that scaly beast like the back o' me hand. 'Though our chances'll be slim to none, if we s'plain those two's predicament then maybe, just maybe, two innocent lives'll  be spared tonight."

The two came to an agreement and filled the others in on the plan. It was settled, tomorrow morning they would set course for the Great Dragon King's lair and plead to spare their lives.

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Help am running out of ideas- Oh well I'll figure something out on the way-

But there's another chapter for ya I guess? Idk what to really put here so imma just-

1164 Words Total