Catalyst

Chapter 15: Itsy-Bitsy Spiders

"'Follow the spiders', he said. Why would we want to go anywhere near spiders? I vote we head back right now, ok?" Ron trailed off on his rant, watching the trees around him nervously. The trees were growing increasingly covered with webs, and Abathur almost thought he saw numerous eyes peering through the gaps.

"Do you have a better idea, Ron?" Harry asked. "I trust Hagrid. If he told us to do this, there must be a reason."

Abathur wasn't as certain of the hybrids knowledge, nor did he care. He was too focused on the threads on the trees. As they passed one, he rubbed his hand against it, attempting to pull a sample of the substance off the bark. Instead his hand got stuck in it. Abathur frowned, repeatedly pulling on the web to no effect. Eventually, the bark gave before the thread, ripping a section off the tree trunk. Abathur started production of corrosive substances on his skin at the affected area, before turning again to follow Harry and Ron. He could get a sample later.

"All I'm saying is, we've followed the spiders to a creepy woods, and maybe the lesson Hagrid wanted us to learn is to stay out of the woods. Abathur, back me up here," Ron turned to him in an agitated state, clearly in distress

"Investigation not complete. More information to gain. Retreat, inadvisable," Abathur replied, still watching the space between the trees. There was something there, and Abathur wasn't quite sure what.

Ron looked between the two, seeing he was outnumbered. "Alright," Ron said, shoulders slumping momentarily. "But the second we find something, we're heading straight-,"

The trees fell away at the last few steps, revealing webs covering every surface. Thousands of eyes in groups of eight locked onto the human children that had dared enter their colony. A thousand mandibles clicked in hunger, as the acromantulas lowered themselves on their webs.

"Hagrid?" A wizened voice asked. "Is that you?"

"We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry replied.

"Well, that's interesting," The voice said. The web in front of the trio distorted and stretched. "Hagrid hasn't sent manlings to our hollow before." A number of legs stretched out from the tangle of webs, pulling a massive hairy body behind it. It was a spider. A giant spider.

It was all Abathur could do to stop himself from grinning maniacally. A colony of excellent predators, large enough to be a threat to any creature, easy to convert, in close proximity. It was as near perfect as was possible. Assuming his survival of course. Even as the terrans and the spider talked, the other arachnids moved to surround them.

Abathur could recognize the tactic. Distract the prey with tasty bait, while removing all hope of escape. The food never saw it coming, not when the Hive did the same, nor when the Swarm. Even terrans and protoss fell to the tactic more often than not. The trap would be sprung soon.

"Harry. Ron. Recommend leaving. Now," Abathur stated. If he came into the woods with them, and left without, that would cause all sorts of questions.

"Oh, you can't leave now," The elder arachnid stated. "I may not let my children have Hagrid, but I can hardly stop them when such fresh meat comes to us."

The acromantula took this as a signal to strike. Hesitantly at first, they advanced. Then the first jumped directly at Abathur, fangs poised to bite deep. Abathur just managed to catch the fangs before they reached his head, and even then would have been impaled if he hadn't telekinetically held it back. He could feel it pushing against him, and it was winning. The spider was strong, more so than it should be for regular muscle. Abathur redirected the spider, sending it flying past to his right. Harry and Ron faced similar challenges. Harry managed to knock one aside with his pack, while Ron simply ran while pushing aside the spiders.