The spider screamed. She reared up on her back pair of legs and battered at us with the middle pairs.
I grabbed a beak-ful and two claws-ful of fur and flattened myself against the back of One Ear's neck. A spider leg whistled overhead and punched the wolf in the back, right above her spine. One Ear's howl was muffled by the spider waist still clenched between her fangs.
"Rosssie!" shrieked Bobo from where she dangled under the wolf's hind legs.
I'm fine! Stripey?
I'm fine too! His voice came from under One Ear too. He'd flown as far as the silk threads would allow and was sheltering between her belly and the spider's, using the wolf as a shield.
"Whew! I was ssso worried!"
One Ear mumbled a question that probably went something like, "What about me? Aren't you going to ask if I'm okay?"
"I know you're okay. I'm not worried about you." Raising her head, Bobo shouted up at the spider chieftain, "Don't you dare hit Ssstripey or Rosssie! If you hurt them, I'm going to bite you!"
Another spider leg whistled past and connected with One Ear's ribs, knocking us sideways into a punch from the spider's opposite foot. The wolf let out another strangled howl but locked her jaws and hung on. We swung back and forth crazily, propelled by punches from both sides. A spider foot caught One Ear in the side of her neck right next to me, and I yelped and scrabbled away from it.
A long, bright-green blur shot past me and latched onto that leg. Overhead, the spider unleashed a drawn-out wail. The world jerked up and down as she thrashed, trying to shake Bobo off her leg.
Crunch.
Bobo opened her jaws, leaving the leg bent and limp. "I told you I was going to bite you if you hurt them!"
The spider's mouth opened again, but not to wail. A jet of fire roared past Bobo's head, straight into the grass under us. Flames leaped up, painfully hot. Instead of backing away, the spider hobbled forward to suspend us over the fire. Her seven good legs bent. She lowered us towards the flames.
I flapped my wings and tried to climb One Ear's head. She's going to cook us! She's going to roast us alive!
One Ear clamped down harder. Green demonic blood oozed out around her muzzle and dripped off her chin. It sizzled when it hit the flames, and the acrid fumes nearly choked me.
Stripey gagged and coughed. Don't breathe it in!
Trying not to!
Clinging to One Ear's cheek with my beak and claws, I glanced down. The fire was right under us. Bobo tensed her muscles and raised her body straight up like a flagpole, but she and One Ear's hind paws were getting closer and closer to the flames.
The watching spiders screamed war cries and beat the ground with their legs. The pounding vibrated through my chest and thudded in time with my heart.
You have to let go! I yelled into One Ear's eye.
You can't! Stripey shouted. We'll fall into the fire if you do!
Swing your body so we land on the grass!
One Ear swung back and forth, slowly at first, then faster and faster. Stripey spread his wings and beat them, helping to propel us, like a version of the children's swing from my long-ago performance.
YOU ARE READING
The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox
FantasyAfter Piri the nine-tailed fox follows an order from Heaven to destroy a dynasty, she finds herself on trial in Heaven for that very act. Executed by the gods for the "crime," she is cast into the cycle of reincarnation, starting at the very bottom...
