The Girl in the Cloak

The Nest

Gore poured from the cavities in the top of the Horrics nest. Fa and the cloak were now in enemy territory with no known way out. Every step they took was tough. The floor had slick parts and sticky parts. The stench was vomit-inducing. She could hear deep inside of the nest the scratching and wales of the Spinner and its children. Fa wrapped the cloak closely around herself trying to keep as dark as possible. The more she walked the more she could hear the sounds of the beasts offspring clearer and clearer. It wasn't long before she could see them. Small spinnerets walking through the mangled surroundings. Fa noticed the closer to what she thought was center the bigger the spinners became. It made it much harder to find a way around. The cloak had not been responsive to her in a while. She could feel it doing something but she didn't quite know what. Fa decided it was time to focus on her end and let the cloak do its own thing. She may not know it well but the girl has to know it and, with how much she wears it, trust it. She noticed that the spinners were starting to avoid her. She wasn't sure who they had come to notice her as they hadn't up till this point, or at least she thought so. A strange thought started to run through her head. What if the spinners were tricking her into going this way. She turned around and saw three spinners the size of hogs. The creatures kept a decent distance away from Fa but made it obvious to her that she was being herded. She put her hand on the hilt of her dagger and left it there. She may not be at full power right now but she knew she could do some damage to them at least before she died. When she was younger she had been a mage. She studied many forms but only remembered how to use flame style destruction magic. In this case, it could be the best choice. She was paying a lot of attention to her surroundings. She knew if it came to her using her magic the place would go up in flames in a matter of seconds.

Fa had been in the nest for about an hour and finally found what the spinners wanted her to. She saw a body wrapped and dangling from the roof. Spinners were known to put you into a trance, a dream-like state that would give the victim a false sense of happiness. That happiness was the main thing the creature would eat. But that was only for pleasure. It ate the body when the victim couldn't produce any more happy thoughts. They would inject the victim with a drug created from the tip of its legs to keep it in this trance. Just in front of the dangling body was the mother Spinner. Its eyes locked on to Fa.

"Ooooohhhh. The children told me something was dumb enough to walk into our home. I thought they were kidding." the creature started laughing hysterically.

"I'm here for the girl," Fa spoke firmly. Her eyes didn't break contact from the beast.

"You're here for her. Oh well, you can't have her. She is getting the special treatment." the laughter continued. Keeping eye contact with the beast Fa dashed over to one of its offspring and gutted it in front of her. The beast let out a roar that shook the nest itself. Fa didn't even flinch. Her eyes never left the beast in front of her.

"Behind us, they are coming." The voices of the cloak had finally spoke. Fa spun to face the incoming monsters and started slashing. As fast as she could. Her first blow came swiftly and made the small beast pop. Fa wielded the rainbow light blade gracefully with deadly intent behind every swing. She didn't hesitate even for a moment. She slashed at anything within the range of the blade.

"They outnumber us greatly. We either get the little one and run or we die. We have to move now." The cloak spoke the truth and Fa knew it. She didn't like it, she wanted to make them suffer for what they had done to the girl. Instead, she only killed what was between her and her target. She slashed and dashed her way all the way to the mother. It screeched at her and swung a large leg at her. Fa-Lees jumped on it and, using the momentum of the swing, jumped to the sack holding the girl. She slashed it with the dagger from her back. The sack spewed a chemical from it that landed on Fa's face. The small amount made her start to see the forests where she and Torikk lived together. She looked down and could see the nest and the girl still. She knew she was not infected with their daydreams and only had so much time on her hands. She took the cloak off and put it on the girl, who was still unconscious.

"Do what you must but we need to move!" Fa shouted. The cloak responded with action. It engulfed the girl and started moving. It dawned on Fa then that she had seen the cloak in action before. She didn't know what kind it was but it had to be parasitic. It didn't matter right now though all they needed to do was get out. The cloak and Fa took off running passed everything in its way, only killing what they absolutely had to. It wasn't long before they were surrounded by the Spinner and its offspring.

"Get close to me." Fa pushed her sleeves up exposing her blue tattoos. "Guard me I will work as fast as I can." The cloak didn't have to respond with words. It slashed anything that came to close. Fa put her hands together palm to palm with her fingers facing up. She started saying something in a language the cloak did not recognize. As she did one of her tattoos on her forearm started to glow white. As she spoke it became brighter and brighter. She said one last word the rotated her palms so her fingertips faced the other hand's wrists. The tattoo flashed as she slammed both hands into the ground and a gigantic burst of fire emitted from where she hit. It sent a tsunami of fire in every direction around her. The majority of the creatures were dead, but the Spinner had hid inside its armor. It popped its head and arms out and started to remove the melted plate-like pieces from its body.

"Run!" Fa shouted as she took off towards how they got there. The nest itself had caught fire and was burning fast. They finally back to where they started. The fire was all around them. Something was wrong. The portal they came in with was gone.

"Shit!" Fa dropped to her knees. They had done so much but we're going to die in such a stupid way. She looked over at the cloak engulfing the little kitten. To her surprise they were slashing at the flames, but not just the flames. They were cutting where the flames were burning through the nest. It clicked to Fa. They might be able to get through the nest. She pulled both blades and started to help. It was only a matter of seconds before Fa saw light starting to come in and only a few more after that they made a hole large enough to get out of. The cloak jumped out instantly. Fa was happy to know the girl was now safe. She went to jump but was stopped. She looked back to her leg and the Spinner had grabbed her ankle. She looked back out of the hole only to see the girl and the cloak falling. The nest was actually hanging from the top of a cliff with a large drop under it. She had to choose. Die by the Spinner or try to live on with the girl. Taking her rainbow blade she reached up and cut the wrist of the Spinner. It separated its hand from its arm and Fa started to plummet. She felt weightless for a moment. It was thrilling. She looked towards her landing spot and noticed it was a lake. She hit the water hard. She could feel a few bones crack in her back. She had tried her best to flip but only had enough time to cause the majority of the damage to hit her shoulders instead of her head and neck. The pain was intense but she knew she needed to get out of the water. She had no clue where she was. No matter how much she tried she couldn't get her body to respond. She was out of stamina completely. The spell took more out of her then she thought it would. Fa began to sink in the water.

"At least the little kitten is safe, I hope." she began to accept her out, closing her eyes when she felt her ankle grabbed again. At first, she tried to kick remembering the Spinner from before. But when her eyes opened she saw the engulfed girl holding her. She pulled her to the edge of the river.

"Thank you." she gasped out while trying to breathe normally again. The figure nodded to her then sat next to her. The last thing Fa-Lees saw as her eyes closed was a flaming nest in a blood-red sky.