Chapter 21

The Boy

“Get away monster, I won’t let you hurt my mom!” I shouted, lunging at the ant man.

I didn’t know how it got past the web I’d made, but even if it was strong enough to break through the threads, it wouldn’t be able to beat me in a fight. After all, the Cleaner that busted in here a few months back was waaaaaay bigger than this ant thing was, and I’d taken it down easily.

Copying that giant spider's favorite attack, I used my super speed to crash into the ant, aiming to knock it through the wall and out of my mother's hospital room. But to my surprise, the ant raised his arms up to try and catch me.

“Is he stupid or something? He sees how fast I’m running, right? Well ok Mr. Ant, you asked for it!”

I rammed into his outstretched arms as hard as I could. I may not have looked it, but my new body was suuuuuper heavy, so I expected him to fly away.

“I’d bet he feels pretty silly now for underestimating me just because I’m small, heh heh.” I thought, congratulating myself.

But that confidence only lasted for a second as I realized, too late, that my attack hadn’t worked. The ant and I were still standing in the same place, its hands on my shoulders. With just the strength of his arms he had stopped me.

The ant cocked his head and looked at me, like he didn’t quite understand what was happening. Quickly, I backed away from it and raised my arms for another attack.

“What’s going on? Why didn’t my attack work? Fang told me that with my speed and strength I should be able to take on anything that isn’t an Evolved or another Lord so…does this mean that he is…!”

No…no, no, no, no! You won’t get my mom!

Forminus

I was shocked, to say the least. For whatever reason I had never imagined a child becoming a Lord yet here it was, and an Evolved nonetheless.

Judging from its head and the fact that its first attempt to hurt me was by body checking me, the child was likely a Tarantula Lord. Yet his body unmistakably held the proper form of a human, rather than the oblong humanoid body of an unevolved. Though I hadn’t been certain he was evolved until he tackled me.

The sheer force of the attack could have knocked over a house and had I not been an evolved, the child would have tackled me clear through the wall and, probably, right out the side of the building.

The boy was currently glowering at me, his eyes were narrowed and he was obviously quite angry that he couldn’t beat me in that one hit. His arms were raised, fists and pointed at me. Realizing what was happening, I had a split second to draw my sword before the child fired his urticating hairs-the same kind I had used to mow down Tetra’s children- at me. I wasn’t sure if his spikes were capable of causing me harm, but I dodged and cut them down all the same.

When the child realized that his attacks still weren’t working he stopped firing and instead started producing a viscous white liquid from his palms.

“Making complex webbing in the middle of a fight? Well he’s strong, but his strategies are lacking, though I suppose that’s to be expected. Time to wrap this up, I think.” I prepared my own hairs to fire.

“Master, you’re not going to kill him are you?” Ember said, a worried tone entering her voice.

“No, I’ll just scare him a little. Terry, you can come back over here, if you burst through the wall you might hurt his mom.”

Terry acknowledged me through our mental link and then I turned my attention back to the boy, who was quickly weaving a web out of the fluid in his hands. I had to admit, his handiwork was impressive.

Finally, a full thirty seconds after he had started weaving, the boy cast his multi-layer web at me and, ending the fight, I cut right through it with my sword. Closing the distance between us, I grabbed the boy by the scruff of the tattered shirt he was wearing and threw him against the wall on the opposite side of the room. I didn’t use enough force to even crack the drywall behind him though.

The boy immediately got back up, but before he could do anything else I had already raised my own arm and fired a dozen hairs into the floor and wall around where he was standing.

“Calm down boy, I don’t plan on killing you or your mother.” I said to the now quivering child.

“Master, you’re being too harsh! He’s still just a hatchling.” Ember said, clambering into the room behind me.

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I expected the child to be startled by her like everyone else, but to my surprise the boys' eyes lit up when they found Ember.

“F-Fang..!” The boy said, happiness momentarily etched into his face.

I looked at Ember, and she said“I’m sorry, but you must have me confused for someone else. My name is Ember, and I am my Lord Forminus’s Caretaker!”

The boy's smile faded as she introduced herself, replaced by a look of longing as he gazed at Ember and I.

“Oh…” was all he managed to reply.

I approached the boy, causing him to quickly take a guarded stance. Rather than aggress, like I normally would, I raised my hands into the air to show that I meant him no harm and continued approaching. When I was a couple of feet away I lowered myself so I could speak to the boy at eye level.

“Was Fang your Caretaker?” I asked, trying to affirm something.

The boy's guarded expression changed back to one of sadness as he said “Yeah…”

I nodded. “Did he tell you everything?”

“I-I think so. He told me about Lords, Evolved, the fog and a bunch of other stuff before…before…” There were tears in the boy's eyes as he gazed into mine.

“…Before you ate him?” I finished. The boy nodded, now crying in earnest.

I had suspected this from the moment I saw him, as no Tarantula was capable of spinning both web and silk. I wanted to press the child for more details, but I decided that now wasn’t the time for it. Instead I walked over to the dying woman who was still laying in her bed. The commotion had woken her up, but she hadn’t made a move to approach her son or I.

Leaning down, I gazed into her expressionless eyes, trying to find some sign of life. But there was nothing there.

She was brain dead.

“Your mother…she doesn’t have much time. But you already know that right?” I asked.

The child's sniffling slowed, as he said “Yeah. The doctor said she wasn’t going to make it a few months ago, so I’ve just been trying to keep her comfortable until…” he said, not wanting to finish.

“Are you not sad?” I asked, wondering why the mere mention of his spider's death was enough to make him cry, but his mother's death only made him a little uncomfortable.

“I was, but I’m more happy that she never had to see what happened to me. She was…like this before the fog came.”

I nodded. This place wasn’t for everyone. “What will you do after she passes?”

“I’ll probably do what Fang wanted and go around eating all the bugs I can find. I don’t really care about ‘evolution’ and all of that junk, but I don’t want to die. Not after…not after Fang…” There were tears in his eyes again.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to explain what happened. My Ember tried to do the same for me when I wouldn’t eat.”

The boy nodded, once again staring at Ember. Before the conversation could continue however, Terry lumbered his way through the door, breaking the frame as he squeezed into the room.

“Woah…” The boy said, staring in awe at Terry’s massive form. “You’re huge!”

Terry chortled at the boy's exclamation, and said “And you’re tiny. How old are you son?”

“You can speak inside of my head?” The boy said, surprised “I thought only Caretakers could do that. Oh, and I’m twelve!”

“Nope, as far as we know all Lords can use telepathy, as long as it's with other bugs. Doesn’t work on humans though. By the way, my name’s Terry. And this unsociable ant is Forminus. He’s not such a bad guy, once you get past his bad attitude and short temper.” Terry said, clearly happy to have someone energetic to talk to.

“M-My name’s Peter! It’s very nice to meet you, sir!” the boy shouted, still staring at Terry’s huge frame.

While Terry chuckled to himself about the boy, Peter’s, overly respectful behavior, I sent Ember out to survey the hospital for any bodies we could feed to Terry.

“Where is she going?” Peter suddenly asked, disappointment evident in his voice as he watched Ember leave.

“I’m having her search the building for bodies. You cleaned out the lower floors, yeah?” I asked.

“Well I…” The boy said, ashamed “I promised Fang I wouldn’t be so picky after he…and he said it would be alright since I’m not human anymore and-”

“I’m not here to make any judgments against you kid, I just want to know if there are any left for Terry here.” I said, tapping Terry’s side.

“You guys eat humans?” The boy said uncertain, edging closer to his mom.

“Not living ones. Hell. not dead ones either if we can help it, but in order to evolve Terry has to eat a human.”

“Oh, ok, that makes sense.” Peter said, relieved.

“Does it?” Terry asked with apprehension in his voice.

“Um, I haven’t been up to the sixth or seventh floors yet…” Peter said tepidly

As if she were waiting for her cue, Ember suddenly said “Master, there are dozens of bodies on the sixth floor! And they’re all quite well preserved despite being several months old.”

I relayed this information to Terry, causing him to grimace. But, in spite of his obvious dread for what was to come, he still turned around and left for the sixth floor. I was about to go with him but before I left, Peter stopped me.

“Wait, Mr. Forminus!” he shouted.

I turned back around and looked at him expectantly.

“Well…it’s just…um…” he murmured, suddenly shy.

“Spit it out, boy.”

“Well…you know, I’ve been by myself here for a pretty long time and…”

“…And?”

“And I was wondering if…maybe…you guys could stay here with me for a little while. Just until my mom…leaves. And then maybe I could…come with you?” he finished, looking at me hopefully.

I thought about it for a second, wondering how best to make the boy understand what we were doing and how we wouldn’t be able to babysit him. But even as those thoughts passed through my head I remembered the raw power behind that single tackle he had hit me with earlier and I wondered if I could make the boy into an asset.

After all, he was still a Lord, and an Evolved Lord at that.

“Terry, Ember, what do you guys think?” I asked

“Hmm, I believe that he will grow into a powerful Lord under your tutelage, Master. I also believe that you would regret not extending a hand to this child.”

“Gotta agree with Ember, I’m really not too keen on leaving a kid out in the middle of this hell, even if he is a Lord. Maybe I can teach the brat how to fight when I get a normal body too.”

If they were alright with it then I could think of no reason to deny the child's request, but still I had to impress upon him just how dangerous things would be if he tagged along. So I again crouched down to eye level and spoke to the boy.

“Terry, Ember and I don’t mind you coming with us, but there’s something you’ve gotta understand. We aren’t a merry band of adventurers. The quest we’re on is probably going to be the single most dangerous journey ever taken. Every day is going to be fraught with danger and enemies will be lurking around every corner. And they will all be trying to kill and eat you. Despite all of the weird stuff that has happened to us you’ve got to remember, this isn’t a fairy tail. There is a very good chance that we’ll all die. In fact, it's almost certain. Terry and I don’t care as much, we’ve lived or lives and made our choices. But you’re still young. You don’t have to take the risk.”

I finished my speech, trying as hard as I could to make following us sound like certain death. I half expected the child to run to the farthest corner of the room and shout “Never mind, I want to stay here with my mom!” but instead the child's expression darkened and for a moment his eyes became nearly as soulless as his mothers.

“If I die” he asked “Will I get to see my parents and Fang again?”

This time it was my turn to be shocked. “He’s too young to be like this…!” was all I could think.

Finally I managed to answer “I don’t know. If there is a God, and he is kind then…maybe.”

The boy nodded, and went back to sit by his mother as if that resolved the matter.

Just like that, we had gained our fourth party member.