He had just enough time to blink once and take a deep breath before every single member of Duke’s group vanished as if they were never there to begin with.

All except the lanky man whose eyes remained fixed on Alan. Luméos sighed and returned to his meditative state, while Bobby’s anxiety gradually morphed into rage.

“You fucking asshole!” Bobby said angrily when he realized everyone else was gone. “Jamal, you’re the most hypocritical piece of trash traitor…”

"Yo, Bobby, my bad, man, for real." said Jamal.

“You could have told him we were cool, you almost caused a massacre here,” Bobby exclaimed.

The cocoon within the stone circle cracked loudly. It was begging Alan to look back. No one dared take their eyes off each other, and everyone had their hands near their weapons as if the slightest misstep would result in a death battle.

The damp air mingled with sweat on their brows.

The three of them exhaled almost simultaneously and relaxed. Alan realized he was still holding on to the banana and suddenly felt self-conscious.

The next interaction revealed that the lanky man was one of Bobby’s former prison mates, so they passionately argued for five minutes about things like honor, code, and debts unpaid. While Bobby and Jamal revisited old memories and grudges, Alan took a quick peek at the opened shell behind him.

It looked like a third of the cocoon had broken off and someone was sleeping inside, and her skin was a rich, deep shade of ebony, with subtle, bright undertones of purple or blue.

"Who's that lady Duke called Lisa?" he asked, while admiring the arachnid features of the woman inside the cocoon.

She stood at almost six feet tall. She had lean and powerful humanoid limbs. Her hair was a fine, silky webbing-like mane that cascaded down her back.

“She’s our healer, and a damn good one. She was with Duke before I joined. Don’t really know much about her though.” Jamal glanced at the spider woman. “Yo, what the fuck is that?”

“We don’t know. Just found it there, it might be a new monster, we’ll check if it’s alive soon. Jamal, why are you here?”

“I came to tell Bobby I’m sorry. And to tell you both that Duke’s a good guy. He’s just trying to look out for everyone. I’m also sorry it went down like that. But do us a solid and stay away from us if you can, I swear that we won’t come near you, aight. We can’t fight ourselves in here, or else it’s like prison yo.”

“You gotta be shitting me,” Bobby blurted out.

“You know, ain’t no human supposed be here. Some folks are seeing it like a game and doing things…bad things. That’s why Duke’s on edge. This morning we found three dead. Good people too. I was keeping watch and I didn’t see nothing. But nah, this wasn’t no wolf bite or spider sting. This was a another person, yo. But duke man, he’s a true businessman. Come to think about it, I don’t know why he chose this over any other option He had his own empire, he was rich, influential. But he always took care of his people.

“Well, as long as he doesn’t try to pull what he did today again, there'll be no problem.”

“Thanks yo. I knew you’d get it,” Jamal said.

Bobby groaned. “I still don’t get why if he’s so righteous you’re allowed to join his group, but threw a fit against me joining. That’s wicked messed up.”

Jamal looked as if he was preparing to get going. “Bobby, I said I’m sorry, okay. I worked for him before this tutorial; that’s why he is cool with me. I told him you were solid, but he wants to go clean—he don’t want liabilities. His priority is to make sure his people get that fruit.”

“Sure…well thanks for staying behind,” said Alan, putting away the mirabanis fructus into his satchel. “Good luck to you.”

He saw Bobby say farewell. He was anticipating a warmer goodbye or perhaps acceptance of his situation, but instead Bobby spat on the ground with his hands clenched and his forearm muscles bulging out.

Jamal sighed in response, then calmly walked away.

Bobby looked down at his feet, seemingly trying to control his emotions.

I wonder what happened there, he thought inquisitively, watching Jamal disappearing into the jungle and out of sight. At least that chapter is closed for now.

“Will you be alright?” Alan breathed.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Why am I so relieved? It was the only thing he could think of.

I don’t want to be alone. He’d realized how much he actually needed Bobby.

“It’ll be fine,” Bobby said. “Let’s just go see that spider chick. Knowing you, I’m sure you’ve been anxiously waiting for Jamal to leave so that we can check it out.”

Alan laughed hysterically.

Bobby found it odd, but then joined in the laughter as well.

Alan and Bobby cautiously approached the cocoon. They circled around the broken piece of shell on the ground, careful not to trip. Cobwebby threats lay in disarray. A weird sight.

He took a good look. It felt strange. She was kind of pretty. In fact, she was astoundingly beautiful. It didn’t make sense. She wasn’t human.

[Archnidar - tc ???]

But the creature’s humanoid features were enough to stir in Alan unexplained feelings. He was confused by how a creature that wasn’t remotely of the same species could evoke a certain degree of physical attraction. It wasn’t like love at first sight or anything like that.

But even as she opened her six symmetrically arranged eyes—two larger, expressive ones at the center, with two smaller ones flanking each side—waking from her slumber, Alan was still attracted to her.

The spider woman surveyed the area.

Doesn’t seem hostile, he thought, standing firm. This is crazy.

“Hello, I’m Alan. What’s your name?” he said tentatively.

“Do you honestly think she understands english?”

The spider woman broke another piece of the shell and tumbled out of the cocoon.

“You have a better idea,” said Alan, staring at Bobby as if waiting for him to provide a suggestion. “Luméos speaks English, why wouldn’t the spider woman be able to speak it as well?”

Bobby froze, utterly baffled by Alan’s response.

The woman tried to stand up.

He felt compelled to help her up. But he didn’t want to startle her. And he wanted to be cautious.

“So she finally woke up?” Luméos was suddenly standing between them.

Alan nodded. Did the god come to assist them? Would he be helpful and tell them what they were looking at?

Was this what extraterrestrial life looked like? Were all the races merely humanoid versions of Earth's insects? Although, to be precise, the Zentari had appeared insect-like, while this woman had resembled a spider… which wasn't an insect. And then there was Luméos. A god.

Who was uncharacteristically empathetic toward the exotic spider. Helping her. Caring even.

The god sat beside her and communicated with her.

He stared at the two outwardly beings exchanging a series of rapid clicking noises. He wanted to ask Luméos what he’d learned, but thought better than to interrupt them.

Bobby shuffled, clearly uncomfortable. “Alan, man, what the hell is happening?”

“I wish I knew,” Alan whispered. “But something tells me Luméos does.”

Intergalactic sympathy? He tried to distract himself while he waited for Luméos to finish his interaction. Maybe the blue alien wasn’t as arrogant and entitled as he thought. He did fix his falchion.

“So you two are still hovering in the periphery of my divine work?” the god asked, raising gracefully.

“So…what’s the story?” Bobby asked.

“She may not wish to worship me, but I shall guide her nonetheless.”

“Sure. And what’s an archnidar? Also, is she dangerous? Wait, what do you mean, guide her?”

Luméos let out an audible sigh. “The archnidars are a formidable and proud yet…extinct warrior race. Her clan fell to the broodmother, and she was imprisoned as a living trophy. She has spent two hundred and thirty-seven years in that cocoon. But now, fate has given her another chance. Aranya is currently in an extremely weakened state, so in the meantime she will travel with us and I will help her enact her revenge upon the broodmother. Satisfied, or shall I weave more tales for your mundane minds?”

Bobby nodded slowly, still processing. Alan, too, was piecing it together.

The god rolled his eyes playfully.

“Does she need a health potion?”

Luméos seemed even more annoyed. It appeared as if he was about to utter another snarky comment, but exhaled instead. “That’s generous of you. But no need, I have already taken care of it.”

Aranya momentarily struggled to get up, up on her two claw-like appendages. It made her footsteps silent, but distinctly different.

They watched her attempts to find her footing.

Luméos cleared his throat. “Shall we get moving?” he said in a commanding voice.

“Is she really gonna be alright?” asked Alan, looking disconcerted.

“I literally just explained to you how strong the archinadars are.” Luméos scoffed.

“Sure…”

Fortunately, Aranya quickly managed to walk as normally as a female humanoid spider could. Alan pondered what having this new party member meant for his journey. More drama? I hope not. More challenges. And maybe this broodmother was someone he could fight.

How far was the next quadrant? It didn’t take long for them to leave the stone circle behind and fight one or two easy webweaver spiders.

No sign of Jamal or Duke. Definitely for the best…I’d better grind more boons and aptitudes.

He picked up the pace, and fortunately, the Boy Scout, the spider woman, and the god followed suit.