When I re-enter the district I notice, it's gotten worse. The magical spider webs that were barely visible now are abundant and thrum with magical power. I can tell Sonja notices too as she tenses up like a spring ready to burst. We make our way to the first marked home, to what I am assuming is the first missing person. At the door I am handed a dagger as Sonja takes out a pair of lockpicks and attempts to open the door. With a loud clink the door is Disbarred and loudly opens. The very first thing I notice Is a pungent smell that invades my nose and taints my soul. The acrid source is easily found, a set of dishes left in the living room dining area, the food untouched aside from flies and bacteria. Even I can tell that this family was abducted from their home. But how did they get out? Sonja starts inspecting the home for threats, her daggers gleaming almost as sharply as her eyes. I stay back in the Livingroom and check the shutters to the windows to find that they are all locked shut.

Sonja returns shortly after and makes her daggers disappear. Looks like there are no spiders here but that leaves the question where are they and where are the bodies. The puzzle tickles my brain as I follow Sonja from room to room occasionally moving furniture. As we enter the bathroom both of my feet give up on me and I fall through the floor landing with a thud. Well, maybe I was being dramatic. My fall was four feet leaving my head and shoulders out of the hole. I feel a brush on my leg and scramble out of the hole all the while giving a very "manly" scream. My eyes lock on my leg expecting to see tiny arthropod's attacking my ankles but there is only a cobweb. Avoiding Sonja's eyes I pull the hole open more, and I see to my horror a tunnel. Not just any tunnel but a tunnel lined with webs. So many webs that there is no bare rock to see. Turning to Sonja I say as sternly as possible the best word of any language, "No!"

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This little shit, telling me off like that. I should make him go in there just to prove a point. I shift my jaw in annoyance. Ashers' right though it's a bad Idea to go down that tunnel. Neither Asher or I could fight. I could burn out the webs but we don't know if anybody is alive at the nest. Still we have two more leads, and both of them are the direction of the tunnel. We have the home Asher picked, and the property that the tinkerer pointed out.

As we move to the second property I notice Asher's eyes flicking across the entire district, like he's concerned about something. I feel it too, it's as if I am prey. I can feel four sets of eyes on my back, burning a hole. But every time I check there is nothing. Again another praise on Ashers instincts, you hear about that every so often someone who is scared and confused all the time gaining precognition. I have seen it myself, an old man with dementia looking at me and answering my routine questions before I ask them. What could be more scary than not understanding anything!

The second house was a lot like the first, signs of life immediately paused in this case it was burnt out logs in the fireplace and water being left on in the bathroom. And there was even another hidden passage inside the home. It seems Asher's weight was just enough to find the passage. But still no luck unless we want to risk our lives in a narrow tunnel.

The final house looms above us, no matter what we will find we will have to go to the nest, hopefully it's through a proper cave and not on our hands and knees. Immediately there is a difference. Inside is a destroyed collection of glass boxes. The entire house smells of water and mold. Inspecting further the glass boxes seem to store all manner of creatures. Creatures whose nature I can hardly ascertain as all that's left is bones and webs.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I stare a hole at the full bag of coins then at a ledger, both were locked behind a safe. "Pits!" I shout as I slam my fist down causing Asher to jump. "Can you believe it! This sonova malformed goat was a breeder! He sold potentially magical creatures to collectors and when they became too big he sold them to some underground fighting ring. And guess what now we have an entire district either dead or missing due to his negligence, with seeds of more incidents planted in every Heavens forsaken part of the city. Do you see this, it says he sold a ooze to whoever for waste disposal! Yea sure that's fine but what happens if the ooze mutates, then you have a multiplying infestation! Gods! I know the war was taxing on our manpower but THIS!" I emphasize by slapping the paper in my hand, "This is down right negligent." Asher answers my tirade with a shrug. Still we are at ground zero, and most likely the progenitors are nearby. At least he keeps his notes organized, a mating pair freshly retrieved from the waists. They must've gathered enough primal essence to fully mutate. There should be no more than one generation fully mature.

I can confidently say at this point it's out of our hands, it's time for the church of Spitha to cleanse the area, or the mages guild, or basically anybody except me. I have Asher grab a box full of documents and head back to base, let Fleece and his contacts handle everything else.

Asher suddenly stops and snaps his head up. Then I see panic and sweat soak his face, I turn and feel it. I am a fly in a grand web, every move is known. Then I hear it, clicking chitin on tile and in front of me there stands a nine foot tall spider. Cresting behind the spider are eight more, all fully mature and magical. I let out a predator's grin, finally some progress. No more slinking in the dark, just action.

With a gesture I point Asher into a nearby building, and get ready for a good old fashion fight.

A dead spider appears where a live one once was. This transformation is emphasized by an echoing crack as my sling kills the first of many. I ready another bullet and release, this bullet is caught in the air, intersected via a web coming from a small cat sized spider on a roof.

I see it eyeing me, the fact it's not webbing me up right now means it's probably magical and has limited uses. Still it delayed me.

Two spiders lunge at me, with a flip I dodge in between both of them simultaneously leaving a large gash on the underside of one, and planting a dagger in the eye of the other. I land gracefully as the two spiders stagger and collapse.

Confident in my poison I rush forward, not giving the sniper spider a chance to pin me down, the progenitor doesn't flinch in fact it seems distracted. Instead the five remaining spiders rush me.

My mind takes me back to my rooftop jogs enjoying the wind at my back. I let out a long exhale and channel my appreciation for that breeze into my mental image of the Aeraki god of wind. I feel light, as a spider leaps at me I float around its attack with little effort leaving a lethal gash on its face. My form is repelled by the spider's attacks. They are trying to catch a leaf on the wind, two more die to my blade before they back up. Then with a rush of activity they start to build a web between me and their progenitor.

I take long striding steps letting my weightlessness carry me further and dive through the forming web, when I am struck in mid air by a small globule of web that pins me to the second floor portion of the wall.

The impact knocks me out of my state of mind and I immediately feel the weight of the world slam down on me. The web at my shoulder stretches but holds fast. The two remaining spiders eagerly climb to me, their mouthparts twitching with anticipation. When the spiders get within striking distance I stop feigning helplessness. With a pop I open a container of bleach and poor it on both the webs and the spiders. All three of us enter a freefall, I seize the opportunity and land dagger first on both of them.

Now it's me, the progenitor and the sniper.