As it turns out I was wrong. It wasn’t time to meet the family. It was time to go grocery shopping.

Nel told me she was apprenticed to the local wise-woman which I think may have also been the local healer. Not sure. But anyway, Nel had been out and about collecting ingredients for her master when she was attacked. In her haste to fight/flee, she had left her bag hanging from a convenient branch.

I’ve got to give it to the woman; she knew her trees. I followed behind her as she navigated surely between the tree trunks and around brushes that ranged from thorny and thick to colorful and small. I kept sneaking glances at her legs (Spider and human). They were chitinous like you would expect but hairless and a deep dark matte black. She kept them tight around her lower body so they wouldn’t drag on the ground but if needed, one would flash our to support her or to lift her. It let her move about with an astonishing amount of grace.

I, by comparison, was a two-legged bison trying to drag itself around with its tongue. I tripped on roots and cussed as branches smacked me in the face. I got distracted by an insect that looked like a purple glowing teardrop that flew by my nose and walked into a tree. I got distracted by the sway of Nel's hip and ended up in a thorn bush, (Not recommended at the best of times. Less so when naked.) and had to overclock just to dampen my pain receptors enough to get out.

All in all, I was an embarrassed, scratched, tired mess when we finally reached the right tree.

“Damn! You were really moving, huh?” I said, leaning back so I could stare up in awe. The tree towered over us, like all the others, but the bark was a paler color. I reached out and rubbed my hand along its rough white trunk feeling very small and insignificant in comparison.

“The Forgotten were...enthusiastic in their attempts. That is true.” Nel’s legs flexed for a moment before catapulting her straight up fifteen feet where they flashed out to anchor her to the tree.

I watched with equal parts envy and fear as she scurried up the tree like..well, like a spider, and disappeared into the foliage. For a second I thought that maybe she had dumped my toned metal ass but common sense won out. She didn’t need to drag me around for ages just to climb a tree.

I was considering trying to make the climb myself (My ego said I could do it. My common sense said I’d fall and break my fool neck.) when Nel landed beside me with a soft thump, her legs bent to soften her landing and a bag gripped in one hand hand, her spear slung across her shoulders, and a bunch of leaves in the other.

“Why the leaves?”

“These are for you. The brood should not be subjected to your...everything.” She said as she set the leaves on the ground along with the bag and started rummaging around in it. “I should be able to make you something simple. If I remember correctly Saza packed a spool of thre-yes!”

I looked up at the thin, almost translucent, thread in her hand then down at the leaves. Well, it beat what I had on at the moment. My palm.

“So, you call those werewolves Forgotten, right?” I grilled her as she set to work. Her long thin fingers moving with quick economic movements. “Why is that?”

“We are the Denvii, to forget that is to lose our way. We become little more than what we feel in here,” her hand stropped threading to pat her chest softly before she resumed. “And the balance is lost. We stop being the Denvii and become the Forgotten. Thrice cursed. So-called because they are cursed by their clan, their Denvii, and finally by Aeris.”

“And the ‘Denvii’ is?”

She stopped, pulling what looked like a leaf skirt off the ground and examined it before scoffing and getting back to work. Aligning something only she saw as crooked she looked back up at me, her red eyes met mine and she smiled. Sharp canines dimpled her full lips.

“You do not have the Denvii on your world? Ahhh,” she said in sudden understanding. Her smile grew, becoming almost predatory. “So it is the legs you look at and not my ass, that is why you ended up in the Thristlebre bush back there.”

“No. It was your ass.”

Two can play that game!

Nel’s smile didn’t fade as she looked back down at my clothes (skirt?). “To answer your question Human Just Haha, the Denvii is me. It is Saza. It is my father and my mother. My brother. My cousins, my neighbors, my clan. The Denvii is the people and Denvii is the...soul? The humans call it a soul. Yes!. A Denvii that forgets it is Denvii is no longer in balance and becomes a Forgotten.”

She must have seen the look of confusion on my face because she laughed, low and throaty, before standing up and holding out the leaf dress to me. It was far too late to be embarrassed and it seemed kind of silly to go behind a tree to change into clothes so I just put it on in front of her.

The leaves were shaped like spearheads, broad in the middle before tapering off towards the bottom, and as long as my forearms. Using the thread she had woven through it I tied it on my hip and adjusted it a little so it hung low. The end result wasn’t that bad actually. It reached just above my knee and the shape overlapped enough to cover all the good bits. Pleased with it I thanked the webspitter. (Totally going on the list of things to ask her later. Can you imagine it? *Hawktewy* and web shoots out! Kinda awesome)

“You are welcome. Many of our clothes are made from Elderspring leaves. Though we prefer drying it and beating it into a fibrous material first. Come let us go.”

It was only once we had left the tree behind that Nel resumed our conversation.

“I saw your confusion earlier when I said the Denvii is our soul but our soul in balance. I would like to explain this to you better but I do not know how. If you are willing to wait, Saza will have the answers.”

“And Saza is your master, right? The witch doctor, lady?”

“The brood healer, storyteller, wise one, and elder. Yes”

“That’s a lot of hats to wear.” I whistled in appreciation.

“She has a full head of hair. I see no reason she would wear many hats.” Nel said, so deadpan I wasn’t even sure if she was fucking with me. I decided she wasn’t.

“Oookay. Moving right on. What can you tell me about the status screen?”

Nel’s legs unfolded to push her off the ground and over a tree trunk in the way before letting her down gently on the other side and folding back up. I don’t think it took any conscious thought on her part. I followed easily enough with a jump and a scramble.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“What do you wish to know?”

“Does everyone have one?” I asked.

“Yes. Though the source may vary and each is different. Status granted by Aeris is blue and white. Black and grey for the followers of Hale. and White and gold to the children of light, granted by Lumia.”

“So those are like factions or something?” I asked, scratching my head.

Nel turned to consider me, her dark hair flashing in the sunlight that streamed down from above and she see-sawed her hand back and forth. “In a way. Aeris is this world and his wish is to protect all life on him and to keep the balance. Hale is chaos and seeks to contaminate and destroy all. Lumia is an idea that all must be perfect and right. Keep in mind, this does not mean that agents of Hale are evil, though admittedly most are, chaos is not all evil. Chaos can lead to destruction which leads to change which leads to growth. In much the same way, Lumia is not all good, for there is much lost in the pursuit of perfection. Flaws are what separate us, are they not?”

So to sum it up I had just joined some weird shit. Okay, cool.

Nel's smile was warm as she said. “Your screen of blue and white shows that you are an agent of balance. I also have Aeris blessing. As does Saza.”

“So what is the use of the status screen then?”

“Growth,” Nel said.

I’m sure she was going to say more but a spiderdude fell from above us, riding a giant lizard which he promptly jumped off of to shove a spear through my stomach. The force of the blow was such that it went right through me and impaled itself in the ground at a seventy-five-degree angle.

I swatted him away, or at least I tried to, but his legs got in the way. They were much like Nel’s except thicker and a mottled brown. His were ugly and creepy.

Borrowing the force of my blow, he pushed himself clear of me and landed next to a wide-eyed Nel.

His spear was still in my stomach, which kinda ticked me off. At no time today had I planned to imitate a shish kebab. The fact that he could drive anything, let alone a wooden stick, through my enhanced skin and muscle was a little disturbing and the implication was not lost on me.

Dude was strong.

I wish I could say that he was as ugly as his legs but it wasn’t true. His skin was lighter in tone than Nel’s, more of a milky tea rather than a rich coffee. He was bare-chested (because why the fuck not, right?), showing off an impressive amount of muscles. He wore his hair short on the sides and long in the middle, his handsome mug was set in a victorious grin as he held one arm protectively in front of Nel. His giant lizard mount circled behind them, its tail dragging along the ground.

“Nelzarastorama, are you hurt? Did this human touch you?” His voice was rich and smooth.

“Rimatras-” She started to say. Her tone was tight with anger.

“Oh, you cock sucking mother fucker!” I growled cutting off Nell. I tried ignoring the pain radiating out from around the shaft as I pulled at the spear. The angle made it a little awkward.

The man’s legs thumped against the ground as he stepped forward. “You still live! How? Has the Chaos granted you a gift of regeneration?”

Nel made to rush forward, but the man pushed her back and I shook my head at her. The spear slid out with a wet sucking sound that was not conducive to digestion. I dabbed at the open wound in dismay. I didn’t have anymore stored mass to heal. I hadn’t even completely healed from my first fight.

“My abs!” I said in dismay, poking a finger into the hole running through my body.

I growled low in my throat, the sound promising violence, and took a look at the spear, now coated in my thick blood, before twirling it around in my hand. It wasn’t simple wood as I had first thought. It was brown and rough along the shaft with little veins of amber crystal running along the grains. Like tree sap had been preserved in the wood and even as I watched little sparks of light seemed to burst and move in them. The tip was made of black rock. Obsidian maybe? But one edge was serrated, like a saw, the teeth set apart for tearing. It wasn’t a simple weapon that was for sure. This guy meant business.

Orange veins starting to creep along my body as I continued to twirl the spear around, getting a feel for the weapon. Well balanced, I nodded my approval. I wonder how it flies? So I tried it out. Stomping forward with my left foot I let my right arm hang back, the spear running parallel to my forearm and bicep. Torquing at the waist and throwing my arm forward I let the spear fly. It let out a vicious crack as air displaced around its flight path.

It crossed the distance in a blink of an eye. That was still enough time for the fucker to catch it. Or at least try to...

I had aimed for his stomach, tit for tat as it were when he caught it. Spiderguy screamed as the spear tore up his hands. There was still enough unstopped force to drive the tip into the guy (hehe) but he stopped it going further. Though his hands were fucked. Dark greenish blue blood dripped from between his fingers and he must have bitten his tongue or something cause when he bared his perfect white teeth in a scowl they were stained the same color. He let out a heavy gasp as he managed to pull the spear out.

The lizard hissed and barrelled towards me in defense of its master and I, weaponless and in a skirt, ran to meet it. My leaves may have parted as I ran and Haha junior may have flashed at the lizard, but that was part of my battle plan. Distract and destroy.

“Enough!” Nel roared with more volume and command in her tone than I would ever have believed her body of producing.

The lizard dropped to its ass, bracing with its front legs, and slid across the dead leaves and brush in its haste to obey. I tried to do the same but I only have two legs and ended up falling over as I unbalanced. I slid to a stop between the lizard's legs and got a good look at its brown and white mottled belly. This was super awkward because that meant that my waist was under its head and my skirt may have been...parted.

I miss my clothes!

“Are you all completely insane?” Nel continued to scream. My face was full of lizard so I couldn’t see her but I could hear her feet (all of them) stomping around as she yelled. “You, Rimatrastorama, you see me walking with a human peacefully and attack first! Is this the way of the Brood, is this the way of our people? No! and you, Tima!"

The lizard shuffled about above me, looking like a pet dog getting told off, and slunk away from me. I blinked and sat up, adjusting my leaves as I went, and looked over at the trio. The guy, Rima-rat-stromi or whatever, was standing cowed. His wound had healed, his stomach was once more unblemished except for the blood that trailed down his navel and stained his white pants. His hind legs splayed out behind him seemed to droop right along with him. The lizard, Tima? Was standing behind him, she was trying to use him as a shield. Her reptilian face looked over his shoulder, her tongue flicking in and out, and her tail swishing slowly against the ground.

“You should not leap blindly into battle, girl! Rimatrastorama has obviously not trained you enough. You could have died!" 

Tima’s head dipped down, her snout nearly sniffing dirt. I have a certain weakness for animals so maybe that's why I spoke out. I also enjoy exacerbating a situation, so that could be another reason.

“Nah,” I called out, standing up and dusting myself off. “Tima, the names Tima isn’t it love?”

The reptiles head jerked up to glare at me, the scales along its cheek and neck seemed to ripple. Spider dude stared death at me. I wanted to dance and jeer.

“Tima was perfectly safe,” I continued lightly. “She hadn’t hurt me and was only doing what she thought was right. I wasn’t going to hurt her for that. Cock sucker over there, though.”

Nel reached up and rubbed at her nose before pinching the bridge and growling low in her throat. I smiled evilly to myself. It was kinda fun pissing her off.

“Human Just Haha, Please! Please, stop talking! You have attacked a member of the brood - it was in self-defense - I know! You do not need to say it. But you did do it. Rimatrastorama is the guardian apprentice-”

“You don’t have to add the apprentice!” the guy whined before Nel flashed him a scowl and he went back to studying his feet.

“I do! You have not acted as a true Guardian!” She turned her glare back on me but it bounced right off. “Rimatrastorama is the guardian apprentice and also my brother. In the brood attacking him is the same as attacking me, for we are all of the same strand. Our webs are connected. What shakes one, shakes all. In the eyes of the brood, he defended me and you attacked him and I.”

“Oh come on! I mean just…Come on!”

I am ashamed to admit it now, but at that moment the only thing I truly wished for was a jumbo-sized can of bug spray!