"Mastress, you have a meeting with the Spider Council regarding your new project." Qilynrae’s eyes were filled with admiration, always were. Ready to take in every word from Lixiss’ mouth.

"My project is not meant for war, although I can expect only confusion from simple-minded fools." Lixiss drew out the words with apparent disdain.

"I think they might need that clarification from you, mastress." A smile, talking of excitement to come.

"Well, daughter of mine, shall we then?" She bowed quickly, reaching out a hand for Lixiss to hold.

"Let us walk as mother and daughter." Lixiss gave her a smile that warmed her heart.

Both changing into appropriate attire, they headed towards the conjoining spire, where stalactite and stalagmite meet—commonly called the Realmgate. A small tunnel at the spire’s top led to the surface world. Realmgate was also where most of Lixiss’s breeding research was conducted.

Walking hand in hand from the temple of the Spider Duchess to the conjoining spire, Lixiss was bombarded with many a gaze. Some looks spoke of condemnation, others vilification. Luckily for them, most of the looks still resided in the realm of admiration, even if they carried a hint of fear.

As they traveled along the spiraling staircase inside Realmgate, Lixiss couldn’t help but notice how beautiful her daughter looked. Motherly pride filled Lixiss. Once, she was just a loyal follower. A dark-elf named Urlvra Ulykur, a talented priestess who drew immense power from her devotion to the Spider Duchess. After Lixiss resurrected her with the power of a magical artifact older than any recorded dark-elven guild, Urlvra became Qilynrae Qintoris, the daughter of Lixiss.

She needed a purpose beyond existing, having given herself to the cause. She needed a place to belong, so Lixiss gave her that. Strangely, she returned more potent than before, which has been supremely helpful. Lixiss had asked the Spider Duchess, who, while remaining cryptic, seemed to suggest that she might have inherited knowledge from her ancestors.

Today, she would have to prove herself once more to prove worthy of her new title. As they progressed up the spiral staircase, they passed the floor with Lixiss’ new breeding project, which took up almost the entire floor. A being large enough to fend for itself, even against the nastiest of the tunnel-dwelling monstrosities and leftover demons.

As they reached the top floor, Lixiss could already see the impatient faces of her subordinates.

The room was pretty bare for its size: a throne sculpted for Lixiss in her blessed form, a roundtable of deepwood with etchings resembling a web, tapestries lining the walls, tapestries of Lixiss during her grand crusade and conquest of Myth’Ath’Areana, westward a large wooden double-door gate with dark-elven runes, the entrance to the tunnel - the Realmgate.

There was lots of space to accommodate an army of spiders in case these fools dared to attempt to end Lixiss" life. Lixiss could see their eyes staring from the ceiling. They complemented the otherwise stone-grey top, making it a nice mottled mess of browns, blacks, greys, and blues.

As Lixiss gloated momentarily at a new tapestry on the eastern wall, she was rudely interrupted by a cough that came not from sickness.

"With all due respect, we have been waiting here for hours; let’s not waste any more time." Gwyryn Hylarr closed his arms, a frown placed upon his face, his otherwise quite handsome face.

"Respect would imply you would let me enjoy the arts and let me come to the table when I am ready to. Perhaps I shall forgive you this slight. You are the master of warfare, after all. The master of courtesy, you are not." Lixiss retorted. Laughter erupted in the throne room, some of it forced.

Gwynryn wore a black doublet with golden lining, web patterned. His frown had lightened, bringing attention back to his strong jawline and his beautiful shade of purple skin, almost like periwinkle.

The other members were also here, the various guild representatives, each with their agendas. The loyal guilds and those Lixiss had forgiven. None are to be trusted, only Qilynrae. Lixiss took a few more moments to go back to the tapestry; it depicted a moment of mercy, the moment when Lixiss forgave the Menatu Guild - seekers of knowledge, worshippers of an ancient elven deity, promising the power of knowing to all her followers. Lixiss stood there with the bodies of her loyal dark-elves dead at her feet, their symbol a spider with fangs dripping poison. For Lixiss" most promising warriors, the dripping venom were tiny emeralds sewn into their badge. Lixiss had lost many loyal dark-elves that day, and now a representative of the Menatu Guild sits directly right from Lixiss" chair. Forgiveness is not a weakness when you are the one setting the terms. Their symbol irked Lixiss; too close to that of the human deity of knowledge, the dark-elves who followed that god had not gotten mercy from Lixiss.

Lixiss sat down left of Chalitra Fih’tahne, the representative for the Othreth Guild. An aged dark-elf who had kept the scars from the battles she fought for Lixiss as badges of honor. Three claw scars traveled from her dome to her chin, ravaging her right side, eye socket hidden with a simple but elegant gorgahldium eyecap. Her arms were bare to show the burn marks she sustained, pushing Lixiss out of a magical fire trap. Her neck still showed the scars of that whip made of magical lightning that wrapped around her. Lixiss had quickly dealt with the caster, who hadn’t noticed her hanging from the ceiling. Loyalty gained on both sides of the battlefield. She gave Lixiss a nod, not a hint of boredom of the long wait or blame.

Lixiss couldn’t and didn’t expect the same from Z’resdryl to her right, but to her surprise, she immediately gave Lixiss a grateful “I’m excited about this meeting” smile. With only a tiny scar across her lip, Lixiss would’ve expected to find her far more beautiful than Chalitra, but alas, she has little to draw attention to in her face, except for a weak chin, which does her no favors. Chalitra takes good care of her hair, and it shows. The unblemished part of her makes her seem all the more beautiful with her scars.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

A bit further away on the table sat Beslyth Elprarn of the Gisiae Guild, with whom Lixiss had worked closely for the past months to breed her project. Luckily for Beslyth, she had no part in the battles and her tasks now. She did it without fault. A perfect specimen of dark-elf, if any would dare approach such an influential figure.

It seemed most of the minor guilds and the other two major ones didn’t show.

"They did show Blade of The Spider Duchess, but they left after waiting too long. Shall I send some men to retrieve them?" Gwyryn responded as if reading Lixiss’ mind.

"I don’t think that’ll be necessary; each guild has its tasks, and we can fill them in afterward. The most relevant members are present for now." Lixiss responded without much care put into her voice on the matter, but she took a mental note of all those who dared depart without her leave to do so.

"For now?" Gwynryn said, his frown wholly gone and replaced with a knowing smile. Lixiss liked it when he enjoyed her games.

"After we’ve gone over my breeding project with house Gisiae, we shall call all members to the throne room, for I have an announcement." Lixiss declared, mulling about the punishments she could inflict upon the ones who left early.

"Very well, I shall try and anticipate when that might be." A questioning smile that made it clear that Gwynryn was eager to know what it was. Lixiss led them all a few floors down to the barely lit floor that housed the magnum opus. Lixiss" daughter put her hands forward, drawing elven runes in the air, raw energy hanging, glowing—growing.

Magical lights shot up everywhere, dim at first. Qilynrae knew these creatures detest sudden bright lights. As it lit the room, the look of awe on Chalitra’s face made her all the more beautiful. Beslyth looked with pride, glancing at Lixiss, occasionally gauging her reactions. Z’resdryl had this bad habit of trying to remain apathetic to things till she knew how Lixiss wanted her to react—made Lixiss trust her and that weak chin all the less. Gwyryn stared at it, calculating how many enemies it could take down.

"Except for the mind-controlled dragon the deep-dwarves have on their side, I don’t see anyone standing a chance against a beast like this! Spiders are already extremely potent predators; giant spiders have been a huge help in the battles so far, but to think something this large can be created. The fear alone this beast would put in the hearts of our enemies would win us battles!" Gwynryn’s fanaticism showed again, a side of him Lixiss didn’t like one bit. He quickly got lost in it, and it could devour his every bit of attention.

As Lixiss spent time reviewing the details of their breeding program with Beslyth, it seemed Gwyryn had already left before they were even halfway through.

"Clever man, that one, aren’t many of those amongst the dark-elves." Lixiss thought as she stared at his leaving. Qilynrae was starting to look quite nervous, seeing how her life would change; that’s to be expected. Anxious as she was, she kept her beauty. Her ashen white hair contrasted by her raisin purple skin, almost black. Her eyes turned entirely white when she came back. Most of the dark-elves had dampened eyes as if some part of them was lost when they turned to dark-elves. Some say dark-elves are the cursed ones. That dark-elves are creatures who were made into the fallen to one day rise and prove that what they had was earned. The surface world should be earned, not a right given to people at birth. One day, they might walk it again, united. That day was one of many steps toward that goal.

As Lixiss and Qilynrae re-entered the throne room, they were quickly greeted by many members of the minor guilds; the other two major guilds came with haste. They knew her as Lixiss" right hand; later, she would go by a different title. As the last of them entered, Lixiss gave Qilynrae an approving nod to stand at my side.

"I have gathered you all here today; the ascension of my daughter is nigh. She will be raised to a higher echelon, the highest within the faith of the Spider Duchess, but she will also lead the way of my religion; each day, new dark-elves find their way here. Some of these aren’t even from Meritus - Brecaehrycgh - The Broken Spine, whatever you may call our continent. Dark-elves from beyond the continent are traveling here in my name, The Blade of The Spider Duchess - Grand Matron - Chosen Champion of The Spider Duchess - Lixiss Qintoris. Next to me stands my daughter, not in blood but in bond. The Spider Duchess granted me the ability to bring back one who had stood by me, fought and died for the cause, and laid her life to assist me on the grandest unifying crusade the Deeprealm has ever seen. We faced an apocalyptic threat, and out of all the dark-elves who stood by me throughout my journey, she was by far the most promising. Qylinrae took her first step in being a priestess, not of the Spider Duchess but one of mine, as she changed her name from Urlvra Ulykur to Qilynrae Qintoris. Now, she becomes more than that; I’m a woman of many titles, each with its burden. I am a mother to a life regained by my hand; I am the leader of Myth’Ath’Areana - City of Spiders. I am the living champion of the Spider Duchess, and I am her blade to strike at her foes." Lixiss took a moment to let her audience take in her words.

"Not too long ago, I too was but a priestess, kidnapped from this place, taken by a minor dark-elf guild. In the end, they all felt the fury I could possess. The Spider Duchess herself blessed me with a body like hers."

Lixiss let her hands draw the contours of her body as far as they reached.

Hers was a head of pure white hair, skin as dark as the night, and red eyes that spelled fury. A strong face with many attributes, Lixiss’ admirers could lose themselves in dark, narrow eyebrows, high cheekbones, a narrow nose, no rings under her eyes that could draw away the attention of the passion held within them, full lips that dared fools with every word to kiss them and long eyelashes which fluttered most gracefully when Lixiss required it. Her narrow waist was most graceful in the form-fitting dress that Lixiss wore today. A beautiful purple dress with a webbing design sewn in silver thread. But below her navel, her body caused the revulsion that many fools showed on their faces. Eight legs departed from a black spider body, granting Lixiss strength and ability beyond which she could muster in her original form.

"Some considered me an aberration, a demon even, a cruel punishment given to the worst dark-elves. They saw the truth, how this body gave incredible strength and allowed me to win unwinnable battles. You all know me as a living avatar of The Spider Duchess! Her name might be lost, but our worship is strong. Urlvra was a priestess as well, holding little power but utilizing it greatly. I saw in her what the Spider Duchess saw in me. The chance to change the status quo, no longer would our guilds be divided, and with the ascension of Qilynrae, no longer shall I be bound to duty."

Qilynrae looked confused, almost scared. Lixiss gave her a reassuring smile and, after a monetary pause, added with more zeal than before.

"She shall be Grand Matron, not just for the Spider Duchess but also in my name. You shall all be under her legs of faith, and she shall teach you of my deeds. She will help those who are worthy to be helped and push you where needed. Do her any wrong, slight, and you shall feel the wrath of her and mine combined. The Spider Duchess ordains me to spread my legs. I find the enemy lines constricting and am readying myself to break through them. I am under no illusion that this goes without risk. A leader should be ready to bear the risk and to delegate. Qilynrae is my successor in victory or defeat. She shall hold Myth’Ath’Areana while I make the rest of the world ours!"

End Of Chapter 2 - Lixiss One