Lee took an instinctive but shakey step back from what… Who he saw in front of him. He tried to swallow to wet his now suddenly dry throat as he inspected the being that stood no less than ten feet away from him.

Standing nearly ten feet tall on her eight armored metallic-looking limbs, stood an Arachne. Lee might not have played any fantasy games or read about many typical fantasy beings while he was on Earth, but he had definitely heard of some of them. Just like he had known about Goblins, he had heard of an Arachne, and one of them was right in front of him. But. she was definitely very different in her appearance than he expected.

The first detail he noticed was her sharp-edged metallic body. The dim light from his spell reflected off her dark gray metallic limbs and spider abdomen, glinting off her sharp edges. Every spider limb was angular; there were no rounded parts on her.

The spider limbs appeared to be made of twisted angular plates ending in pike-like spikes at the ends. It reminded him of a metal pencil, but only if the pencil twisted slowly as it reached its end.

Her large abdomen was much the same; small, smooth metallic surfaces were either interlocked or wielded next to one another, making up her very angular metallic body.

Up atop where the spider's head would normally be, sat the body of a woman in armor. She was leaning back on her human-like arms, resting them atop her spider body. If Lee had seen just the human half of Em, he would have believed she was some medieval knight. Her face wasn’t angular like the rest of her body, and he could see that she was inspecting him in turn.

Where the large spider fangs would typically be, rested her legs. They looked like a knight's standard plated steel legs. But, quickly, that observation was thrown away. As her ‘legs’ swung upwards, almost like she was kicking on a swingset, he could tell they were not legs at all, only a mimicry of what legs should be. They were the fangs themselves.

Her face was that of a woman in her mid to late twenties with black hair in a pixie cut. She had a steely gaze as she looked over Lee with her dark red-colored eyes. She pushed off her spider body, and her human half leaned forward. She spoke first, her voice sharp, metallic, and authoritative.

“Vanny, who did you bring into my abode? And, why?”

Vanessa was at ease in Em’s presence, but Lee needed time to adjust. He tried his best not to gawk openly, but he wasn’t sure if he was doing well by the observant look Vanessa was giving him.

Vanessa tried to speak casually, but there was a hint of nervousness lanced into her words. Not the nervousness out of fear but of a concerned friend doing something awkward. “I’ve brought a healer here to look over you. We are worried about you. I think you need some help.”

Em’s entire body shifted. She was agitated. Her eight spiked legs raised one by one and slammed into the ground within a second of one another. Lee flinched, but as he continued watching, he saw that Em looked unsettled and out of her comfort zone. She repeated the leg slamming, and Lee thought it might have been similar to someone tapping their fingers on a table when they were bored or thinking. Except, in this case, the fingers were eight enormous spider legs.

Em squinted her eyes and peered at Vanessa, then to Lee. “I am not harmed physically. I do not require a healer. Also, you cannot afford his services. Do not think I am unaware of your financial situation, Vanny.”

Wanting to show that he was here peacefully and in an attempt to break the ice, Lee spoke out. “I am here for free. There is no need to worry about money. My name is Lee Barnes; I’m a healer from outside the kingdom. I can heal illness as well as physical damage.”

Looking from Vanessa to Em, Lee was unsure of what he was supposed to heal here. He had quickly used Medical Attention on Em, but nothing showed up. She was fine, all things considered.

Em inspected Lee once more; she eyed him as if trying to see through his entire being before she inclined her chin and spoke in an authoritative, regal-like tone. “I am Emthraxiatus Mertalicus Sepheroxus, watcher of the tower of Breye and stalwart defender of the realm—Brood Mother of the Metallic Vanguard. You may refer to me as Em.”

She tore her gaze away from Lee and then disdainfully side-eyed the now snickering Vanessa. “Have you words to say, Vanny?”

Trying to suppress her laugh, Vanessa just waved away the question. “I would just like you to talk with him. Show him around your home.”

She glanced at Lee with a pleading expression. Lee, completely and utterly lost on his reason for being here now, simply nodded. If he was just going to talk, he could do that. He would be lying to say he wasn’t interested in Em. She was unique, and he had many questions he wanted to ask her.

Em shuffled forward and loomed over Vanessa, there was an awkward silence before Em crossed her plated arms and kicked her fangs out. “As a favor for you, I will entertain this coy ploy.”

Turning her head to Lee, she inclined her head once more. “Come, Healer Lee, we shall tour the grounds.”

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She began scuttling towards the staircase against the far wall and made it halfway up before glancing over her shoulder. “Vanny, are you coming?”

Lee had begun following after Em, not realizing that Vanessa hadn’t moved.

Vanessa glanced meaningfully at Lee, expecting him to get the hint, which he did not, and turned towards the large steel doors they entered through. “I have to check up on my dad. He’s outside, I’ll catch up in a bit, okay?”

Em didn’t seem fazed by this and continued up the stairs. “Very well. Come, Healer Lee.” Her tone brokered no argument.

Lee followed after her, half afraid of saying, ‘No, I'm good.’ and the repercussions that could follow, and half because he was curious. Her mannerisms felt stiff. He wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t have much contact with others or if it was something else.

After traversing the spiraling staircase that twisted and twirled along the walls of the watchtower and arriving on the first floor, Lee raised his palm to hold up the Orb of Light to illuminate the room.

The first floor was… cluttered. Bits and bobs of all sorts of items littered the floor and on top of old dusty tables. He spotted an oil lantern, metallic silverware, broken clay pots with what appeared to be a blackened ash contained within, a fishing pole, a torn flag, etc. It was, quite frankly, junk.

Em sauntered up to the nearest table and inspected the items around. She picked up a metal frame object and peered at it intriguingly before she paused and glanced at Lee. She placed the thing back down and spoke authoritatively and regally.

“This is my collection of goods. You may peruse them at your leisure…” She paused, and Lee saw her look mildly conflicted for the first time. “Do you know why Vanny sent you here?”

Lee gazed around at the junk, looking mildly impressed with her ‘goods’. It wasn’t a hard thing to do because he had no clue how she had managed to scavenge a fucking solid three-foot chunk of raw iron ore.

“I don’t know for sure. She asked me to heal you, but if I’m being honest, you’re completely healthy. Robert and Vanessa seemed to be worried about you, though. They said you never leave your tower.

Em’s response was immediate. “A queen does not leave her castle. I have my subjects go out and bring me what I desire. It is of no concern.”

Lee stealthily peered away from the astonishing chunk of iron and glanced her way. She was doing her best to appear stoic and regal, and she watched Lee peruse her stuff. She had the tone of a queen for sure, but Lee saw the uncomfortable fidgeting of unfamiliarity in her posture.

If Lee were a betting man, he would say she is acting.

He decided to play along with her. For all he knew, she was some regal queen Arachne, and he was just out of touch.

“Okay then. Do any of your subjects require healing, then? Perhaps she sent me here to look them over?”

Em froze for half a second before nodding and scuttling towards the staircase again. “Come healer; we shall see what they require.”

The next floor was about what he expected when he first saw Em’s spiderly visage. It was a nest. The formerly gray stone blocks which made up the walls were coated in white silk from head to toe. Hundreds, if not thousands, of black or brown fist-sized spiders, rested or traversed the webbed walls, skittering to and fro.

Em walked in like she owned the place, which, in this case, she did. She walked to one of the webs and gently plucked at the strings in a rhythmic fashion. Not long after, every spider within the room scrambled over one another in a race to meet her. It was a tidal wave of black and brown. Lee wasn’t generally adverse to spiders. They had their jobs as insect killers, and they did their service… but a tsunami of them? Lee stayed on the staircase.

The spiders surged forward only to be stopped a foot away from Em’s long legs, going still. She spoke without turning to face him. “You may approach. Inspect and heal what you must…” She paused before asking a question, slightly unsure. “... This is free, correct?”

“Yeah. This is free.” It’s not like he would say no when he was face-to-face with a queen's army. He approached and instead of checking them with Medical Attention, he used Healer’s Beacon.

The silvery white light of healing spread out around him, causing the spiders to shuffle, but stay put. Em stared a hole through him, which he pretended to ignore, as he walked through the horde of spiders. After a complete circuit around them, he turned off Healer’s Beacon, and stood next to Em, daring for the first time to come in close.

Then, in an awkward silence. Em continued to stare unerringly at Lee.

At first, Lee thought he had made a mistake by standing beside her. Maybe it was disrespectful to a queen? But, after a few seconds of ever-increasing worry, Em asked a question.

“What was that? It tingled.”

It tingled? Lee thought.

Stealing a look at Em, he looked her over for any physical changes. Nothing appeared to have changed, and previously, Medical Attention didn’t notify him of any abnormalities. He didn’t think she had gotten healed, so he wasn’t sure if the tingling was a sign of anything untoward.

“That was one of my skills. Your subjects are healed—all of them. I’m not sure why that tingled for you, though. Nobody has ever told me that before.”

She continued her piercing gaze, unblinking.

“Mages do not have healing skills. Healers do not have healing skills, at least, not like that. Who are you?”

Lee turned to face her, and after seeing the intrigue within her unblinking gaze, he turned both of his titles on. “I’m just a simple healer.”

Her eyes widened as her feet did the eight rhythmic slams of nervousness. Lee turned his titles off after a few seconds.

Em shifted and plucked the webs next to her. Her unblinking gaze never left Lee’s face. The spiders surrounding them scuttled back to their webs and returned to how they were when they had first arrived.

“Come. I have many questions and things to show.”

She quickly tore her gaze away from Lee and speed scuttled to the staircase. Lee followed after her.

This is not how I expected my day to go.