Chapter 6 - Turn tail

Her spittle tinkled away in the air around the spectator’s face, failing to hit it.

“A h , y o u a r e i n s p i r i n g ! H o w f r e s h a n d i n n o c e n t , h o w i g n o r a n t . ” relished the spectator. “ Y o u k n o w , t h e r e a r e t h i n g s w e c a n d o , t h i n g s I c a n d o , t o m a k e m a t t e r s b e t t e r o r w o r s e f o r y o u . E n j o y t h e b o u t , a n d t r y n o t t o t a k e t o o m u c h t i m e . ” With a wink it shrunk back up to the tiers, merged with the others and swiftly became unrecognizable.

Those last words, the emphasis on taking too much time, made her feel a certain dread. Perhaps it hadn't been a good idea to spit at it, but she'd had enough of its insults. And anyway, she was so hungry that she was ready to crack from irritation, like a boiling flask left empty too long over the flame.

At least this spectator had been less unpleasant than the first. That one's hiss had been pervasive, seeping fright into her mind. But this new voice was different, a hoarse whisper, arrogant and mocking. And it had spoken much more, giving her information she’d thought she’d have to fight for.

First, it had told her that the creature pulling threads wouldn’t attack her, yet. It had said she wouldn’t be able to reach the tiers, that it was intrigued by her, and that she’d won two bouts. And even though it had called her intelligent, which had felt surprisingly good to hear, it had repeatedly insulted her and the slug.

There were many things to learn from what it said, but one thing in particular struck her: They were individuals.

This meant that each one likely had an opinion, a personality, and different information to give her. She turned, scanning the faces once again, her new understanding making her feel that she might see more than before. And indeed, although the spectators were still identical, she could see them more clearly, less blurred and more distinct.

Her realization was short-lived, however, as something shifted in the space. No, not in the space, everywhere, more than everywhere.

Her pulse wasn’t beating faster, and the small creature wasn’t pulling threads along any more quickly, but still, everything felt hastened. Each of her breaths, her heartbeats, and the shifting of her eyes felt hurried, even though their speed hadn’t changed. It was as though a sheet was being pulled out from beneath her senses, constantly slipping away.

The only way she was able to interpret this sensation was by translating it to her environment, which made the round place seem to spin like a wheel. Grains of sand brushed too quickly under her feet as she shuffled to the place’s center. She hoped the sensation would be lessened at the axis, just as the pivot point of a joint moves less than the extremity. Alas, it was of no help, and so she braced herself internally, although unsteadily on the waves of her growing hunger.

The spectator had done this. It had said there were things it could do to make matters worse for her, and had emphasized “not to take too much time”. Yes, it had done something to the passage of time, somehow squeezed it. And although it wasn’t clear how this changed things, aside from making her feel disoriented, she didn’t doubt that she’d soon find out. Until then, something else called for her attention.

The mass of white fibres had become even denser than moments before. There, moving about within, was the small figure, pulling strands along from its behind. It wove through the threads easily, binding union points as it went. There was a clear pattern at play, angular and regular. Tunnels allowed the creature to move about quickly, built so that any intruder wouldn't make its way in without touching thread.

It slipped in and out of view through passageways, but glimpses showed it to be much bigger than she’d first thought. It was nearly the size of her forearm, covered in a supple exoskeleton, with at least a dozen different body segments. And its legs - eight were long and slender, but there were also many others, a series of stumpy nubs beneath its abdomen. All were working together in a continuous flow of movement and threading.

But as she neared it ceased its weaving, then turned to face her. Legs outstretched it retreated, then became entirely still. Spotlessly white like its fibres, indistinguishable from the web, it took only a moment for her to lose sight of it entirely.

Part of her mind was trying to identify the creature, but the information wasn’t coming together. Impressions of a caterpillar collided and fought with those of a spider, but it was neither of these. There was a pressure in her mind, like a bulging hematoma filled with ideas instead of blood, a stark contrast to the cavitating emptiness in her stomach.

But her lack of understanding bothered her more than the hunger. She didn’t know when she’d eat, but she could taste comprehension on the edge of her mind’s tongue. She needed to know just a bit more, to get just a bit closer…

And yet, there was nothing she could do. She was stuck here, on the edge of understanding and of hunger. Time was pressing against her from all sides, but to what? And she felt lonely, an unexpected effect of the creature’s retreat into its web, just like the spectator had done into the tiers of onlookers.

She stepped back to the middle of the space, trying to take stock of her situation. It didn’t seem as though she was in any immediate danger. The creature was lurking from within its web, but she couldn’t lose track of it, wouldn’t repeat her mistake with the slug. She had no intention of being the first to attack since it wasn’t being openly aggressive, and, even if she did want to strike, the web would be hard to bypass. Anyways, its expansion into the space wasn’t sufficient to make her nervous.

What did worry her was the sudden shudder in time, derailing her train of thought. The spinning stopped, and a single tone reverberated through her entire being.

Stolen story; please report.

Toooooooom

It was a sound that had so far only come before she had to enter the round place, but now it had come while she was inside it.

The physical space shifted, becoming bigger, but not evenly. The two archways kept their distance on one side but moved further apart on the other, the space between them stretching. A circle appeared in the wall, then expanded into an archway, and finally became filled with the same blue-silver veil.

There were now three archways, spaced equally. This veil, too, was opaque from where she stood. She stepped closer but was startled when a shape appeared on the other side. A silhouette, standing on two legs, and half her height.

After only the briefest pause it shot out, not towards her but off to the side, so quickly that it appeared as a brown-green streak. It ran on two limbs that moved strangely, less like legs and more like…

But before she could get a good look she realized where it was heading, and started sprinting after it. It was too late, and all she could do was gawk as it glanced back at her before leaping through her veil, into her room.

She hit the veil at full speed and fell back hard on her bum. That damn thing, why had it gone in her room? She jumped back onto her feet and stuck her face to the veil, but could only see through hazzily. It was rummaging about, grumbling and grunting. There was an unpleasant tearing noise, a chaotic series of thumps and crashes, and a final, frustrated yowl.

Then, it was in front of her, just on the other side of the veil. Its eyes were lowered, squinting up at her, nearly hidden beneath reddish, bushy eyebrows. With a growl it bared its teeth, further exposing the two sharp tusks that rose from its lower jaw, framing its leathery cheeks.

With a bark it lunged forward and she jumped back, but it was only feinting, barking and lunging at the veil without crossing through. It just wanted her to back off, and so she did, stepping back until it was suddenly satisfied and stopped barking.

She once again found herself in the middle of the round place. At a loss of what else to do, and feeling like her stomach had dropped into her knees, she sat down.

After a moment, the new creature emerged halfway through her veil. It eyed her with disinterest, then sneered at the tangle of white webs in front of the other archway. It was obvious that it wanted to visit that archway as well, but was blocked by the trap of threads.

At least, now she could get a better look at it.

It turned out that its running pace had been strange because it used solely its arms for locomotion. Its upper body was ridiculously well-developed, its shoulders sinewy and broad, and each adjustment of its posture made muscle fibres ripple in its chest. But most impressive were its forearms, which were clearly one of its strongest traits. She could only wonder at how powerful its grip strength must be and noted to herself not to let it get a hold of her.

But the most curious part was its lower section. She wanted to get a better look, but it was keeping itself partway through the veil, making it hard to make things out.

And yet, even though part of it was hidden, she felt it - she was close to some kind of understanding. She narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing its features.

Leathery skin, mottled green and brown.

Tufts of reddish body hair and a sparse mop on its head.

Low forehead, mandibular tusks, large jaws for bite strength.

Short and stocky build, definitely male, mischievous countenance…

Goblin.

The impressions were not quite right, not fully what a goblin should be, but she had no doubt this was his nature. At his center was a goblin, the building block that was his base. There were things about him that she still didn’t understand, alterations to the central nature of the goblin, but these were out of her reach. Her conclusion solidified when he turned his gaze to her, but the fear in his eyes pulled her away from her self-satisfaction.

“ H o w u n l u c k y , ” came the hoarse whisper, once more from behind her shoulder, “ T o b e g i v e n t h e p r i v i l e d g e o f a c c e l e r a t i o n , o n l y t o w i n d u p w i t h t w o a d v e r s a r i e s t h a t p l a y f o r t i m e . W i l l y o u s i t t h e r e a n d w a i t , o r d o s o m e t h i n g m o r e i n t e r e s t i n g ? ”

She turned slowly to face the spectator, finding it to be within reach. She had no doubt that try as she might, she wouldn’t be able to touch it. Which didn’t mean the desire wasn’t there, to grab it and force it to -

“ H a , I c a n s e e y o u r a n g e r r i s e . H o w i n s p i r i n g ! A r e y o u s o f r a g i l e t h a t m e r e w o r d s h a v e s u c h a n e f f e c t o n y o u ? I ’ l l g i v e y o u a d v i c e - ” it offered, ignoring the girl’s grimace meant to convey how little she cared for its advice , “ K i l l t h e m n o w . T h i n g s w o n ’ t g e t a n y e a s i e r i f y o u w a i t . B u t , t h e n a g a i n, ” it continued, finally taking note of her expression, “ Y o u m i g h t a s w e l l w a i t a n d s e e w h a t h a p p e n s . A f t e r a l l , I a m r a t h e r c u r i o u s t o s e e y o u d i e . ”

She was very proud of her restraint as she kept herself from spitting at it again or throwing sand. Instead, she simply watched it slide back to the tiers, winking its black eye. When it merged into the crowd she turned back to the goblin, hoping to exchange a meaningful glance with him, but instead found him being unwillingly pushed out of her room by a forcefield.

Ah, so it was possible to enter another’s room during a bout, but only for a limited amount of time. This meant that she, too, could perhaps go into the goblin’s room - but when she turned to glance at the new archway, the goblin reacted immediately. Yowling and thumping his fists, he circled his way to his archway, making a show that it was his territory.

At first, she was relieved that the goblin wasn’t in her room anymore, then disconcerted that he was instead in the round place with her and being territorial. But these thoughts were swept away by the new observations she could make of his unobscured body.

The goblin had no legs.

Instead were three short tails, perhaps only a hand’s length each. And clasped between them was a stick, perhaps a club. The tails’ grip on the club varied in position, adapting to a constant string of activity. He thumped its end on the ground heavily, then swung it across his back. He whacked it down flat, then used it to prop up his weight, freeing his hands to scratch his head and make lewd gestures at her.

But the two foremost tails were not like the hind one. They were hairless and articulated oddly, whereas the rearmost one was bushy and moved smoothly.

This was because they weren’t tails. They were its legs, which had shrunk until nearly vestigial, but had instead become adapted to mimic the tail’s function. This three-tail form was clearly meant to help it hold objects, and perhaps even a perch, while the hands were otherwise busy.

This goblin wasn’t adapted for movement over land, and its upper body did more than hint at a preference for climbing. Yes, it would climb up quickly, hold on to something with its tails - a branch. And when something came near, it would latch on, or strike with its club, or perhaps both. It was an ambush opportunist, making use of its small size and strength to quickly neutralize unsuspecting foes.

The spectator had known this, which is why it had said that both the goblin and the thread-trap creature were playing for time. And honestly, she was glad that this was the case, particularly since the thought of having to get up and fight made her empty stomach spasm. Why was that goblin full of energy? Where did he get something to eat?

Then, it struck her. Surely, in his room, the goblin had food. It had to, otherwise, it would be balled up like she was. Now all she needed was a way to get it distracted…

A plan began to form, and an absent-minded smile took shape on her lips.

End of Chapter 6