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[Damian]

Fall 1 512av The sun warmed Damian’s skin as he sat against a tree outside of Alvadas. He had been scared to return to the city and instead decided to stay on the outskirts of town, fearful of what might happen to him if he were to re-enter. The Spring season had passed in a blur as the Djed storm caused great chaos through the land. He didn’t realize it at the time, however he was quite fortunate to have made it through the storm alive and relatively unaffected. He stood and stretched his long body with a bit of a yawn. He could see the city below and shivered at the thought of returning. Though it wasn’t only the city that he feared, no, it was the frozen lake of red adorned by many statues of the dead that were once alive. The site, brought to Damian horrific memories of chaotic slaughter and traumatic anguish. He couldn’t even stand the scent of blood as he passed out almost every time he had caught a prey between his jaws. Damian thought for a moment as his eyes were half lidded but then shot open wide, “didn’t I catch a rat?” Damian looked around at his feet for his kill as his stomach began to growl. He was dumbfounded and fell to his hands and knees. He began to sniff the ground in search of the scent and found it lead away from where he had fainted. He stood back up and pulled on the rough, brown, shorts he had been given. He hated clothing, however it proved to be beneficial in protecting the human body’s more tender areas. “Damn human body and their sensitive skin,” he protested as he began to walk through the brush. He had to pause and stop every few yards or so to crouch and regain the scent trail. “How could something dead walk away?” He wondered to himself as he continued his journey. As Damian was drawn further into the forest, he was blissfully unaware of the spider webs that began to increase in thickness above. The intricate patterns of the web shimmered in the morning light as the dew collected in small orbs. He stopped once more and sniffed the brush that decorated the ground. “Hmm, the scent ends here. How could something just suddenly vanish?” Damian looked puzzled as he began to dig through the leaf and soil on the ground. “This doesn’t make sense, my nose knows!” He continued to clear the brush away from the ground all the while his eyes searched the small shadows. His eyes glowed red as he searched, but they finally settled on a peculiar hole in the ground. He focused his sight within the dark hole and could see a round object glint in the darkness. “Hmm?” Damian hummed to himself as he attempted to pick up his hands from the earth. It met resistant as long strands of spider’s silk seemed to have manifested over them. Damian discovered that his legs had been similarly wrapped as he struggled to stand but was able to break through the web. Curious, Damian looked back down at the hole and noticed a bit of movement. The round orb turned to orbs seemed to move as one below the surface of the forest. He continued to watch as the orbs gave way to a hairy surface that seemed to move quickly behind him. The stench of death wafted through Damian’s sinus and made him cringe in disgust. It was at that moment he looked up at the canopy above. Gossamer, white, nets arched and covered the green leaves and brown branches of trees. From the branches hung numerous, large, pouches of silk bundles. Each one stunk of decayed flesh and varied in sizes and shapes. Some even had deer skulls poked out the side, the flesh and fat still clung to the brown, raw, bone. “Oh, boy.” Damian felt a rumble beneath his feet, “time to run.” He thought to himself before he began to run away from the nest he had wandered into. He had moved several feet before a loud, creak and crack manifested behind him. Damian turned his head to look over his shoulder and found that the forest floor had sprung open like a trap door. Strands of webbing snapped as a large body pulled itself from the cave the door hid. The black and brown tinted spider moved its heavy body from hiding and into the open. Long, heavy legs outstretched and almost met Damian despite his hasty retreat. The large being shook its large body and threw debris around it. The body of the spider now void of leaves and soil revealed thin purple stripes that decorated it. They seemed to glow an unnatural bioluminescent, perhaps an effect of the djed that continued to sit dormant. Damian didn’t bother to think about it as he darted into the forest. He tripped and stumbled on low roots and branches as well as pushed through the web covered body bags that hung from above. Frantically he pushed them aside as he heard the large body behind him push and tear them off the branches. He looked through the trees in search of the city, but all he was able to get was the morning rays of light. The sun shined through cracks and holes of the leaves and branches and seemed to make their own untouchable web of light. Closer and closer the large spider broke branches and saplings in it’s path. Damian felt a sting on his heel as a bit of slime flung from the spider’s fangs and landed on his skin. Though the venom would only be deadly if it were injected into his blood stream, the fluid still burned and reddened the skin it touched. The longer the fluid stayed on the more severe the burn would become unless washed off. The burn made Damian stumble and make a sudden turn toward the light. A few moments after he broke the tree line and was met with blinding sunlight. He shielded his eyes and looked down at his feet. His right foot had blobs of sunburn like spots on it that stung, but what bothered Damian most was where his left foot had landed. His eyes adjusted as he looked at the steep cliff side that he would have fallen off of if he took one more step forward. A step that would of surely made him meet his death. But now as Damian heard the spider behind him and faced the one hundred or so foot drop in front of him, he pondered if an unseen death would have been better than being captured by a spider. Quickly Damian kicked off his pants and chucked them down the side of the cliff. He looked down at the cliff’s face and noticed a ledge, it would be a leap of faith, but it could mean survival. “Here goes nothing.” He muttered as he leaped off the cliff edge. The air around him began to bend and fluctuate like the mirage seen over hot surfaces. The waved light shrouded his human body completely. Soon a black void seemed to manifest within the blurred light. The pool of darkness seemed to extend downward as it landed on the ledge. Damian shook his head as he looked around for his next move. He noted a narrow path that would be quite treacherous to attempt to walk. However, he was motivated as a loud crash came from above. He hugged the cliff side with his body as a thick tree trunk rolled down the face. He then heard a loud screech as the beast seemed to protest the sunlight too. All eight eyes blinded by the light of the morning sun made the beast oblivious to the drop off. Damian watched as the spider made its way to the edge and foreseeing the worst began to slowly inch his way across the narrow ledge. He heard the beast as it lost its footing and began to fall down the side. Its heavy legs tore at the ledge he had occupied and ripped the stone from earth. He felt his ledge begin to cave as well. He leapt again toward another ledge and only successfully to land his forepaws on it. His body swung to the side and over the canopy far below. His claws scraped across the stone as he desperately attempted to keep his grip. Finally his body settled and he was able to grip his hind legs into the stone. He pulled himself onto the ledge and laid down for a moment. His paws throbbed from the roughness of the stone and rock as he caught his breath. After a brief intermission he pulled himself up and began to continue his journey along the cliff face. He stopped only a moment after as the sound of something whistling through the air graced his ear. He wasn’t sure what it was until a long, black, and thick leg plowed into the stone in front of his nose. He yelped and jumped over the spider’s leg and back onto the cliff. As quick as he could he began to move swiftly over the rocky face. The hard thumps of the brawny spider legs made the earth shake and quiver. Loose stone and soil fell from above as Damian frantically made his way to the canopy. The beast right behind him continued to smash the stone at his heels only missing by the hair on a chin. Damian could see his route to the bottom in sight, that is until a large boulder fell from the top of the cliff and smashed a large dent into the stone in front of him. The boulder continued to roll and crashed through the canopy below and revealed to Damian that they were much higher up than just a hundred or so feet. One of the spider’s legs landed on Damian, but only seemed to graze his body. The force of the hit though was immense and shook his body to the core in pain. The spider loomed over him and Damian once again faced a death. Some of the venom from the spider landed on his back and melted the dark fur burning his skin. In a last ditch effort Damian leapt for the canopy, at least a fall to the ground would kill him faster. The jump was from a great height and Damian thought for a moment that he could fly. “Is this why birds fly? Feels like freedom.” He thought to himself before he continued, “this was stupid, I’m either going to die or this will really hurt.” Damian’s thought process proved to be correct.