3

For once, her vocal chords did not fail her; and she screamed for her life, shielding her face and bracing herself for what pain might come before her death. That pain never happened as the mother spider was set ablaze by golden flames. The steed beside Tate stamped at the fallen arachnid, whinnying as it crushed her bones to the ground. Through the crunch of bones and raging flames, she could hear the mother spider cursing her, the earth child, swearing that her children would one day find her. Once again, she felt a chill of terror run through her spine at the idea of being covered in spiders. Cynthia felt Tate take hold of her hand and lead her off to where the ground was once again soft and the light much brighter and warmer.

"I suppose that's enough adventure for the day," he said plainly when they reached the stream where they first met. "I guess there's not much to do now but to return you to your parents." Tate sighed, clearly disappointed in her.

"Wait! But! What about Luce? Where did he go? Did he get eaten?! Oh no! Did I kill Luce? No! No no no no! I'm so stupid! Luce!! Where'd you go!?" It hadn't even been a day with her new friends and she had already killed off one of them. How much worse was her day going to get? Tears welled up in her eyes when she thought of all the lost opportunities.

"Don't worry, Luce is right here. You don't have to cry," he reassured as the steed from before trotted out of the forest. "Luce, stop scaring the poor girl and drop the illusion, already."

The horse whinnied before shrinking smaller and smaller, the brightness of its flames intensifying until there was nothing left but the small glowing orb that was Luce. The sprite flitted around her head, and she could have sworn she noticed him sigh and chatter away in his own tongue again. From the tone of his voice, she could tell he was upset to say the least; a fact that further made her feel horrible for not staying where she was told to.

"I-I- I'm sorry," Cynthia whimpered. "I just wanted to know what it was and everything here is so new and I just wanted to see everything and, I just, I just wanted to take a quick peek and then come right back and I didn't mean to make you angry, I'm sorry please forgive me, don't send me away, we still have that adventure you told me about, right? Why don't we do that? Or we can even play hide-and-seek, I'm very good at hiding and even if Luce does cheat he won't find me because I'm that good. Once I hid from mom and dad because they were yelling at Walter for getting bad grades and they couldn't find me for almost a whole day. I promise I'll be good, I promise, pinkie swear promise, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye promise! With whipped cream and cherries on top too! And nuts and uhm.. uh... Fudge sauce! You seem to be the kind of guy who likes ---"

Tate simply sighed and patted her on the shoulder, shaking his head. "It's getting late, Cynthia, I'm sure your parents are worried about you," he murmured, once again taking her hand. "Come on now, it's time to go home. Maybe we'll play some other time, alright? It's getting dark outside and you need sleep," he reasoned.

"Oh, okay..." she muttered, not really realizing how tired her body really was. Cynthia looked down at her toes, saw how red and swollen they had become from where some of the smaller spiders had bitten her and had to try hard not to shiver at remembering the image of the mother spider shifting and looking at her with such greed in her eyes. "Next time though, I promise I'll be good and I'll follow everything you say. Super special promise!"

Tate smiled and pulled a small twig and some cobwebs from her hair. "Alright, it's a promise then," he murmured. "You ready to go home, then?"

"Uh huh... I guess."

"Alright, follow me now," he said, taking her and leading her across the stream and back to the first enchanted forest with the lady tree spirit. Indeed, it had gotten dark, even in the forest. Everything seemed to lose its glow, and the vibrant colors no longer sparkled as they had during the day. There, between the tall evenly spaced trees, the shadows seemed darker than she could ever remember. The sounds of creaking wood reminded her too much of what had just happened. Every tickling blade of grass beneath her feet was another reminder of her own stupid decisions and the fact that never had she wanted to go home so badly to her own bed where everything was safe and sound more than she did now. As wonderful as Tate's world was, it was too exaggerated, too fantastical and too terrifying to be there alone. She learned this the hard way and only wanted to go back where everything was normal.

Tate took her across the forest of tree spirits and back onto the path her father had chosen for their family bonding time. Tate was right. It had gotten dark outside of his world. The overcast drizzle from before had turned itself into full on rain with fat, warm raindrops quickly soaking her to the bone and washing away the worries of that other, surreal world that lay off the beaten trail paths at Carvins Cove. In the distance, she could hear people call her name and see tiny pinpricks of light from those searching for her.

"This is where I'll leave you," Tate murmured, letting go of her hand and retreating back to where he belonged.

"Wait!" she called out before he went off too far. "When will I get to see you again? You promised we would play again..."

"I don't know, I have to go somewhere very far away." Tate smiled slightly when he saw how upset that made her. "Don't cry, now, okay? Here... Take Luce with you," he offered, holding his hand up to the orb of light.

Luce let out a sound as if he was deflating and the glow from the center became more and more concentrated as he surrounded himself with the very crystals he was made of. With a final little squeak, he dropped firmly into Tate's palm. He reached out and handed the stone to Cynthia who was still wide eyed and confused as to what had just happened. The once glowing sprite had shrunk from the size of her hand to no bigger than her thumb. "Take him with you. I'm sure he'll be able to guide you better than he did me," Tate said.

"He's not... dead is he?" she asked, holding the stone up to see if there was any way to see the little sprite within. With the rain and the clouds, that was out of the question, though if she squinted and thought hard enough, she was sure she could still see a faint glow, right at the very center of it.

"No, he's just sleeping for now. If I'm ever nearby again, I'm sure he'll wake up and take you straight to me. Pinkie promise," he said with a small wink. "Now go on. People are looking for you," he urged, shooing her towards the lights calling out her name.

"Okay, we'll play again when you come back!" she called after him as he left on his own grand journey. And when we do, we'll trade stories of all the great adventures we've had. And maybe then, you'll finally take me on that one you promised me today. By then I'll know exactly what it means to stay put! Just you wait and see!

"Cynthia! Hey! Idiot! What did you think you were doing, running off on your own like that?! Mom and dad are worried sick!" Walter yelled when he found her standing in the middle of the trail, staring up at the rainy sky, wondering when the next time she would see her forest prince again. The little orb of crystals poking in her palm reminded her that it all wasn't a dream. There really was a prince with his spirit companion here. The cove wasn't haunted, it housed an enchanted forest filled with magic, tree spirits and a forest prince who came to her rescue when the mother of spiders wanted her for dinner.

"Walter! Walter! Oh my gosh, you won't believe what happened! I followed this light and then ---"
"Save it for later, mom and dad are going to be furious! Do you even know what time it is?! You still have school tomorrow. Augh, come on. We're going home!"

"Oh... Okay..." Clearly, her story would have to wait for another day.

The car ride home was tense, to say the least. Her mother cried in relief while her father only stared blankly. He was relieved, but at the same time, she could feel an anger coming from him. During the whole way back, as their wet clothes soaked into the upholstery of the car seats, Cynthia clutched the little ball in her hand until it hurt. At least the pain was enough to reassure her that there was at least one friend that knew what had happened was with her.

"Both of you take a shower and get to bed. You still have school tomorrow," were the first words out of their father's mouth when they arrived home. Neither she nor Walter questioned him and hurried to their rooms to change into warmer clothes than the rain soaked ones they were wearing.

When she was in the confines of her room, she finally dared to open her palm to take a close look at the sphere of crystals which Tate had left with her. It was his important friend he had entrusted her with, and she was going to take care of him to the best of her ability. Gingerly, she placed the sphere on her dresser and rummaged around for her pajamas only to stop midway and stare at it again.

"Well... Tate said you were sleeping... but I don't know...." she mumbled, looking at what Luce had become and trying to make out if the sprite was truly asleep or not. "Hmm... just to be safe," she muttered, throwing a couple of tissues over it. "No peeking!" she warned before she turned away to finally change into some dry clothes.

The rest of the evening passed without anyone mentioning what had happened, save for when Cynthia showed her mother the bite marks on her toes. With a shriek of horror, her mother had gone to get the first aid kit. By the time she finished nursing the bites, her mother had bandaged her toes to the point where it was hard to balance herself and make it to her room; and Cynthia swore that she would never get the smell of ointment and Vaseline out of her nose ever again.

She sighed after that whole ordeal was over and was finally able to rest in her own room. She hadn't even realized how tired she was until she fell down on her bed and felt the soreness in all her muscles. "Let's get along well, Luce..." she mumbled, barely having the energy to turn off the light beside her bed. "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll introduce you to all of my friends at school, okay? And we'll all be friends, together..." she mumbled, drifting off to sleep, not bothering with blankets or finding her pillow to rest her head on properly.

~~~

It was time to meet him again, or at least, so she thought. It took forever to track him down, but through sheer force of will, she found a way back to that enchanted forest and its twisted, exaggerated citizens. It had been three years since they last saw each other on the other side of the stream. He hadn't aged a day. He still looked inhumanly beautiful. Light brown hair framed those green eyes which spoke of ages upon ages of tales to be told. He wore a simple pair of jeans and a dark green t-shirt. His feet were bare but she could see a pink tinge at his toes as if they had been nibbled or bitten by something. Tate stood on the other side of the water, smiling, holding his hand out for Luce. "It's been a long time, Cynthia. It's time to return to me what is rightfully mine. Can I have Luce back now?"

She knew she had brought it along with her. Luce never left her side. She made sure to take the sprite with her at all times just in case. Yet, the crystal ball was no where to be found. Somewhere along the line, she had lost it. "I know I had it... just hold on a second, okay?" she muttered, pawing at the grass around her in hopes that it had dropped nearby. Every blade of grass she passed by while trying to find the stone withered and died soon after. In fact, the very ground around her ceased to be green at all. Nothing lived around her anymore. It had become a dead ring of stones with a single split log bridge heading out towards what was green and alive.

She could hear his disappointed sigh without even seeing his face. She hadn't listened to him again. She'd never be able to go on that journey he had said they would go on. "I told you to keep him safe. How come you won't listen to me?" he asked, crossing his arms across his chest. He had somehow changed into the royal clothes of the forest prince. Luce stood beside him, not as the glowing, giggling sprite that she had befriended, but the great steed bathed in golden flames. He snorted slightly and neighed, stomping at the ground slightly. "Easy there, boy, easy. She means no harm, yet," Tate reassured.

"Yet? Yet? I've never meant you any harm! You were the one who wanted a friend! You wanted to play! You were the one who brought me here in the first place!" She lurched forward, crossing the bridge at the edge of the circle, but something stopped her. Her hands had grown dark, hard and shiny. She felt her face shifting as well, and the colors of the world faded to nothing but a kaleidoscope of grays. She could feel her arms and legs splitting and her body shifting into a form unknown to her. Her jaw seemed to dislocate itself and reform into two large fangs, dripping with venom. She had become the thing she feared the most about that day. She had become the mother spider herself.

There was something off though. She could feel it. She should be stouter, heavier than what she felt. There was a lack of bristles and a lack of overall weight about this form. The first mother spider had been more wolf-like, more of a hunter than a seductress. Here, in this glistening black and red body, Cynthia felt as if all the poison in the world couldn't compare to what she had within her. There was an air of superiority which overcame her and filled her with a sense of satisfaction as she watched things die before her. She felt sleek and filled with a sense of malice that shouldn't have been there. That feeling was instantly dashed when she looked up and saw the disappointment in Tate's expression. "Wait! I can explain myself!" she called, forcing her limbs to walk over the circle and approaching him. "Wait, please! Don't leave me!"

"Why couldn't you listen? It didn't have to come to this, you know," Tate murmured sadly, raising his sword and pointing it straight at her. "All you had to do was listen to me and this would have never happened." Before she knew it, she was enrobed in flames and the great flaming hooves of Luce came down upon her, ready to pummel her bones into dust. She let out a great shriek before she realized how grave her mistake had been, knowing that the worst pain was to come....

~~~

Only it never did as she woke up from the horrid nightmare. Her body tingled as she remembered everything in the dream. It felt too real to be just a dream. If she hadn't known better, she could have sworn her skin had darkened enough to be the black, shiny exoskeleton of what she had become in her dream.

"Everything alright dear? You were tossing and turning and shouting." Her mother stood at the doorway, peering in while her father loomed behind her. Cynthia took a moment to sit up and clear her head, groaning at how sore her muscles felt. "I'm fine mom. I just had a bad dream."

"Did you want some water?" her father offered, holding out a glass already half filled.

"No, I'll be okay," she mumbled getting out of the bed to untuck her blanket. "I just fell asleep funny."

"Alright then," her mother murmured before closing the door behind her to leave Cynthia in peace.

As soon as the door closed itself, Cynthia hobbled over to where she had placed Luce and quickly tossed away the tissues she had covered him with. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw the globe of crystals was still there. Picking it up softly, she carried it to bed with her. "I'm going to take the best care of you," she muttered, settling in between the blankets. She tucked her arm under her pillow and gently cradled the ball in her palm. "That way, he'll never be disappointed in me again."

For the rest of the night, Cynthia fell into a dreamless sleep until her alarm woke her up the next day.