Blood and Web

-Gray-

“Why are you helping me?” I groaned out as half a dozen spider-people stood over me, their legs doing countless things at once.

Some were expertly removing the pebbles from my wounds.

Some were stitching wounds closed using their silk.

Some were creating bandages out of silk to wrap around wounds and bruises.

And the lead ‘surgeon’ was a beautiful woman with long blood red hair and red eyes, and a lower body that reminded me of a wolf spider. She was intently focusing on my right arm, human arms and spider pedipalps working in tandem to fix my twisted arm.

It was like an art performance, the way everyone moved in perfect sync, never getting in the way of each other.

But the blood red hair everyone had, and especially the way my blood flowed around their fingers, moving like rivers through the air, led me to the conclusion that they were children of the goddess of blood.

“Because you helped us.” The woman working on my arm said. She didn’t have silk like the others, but you wouldn’t think she needed it with how amazing her technique was.

“We’re enemies though…”

“We are children of the goddess of blood, that is true. We understand why she and Lady Scarlet do what they do. But we do not condone the hurting of others. So we were ordered by our goddess to make endless armies of golems instead.”

“So… you weren’t slaves?”

She didn’t immediately answer the question. “We obeyed our goddess at first. She is the patron of all our kind, after all. The founder of our Order. But we still did not approve of this war. Those that did joined the Trifecta, and we were left to create supplies. It wasn’t bad work at first, but lately we have been pushed to the point of collapse.”

“Won’t your goddess disapprove of healing me?” I would have flinched from the feeling of my nerves being reattached somewhere, but I was tied down to a stone table by webs.

“Maybe.” She nodded, but her eyes never left her work. “But even if she said one thing, I believe she would stitch you back together, regardless.”

“Because I helped you?”

“No, because of a belief our Order follows;”

Even in the middle of their work, all the spiders spoke in unison, like a chant.

“Heal with integrity,”

“Respect all in our care,”

“And do no harm.”

“You… you’re… doctors?” In a world where healing magic exists, why would surgery ever be a thing? People don’t need to pay a specialist for help when they can just visit the local church of light.

“Yes…” The leader’s face didn’t change at all from the stoic look towards her work on my arm. “There was a time when our people were welcomed in any community. To help the mother with birth, to heal the bruises of the child, to mend the wounds of the warrior. But that time has ended… Now Her blood is considered the tool of the torturer, the pleasure of the murderer, the food of the vampire. Our beliefs are labeled ‘heretical’ and our people live within these caves, rarely to see the outside.”

“Ngh!” I grunted as I felt the bones in my arm getting reattached to each other. “But your goddess still violates that oath! To participate in leading an army that raids innocent farms? The lives she’s taken… How can she justify that!”

“We don’t know… all the goddess has informed us is that she’s willing to compromise on her oath.”

“So? She and her chosen don’t get involved directly, but she still blesses followers who use that magic to take lives?! Does that sound righteous? I can understand wanting to change the way the world views you, but the end does not justify the means!”

Despite this theological argument, none of them stopped in the middle of repairing my body. Something that only made me respect them more.

“You shouldn’t have to suffer because your goddess is suffering. You’re children of her, aren’t you? You aren’t using her magic here, you’re using your own powers! You have the choice, the option, the power to choose your own path!”

That finally got a reaction out of the lead spider-surgeon. Her face grimaced slightly, even as her eyes stayed on my arm. “It’s not that easy, young one.”

“It is that easy! It’s always been that easy! You are alive, you’re healthy, you’re strong! Not everyone is granted that blessing in life!” My voice was becoming a bit more shrill, my own pain influencing me. “What’s the point in being alive, if you don’t live it to the fullest?! If you want to heal people, then heal people! If your goddess objects to that, then she herself has forgotten her oath!”

“And who would accept us, as vilified as we are?” Her tone sounded like a mix of chiding and perhaps a bit wistful. “Any who we would offer our aid to, would think it a scheme of the Trifecta.”

“Then that’s the goddess’ fault! But there are still people out there who can’t afford to be choosy, people ignored by the Light! So find them, and heal them! Force them down and patch their wounds up if you have to!”

I looked her dead in the eye, having never felt as serious as I did now. “Live your life, because you never know when you’ll lose the chance. If there’s one guiding principle in my life, it’s that.”

One more twitch of the arm, one more jerk of my nerves, and I felt my fingers twitch in my right arm. She was done with patching together the bone, and was now reknitting flesh back together.

“There are many wounded through this war, Lady Crimson.” A younger male spider, currently wrapping up my leg with silk, said. “We can help those on either side.”

“And there’s those outside this war too!” A female spider, stitching up my torso, added.

Sounds of agreement echoed in the room. Enough so that even the lead spider, ‘Crimson’ stopped in her work, her hands deathly still as she turned to her colleagues. “You all feel this way?”

“Yes!” Was the unified response.

“We want to help people!”

“Staying in the caves is boring!”

“I’d rather die helping than live hesitating!”

Many voices cried out at once. It’s clear the younger people have been eager for a chance to get out there and help people.

I wonder how many of the Trifecta’s followers felt the same?

“I see… I suppose I have been cruel in keeping many of you back with me. Perhaps out of fear. There is still good that can be done in the world, without opposing our mother.” Crimson returned her focus on my arm, stitching up the flesh with a flurry of movement, before taking a step back and allowing another spider to begin binding my arm in a cast.

“Wait, wait, wait. Are you all the goddess’ half-blooded children, or do you just call her your ‘mother’ due to her being the patron goddess here?” I asked, half out of curiosity, and half out of trying to distract them from binding my arm.

“To her, we are all her children. Our goddess, unlike many others, gives birth to many children at a time, who each give birth to many children. I myself am of a group of her great grandchildren, with only myself and my sister Scarlet currently surviving.” Crimson seemed a lot less intimidating when she wasn’t focused on surgery. “Now child, lay down and let us finish your care.”

I was struggling against the webs holding me down, but I was definitely not strong enough to break through.

So instead, I created a healing spell in my left hand, which, with my bones back in place, began healing all my wounds with a green glow, something that caught all the spiders off guard.

“Thank you for the help, I do really appreciate it. But I can take it from here.” I flexed my right hand, feeling my arm back to normal, minus the webs still wrapped around my bones. “Uh, do the webs dissolve?” It felt like a strange pressure in my arm. Not painful, but… maybe a little stretchy.

“Y-yes, they do. But not for a week. Pardon, but I did not realize you could heal yourself.” Finally, the bindings were being cut, letting me finally sit up and stretch. Several places on my body were still padded with web, but I’ll leave those for now.

“Yeah, I can, but the bones need setting, and the shrapnel removed, so you really did me a solid.” I adjusted the scarf around my neck, and bounced on my feet to feel how my movement was impacted by the silk.

Not very much, but with how low my magic was right now, I better not get into another fight.

“If it wouldn’t be trouble…” Crimson approached, along with the other spiders, all of whom appeared surprisingly nervous. Even Crimson, who gave the impression of a cool beauty, seemed hesitant to make a request. “Our home has been overtaken by the golems. If you are going to clear them, will you take some of us with you? I’m sure any one of our surgeons will be of some utility on your quest.”

They… really don’t know anything about my quest, huh.

“Well, as much as I’d love to, I need to focus on the source of the golems first. Right now, the war is being fought in the capital of Almastia…” I went silent, thinking for a moment. “But… if you’re offering to help… I think we can work for a better ending for everyone…”

And it starts with betraying the king’s plan.