The skull spiders
•Arius
Sephra mountain was a few kilometers away from Lorelai, I took my bike till the start of the mountain forest and parked it by the wire fence.
There was a warning sign on the fence stating;
'Warning: The place is filled with reptiles and wild animals and it's easy to get lost.'
No doubt the warning was right. Sephra mountain was huge and the forest was thick, thick enough that it blocked off a lot of light. The trees were tall, their competition for sunlight was tough.
The surface was rocky and uneven, on top of that you could hear the rustling of the bushes and trees everytime something passed by.
With the hope that I was going in the right direction I kept on moving.
I should have brought some water with me because it was really humid here and constantly climbing the mountain was tiring.
I'm not an unfit person, rather I'm in perfect health and still I'm tired and getting paranoid of this place.
All I know is that to reach the skull spiders one has to reach a certain wooden wall or shrine.
Their living base can't be found out that easily and honestly considering how strange this mountain is I don't think anyone would come across it.
After about three hours of climbing and searching when I was getting anxious, I came across a shrine.
It was nothing more than two large pillars in a clearing with a roof and talisman attached to it but at least it was something.
I walked and stood directly under it, after taking a look around I sat down on my knees, placed my hands on my thighs and closed my eyes.
"I'm Arius Alucard, here to meet the skull spider's head." I paused, "I sent a letter before hand. I just came here to talk."
I kept my eyes closed and stayed still until the point I heard some movement and finally felt a presence directly behind me.
I opened my eyes and stood up.
"Arius Alucard." Someone called out to me.
I turned and looked at the man in black tight clothing, "Yes." I answered.
"Follow me. The master awaits you."
I nodded and started following him.
It took a few minutes of walking in strange patterns but soon enough we arrived at a temple. It was in the middle of a large clearing, and got a decent amount of light. One would think it was the top but it wasn't, clearly their residence was well hidden.
Although I knew their whole clan was there, I barely felt their presence. If I wasn't trained and was an ordinary person I would have never been able to tell.
I was taken to a room where a middle aged man sat on his knees, a few centimeters apart with his hands on his knees. There was a table directly in front of him.
He turned his face towards me and gestured me to sit on the other side of the table.
I did as I was told and sat in the same position as him.
"You made a wise decision of coming here alone." He stated.
"Thank you." I bowed slightly.
"If you had sent a representative or had brought a comrade, it would have been the end for you and them." I know. That's why I made sure all of my companions remained asleep, even Caesar.
"I'm well aware. This is why I came alone. I had to have this discussion with you." Coming here as the head meant I offer them the proper respect.
"Tea?" He asked.
"No sir, I'm fine. I'm here to-"
"I know why you're here boy." He cut my words as he raised his hand, "Tea?"
"..." I nodded, "Yes please."
He gave me a smile, "You killed three of my men."
"They were there to kill me and my men." I tried my best to keep my emotions in check and talk in a proper tone, "They killed the person dearest to me on wrong grounds."
"Was it not you who asked for the first one?"
"No." I denied it firmly, "Why would I hire an assassin to kill my own slaves? I'm far more capable of doing it myself."
He narrowed his eyes but didn't seem the least bit suspicious.
"Then who was it?"
"The letter was sent under my name and surely the seal was mine but it was stolen and used. I already have the traitor in my custody."
"Is that so?" He seemed unamused.
"Are you not convinced?"
"Words alone are never enough but it does make sense, why would you hire an assassin just to kill him?"
I was glad that he understood.
"I hope the misunderstanding does not go any further than this."
"I never planned to attack you boy." He knew what I was here for, "Rest assured. The fault lies in the men I trained. They were not trained for revenge plus the first one took the job without my knowledge."
"You did not allow him?"
"He took the job without my knowledge." He closed his eyes when he paused then opened them again to continue, "The three you killed, they deserved it." There was no remorse on his face and I was sure he didn't feel anything either.
"Why do you think they deserved it? Because they acted out of order?"
"Yes. Those three." His eyes travelled back to some distant memories, "I picked them up as teenage children. They had run away from the slums and somehow managed to find this temple."
"I thought the skull spiders took in toddlers only."
He lowered his eyes in shame, "It was a mistake. Perhaps a few moments of softness." His expressions were hard to read, they remained monotonous, "Perhaps that is why they went against the rules and in the end, when you disrupt order you meet your end."
…
It made a lot of sense. The thing just didn't sit in my mind about how the skull spiders would just give an assassin that easily. They were not there for a simple hire but now the mystery was solved and I knew that never again were they going to make a mistake of taking in children older than seven. That was their law after all.
"So who was it that hired him?"
"Ryan Black."
"Hmm." He just gave me a simple nod.
The sliding door opened and a man, exceptionally beautiful, with pale white skin, white hair and delicate features entered the room. He wore the shrine attire and had blue eyes with thin lips. If I didn't know better I would have thought that he was a woman.
He came in with a cup of tea and placed it in front of me, then quietly left.
I picked up the cup and brought it to my lips when the Master spoke.
"Before you drink," I stopped, "I have an offer."
I placed the cup back on the table.
"Yes?" I asked.
"The tea you're going to drink has a special drug in it." I listened without making any expressions, "Since it was three of my kids who caused you harm I will make this offer." I guessed that he called all the men under him his kids, maybe because the master is the one who raises and trains them, "If you drink this and survive the skull spiders will be at your call three times throughout your generation."
"In simpler terms, if I drink this and at some part need your help, you will send your men?" He nodded, "And throughout my generation means that if I only get to use it once or none at all, the offer passes to my next generation?"
"Only to your blood." The offer no doubt tempting, it didn't end with me. If I use it once in my time, the next generation will still have two calls left.
That was a different matter that the next generation might not even be there.
"What are the chances of survival?" I asked.
"Zero." His answer made me frown but I composed myself immediately.
"Zero? And you expect me to survive?"
"Oh yes child. I do. Your body is poison trained so you should be able to endure it until you reach your castle." I saw the smirk appear on his face, "Hopefully."
"If I do survive until I reach the castle, then what?"
"Someone will be there with the antidote." He smirked again, "And he will stay there to confirm whether you lived or died." I looked at the tea in front of me, light steam was puffing out of it, "Your call boy."
I placed my hand on the cup, "Add another thing in." I looked at him, "None of the assassins will ever try to kill or harm the Alucard members and men."
He smiled, "You have my word."
I picked up the cup. 'For my clan' I mentally cheered and drank it whole in one go. Then placed the cup down quietly.
"I shall take my leave." I stood up and the master nodded.
"I hope to see you again boy." He closed his eyes to meditate, "If possible."
-- Gift
received