Chapter 24: Spider's Nest

Givontair: 

I have to walk slower, since my foot hurt. Now, I am truly grateful I bought the sturdy leather boots back when I was in Gazd.

 The people of that town are expert leather craftsmen. I should take Nate there, after we get Erik's mother, and make him a gift. He would look great in a jacket made from doe skin. 

The forest begins to grow ever ticker, and we see the first spider's webs that mark the beginning of the Spider's Nest. Nathaniel takes off his sword, as I grip my dagger.

 Maybe the slavers dealt with the spiders. Still, that both gladdens me, and unnerves me. For, if the slavers have someone strong enough to deal with the giant spiders, then we will be in trouble. 

We hear a noise from above, and both of us stare up. There is a giant spider on a web, which stretches between two trees. 

"If we don't attack it, it won't attack us," I tell Nathaniel. More to calm myself, than to assure him. Chances are, that this spider is hungry, and won't care much about us attacking it, or no. 

We keep on walking; the spider doesn't try to attack us. The further in we go, the more spiders there are. Finally, we reach a place in the forest, where there was a fire recently. I look at the ash covered ground, and at the blackened trees. Black spider web silk hangs by a couple of threats on the ground. I point in the direction of the destruction. 

"They must have fought in here," I say, and Nathaniel nods. We pick up our pace. Soon, we reach a ravine, that doesn't look as if it has an end. I take a stone from the ground, and throw it inside. No sound echoes back towards me. 

"Can you check if there are corpses down there?" I ask. Nathaniel nods, and lets his mana flood the air. No matter how many times I have felt his mana before, it still sends shivers down my spine. The two of us are mates, so I know he will never attack me. Still, necromantic mana is never pleasant. Even when it is not lashing out at you. Nathaniel's face turns grim. 

"There are thirty people down there. They haven't been dead for all that long," he closes his eyes, and places his hands in a prayer. I mirror him. When a minute has passed, I shift into my dragon form. Nathaniel takes only a slight bump by my paw, for him to get the memo, and climb on top of my back. 

I make the descent without much noise. Maybe, for a human, this would have been a suicide mission. But not for me. I am used to climbing, both down and up. Sometimes, when scorpion bolts fly at you, you can't afford to fly.

 We reach the bottom, and I breathe fire, to light our surroundings. I keep the fire going, and take the measure of the dead. 

"I can see that there are mostly men," Nathaniel says, from my back. "But I should still check." 

He climbs down from my back, and then begins to shift through the corpses. I turn into my human form, to help him. With the light of two torches, we search for a woman in the pile. Just as I am about to relax, my foot stumbles on something. There is a big raven-haired mane. With a heavy heart, I turn the woman around. 

She is like a song. A tragic one. There are two long gashes on her face. Ones that mar it. I roll up her sleeve, only to see the slave tattoo on it. I close my eyes. Just how am I going to tell Erik that his mother is dead? 

You are reading story The Dread Scrolls at novel35.com

Nathaniel comes to stand next to me. He peers into the face of the woman. 

"She looks like him," he whispers. I reach out to him, and take a hold of his hand. 

"We can't lie to him," I say. He nods, the faint light of the torches playing with his features. Yet, no matter how merry the flames are, they still can't soften his face from the look of sorrow he is directing at the woman. 

"We have to take the corpses with us. They deserve more, than to be left here for the spiders to find," Nathaniel says. I pull out a bottomless bag, and we get to work. By the time we make it out of the ravine, I feel tired. Something tells me that it doesn't have anything to do with the climb. 

How am I going to tell Erik his mother is dead? What will become of the boy? I don't want to abandon him. 

"How do you feel about taking in Erik?" I ask Nathaniel, as I shift back into my human form. 

"I have nothing against it," Nate says. I wonder if he realizes that this means that our relationship will be tested. Taking care of a child is no easy task. 

"What is important now, is to make sure he doesn't grow bitter," Nathaniel says. I wonder if we will be up to the task. I have seen more than one dragon turn mad, when their parents have perished. What if Erik begins to stir trouble? 

"That is easier said than done," I lean into my mate's personal space, trying to take off the weight from my injured foot. 

"It must have been torture for you, to do the climbs," Nathaniel says. Then, he scoops me up, and begins to walk. 

"I can still walk," I protest. The light of the full moon is giving Nathaniel a soft glow. Currently, he looks like a dashing prince. My inner dragon is confused.

Why don't I want a princess, but fawn over a prince? I chuckle at the beast's confusion. No matter how many times I try to explain to the other half of my soul that I am not attracted to women, it still prinns when a pretty lady walks by me. 

I ignore the mutterings of my inner dragon that princes are enemies, who are only there to steal away the princesses that make our hoard complete.

I can be a dragon who has a prince in his hoard. I wonder, if Nathaniel is going to be amused, at me thinking him a noble and just knight in shining armor. I just hope that the two of us can be good parents for Erik.  

You can find story with these keywords: The Dread Scrolls, Read The Dread Scrolls, The Dread Scrolls novel, The Dread Scrolls book, The Dread Scrolls story, The Dread Scrolls full, The Dread Scrolls Latest Chapter