Infamous Reign: A Hellequin Novella (The Hellequin Chronicles) by Steve McHugh

Author:Steve McHugh [McHugh, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, Horror, Dark Fantasy, Occult, Two Hours or More (65-100 Pages), Science Fiction & Fantasy
Amazon: B00H6SZ06I
Publisher: Hidden Realms Publishing
Published: 2013-12-07T11:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

I'd expected to find Thomas in the middle of a huge fight for his life, fending off at least the other daughter, who must also be a jorōgumo. Instead I entered the tavern and found him leaning up against the counter, a mug of ale in one hand and what appeared to be a chicken leg in the other.

Blood had been splattered all around the room, and many of the soldiers that Thomas had subdued earlier in the night appeared to have died in the time I'd been fighting in the woods.

"What happened?" I asked, eyeing the man tied to a chair with thick rope, a potato sack over his head, his clothing giving away that it was the tavern-owner.

"The soldiers woke up just as that lovely girl became a spider-monster."

"Jorōgumo," I said.

"That's the thing. Fortunately, she came down with a nasty case of decapitation before she could bite me. Several of the soldiers decided to attack me too. A few survivors ran away. I guess we could hunt them down."

"I don't think that'll be necessary," I said and noticed the bare feet of the waitress sticking out from behind the counter. I moved aside slightly and discovered her head was several feet away. "I was hoping to get some answers."

"Ah, well I left this one alive," Thomas said and pulled the sack off the head of the tavern-owner, where he was tied to the chair.

His face was similar to the female jorōgumo I'd faced earlier. The mandibles clicked against one another angrily. "Release me, at once," he said, his voice coarse and deep.

"You're not as strong as your wife, are you? She would have broken free by now. Which leaves the question of why don’t you change back to human?"

His eyes darted to the door. "Is she alive? Please tell me you killed her. I’m not changing back if there’s a chance she’s still out there. I’m stronger like this."

"Male spiders are smaller than the female," I said. "I guess that carries over to your species. Although, don't some females eat the male after sex?"

"Really?" Thomas asked. "Wow, even I think that's disgusting. And I just tore someone's head off."

"We only mate when she's already feeding," the man said. "It's the only safe way to be sure she won't attack me."

"I bumped into the rest of your offspring in the forest,” I told him. “There were a lot of them. If you produce so many children, why do you only have two grown daughters?”

"Only the most powerful will grow enough to become able to change shape." He glanced at the door again. "Are all of them dead?"

I nodded.

Instead of looking angry, or even upset, he appeared relieved and after a second, changed back into his human form, the skin on his face healing over instantly. "My days were numbered the second those babies were born. In the past, I'd managed to avoid the younglings until they'd matured enough not to consider me a threat, but I couldn't do it forever.

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