A horde of dressed-up females hustle past Meri. Their dresses resembled a seagull's feathers, fluttering mindlessly in the wind. As feminine as they may seem, they still had shoved Meri out of the way.
She brushes off the shoving, calling them rude names under her breath. It was painfully clear that ladies were excited to see the king. Rumor has it, he is quite the looker. Still, too Meri she could care less about looks. Growing up with a father who had green scales covering half of his body, made her more into personality.
It didn't take long for Meri to accidentally stumble in the heart of the city. She finds herself surrounded by the common folk. Each of them shouting at her to buy herds, medication, fish, and even some expensive jewelry. The jewelry was tempting, but she had promised her father to return home as quick as possible.
The smell of the city was very earthy. Smelt like fresh hay crossed with horse fertilizer. It wasn't like she had imagined, still she tried not to let it bother her. For sure the people didn't mind, by now they probably didn't even recognize the scent.
Everything was so.. so new. She tries shaking her head, but she was scared her hoodie would fall. Instead of exploring her surroundings, Meri hurries up to the castle. The place where the King's speech would be held.
To her utter surprise, a large crowd hovered over the main entrance to the castle. Everyone was eager to start celebrating. Some men had their faces painted red, foolishly claiming it was the blood of the Spider-Kin. That was a flat out lie. Everyone knew that the species had gone extinct a long time ago. Some of the women gossiped about the king, wondering if he was married yet.
Meri couldn't help but roll her eyes. These people had the king's life centered in their own daily lives. Did they not realized that the king dines on a gold platter, while they struggled to drink river water in their hands?
Ugh. Who can idolize something like a king?
Meri couldn't help but gross herself out with her own thoughts.
The sound of roaring drums destroy all the side chattering. A line of obedient soldiers slowly spill out the main doors of the castle. Glossy armor hung onto their bodies, causing their shoulder to slightly slouch. The metal looked uncomfortably heavy. Each one of them walked in synchronization. It was almost scary.
They looked like a bunch of ducklings following their momma.
"Silence! The king is ready for his speech!" A man in royal clothes, stands on stage.
Behind him, the king stands pridefully. His eyes float around the gathering of people. His face showed no expression. Meri swears she saw a hint of disgust in his eyes, but maybe she was just imagining it.
He was holding something in his right hand. At first, Meri blinked, unsure what she was seeing. Perhaps her mind tried to protect her, by causing her vision to be blurry for a moment. Unfortunately, nothing could keep her from seeing this.
He raises his arm, proudly showing off a freshly cut head of a monster. It's eyes and teeth was an obvious sign that he was spider-kin.
The crowd cheers in pure victory, but Meri holds her mouth. She felt like throwing up. A horrible feeling was in the pits of her stomach, and it made everything uncomfortable. This was the first she had ever seen her own kind.
She couldn't help but be grateful that she was born female. Nothing about her resembled a spider. The only thing that could get her in trouble, was her white hair. Luckily, that was easy to hide.
Still holding the head in the air, he speaks "Today is a day of celebration! No more will we have to hide in our homes! No more will we have our sons and daughters murdered! No more of death and tragedy!!! Today we celebrate the extinction of these monsters!!"
The crowd goes wild, as the king continues his awful speech.
"We have to thank our hunters for this victory!"
He steps aside, two men walk up by his side. One of them looked rugged. His beard looked looked unkept and filthy. Nothing about him looked friendly. Frankly, he looked more like a monster. The other one was much younger. His face had a clean shave, exposing his sharp jawline.
Meri couldn't stare at their appearance for too long, the king had stepped up and started speaking again.
"Please show these men extreme kindness. They have saved us all!"
Everyone starts clapping, praising them for their heroic deeds. Meri would argue that they were murderers, but she kept quiet.
The hunters open their mouths, ready to give their own speech, but screams to the left of the crowd break out. Almost like a wave, people start running past Meri. The sound of hundreds of feet rushing past her, made her ears ring in pain.
"Spider-Kin! It's a ambush!" A middle age women screeches, grabbing her child.
In the heat of the confusion she is knocked over. Her head smacks against the hard ground. Pain enlightens across her skull. Meri's hoodie is flung off her head and onto the gravel with her. The people were too busy running for their lives to notice her hair.
"STOP!" A rough voice booms across the crowd, stopping everyone in their tracks.
Meri had to collect herself before acting civilized. Everyone was staring above her, trembling in fear. At first, she had no idea what was going on, until she got back on her feet..
Her eyes widen with disbelief. A man stood beside the king. His massive chest was bare, and his torso twisted into a black abdomen of a spider. She was so occupied by his torso, that she almost missed he had four muscular arms. He made the king look like a child. The creature's long black hair blithesome with the wind, while his legs stood firmly on the ground. Even from afar, his piercing red eyes could still be seen. They were engulfed with dangerous fury.
He wasn't the only one.
A slightly younger spider-kin, stood in the middle of the crowd. He was snarling at the people, keeping them from running. His hair was much shorter, but his abdomen had the same color as the other creature. In some way, they looked similar. Instead of a pair of red eyes, they were a frigid blue. His skin tone was a light purple, while the older one had a much darker purple. Plus, he only had two arms.
It was so quiet, Meri could hear the heavy breathing of the people close to her.
Oh shit.. oh shit!! This isn't happening! This CANNOT BE HAPPENING!
Lost in her thoughts, she grabs the side of her face. Almost immediately, Meri drops onto the ground, desperately trying to put her hoodie back on.
"Your king is a fraud." The creature starts speaking, but Meri was deep in a panic attack to pay attention.
She crawls past people, mumbling to herself. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Usually, Meri would never curse, but today she had every right.
"Targeting our females." The creature growls, "Too coward to face the real threat!"
Everything he was saying was flying past Meri's ears. She was busy trying to tuck her hair back into her hoodie, but because she was panicking it wasn't working. Strands of white hair slipped past her shaking fingers. In her rush of adrenaline, she hadn't realized the warm blood rushing from her head. Meri's embarrassing fall had left a small cut in her forehead.
"I would kill your queen, but since your not married." His sinister smirk is seen across the crowd, "Your life will do just fine."
With one hand, he picks up the king by the throat. He wheezes in fear and lack of oxygen. His pitiful sounds only made the creature's smile grow.
The younger creature's eyes widen in surprise. He sniffs the air, losing interest in revenge. Almost like a dog, he points his nose in the air. His lungs expands as immerses himself in a strange, but arousing scent. He starts walking around. His legs thump against the ground, making him even more intimidating.
"Brother?" He whispers, but it was enough for the older creature to hear. "Do you smell that?"
His eyes dart towards the crowd, trying to pinpoint the smell. It wasn't long for the younger creature to start pushing past people, getting closer to Meri.
I have to get out of here.
She wanted to move, but watching a massive monster inch towards to her, kept her frozen in place. Her body violently trembles.
"What is that smell?" The older creature drops the king. He had his full interest on this odd situation.
Even faster than before, Meri tries tucking her hair back in the hoodie. Her blood made everything ten times worst. It smeared against her hands, making her fingers slippery. It was almost like faith wanted her to be seen.
It goes quiet, but she hasn't noticed. She was too busy whimpering at her stubborn hair. God how she wished this wasn't happening. It takes awhile, but she was able to hid her white locks.
Meri tries to steady her breathing. It was okay now.. Her hair is hidden. They won't be able to tell who she was.
Stop shaking!
She looks up, expecting to see the king on the floor.
The younger male was staring right at her. His eyes punctured her sense of safety. At some point, he had found her. He watched her struggle to push up her hoodie, but he was too shocked to say anything.
Meri stares at him...
H-He saw me..
"Brother!" The older male shouts, getting annoyed "What are you staring at?"
He opens his mouth, trying to find the right words.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you.." He kept staring at Meri. His blue eyes filled to the brim with excitement.
"Stop goofing around!" He growls.
He inches forward to Meri, unsure if she would try to run away. He wanted to be closer to her. Natural instincts told him to grab her and NEVER let go. It was like cornering a rabbit..
"A female.."