As if answering the happy young girl near her, the spider leaned down her gigantic head and gently rubbed Meryda's arm, making her laugh. "Hahaha! You even have hair on your head, and it tickles so much! What are you guys doing in this forest? Are you a couple?"
The other spider walked slowly around the still scared group and joined Meryda and the other spider, and while clacking the pincers, the spider nodded her enormous head a few times, then pointed with one pointy claw to Pof Grinun's sword, then to a scar she had on her left side, and then pointed to the deep forest around them.
Meryda tilted her head while caressing one leg of both spiders and asked, "You mean someone attacked you, and you hid in this forest? Is that it? And you have been living in this forest ever since?"
The green Fae approached Meryda and said while tapping the head of one spider, "We believe they were living somewhere else, but they had to escape from where they used to live because a group or an army attacked them. They have a few minor scars and burns, so someone probably attacked them with spears, arrows, and Magic. That is strange because people usually collect the webs they leave behind or the webs from where spiders make their nests. After all, spider webs are useful for making strong fabrics to be used underneath armour or to make ropes. Attacking and trying to kill a spider is normally a last resort because they are more valuable alive. Perhaps a Noble or a merchant wanted to arrest them and use them as web providers? Some rich people like to do that. Instead of buying a web on the market, it is more profitable to have a spider in a cell, making webs. It is sad because spiders that are captured live the rest of their lives in a dark cell, being fed, and only making webs as a distraction."
"But… Why kill a spider instead of only capturing it? You said sometimes people try to kill them."
"That is because the tips of a spider's leg and their pincers can be used to make weapons. Arrow tips, daggers, or spear tips, for instance. There are sometimes Quests in Guilds asking for spider materials such as these."
Tetil Stog, the usual cheerful Demi-Lamia girl, said with her face completely pale, "Meryda… Those are Gigantic Spiders… They are deadly, and people are their usual food source. They also eat any animal or bird they can catch, which is why your Bone Boars are so apprehensive. I know they often fight for territory, and like spiders kill and eat Bone Boars, sometimes Bone Boars also eat Gigantic Spiders. And be careful with their pincers, will you? They have poison there."
Meryda called the two boars to join her and the spiders, and with a faint glow around her, she told them, "I don't want to see any fighting among any of you, okay? I suppose since they don't have anywhere else to live, and before an Adventurer finds out they are hiding here and tries to kill them, it is better if they go with us to my farm. What do you guys think? I hope they can help us on the farm, like defending the farm against Monsters that try to kill the little Bone Boars we now have there."
While the two Bone Boars were looking at the spiders, deciding what to do, Meryda faced the curious big spiders and warned them, "As for you two, if you want to go with me and live on my farm, you must promise me you won't attack any Bone Boar, including their offspring, or the Fur Cows that we have there. You can't also attack my horse, the chickens, or the pigs. There is a big forest at the back of my farm, so you can hunt there for animals or Monsters."
As if it were answering, one spider made a small ball of web and gave it to Meryda while clacking its pincers. The smiling Fae said while pointing at the ball of web that Meryda was holding, "They seem to be saying they can pay you with this for their stay. Gigantic Spiders, unlike what most people think, are extremely intelligent Monsters. A bit smarter than Bone Boars, actually."
With a big smile, Meryda hugged the enormous heads of each spider, and from behind her, Pof Grinun asked, "Meryda… You want these guys to go with us now? Spiders are…"
Meryda looked back and saw the young Demi-Dog trembling and asked with a grin, "What? You are afraid of a tiny spider?"
"Tiny spider? Are you delusional? They are bigger than a carriage! They are as big as a Bone Boar, and they are stronger! With their strength, they can easily take down a house, and with their speed, they can kill a platoon of soldiers or a very experienced Party of Adventurers! Magic can kill them, but their outside skeleton can reflect most Magic! Only a very powerful Mage can throw enough Magic attacks to kill one spider! Only one of them has enough poison in the pincers to kill everyone in our City! And you have two there!"
With a big smile, Meryda climbed over a spider and sat right behind her head, with her back leaning on the spider's round body, and said while the smiling green Fae was climbing to the other spider, "Really? That is awesome! They will be outstanding guards to have on my farm! Let's continue our hunt, guys! We were supposed to be after Beekers and Grolagians, right?"
Pof Grinun sighed and said while going after one Bone Boar, "Let's go, or we will be still here by nightfall. But if one of those spiders gives me any weird looks, I am out of here!"
They continued along the forest path on their right, exiting the clearing and going deeper into the forest, with the spiders walking slowly to make the least noise possible and crouching on the ground when a tree branch was lower so that neither Meryda nor the Fae were hit by those branches.
Sometime later, one spider clacked the pincers and went to the left, using a path with crushed bushes and trees. Meryda looked in front, trying to figure out why the spiders wanted to go that way. They finally reached a gigantic tree that was full of webs and had two enormous cocoons between the branches, with a hole in one side. It looked like the spider's house.
Both spiders leisurely began collecting the web that was covering the tree and making small balls that they then delivered to the kids. Meryda then saw on the left side of that tree a few small cocoons hanging from branches, so she pointed at them and asked the spider that she was riding what those were.
When one spider was about to open one of those cocoons, the Fae said, "Probably better if they don't show you what is inside of that, Meryda. You might not like what you see."
"Why? Are there some dead animals inside?"
Meryda then saw something reflecting the sunlight from the hole the spider made in the cocoon, and she almost shouted, "Wait! There is no need to open that! Let them be!"
Pof Grinun approached the cocoon and frowned. "Is that a piece of armour? It looks like a helmet soldiers use."
Realising what it was, he backed down while saying, "Meryda… I think those are the people the spiders caught… Soldiers… The colour in the armour is from another country, but there are body pieces inside."
While Meryda was gulping, the Fae confirmed, "We believe those are the soldiers that attacked these two spiders. They probably caught the soldiers and were keeping them to eat later. Or, considering there is not enough meat inside that helmet, they were already eaten, and the cocoons were only a warning to any dumb person who could come here to hunt these spiders. As we said, Gigantic Spiders are very intelligent, and they know very well how to input fear."
"Okay… It would probably be better if we buried them. Despite being soldiers that attacked these spiders, they were still people…"
Both spiders clacked their pincers once, and one began cutting the strings that were holding the cocoons, while the other one used its frontal legs to dig a hole with the two Bone Boars helping her.
In mere minutes, ten cocoons of web were inside the hole, and the Bone Boars were throwing soil over them. Meryda glanced at the spiders that were staring at the cocoons of web and said, "Maybe we should say something? I don't know what the proper thing to say when burying someone is."
After clearing her throat, Tetil Stog said, "May the World feed on them like they have been feeding on the World until now. May the wind carry their souls to the Goddess' embrace, and they find peace. May their bloodline live forever to honour their memory, and may they never be forgotten."
Meryda stared at both spiders and remained in silence, thinking. The others found it strange, and the now-serious Fae asked, "What are you thinking? Regretting taming them?"
"No, it's just… Until now, I didn't see Bone Boars or Gigantic Spiders as a threat, and I did not believe they actually killed people and ate them. But now…"
"Monsters also have to eat. They usually eat animals or other Monsters, but people are also on their menu. And if that makes you feel better, people also like to eat Gigantic Spiders and Bone Boars. The spider's legs taste like crab or seafood, and the boars taste like beef. Or so we were told because Fae don't usually eat Monsters meat. Since you tamed them, they are now not only your friends, but also your responsibility. Do you want to tell them to go away and risk that they will be killed one day, or do you want to keep them so that they can be safe near you?"
Meryda gently caressed the heads of both spiders and answered, "I still want to keep them. I used to have a tarantula that I rescued in a park, and after she recovered her health, I gave her to a zoo where she was well treated and had a lot of space to live. I think I can train these two so that they never attack or kill anyone."
With a serious face, the Fae said, "Unless some Monster or some people attack you or your friends. You need to understand that not all Monsters or animals are peaceful, and not all people are friendly in this World. It is a good idea to train these spiders to act friendly around other people, but don't forget that they also have a mind of their own, and if they see you in danger, they will attack and kill whoever is threatening you, even if they die because of it. That is what it means to be a Monster Tamer. You can order your Monsters, but they also decide and act for themselves. Well, there are also Monster Tamers who use a more forced approach to their Monsters, completely overwhelming them and not letting them take any action alone, but I suppose you won't do that to your Monsters."
Meryda was still staring at both spiders, and the young Salamander approached one of them and caressed his head against the spider's leg as if it were greeting them. In return, the spider gently rubbed the Salamander's head with one leg and then stared back at Meryda as if it were waiting for what she was about to say.
While rubbing the spider's head, Meryda said, "I understand. We better get going. We still didn't find any Beeker or Grolagian."
She climbed the spider and sat again, still looking serious. The green Fae sighed and climbed to the other spider while mumbling, "She got a rude wake-up call with this… Poor kid…"
They returned along the path of crushed trees and bushes and went deeper into the forest. When Meryda was looking up, admiring the leaves and the light that was coming through them, she heard Pof's voice from her right, "What the heck? Is that a swamp? I never came to this part of the forest, but there is a swamp here? We better go around it! Swamps are dangerous because-"
He suddenly went silent, and everyone stopped, looking at where he was pointing. Something strange was in the middle of the water, which was mixed with soil. Something dark that looked like a cloud.
Meryda noticed that the spider was trembling, and when she crouched on the ground, Meryda jumped off and asked the scared Demi-Dog who grabbed her arm, "What is that? Dark fog? Since when is dark fog a thing?"
"No… that is an Emptiness. No one knows for sure if they are Monsters or Demons… They are one of the most dangerous things that exist. They are just a dark, compact cloud that is always hovering a few centimetres from the floor. It is supposedly a living Monster, but since it has no physical body, people often say it is a Demon. When surrounded by a circular pit of water, they stay there and can be used to dissolve organic material that then serves to make manure. Or to get rid of prisoners condemned to death if needed. I heard Mages catch them by using Water Magic. We better get away from here before it-"
The dark fog approached at an enormous speed and stopped in front of Meryda, who was now glowing and surrounded by Magic. The fog blinked a few times in bright light, and while a faint light was still surrounding it, Meryda reached her hand forward and said with an awkward smile, "I think… I just tamed it? If it can dissolve anything, maybe we can use it at the farm?"
Pof pulled back Meryda's hand while asking, "Are you dumb? I just told you that Emptiness dissolves organic material, and that includes your hand! But I suppose you are right; we can use this thing on the farm to make manure to put on all those fields. Or, and this is also a thought, we can make a water canal all around your farm that this Emptiness can use to travel so that it can serve as a barrier to any Monster, wild animal, or criminal who tries to enter your farm."
Meryda looked under the dark fog and noticed the grass underneath was now completely dry, and she asked, "But how do we take this weird fog with us? Doesn't he need water to live?"
While everyone else was looking at the dark menace in front of them, not knowing what to say, the smiling Fae answered, "It can follow you to your farm, but it will leave a dry path behind because it absorbs the humidity of everything it touches. It sure is interesting how you so easily tamed two Gigantic Spiders and next, this Emptiness!"
Pof Grinun frowned while looking at the happy Fae and said, "You knew they were here, didn't you? That was why you seemed in such a hurry to come here. What would happen if Meryda couldn't tame them? Did you ever consider that we could all have died here?"
"But that didn't happen, so why are you looking at us like that? Let's go, or we won't finish another Quest! We still have to go to Meryda's farm to put these guys there and then return to the Guild with our finished Quests!"
Dragging his feet while following Meryda and the strange dark fog, Pof Grinun complained, "This won't be easy to explain to your father, Meryda."
"Don't worry, my father is not afraid of spiders like you!"
"I am not afraid of spiders! I just don't trust them!"