The four men walked through the dilapidated city, Artemis keeping Cercival close.
"Sorry, Cercival. Should I have said no to them? Can you bear this walk?"
The shorter, elderly attendant shook his head. "It's quite all right, young master." He smiled genially. "It's quite good to see you honouring your debts. For all you demean yourself for not being like your father, you're a picture-perfect replica in aspects like these."
Artemis grinned sheepishly, almost uncharacteristically. "Perhaps."
Listening in on the two conversing, August leaned forward and spoke towards the tall man.
"Before we continue further, you should know… I'm a Runebranded." August raised his arm, revealing a small insignia charred into the skin of his wrist, as if he had been branded by fire and steel.
"Yes. And?"
August's eyebrow twitched. Really? That's all he wants to say? This is the most divisive topic I have to deal with- concerns and arguments between families of different factions just because of a silly rebellion that happened centuries ago. Shouldn't you have an opinion on the matter?
"That look in your eyes suggests that you think I should say something greater or profound regarding that."
August blushed.
Was he really paying that much attention to me?
"Why do you say so, anyway? I didn't ask what faction you belonged to." Artemis added coldly.
"You're a Lightseeker, aren't you? I saw the mark on your wrist- that which signifies curse, when you grew closer to me after releasing your Spirit Bond." This was also a simple lie, nothing that could either be proven or faulted.
"Yes, that's right…" Artemis instinctively brushed his thumb over his other wrist, biting his lip. "But it's not something I find that matters. It's pointless squabble. I can't concern myself with it."
"I like that about you." August winked.
The dilapidated structures in the ruined city opened up to a grander setting, that which was much larger remaining in the center, mostly unmarred by flame. Hundreds of large stone towers pierced the sky above, with thousands of alcoves meant for the light sources of the Blackbaast to be placed, as if perching like birds. Dark stormy clouds as black as the sea swirled around the pointed arched tops of the towers, like liquid that had been left to spill into the sky.
It had a sense of majesty, of reverie, of grandness that nothing could compare to. This was the City of Lingering Light, the home of one of the largest ritualistic traditions of the Blackbaast.
Far below them, a massive craggy pit had opened up, a sea of stone and rubble far below.
"Is the Spinner much farther from here? It might be hard to cross…"
August raised his hand, slowly pointing his finger upwards. Artemis's gaze followed this action, his eyes widening further with each passing moment.
Its roar was almost as grand as its form. Thousands of wire-thin legs stretched out meters in length, grasping onto the sides of multiple towers with fine writhing hairs on its tips. It spread overhead like a canopy, shrouding the ruins in darkness.
Its mouth was almost like that of the starfish that clung to the reefs at the edges of the Blackbaast, although with far more bulbous fangs.
This… this was much more than Artemis had expected. Cercival stuck close to him, much smaller and weaker in comparison, still yet in awe by the size of the beast.
"Did you not say it would be about the size of two of us?" Artemis spoke in a hushed, shocked tone of voice.
August shook his head. "That was if we encountered a juvenile. This is… not that. Based on the webbing I observed from overhead, I assumed that it was perhaps one or two smaller creatures. But this… this is unprecedented. If this is the size of the creature, then where could its silk runoff have gone…?"
"There are certainly many things strange here. Although, to me, the strangest would be the existence of a building-sized beast. How can I go on with my life knowing this?" Artemis spoke in a dry tone of voice, although this was obviously an attempt at humour.
August glanced up at Artemis, surprised. His lips curled up into a smile, and he let out a soft, high-pitched laugh. "You... you're really funny."
As Artemis tilted his head away from the group, a little embarassed, he posed a second question.
"When you said it was like an arachnid, I thought that it would just be a much larger spider. You do know they typically only have eight legs, right?"
"It does have eight legs. The other… nine-thousand, nine-hundred, and ninety-eight are… how would you say? Feelers?"
He walked over to the closest tower, picking up a fallen branch before reaching it up high, prodding one of the Spinner's 'feelers'. It instantly snapped forward as soon as it felt the branch, grasping it and wrapping around it before pulling its feeler back towards its mouth in an instant.
The four men watched as dozens of meters above, the branch was flung into the depths of its gaping maw, pulpy pink flesh wrapping around it before it was swallowed. At the same time, viscous fluid dripped down from its mouth where the branch had been eaten, landing on the ground in grand, massive puddles that let off thick clouds of steam.
"Of course, none of these parts are very useful. But there is quite a use in the gland that produces the silk. It is a fleshy sac about half the size of myself, at least if it's coming from a beast this size... It contains a heart, brain, intake valve, reproductive and digestive tracts, and anything else a living being might need." He gestured with his blade, encircling the form of the Spinner high above. "All that we see here- this carapace as large as a building, is nearly only a shell."
"And that 'sac' has a use?" Artemis furrowed his brows, a little horrified.
August nodded his head. "It is responsible for a majority of the textile production in the Capital. These 'sacs' only have a lifespan of about fourteen years when removed from the larger carapace, and so they need to be replaced from time to time. This is the 'second reason' for me having come to hunt this beast."
He licked his lips, grinning. "They can fetch a very high price."
After all, Gwennaude doesn't let me spend much money if I don't make it myself!
Cercival tugged at Artemis's sleeve from below. Artemis glanced down towards him, smiling slightly.
"What is it?"
"Young Master, doesn't this seem a bit dangerous?"
"Don't worry, Cercival. I'll protect you."
He shook his head. "That's not what I worry about… the cost of your Contract, to what end? You kept it a secret from your father and brother alike."
"My mother too."
"That long?"
"Half a year prior to her falling ill like father. The cost isn't too great, so don't trouble yourself. I would prefer you asked not a question more."
Cercival nodded his head obediently, his eyes still shuddering with surprise. After all, Artemis's mother had died thirteen and a half years ago. If he had been contracted with a Spirit even longer before that, he had been carrying such a burden of power more than half of his life! And as his most trusted servant, Cercival had known nothing of it.
Had his eye injury even been real? At the time, when Artemis was fourteen, he had suffered a grievous blow during play with one of the local children from the Lirae District. There had been so much blood… where had it derived itself from, and how did Artemis manage to rope the child into going along with his ruse?
Cercival and Myron had always assumed this incident to be the key factor in Artemis's future reclusion, but had it truly been because Artemis had received such a grand power from a Spirit Contract? Even at a young age, it was that Artemis had determined himself a threat to his family and the District his father governed. He may have simply torn himself away from his loved ones and the children of the District so that he wouldn't be discovered, making it a much larger issue and painting a target on his family's back.
And Cercival had known nothing of it. He felt like such a fool. How could he not have seen the young Master's struggle?
In the meanwhile, Artemis turned towards August, who had begun walking towards one of the nearby towers once more.
"So, how do you plan on us eliminating such a large beast?" Artemis posed the question they had all been thinking of. Even Gwennaude, who had been trailing silently behind them, had absolutely no clue how August planned on taking it down. Wasn't it just far too large?
August smirked, taking another step forward. Before his foot made contact with the ground, he suddenly vanished into thin air. While Gwennaude didn't seem to be surprised, Artemis and Cercival instinctively took a step back. However, a moment later, the midnight-haired man reappeared, this time several meters in the air, clinging to one of the feelers attached to the tower.
As it wrapped around his hand, coiling between his fingers and sinking deep into his skin, August finally responded.
"I'm going in."