Chapter Text
Asher had never been angrier with himself than he was now.
Suspended in a thick, sticky web, upside down, was not the most dignified position for a naga priest to be in. in fact it was humiliating. The blood was rushing to his head, and he had to keep spitting out strands of his hair. It was hard to brush it away, as one arm was caught behind him in a tangle of spider silk.
All this for one measly rabbit. He hated spring hunger. He hated having to hibernate for winter in general, but waking up in spring to agonizing stomach pains was incredibly unpleasant, and drove you to do impractical things. Asher normally prided himself in being methodical and cunning, enough to brag about it even!
He could hardly imagine how mortified he would be at having one of the other priests at the temple stumbling upon him. He would never live down the shame.
Just the thought of it got him wriggling again. Attempts to claw at his restraints resulted in his hands getting caught further, so he had to resort to thrashing violently about, jostling and bouncing.
He could shot for help, but then he’d risk being found… that wouldn’t do. He was a big boy, he could help himself. And if not, the dridder who had made the web would have to come back, and would free him. Though he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
This was most likely a trap for woodland creatures such as rabbits, foxes, and deer that he had the bad fortune to stumble into. How the rabbit he had been chasing had escaped the same fate, he had no idea.
His atrophied muscles, weak from sleeping for three months on end, tired quickly from the strain, and he hung there, gasping for breath, glaring in hatred at the earth, mockingly so far from his reach.
“Well, well, well.” A sweet, female voice cooed from above him. Asher strained his upper body to peer upward. He was filled with both annoyance and relief at the sleek, glossy round spider body of a dridder lady. Her hair was dark and sleek to match her curved body and eight, glittering legs.
She peered down at him in amusement, all eight of her eyes narrowed at him. “How lucky I must be to catch such a big prize.”
Asher sighed and fell back limply. “Yes, yes, it’s most amusing. I’m afraid you missed the opportunity of catching a juicy hare for yourself however. Now, if it’s no great imposition to you, I would very much like to get out of this. If you don’t mind. Very sorry for ruining your work and all that. Couldn’t be helped.”
She said nothing, but he could hear the gentle clacking of her legs on the bark.
“I suppose I must commend you for making a trap so well hidden that even I could fall into it.” Asher offered, as an afterthought. “Quite clever.”
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?”
The hairs on Asher’s neck stood on end as her voice spoke softly inches from his ear. He hadn’t even felt her descend so close. He turned his head sharply to stare at her in alarm, red flags going off in his head.
“Are you about to let me down?” he asked, holding back his discomfort and remaining calm and casual. It never did any good to show fear.
The Dridder smiled at him. It was a thin lipped, tight, almost malicious smile that seemed cold and distant. She giggled softly. “But of course. Now, stay still.”
Asher went rigid, arching his body in agony as he felt her sink her spinneret into his lower back, and white hot, venomous pain seeped into his bloodstream. He couldn’t even scream in pain, so powerful was the sensation.
“What- what are you doing?!” he demanded, his tongue feeling thick and fuzzy. He was growing light headed, and as he tried to wriggle away from her, his muscles were like pudding.
“shhhhh.” She hummed, working with her legs to cut away the strands of spider silk holding him in the branches. “Don’t try to run away now. It’s far too late for you.”
This didn’t calm or deter Asher the slightest bit. He fought harder and more desperately to get free than he ever had in his life.
His struggles became weaker and it was becoming harder and harder to fight against the strong sticky threads holding him, his muscles became limp and unresponsive, making him feel like a mud worm rather than a strong, steady hunter. His body was more gelatin than sinew. Her sting had done its work.
With a painful thud he hit the earth as the last strand was cut. He was too numb to even feel the impact, though he was sure he was jarred and rattled all the same.
The Dridder crept casually down beside him, examining him and pinching at his flesh with her long, taloned fingers. Asher managed out a low hiss of defiance as one of her long legs pinned his face into the dirt, but his vision was becoming blurry and faded, and he found it impossible to keep his eyes open.
The Dridder continued to weave more bonds about him, his hands now firmly placed behind his back and his coils tightly confined so he could not struggle further. When she was satisfied, she lifted his head up by the hair and examined him, nodding in fulfillment.
“You’re quite the pretty one aren’t you?” she breathed and her voice sounded distant, as though from far away. She eyed him critically, a hunter admiring her catch. “I don’t think I shall eat you. At least, not quickly.” she let his head drop, and his eyes stared into space, misted and glassy, as he fell unconscious.
****
Asher awoke in agony. It was as though his blood was on fire, and his head pounded hard, as though his skull would crack. He was aware that drool was running down his chin and neck, but his arms would not move to wipe them. All of his limbs felt stretched nearly to their limit, and he realized that his arms were now pulled above his head, suspending his upper body against several stalactites with them. He was covered and pinned along his coils by more spider silk to the cave floor and against stalagmites, but she had twisted him in such a way his underbelly faced upwards toward the cave ceiling, while his top was face down, pointed at the ground.
His mouth felt dry and cottony, and he swallowed painfully, aware of how thirsty he was. He blinked wearily, and was aware of the dridder female watching him, comfortably nestled in a bed of furs and down beneath an overhanging outcrop in the caves wall.
Languidly, she stretched out all eight of her legs, and crept towards him steadily, in no hurry. There was no expression on her angular face as she reached out and ran a hand along his stomach.
Seeming sure he could not escape, she smirked, and continued to stroke his stomach. Asher’s burning muscles twitched against the touch, but he was unable to pull away. He now knew his blunder had put him in terrible danger, and he could have bitten himself for it in shame and dread.
“There’s a good pet.” The Dridder said idly, and leaned forward, her tongue brushing his naval.
Asher’s eyes drifted, and caught site of a rock pool in the distance of the cave. Just the sight of it made his stomach heave desperately, hot bile rising up his throat. He choked on it bitterly, coughing. Just the thought of the cool, clear liquid from the rock pool made an unwilling moan escape his clenched teeth. He needed a drink so desperately, to fight the fire in his throat and chest.
But he wasn’t about to ask for it either. He hissed in frustration.
The Dridder didn’t move, still licking his belly steadily, hungrily. When she finally looked into his eyes, following his gaze to the rock pool. Asher tried to look away so she wouldn’t know what he desired, but it was too late. There was no pity in her tone as she addressed him.
“If you behave yourself, and please me, you may have a mouthful of water. That’s more than generous of me, don’t you think?”
Asher slumped, defeated, his eyes blazing with silent pride and anger. He’d behave, for now. But once his strength returned he’d make her suffer a thousand times over for this insult to him.
He gasped, shuddering sharply with agony as suddenly, her long, sharp nailed fingers dug into his back, sharp claws biting and raking into sensitive, raw flew. He held back a squeal of protest, teeth gritting, not wanting her to have the satisfaction that she’d caused him pain.
“Say it.” she commanded. “Say it’s generous of me. It is very generous of me after all, to have a nasty slithery snake like you have some of my water.”
He glowered at her in defiance, and she dug in deeper, causing his breaths to hitch, coming in shallow little pants through his nostrils. He was torn between pain, the need for water, and his pride.
It took one look at the rock pool, along with a thrust and twist of her fingers for him to give in, his head throbbing mercilessly.
“It’s very generous of you.” he hissed.
She let her invading fingers linger, twisting into him a little more, her eyes locked challengingly on his for what felt to him like an eternity, before she withdrew, her fingers slick with his blood and sweat. She licked them with a playful giggle.
“Good.”
She stalked past him coolly, her loathsome body brushing against his so that he gave an involuntary shudder. “Water drips from the cave wall, perhaps you can catch a few drops if you’re lucky.” she flashed him an evil smile. “I need a proper meal.” The Dridder purred over Asher’s gasps of pain. “I haven’t eaten in AGES, you know how it is. But it’s always good to have a full look at the menu.”
With infuriating laziness, she crept forward, and sunk her teeth into the flesh of his hip. Asher had not even managed to get a hiss out when she began to slowly and deliberately tear off a chunk of his flesh.
He screamed in both torment and fury, as the realization that she was not just keeping him to toy with, but to feast on at her leisure overcame him with the desperation to survive and escape, and even more so- break her neck between his coils.
She swallowed, and then lapped at the open wound, gifting him with more stinging pain and he writhed, hissing furiously.
“Be still. Or would you rather I went for your manhood next?” she said with a casual air that sent him into a new fury. But he remained still, breathing hard through his nostrils.
“Good pet.”
Hot tears of humiliation streaked Prim’s cheeks as she began to crawl over him, inspecting his body for another food source. Those horrid long spider legs of hers trailed along his coils in such a repulsive way that he shuddered down to his core. Fresh blood spurted from the torn hip and down, while sweat from his upper body trickled into his gouged flesh, yet he was unable to move a muscle to relieve himself of the agony or shake off his tormenter.
He could feel her legs tightening around him. When she found a spot she favored, she moaned eagerly and sunk her sharp teeth into a particularly fleshy part of Asher’s back. He cried out as she shredded the meat away, only gasp in pain, too weak to form words. He fought uselessly against the restraints, but in the end He was forced to take it.
All of it. The shame of it made him want to die.
When she had finished feeding, she let out a dainty sigh of contentment and crawled over to the rockpool. She washed his blood and sweat off of her body, humming to herself, as if she hadn’t just devoured and violated him.
She filled a little wooden bowl with water, and approached him, pressing it to his lips. He didn’t protest, but drank greedily. She pulled the bowl from him before he could finish it, smiling at him cruelly.
“I only said a mouthful dearest. I was generous and let you have three instead.”
Asher could only let out a small, desperate mewl, wishing to bite her and inject her with his own venom.
“Now.” she undid a flask from her belt and popped the cork out. “I want my meat fresh. Let’s not let this wound fester shall we?”
He yowled aloud as she poured the alcohol onto his gaping hip wound, His eyes blazing with purpose. He WOULD escape.
He would not be her toy to play games with!