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Everything in Hornet’s body burned. She could feel the magic of the cage, reaching into her core and crudely ripping out every ounce of power she still owned. It pulled apart every thread of silk stored in her body so aggressively that the material became mere dust particles that floated through the air, the sharp nails and the hand attached to it uncaring of the damage caused.
At least there were no wounds on her body or actual incisions into her core. If there really was something digging inside of her, Hornet would be as good as dead by now.
Shadows danced across the empty, cavernous walls, and Hornet watched as they preformed their ritual. Maybe she was delusional, but the shape of two familiar figures would occasionally form on the rock. Figures she recognized as her siblings, Hollow and Ghost. She wouldn’t be surprised if they were really there, waiting for the time to spring Hornet free, but for now she waved it off as a trick of the light. It put her mind at ease to think her family was out of harms way, so she allowed herself to live this fantasy for now.
Suddenly, the pilgrims all came to a halt. The cage swayed slightly at the sudden stop, and Hornet winced in pain as her body leaned forward with the movement. Lifting her head, she tried to see what the commotion was about. The gleam of her needle caught her eye for a moment. If only she could bind to it, she would at least gain some of her strength back. But there was no foreseeable way to escape this cage…
Her captors raised their staffs and appeared to shift into a battle stance, which sent Hornet’s eyes wandering again, trying to see what was threatening them. This time, she caught it; the slightest gleam of a mask, hidden by one of the rocky ledges. A mask that was very recognizable indeed. Turned out Hornet could not let her mind rest, at least about her thoughts of her family, anymore.
Ghost quite literally dived into the fray, unleashing a powerful Descending Dark spell on the enemies, Hollow not far behind them, stabbing his nail into the nearest target.
”Ghost, handle enemies. I’ll save Sister,” Hollow said, and Ghost was happy to comply with that order, tearing down the ranks with ease and a little too much enthusiasm.
Hollow easily took down the pilgrims “guarding” her prison, thrusting his nail into the ground so that he could tear off the door with his hand. Though he only had one arm, Hornet’s sibling was not to be seen as weak or crippled. Even the slightest misjudgment could be a fatal mistake.
”Sister…”
”Brother.”
”Are you unwell?” Hollow asked.
”Weakened, but uninjured,” Hornet assured, though Hollow still looked displeased.
”Nobody touches my Sister,” Hollow replied. He then proceeded to stoop down and lift Hornet out of the cage, much to her body’s displeasure. She tried to hide her reaction to the jarring pain lacing up her insides from Hollow, but he immediately caught on Hornet was hurting. “Nobody touches my Sister,” he repeated, this time with an anger in his voice.
”Hollow, it’s alright, you can set me down,” Hornet said, touching a hand to his mask. “I just need to bind to my needle and some of my strength will return.” She already felt better now that she was outside of the cage, the magic no longer having power of her. Hollow (reluctantly) gently set Hornet down on the rock. It was at that moment she realized they were on some kind of bridge. A dangerous position to pick a fight… she’d talk to her siblings about their reckless behavior later. Lucky they didn’t all fall to their deaths.
Lost in thought, Hornet didn’t realize Ghost was barreling into her until she felt their little slaps of attention on her arm.
“Oh, Ghost. You must stop being so reckless,” Hornet chastised them, which was responded with another angry slap. “Okay, yes, I missed you too.”
The young bug stopped his slaps at that, pleased. Hornet sighed, giving the little one a fond glance and giving them a little rub in between their horns. Despite how much of a chaotic gremlin Ghost was, they were actually very sweet and compassionate when they wanted to be. To think anybody would throw them away into the literal Abyss… It fueled Hornet’s hatred for The Pale King even more.
”Why don’t you go and see if any of the pilgrim bodies have anything useful, Sibling?” Hornet asked, and Ghost seemed to light up, immediately going to investigate the dead bugs. Ghost was quite the hoarder. Not even Hornet knew what kind of trinkets or dangerous weaponry hid under that mask of theirs.
Hornet turned to where Hollow was working, still struggling to pull her needle free. She didn’t think it was sealed that well, considering Hollow freed her in a moment. Although, maybe it wasn’t expected of her to get out of that prison at all. Maybe she could holler at Ghost to go help their brother…
Shifting once again to scan for her sibling, Hornet spotted Ghost lingering around a corpse that had fallen by the ledge. Damn it, Ghost.
“Ghost! Will you back away from the edge of the bridge and come and help Hollow?” Hornet called, exasperated with her sibling’s carelessness. They reluctantly turned away from the pilgrim body and started making their way to Hollow.
That’s when she felt it. A magic in the air, unfortunately all too familiar. It was the same magic that bound her, the same magic that kept her in that cage. At first, she looked above to the open expanse, trying to see if she could locate the origin. But, Hornet then heard a twitching of a leg. The leg of a dead bug. She snapped her gaze towards Ghost, who was surrounded by corpses. If there was anything that she learned from Deepnest, it was that dead bugs didn’t always stay “dead.” There may be no life left, but their corpses could still be used to kill.
”Ghost! Hollow! These pilgrims aren’t really dead! They’re reanimating!”
The two siblings reacted too late. A bug directly behind Ghost slammed its staff directly between their horns, causing them to stumble and for a crack to break out on their mask. Hollow attempted to lunge for his nail, but multiple enemies piled onto his good arm, keeping him from moving or attempting to fight back.
”No!” Hornet cried, struggling to stand but immediately collapsing back into a heap, still too weak from the effects of the cage’s magic. Breath coming heavy and hard, she attempted to push herself up once again. This time she managed it, with extreme effort, but then two pilgrims were upon her, shoving her back into her prison.
Hollow had been pinned to the ground. Tears were in little Ghost’s eyes, thick, black void globs dripping down, small body hunched in pain as they tried to ward off the bugs with their nail.
”Leave them alone! Please!” Hornet struggled, stomach twisting as she pushed all her weight forward, trying to break her captors hold. Trying, trying, failing.
She never could protect the ones she loved. Ghost. Hollow. Her mother. She was always too weak or too young or both. She could try as hard as she could, to the point she was beaten down to the bone, but it was never going to be enough. Hornet failed, every, single time.
But this time will be different.
In that moment, something sparked within her. The rage and grief and guilt and love for her family inside her heart turned into something stronger than even the most deadly poisons or murderous spinning saws.
”You will NOT touch them!”
It happened all in an instant, faster than Hornet could really process. All this power released as silk. Fast, thick, and strong, exploding out from her body. The bridge underneath rumbled and cracked, the silk tearing it apart. More threads shot out at some of the pilgrims, wrapping around and strangling them, her two siblings staring in shock as their enemies were snapped in a second. Ghost started rushing towards Hornet, and Hollow finally pried her needle free.
They’re okay. It’s okay. They’re safe now. Safe.
It didn’t matter. She couldn’t stop the silk from bringing the whole world down if she wanted. The threads were going to pull them all down, whether Hornet liked it or not. And so they did. The ground collapsed beneath Hornet, bodies and rocks flying everywhere. The silk snapped, its work finished.
Fuck.
Hornet’s body gave up, and everything faded to black.
———
“Oh, goodness, you did well, little one!”
A silken butterfly floated through the air, landing gently on an outstretched hand. Its wings fluttered open and close, seemingly pleased with the praise from its master.
Lace giggled, twirling her pin in her other hand, spinning slowly around and swaying her hips to an unheard rhythm while still keeping the butterfly held up high on her palm.
“While mother won’t be pleased with this display, those stupid bugs would’ve just killed those other two. And that would’ve been no fun, hm? And the Spider is caught in the web all the same, so I see no issue!” She said. “Oh, I bet the Little Spider didn’t know what hit her! Probably thought the power came from something stupid, too!”
Lace laughed, the butterfly fluttering away as she covered her face with the hand it was resting on. Lace’s laugh was light and airy, but incredibly unnerving. It could send chills down the most serious bugs’ spine, and cause others to run to the hills for their mothers.
She leaned over the little crevice she was perched on, tucking her pin underneath her chin as she peered into the abyss below. “Well, if she survived the fall, that is. But this Spider must be strong if mother wants her, so surely this is simply a minor setback,” Lace mused. “And, her companions will be fun toys to play with. They may be pesky, but a Spider does love a good fly, hm?”
She spun back around, flicking her pin out behind her back as she did so. “I suppose I should go report back to mother now, yes? She’ll want to know everything,” Lace said with a bored expression, looking up with a sigh. “And hopefully our Little Spider doesn’t get eaten before it’s my turn to play…”