59 Disturbing a funeral

Ash knelt before the alter that had become Dark's grave. What she felt for Dark was not love, but rather the fierce loyalty one feels towards their leader. She was Dark's lover only in name, their relationship was not as pure as Lily and his. She was his spider queen, While he was the king of all spiders. And like the first spider king he had met his end far too soon.

She bowed her head in reverence, and her face was solemn. She had no tears to cry, for this was simply the way of the the jungle. Dark had not been strong enough to survive, but he did die protecting them so this deserved her respect. To her side Lily also knelt, her appearance in sharp contrast to ash's own. She knelt but her head was not bowed. Her face was stained with tears, and yet her eyes had a look of fanaticism.

Ash knew that Lily was offloading her feelings of loss onto her, that she was being used as a rebound that could never truly replace Dark. But she was on with this, this was her duty as a servant to the spider king. Her life, her soul, her future and her past were all for the sake of the spider race. The ruler of the spider race, The souder king was laid to rest before her, and his duty was her duty.

She felt the mosquito queens core began to glow as it was slowly absorbed into her soul. The overflowing vampiric essence mixing with her Poison essence. She could feel them merging inside her, forming something knew. The once green essence inside her was stained with a blood red as the vampiric essence stirred her own dormant vampiric Genes.

She could feel herself changing on a fundamental level. The very essence of her Gene's were changing as the blood red vampiric essence awakened inside her body. The changes were subtle, her poisonous thread glands had seen the largest growth. The had not only become increasingly deadly, but had absorbed the true essence of a vampire. Her poison had become vampiric in nature. The injuries they caused would heal her. Her species had changed, she knew it instinctively. She had once been a stealth spider queen, but she was now a vampiric spider queen. A new species. But there was more, she had gained a title, like those legendary existences. A thought ran across her mind as she observed the changes in her own mind and she knew. She knew she would never be the same. She also new a secret. One she dared not whisper aloud.

[Vampiric spider queen Ash; Harbinger of the Vampiric God.]

Dark was alive! The thought raced through her mind. She could feel it. She knew that he would once again rise. That she would be the herald of his rebirth. Nothing would stand in her way. The spider king must rise.

Next to her a similar look of astonishment appeared on Lily's face, only to be replaced by a look of grim determination. Her eyes were staring out to the edge of the small clearing where two familiar figures approached.

Knight and Brutus sauntered into the clearing, Brutus carried his great sword over his shoulder with an arrogant look plastered across his face, while a look of sadness appeared on knight. Her spear dragged in the ground behind her as she approached.

The giant snake sprang from Its location in the murky waters. Its giant head hurtling towards Brutus's massive body. The snakes teeth met with a large greatsword. The dense blade forcing the Snake to stall as a flurry of slashes came from Knight. Her speed and strength were mind boggling as each of her dozen or so attacks drew blood from the large reptile.

The two girls stared at the undead as they approached the resting place of their man. Ash's face was set to a snarl as she walked towards the incoming servants of Nykia. Her vampiric threats floating behind her like a pair of wings. Crimson red and green could be seen glowing from them as she poured more and more essence into them. Soon her threads glimmered in the sunlight, and she did not hesitate to rush towards the intruders. No one would get in the way of Dark's resurrection, not even these servants of the forsaken goddess.

Lilys eyes were equally grim as she stood guard over the alter. Inwardly she cursed at her own lack of offensive ability. She did not falter however as she sent her illusions towards the enemy. The giant snakes appearance became blurry as several after images began to form around it. Illusions created by Lily.

The many vampiric threads produced by Ash were blended in with illusions of even more of the deadly threads. Her image became even more intense as her wings became even thicker. even more deadly.

Ash's threads didn't stay idle as she approached, they lashed out with a speed that could not be seen with the naked eye. Countless threads advanced towards the two undead, only to by sliced through by Knight's spear. Knights decaying eyes showed a hint of surprise as she looked at the approaching ash. A flash of approval traveled across the undead womans eyes as she realized a proper enemy had finally appeared before her.