3 Chapter 2: Evolution

Squirming on the ground the child whimpers and cries. It's belly rumbling incessantly for food. Stars twinkle down through the forest's canopy as the young girl lets out a particularly loud wail. A spider settling itself into a tree looks down with its many eyes and lowers itself down a tiny thread and hovers over the loud baby. The arachnid was a brilliant purple in color and caught the child's eye easily. It dropped further and landed on the girl's chest after it had stopped making noises. Clicking its mandibles, as if speaking to the babe, the spider regards her with its many eyes. The young girl child mewls softly and reaches up a chubby tiny fist towards the arachnid. Quick as lightning the spider fearing for its life bites into the child's wrist, its fangs expelling a potent venom that begins spreading very quickly thru the bloodstream. Its venom was a toxin that draws out all strength and slowly leaves the victim to die within a few hours.

Hopping down from the child's chest the spider winds its way back up a tree to wait and watch for the death so that it may feed upon the child afterwards. Settling itself back in the tree it sits and waits listening to the baby's wails. After a long hour the spider looks down from its perch and clacks its jaws in surprise. Instead of finding a paralyzed and dying infant it instead finds a child encased in a searing purple flare. Dark markings shadow her skin along her waist and back taking the shape of spiders. Opening her eyes, the child blinks and focuses steadily on her surroundings with her now brilliant lavender eyes. Small flecks of the lightest silvery color adorns her head.

The light encasing the child disappears. Rolling over to its side attempting to crawl away the child is suddenly stopped by two figures appearing beside her. An extremely foul odor permeated the clearing. The moon's light shone down on two of the ugliest and foulest creatures to ever walk the surface domain of the outer planes. Looking to all who would see them they appeared as blobs of melted wax with many tentacles sprouting from its body. These creatures were one of a kind and could not be found in any dark cave or deep ocean, but only within the Demon plane. They were the Riclals, Lithos's own hand maidens. Supposedly formed from the essences of priestesses who had died while in Lithos's favor. One of them gently picks up the child and cradles it in its arms. Passing a look between the two creatures they disappear as quick as they came, returning back into the outer planes and within the stronghold of Lithos as it scurries along the planar strand. Arriving into the main antechamber with the silently struggling babe, the Riclals drop to their knees and bow before their Goddess, who at that moment was seated in a large high backed chair in the design of a large spider. Its legs curled around and making the arms that she rested her well-toned body against. Her hand delicately draped over her mates. She looks down at the creatures that disrupted her perusal of her consort's skin. Leaning forward in her seat she looked down and slowly arches a brow, a small furrow forming between her eyes before she speaks.

"A child...you've brought me a small babe? Granted they make a wonderful sacrifice with their innocence. Now why is there one in my presence?"

With her brow still arched she pushes away from her chair and drifts down to her handmaidens. Drawing a long tapered nail across the back of each of their necks they screech and disappear into the nether as the child drops from their arms. Crying out the babe kicks and screams when it thumps to the tiled floor.

"Stop your mewling you little brat. Now why on earth would they bring you to me? You're not even a full child of the Dark Reach... a mixed breed squalling...Wait... these markings. Hmm there might be potential in you after all." Kneeling down beside the child and gingerly picking her up Lithos arms lifted away from her body as she looks directly at the small girl. The babe's tears still staining her cheeks stares back at the Goddess. Turning around she looks at her consort.

"What do you think my sensual pet? Shall we play with this one and see what fun it may bring us for its short life-span. I think this will be a most wonderful opportunity to create a toy, something to trifle with my cousin." Smirking and quite pleased with herself she snaps her fingers and two more handmaidens appear.

"Take this child and train her, teach her the ways of her people. Everything including what it is to be a priestess. I want to see her advance. She is to be kept with you and not around other children. Her duties should be harsh and fitting for she needs to learn quickly and be efficient. I want her pure until its time. A time of my choice of course."

Laughing to herself the Goddess drops the child into the closest handmaiden's arms and walks slowly away. Her footsteps sure and even as she sauntered back up to her consort, splaying her long fingers across his chest as she leans up to bite on his lower lip. "Come my pet, I have use for you." The sway of her hips was like a pendulum as she leads him away into her chambers.

The handmaidens stay bowed until she was out of the room. Looking between each other they stood and carried the child to the deepest section of the fortress. Its walls dark and the air chilled the further down they traveled. Complete darkness surround them as their eyesight adapts easily and the babe's eyes seem to glow internally despite their lack of any outside help. Finally coming to a small series of doors they pick the furthest one and set the room up for the child, finding it a wet nurse from one of the prisoners under service to the Spider Queen.

The child grew and grew. At the age of five her training began. The teaching never stopped, nor even lessened as day in, day out she was taught her people's way, the way of her father's people. Her only companions she had were the hideously foul smelling Riclals which were her teachers for everything and the arachnids that scurried around the building. The soft skittering of their feet against the stone and the clacking of their jaws signaled their arrival with her. When not in duty to the fortresses Temple or studying in the darkness at the learning end of a whip, the girl would sit in the darkest recesses of the dungeons and actually speak with the spiders. Some were ancient and knew much about the Spider Queen and the conflict between her and her cousin Mariestra. It did not take her long before she was fluent in their language, her own dialect slightly off due to being a humanoid. She readily sought them out when she was confused or needed a reprieve from her taskmasters.

Up until this point the Riclals had not named her, nor had Lithos before handing her over. The spider's fondness for her lead them to name the young child themselves. Te'Liona; the one with the spider's voice. Normally a child of dark sidhe descent would bear the house name of its Matron Mother, but with Te'Liona having come without any idea of lineage, she grew up with her single title. For all dark sidhe under service to the Goddess and within her fortress, the girl was an embarrassment, a disgrace. Despite the fact of their ridicule, Te'Liona grew to be a slim beautiful woman. Her height as aspect belying her parentage as she was only 5' 3", but she made up her height in curves. Her skin was smooth to the touch and had a subtle shadowing of darkness which only furthered perfected the arachnid markings on her belly and lower back. Her eyes had never lost the vivid blue of her mother's people. The only addition made was a small smattering of lavender surrounding her blackened pupils. Her hair had lengthened past her shoulder blades into a soft and shimmering moonlit shade of silver. It shone like that of a thousand stars. Quite often she pulled it into a messy half bun and let the rest fall gracefully over her shoulder.

After spending so much time with the spiders her footsteps were quieter and her movements more fluid. She dabbed a little in the mixture of toxins her eight legged friends helped provide. By the age of 100 she had concocted a poison that would stun her intended victim for a full 12 hours. Mixing the poison with a brilliant lavender colored berry she turned it into a lip covering. After consuming her own mixture for so long and a few times spent unconscious on the stone floor she had become immune to it.

Coming upon her 119th year of service Te'Liona commissioned a gown made from the finest black silk. Its top and hem of the skirt was adorned with delicate glass beading and small clear jewels. With no obvious ties, the robe appeared to be held onto her body by will alone. Strapped to her right thigh was a small dagger, its hilt simple and well fitting into her palm.

One afternoon while scrubbing down a statue, higher ranking priestesses ran around her and kicked at her feet as they made their way in preparation before Lithos's arrival the next day. It was the time of year when Lithos loved to sit by and watch, thru the Temple's main portal of water, the beginning to the yearly Blooding. Watching her children of chaos bringing blood and fear to her cousin's people and others of the surface.

The High Priestess at the time strolled up behind Te'Liona as she was bent over scrubbing at the base of a tremendous spider statue. "Girl, to your feet!" Almost dropping her rag and stifling a gasp Te'Liona quickly stands up and holds her hands up behind her back, her eyes dropping to the floor at the priestess's feet. "Your instruction here is at an end. You are to pack your things and be waiting outside the Temples doors where your escort will be on guard waiting for you. Now go, you have 20 minutes."

After bowing away the young woman swiftly passes down through back corridors and down the steps lowering into the dungeons. Her room has always been located here from the very moment she was first brought in. Descending the last step, she walks a few feet to her door and looks around her sparsely furnished room. Thoughts swirling in her head kept beating back and forth making her a little dizzy. She had no idea if she'd done wrong or was being sent on a journey. All the while her hands worked mechanically grabbing what few clothes she had and a small worn book. Placing them haphazardly into a small bag she takes a quick sweep around her and with a blank look turns around and re-climbs the stairs. Passing several of the sentry spiders hanging above door frames, she held back nervous tears and listened to their softened chittering. Bowing one last to the only ones she dared called friends, the young priestess in training stopped at the main gates into the fortress.

Waiting for her were two of her instructors, handmaidens that taught her about her father's people, the original Riclals instructed with her care having long been dismissed into the nether for displeasing their goddess. The two before her were recent additions within the last twenty odd years. Their job was to teach her the more refined art of seduction and how to use charm and refinement along with a quick wit and sharp tongue to get what she wanted without needing to resort to violence. Why be brutal when a beautiful lithe body and softened speech can loosen most tongues without the need for clean-up. As they had instilled in her many a time a certain mantra replayed in her mind; The success to a great victory was to make your enemy to see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place, to force them to acknowledge your greatness and then dispose of them... but only if it's necessary.

Looking back and forth between them both Te'Liona nods, her voice strong. "I am ready to go. At your leave Mistresses." Holding her small satchel in front of her she follows closely behind the two female forms and out between the doors.