CHAPTER 2

A giant area around the castle was surrounded by four walls, tall enough to keep out even dragons that are not flying. The cannons and ballistae mounted on the walls looked more than capable to take down even heavily armored monsters. There wasn't just the castle inside the walls either. There were living quarters for the knights, training grounds, a building which looked like a restaurant, and gardens filled with colorful flowers. The castle itself was marvelous too. Its exterior completely made out of white marble, reflecting the sunlight like a moon on the ground.

The carriage stopped near the castle and she stepped out of it when a knight ordered her to. The knights then went to talk to a small group of maids that were chatting outside the castle. After exchanging words with the knights the maids nodded and approached her. One of them grabbed her hand and tugged her along. "Come with us." She commanded, dragging her into the castle.

The interior was just as beautiful as the exterior. It was made of marble, mixed with gold and silver frames, dark wood doors, and lanterns that burnt in an emerald green color. The floor was mainly black and white checkered tiles, the walls lined with paintings and lanterns. A red carpet was spread throughout each hallway, keeping near the center of it. The halls were big enough for five people to walk alongside, the carpet wide enough for just one person. The maids kept off the carpet, leading her along it, but not stepping over it.

The maids led her to a room, opening the door they pushed her inside and locked it on her. She tripped and fell, not even trying to get up, ask them or anything. These kind of things happened to her very often, and by now she was used to them, despite not having lived for many years.

After a while of silence and stillness she slowly got up and turned to see the room she has been locked in. It barely even looked like a room, much closer to a prison. The room possessed bare white walls, a bed, a pot filled with water and the only light source being an old lamp, currently turned off. She walked towards the lamp, placed next to the bed, and pulled the string attached to it, turning it on. The light flickered for a few seconds before blacking out altogether.

The bed didn't appear to be quite comfortable either. It was just a white sheet spread over a wooden frame. Despite the prison-like appearance, the room seemed relatively clean, the only other thing in there being a spider on a cobweb in the corner, having survived the cleaning process.

It was neither big nor small, the perfect size as she would have called it, just slightly bigger than her small palms. Both the spider and her being in the same predicament, she laid herself gently near it, attempting to not startle it. It crawled its way to her, and onto her shoulder, where it perched contemplating her with its eight eyes. It was a furry little spider, white in color with ruby red eyes.

The spider seemed like a juvenile, capable of growing even bigger, unlike her. Being a hybrid, growth happened differently for her than humans. Despite being only four she was already nearly as big as she would ever be, in size at the very least. Hybrids reached their full size in a couple years, which from her growth didn't seem to reach much high. This did not mean they were adults however, their bodies developed very slowly in every aspect other than size, along with their mental state.

The door flung open as she was lying on the bed, the spider crawling by her head. Startled, she snapped up into a sitting position, the spider grabbing onto a strand of her hair, nestling itself amidst them to hide. The king walked in with two guards flanking his each side. He wore an affectionate smile on his face and the girl eased her tensed body ever so slightly.

"I hope you didn't go through any trouble on your journey here." The king spoke, using the phrase used when addressing nobles or others of high standing. The treatment that she received, however, spoke otherwise.

She shook her head slowly, attempting to not disturb the spider.

"I believe you are curious as to why I brought you here," He mumbled, pacing the length of the room. "Allow me to explain. I wish for you to be the queen of my kingdom."

She tilted her head at the odd request. As dumb as she was, even she knew that the people will never accept a queen that wasn't a human.

"Not yet however, first you will have to learn royal etiquette." As if assessing her he looked her from head to toe. "We will also need to free you of The Devil's Curse," He sighed.

The girl's eyes narrowed at the statement, not understanding what he meant but feeling uneasy. She knew she was a hybrid, considered the descendants of the devil, though she never once heard of 'The Devil's Curse'.

He gave a nod of his head as if understanding that she was dumbfounded by his words. "Yours ears, tails, and your venom are a result of the curse. Freeing you of the curse is also a simple process, we simply need to saw them off and remove the venom every so often."

She seemed to shrink into her surroundings at the idea. She knew that her ears were apparently very sensitive, painfully so, from when her father had grabbed her by them and dragged her, that being the most painful experience she ever had. Sawing them off was going to be a great deal more agonizing that even that, and she did not wish for it to happen.

"Nothing to worry about, the pain won't last for long. With luck, we will only need to do this once." A smile, much more devilish, crept across his face.

Two of the knights seized her by her hands and legs, restraining her. She shook herself as hard as she could, but she did not seem anywhere near strong enough to free herself. Two others came up with saws in their hands, sawing off her ears and tails without any mercy as she screamed and shrieked.

The knights and the king, satisfied with the outcome, prepared to close the door and leave. "If you survive then you will certainly receive a life better than anyone else." The king reassured as the door closed with a thump, and a click as it was locked.

She lay there, bleeding, heavily. Her bed now became a pool of her blood and tears, in a literal sense. The little spider crawled in front of her eyes, making its way to the top of her head. Efficiently using its webs the spider closed her wounds, slowing the bleeding enough for her injuries to start to heal, her regenerative abilities showcasing themselves.

She looked at the spider, now sitting right on her chest, certain it wasn't a normal spider, but either a monster or a hybrid itself. Though the bleeding stopped the pain still continued, the great number of nerves in her ears having been cut off. She didn't wish to stay in the castle, very aware that due to her regenerative abilities her tails and ears will grow in two weeks at most. She did not have any desire to go through this pain again. The only choice left being, to flee the castle.

Fleeing the castle wasn't an easy task though. She planned on using the cover of the night to sneak through the hallways. Her spider friend having unlocked the door after crawling to the outside from under it, now tagged along for this escape. Bouncing on her head it seemed to be enjoying the new scenery.

She turned a corner only to be confronted head on with two guards. They recognized her instantly, her features being very hard to forget, and one of them grabbed her hand. She struggled under his grip, but again to no avail. Before she knew the spider crawled up her hand and on to his. Using its string the spider sliced the throat of the other knight, just about to alert the others. The knight holding her noticed his dead ally just before the spider sliced his throat as well, both knights slumped to the ground beside each other.

Being small and light, the spider was unnoticed due to the armor the knights were wearing. She stared at the spider wide-eyed for a few moments, deciding to keep moving so to not waste time. The castle seemed like a maze that stretched on and on, being completely lost at this point. She found an open window looking over a garden. Having found no other exits she decided to jump out of it. It was a floor high, the fall being nothing compared to heights she has fallen from before.

She vaulted herself over the frame of the window and fell straight down, hitting the ground with a low thud. Already injured and having lost a lot of blood, she was disoriented by the fall. Getting up to her feet unsteadily she shook her head trying to get the world back into focus.

When she opened her eyes, everything clear again, there were ten knights standing around her. They were staring at her, their swords drawn, and from the looks of it knew of the dead knights in the castle. It did not surprise her, she figured she had been lost in the castle for well over twenty minutes. She staggered backwards, hitting the wall behind, no route for escape being left anymore. With equal efficiency to the last time, the spider mowed down the guards easily. They swung their swords wildly trying to hit their attacker, which they thought was invisible, only for their necks to be sliced.

Just as the ten guards were dead and her spider friend returned onto her hand, about fifty more already took position in an arc around them. The two guards in the middle stepped to the side, letting in someone else, the king. The girl knew that someone who ruled a country would undoubtedly be stronger than any of their generals or knights. She tried to shield her spider friend with her hand but it jumped off her shoulder and away from her, standing between her and the king.

"You have hurt my feelings by trying to flee," The king sighed, trying to look like he was in pain. "I attempted to free you from the curse and give you a life many will die for, and you simply decide to run away, abandoning me. You will be punished for your sins, and once you have atoned, I will take you in again." The same evil smile crept across his face, making her blood run cold.

Suddenly her spider friend shot up from the ground, growing in size. Throwing the king backwards it returned to protect the girl as an arrow shot towards her, deflecting it with its leg. It was easily the size of an elephant, possibly bigger. With it's large ruby-red eyes inspecting the entire area the spider prepared to strike again. Some knights tried to attack it but its eight legs and size gave it the advantage, allowing it to skewer them with ease. Knights were being killed here and there, none receiving any mercy The king having retreated to a safe distance survived the onslaught.

The spider was flung backwards by a kick from a knight as it went to bite him. She recognized the knight from the village, the general in silver armor with blonde hair and black eyes. The spider lunged at the general again. Unsheathing his sword, the general swung it in an upward arc, slicing the spider in half with close to no effort, the two halves of the spider falling either side of him.

Clapping, the king walked over to the girl. "Seems like your little plan failed. No need to worry though, you will get to see the gardens again when you start to behave well." He smirked looking straight in her eyes. Without warning he smacked her in her head with his hand, knocking her unconscious. "Make sure she is severely punished." The king ordered, walking back towards the castle.

The general nodded and gave orders to the knights, grunting in frustration as he glared at the girl.