Felix pushed the creature’s dinner along with a jug of water to fill the large bowl he left in the cell for the giant dridder down to the dungeon. But when he reached the cell, a guard stepped in his way and said, “You can’t go in there yet, Felix.” It was that strange guard that called Felix by his name and led him to the cell the first time he had to feed the creature.
Felix wondered why he couldn’t go in to feed it, because it was his job, but Felix didn’t ask. Because of how different this guard acted, Felix wasn’t sure he could trust him. In fact, so many people have acted differently ever since he became the creature’s caretaker. First a guard, then Bowan, and even the creature seems different from what Bowan told him. Was Felix’s whole world going crazy?
The guard must have sensed Felix’s confusion because he answered the question that Felix never mustered the courage to ask. “The tamers are in there.”
Felix looked past the guard as he waited. Only two others were in the corridor. One was a guard known by the slaves for sleeping on the job, though he had never gotten caught by the other guards or the officers. The other was a brute of a man in fancier and shinier armor. His very armor lit the corridor up by the torchlight. Felix had never seen him before, but he knew who it was: General Ethan. He was Lord Williams most trusted general for his private army. General Ethan stood there with arms crossed, staring at the door leading to the cell.
The door opened and the tamers walked out. Whips dripping blood were coiled in their hands. “Well?” General Ethan said.
“I don’t think there will be any troubles breaking this beast. Tell Lord William to expect the dridder to be tamed and under his control in maybe about a week.”
General Ethan left with the tamers.
“You can go in now,” the guard told Felix as he stepped aside and opened the door. Felix pushed the cart in. He heard sniffing and fractured breathing that sounded like a shivering person breathing out. The sounds were coming from the creature’s end of the cell, but he didn’t see those ruby eyes. Before he could pinpoint what exactly he was hearing, the door slammed behind him and the sounds stopped. The giant eyes suddenly appeared in the dark and stared at him. There was something different about the eyes though. They looked blurry as if it was-
As if there’s tears in its eyes. Felix started to put together the sounds with the watery eyes. Was the creature crying? Bowan did say there were… they were… oh what was that word? Never mind, he said they have emotions as well. Felix remembered the whips the tamers were carrying. There was blood on them. It was understandable why the creature would cry, even if it was a monster. He knew what whipping felt like and he started to sympathize for the creature. But then he shook his head, remembering what Bowan said. This was a Felaryan creature and even though it had emotions, could talk, and think like humans can, it still viewed humans as food, not people. He couldn’t trust such a monster.
Felix looked away from those desperate looking eyes, and pushed the cart towards the white line on the ground. He stopped the cart right in front of the line and he looked around. He found the empty bowl he had to fill with water, but it wasn’t where he expected it to be. Instead, it was on his side of the cell. He looked up again at the blurry eyes that didn’t move and then back down at the bowl. It moved it. Otherwise, it would be on its side of the cell. It had to have moved it, but why? If it kept the bowl on its side, I would have had to go on its side and it would have had me, again. But, it had him before, and it didn’t do anything then. Maybe it had no intention to-
No, this has to be some kind of trick. Bowan said that Felaryans eat humans. They don’t even see humans as people, just snacks. It sounds like he came from that world. So, he should know they’re monsters. This must be all some kind of game to it.
The giant eyes were still in the same spot. Felix took the container of water and poured it in the bowl till it was full. But now he had to push it across the line. It was an easy enough task to do without crossing the line himself, but what if it was a trap? It could have coated the bowl with webbing and then it could drag him with the bowl, but that sounded ridiculous to him. He pushed the bowl across the line. There was no webbing on the bowl.
Felix looked up, but the ruby eyes were gone. He froze and examined the area where the eyes had been closely. He thought that the creature could have just closed its eyes, but he couldn’t even see the outline of the creature. Thoughts pulsed through his mind as quick as his heart throbbed in his chest. What is it doing now? Where did it-
Something purple reached out from the dark. Felix snapped his head just in time to see that it was one of the creature’s hands stretching out towards him. Though he was on his side of the cell and in no danger of the hand actually being able grab him, Felix jumped backwards and shuffled like a crab. The hand paused for a small moment and then continued stretching out. Thick fingers touched the bowl and raked it closer into the darkness.
Felix calmed his breathing, but his breathing’s pace only picked up again when he saw two hands reach out for the cart, but because the cart was still on his side, the creature couldn’t grab it. Those eyes looked down at Felix pleadingly. It just wants the food. I…I can do that. All have to feed it diner after all.
He stood but he almost fell back down due to his trembling limbs and fear stricken muscles. He took in a deep breath and held it just before walking over to the cart.
Felix gripped the end of the cart, still holding his breath, and stared up in awe at the ruby eyes that gazed down at him. The watery eyes were still pleading, but there was something eyes within those irises. It was that familiar emotion that he saw the last time he looked into those eyes when he first fed the creature, yet he still couldn’t figure out what it was he was seeing. He averted his eyes and focused on the outstretched hands in front of him. Felix let out a long breath.
He looked back up at the giant eyes and just by thinking about what he was about to do, his legs and muscles trembled again. I know Bowan said that these creatures can think like humans can and they can talk and feel, but he also said they can’t be reasoned with. But are all of them as bad as Bowan says they are?
“Um…” Felix started to say just before his throat tightened from shear nervousness.
The eyes tiled slightly, or its head did.
“C-can… can you… understand me?”
The eyes straightened and nodded up and down to indicate a yes.
“Okay, that’s good,” he whispered. He then asked the giant dridder hiding behind a thin shroud of shadows, “You just want your dinner, don’t you?”
The dridder nodded again.
“I’ll give you the cart, but you have to give it back to me, understand?” Felix hoped that he disguised his fear will enough for the dridder to take his demand seriously.
The dridder nodded in the dark.
Fearing that he didn’t bold or brave enough for the dridder to follow his demand, Felix decided to add something smart that would insure the dridder’s corporation. “Because, I need the cart back each of your meals. If I don’t have the cart, I can’t bring you more food. Then, you’d starve to death.” Felix didn’t tell the dridder that he’d be dead too if Lord William found out he starved his new weapon.
The ruby irises watered more and he saw something more in those eyes: fear. He knew that kind of fear, because he saw it all the time. It was the fear of being punished. His mind flashed back to the blood on the tamers’ whips. Felix couldn’t believe it, but he found himself regretting what he said to the creature. He lived with kind of fear every day; he never thought he would instill that type of fear in another, let alone a giant creature that supposedly enjoys eating humans. Felix couldn’t look at those eyes anymore. “Just give back the cart once you’re done eating,” Felix said. He pushed the cart over the line and the hands pulled it further into the darkness.
The creature’s eyes only focused on the cart as it dug its hand in and took out the meat to eat. Felix examined the giant eyes. Suddenly, the familiar thing in those eyes that he couldn’t place became obvious to him. He saw it in all the slaves he passed by in the castle’s halls. He saw it every day in his own reflection. Hopelessness, complete and absolute hopelessness.
Stop it. Stop thinking like that. This is not another slave. This is not a person. It’s a monster. It would eat me. Don’t imagine this creature going through the same things as me.
But Felix couldn’t help it. It was those eyes that bore the pity for it right into his heart. Something in him told him that he couldn’t trust this giant dridder, but another part of him screamed that he should try to reason with it. Bowan said that Felaryans couldn’t be reasoned with, but he probably never came across one in this kind of situation. Maybe they could come to some kind of understanding.
“Can you talk?”
The dridder’s outline stopped taking meat from the cart.
“I know you can understand me, so I assume you can talk, but can you?”
The dridder nodded.
“Then, why don’t you?”
The eyes looked past Felix and at the door. Felix turned around, fearing the guards came in, but nothing was there. The dridder continued to stare at the door fearfully. It was that same look of fear slaves have when they feared punishment.
“Are you worried that if you talk, you’ll be punished?”
The dridder nodded.
“Well, you can talk around me. I won’t do anything.”
“R-really?” a quiet female voice said. The voice was also young, younger than Felix! But as soon as he heard that single word, the outline of the dridder suddenly raised its arms and covered its face, but not before the eyes shut tight and her head turned, showing more of her white hair.
She’s really scared of me. But how is that possible? She’s so much larger and she’s the one that’s supposed to be the monster. She’s the one that eats humans. This doesn’t make any sense.
Felix raised his hands up, showing his palms. “I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t have anything that can hurt you. You’re safe around me.”
<i>What I’m I doing? Why am I willingly telling this creature that I’m unarmed and helpless against whatever it could do to me? This is all a trick. It’s a trick!</i>
The dridder lowered her arms and opened her eyes. “I… I can?” The voice was so young, so fearful. “And you won’t tell on me?”
“I won’t tell.”
“Oh, thank you. And thank you for the food.”
“Well, it is my job to feed you.”
“You’re job?” the young dridder asked.
“Yes, among other things.”
He could see the outline of the dridder start eating again.
“Do you have enough food?” Felix asked.
“What?”
“Food, did you have enough food last time to fill you up?”
“Yes, I did. I couldn’t eat another bite.”
“Then, you should have enough now.”
The cell fell silent for a while.
“Is the food to your liking?” He didn’t know why he was trying to make small talk with the Felaryan.
“It’s okay, but it tastes funny.”
“Funny?”
“There’s no blood, and the meat tastes different from anything I’ve ever tasted.”
“Well, there’s no blood because it’s cooked.”
“Cooked?” The dridder stopped eating again.
“You’ve never had cooked food before?” But this was coming from someone whose food wasn’t cooked all that well either.
“I’ve never heard of that word. What does it mean?”
“It’s when the meat is put over a fire and heated till the blood goes away and the meat is no longer raw. I’m not exactly how it’s done either. I don’t work in the kitchen.”
“Fires are bad. They bring the monsters.”
“Then, you never cook you’re food? How do you eat?”
“I eat whatever gets stuck in my web. If it’s more than a bite full, I wrap them up, bite my venom in them, and then drink them when they’re ready.”
“You eat everything that gets caught in your web?”
“Until today.”
“Why didn’t you eat me?”
The dridder’s eyes looked away. It looked down at the cart of meat, but did not continue eating yet. “You talked. I was going to eat you, but you talked and cried. I couldn’t do it. I don’t eat people.”
“So, you think I’m a person?”
“You can talk can’t you? Then you are people.”
“Not just a snack because I’m smaller?”
“People aren’t snacks. No matter how small.”
“That’s right. Please, keep eating. They won’t let me sleep till you’re finished eating.” Felix looked at the cart and remembered how good the meat looked in it. He’d never had meat like that before. He didn’t even remember if he had ever had meat before in his life. His stomach growled painfully and he placed his hand on the pain.
“Do you want some food?”
“The food is yours, not mine.”
The purple hand reached into the cart, pinched a small piece of meat between her thumb and pointer finger. The meat might have been small to her, but it was a large slice too Felix. The fingers stretched the meat towards Felix. “I’m giving it to you. You’re hungry.”
“You don’t need to.”
“It’s a gift. It’s a thank you.”
Felix looked at the food hungrily. Saliva flooded his mouth, forcing him to swallow it, least he drown from it. He stood up and despite part of him screaming for him not to, he walked towards the hand. But he stopped before the line. The food was within arm’s length. He reached out slowly and took it. The dridder didn’t pull the meat as soon as he grabbed it. It didn’t cause him to fall so that it could grab him and devour him as well. It simply let go of the meat and Felix retreated back to a safe distance. He sat down and ate as the dridder ate the rest of its food.
He bit into the meat thankfully and once his tongue got its first taste of the succulent and tender meat, he dug into it savagely. He finished it as fast as he could, a habit he obtained from five years of slavery. “Thank you,” he said after he finished.
The dridder pushed the cart back over the line and drank from her bowl of water.
“How old are you?” Felix asked.
“Seven years.”
“Do you have a name?”
“Arachne. What’s your name?”
“Felix.”
“What do you and the others want from me?” Arachne asked after finishing her bowl of water.
“It’s not that has plans for you. It’s Lord William that wants you,” Felix answered still seated on the ground, cross legged, a safe distance away from the white line that divided him and the giant seven year old dridder.
“Lord William? What is a Lord William?”
“Lord William is the person that owns this castle and everything in it including all
the guards, soldiers, and slaves. Lord is his title. He’s in a lower position than the King, but he holds dominion over this mountain and a large portion of land. Apparently, not even all that land is enough for him. He wants the entire kingdom.”
“But what does he want with me? Why am I here?” Arachne swung her right arm and the thick chains clanked against each other and the stone floor.
“I think you’re part of his plan for ruling over the kingdom. He already has a private army and he already has other lords as his allies. He also has the element of secrecy, because his allies have taken an oath of silence for his plan, and it would be a death sentence for a slave or a guard to even mention it. But all that is not enough for him. Apparently, he needs something else. He wants you, Arachne. He wants you to be his secret weapon.”
“A weapon? But, I don’t understand. Why me?”
“Because of what you are and where you’re from. You’re a dridder, you’re a giant, and you’re from a world of giant monsters that eat people. Because of all this, he thinks you’re a monster like the others and he’ll want you to kill his enemies, maybe even eat them.
“Kill people? He wants me to hurt people?” Arachne started to back away. She shook her head frantically. “No, I can’t. I can’t do it. I can’t hurt people. He can’t make me.” Her voice grew louder and closer to screaming.
Felix shot up. The dridder was getting flustered, distressed. He had to calm her down before he voice turned into screaming, because the guards would surely hear the full blown screams of a giant. “Arachne, please, calm down,” Felix said while motioning his arms as if trying to physically push down her voice to a quieter volume.
But Arachne didn’t hear Felix and continued her fanatic mumblings that were rapidly getting louder. “I-don’t-want-to-hurt-anyone-I-don’t-want-to-kill-anyone-He can’t-make-me-It’s-wrong-It’s-”
“Arachne, please.” His feet walked towards Arachne without his knowledge.
“I’m-not-a-monster-I’m-not-a-monster-I’m-not-a-”
“Arachne!” Finally, Felix yelled loud enough to get through to her. Those large teary eyes finally looked back at him. “I know this is hard take and I know that you’re upset, but you have to calm down. Do you want the guards to hear you?”
Those eyes widened with fear and she quickly shook her head.
“Then please, try to keep you voice down. Otherwise, we’ll both probably be in trouble.” Felix glanced back at the door, and it was still closed with the guards still on the other side. Not even the panel was open. He let out a sigh and turned his attention back to the dridder, but something was off. Things seemed darker. He looked down at himself and could barely see his own outline. No, it can’t be. He quickly looked back and saw the white line behind him. He heard the chain, signaling him of the dridder’s movement.
Felix ran across the white line, back to safety. Only once he was over the line did he turn his attention back to the dridder. He stared back at those eyes and saw more tears seeping out of them. Felix just stood there stunned at the amount of tears he was seeing. This reminded Felix that this was a child he was talking to, not just some mindless monster. This creature, this girl had feelings. Those eyes pierced his heart and planted even more pity within it.
“F-Felix, do you think I’m a monster?”
Felix didn’t know what he should say. Part of him screamed, yes, of course she’s a monster, while the other part of him said, of course you’re not a monster. Felix couldn’t figure out which side he believed the most. “What makes you think that?” Felix asked.
“You look scared.” Arachne sniffed and Felix could tell she was trying barricade the sobs within her building up and on the verge of overflowing.
Felix hesitated and thought carefully about what he should say next to the giant dridder child across the room. But the conflict within him kept him from forming anything to say.
“Felix, why are you scared of me?”
"It’s just because you’re so big.”
“Because I’m big?”
“And maybe it has to do a little bit with you being a dridder from another world.”
“But what did I do to make you scared? I’m not scary. I’m not a monster.” The dam bent from the increasing pressure of the sobs Arachne was holding in; it was on the verge of snapping. Felix could tell from her quivering voice.
“It’s not because you’re a monster. It’s just that people are normally afraid of big creatures and things they don’t understand. It’s an instinct in us that makes us fear things that can hurt us.”
“But I would never ever ever hurt you.”
“It’s not that you will hurt me, it’s just that because you’re that I’d be powerless against you if you should decide to hurt me. If you met a creature of a different species that was bigger than you, wouldn’t you be afraid of it.”
Arachne paused and fear reentered her eyes. She must have been imagining being in such a situation.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, it’s scary, but I won’t hurt you Felix. You’re safe around me, I promise with all my heart. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I really want to believe you, Arachne. You seem like a nice girl. But it’s hard. Maybe, I just have to get used to you. Maybe if I get you know you more and understand you, I won’t be so scared.”
“Could we be friends, Felix?”
Felix couldn’t say no to those pleading eyes and eventually said that it might be
possible.
“Good,” she said. “I’ve always wanted a friend.”
“You’ve never had a friend before?”
Arachne shook her head.
“What about family?”
“I’ve always been alone.” Arachne looked down at the floor.
It continued to surprise Felix that with every new information he learned about the Felayran, the empathy he found towards the creature. He walked to the cart and said, “Well, I should probably leave now.”
“You’ll come back tomorrow?”
“Yes, I’ll come back in the morning. It’s my job to feed you.”
“You promise?”
“Yes, I promise I’ll come back, and I’ll see you three times every day.”
“You promise not to break that promise?”
“Yes, I promise not to break that promise.”
“Good.”
Felix turned the cart and began to push it to the door.
“Goodnight, Felix.”
Felix turned and said, “Goodnight, Arachne.”
He then pushed the cart to the door, asked for the guards to let him out and walked through once the door opened.