Chapter 28: Side story - Legends and Myths (part I)

At one time in history there used to be one single continent in the world of Astora. Before a certain catastrophe that caused the severance of the land and the separation of Oros and Ragna, in a now forgotten far to the north lived a kind and wise woman.

But the woman did not live a cheerful past. Being the beautiful she was, the local lord took an interest in her and asked her for marriage. It was the happiest day of her life. The daughter of a simple doctor in a small village, to receive the grace of such a noble and handsome person, what could she ask for more?

Yet her happiest didn't last for long. Even months after she moved to the lord mansion, there was no sign of a baby coming. When they invited a doctor to come over, the woman learnt a horrible truth: she could never have a child. And so she was shunned away by the rest of the family. Not even her beloved husband cared about her anymore. Watching him every day with another woman, she could not longer stand it. So the woman decided to leave the mansion and became a physician like her late father wanted her to be.

Even so, she did not give up hope. At that time the village was hit by a plague. Though there was a cure found the healers, it was so expensive that the commoners could never purchase it. However the woman, using the local herbs, managed to produce an elixir that could cure the disease. The difference was she gave it for free without ever asking for a reward.

Every day people gathered in front of her door, lines of lines, hearing this news of a free antidote. At first many doubted her. Why would someone even care about them in the first place? Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to make money for herself? The villagers were so used to the kind of greedy doctors who only knew about money in their life so no one could understand her motive. But with time the woman gained the people's trust. They couldn't find a motive because there were none. The woman only wanted to dedicate her life to help people. She even tested every ingredient she made herself. Some was known for being poisonous yet she still did it just to prove that her medical skills were real.

Though broken she may be, she would not give up on others. For she found happiness in them.

Soon the news reached the ears of the local lord and the doctors. They despised the poor woman for ruining their chance of richness. Not just this plague, she gave out potions and even came to other people's house to personally take care of the sick. Her reputation was equal to a Saint. And this sparked a dangerous idea: her authority has become even prominent than the lord and her actions have cut the doctors from their source of money. And so they devised a plan to get rid of her.

One day the lord came the woman's home. Shocking to see her former husband coming all the way here, the woman was so happy to even consider his hidden motive. He told her how much he was sorry for what he did and how he wanted to rekindle their relationship.

The next day the lord invited the woman to the nearby forest. He said he wanted to propose to her once again, as a sign of a new beginning of their marriage. Yet it has been hours that they walked in this forest, how far did he intend to go? Still the woman was not suspicious at him at all. In her mind was filled was her imagination of his proposal. Would he get on his knees like he did when they first met? Or perhaps has he already prepared something special just for her inside this forest?

Indeed he did prepare something special. Leading the woman to a cliff, he pointed at a blue flower at the edge. He told her that any couple who found that flower would find an everlasting love. And so the girl crawled her way to get it. She was used to getting in dangerous ground to gather herbs for her potions. But when she finally picked it, she was pushed down.

How could she be so naive? It was his intention to kill her all along. And yet she was so blinded about it. With tears pouring on her face, the woman embraced her incoming death.

Yet she did not die. Saved by a tree branch, the woman fell down a small cave. Her bones were broken, she could no longer move. No matter how she screamed, no one could hear her. Then she felt the presence of something. Now that she realized it, there was something else lying in the cave just in front of her.

The motionless shadow lied still. It had eight long and thin legs with a big body and a large head: a giant arachnid. From the look of it, it appeared to be a queen carrying many eggs beside her. It seemed she too fell into this cave while carrying her children and died as a result. But her eggs still lived.

Suddenly the bag of eggs broke and released hundreds of tiny spiders crawling all over the cave. Terrified, the woman did not resist however. She couldn't move so there was no use of trying to escape. And a thought came to her. If her life could allow these creatures to live just for a little while longer, then perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

Closing her eyes, she prepared herself. One spider jumped on her and bit into her neck, injecting its poison into her. And a second one. And a third one. They wanted to kill their foe before eating it. But for some reason this creature didn't resist. Even though the spiders have just been born, they knew how to hunt. Yet this woman let them do whatever they wanted. As savage and wild they may be, the spiders mysteriously stopped. There was still another corpse to eat first. Perhaps they wanted to keep the woman alive for a later meal?

When the woman woke up, it has been several days since she was missing. She looked around, only to see the spiders curiously gathering up around her. Why didn't they eat her yet? And why were they following her hand?

It turned out that something else happened, something unexpected. For years of tasting herb and ingredient, the woman has amassed an impressive poison resistance as well as poison inside her body. Combined with the spider's poison, it changed her body. The lower body of the woman has completely changed to that of a horrendous big pile of deformed flesh resembling that of a spider. Eight long legs covered in spines and thorns. Her upper body retained her former appearance with pale skin, almost looked like she was being devoured by the flesh underneath.

Yet the woman was not afraid. She may have lost her body and became a gruesome monster but she gained something else. She now had thousands of children and this new body could allow her to breed even more. To her, this was not a curse but a blessing.

And so the woman decided to stay far away from civilisation together with her new children. Using the cave as their nest, the spiders created a large underground tunnel, expanding their family even further. But whatever they did, the woman gave them a strict warning: never venture outside the cave. For she herself was a victim of the cruelty of the world, the woman knew that no one would allow abominations like her and her children to live.

But like every child, their mother's words were not taken seriously. One day a group of spider traveled outside the cave, never to return again. Frightened by what might have happened to them, the woman took her first step outside the cave for the first time since a long ago. Searching everywhere in the forest, she finally found them. Dead, killed by the soldiers of the lord during their patrol.

Holding the morbid corpses of her children, the woman fell into despair. What did they do to deserve this? She only wanted a peaceful life away from the world. She gave them everything she had and now they wanted to take her children too?

Consumed by her madness and hatred, the spider gave a loud but sorrowful shriek, echoing in the entire forest and reached the town. Without any warning, an earthquake took place as the villagers didn't understand what was happening. As the ground collapsed and revealed several dark holes. From it countless number of spiders spawned as the town was ravaged by spiders.

In a single night an entire population disappeared without leaving a trace. And soon, the kingdom of the north fell silent. No news came from it. Many messengers and even armies were sent to unveil the mystery but none has ever returned to tell the tale.

Even until now, whenever travelers came close to the border of the old kingdom, they could the scratching down under the ground beneath them.

- Tale of the Spider Queen- By Arshe the Wanderer