To her credit, the carnivean did not scream or even wiggle. It made Arachne’s job far easier.
After a scant few seconds that hopefully felt like forever to the carnivean, Arachne felt her finger cut away at enough connecting material. The glow in the eye dimmed as it started flopping freely around the demon’s eye socket.
Arachne tried to gently nudge it out of the socket. It wasn’t working. Too much resistance.
So, other eye first.
Arachne carefully withdrew her finger and positioned it in front of the carnivean’s other eye. She repeated the action of severing the eye from the demon.
“Excellent job,” Arachne said. “Still need to get the eyes out. Keep holding still for just a moment.”
The demon didn’t respond. Had her eyes not been rolled back in her head at the moment, she might have tried an intimidating glare.
As it was, Arachne had to suppress another bought of laughter.
She started cutting away bone and skin. Far less carefully.
Once the hole was wide enough for the eyes fit through with plenty of extra space, Arachne tipped the demon’s head forwards. Both eyes rolled out onto her waiting palm.
It wasn’t often that Arachne needed pockets. If she needed something carried, she would simply bring a bag. With no bag and a whole arm missing, Arachne found herself suddenly in need of them now.
She popped both eyes into her mouth, taking care to avoid biting, crushing, or accidentally swallowing them.
“You have them right? Let me go. That was our agreement.”
Arachne’s hand jutted forwards and gripped the carnivean’s face. Two fingers went through each eye socket. She shoved her thumb down the demon’s throat.
The screams were music to Arachne’s ears.
Holding her head like a bowling ball, Arachne closed her grip.
The carnivean’s face crushed to a pulp beneath her might.
Without her hand as support, the little tentacle monster collapsed to the ground. The pulpy mess of her face squished beneath one of Arachne’s legs.
The remains of the carnivean dissolved into the ground.
Arachne spat the eyes back into her hand. She almost swallowed them as she tried to laugh. The mouth was clearly a terrible storage spot.
“Ah, sorry. I lied.”
Eyes safely in her hand, Arachne threw her head back and laughed.
As the last of her glee slowly left her system, Arachne remembered her missing master.
But first, time to find some containers.
Arachne returned to her human form as she moved to the kitchen. She kept all her remaining legs extended, but walking around as a human inside a human habitation was far more convenient. She could destroy more walls in her full size, but the building might not hold up long enough.
She just needed to find a hard sided container that wasn’t too melted. Most seemed to be resistant to heat. She dropped the eyes in the first one she found.
Lids seemed harder to find, but Arachne didn’t need it to be perfect. The one she chose didn’t snap shut, but it was close enough.
Eyes safely tucked in the crook of her damaged arm, Arachne headed out of the kitchen to find her absent master.
Arachne stepped out of the husk of a home. The first thing to catch her eye was the narrow pillar of fire stretching towards the clouds. Despite its height, it failed to waver in the light breeze. No part of it so much as burned the grass of the yard.
That did not stop it from putting out enough heat for Arachne to feel mildly uncomfortable in its presence.
It took Arachne a moment to tear her eyes towards the small bubble just a few steps away. Her master–
Blood spilled from her mouth. Her own dagger stuck straight out of her chest.
Arachne had to fight to stop herself from running straight to Eva’s side.
The jezebeth was still missing.
No. What was in front of Arachne was the truth. At most there would be spatial shifts.
But the jezebeth wasn’t visible. Not unless it was around the opposite side of the flames.
It hadn’t run away. Arachne could still sense the demon somewhere around. Somewhere in the direction of the flame and her Eva.
Arachne set the eye container on the ground, hopefully far enough from the building that it wouldn’t come to harm if the building collapsed.
Nothing could be trusted. Sight, smell, sound, touch, taste. Everything was compromised or would be soon enough. The longer she spent in the presence of the jezebeth, the more it could affect her personally.
