"Miss Melusine, you need to run! Head for the door and don't look back!" Baugulf shouted, his sword brandished and at the ready. Searching for any sign of their disappearing attacker's next move, the knight's focus darted about room.

Up until the moment her body lurched to her left, Melusine had remained frozen in terror. She ducked out of the way of another attack, this time from out of the floor. It felt around like it was searching for something it had hid in a ceiling, its palm smacking at the stone. She snatched up the burlap package and desperately squeezed it to her chest. The monster slithered its arm back into its interdimensional hiding place, then reached out from the air itself this time to grab at her in a deadly embrace. It stuck out its whole arms, the shoulders poking out from the space above Melusine's head again. Tufts of cowlicked fur stood on end along the shoulder blades, wrists, and elbows. Its fingers brushed against the floor, claws scratching, its arms closed around nothing. A terrible yowl echoed around them as the uncannily long arms wriggled back into the darkness.

Melusine was shoved towards the door, Baugulf's eyes narrowed and glinting. "I said to run! It's a Wolf-Spider, I can't fight it while protecting you!"

Melusine yelped and stumbled forward, but the push was enough to send her into flight mode. She dashed for the door, only to skid to a stop when their attacker crawled into her path, emerging completely out of the night.

It walked on all four unnaturally long limbs, its legs bent backwards like a canine's. Its shoulders stood at a head and a half taller than Melusine. Two long ears stood at attention, longer in length than its wolfish snout. Rows of sharp teeth reminded Melusine of the dragon. The image of its fangs glinting in the dank cavern was still fresh in her mind six months later. It turned its head so most of its eight ocular organs were focused on Melusine. Two pairs of side-facing pitch-black eyes—one pair a few inches above the other— blinked in unison, then another double pair of forward-facing eyes followed. It was completely covered in short black fur, and a prehensile tail like a monkey's gripped onto one of the bench arms. Its torso was pear-shaped, with a wide ribcage and a small waist, giving the wretched monster an eternally starved appearance.

"Oh no," Melusine muttered under her breath. Her skin grew clammy and cold, her breath felt like fire in her lungs, and her legs trembled.

There was a story her mother used to tell her when she was a young child, about a snow-white Wolf-Spider that lived in the Dragon's Labyrinth. The older she got, the more horrific the story would become. It would come crawling out of its hole to attack naughty misbehaving children. Limbs spindly enough to scurry across the ground like a real spider, and long enough to snatch children from their beds through the window. Fangs and venom that would melt human insides, allowing the Wolf-Spider to drink the resulting liquid from its victims' necks.

By adulthood, Melusine was able to understand that Wolf-Spiders were not naturally occurring creatures. A Wolf-Spider was a human who had been so full of hatred and committed such vile actions that they became cursed with the Spider's Kiss. The mark of which would go unnoticed by the victim until the buildup of negative emotions sent the curse into overdrive. The person would become a monster, unable to recall who they were, what they might've loved, and only knew to feed and avoid daylight.

"How many times do I have to tell you to run?!" Baugulf kicked Melusine square in the buttock, sending her stumbling forward again. He raced past her and towards the creature, sword raised. Unfortunately, the Wolf-Spider simply phased in and out of the darkness. Whatever realm or space existed beyond the visible borders; the Wolf-Spider reigned supreme.

Mel made a second attempt to dart out of the church, giving the area of combat a wide berth. She dodged and ducked around the lunging monster every time it leapt in and out of shadow.

"It's only after me?!" She exclaimed in growing horror. She heard Baugulf curse and the clanging of metal against stone as she barreled out of the chapel.

Once she made it outside, a stone bench crashed against the door, dust and rubble crumbling to the ground. Fear sent Melusine's lungs into overdrive, not physical exertion. "Am I being used as bait?" She wondered to herself, peering side to side to assess her options as quickly as possible.

If she ran across the road to the river, she'd put the coachman and the horses in danger. If she traveled by the road, she'd have room to evade attacks, but no chance of finding something to defend herself with.

Mel turned and took off along the eastern wall of the chapel, deeper into the forest. Baugulf's profanity and the clangs of combat passed her by from inside. Melusine noted that her knight escort had a surprising potty mouth when he was in his element. She crashed through the forest, pushing aside branches and ignoring the sticky spiderwebs that somehow always managed to be level with her face. She almost collided face first into the remains of a wooden structure, forcing her to skid to a stop.

It was a building, perhaps a town hall, inn, or other social center. It was in the same disrepair as the church, hopelessly beyond repair. Melusine found a window, swept away the broken bits of glass with her sleeve, and then crawled through. She took a moment to breathe, keeping her ears open for any noise and certainly listening to her sixth sense.

Unable to help her curiosity from being peaked, Melusine wandered around the decrepit room. It was either a guild hall or an inn like Melusine had originally guessed. Chairs were left empty near round tables of various sizes. Like the chapel, most of the furniture was arranged in complete disarray, toppled over and scattered. The majority were in a pile by the exit. A few boards were broken in half and hung loose from the doorframe. She trailed a finger along a counter, and rubbed the thick layer of grime between her fingers like she was sprinkling fairy dust. She wiped a spot on the wood surface with her arm, then placed her tunic down on the cleaned patch. The decorations on the walls were so coated in dust that gleaning any knowledge from them was impossible. A coat of arms was the only thing that had avoided enough filth for Melusine to examine. A yellow crown was front and center on the shield, a silver and gold sword placed in the circlet. Four diamonds made points for a frame decorated with branches. Mel didn't know much, but she could recognize a coat of arms when she saw one. However, she couldn't identify the one in front of her.

When the youth rounded the counter and peered behind, she gasped. A mummified corpse, its skin greyed and withered, lay atop two smaller human remains. The adult wore men's clothing, and a pin matching the crest on the wall still faintly glimmered on the chest. The two smaller ones wore a dress and a tunic, and a few blonde hairs remained on their little heads. The man lay on his back, pinning the children beneath him, his arms spread at his sides. Near his right hand was a longsword tucked against the bottom of the counter. The cruciform hilt was bound in leather, and same with the sheathe. She picked it up, surprised how light it felt in her grip. She heaved a sigh at her strange strength, unsheathed the sword, and gave the weapon a few test swings for fun.

"Hm... It's not bad," Melusine remarked. Her ears pricked from the faintest of rustling and snapping of electricity from behind her.

Evading another sneak attack, she leapt forward. She spun around with a scream that was trying to be fearsome, but was honestly an outlet for her own terror. Face to face with the fearsome creature of her childhood nightmares once more, Melusine tried to mimic how she'd seen Baugulf brandish his sword. Only, as she quickly came to find out, a longsword was readied for combat in an entirely different way to a short sword.

The Wolf-Spider rushed forward with a screech, and it knocked the tip of her weapon down with one strike. It reached for Melusine, claws grasping at her face. She yanked the sword up at its arms, but only managed to bat them away. She hopped backwards a few steps and gripped tightly onto the sword hilt with both hands.

The Wolf-Spider snorted, howled, and hopped on its feet in frustration. It pounded its fists on the ground, claws leaving scratches in the old rickety wood. It lunged at her again, toothy maw wide open. Two fangs were longer than the others and dripped with a yellow liquid.

Melusine screamed in abject terror, and swung the sword like it was a bat, one foot lifted off the ground to keep her balance. The blade's tip struck the creature's face, leaving a shallow cut on its cheekbone. Yellow-white blood seeped out from the breach, oily and viscous.

It whimpered and rubbed its wound against its shoulder, leaving the tufts of black fur wet and smudged with the sickly cream-colored lifeblood. The Wolf-Spider's whimper rolled into a growl as it turned its two forward-facing eyes back onto Melusine. It roared and lunged, spittle flying into the teenager's face.

Melusine flinched, then swung the sword up, grazing the monster's chest. It retreated into the shadow of a flipped over table. Melusine brandished the sword again, trying to find a balance before ultimately keeping it lowered at her side.

She stepped to her left and allowed her arms to move at the discretion of the dragon's gift. Her sword was raised above her head and brought down on the Wolf-Spider's outstretched arms. The force of her strike was so hard that the tip ricocheted off the floor and bashed into the Wolf-Spider again. The monster's blood squirted onto her face, forearm cut clean through the bone and out the other side. The blood smelled acrid, like a tub of lard that had been warmed in the sun and poured into a pot of vinegar.

The Wolf-Spider's screech was piercing. Melusine took in a deep breath as she lifted the sword to her side, then let it out in a puff when she swung at the monster's neck. It stumbled back, its now single arm swiping at the bar. A few claws snagged on the burlap protecting her mother's gift, and when the parcel was freed, it slid a few centimeters on the dust-covered surface. Slits were carved into the rough fabric. Melusine could swear that she thought she saw a few rips in the tunic itself.

The world stopped for Melusine. Her eyes went as wide as saucers, her lungs pushed out a short breath. She raised her sword high again and rushed at the Wolf-Spider. She came swinging in all directions, her aim in wide but vicious arcs. Melusine's vision went red, just like the moment she realized her mother was sending her away. She lost track of time, track of how often she attacked the Wolf-Spider, track of what exactly she did.

It tried to crawl away from her at some point, by then forced on its knees, but the teenager only continued to hack and slash down onto it. Its dying scream came when Melusine chopped its thin waist to the point where it was split in half. Melusine stood over its body, her breathing heavy, and a lock of hair hanging in front of her right eye.

"Miss Melusine?"

Melusine flinched and raised her sword, swinging it in the direction of the intruder. She froze just in time to recognize her blonde, slightly idiotic, but kind knight escort. Baugulf held up his hands when the filthy and rusted sword was leveled at his face. "Melusine... it's dead. You are... safe now." His voice softened, and he slowly reached out to place his hand on top of hers, having to step out of the way of the blade to do so. Her pushed her sword arm down so the tip of her weapon clinked against one of the monster's dismembered claws. She was now able to pant in relief and not adrenaline. Her eyes stung, and she started to wipe the tears away, but Baugulf gripped onto her hand again. "It's dirty. Don't," he whispered.