Side story Voras

Voras was confused. Annoyed and confused.

The reason for this was Tilty. The Fawn was obviously the villain in Zeldi's story that much was obvious but her being a Livestock was not making sense to the Arachnid.

She wanted desperately to say she was an outlier, something that shouldn't happen or follow the trends of the deeds and Livestock but then she would also be admitting Clovek was as well.

Clovek.

Voras would have growled out loud if she wasn't trying to be stealthy right now.

The human was simple. She saw his way of thinking as easily as she could see her silk webs, but that was what made him strange. Not because she disliked what she saw but because it was everything she expected in a good Deed owner. That scared her more than anything, someone who acted like they were ment too.

The annoyance came from not wanting him to be an outlier. If he was normal and there were others like him then there was also other Livestock like Tilty. That was something Voras dispised more than anything. Someone in the same position she was in but instead of banding together they think themselves above other Livestock and want to break them.

So she couldn't justify Clovek being anything but an outlier without admitting that Livestock could also be the monsters she watched every other Deed owner become.

Her thoughts went back to the four other deeds she'd stolen and sent the Livestock she'd freed to. They were all owned by Livestock as the Deed owners and Voras had thought that was best. Now she wanted to check them all, make sure she was still right.

A task that was impossible due to her new position unless she allowed Clovek to know where they were. If she did that the one in charge of giving him quests would definitely provide a reward that teleported him there.

She couldn't risk that. Not till she made sure it wasn't all an act.

Instead she was silently watching a space just outside the boundary of the farm, her mind in a quiet turmoil as she waited.

While she still didn't fully understand what she was going to do about Clovek apart from watch him and Tilty was already being punished in a very calm way compared to what she would have done. There was something that was completely black and white. An outside threat trying to attack the farm.

That Voras knew without a shadow of a doubt. And she also knew how to deal with it.

She was positioned in the trees with a silken covering that allowed her to camouflage in with the leaves. It offered less protection than her rainbow one but with the lands protection that one wasn't needed.

In front of her trying really hard to whisper was the kobolds Clovek had said he was happy for her to kill.

The hooded figures were all talking in hushed whispers while looking at the boundary line, something that Voras guessed they'd done a lot. Their probing to try and get into Clovek's land had proven unsuccessful in many attempts and the new increase in size was providing them a problem.

Voras's favorite attempt had been when they threw a teleportation stone inside the boundary line and had used its partner stone to teleport a single one of them. It had worked but only for a second as trespassing had still activated, dragging the kobold back to the other side.

The stone had remained where it was thrown after that with the only difference being that Voras had subtly set a trap that would snag the next one to try. She wanted to test if her silk was stronger than the quest reward as when she had gotten it she'd never used it. Something stupid enough to enter her territory received her venom and was added to her food storage.

But no matter how much she waited the kobolds that came and went from this spot were all male. This Maletary was not with them.

There was also the fact she didn't understand kobold speech. Something that being a Wanderer would have solved as they could understand and read all languages. Or a quest reward.

The kobolds broke up again leaving two behind while the rest split up to see if there were any weak points anywhere else in the boundary line. It presented the perfect opportunity for Voras to enact her plan.

She crept closer, making sure her legs found purchase but didn't disturb the leaves and alert the two to her presence. The one on the left had the teleportation stone and with it he had just signed the unknown contract that allowed him to live... For a bit longer.

It would activate if he touched it with his bare skin and since he was wearing gloves it only left his face visible. So all she needed to do was move it from his pocket to his face from up in the trees without being able to leave the property line. All the while she needed to remove the other one as she only needed one.

Add the fact she needed to be quick and quiet so the others that had split off didn't realize, and come back to investigate.

Unfortunately for the kobolds Voras was incredibly good at silk traps. All it took was a few extra loops and everything was set.

"You boys wouldn't happen to be interested in a night with me now would you?" With the majority of her spider half hidden it was an easy enough distraction that had the kobolds looking her way.

The one with the stone stepped forward his eyes so obviously ogling Voras's chest only for his foot to get caught and yanked. He didn't get time to shout before a gag settled over his mouth and his head hit the ground. It gave Voras precious time before he recovered from being stunned.

The second kobold was quick to realize his friend was down and threw a shard of metal at Voras's face before jumping for the silken thread that was pulling his friend towards the boundary line. This put him right in the second trap Voras had spun.

Unlike his partner this one wasn't ment to capture. With a silent snap, a single strand of silk cut through the air with enough speed it separated the kobolds head from his shoulders.

Voras acted quickly by using her thread as a fishing rod to reel in the fresh corps before the blood could coat the ground too much. Once in her possession she sealed the neck to keep as much of its fluid contained before returning her attention to the one with the stone.

Unlike his partner Voras reeled this one in slowly making sure he was awake and aware of what was coming. Her mouth dripping venom in what she hoped was a frightening display.

Just like she had hoped, his pocket had opened revealing the teleportation stone and after trying to free himself to no avail his eyes found the stone.

This time instead of acting Voras couldn't hide the smile as he grabbed the rock and pressed it to his face. His body vanished leaving only his clothes, a small dagger he'd been trying to use to cut her silk and the rock itself.

With a snap of silk and a lot of tension, Voras turned around to find her trap holding... Somewhat.

The now naked kobold was stuck to a tree by her silk as the boundary line tried desperately to pull him back to the other side. It was doing a remarkable job as the tree had been picked specifically because Voras knew it had deep roots, but was still groaning as it was being pulled out.

The kobold wouldn't last that long unfortunately as without the ability for the boundary line to pull him to either side of the tree it was crushing him against its bark.

Voras tisked under her breath as the kobolds head gave a crunch before he went still. The boundary having realized it was dead and thus no longer was required to remove it stopped pulling. The new corps slouched forward.

Not to leave it for long Voras bound it completely in a silken cocoon before injecting enough digestive enzymes to break it into a meal. The headless one gained its own cocoon as well and both were left hanging till they were ready.

Once her meal preparation was complete Voras gave the tree a once over. Her plan had been to capture one of the creatures alive to question, on the farm itself as it was her only way of properly interacting with them. Unfortunately trespassing was going to be a bit of a problem with that plan. Instead she had gained dinner.

Not completely useless.

The blood on the ground was going to be a problem and the others would be aware that they were being ambushed. It would mean they would move their conversations to a different part of the boundary and Voras would have to find it again. Instead she was gone to ambush each team before they returned.

She moved silently among the trees stopping once she had judged it far enough along before spinning more thread for her traps. Voras wasn't trying to capture any of them alive this time so it was a much simpler design.

Once set up she got into position and waited for the next group to walk past.

It got her thinking more about Clovek and Tilty. Voras's eye twitched with a phantom pain that was fully in her mind.

She would need to check the other Deeds, the spider woman thought. Just to prove to herself she had done the right thing even if it ment trusting Clovek.

She could do it with one to start off with. Just to make sure he wouldn't do anything uncouth and she had just the one in mind.