[LETTR] The Spider Prince and the Grifix

In the Divided Camp, Helpers had noticed that their Forsaken were going missing. They first thought it was natural, that the Forsaken had just wandered off and never found their way back...but it soon enough wasn't making sense.

Forsaken that couldn't move, cubs, and the elderly were also going missing, and it was happening at a rapid rate. They didn't know what was going on, this was not natural. They asked the Forsaken if they saw anything, but many did not have good vision and those that could see spoke of a large black shadow with hundreds of legs taking the weak away. That didn't sound right...no monsters can find their way inside the camp.

They asked helped from a group of the strongest Stable Grifix to watch over the Forsaken at night to possibly catch whatever was the cause of their disappearances. 

The hours passed, the night was long, and nothing seemed to be happening. Most of the Stable Grifix had fallen asleep except for one, that one was on the edge of sleeping themselves when they heard something..

Scratching..

Skittering..

Hundreds of legs quietly tap-tapping on the ground..

And then a quite gasp-

Their eyes flew wide open and they stood to attention, gaze snapping around the cave. They froze instantly when they spotted it. 

Over the body of a Forsaken was a giant black shape, its body was segmented and long black hair covered it entirely, long enough that it was draping on the ground. It held up the Forsaken in the air with four crooked legs, but it had about a hundred more underneath it. Twenty beady eyes stared at the forsaken and it opened its jaws, where the Stable Grifix shuddered from the overwhelming amount of sharp teeth. The beast shifted its stance and before the Forsaken could try to scream- it was covered head to toe with webs. The Stable Grifix shook their head, now was not time to stare! 

"HEY!", they shouted as loud as they could to catch the attention of the beast and everyone else in the cave, and it worked. The beast turned its head and glowered at them. The other Stable Grifix woke up and let out yelps of surprise when they spotted the monster. "KILL IT!", the Stable Grifix yelled and charged at the monster with a sharp rock. The monster let out a nasty hiss and when the grifix got close it smacked them with its legs hard, sending them flying through the air. They hit the cave wall with a sickening crack, then went still. The other Stable grifix stared, shocked, but it didn't last long. They had to defend the Forsaken and kill this beast. 

They charged at the beast and their numbers seem to be an advantage as they managed to injure it. The beast fought back and they seemed to be winning with their speed and numbers, however the monster still proved too much. It shot them with its webs and trapped them, then stomped on them and killed them. The Forsaken in the caves began panicking and screaming which alerted the rest of the camp. More grifix ran into the cave and spotted the monster and immediately got into combat with it, many grifix got injured and many died but in the end they manage to drive it off. 

Heavily injured the monster shrieked and scampered off back deeper into the cave system, and the grifix could relax...for now. They tended to their injured and buried the dead, then went to the chief to talk. 

"We managed to injure it heavily, but we did not kill it", one said. "It could recover and come back"

"With the massacre it caused, I doubt we can keep fighting it every few weeks", another noted. 

"Can't we go after it and kill it in its home?", one asked.

"No, we do not know the caves that well, its just asking for trouble and a drain on resources", the Chief answered. "There must be another way..why was it taking our Forsaken?", they asked the gathering.

"To eat them?"

"Probably"

"It was taking the weakest, it was likely eating them"

"I don't think it was eating them...", the gathering turned to look at the grifix who had said that, a beautiful Helper Grifix mare. She had a frown on her face and seemed to be putting pieces together. "All the Grifix it had been taking..they were the weakest yes, but they were beautiful.", she said, then her frown lessened. "I think it was looking for company, but they keep dying"

"Company?"

"Why would it want that? It's a monster."

"The monster wants a mate? Gross"

"Enough, all of you", the Chief interrupted, then looked back at the Helper Grifix. "What do you suppose we do?", they asked, their expression was expectant. The Helper stood up straighter.

"I will be its companion, send me.", she offered bravely, though inside she was terrified. The Chief frowned, hesitant.

"How do you know it will stop coming back if we give up one of our own?", they asked.

"I don't.", she replied simply. "I just know we don't have many other options"

The Chief sighed, they were still hesitant..but they did not want to lose more of their own. The life of one is miniscule to the lives of many. They nodded silently and waved at the gathering to leave before turning back to the Helper. 

"Your sacrifice will be remembered..."

The Helper smiled sadly, then turned and left, going towards the Forsaken caves and disappearing into the cave systems.

No one knows what happened to them, but the spider monster never returned. Rumours spread that the creature indeed wanted company, as after that mutations in the divided popped up where they had extra limbs. The rumours are that those born with extra limbs are the children of the Spider Prince and the Helper Grifix.