The silence that followed us out of the Dryads' domain was different. Heavier. Before, it had been a natural forest quiet, a peaceful absence of noise. Now, it was a man-made void, a pressure-filled space where words should have been. He was walking a few feet ahead of me, a stiff, rigid line of fury. The muscles in his back were bunched, tight knots of restrained violence. I could feel it rolling off him in waves.
I've been thinking about how nice he looked for three days straight. I think that's long enough for me to notice a change.
Even if I'd really have rather not.
At least my head was clear enough to notice it.
Angus, sensing the volatile atmosphere, had taken to flying a good twenty feet above us, a tiny pink speck against the green canopy. He hadn't sent a single thought-bubble since we'd left the crater. Apparently, even he didn't have any useful tips for dealing with an infuriated demon king plotting to kill you when the weapon you're supposed to be using to defeat a demon king is itself a demon king.
Well, at a minimum, with him so high up in the sky at least it means he can be a lookout on some level.
Not much of one, probably, given we're still in the woods and any view he had up there had to be obscured by the trees, but it was something.
I was getting tired of watching the back of his head. His muscles were too tense and the anger was too palpable. It wasn't even fun anymore.
So I started watching my feet.
One foot in front of the other, carefully avoiding the roots that still made the forest floor treacherous. It was a simple, mindless task, and it kept my brain from spiraling into a pit of existential dread. The moss was soft under my boots, a welcome change from the sucking mud of the swamp. The air smelled clean, of pine and damp earth. For a moment, I could almost pretend I was on a normal, miserable hike, not a suicide mission with a beautiful, homicidal maniac.
The forest had finally thinned. The towering silver-barked trees gave way to more familiar, gnarled oaks and maples. The light grew brighter, the dappled green replaced by the harsh, direct glare of the afternoon sun. We were out of the Dryads' domain. We were back in the normal world. Or whatever passed for normal here.
The demon king stopped. He stopped so suddenly I almost walked into him again. I managed to stop myself, my boots skidding on a patch of loose dirt.
The last thing I needed was a face full of his back.
Even if at least twenty percent of my mind was convinced otherwise. I really need to get that under control.
I looked past him, my eyes following his gaze. The path ahead was blocked. Not by a wall of living wood, but by a thick, sticky-looking web. It stretched between two massive oak trees, shimmering in the sunlight like a curtain of greasy silk. It was coated in dew, or maybe something else, something that glistened with an unhealthy, iridescent sheen. The air around it smelled of decay and old iron.
"Don't touch it," the demon king said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. It was the first thing he'd said to me in hours. "I'll be tempted to let the Shadow Spider devour you."
...First, Shadow Spider. That is an awful name and the very concept of it by its word made me shiver in disgust.
Second, why did he even know these things? He was not from this world. Was he...? Well. Of course he wasn't a demon lieutenant or whatever. He called himself a whole demon king. But he was some kind of supernatural being. Did that mean he could just...sense these things? He didn't have the same senses I did. Or Angus did.
Maybe demons just knew each other like that.
I shivered again, this time for a very different reason. The man was dangerous enough without him being some kind of...monster ally. Or...
Hybrid monster human.
Well, it didn't matter. I couldn't expect him to give me a straight answer if I tried to get any from him.
"Charming," I muttered, taking a step back. The silk was so thick I couldn't see what was on the other side of the path. "Does the Shadow Spider have a good personality? At least?"
"It is a mindless creature of shadow and hunger. Its only personality trait is the pleasant crunch its prey makes when it bites them in half." The demon king turned to look at me, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across his face. "If you wish to test its conversational skills, I would not stop you."
[Shadow Spider! 😨] Angus's text box appeared, proving two things - that he still could do those weird little private messages, and that he was having trouble seeing anything through the trees.
It could be he saw one skittering about, which just....
We even more unsettling, even if neither of us had touched the material of the webbing to alert the bug to our position.
I could already imagine its too-many legs skittering towards us.
I shivered again. The demon king's smile widened. "Oh? Has the endless, vapid chatter of yours finally failed you?" He gestured towards the web, a graceful, almost lazy motion. "Well. Your wish to remain silent would please me greatly. Go on."
"I've been quiet for a while. If you really appreciate it, you'd think you'd have noticed." I retorted, but I didn't move closer. The webbing seemed to pulse, a slow, rhythmic beat that made my stomach clench.
"I have been trying to ignore you." The Demon King said, taking a slow, deliberate step towards the web. "Acknowledging your efforts would have been counter-productive."
"It's a good thing I didn't ever ask for your acknowledgment."
"Yet you seek it all the same."