A spiderling nursery

Teysa's eyes fluttered open. She was somewhere new... a wide cave with a low ceiling. The floor was heavily webbed, the walls likewise, so only a few clear spots showed that she was still in a cave and not in a giant cocoon. She looked around. This room was lit by glass jars, not fungus. They let off a dim glow, barely enough to see to the other side of the room. Curiously, Teysa peered inside the nearest one. There was some kind of grub in there that wiggled slowly. Light emitted from its bulbous body.

The whole experience was odd. The light was dim but had a warm edge that the cool, sterile glow from the fungus had not. Teysa took stock of herself. Her pussy felt swollen and bruised. Remembering the birth made her wince. Looking down, she saw it wasn't as bad as it felt; it was definitely red and swollen, but she looked intact. Her stomach was flat again, and her breasts hung heavily over it. They had never been small-- she estimated she had been a 34D before this had started-- but now they were pendulous and heavy, each seven or eight inches across. Her engorged nipples glistened with droplets of milk.

The sight of those droplets made Teysa realize how hungry she was. She licked her lips, remembering the ambrosia that she had been fed with while hung on the wall. The strangeness of taking her meals directly from a giant spider-woman's breast had long ago worn off. For the first time in ages, Teysa felt free. Granted, she was still a prisoner, but at least she wasn't trapped in a wobbling, bloated body filled with eggs. The idea that some worse fate awaited her didn't occur. She would take things one day at a time.

There was no sign of Kyrness. Teysa was alone in this cave. She took her feet unsteadily. Standing up induced a wave of vertigo, and she leaned against a wall until it passed. The ceiling was barely tall enough for her to stand. Teysa's legs felt wobbly. She hadn't walked on them for... what? Weeks? Months? No more than a couple of months, surely. Keeping track of time was difficult.

A small noise from the corner drew her attention. Skittering across the floor was a small round shape. She knelt and leaned closer. It was a spider, identical to the ones she had just birthed. This wasn't one of hers, though. She had no idea how she could tell. It just wasn't. Looking around, Teysa saw that there were more spiders climbing the walls and moving across the floor. A few were starting to spin webs, but they were small and wispy things. There, a couple of feet away, one with a yellow pattern was patiently stringing strands of silk between the floor and a loose stone. Teysa watched fascinated. The spider moved laboriously, spinning out silk an inch at a time. The paladin found herself rooting for this little one. When one strand finished she felt like cheering.

How absurd, she thought. What am I doing? She looked down and felt an odd sensation in her chest. There was no mistaking it. She knew, on some level, that this spider was her child.

Acting on impulse she reached out and put her hand next to the spider. It immediately stopped what it was doing and crawled onto her palm. It stood there patiently while she picked it up and admired it closely. The spiderling was about four inches across at its widest point, with a massive spherical abdomen but a tiny thorax. Its head bristled with eyes that seemed to follow Teysa's movements. It had eight delicate legs, and Teysa marveled at their intricate joints and the filigree pattern of yellow along its back. She held the spider to her breast and it clambered obediently onto her. There was only the slightest pinch as its mandibles gripped her nipple. She felt her milk flowing, nurturing her child. My child. This is my child. It was surreal but absolutely undeniable.

The webs covering one wall parted to reveal a cunningly hidden passageway. Through it came a drider-- not the large one who had impregnated Teysa and helped in her delivery, but a smaller one. She had smaller breasts, youthful features and shorter hair done up in a braid, but the eyes were the same glossy black. This drider opened its mouth, revealing the same needle teeth. She hissed something in that sibilant voice. Teysa shook her head uncomprehendingly. She couldn't even make out individual words in that mess, let alone understand them.

Frustration twisted the drider's features. She held up both hands and, swaying back and forth, chanted something. Teysa looked on hypnotized. As the drider's incantation faded she twisted her fingers in a complex pattern that seemed to involve at least two fingers passing through each other. Teysa felt suddenly lightheaded and foggy. She shook her head to clear it, and when she looked at the drider again, the spider-woman spoke.

{you understand?}

To her shock, Teysa did. She wasn't sure how-- the words came in the same hiss-- but somewhere between her ears and her brain they arranged themselves into something she could decipher. She nodded hurriedly.

{your clutch is borne. your children thrive. the warren honors your sacrifice/labor/gift}

Teysa blinked in confusion. Meaning came in flashes that were less like words and more like impressions. Some came through clearer than others. The drider ignored her bewilderment.

{you will be allowed to tend your children/wards/spawn. this is the creche. your needs will be seen to. do you understand?}

Teysa nodded. "I am domuus, right? Clutchmother? What do I do? What am I supposed to give my children?"

{love} replied the drider. {you are clutchmother. you are honored/envied/beloved. the warren sings your praises.} She paused. {are you hungry?}

Teysa was. She was starving. The birth had taken a lot out of her. She nodded. The drider, understanding, held up one of her breasts invitingly. She crawled towards Teysa, ducking her head to avoid the low ceiling. Teysa carefully put down the spider she held and almost lunged forward, wrapping her lips around the drider's nipple. This one's breasts were smaller, though still as large as Teysa's head, and the ambrosia flowed more slowly. It didn't matter. Teysa suckled greedily. The ambrosia filled her mouth and she coughed but didn't slow down. Finally she pulled away, her stomach full to bursting. Ambrosia dripped down her cheeks and Teysa let out a happy little belch. Even that tasted good.

She remained in the nursery. The spiderlings flocked to her and she showered them with love, praising their successes and excusing their failures. They learned to hunt, to spin, and to follow the driders in the rites of the warren. They were intelligent creatures, and curious, and Teysa told them of her life before: the surface, the sun, the adventures she had shared with her friends. If the driders disapproved of this they never said anything. Periodically, one would come to feed her and bring her news of the world outside, or any small luxuries she requested. Teysa was allowed to wander the caves but she preferred to stay with her children. They needed her, as much as her companions ever had.

In time the matron herself came before Teysa to ask her to bear another clutch. Teysa had expected this day, but she hadn't expected to be asked. To her surprise, she found herself agreeing. It would be her pleasure, she said, to help grow the warren. As the ovipositor slid into her womb she shuddered with pleasure. As her belly rose she imagined the feeling of bringing new lives into the world and nurturing them. And as she crawled, exhausted, back to her sleeping nook in the nursery she laid a protective arm across her engorged stomach. Her children pulled a blanket of webs over her as she drifted off to sleep, a faint smile playing across her face, dreaming of jointed legs, delicate spinnerets and eyes glittering in the darkness.

GAME OVER