Step back in fear

You step back, startled as you hold your hand out and look afraid of it. You didn't want some kind of pet, especially not something that looked so creepy.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you." Sotha Sil reassures you, chuckling a little at your reaction.

You reluctantly take a step closer, letting Arachno crawl onto your hand. He is surprisingly light and his legs tickle a little as he moves. You raise your hand up to get a better look at him and he chitters at you, his little beady eyes seeming to stare into your soul.

"What does he do?" You ask, still not sure if you're comfortable with this new addition.

"He will be your companion and protector. I have imbued him with magic so that he can understand and obey your commands."

You look at Sotha Sil, not sure if you believe him. You had never been good with magic, let alone commanding it. "I don't know how to do that." You say, shaking your head.

He smiles, "That's okay, I'll teach you. It's not difficult once you get the hang of it. Now, let's start with something simple. Arachno, crawl up my arm."

The little spider immediately obeys and you watch in amazement as it scuttles up Sotha Sil's arm to his shoulder.

"See? It's easy." He says, chuckling a little at your astonished expression.

You try to command Arachno yourself, but nothing happens. You furrow your brow in frustration, not sure why it isn't working for you.

Sotha Sil comes over and places his hand on yours, "Calm down, it takes a little practice. Just relax and let the magic flow through you."

You take a deep breath and try again, this time feeling a tingling sensation in your hand as the spider obeys your command. A smile spreads across your face as you realize that you're actually controlling magic.

"Now, let's try something a little more difficult." Sotha Sil says, leading you out of the room.

You follow him, still feeling a little amazed at what you can do. You wonder what else you'll be able to do with this new found power and, for a moment, you forget you are even a prisoner, instead finding yourself in awe of the god who seemed to have taken an interest in you.

Sotha Sil leads you to a room that looks like some kind of laboratory and tells you to wait there while he fetches something. You look around, wondering what kind of experiments he could be doing in a place like this.

A few minutes later he returns with a small animal in his hand. It looks like a rat but it has six legs and two tails. You step back, not sure what he plans to do with it.

He chuckles at your reaction, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt it. I just need to test something."

He places the rat on the ground and backs away, telling you to watch. You see the rat start to twitch and then it suddenly doubles in size. You gasp as you see that it now has the head of a snake.

The rat-snake creature hisses at you and you take a step back, not sure what to do. Sotha Sil puts a hand on your back to prevent you from moving away.

You feel your knees shaking as you look at it, but Sotha Sil appears unfazed as he motions to your new guardian. "Arachno, subdue it."

The little spider immediately springs into action, scuttling towards the rat-snake and quickly darting around it and covering the rat in a thick cocoon of webbing.

You look at your master in disbelief. You had never seen anything like this before and it was a little unsettling. Sotha Sil sees the look on your face and his amusement fades a little.

"I'm sorry if I upset you. I should have warned you that my experiments can be a little... disturbing." He says, looking apologetic.

You shake your head, "It's okay. I'm just not used to seeing things like that."