Her breasts

Her breasts were two balls of agony. The pain gradually receded from elsewhere on her body, leaving only a numb ache. She gritted her teeth against the pain and rolled onto her back. Her skin burned-- she felt like she was cooking alive. Feverishly she ripped off her robe and lay naked against the cool stone. Still her temperature rose. She imagined she could smell her flesh cooking.

Pain suddenly built up in her hips, coming so rapidly that she gasped in shock. It built rapidly to a climax. With a roar, she felt something inside her tear. She refused to look down for fear of what she would see. Something catastrophic was happening to her body, an ongoing process that she was helpless to stop. The ground pressed uncomfortably against her back, so she rolled over onto her side. Looking down, she caught a glimpse of herself and almost screamed.

Her legs had shriveled-- they looked like burned remains, thin and black. Six extra legs had erupted from her hips, and even as she watched they stretched and grew. Her flesh ran like wax. Her skin was darkening to a slate-grey. She held up her hands in horror and saw the fingernails elongating, her digits reshaping themselves into hooked claws.

Her butt was swelling up like a balloon. That had been the source of the pressure on her back. _My abdomen. It's my abdomen, _she thought with strange clarity. Her panic had dissolved into a state of numb shock. Her mind raced with bizarre, alien imagery, thoughts that weren't hers coming so fast that she could barely keep up. Images flashed before her eyes-- memories, it seemed, though not hers. She saw herself spinning a web the size of a city across a bottomless gulf. She stared at a broken eggshell the size of a horse and felt pride welling up within her breast. She saw herself driven from her web, weeping, by a cruel lash wielded by an unseen hand. Weeping with grief she staggered to her feet, swaying drunkenly back and forth.

Her new legs folded up beneath her and she fell to the floor. The pain was subsiding now, though a sense of bone-deep loss and grief remained. She could feel unconsciousness coming to claim her. Curling up she let herself go and fell into it.

...

Teysa awoke some time later, feeling more sore than she ever had before. It took a moment for her to process her disjointed memories, but when she did her eyes snapped open. She held up her hands before her face, and what she saw took her breath away.

Her skin was smooth and slightly damp, as grey as slate. Her fingers had fused into their nails to form a set of talons. Looking down, she saw that her whole body had darkened to that same grey. Her breasts were larger than she remembered, her nipples as black as coal. Below the waist... she had a moment of terrible dislocation as she realized that her body simply seemed to end. In a panic, she tried to flex her legs, and felt them uncurling from beneath her. All eight of them. Bracing herself off the floor with her arms, she struggled to her feet.

Her legs were shiny and black, thin and multi-jointed things. Spider legs. Not a spider-- a drider. She knew she should be revolted, or afraid, but all she felt was a sense of wonder. She tried an experimental step, and was surprised to find her legs skittering in concert. Like a first-time rider on a skittish horse, she gingerly took a step-- and felt herself lurch across the floor. Throwing up her hands for balance she swerved to a stop. Clearly, her new method of locomotion would take some getting used to.

{you are awake. welcome, sister.} Teysa looked back and forth, swaying wildly on her unsteady legs. A drider stood in the corner of the room-- whether she had been there for some time or had just arrived, Teysa couldn't say. She tried to respond, and heard a hissing coming from her mouth. To her surprise it was perfectly comprehensible.

{what has happened to me?}

The other drider smiled. {you have been Graced. the matron sent me to watch over you. i am rik'eel. i am to instruct you in our ways.} She held out a hand. {come with me. do you require assistance?}

Teysa wobbled forward, one foot at a time. With each step she felt her confidence growing. {i am fine. how do i understand you? how can i speak this way?}

Rik'eel held out a hand. {the matron's touch brings clarity. come, all your questions will be answered.}

Teysa followed her out of the cavern. The tunnel floor was uneven, but Teysa's eight legs seemed to navigate the cracks and crevices instinctively. Walking took nearly all of her concentration, but she found that she could move surprisingly quickly. She felt light, strong, agile. Her new body was a wonder-- the bulbous abdomens of the driders looked unwieldy, but she hadn't even thought about it. She moved as naturally in this body as she had in her old one.

They emerged into a circular cavern with webbing coating the walls. Rik'eel held up a hand in a "stop" gesture and turned around. Teysa almost plowed into her. Stopping quickly was something she'd have to practice. The other drider smiled patiently as Teysa apologized.

{adjustment will take time. do not fear. you have much to learn. you must be able to weave and spin, to hunt, and to aide the warren. we work in harmony here. each gives of herself for the betterment of all. matron has chosen your role. you are to be an ambrosia mother. your nectar will nourish us. do you understand?}

Teysa thought back to the way the drider had fed her on the wall. {i... believe so. but i have so many questions! forgive me, this is all new to me.}

Rik'eel crossed her arms. {that is my purpose. ask, and i shall answer.}