A lone figure sat on the throne, its still form looking vacantly out at the throne room. The room was lit only by a few flickering torches, their light barely reaching a few feet out before being swallowed by darkness. A draft coming from below the closed doors was the only thing to make a sound, its currents making the shadows dance to some unknown rhythm.

The silence was broken by the sound of light footsteps. Their sound growing with each small step.

*tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, Tak*

The footsteps stopped, and then the doors to the room opened announcing the visitor with the shriek of metal grinding against metal.

*SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* *BOOM*

The room shook with the impact as the doors slammed into the walls. The chamber suddenly filled with light, coming from a small glowing orb hovering above the intruder’s hand. They continued into the room their footsteps resuming their regular rhythm until stopping in front of the throne.

*tak, tak, tak, tak, Tak*

Revealed in the light was the figure of a young girl, decked out in armor decorated with glowing blue runes. One hand carried a small ornate dagger, the other was held aloft, the light in her hand revealing the figure on the throne.

Slowly, the girl raised her head up to the ceiling and with a loud clear voice yelled out.

“Demon Lord Sar’skar’athh, show yourself.” The voice seemed to disappear within the darkness, not a single echo coming back. The figure on the throne seemed to shudder, quivering, and writhing in a way that ordinary joints would have protested at. Drawing its sword, the figure leaped out from the throne, arcing through the air towards her.

She let out a snort of derision, thrusting her hand that held the light outwards. The flying suit of armor seemed to collide with something invisible as it crumpled and careened off to collide with one of the walls. Smashing into the wall and sending up a cloud of dust revealing faint threads, ascending into the darkness.

She rolled her eyes. A small skittering sound coming from above. The walls pulsed as an innumerable stream of spiders scuttled down the walls. Like water, they flowed over each other. The girl could have sworn they splashed when they hit the ground, though it could've just been her imagination.

She sighed. She appreciated the work that had been put into the theatrics, but it'd been a really long day.

"I know that we're supposed to fight, and the small spiders are really creepy and all, but can we just skip the theatrics and get on with it?"

Upon reaching the torches the small spiders threw themselves into the fire, using their very lives to snuff out the flames. The snuffed lives and torches did not even leave a dent in their number. They continued to skitter down the walls and across the ground trying to reach the girl who now held the only light left in the dark room.

"I guess that's a no, then?"

Upon reaching a certain distance into the light, the spiders burst into dust creating a circle of ash and glowing cinders around her. The spiders rush slowed as they struggled through the growing powder and embers, but they did'n't stop.

"I kind of feel bad for you little guys. I'd give you an 'A' for effort, though. You're not going to get any closer you know?"

The faintly illuminated ceiling seemed to shudder and a large, black, hairy limb made its way down from the ceiling to settle on the floor, then another, and another, until eight limbs could barely be made out in the light. In the center could be seen eight dark eyes on its head and below them the dripping fangs and mandibles that were its mouth.

The giant spider spoke. Its voice was cold and accompanied by the clicking of mandibles.

*Kur, ki, ki, ki* “Child—*clack*—if you have come to defeat me then—*click, click, click*—give up. Leave, for I am ancient and am not your standard Demon Lord. You stand—*hiss*—no chance. I take no pleasure in slaughtering a young immortal.”

The girl stood in front of the monster, her jaw clenched hard, but otherwise, there was no reaction to the giant spider and its pithy speech.

“Gosh, you're uglier than I thought you'd be. No offense. Well, let me see if I can remember what I'm supposed to say. Hmm, Demon Lord, for crimes against the world you have been sentenced to death. I Emily, summoned hero, have been given the privilege of carrying out this sentence. If you have any last words, I will hear them now... or something like that?”

The Spider’s eight eyes seemed to gleam at the response, its voice was still cold and still carried its inhuman qualities, but now it seemed laced with a small amount of pity and a large amount of finality.

“Child—*click*—you have been sent to die.”

Her smiling facade broke for a second, a mere slackening of the facial muscles for a moment before immediately coming back under control. She gave the spider a brilliant smile, showing her teeth.

“Yeah, but someone had to draw the short straw, and I've never been that lucky.” The hero’s eyes were cold and resolute when she said this. She tensed, hand tightening around the dagger in her hand.

The air cracked and the ground beneath them was torn asunder as both parties smashed towards each other, giving blows faster than the unenhanced eyes could see. The hero running forward a beam of solid light coming from the orb in her hand, dagger flashing. The monster responding with a cloud of darkness, limbs crashing around the hero as she agilely danced out of the way.

The spider scuttled across the air itself as small dark footholds snapped into existence under its clawed feet allowing it to barely escape the light's destructive path. The hero nimbly dodged the dark cloud and ran along the wall as if it were flat ground.

Gravity wept at being completely ignored.

Dark shapes seemed to reach out from the shadows, whispered shrieks of pain issuing from the black hands as they came in contact with the awful light! The hero barely dodged the spiders clawed foot, fending off another that came from the other side with her dagger and leaping over another that came from beneath!

She, however, missed the one coming from behind.

*Crash*

Much like the armor had before, Emily the Hero was sent careening into the wall sending up a cloud of glowing dust. Illuminated from the inside by the still glowing orb.

"Man, *cough*, you don't pull your punches, do you? That really hurt you know?"

*tak, tak, tak, tak*

The dust parted as Emily walked out, still holding orb and dagger.

The assailants eyed each other warily. The spider appeared unharmed, but the girl’s armor was rent in a couple of sections, small trails of blood making their way down the once pristine armor. The small bloody roads marking the location of where she had not been quick enough to avoid spell and spider.

“You prepared quite admirably for this confrontation, but it is still—*click*—futile”

The girl's face broke out into a huge smile. A small giggle, and then a laugh echoing out in the destroyed throne room. The smallest hint of despair creeping into the beautiful, mad sound.

“Hah, I suppose in the end, it wasn’t enough. You know, I really hate prophecies. I was hoping to avoid this if only to gloat that all his predictions were wrong. At least now I won't have to hear his 'I told you so', *sigh*” She chuckled one last time.

Then, without hesitation, the Hero Emily plunged her dagger into her own chest. Blood squirting out as the dagger pierced through her sternum and into her heart, a small gasp of pain and blood leaving her lips.

The spider’s movements stilled, its alien countenance displaying the very human emotion of shock. It was clear that this outcome had been… unexpected for the Demon lord.

The wound gushed blood for a second more, and then began to glow with golden light. Pulling out the blade from her chest it slid out further and further until in her hand she held a tall glowing sword. The energy orb in her other hand winking out and clattering to the ground. The gaping wound in her chest started to dim.

But it was not dim yet. Emily shimmered with golden light her images overlapping and blurring before with a flash she disappeared, flickering into existence right in front of the Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord was quick to react, all eight legs springing into action, trying to get out of range of the sword of light. However, even with its quick reflexes, the sword swung forward cleaving off two of the spider’s legs.

The hero continued to pursue, the blade shattering everything in its path. The ground gouged out and melted along its path. Hasty spells, spider webs, and other limbs carried the same fate. All being ruthlessly smashed into oblivion.

Scrambling hopelessly to escape the burning instrument with its last legs the spider started to pull itself up the wall, trying to escape—

A burning pain pierced her chest as she woke with a shreik!

Scrambling upright Sel clutched at her chest as she tried to get her breathing under control. Her chest still screaming from where a sword had pierced it a moment ago. Her body still reeling from the dream, no, the memory.

Looking down she saw that she was still wrapped up in her sleeping bag on the couch. Her two small arms ending in hands still clutching her chest, trying to stop up a wound that wasn't there.

Her breath came hitched and unsteady, only distantly noting the sound of feet hitting the floor above her.

The dream had been unlike any other she'd ever had. Her body still aching where the blade of light had swept slashing through five of her limbs. Her heartbeat erratically, insisting that it still has a burning hot poker stabbed into it. As her thoughts raced erratically.

I remember. I remember setting up the suit of armor on the throne with small threads attached to it, more out of boredom than any real belief that it would cause any harm to an intruder. I remember commanding my children to attack the intruder and use their own bodies to snuff out the torches that lined the walls of my throne room. I remember feeling pity for the small girl that had been sent to her death. And I remember years and years and years of growing up a small spider becoming larger and stronger as I captured prey and feasted on the flesh of the strong.

All these memories came from the viewpoint of eight unmoving eyes.

The banging as someone came crashing down the stairs was not enough to break her out of her reverie. Only after a small body glomped onto her, shoving the air out her lungs did she finally start out of her trance.

“Sel are you okay! What’s wrong? Are you hurt anywhere! Here let me see it!”

The small nuisance that had wrapped itself around her, was her best friend Mel, who had made herself busy running her hands over her in the dark, trying to find some hidden wound. Fingers fumbling along her face and arms trying to find where she had been hurt.

“Et off me,” Sel said as she struggled to get out of the crushing embrace. The only light in the room the small glowing LEDs from the TV and DVD player. She valiantly fought against the altruistic groping, but the sleeping bag had clamped onto her arms and the bigger girl continued her administrations without notice. Despite being the same age as Sel, Mel had a few inches of height on her and was more naturally athletic. Even with the traitor sleeping bag, Sel had little chance against the fiend assailing her.

“Hmm, did you say something Sel?” The innocent assailant loosens her crushing grip on the poor victim, giving her some much-needed air and space.

In the morning I will probably feel happy about her concern. But for now, I’m still a little grumpy from being woken up and confronting the fact I once had eight legs and eyes. Eight hairy legs.

Giving her friend a glare that did absolutely nothing in the dark. She managed to free an arm to shove back.

“I’m fine Mel. I just had a scary dream.”

“Ohhh, what was it about? Were there Monsters? Zombies? Did you have tiny little spiders crawling all over you, climbing in your ears and biting your armpits?”

Armpits? She winced at that last one. Do spiders have armpits? “Ah, well, I—” As she scrambled to come up with an explanation to the rather blunt questions another voice broke through the dark.

“Girls, is everything alright down there?” The older voice of Mel’s mom appears in the room startling them both. In all the commotion of Mel assaulting her, they had missed her coming down the stairs. She heard a small flick. And the world turned white.

“Argh, my eyes!” screamed Mel as she fell off of the sleeping bag, collapsing to the ground from off the couch. Sel wasn't much better off than the little drama queen. Closing her eyes tight as the light slipped through her lids. She rubbed her eyes and squinted blearily at the room around her.

The Light reveals a simple living room, the floor had a light brown carpet on it, the walls adorned with pictures of Mel’s family, and some bookshelves holding a mess of books and various trinkets. The floor still covered in their previous night’s unfinished card game, thrown into disarray by Mel’s flying tackle and subsequent rolling on the ground clutching her eyes. Sel gave the girl on the ground a suspicious look. I was winning that card game!

“I thought I heard screaming down here.” Mel’s mom stood at the foot of the stairs peering down at the two of them with an amused look on her face. In appearance, she much resembled her daughter, with long red hair and green eyes. The hair dark and fiery, while Mel’s was a slightly lighter orange. Her face pretty and pale with a smattering of freckles along the bridge of her nose.

“Nah, we’re fine. Sel just had a nightmare.” Mel peeks an eye between her fingers glancing at her mom and then down at the card game on the ground. Her hands can’t quite hide the smile that comes to her face at their disorder. That little—! Am I really the one who’s the Demon here?

"Do you want to talk about it, honey?” Sel's attention is quickly taken from the little fiend—no, friend—on the floor as Mel’s mother walks over to the edge of the couch and sits down placing an arm on her knee. Or her lower shin. The sleeping bag and her height contributing to the misplacement.

“Ah, well—" Sel glanced down nervously. “I just dreamed I was covered in spiders.” It’s wasn't really a lie, just not the whole truth. Sel had always had trouble talking to Mel’s mom and telling her best friend’s mother that she was the Demon Lord was a bit too terrifying right then.

Talking to people was scary.

Mel leaped off the ground like a cat that’d had its tail pulled. Glancing around the room with a guarded expression. “I’m going to go get my tennis shoes,” she said as she hurried towards the front door with a murderous gleam in her eye. The way her eyes dart around and the shoe held aloft ready to strike any creature that dares skitter out of its hiding place… that predatory look as she goes after a spider is a lot scarier than it had been the night before.

As Sel stammered out that she was fine, and assured them that it had only been a nightmare and there weren’t any spiders in the house—she didn’t mention the ex-spider sitting on the couch—the realization slowly sank in.

My name is Selina Wrath. I'm a small 13-year-old girl,

And I used to be the Demon Lord.