Chapter 15

Up until now I had rarely wondered ‘where’ the fog came from, beyond some vague concept of ‘From The Queen’. Of course the question had occasionally popped into my head, but for the last half year I had been far more preoccupied with things like ‘what had happened to me?’, ‘where can i find my next meal’, and ‘what’s the quickest route to safety’, among other essential inquiries.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to know, but surviving the bug-pocalypse took priority to finding out its cause. Yet now as I stared at the monstrosity above me, I finally started to understand how this dim new world had come into existence. And, more than that, I was reminded of just how frightening this all must be to a human.

There, towering above the clouds and looking for all the world like the bringer of the end times, was a…

“Daddy Long Legs…” I whispered.

It couldn’t have been anything else, the leg to body ratio was too different from every other spider I knew about, with each segment of leg being the length of the Burj Khalifa while the main body itself was much much smaller, though it still managed to obscure the sun behind its massive girth. Each leg was as thick as an entire small town, and was sunk into the ground where it stood. But for me its size wasn’t the most startling thing about it.

No, that had to be the odd growths on each leg. Huge, gaping holes that jutted out from the main part of the Daddy’s legs could be seen in segments all the way up each limb. And each one of those holes was spewing out fog .

“Ember, what the hell is that!” I yelled.

“So they are real…even I have never seen one in person before, Master. They are the Queen's first children, and her strongest. I have heard them referred to by many names, but the one most commonly used was ‘Creators of the Firmament’. Personally, I always called them Ferma’s. They are Arch Spiders, and it is their duty to envelop this land in Her Majesty's grace.” Ember replied, for once sounding awestruck as well.

Whatever you wanted to call it, it appeared to be one of the originators of the fog and its appearance here was likely the cause for its expansion.

“But why have we never seen one before? This isn’t the first time we’ve come to the fogs edge.” I asked.

“They have probably been spaced quite far apart. One Ferma can spit out ten thousand tons of breathable air an hour-and that’s only while they’re idling around waiting for orders. When they get going again this fog will expand rapidly, just like it did a few months ago.”

“Do you know how big it’s going to get?”

“If I recall correctly, phase three will swallow up most of the eastern seaboard as well as a quarter of the continental United States and a good chunk of Ontario and Quebec.”

I winced at that, but it was within the expected parameters. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see a way to stop it from happening at the moment. The sheer size of these ‘Ferma’ meant that it would be impossible for me to deal any damage at the moment. Even its shadow in the sunlight was bigger than my hometown.

The humans knew it too, because just then Jordan, who I had made my third lieutenant after he saved the lives of our group members during a Demolisher ambush, said “We’re not going to fight that thing, are we boss?”

“No, I don’t think so. According to Ember, those things exist to create more Fog. They’re not here to fight.”

“Oh thank god!” he said, nearly collapsing out of fear.

“Just add it to the list of things I want you lot to give to the military. Along with the fact that the next time this thing expands it’s gonna swallow up everything from the eastern seaboard to Toronto.”

“Toronto, Ohio?” he said uncertainty

“Ontario.” I replied gravely

“Ah hell…” Cory, who overheard, said.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and said “Today will be the last day of our time together anyway. When you get out of here I’d advise you run away to the farthest point on the earth. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to kill enough of those creatures to stop the firmament from expanding.”

But Cory, rather than appear frightened, had a smile on his face. “You’ll have Terry on your side after he catches up to you. With his strength and your appetite, I don’t see the bugs standing a chance.”

I snorted, allowing myself a laugh at his optimism.

Ember seemed to share his sentiment though, as she said “He makes a fair point. Two lords working together are not to be trifled with- especially if they are specimens as tenacious as you and Terry.”

I shook my head “Regardless…”I said, addressing both of them “it’s not a problem that can be solved right now. Even if there were ten Lords here as powerful as I am we still wouldn’t be a match for the Fermas.”

There was nothing either of them could say to that.

We walked for another couple of hours, passing under the Daddy Long Legs. If it took any notice of our group, it didn’t show it. We were nearly out from under the expanse of its massive legs when I felt a sudden shift in the air.

None of us knew from where, but something was watching us.

“What is going on…” Tim said warily, as even the humans could feel a chill running down their spines “Is this because of the Ferma?”

I shook my head. If that were the case we would have felt this killing intent earlier.

I looked around, trying to find the source, but it was to no avail. Behind me Cory approached, and said “Maybe we should get back under the Fermas legs? We might be able to hide in its shadow”

“That might be a good ide-…wait a minute, shadow?” I said, coming to a realization.

“Yeah, shadow…” Cory said, wheels starting to turn in his head too.

We were right next to a Ferma, one of the literal creators of the fog. It was spitting out tons of the stuff, so shouldn’t this area be just as densely foggy as the interior? It was oxygenated enough for me to breathe without any problems, yet somehow sunlight was shining through and creating a noticeable shadow…

I looked up at the ‘sun’ and, as I thought, it wasn’t in the correct place. It was the middle of the evening, yet the sun was at it’s noon position which could only mean one thing.

“That isn’t the sun.” I said, grabbing everybody's attention. Even as I spoke, the ball of light in the sky jittered around a little, giving away that it was actually a living creature.

Now that I had identified it as such, I was faced with a new problem. This creature was definitely responsible for the murderous intent being aimed at us, an in order for us to continue moving I would probably have to kill whatever it was, but the bright light would make it difficult to strike a vital blow while we fought. Ironically, the light was so intense that it obscured the creatures features.

My spikes would fall short if I tried to shoot it from the ground. Whatever it was, it was well above even the Ferma’s considerable height.

“Perhaps if I tried shooting it from on top of the Ferma?” I thought. I doubted the colossal spider would take issue with me climbing it.

“I’m going to fight it up there.” I said, pointing at the Ferma’s head “You lot need to get away from here, I don’t know how strong that thing is and I don’t want you getting caught up in the crossfire.”

“Are you sure you’ll be able to handle it?” Tim asked

“Kukuku, don’t worry about me. I have a plan.” I said

“You know, you don’t have to fight it…” Jordan said tepidly “We’re not too far from the exit, right? We could always just…” but he stopped when he saw the look in my eyes.

“Yeah, yeah we get it. You’re hungry, right?” Cory said, shaking his head.

He was right, of course. Saliva was dripping down my chin and my pedipalps were squirming, desperate for meat. And that wasn’t all, at first I had been tepid about my powers and how to use them, but after eating Holden and the Demolisher I had begun to get excited at the prospect of getting whatever crazy ability this guy had waiting for me.

I wouldn’t underestimate it. I wouldn’t arrogantly assume that my abilities made me invincible. I wouldn’t naively believe that I was some kind of superhero or villain. But I would take everything I could get from this world. I would devour my enemies and reward those who followed me faithfully. That was how I chose to live my life.

“Ah, my Master, you’ve started to think like a true Lord.”

“Of course I have Ember. That’s who I am, the Ant Lord.”