Page 177 of The Spider Queen
“It won’t be the last strange thing you see. The desert isn’t even really a desert.”
“Okay, Riddler. What does that mean?”
“It means—” A white arm covered in fur shot out of the tree line and knocked Thane on his head. He collapsed to the ground and didn’t move to get up.
A shaggy beast standing on hind legs marched out. Its eyes were beady and red, and it pointed its snoot toward me and sniffed.
I took a step back.
The beast was at least seven feet tall and covered in white fleece. It strode toward me. I took another step back, my gaze darting to Thane’s unconscious form, but he was clearly in no position to help me.
Screw that, I thought angrily.
I could outsmart this beast, which was currently bellowing toward the sky and pounding on its chest like a furry Tarzan. Before I could even let out a shriek, I was hoisted over the white furry thing’s shoulder and carted off deeper into the forest.
The beast made short grunting noises as it ran and showed no signs of tiring any time soon. At this rate, I’d be miles from Thane before he even woke up. My heart rate was spiked with adrenaline and fear, my ribs bruised from being bounced and jostled. All the blood was rushing to my head.
Thane!
There was no answer from him.
Great. So the longer Thane was asleep, the farther and farther apart we grew thanks to the furry beast that had kidnapped me for who knew what purposes. No doubt it wanted to pick the flesh from my bones.
It adjusted me to the other shoulder, and when I pressed my hands to its back to try and lift myself up, it smacked my butt with a large paw.
“Hey!” I yelled. “That’s not nice!”
It made a noise that sounded strangely like a chuckle.
“I’m uncomfortable, and I’m in danger of passing out.”
For that insolence, I got another swat to the backside. I let out a growl. All that did was make the beast chuckle again.
Though I tried to keep my face away from its hairy backside, the position I was in didn’t allow me to hold myself up. My nose was flush with its fleece. I expected it to smell dirty, but it didn’t. It was strangely devoid of odor and actually felt soft against my cheek.
My mental connection with my spiders pulsed. I instantly sent astand downthought back at them. There was no point in using magic yet. I wasn’t in any sort of immediate danger—that I knew of, anyway. If I used magic to get out of a non-dire situation, I would only be too pissed I didn’t have the foresight to watch and wait.
When the furry white beast strung me over a boiling cauldron like in aBugs Bunnycartoon, then I would use my spiders.
“You really don’t want to eat me,” I stated, resting my elbow on the creature’s back and propping myself up. “I’m lean and stringy. Not at all tasty.”
The furry beast’s paw rested on the curve of my thigh, right before it met my butt. He gave my flesh a hearty squeeze. I yelped because I was ticklish.
I swallowed in trepidation. The beast didn’t remind me of a human at a grocery store, salivating over the cuts of filet mignon.
Nope. The touch had felt a little too…personal.
Poppy?
Thane! You’re awake!
Where are you?
Currently? Over the shoulder of the beast that knocked you out.
Describe the beast.
Tall. White and furry. Red eyes.
