“Oh for Inari’s sake, you named the damn thing?” Ned asked.
Chapter 17 — Inkholme. Mark of the Shadow — Book 1 of the Phantom Lord Saga.
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"Areech!" The spiderbird flapped its small wings while clinging to Ivel's tunic.
“Can you please quiet that thing,” Ned said. “It’s going to reveal our position.”
The spiderbird, with its feathered body and spindly legs, scuttled up Ivel’s arm, its multifaceted eyes fixed intently on Nyra. Its jointed legs moved swiftly and gracefully, giving it an agile, almost ghostly eeriness as it tried to leap off of Ivel and onto Nyra. Ivel tightened his hold, restraining the creature in a gentle, yet unyielding grip. The spiderbird squirmed and flapped its wings in protest, emitting a cascade of clicks and chirps.
“This thing has a name,” Ivel said.
“Oh for Inari’s sake, you named the damn thing?” Ned asked.
The spiderbird squawked again, its unsettling eyes fixed directly on him, glinting with an eerie intelligence that made his skin crawl. Ned shuddered as he recalled the sensation. Hundreds of scuttling, black creatures pressing against him, their tiny, relentless movements echoing in his mind like a distant, disturbing whisper he couldn't quite shake off.
"Its name is Figlio," Ivel said with a broad smile.
“What if it’s a girl?” Revilo asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Ivel cast a disdainful glance his way. "It works either way."
“Well... why Figlio?” Nyra asked, her voice tinged with apprehension as she glowered at the creature.
Ivel grinned again. “When I was a lad, I had a pet spider by the same name.”
Ned looked Ivel up and down, trying to envision how large Ivel must have been when he was just a lad. He imagined Ivel as a young boy, perhaps towering over his peers, with broad shoulders hinting at the vast strength he would develop as an adult.
“Regrettably, Pa stepped on it while heading to the farm one morning," Ivel remarked, his lips curving into a subtle frown. "The more I looked at Fig, the more I realized it was just the perfect fit."
“Fig?” Ned said, rubbing his forehead.
“Short for Figlio,” Ivel said.
Ned grimaced, secretly wondering if Ivel's pa had intentionally killed the spider. Who keeps a spider as a pet? Ned thought. Still, Ned admired Ivel's reluctance to kill, but he could foresee these traits becoming problematic. He found himself wistfully wishing he had allowed Revilo to kill it, but they were long past that now.
The spiderbird, or avarach, as Nyra had called it with its sleek ebony body and sharp beak, sensed the tension in the air. As Ivel cautiously carried the restless avarach further from Nyra, its squawking grew louder and more urgent, echoing in the quiet surroundings. Nyra, glancing over her shoulder at the commotion, clearly wanted nothing to do with the agitated creature, her expression a mix of annoyance and relief as the distance between her and the creature increased.
"Quiet, Fig," Ivel whispered softly, making soft cooing sounds.
Ned gave him a skeptical look.
"It's not my fault," Ivel said glumly. "If only Nyra would let it come a bit closer. It's drawn to her for some reason."
“Keep that thing away from me,” Nyra said, “It’s dangerous.”
“Fig doesn’t want to hurt anyone,” Ivel insisted. “He's just scared.”
“That thing is the spawn of the Phantom Lord,” Revilo said, brandishing his dagger. “We should just kill the thing and be on our way.”
“You can’t kill it!” Ivel shouted.
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