The Web of Bloated Indulgence

by Robert E. Keller

The web was greedy beyond anything Beldak could have imagined, his own lust for treasure a small flame compared to the web’s raging inferno. He had no idea how far he’d descended into its nightmare, but if his misery were any indication, he had hit the deepest levels.

Malice filled the web, phantom whispers emanating from it and prying into his mind to expose his greatest fears. Whenever his skin brushed the strands, hot pain erupted in his flesh and a feeling assailed him like thousands of tiny spiders crawling all over him.

Treasure hung everywhere around him--jeweled swords, rune-covered chests, silver chains, fancy goblets, and gold coins. They clanked and jingled in the web as he slashed through it with his sword. At one point he even passed beneath a whole ship turned upside down, hanging above the rocky floor.

Beldak sheathed his sword, and with a shaking hand, he at last took the demonic emblem from his pocket, his lone companion in the dark places--yet the one he hated to have to call upon. “Demon, I need your help,” he mumbled. “Show me the path out of here.”

The iron face of a horned devil remained motionless in his palm for several moments. Then its mouth curled open in a grin. “So, the thief has found more treasure than he knows what to do with, yet he can take none of it. Quite ironic, don’t you think?”

“Yes, very ironic,” said Beldak, his lips tightening in annoyance. “But I’m getting more lost by the moment in this godforsaken web. I admit it--I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I didn’t expect to get hopelessly snared.” Beldak spoke true. It had looked like easy pickings from the outside--a massive web stretched between cliffs by the sea. He’d thought he could just cut his way in and grab what treasure he was able to carry.

“But you should have expected this,” said the demon. “A web is designed to snare, is it not? Whatever built this doesn’t want you to take its treasure. It wants you stuck in here forever like the ships that break apart on the rocks and get washed in with the tide.”

“Enough,” said Beldak. “Don’t mock me, demon. Will you help me find the way out, or not? How many gems and coins have I fed to your greedy mouth over the years?”

“Many, it is true,” said the demon. “But my mouth waters now. Pluck me that large emerald that hangs above us and I will try to aid you.”

Beldak glanced up, raising his torch for a better view. The emerald hung about ten feet above him, and he had no way to reach it. He smashed the handle of the torch down on the demon’s face. “Eat this!” he growled. “I’ll not wrack my brain trying to find a way to get that thing down. And furthermore, everything I touch in here feels cursed. Now you better suggest something, or I’ll never feed you again.”

The demon scowled. “Very well. But you owe me. I can tell you that this web is magical in origin--the work of an immortal being far more ancient and powerful than myself. Also, unlike me he’s probably not trapped in a piece of iron. As to what his motives are, I cannot say. If I use my own magic, it may anger him or alert him to our presence.”

“I have no choice,” said Beldak. “Find me a path.” He swung his sword around, trying to loosen up. His lean body was sore from wandering around hacking at the strands, his feet blistered in his boots from walking for hours. He was weary to the core, and he found himself hating the lifestyle he’d chosen and wondering why he was even in this situation. He’d made enough money through stealing and treasure hunting to retire many times over, but a horrible gambling addiction had repeatedly left him broke.

The web parted before him, forming a tunnel. Beldak glanced down questioningly at the emblem. “Is this the way out, revealed by your magic?” he asked.

“Seems like a good direction to travel in,” said the demon, a sly look on his face. “I can’t be sure at this point. But it’s a place to start.”

Beldak started down the tunnel. His torch finally died, plunging him into darkness, and he tossed it aside. “Shine your light for me, demon,” he said, squeezing the piece of iron.

“As always,” said the demon, “the price is your blood.”

Beldak pressed the emblem to his wrist. A sharp pain flared up, and he felt a tugging at his veins as the demon drank from him. After a few moments, he yanked his wrist away, the wounds in his flesh already healed thanks to the demon’s sorcery. The emblem lit up with a crimson glow. The demon face was grinning, its mouth hole full of blood.

Beldak looked away in disgust. Time and again he’d wanted to rid himself of the emblem that he’d stolen from a sorcerer’s lair, and yet he always seemed to have need of it. He vowed that if he managed to escape the web, he would hurl the object into the sea.

Guided by the reddish glow, he moved along the tunnel until it ended abruptly at a stone wall. A glitter caught his eye--a ruby pendant hanging to his right. The ruby was the size of a small egg, set in what appeared to be gold. If genuine, the pendant was worth a fortune. He sheathed his sword, reached out, hesitated, and then snatched it from the web. Blazing pain flared up in his hand, and he dropped it.

Cursing, he tore a strip off his tunic and wrapped it around his hand. He again tried to lift the pendant, but it burned him right through the cloth. He let out a howl of frustration. The demon laughed at him.

“Shut up!” Beldak yelled. “Don’t you realize how much that could be worth?”

“Yes,” said the demon. “A month or two of gambling, at least.”

“I’ve quit that habit,” said Beldak. “I told you that.”

“Oh you have, have you?” said the demon. “Then what are you doing in this web? This is just another gamble, with the highest stakes.”

Beldak closed his eyes, trying to fight off his growing rage. The demon would mock him concerning the women he’d loved and abandoned, and sometimes it taunted him for his inability to maintain friendships. But most often, the demon ridiculed him for his failure to give up the risk-taking lifestyle he’d come to hate. The demon’s words stung bitterly because they were true.

Beldak’s eyes still closed, he kicked the pendant away from him. The thought of leaving behind any of the fantastic treasures of the web was almost more than he could bear. It was sheer torment. “Lead the way,” he said through clenched teeth.

Another tunnel opened in the web to his left, and one to his right. “Take your pick,” the demon said, “for the answer is not clear to me.”

Beldak chose the tunnel on the left--and quickly regretted it. This one was full of crates and barrels with imperial markings on them, no doubt some expensive cargo from one of the emperor’s ships. Unable to suppress his curiosity, he slashed a crate with his sword and gold nuggets poured out.

“This web is one giant palace of riches,” Beldak whispered.

Skeletons hung in the strands in various poses, dressed in the tattered remains of imperial uniforms. Their dark eye sockets seemed to gaze at him accusingly.

“Feed me a nugget,” said the demon, clacking his jaws together. “Otherwise, I shall snuff out my glow and leave you in darkness.”

Beldak shook his head. “If I touch them, they’ll burn me.”

“Then rot in the dark,” the demon said. The crimson glow died out.

A clacking, skittering noise arose, and something latched onto Beldak’s throat and began to squeeze--something cold and bumpy. With a cry, he slashed out with his sword and knocked something away. “Alright!” he yelled. “I’ll feed you the damn nugget.”

The reddish glow sprang to life again, revealing a skeleton--cleaved in two--laying at Beldak’s feet. Other skeletons had shifted positions in the web but were now still.

“You’ve gone too far, demon,” said Beldak. “Now you use your magic to send corpses to attack me if you don’t get your way?”

“I did no such thing,” said the demon. “I simply killed the light. That skeleton was animated by some other power--perhaps the dark magic of the web itself.”

Beldak shuddered, chills flooding him. “I need to get out of here. I’ll do whatever it takes. Just find me a path to freedom!”

The demon clacked his iron jaws together to signify his hunger.

Sighing, Beldak plucked a nugget from the web. His hand shook from the blazing pain, but with a fierce effort of will he squeezed it into a fist around the gold. Sweat rolled down his face and he grew dizzy. But then the pain died out.

Beldak’s eyes lit up. “Look at that--the curse went away! The gold is mine now.”

The demon hissed. “You promised that nugget to me.”

Beldak’s face burned crimson with anger, but he nodded. He pushed the nugget into the demon’s mouth hole. A sucking noise arose and the nugget vanished, a wisp of blue smoke curling out of the demon’s maw.

“What a waste,” Beldak muttered.

The demon grinned. “It’s no more of a waste than a night on the town, a stint with the ladies, or a gambling debt. My pleasure is to eat the gold, while your pleasure is to waste it.”

Beldak ignored him and eyed the gold nuggets. He reached out and seized another. This one hurt worse than the last, and he screamed. After a few moments, though, the agony lessoned and he shoved the gold into his pocket. He wiped sweat from his brow.

“Careful,” the demon said softly. “Your heart might give out from the strain.”

Beldak hacked away some webbing to get to more gold. He swallowed, knowing he should quit while he was ahead. But he couldn’t resist the gamble. He dropped his sword and seized a handful of gold nuggets, and a shock ripped through him. The agony stunned him and he thought it might kill him, but he kept his hand locked onto the treasure. His vision went dark and he slumped to the floor.

He awoke a moment later, the pain gone, and he staggered up. “I’m alive,” he said. “And a lot richer, demon!” He shoved the nuggets into a pocket of his trousers.

“But still hopelessly lost,” the demon reminded him. “However, I think I’ve figured out a way to navigate this maze. Feed me another nugget and I’ll explain.”

Beldak shook his head. “I worked too hard for these to surrender even one. I’ll find my own way out of here.”

For the next few hours, Beldak slashed his way through the web. He found tunnels that led to dead ends either at rock walls or at places so thickly webbed he couldn’t cut his way though. He grew so tired he could hardly keep moving, and his stomach rumbled from hunger. He had a canteen of water, which he always carried with him, but it held just a last few sips.

“I guess I must waste more gold on you, demon,” Beldak said at last wearily. “I’ll feed you one more nugget in exchange for the way out.” Reluctantly, he shoved a piece of gold into the demon’s mouth hole. The demon slurped it down.

“Place me against the web,” the demon said. “And you must hold me there while I use my power to find the way. It could take some time.”

Without hesitation, Beldak shoved the emblem into the web. The burning flared through him, his mind grew fuzzy, but he managed to hold on for several moments. His flesh again prickled as if from thousands of spiders crawling over it, a sensation so repulsive it was much worse than the pain. At last he tore the emblem away and fell to one knee. His body shook, his chest heaving. When he could speak again, he asked, “Well?”

“It is done,” said the demon. “But we must hurry.”

A tunnel opened to Beldak’s left, and he dodged into it. More riches greeted him. He paused, eyeing a jewel-encrusted chest. He reached for it. “Touch nothing here,” the demon warned. “The magic is stronger, and it will kill you.”

Beldak hesitated but moved on, a curse escaping his lips. The demon grinned at him, and Beldak once again envisioned throwing the emblem into the sea and being free of it forever.

The tunnel narrowed, so that the webbing nearly brushed against his head and arms. He could see rock behind the strands, and he realized he was moving into a cave. At last, it opened into a large circular cavern. Some hideous seaweed adorned the chamber walls, black tendrils pulsed and wiggled with life. A huge pile of treasure lay on the floor, crusted with sea salt, and sprawled atop it was a monstrous beast, part serpent and part spider, with the head and torso of a bronze-skinned man. His black eyes fixed on Beldak. Beldak took a step back. “What is that thing?” he whispered.

“The bane of wealth-hungry mortals,” said the demon. “The gods established this web to trap greedy people as they traversed the seas. It is a curse upon mankind.”

Beldak turned to flee, but the tunnel closed behind him. He slashed through the web, but it instantly formed again. “You tricked me,” he cried. “You’ve led me to my doom!”

“You asked for a way out,” said the demon, sneering. “I provided one. The only way out of this labyrinth is death.”

The monstrous figure crawled toward Beldak, and he raised his sword for combat, even though he knew it was useless against such a foe. He hesitated, then hurled the weapon to the floor, hoping the creature would take pity on him. The monster stopped, and this gave Beldak an idea. He yanked the gold pieces from his pockets and tossed them to the floor. The creature gazed at the nuggets, then started forward again.

Desperately, Beldak looked around for some means of escape, and his gaze came to rest on the emblem in his hand. Although made of simple iron, it was a unique treasure.

The demon’s eyes narrowed. “What are you planning, Beldak? Wait!”

Beldak tossed the emblem to the floor. He raised his hands, palms out, to show that he had nothing else to give.

The monster crawled to the emblem and licked it. The demon face crinkled with disgust, much to Beldak’s satisfaction.

A tunnel opened in the web, leading into another cave. A breeze blew in, smelling of fresh air and the sea. Beldak ran for the passageway. He reached it and paused, glancing behind him. The monster had crawled to his pile of treasure, his back to Beldak.

Beldak rushed down the tunnel. He struggled with himself for a moment, then ran back and snatched some gold nuggets. The demon emblem lay in the dust. He reached out for it, then pulled his hand back. He heard it yelling at him as he fled for the passageway, diving into the opening even as the web closed behind him.

He made it out into open air, standing atop a cliff by the sea beneath a full moon. He considered taking his gold to a tavern and testing his luck. Baldak gazed at the shining nuggets resting in his palm, the shadows of his past reaching for him like choking hands. At last, he raised his arm to throw the gold into the sea.

Yet Baldak hesitated, and instead he shoved the gold into his pocket. Its spell over him was broken, and he would need it for his survival.

As he walked away, he thanked the gods he was a mortal man--capable of being molded by his ordeals.

END