To my relief, I kept up with the Hag all the way back to the hut. I was sore all over and was exhausted; but, it was worth it. To say that she was disappointed that I was right behind her was a severe understatement. I could somehow feel that she wanted me to fail, just so she could feast on me even more than she normally did. I did my best to ignore that and tied up the old boat next to the new one, then I pretty much collapsed onto the ground beside it.

_______________

You have a choice to make. Come on, be smart about it.

A) Stay. B) Run. C) Eat. D) Cook. E) Point to the spiders. F) Swim. G) Beg for help. H) Lay there.

Oh, for god's sake. I thought. I hate spider bites! I choose E.

_______________

I was laying on my back and could clearly see the large webs above our heads. I barely lifted my arm and pointed, then all my strength left me. I wanted to move out of the way and I just couldn't. I had overexerted myself way more than I had thought I could and now I was paying for it. It surprisingly didn't hurt and yet I was stiff and couldn't relax.

It must be the fortifying potion. I thought as the Hag took out her knife and picked up the long pushing pole from the new boat. The next ten minutes were the most terrifying and the most exhilarating minutes I had ever experienced in my life, because I finally saw what the Hag was like when she was fighting something. She was deadly in her strikes to the smaller one foot wide spiders, horrific in her brutality with the two foot wide spiders, and accurately deadly in her attacks to the five foot wide ones.

The Hag's knife hand moved faster than I could see as she slashed, stabbed, and dismembered spiders and severed their legs. Her kicks were magnificent as she buried her heel into their heads and then stepped on the corpses of fallen spiders to reach the others that she had knocked senseless with the pole. That wasn't the best part, though.

The best part was that she stood right over top of me while she did it all.

Not one single spider touched me as she defended me to the best of her ability. She took several spider bites and didn't react at all, not even from the big ones. She fought them off and kept fighting until there wasn't a single spider left in the area to attack. For the first time in my life, I saw that the Hag was out of breath, hurt, and tired. She flicked the knife and all the spider blood on it was flung off. She sheathed it and then she dropped the pole.

She staggered a little to move away from above me, then she dropped to her knees. Her skin started to turn to a sickly green, which meant that she was suffering from a severe spider venom overdose. I had been the same way several times in my life and I knew that if she didn't get the potion soon, she wasn't going to make it. She fell forward onto the ground and her eyes locked onto mine.

_______________

Come on! Make the right choice here! It's simple!

A) Let her die. B) Get the potion. C) Offer blood. D) Offer flesh. E) Don't be stupid. F) Choose A.

What was it I told you before? Oh, yeah. Fuck your choices. I thought with satisfaction. I choose D.

_______________

My arms didn't want to work, so I willed them to move. I barely got my thumbs under my thin sweater and pushed it up to expose my belly. It was only an inch and my strength was gone again. The Hag stared at me and I could only move my eyes from her to my belly and back to her. She didn't need more of an invitation and dragged herself over to me.

She wasn't gentle as she opened her mouth and bit into my flesh. She tore off a chunk and quickly chewed it, then she put her mouth over the wound and sucked up a bunch of blood. She took another bite and chewed, then sucked up even more blood. I wasn't surprised that her sickly green color faded to a light green tinge, which meant she was out of danger.

Unfortunately, she didn't stop eating to go and get the potion. Nope, she kept going and when I felt too lightheaded to keep my eyes open, I closed them and fell unconscious.

_______________

Are you an idiot or something? No, you're insane. You're actually encouraging her to eat you!

I've got her right where I want her. I thought.

No, you're just messing with me. There's no way that what you're doing is going to help you.

Just watch. I thought in satisfaction. Believe me, you are going to be surprised.

I don't believe you, and neither do the other narrators. We're all taking bets on how you'll score on the Levenson Psychopathy scale.

Put me down for two hundred credits on the self-inflicting pain index with justification rationalization.

Oh, come on. You can't bet on yourself! That's not fair.

Then if no one guesses correctly, I get the pot. I thought with a smile. You can add it to my gaming credits when I win.

All right, you got it. If no one guesses what you actually score, you get the betting pool.

Suckers. I thought with a laugh. No one can pick my answer, either.

Dammit. Okay, get ready. You're about to wake up.

Oh, joyous day.

Don't mind the pain. Getting your guts chewed on isn't pleasant.

No kidding? I thought.

Here we go.

_______________

“Uggghhhh.” I groaned as I woke up. I opened my eyes and saw that I was on the Hag's bed. My thin sweater was still intact and I was happy about that, because it was the first new piece of clothing I had ever gotten. I didn't want it ruined.

“You're finally awake.” The Hag said and I looked over to the large cooking pot. She took out a ladle full and put it into a bowl and brought it over to me.

“That has me in it, doesn't it?” I asked.

“Of course it does.” The Hag said. “It also has those mushrooms, spider, snake, frog, grub, and very small bit of the fungus powder.”

_______________

I'm not allowed to comment anymore, because it might influence you and the betting.

A) Eat. B) Cry. C) Spit on her. D) Pee yourself. E) Yell. F) Ask what's going on.

I need to know the effects of that powder. I thought. I choose A.

_______________

I immediately opened my mouth to accept a spoonful.

“Feed yourself, stupid.” The Hag said and slapped the side of my face. At least it was the good side and it didn't hurt as much. “You're not immobilized anymore.”

I lifted my arm and it was still a little stiff. “Will it always be like that?”

“Since I had to apply a non-living potion to a living being, yes.” The Hag said. “Your bones and muscles have been fortified and you aren't strong enough to handle it.”

“That's what happened?” I asked, a little surprised. I sat up and took the bowl from her.

“You exhausted yourself and your muscles locked up.” The Hag said. “You saw. It happened to me, too.”

My eyes widened and I stared at her. “You took a fortifying potion, too?”

“Not just one and not all at once.” The Hag said with a smile, which bared her teeth. I wasn't as repulsed by the sight now. I guess allowing myself to get chewed on made me accept a few things. I was still terrified of getting eaten by her, though. I don't think that would ever change.

“That's why the poison worked so fast. You couldn't fight against it.” I said and the Hag nodded. I took a spoonful of soup. I looked at it, then shrugged and ate it.

The Hag watched me and I wasn't sure why, then I felt it. Something inside me shivered. I didn't know what it was, because I had never felt it before. It was there and it... it... liked the soup. No. Not the soup. It liked that fungus powder. A lot. I looked at the Hag and she nodded again.

“Eat.” The Hag said and walked back over to the cooking pot. “We need to leave with the potions to get them back to town before nightfall.”

“What about the wards?” I asked and didn't bother with the spoon and tipped the bowl into my mouth.

“I've already recharged them and modified the new boat.” The Hag said.

I took a moment to lift my sweater and looked at my belly. Little divots were scattered in a half moon pattern all over the left side of my stomach.

“That's after two number four potions.” The Hag said. “It won't get any better.”

“Magical wounds.” I said with a nod. I finished the soup and walked over to her and gave her the bowl back. “I'm ready.”

“Load the boats and we can be off.” The Hag commanded.

“We won't need the smaller boat.” I said and picked up a crate. It was a lot lighter than it should have been.

“What did you say?” The Hag asked.

“I can fit the cases on the one boat.” I said and left the hut.

I was definitely stronger, even if I was a little stiff. I quickly distributed the cases on the boat, careful of both the balance and weight distribution. I had learned years ago how important that was, considering the rules were beaten into me when I did it wrong. I finished the task and went back to the hut.

“It's ready.” I said and the Hag gave me something like a water skin pouch.

“Supper.” The Hag said and put one on herself. She had forgotten to bring something with her yesterday and that was why she had struggled near the end of the spider fight. She left the hut at a fast walk and I darted over to the rack of potions, grabbed a number four healing and several number two spider potions, just in case, then ran after her.

We got in the new boat and the Hag looked at my work. She didn't praise me and just nodded, not realizing that that was praise all on its own. I picked up the slightly damaged and bent pole, tossed it into the other boat and took that one, then pushed us off. I concentrated on getting us there faster, just like I had on the way home, and the large boat sped up a little and was easier to push.

I knew not to exert myself, though. Becoming immobile was not a good survival tactic in a marsh that could kill you when you weren't paying attention.