A Field of Spider Lilies

Glossary:

A small glossary of in-universe terminology which may be confusing.

Daelor:

Guardians of the Oldhome, Daelors are one of the most ancient species on records. Their nature is attributed either to a long line of genetic adaptations or some conception of the supernatural depending on who you ask. When Daelor blood finds its way into a bloodline said individuals will be born with a rocky complexion, primarily expressed through their skin, which turns harder in a proportion from vaguely coarse skin to the consistency of a boulder, depending on the purity of their genetics. Their hair and other accessory traits usually follow the same fate, becoming hard as rock or a loose collection of gravel, with few exceptions.

These traits usually also include a substantial increase in strength and weight commensurate to their size.

Beastfolk:

A generalized term that covers any variety of humanoid/animal hybrids, awakened animals and the like. These groups usually have community and specificity depending the regional variants of the species. Their traits can vary from anthropomorphized animals to humanoids with animalistic traits, although some sorts of enhanced senses is almost always a given.

La'irra:

Craftsmen of the Primordial Family, La'irra are the newest recorded member of the primordial family. Once more the nature of their existence is hotly debated, but it becomes much harder to argue against the possibility of some supernatural origin when talking about their traits (Although some do allege the idea of combustion sacks). Their skin usually holds a consistency varying from coal to ash, with the notable exceptions of the ends of extremities and hair, which tend to be aglow with a continuous and resilient flame. Their entire body is hot to the touch, the flaming parts being hot enough to burn wood, while the rest only sufficing for lesser degree burns most of the time. Very rare presentations include the entire body being alight.

Given enough practice they can learn to utilize the flames on their extremities for various jobs like welding or even cooking.

In most places they are considered a weapon by themselves and could be cited with a public disturbance if not wearing the proper safety gear.

Midala:

The planet of Midala is a fairly template climate with open fields and few forests near the equator, and the corresponding temperatures near the poles. The planet through some quirk of its creation has far reduced gravity to what it should have, and as such when colonized its settlers created gravity regulation domes, within which its population centers thrive, one of these domes is where the story takes place.

-

A blow to the ribs. I wish I could say it stung, but the man simply recoiled as he made contact with my skin. Pathetic. I sighed as I took a step forth, placing more weight on my left leg and lightening the load on the right one. I tried, but if I didn’t beat him now, he’d just fall on the ground in a few hits regardless, that’d be more embarrassing. I raised my leg, knee almost reaching my chest in a barely noticeable balancing act before swinging forth for the hit. He grunted, looking at me with a mix of confusion and frustration. He was resilient, if nothing else. I took a step back again, bringing my arms close to my chest in a defensive stance. He tried to throw another punch which I blocked with my arm, he let out a quiet complaint upon the impact.

The crowd was mostly silent, that wasn’t good. Fine. I’d give them a show then. I went in for a punch, straight to the stomach, nothing that would do too much damage. He coughed up some air. No blood. Odd, but preferable in this case.

Whispers started to spread, uttered far too low for me to understand, the lights too bright for me to be able to identify the faces of those who surrounded us. He didn’t retaliate. A punch to the left shoulder, non dominant. I heard a small crack as his face grew warmer. I gave him time again, he went in for a kick, almost falling prone as he did not expect me to not so much as falter. My leg started jittering. Did they really think some wimp like that would stand a chance against me? That I could realistically lose to some slightly stronger than average human? I gritted my teeth as my arm launched forward to strike his clavicle, he tried to block with his still functional arm. He was fast, but not strong enough. That arm wouldn’t be helping him much anymore. He took a few steps back, mouthing words I could not decipher. A kick to the hips, he complained out loud this time. I used the impulse of my foot to land closer and strike again, the shin this time. He struggled to remain standing. Still, no retaliation, a few tears had already run through his face but they mixed in with the sweat well enough. Another hit to his shoulder, his arm went fully limp.

“Jasper what the fuck dude?” He whisper-yelled at me. I rolled my eyes.

“What?” He signaled to his arm with his eyes. “You’re not even putting up a show, can’t keep the crowd bored.” I stated the obvious. Whatever. He tried to launch another kick. He fell to the ground. The crowd was getting louder. I gave him a few seconds.

“You’re not gonna get paid if you don’t lose dumbass!” I knew that already, but I’d still get my usual share of the bets.

“How am I supposed to lose here?”

He hadn’t stood up, I got closer. He began scrambling to try and stand, failing as he flailed around. Cheers filling my ears. Thirty seconds, that’s all I had to stall for to optimize profit. I leaned down. Whistling and chanting. How could I let them down? I couldn’t soil my name like that. I let a small chuckle out, who thought it was a good idea to frame me as losing? And what was I thinking when I accepted? My hands had gotten to work without me noticing, straight to the face… What was I doing? I stopped myself. Dammit… I sighed. That’d be more trouble. I finally heard the mediator’s voice yelling at me to stop, the crowd was still wild, but I could hardly see.

I walked off the ring, almost immediately feeling a pair of hands on me, trying to pull me away, unable to, yet almost ripping my clothes. Still, I abided and moved in the direction they seemed to want me to go. Finally darkness, what people liked to call the dressing rooms and simultaneously the exit for participants, in truth it felt more like a glorified humid basement.

“Jasper, what the hell was that out there?!” I sighed, I didn’t want to deal with it.

“I gave him a good chance.” Palpable exasperation was dripping from my lips.

“He barely hit you!”

“He barely touched me. Whatever he was doing was really not working. Look, I gave him time between blows, but even I was getting bored out there.” I crossed my arms.

“I don’t think you understand what you did, Jasper.” I blinked a few times.

“Killed a man? Yeah, that’s not new.” It was more common than not.

“You made me a promise, and you broke it. Do you know how much money you’re costing me?” He reached into his coat.

“Nothing you can’t make back, it’s not a big deal.” I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, it is.” He pulled out a gun. That was… not good. I wasn’t sure if that thing was strong enough to pierce through my skin but it’d still make me fall behind regardless.

“Hey dude, I’ve got bills to pay. I’ll give you a part of my cut if you’re that pissy, but relax.” I clenched onto my elbows.

“You think I want mere pennies?!” I furrowed my brows.

“It’s like a hundred credits at least.” He pressed the gun to my side.

“Don’t fuck with me.” So… that was pennies…

“How, uh… much are you losing here..?” He almost laughed.

“Take a gander.”

“Uhhhh…. Two?” Thousand namely, but it got across.

“Higher.” He pressed harder.

“Ten…?” Even harder. “Higher then…?” He looked at me with a lack of amusement. “Fifteen…?” He moved his gun away from my chest just to hit me on the side of the ribs with it.

“See? You’re not all brawn.” Of course I wasn’t.

“I, uh, don’t have that sort of-” he closed my mouth with the gun.

“Oh, I know that. That’s why you’re coming with me.” I just stared at him. “Got it?” I tried to nod, I couldn’t, but the gesture got through. “And keep your mouth shut.” He began walking, I followed.

We made it most of the way through the back before we ran into a large Beastfolk, slicked back grey hair seamlessly blending with his small cat-like ears with black markings, and a large spotted tail swishing behind him. He smiled.

“Hey, Jeffry, care if I borrow the Moss Boy for a second?” His voice was low and raspy, his breath stank of tobacco.

“Can’t do, gotta figure out what to do with him.” The man continued smiling.

“Awe, come on Jeff, don’t tell me that twerp was indispensable.” Jeffry laughed.

“As if! He still cost me a pretty credit, gotta make sure we send a message.” Send a message? Oh, this was not going to go well at all… I really didn’t want to get in trouble with the Mob, but I’d rather deal with that than die…

“He’s pissing his pants, Jeff, leave him be, he’s just a kid.” Rude… and strange. I stared at the man, and yet he did not direct his gaze at me at all.

“What am I supposed to tell my boss? Ah gee, sorry, we lost twenty grand because some kid couldn’t hold back, and by the way the guy we sent in died, so now we’re short on staff!” The large man sighed.

“All this over twenty?” I felt like that was justified.

“What can I say? Our part of town is not doing great right now, we gotta invest a bit.” I’d think it was sweet, but they were doing it for the sake of money.

“Alright…” He pulled out two crowshells. “Hand him over to me and you break even. Might be a little more even. No loss.” There was a moment of silence.

“He doesn’t follow orders, Thorn, he’s not worth it.” He still reached his hand out and… Thorn…?, deposited the shells in his hand.

“Not for what you need.” He smiled. Jeffrey pocketed the shells.

“You got lucky this time.” He hit me once more and walked off.

“You hurt?” Thorn finally directed his eyes towards me.

“Uh, no, I’m good… metal’s a bit tougher to deal with, but he wasn’t particularly strong…” I really didn’t want to get tied up in crime like this… The man laughed.

“A bit tougher huh?” I nodded. “If you say so then…” He sighed. “Jasper, you’ve made quite the splash here, you know?” I nodded again.

“Uh yeah, I’ve… uh, gotten a bit out of hand.”

“You sure have! But you don’t have a whole lot of space to grow here, do you?”

“Like, economically?” He pulled out a cigarette.

“What else could I be talking about? Muscle mass?” He joked, but he was in fact a lot… larger than I.

“Just… wanted to be sure… but uh, yeah… I guess.” I scratched the back of my head. “I mean, it’s still good money…” For me, at least.

“You could be doing so much better!” He was… a very loud man. “Walk with me, Jasper.” He offered me a cigarette as he began leading the way, I took it, mostly out of obligation. “Got a light?” I shook my head.

“Sorry, don’t uh… carry one with me.” I did not smoke.

“Well, you better start doing that.” He nodded before turning to a side and exclaiming “Aye!” while holding his cigarette out. A small La’irra ran over and lit it with a snap of their fingers, they got ready to walk away and then he signaled towards me, they lit mine as well. Great… now I had to figure out how this worked…

“Thanks…” They left. Thorn kept walking.

“I’ve met a good deal of Daelors before, Jasper.” What…?

“Okay…?” Was this about my hair? That felt like the only place he could go from there.

“None that didn’t flinch at a gun.” Oh, I flinched. internally.

“I, uh, assumed things would go worse if I did… I’d rather only be a bit incapacitated and not out of commission… although near the end there I felt like they were gonna kill me…” I looked down as I tried to get a puff of the cigarette. Smoke going down my throat and causing me to cough, I tried to keep my mouth shut but it was still noticeable.

“Nah, they would’ve tortured you, they need more people to be able to tell their stories, gang’s been in a regression… I give them three years in a best case scenario.” He nodded, I mirrored. “Still would have left you out of commission, and probably without your moss.” Oh that would have been a pain.

“I um… I don’t have a way to repay you…” I addressed the elephant in the room.

“I’m not asking you to.” We entered a building. “You’ve got talent, kid.” I was… in my twenties, people needed to stop calling me that. “I don’t want to see that wasted in some stupid ring.” It was a casino, a very large casino. There was a lot of noise, and lights… fuck.

“I uh, I don’t intend to… Sir…” I wasn’t sure what to call him, but I sure as the Hells was not calling him Thorn off the bat.

“What do you want to do with your life, then?” He seemed amused at my comment.

“I’m… hoping to save up enough to study economics… move into that field…” I gave the cigarette another go… and failed again… this was far too much stimulation.

“Economics?” He laughed once again. “Never heard of a cold blooded killer who wanted to be an economist… now cold blooded killers who were economists, that’s a different story!” We started going up a flight of stairs.

“Yeah…” I tried to force a laugh. “I guess it’s a little… dumb…”

“Not dumb.” He replied almost immediately. “Just… unique. An end goal is always good.” He nodded. “How’s that going?”

“Not amazingly… in truth, but… I’ve got nothing if not time.” I shrugged. I’d probably live a good three hundred years.

“Still… wouldn’t you like to speed that up?” I looked down again. We made it to a door, he pulled out a card key and opened it, signaling me to go through. I did. He followed.

“I guess?” I wasn’t certain, but it would be nice to be out of this field.

“Well, I can help you out with that.” We were in a dark office, I could see again. He went over to a chair that was clearly custom made for his size and signaled me to sit in a chair that was a bit too small for mine. I still did, uncomfortable as it was.

“I’m, uh, I’m really not interested in getting my hands dirty-”

“And you won’t have to, Jasper.” He interrupted.

“Um… okay, I’m listening…?” He smiled as he passed me an ashtray.

“All I’d ask of you is to serve as a bodyguard, maybe some debt collecting every once in a while. Just scaring people, no need for you to get aggressive unless they start it. How does that sound?” I deposited my ash in the ashtray, deeply hoping more ash would fall than what did, yet accepting the result.

“That… doesn’t sound bad, no… so what’s the catch?” I tried to keep my leg from bouncing, but failed.

“The catch? Well, just the fact you’d be affiliated with me, but you get a steady paycheck, hazard pay, Hell I’ll throw in some cash to help you fix up your appearance while I’m at it!” Fix up my appearance???

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Why did I say that?

“Prideful! A good attribute to have… I mean, you need to start dressing better than that. We’re a respectable organization, you know?” Well… He was wearing most of a suit… So I guess that made sense.

“Yeah,,,” I laughed a bit to ease the tension. “Sorry bout that…”

“All good!” He laughed. “I take it you don’t know who I am?”

“... Thorn…?” I echoed.

“Hawthorn.” He corrected. “That’s just a nickname some people have been trying to get to catch on… I’m not fond of it.”

“Hawthorn… got it.” I nodded.

“So? What do you say?”

“What’s the pay?” I didn’t want to get taken advantage of.

“Four grand a month, without the extras… just as a starting salary…” He smiled. I put out my cigarette by accident and decided to roll with it.

“You’ve got a deal.” I stretched out my hand.

“You’re a funny guy, Jasper, you should let that out more often.” I didn’t know what he meant by that, but he took my hand, practically enveloping it entirely in his paw, and he shook it.

“I’ll try to!” Too much excitement, idiot.

“Care for a drink?” He pulled out a bottle of whiskey, and two small glasses.

“I’ll take you up on that.” The smile on his face was different this time around. He served himself a drink and me another, sliding mine across his desk. I took it.

“Thanks.” I waited for him to take a sip before doing the same.

“You don’t smoke, do you?” He broke the silence.

“Uh, no, I don’t…” I glanced at the ashtray.

“Turn me down next time around. I won’t remember.” He fixed up his hair. “Won’t take offense to it either.”

“Good to know.” I nodded.

“Do you drink?” He asked almost jokingly.

“Not much.” I decided to be honest. “Bit expensive for a pastime, but I can enjoy a good drink every once in a while!” He laughed.

“I knew you had something in you!” He downed what was left in his glass. I took a slightly larger sip than usual, but couldn’t manage to get it all through. Something. I couldn’t help but wonder what it was.

“Thanks.” I scratched the back of my head.

“You’re gonna go places, kid… come here tomorrow at nine, I’ll have someone help you get started.” He stood up. “Feel free to stick around, I have some business to tend to.” He gave me a pat on the back, enough to actually move me, even if slightly. I smiled.

“Yeah, I’ll be here.”

End of Chapter Notes:

Thank you so much for reading Chapter 1 of A Field of Spider Lilies! This is the first work I'm publishing publicly and I've been so very excited to share this story!

The first three chapters were published in bulk to leave you guys with a bit more of the story and I will be publishing new chapters on a weekly basis!

If you want to see some art and get additional content on the story you can find me on Bluesky and Instagram as Loafleyy I'll be sharing plenty of things there!

A Field of Spider Lilies is also being published on Royal Road, Scribblehub and AO3!