• ~Svana POV~
    My name is Svana, and I have been praised for my beauty by all in my village for as long as I can remember. But now that I am of courting age, I am beginning to wonder why no one has approached me.

    Life had been nothing but wonderful to me as everything was perfect. But then the village fell on hard times. Even the sky looked on us with sadness. I could not understand why this had all begun to happen in the year I should have found a mate. It was the year I would finally turn sixteen and everything had just fallen into place. As times proceeded to worsen, the other villagers began to look at me with pity and remorse. As if they knew something I did not. Little did I know was that they truly did know something I did not.

    I awoke to a raucous noise outside of my room just before my door was pushed open. Their stood my father and mother, and they bid me to get up and follow them. I could not think of any reason to disobey my beloved parents, especially not on the morning of my sixteenth year. My parents soon led me out of the house and towards the woods I had never been allowed in before.

    As we walked further into the darkly shrouded forest, I stared at all the oddities around me. On my left ran a length of flag stones that glittered in the moonlight, while on my right I saw strands of a foreign material of some sort in threads on the trees. Suddenly, during my gazing I bumped into the backs of my parents, we must have gotten to where ever they must have been headed. Letting my eyes wander over what I saw before us I gasped at the beauty of what could only be a web. It shone in the moonlight with dew glittering on the silken threads. Had my parents brought me here to see this magnificence before us? If so, why had they never shown me before?

    Slowly my parents began to go closer to the bejeweled web, so I followed after them hoping they would not get stuck in the web if they came too close. As we gazed on, I fell, unaware of the pebble that had been before my foot, and all went black.

    ~Unknown POV~
    Carefully I picked up the girl and began to drag her to the Master Web. When I had reached it, I handed her off to the small spider waiting at attention. I watched as the spider began to spin her into the web with an intricacy found only in the most talented. Stepping back so as not to get in the way, I took my place beside the girl's parents and the other members of the village. Gently at first, almost unnoticeable even, the web began to shake before screams penetrated the night. She had awakened.

    ~Svana POV~
    When I came too I found myself upside down entangled in the web. I tried to free myself, but that soon proved useless and I began to scream out in anguish. Why was I strung up in this web? As I screamed out I looked out to where I had been and saw not just my parents, but the whole of the village standing before me. I began to calm down. They must have heard my screams and come to help. But, if that was the answer why were they just standing there? Just as that thought crossed my mind I felt the web begin to bend and shake with added weight. Looking above me I saw a massive spider of ebony, crimson, and silver. I'd heard tales of this being, but had thought them to be only lore. Now I knew that the Master Spider who ruled over our lands truly did exist. With this knowledge it suddenly came to me. I had never been courted because my destiny had been set in stone. The village had only fallen into a depression when I was almost sixteen and that was also when everyone distanced themselves from me. So that was why.

    I wonder if they'll miss me. I am only a sacrifice it would seem. Was I really loved by my parents? I looked at them with unshed tears. I understood my place. I'm just the beauty given to the beast as appeasement and protection in the village. With a sad smile I begin to sing part of a song I had heard long ago as a child. "Even though I'm the sacrifice/ You won't try for me/ Not now" Going quiet I closed my eyes and let fate be.

    ~Unknown POV~
    We watched in solemn silence after the girl, Svana, sang to us a sorrowful song. She was right. We would not try for her. How could we possibly do so? So we watched on as she closed her eyes in resign for her fate. Looking towards the Master Spider, I saw it move toward Svana and begin to wrap her up further in silk. Every one of us looked away after that moment. We could not face our sin. As one we all walked to our homes in a deadly silence haunted only by the memory of Svana singing to us before her death. Could we ever forgive ourselves? No. We'd always forgotten before this, but we'd never forget or forgive this time. The image had been branded into my mind, and would forever remain as such. Now the only thing to do is go on, just as we always had.

    Turning to look behind me at the path towards the Master Web I let a single tear drop for Svana.