The spider-creature twitched at the command, and another fluid shudder passed through it, but then it seemed to suddenly come to an understanding of its legs—no doubt rather fewer than it was expecting—and unfolded itself in a smooth motion. It was a match in height for Penthos, and a little taller than Harathes, though not so broad in the shoulders. Now it stood like a man, feet planted firmly on the earth of the mound, Dion felt that there was a fearful strength in that long-boned frame. The creature is dangerous, she thought, and it remained a thing of Darkness, a thing of the enemy. She feared it, because she feared that being its master might corrupt her somehow. But now it stood, it was plain that Penthos had done well to get it even this far, and as he said…

“Buy it a hat,” Lief put in, mirroring her thoughts. “Or a blindfold. Eye patches. Maybe some of those darkened glass lenses alchemists use.” He was studying the thing thoughtfully, more recovered than the rest from the initial shock. “You want my pence-worth? I’ve seen worse downing a pint in most cities. There are always magician’s experiments and those touched by some sort of corrupting dark, even in the brightest of places. I mean, yes, we know what the thing is—we know that it’s not some near-human mistake but something brought all the way from being a spider. Others… they’ll think it’s a curse, maybe, or maybe a half-spawn of one of the dark races. It happens. We’ll be fine.” He grinned, and Dion hoped that he had not thought of some way to monetize their monster.

“Well done, Penthos,” she said quietly. “Forgive me for criticizing you. As Lief says, we will have to adapt.”

The magician beamed, all ire forgotten.

“What’s his name then, our new friend?” Lief prompted.

“I have no idea,” and truly Penthos was someone who seldom bothered about trivial things like the names of others. “Monster, speak!”

The thing’s throat worked, and it made noises, feet and hands shifting as though it was trying to give voice to a thought that had nothing of the human about it, but in the end it came out with a stammering sound that was something like “nth.”

“Enth?” approximated Lief. “Nerth? Urnuth?”

“Enth,” Dion decided. “From now on you are Enth, creature. Do you understand?” She lifted the disc of Armes a little, and the monster shied away from the divine Light. “Now, follow us. But first… someone find it a cloak or something.”

What precisely the “spider’s path” was, the creature had yet to reveal, but Darvezian was a long way off, and Dion reckoned that their unwelcome companion’s knowledge would be relevant only as they neared his lair.