The Kings of Gondor had an urgent and treacherous quest to Cirith Ungol that could only be completed by traveling through the most dangerous regions of Ephel Duath (Mountains of Shadow). Only the finest and most courageous humans in Gondor could answer this call and none were more qualified than Riley of House Arenthal , who was one of Gondor’s finest servicemen. The young human woman was a light-footed rogue that used her quick whits and apparent beauty to outsmart those who underestimated her. Her average frame paired with her amber brown hair and gifted figure drew the attention of many of her ranking officers. But it was her success with quests throughout Middle Earth that brought her great praise throughout Gondor and the human kingdoms. So when it came time to pick a champion to carry out the quest, Riley was quickly selected to carry out the task.
Gondor was sending a delegation to Cirith Ungol to bargain with the trolls in the region. Riley’s task was to scout a few days ahead of the delegation and find safe passage for the humans to travel, for the paths to Cirith Ungol were extremely dangerous. Amongst the delegation was Riley’s own sister Kaylin, who worked as an ambassador for the realm. As a result, this mission was very important to Riley, because it not was not only imperative to complete the journey, but to keep her sister safe.
After traveling for several days from Minas Ithil, Riley found herself in the depths of Ephel Duath. The hot temperatures of Mordor allowed the rogue to dress sparingly. She wore a leather bra under matching shoulder pads with a knife sheath attached beneath her breasts, adorned with a dagger from her village. Riley left her legs exposed since she only wore a small leather skirt, allowing her to move swiftly at a moment's notice. The tight boots she wore aided these movements and would be crucial on her trek across the rocky terrain. Her amber hair had been tied up in a braided bun behind her head so it was out of the way and she brought a small rucksack filled with supplies to aid on her quest. Travelling light allowed her to traverse quickly to reach her destination sooner but also meant that she was less equipped for the journey. Running low on food and supplies, the adventure had started to take a toll on her. Worn down by fatigue she found herself disheartened and on edge but continued forward knowing that she was less than a day’s travel from reaching her goal. Ephel Duath though was a dark and chilling place with an aura of unpleasantness that permeated through the rock caverns that Riley found herself surrounded in.
She needed to find a place to rest soon before night fell upon her. Everyone in Gondor knew that Ephel Duath was dangerous enough when the sun went down, but being alone may prove fatal. Riley knew all of this though and once the sun began to set she started to scan her surroundings for a place to rest. Within a nearby rockface was the mouth entrance to a large cavernous tunnel which continued deeper than the human’s view. Weighing her chances, Riley left the canyon pathway into the tunnel to escape the vision of anything that may prey on her in the rocky gorge.
Upon entering the opening of the tunnel, Riley lit the last of her remaining torches discarding the rucksack that was now empty. Her vision was minimal as the torches she brought with her were compact and only let her see a mere meter in front of her. She wadded farther into the tunnel until she found herself quickly blocked in from all sides by thick reams of what appeared to be shining stands of silk. Immediately upon seeing the first of these filaments a chill went down her spine for she understood where they came from. Riley had seen webbing like this before on her journeys through Mirkwood. Her mind began to race as images from her time escorting a large merchant caravan came to her forethought. Their crew was attacked by the giant spiders lurking off the pathway through the forest. They were huge and horrible, with four pairs of pale bulbous eyes, massive bulging bodies the size of a man. Their long hairy legs made them three times as wide, nimble, and deceptively quiet. After tracking the crew throughout the day, they attacked under the cover of darkness concealing their numbers. Riley remembered hearing the screams of those unfortunate to be singled out being quickly muffled and silenced throughout their camp. When the survivors woke the next morning the fowl creatures had left their carts ensnared in these long ropes while caking the nearby forest path in their fibrous threads. The rest of the crew was lucky to survive and only did so due to the extensive size of the group.
Those suppressed screams echoed in Riley’s head as her focus returned to the present moment. Those initial filaments in front of her were not alone. After taking a few steps back to scan the area a startling realization fell over her. The entire walls of the cave were lined with the pale yellow gossamer, covering the tunnel in a thick coating of webs. Riley could not hardly see the rock through the layers of viscod sheeting. Turning now towards the expanse of the tunnel, the young woman pushed forwards, using her flame and dagger to carve her way through the initial entanglements in front of her. She needed to venture deep enough into the cave system to ensure she would not be seen or heard by anything. Unforeseen by Riley were the possible dangers that travelling deeper into the tunnel could hold for her.
After a few minutes of cutting and burning her way deeper into the tunnel, the toe of her boot snagged a small rock, launching it forward into a web in front of where she was progressing. Unbeknownst to Riley, this particular web was attached to a strand that continued deep into the cavern above her where a dark creature was stirred and awoken by the movement from the line. The great spider Shelob, the greatest offspring of Ungoliant the primordial spider, had taken up residence in Mordor to feed on its inhabitants. For countless years the beast of darkness had made this part of Ephel Duath her home and an unknowing visitor just woke her from a deep slumber. Riley hardly even noticed the rock she had kicked, for she was too focused at clearing a path ahead. She had nearly reached a curvature in the tunnel where she eventually could rest for a few hours until what little daylight was restored to carry out the last day of her trek. She needed the rest, for this journey’s toll was weighing heavily on her and the fatigue was starting to impair both her body and her mind. She could not let her guard down though, the thoughts of Mirkwood still plaguing her mind, and the tendrils of fear kept her uneasy.
Just moments before Riley felt satisfied with her progress, Shelob began to descend from her lair through the tunnels above Riley’s head. The thick coatings of silk along the walls of the tunnel had seamlessly hidden the caverns above where she stood. What appeared as a continuation of the ceiling for the original tunnel was actually concealing something much more sinister. For what Riley didn’t realize is that she stood near the beginning of a labyrinth of webs and it’s creator was watching as the young brunette made her way to its start.
Riley looked back towards where she came from, she could no longer see the entrance behind the bend in the tunnel. The webbing in front of her had started to become much more dense, with the gossamer becoming thicker and layered together, forming a wall of sticky silk. Her arms had grown tired as the silk began to build up on the blade of her dagger, each slice taking more and more effort. The torch could only burn some of the silk from it, but the sticky residue would still be left on the blade. Using the torch now she scanned the nearby walls of the cavern, determining that she wasn’t in any immediate danger. She was wrong.
Just as the rogue turned her back toward the layered wall built up before her, something made silent moves above her. Shelob was removing the layer of silk separating her from her prey below. She knew that Riley’s torch was fading, and once that wretched light was extinguished, she’d be able to make her move.
Riley had to find something to burn and quickly, if she wanted to get any sleep safely she’d need to start a fire before her last torch gave out. Fire would be her best tool at fighting any spiders that came her way, and she’d need to keep a campfire going in order to see anything that could come at her in the tunnel. She scanned the floor for anything she could use. But as she put her head down the torch began to flicker. Riley began to panic. She started moving frantically to find some kindling, sticks, anything other than this infernal webbing. But there was nothing that could be seen besides pebbles and silk. Finally, Riley’s luck has run out with the last of her flame. A tear rolled down her cheek as she knew this would certainly spell disaster for her. She needed to remember a light summoning spell or incantation and fast. Although it wouldn’t last long, it’d maybe buy her some time to find something to reignite the torch with. Murmuring to herself between faint inflections in her nervous voice.
Moments later, a faint orb of light appeared a few feet in front of Riley. A sudden rush of joy flew over her as she had managed to recite the correct spell. Her tears of fear became tears of happiness and relief. She brushed them from her face and moved back towards the wall of gossamer where the orb was now floating. As she took a few steps forward she felt a piercing feeling through her chest like a stabbing chest pain. Within a split second her mouth began to foam and a warm feeling crept across her whole body. Shelob had swiftly climbed down from the hole above, piercing through Riley’s back with her stinger.
Riley saw a few of Shelob’s long, hairy legs in front of her now as the giant arachnid stood over top of her. She went into a panic but found she couldn’t move, as if she’d been frozen. But it wasn’t fear that kept her from moving, Shelob’s stinger had been lined with a paralyzing agent that had spread throughout Riley’s entire body. Every muscle in her body loosened and she was powerless to fight it. Her body began to fall limp and just before she hit the ground, two of Shelob’s front legs caught her and gently coddled her off her feet.
Riley could only look on in fear as the floor of the tunnel grew further away as Shelob brought her closer to her chest. Pure horror overcame her as the creature spun her body to face her. Her worst fears of the tunnel had come true, a spider bigger than any she faced in Mirkwood was gripping her motionless figure. Shelob’s face was mangled by a sizable scar that ran between her eight black soulless eyes. The arachnid’s large mandibles rubbed against one another as she fulminated at the potential meal she held. All Riley could do was watch in dread as her capture plotted her envelopment. In what would feel like an eternity to Riley, the Shelob stared at her meal, deciding how best to prepare it.
Shelob moved onto her hind legs, using the other remaining legs to tear the light armor from the rogue’s body, leaving the woman exposed. Despite not being able to move, Riley felt the cool air of the tunnel against her skin. Shelob shifted her middle two legs back to the as her back hind legs moved toward the back of her abdomen. Her front arms moved Riley horizontally, parallel to her own body. Tears again to roll down Riley’s eyes and onto the ground as her foresight became a curse once again. Shelob’s legs pinned Riley’s legs together as Shelob’s spinnerets began to move.
Riley felt a sudden sticky layer of silk attach to her feet as Shelob began to rotate her body. Thick sheets of pale-yellow silk began to envelop her feet as Shelob steadily spun Riley between her legs. The spider’s spinnerets worked to guide nearly liquid strands of gossamer towards her hind legs which expertly applied them to Riley’s ankles. The gooey silk began to solidify into wide bands anchoring to her heel. After a few passes over the rogue’s feet, Shelob moved Riley further from her body as she began to work up the legs, pulling the sheets taut, squeezing her skin as they stretched around her calves. Riley’s knees were quickly sealed together as the arachnid worked its way up to her thighs.
The rogue’s mind began to rush as the encroaching wave of silk climbed further and further, knowing that once her hands were bound her fate would be sealed. She dreaded every second as she felt the winding sheets grow ever closer, until the feeling of warm, sticky gossamer enveloped her finger tips. The bindings soon forced her hands flat against her sides, pressing her palms flush with the top of her bare thighs. Each individual digit was visible beneath the gossamer, gripping her skin tightly. Doom did not finally set in for the young woman until she felt the next pass bind her wrists to her hips. Even through the venom Riley could still feel everything, helpless to stop the glue-like bands from covering her navel and exposed sex. Soon her entire lower half had been consumed by the spider’s work.
Her body continued to spin as the creature steadily rotated her between its slender legs. Riley was losing track of herself as the vertigo from her body spiraling began to set in, forcing her to concentrate on the feelings of the sticky gossamer in order to maintain some semblance of direction. The bindings inched higher and higher as soon her breasts were lifted upward as the stretching sheets plastered beneath her bust, forcing her elbows to cinch to her rib cage. The following pass squeezed her boobs together underneath the sheet’s warm embrace, leaving nothing to the imagination as the silk outlined every curve of the woman’s figure.
As the stretchy layers reached her collarbone, Riley’s thought turned toward what little future she had left. How quickly would this monster consume her? Where would it take her? Was there any chance the delegation could possibly save her from this cruel fate? She knew it was likely hopeless as she was too deep into Shelob’s cavernous home. She prayed that her sister would never find her, knowing fully well that she too would befall a similar demise.
The next winding of gossamer felt like a noose around Riley’s neck, beautifully contouring around its shape, forming a collar for the rest of her silk encasement. The gooey silk anchored behind the base of her head then wrapped around her chin, securing her head in place. The amber brown hair of her braided bun was then plastered to the back of Riley’s head as the sheet made its way back around. The feeling of sticky embrace met her cheeks as soon as the silk wound around her lips. Squishing, wet noises filled her ears as the spider covered them, muffling them completely. The last thing she saw was a wave of pale-yellow silk that now clung to her eyes, sealing off all her senses from the outside world. Shelob quickly finished the rest of Riley’s head, enclosing her shrouded tomb. Riley’s opened-mouth look of despair now eternally outlined by the arachnid’s silk encasing her head.
The silk cocoon was skin tight, hugging and pulling every inch of her body. Each layer of the sheetlike fabric perfectly outlining the woman’s muscular tone beneath its pale yellow coating. Her limp body squeezed at every inch by her constricting prison, as if the silk had been vacuum sealed to her body. The spider moved the cocooned woman away from her body, inspecting its work. After feeling satisfied, Shelob carried Riley deeper into her lair. The arachnid then placed its cocooned victim onto a thick sheet of gossamer mounted to the wall of the cave, leaving her to feast on later.