by Amy Cross
“Where was it?” Absalom asks.
“Down there,” she replies, pointing toward the plain. “See where the old dry riverbed meets the crest? It was right there, making its way toward the mountains.”
“That's the direction we're headed,” Jonathan adds.
“I've seen more since,” Ash continues. “At first it was just one a night, but lately it's been more like one every few hours. I don't know what they're doing, not really, and I've stayed well clear so far, but if you ask me, they're moving through this area because they really, really don't want to attract too much attention. I mean, the plains around the Navarian ridge are mostly lawless, you can get away with pretty much anything provided you don't make too much noise. And those spiders are really quiet. You only hear their legs on the rocks when you...”
Again, her voice trails off.
“I accidentally got real close to one,” she continues finally. “I'd been out foraging, and I stopped to rest in the shadows of a tree root. That's what saved me, 'cause if I'd been out in the open, the spider would have seen me when it came past. I was tired, so I didn't notice it coming closer, and then suddenly it was almost on top of me.” She takes a deep breath, as if reliving the moment is difficult. “I could have reached out and touched it. I just curled up into a ball and tried not to make a noise, and slowly it crawled right over me. One of its thick black legs was just inches from touching me, close enough that I could see drops of night dew on the little hairs growing out from its skin, and I heard a clicking sound from its body. When I looked up, I saw its underside, all dark and glistening with meat, with fangs glowing in the moonlight. How it failed to spot me, I don't know, but... Like I said, I was in the shadows, and I can make myself pretty small when I want.”
“There's nothing here now,” I mutter, watching the empty plain. “Maybe they've already moved on. If they were here at all.”
“I know the exact route they take,” Ash replies. “If you really wanted to see one, I reckon you'd have a good chance if you went to the base of the third ridge. I don't know why, but they often seem to come up from around there before they reach the plain.”
I turn to Absalom, and I can see from his expression that he believes her. Still, I can't shake the fear that somehow we're being fed a story, and that she just wants some gold for her trouble; either that, or we're being told what the spiders want us to believe, and this Ash girl has been paid to trick us. Sure, she's just human, but humans can be pretty deadly, especially when they're desperate. Of all the species I've encountered, humans are by far the most skillful and persuasive liars.
“I want to see for myself,” I say finally, turning back to Ash. “Show us this third ridge. If there are spiders in the area, we have to know for sure. And don't take this the wrong way, but we can't rely on your word. We need proof.”
“No way,” she replies, taking a step back. “Not for all the money in the world.”
“I'll give you five gold coins if you take us,” I tell her, figuring I need to find out if she's telling the truth. “Six if we actually see one of these things.”
She pauses, before nodding slowly. “Okay,” she says hesitantly, “I guess... I guess I can't afford to turn that down, can I?”
***
It takes almost an hour to get to the ridge Ash was talking about. She leads the way, although I can tell she's a little hesitant and Absalom has had to remind her several times that we'll pay her for her troubles. I'm starting to think that maybe she's genuine, that she's really just some random human kid who ended up scrabbling to survive out here, but I'm not going to let my guard down just yet. As we get to the edge of the third ridge, however, she suddenly stops ahead of us, as if she's scared to go any further.
“If you walk about ten feet that way,” she whispers, her voice trembling with fear as she points ahead into the darkness, “and wait maybe a couple of hours at most, you'll probably see one. They seem to come through this way alone, always sticking to the exact same route, usually about three or fours hours apart -”
“They really are trying to stay under the radar,” Absalom mutters, interrupting her. “Whatever they're doing here, they don't want anyone to notice.” He turns and looks toward the plain. “The question is, where are they headed?”
“Maybe they think Karakh is near here?” Jonathan suggests.
Absalom shakes his head. “Impossible. They're planning something else.”
“This is as far as I go,” Ash says suddenly, taking a step back. “Even for six gold coins, you can't make me get near one of those things again. I might even clear out of the area all together soon.”
“Where will you go?” Jonathan asks, obviously worried about her welfare.
“Maybe she needs to report back to her spider masters,” I mutter.
“Get real,” Ash replies. “I only look out for one person, and that's me. Six gold coins might be enough for me to get home, back to England. Whatever else is going on here, it's none of my business if you guys want to get yourselves killed by going hunting for these spiders.” She holds a grubby, dirt-encrusted hand out toward me. “Payment, please.”
“We haven't seen a spider yet,” I point out.
“Maybe we can help you get home,” Jonathan tells her, before turning first to me and then to Absalom. “We could do that, right? I'm sure one of you must know someone around here who'd be willing to take her.”
“We don't have time,” Absalom replies, making his way toward the edge of the ridge. “Waifs and strays from the human world are not our concern.” He glances at Ash. “Do you know how to get to the Great Library?”
She nods.
“Go there and ask around at one of the markets. Someone'll cut you a deal. Don't trust Hossarians or Yammerells, though. Inveterate liars, the lot of them.” He turns to me. “We need to check this out.”
“You haven't paid me yet,” Ash says firmly.
“I haven't checked the ridge out yet,” I reply. “What's wrong? Want to get away before we realize you're lying?”
Following Absalom, I keep low until we reach the edge. We both lean over carefully, but all we see below is a dark, shadowy channel carved into the rocks. It's not hard to imagine one of those disgusting spiders crawling this way in the moonlight, but right now there's no sign of anything.
“What do we do now?” I whisper. “Is it really worth staking this place out, just because some human kid told us a half-convincing story?”
“There are scratches on the rocks,” he points out. “Spider legs could have caused that.”
“So could a million other things. What if she's been paid to slow us down?”
“Do you always assume that people are lying to you?”
“They usually are,” I reply, resisting the temptation to mention the lie he and Oncephalus told me back at Jagadoon, about how they had confidence in me.
He pauses for a moment. “We'll keep going. We need to get to Gothos as soon as possible and tell them what we've learned.”
“What about the girl?” I ask, before turning to see that Jonathan is still talking to Ash. If I didn't know better, I'd say my brother was actually starting to get a little attached to her. “For all we know, she's been sent specifically to spread misinformation.”
Absalom sighs. “You're getting paranoid.”
“Am I?” I hiss. “I've read the Book of Gothos enough times to know that the spiders of old were known to ally themselves with other, weaker species when they needed to get a job done. Why wouldn't they try to trick us like this? Maybe they want us to think they're massing in this area specifically so they can throw us off the scent?”
He opens his mouth to reply, but I can tell that he knows I'm right. “It's a possibility,” he says finally, “but something about this girl seems very genuine to me. I think she's telling the truth, or at least what she thinks is the truth. In my opinion, we should just point her toward the Great Library and send her on her way.”
I watch as Ash turns to
leave, but Jonathan grabs her arm, as if to hold her back. They're talking urgently now, and I'm pretty certain my brother is trying to persuade her to stay with us. After a moment, however, she pulls away and starts walking.
“We can't let her go,” I whisper.
“Abby -”
“We can't!” I hiss, hurrying back down the ridge and past Jonathan, and then finally grabbing Ash from behind. “You're staying with us!”
“As if,” she replies, pulling away. “You're never gonna pay me, are you? You're just trying to trick me!”
Stepping past her, I block her path. “How do we know you're not going to go and sell information about us to the highest bidder?”
“Why would anyone care about you?” she replies. “Seems to me, you're just three losers wandering around in the dark. Three losers who promise gold coins and then don't deliver!”
“Maybe you -” Before I can finish, however, I realize I can feel something at the edge of my senses, something coming closer. I look back toward Absalom and I immediately see that he's sensed it too, and then I glance up toward the edge of the ridge.
“What?” Ash asks, her voice once again filled with fear. She tries to pull away from me, but I grab her arm and hold her tight. “What's wrong?”
“Something's coming,” I whisper, still watching the top of the ridge. All my senses are starting to burn, and it's that same feeling I get every time I've been close to a spider. I look around, trying to work out which direction it's coming from, but there's a sense of panic in my gut that's making it hard to be accurate.
“I'm out of here,” Ash hisses, trying to twist free. “You can keep your coins!”
“Hold her!” I say firmly, turning to Jonathan.
“Abby -”
Grabbing his hand, I force him to hold Ash's shoulder. “If you let her go right now,” I continue, “she might rat us out, and then we'll either be killed or worse, do you understand?” I wait for a reply but, as Ash continues to struggle, I can tell that my brother is unsure. “If you let her go,” I add, “you'll be putting everything at risk. I know you're new to this, I know you don't even know me that well, but...” I step back and leave him to keep her in his grip, and to my relief he seems to have understood. “Trust me,” I add. “Please.”
He pauses, before nodding. When Ash tries to get free, he pulls her closer and holds her tight.
“Where is it?” I whisper, hurrying to Absalom and then leading him up toward the top of the ridge.
“Careful,” he replies, grabbing my arm to hold me back. “We can't afford to fight one of these things right now. Even with three of us, we wouldn't have much of a chance. We just have to verify that they're passing this way.”
Pulling away from him, I crouch down at the edge and lean over, and to my horror I see that a large, meaty spider is slowly clicking and scratching its way up from the depths, reaching out into the moonlight with its long, spindly legs. My whole body tenses and I reach down for the hilt of my sword, only for Absalom to grab my hand, as if he was expecting that reaction from me. Unable to take my gaze away from the sight before me, I keep low as the spider continues to make its way up between the rocks, and finally the beast emerges at the crest, its legs and body glistening as it seems to pause briefly.
For a moment, my gut tightens with fear and I can't help wondering if it might have sensed us, but a couple of seconds later it starts to make its way past, just as Ash described. Wherever it's going, it seems to have a single-minded determination to get there, as if it's following orders.
“It's hurt,” I whisper suddenly, as I notice damage on one of its legs, along with a hint of blood around the lower side of its abdomen.
“It takes a lot to damage one of these things,” Absalom whispers in return. “Still, if it's been traveling through the southern Navarian region, there are packs of wild Psy-Wolves that could cause that kind of injury. They wouldn't have survived the encounter, but if they were desperate for food they might have tried an ill-advised attack.” He pauses, as the spider continues to crawl past. “It'll heal soon enough, though.”
“Why give it the chance?” I ask, turning to him. “If it's injured, we could take it down and make sure there's one less spider in the world.”
“Absolutely not,” he replies. “Even a wounded spider could put up a hell of a fight.”
“But -”
“Abby,” he hisses, “I swear in the name of the gods themselves, you will listen to me? This is not the time to take on a spider!”
“It's injured!”
“It could still kill us all!”
“I managed to bring Keller down,” I point out. “They're tough, but they're not invincible.”
“Keller was on his last legs,” he replies, glancing over to watch as the spider continues on its way. “Congratulations, Abby, you managed to kill an old, ailing spider thanks to a little skill and a lot of luck. That doesn't make you a master slayer, so just hold back. This isn't the time to -”
“I'll show you!” I hiss, pulling away from him and getting to my feet, ready to go and finish the goddamn creature off. I reach for my sword, but suddenly Absalom grabs me and pulls me down, slamming me hard into the nearest rock.
“Are you a complete idiot?” he whispers. Turning to look back over the edge, he quickly ducks down. “I think it heard us! Damn it, Abby, did you learn nothing at Jagadoon?”
“I can kill this thing!” I tell him.
“Oh, you're a fool,” he replies, his eyes wide with shock. “Abby Hart, you are a goddamn fool of the highest order!”
I glance over at Jonathan and Ash and see that they've taken cover. My heart is pounding now, and I still want to go and finish that injured monster off, but Absalom is holding me down far too firmly. I remember Oncephalus telling me once that I need to learn how to suppress my instincts, and I guess this is one of those moments.
“If it comes to look,” Absalom whispers after a moment, “and it finds us hiding here, it'll kill us, do you understand that? Even injured, even hobbled, it will kill us!” He pauses. “And it'll be your fault.”
We wait, but there's no sound coming from beyond the edge of the ridge. I want to get over there and take a look, to see whether the spider has changed direction and is coming to investigate the noises we made, but my heart is beating far too fast and all I can do is wait as the seconds slip past. Finally, Absalom leans over again and peers beyond the edge, and a moment later he relaxes his grip on me.
“It's leaving,” he whispers, slumping down next to me. “Abby, you have no idea how close you just came to bringing disaster down on our heads.”
“We could've beaten it,” I reply.
He shakes his head.
“We could!”
“I once saw six vampires try to bring down one medium-sized spider,” he says with anger in his eyes. “Six! And do you know how many of them survived the attempt?” He pauses. “None of them. The spider killed them all, and then it continued on its way with barely a scratch. These things are tough, even when they're injured. There's a reason why the war lasted for so long. If you really think you can defeat one of them on your own, Abby, you're doing a great disservice to the memory of millions of vampires who died in that war, and to the memory of vampires like your father who knew when to respect an enemy's power!”
I want to tell him that he's wrong, but deep down I think maybe he's right after all.
“I wanted to prove myself,” I reply finally, feeling as if I've been rebuked like I'm some kind of child. “I wanted to show you I could do it!”
“You don't need to prove anything.”
“Of course I do!” I hiss. “I heard you and Oncephalus talking back at Jagadoon! I know what you really think of me!”
He sighs. “Is that what this display of petulance is about? Abby -”
Suddenly I spot something moving in the shadows behind him, and I barely have time to react before the spider's vast shape comes charging over the crest of the ridge, lungi
ng straight at us as it lets out a piercing, shrill scream. I grab Absalom's shoulders and throw us both out of the way as a thick black leg slices down, missing us by inches and slicing into the rock where we were sitting just a moment ago.
“Move!” Absalom hisses, scrambling to his feet and shoving me back as the spider turns and lashes out at us again. This time the leg strikes Absalom's back, cutting him down in an instant.
I reach out and grab him, pulling him away before another leg can follow through to cause even greater damage.
As we stumble to a rock and duck down for cover, I feel hot, wet blood on my hands from Absalom's injury. Glancing over at another set of rocks nearby, I see that Jonathan and Ash have taken cover, and I can just about make out my brother's shocked face in the moonlight.
Before I can call out to him, however, I feel the ground starting to shudder as the spider crawls toward us, its shadow cast long across the rocky ground.
“I told you to keep quiet!” Absalom whispers to me, his voice filled with pain. “Until you learn to respect the power of these things, you'll never be able to defeat them!”
Pulling my sword from its sheath, I take a deep breath, trying to calm my pounding heart. “We can bring it down,” I say firmly, even though my voice is trembling a little. I know I screwed up, but I can still put things right, I can still make everything okay. “It's already hurt. We can finish it off. I got us into this mess, and I'll get us out.”
“Abby -”
“Trust me!” I tell him firmly.
Spotting one of the spider's legs out of the corner of my eye, I roll out from behind the rock and slash at the creature, catching its flesh but not managing to slice through. Instead, my sword glances harmlessly from the spider's thick hide and I have to duck out of the way as it lunges at me, trying to snare me with its thick, venom-coated fangs. I feel a splash of something hot and acidic on the side of my neck as I hurry over to a nearby rock and take cover, and the pain is intense as a spattering of venom burns through my flesh. I try to wipe it on my shirt sleeve, but there's not much relief.
