by Amy Cross
“No,” she replies, finally meeting my gaze, “you're right, we can't leave her like this. It'd be disrespectful.”
“Besides,” I continue, pulling the collar of Ash's shirt aside and taking hold of the silver cross around her neck, “did either of you notice she was wearing this?” From the looks in their eyes, I can immediately tell that they didn't. “So I guess she'd appreciate being buried properly,” I add, “instead of just being tossed aside like a pile of meat.”
“You two are ridiculous,” Absalom mutters darkly. “Are you really saying we should risk our lives by sticking around and digging a grave? After everything that has happened tonight, do you honestly think that's a good idea?”
“We should,” Abby says, her voice broken and fragile. “It's the least we can do.”
“No,” Absalom continues. “I refuse to entertain this kind of superstition. We've moving on immediately!”
***
“It's not much,” I say finally, a short while later, as I step back and look at the finished grave, “but I suppose it'll have to do.”
Having dug a shallow pit, Abby and I have placed Ash to rest and covered her body with a small pile of rocks. Sure, it's not a proper, deep grave, but at least it shows that we cared. Or that I cared, at least. We're so far from the human world right now, and despite her tough exterior I feel certain that there was fear in Ash's eyes as she died, and that she was pretending to be brave all along when in truth she was lost and alone, far from home. I know that feeling all too well, and I can't help replaying that moment when Abby told me to hold Ash back and I agreed.
If I'd let her go, she'd have been able to run and now she'd been alive.
I should never have listened to my sister. Lesson learned.
“Do you want to say anything?” Absalom asks after a moment, as the three of us stand around the pile of stones. He sounds bored and disinterested, as if he thinks this burial was a waste of time.
“Like what?” I reply.
“I have no idea,” he mutters with a sigh, “but my understanding is that humans like to say some words when they bury one of their dead. Personally, I think the vampire way is better.”
“And what's the vampire way?” I ask bitterly.
“When the body is of no further use,” he replies, “it is simply cast aside. It's nothing but an empty husk.”
“Are you sure there was nothing you could have done to save her?” I ask. “Couldn't you have turned her into one of us?”
He shakes his head. “Not here, not after what happened. Humans are so incredibly fragile, sometimes saving their lives is like trying to save a gossamer web in a hurricane. Personally, I've always wondered how their species has managed to survive for so long and evolve. I suppose it's a matter of sheer numbers, really. After all, they breed like rabbits.”
I open my mouth to reply, but suddenly Abby turns and starts walking away. She said nothing at all during the burial, and now she apparently thinks we're done here.
“Don't you have any words?” I call after her. “Abby, where are you going?”
“We have to get moving,” she replies, not even looking back at us. “The sun will be up soon.”
“She's right,” Absalom tells me. “There'll be more spiders coming through this part of the ridge before too long, and they'll undoubtedly come to investigate when they realize one of their number has been killed. I'm sure Ash wouldn't want us to take any more crazy risks.”
Even though I want to stay, I know deep down that he's right. I make my way around the pile of stones and follow Absalom toward a nearby slope. Ahead of us, Abby has already climbed to the top, but now she's stopped as if she's spotted something on the other side.
“Not more spiders, is it?” I ask, starting to feel numb to the madness.
“What do you see?” Absalom calls out to her, before climbing up to join her at the top of the incline. He stares ahead for a moment, before turning back to me with a smile. “Hurry. This is important.”
Climbing up after them, I stop next to Absalom and look out across the vast plain, with mountains visible in the distance. At first I don't nothing anything at all, but finally I spot a structure many miles away, standing alone in the plain's center, just a dark smudge from this distance.
“What is that place?” I ask, squinting to get a better look. “Is it... a house?”
“That's where we're going,” Absalom replies. As Abby starts making her way down the other side of the incline, as if she can't wait to continue the journey, he turns to me. “That's Gothos.”
Part Four
A Gathering of Spiders
Emilia
Ten years ago
“I want you to tell me about my father.”
As soon as the words have left my lips, I realize I've made a terrible mistake. Having spent so many months holding back, I finally blurted out the one thing that I know I should never have said, but it's too late now.
I couldn't help myself.
I have to know.
Keller doesn't respond immediately. Instead, he continues to make notes in his journal for a full minute or two, in silence, as if he expects me to simply turn around and leave. Just as I'm about to do so, however, he closes the book and then sets his pen down, and finally the silence seems to settle a little. When he turns to me, I'm shocked to see not anger but sorrow in his eyes. Is he disappointed in me? Has he lost faith in my ability to follow his teachings? After all, he told me long ago that I mustn't ask too many questions about the past, and I promised to respect that rule.
It's just...
“I'm sorry,” I stammer, with tears in my eyes. I turn to leave the room. “Please, forget that I ever -”
“Come and sit,” he replies.
I stop in the doorway, not daring to turn and meet his gaze again.
“Emilia, please,” he continues, “don't be frightened. I know I told you to focus on the present and the future, but perhaps I was a little harsh. It's only natural for you to want to know about your parents.”
I turn to him, trembling with fear. Is he really willing to finally talk to me about this, or is it some kind of trick? I take a step toward him, inwardly flinching at the thought that he might suddenly strike out at me as a form of punishment. Keller is all I have in the world, my teacher and guide, and sometimes it's tempting to think of him as my friend too. That's wrong, I know, but I need a friend, and he's the only possibility. My only other friend in the world was Leanne, but she was too human.
“I knew your father,” Keller says, with a faint smile. “Not well, but I spent time with him during the war, and I was in the great hall of Karakh when he added his own section to the ancient web. I met your mother once, too. They were both very strong, very capable people, and completely loyal to the spider empire. Of course, your father was somewhat weighed down by his responsibilities, and he knew that one day he would rise to the throne of Karakh. When your grandfather was killed in battle, your father...” He pauses. “I spoke to him that night, just a few hours before his coronation. I was just a young man back then, I'd barely been at the palace for a month, and I happened to stumble upon your father in one of the cloisters of the old house, and he asked me whether I thought he could lead our people to victory over the vampires.”
I wait for him to continue, but he seems lost in his memories. “What... What did you tell him?” I ask finally.
“At first I was too scared to say anything.” He pauses. “I told him I had absolute faith in him. He told me I was just being polite, that I should tell him what I really thought. I told him the same thing again, because it was true. He seemed to believe me the second time.”
“But...” I take a deep breath. “You were wrong?”
“Was I?”
“He didn't lead us to victory,” I point out. “We lost the war. My father was in charge and we were defeated!”
“So the history books say,” he replies, “but if we defeat the vampires eventually and reclaim Karakh, I supp
ose those books will have to be rewritten, won't they? There was a time when I struggled to see any hope for our species, but your father has returned from death and even now he's pulling together the resources he'll need in order to strike back. Once we find Karakh, your father can return to this world and take full charge.” Another faint smile crosses his lips. “I still remember the night when I first heard your father's voice reaching out to me from the void, as if he was speaking to me from the realm of death. I couldn't believe it was him, that he was actually returning, and at first I thought I was losing my mind. When I accepted it was truly him... Well, I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried tears of joy. And even tonight, I still have faith in him. We will find Karakh again.”
“Do you really think we have a chance?” I ask cautiously.
“I know we do,” he says firmly, tapping his chest. “In here.”
“I don't have that feeling,” I tell him.
“Of course you don't,” he replies. “You're young, it takes time to gain that kind of knowledge. Don't berate yourself, Emilia, for things that are beyond your control.”
Taking another step toward him, I feel as if I have too many questions flooding through my mind. I've never even seen a picture of my parents before, and I was whisked away from them immediately after my birth, so I don't remember anything at all. To Keller they're memories, but to me they're just stories and sometimes I even find it hard to believe that they were real.
“When your father gave me the job of raising you,” he continues, “he said that he considered me to be a wise man.” He smiles. “I'm not so sure about that, but he entrusted me with this very sacred duty and I have carried it out to the best of my ability. I still have to teach you so much, but you're already developing very well.”
I open my mouth to ask another question, but for a moment I hold back, worried about sounding foolish. “Do I...”
My voice falters.
“Go on,” he replies. “Ask whatever you wish.”
“Do I look like them?”
“Like your parents?” He leans back in his chair, as if he's taking a moment to study my features. To help, I step closer to the light on his desk and turn my face a little. “Yes,” he says finally. “Like your father, a little. And your personality reminds me of your mother.”
I can't help but smile. “Really?”
He nods. “Both in your spider and humanoid forms.”
“Why must I stay in this humanoid form so much?” I ask. “Why can't I change into my spider form again?”
“Because you need to learn how to pass unnoticed among other species,” he replies. “Mastering your duality is one of the key challenges ahead of you. There will be time enough to enjoy being a spider when we eventually get to Karakh.”
I nod, understanding what he means even though I feel a little frustrated. I feel as if there's so much power in my body, so much potential, yet I'm only able to tease the very edges of what I might achieve. I know I'm learning, but I want to learn faster.
“Read to me,” he says after a moment. “From the Book of Karakh. It will be good for you to go over the early history again, and I would like to hear it in your voice.”
“It would be an honor,” I reply, grinning as I hurry to the desk and pick up the dusty old book. “But...” I turn to him. “Don't you already know every word by heart? I know you're a scholar, I'd have thought you would have read it so many times, it must be burned into your soul by now.”
“I've never had it read to me by a member of the Karakh ruling family,” he points out. “That would be a great privilege.”
Feeling genuinely proud to be given this opportunity, I hurry over to him and then kneel at the side of his chair. “Where should I start?” I ask, flipping through the pages.
“At the beginning.”
“The very beginning?”
“The very beginning. You must humor me, Emilia. One day, when I'm gone, you will be the custodian of this book, and you will understand its meaning so much better.”
“Why would you be gone?” I ask, shocked by the idea as I look up at him. “Keller, please don't ever -”
“Read to me,” he says firmly.
I stare at him for a moment, suddenly aware that for all his wisdom and strength, he's an old man, a survivor from the time when my father was alive. I look down at the book and fumble for the first page, but deep down I'm starting to feel a sense of panic at the thought that one day I might no longer have Keller to advise me and to keep me from making mistakes. He has been, in his own way, more of a parent to me than anyone else I have ever met.
Taking a deep breath, I prepare to start.
“It is said,” I read finally, “that the spiders were the first -”
“Louder,” he replies, interrupting me. “Speak the words as if they are already a part of your soul.”
I take another deep breath.
“It is said,” I read from the page, “that the spiders were the first great race to walk the eight worlds. Some histories claim there might have been an earlier empire, ruled by some long-forgotten race of demons, but there is no hard evidence of this. Instead, it is widely accepted that the spiders came first, followed swiftly by the vampires of Gothos and the werewolves of Sangreth, to form the original trinity of life. And of these three species, the spiders were both the strongest and the wisest, quickly building an empire of knowledge and power that spread from world to world and became the envy of all who looked upon it.”
“All of that is true,” Keller says after a moment. “All other civilizations, whether they be human or vampire or any of the others, developed after the spiders. Even the Great Library had not been built when our species first rose from the mud. That is why we must all take great pride in the search for Karakh. We must go home not only because it is our right as spiders, but also because we have a responsibility to guide all the other species that exist. They need us.”
“The seat of power for the spider empire,” I continue, reading from the book, “is the great palace of Karakh. It is at Karakh that all the spider emperors took their oaths of allegiance, and it is at Karakh that the ancient web is kept and the crown must always rest.” I turn and look up at Keller. “Did you ever see the ancient web? Before it was lost with Karakh, I mean?”
He nods.
“Was it beautiful?”
“Like nothing I can possibly describe,” he replies. “Every member of the royal family added a section when they ascended to the throne. The most recent addition came from your father, Emilia, but one day you will add the next piece. The ancient web will never be broken or damaged. This, I feel in my heart.”
“I don't think I could ever rule an entire empire,” I tell him. “I mean... I barely know anything about our species. You would make a better emperor.”
He smiles at this and reaches down to tousle the top of my head. “You will grow into the role,” he tells me. “When your father first contacted me from the void, he had many questions about you. I know that he is eager to set eyes upon you again, and that he greatly regrets the fact that it is not possible for him to see you from where he is now, or for you to see him. I truly believe that he only wishes to reclaim the throne so that he can pass it on to you, Emilia. After all, it is your birthright.”
“But what does an emperor do?”
“An emperor rules. An emperor makes difficult decisions, decisions regarding life and death for his or her people. Sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly.”
“Like what?”
“Like when to fight, and when to negotiate. Or when to punish a traitor.”
“You mean execution?”
He shakes his head. “No spider shall ever kill another spider, Emilia. That is a sacred promise that must never be broken by any of us, do you understand?”
“Of course.”
“There are other ways to punish transgressors,” he continues. “Your father knew that fact, he understood that a true ruler would never resort to such barbarity
. Tell me you understand that too, Emilia.”
“I do, I promise.”
“Then you share your father's wisdom,” he explains with a smile. “That is a good thing.”
“I can't wait to see his face,” I reply, feeling a shiver of anticipation in my chest as tears well in my eyes. The thought of us getting to Karakh, and then seeing Father emerging from the void, is almost too much to hope for. I feel as if somehow all the other worlds are holding their breath, waiting for that moment. “Father will bring peace,” I continue, “won't he?”
“His return will restore balance,” Keller says with a nod. “You must remember that the spider empire only turned to war when there was no other choice. Once the vampires have finally been defeated and we have reclaimed Karakh, we shall set down our weapons and return to the pursuit of knowledge. That is our true purpose in life. We are not, by our nature, a war-mongering species.”
I look back down at the book again, ready to read, but another thought is troubling me and after a few seconds I turn back to Keller. “A moment ago,” I say cautiously, “you mentioned a time when you might be gone. That won't really happen, though, will it? Please, even after my father returns, I need you around. You're not so old that you might die, are you?”
He laughs.
“Promise me you'll never leave me,” I continue, setting the book aside. “I'm serious. I need you.”
“You need me at the moment,” he replies, reaching down and squeezing my hand. “One day, however, you will be able to function just fine without having some old man telling you how things were done in earlier times. But...” He pauses. “I have no intention of dying any time soon, Emilia. I must live to see us reach Karakh again.”
