" Why did you do that? The pollen makes my leg itch." A convulsive shiver dislodged the flower. As it fluttered down, Lan grabbed it with practiced ease.
Holding it aloft, he said, " Beauty, Krek, comes in all forms. You have no appreciation for the finer things the universe has to offer."
" What more would I want than plenty of insects to eat, my mountain web, and, of course, Klawn? You humans complicate your lives to the extent that I fail to see how you can possibly survive."
" Never mind, friend Krek. Let us make haste for your mountain fastness and your mate. I must explore this world further. It appeals greatly to me."
" It does have a certain attractiveness," conceded Krek, " though not in these lower reaches. Wait until we spy the Egrii Mountains. Those are noble peaks."
Lan abruptly stopped in the middle of the road, feeling unreasoned dread. Tense, alert as if a challenge to a duel had been issued him and he was unsure where the first blow would come from, he dropped to one knee and pressed his ear to the hard earth. A distant rumbling sounded loud and clear. From the rhythmic pattern, the man recognized the hoofbeats of many horses galloping toward them.
" Do you feel it, Krek? The vibrations?" He waited until the spider dug hard claws into the dirt. A violent shaking indicated Krek' s assent. " Think it' s likely to be anyone we don' t want to meet?"
" I have no enemies on this world, but it has been many years since my departure. The humans here were always kindly, if a bit distant to the web- born."
Lan felt a growing unease. The paranoia of fleeing the grey- clad soldiers had etched itself firmly into his consciousness. And the flight from his lifelong friend, the sheriff, back on his home world heightened his need to be absolutely certain of the horsemen' s intent before revealing himself to them.
" Down. We hide until they' ve passed by," he commanded. Krek obediently sank into the field of flowers and twitched several times as if sneezing. Then he became indistinguishable from any of the other rocks jutting up amid the flowers. Lan approved of the camouflage, then saw to his own in a narrow ravine. He had barely dropped into it when the leading horseman galloped into view.
Lan sucked in his breath and held it. The rider could have been the twin of the commander left angry and frustrated on the swamp world. Dressed in grey with crimson piping at the collar and cuffs, the horseman spurred his mount down the road with a fury that was an echo from the other world. Lan waited. Soon, trotting at a more leisurely pace came the main body of soldiers.
All were similarly dressed.
Their leader' s voice carried with surprising clarity. " Lord Waldron wishes all the roads patrolled, Sergeant. You and five men patrol the Highlands Pike. I wilclass="underline" " The remainder of the words was swept up in a clatter of hooves and the widening distance. Only when the dust had settled back to the roadbed did Lan poke his head up and study the terrain, as if all the soldiers lay in wait to pounce on him.
Seeing no one, he went to Krek' s side and told the spider, " Your world is overrun by those greys, too. What is this Highlands Pike the sergeant is supposed to guard?"
" Oh, I will never see my dainty bride, never, never, never! Why does such woe befall me? Why did I ever leave my web in the first place?" Again the spider wept large, gelid drops from the corners of his eyes. Lan sank to the ground cross- legged and allowed his churning mind to settle. Becoming as disheartened as Krek accomplished nothing.
" Krek," he said in a voice both measured and calm, " how do we get you back to your web- and Klawn? I don' t even know in which direction the Egrii Mountains are to be found. Please tell me so I can help you." Running in the back of his mind, too, was the promise of treasure. If he had to be fleeter than the grey- clad soldiers, a horse of his own would prove beneficial, as would a few more weapons than the pitiful dagger carried at his belt.
A shaky leg pointed across the field. Lan squinted and fancied he saw a snowcapped mountain peak. If so, at this distance, that mountain literally gutted the azure sky. Quite a climb lay ahead. Undaunted, he got to his feet and urged the spider on. By the end of the day, he had to fight down the urge to strangle the self- pitying creature with its own hairy legs.
Gasping in the thin mountain air, Lan pointed and said, " There it is, Krek. Your web." He knew with innate certainty that he was correct. The monstrous web spanned an entire mountain valley. The silvery strands of the web swung thicker than his thighs, and the complex pattern confused his mind as he tried tracing it. Just what the web was supposed to catch and hold- if anything- he didn' t want to ask.
" My web, and my mating web! There, high up! Klawn awaits me! Dear little Klawn!"
Lan shuddered involuntarily when he saw " dear little Klawn." Krek' s mate easily massed half again as much as the gigantic spider. Lan vaguely remembered hearing that the female of most arachnid species tended to be larger than the male. He hadn' t believed it possible; now he was forced to reconsider.
" Krek, old friend, it' s been some adventure. I' m almost sorry to be parting company with you." And he was. The spider' s ability in the mountains far exceeded his own rock- climbing skill, and more than once Krek had saved him from tumbling untold thousands of feet to his death. Even the spider' s attitude had changed for the better. Looking at Krek confirmed this. The once bedraggled fur on his legs now bristled and gleamed like copper wire in the sun. The limpid eyes of melted chocolate had firmed and became windows on a warrior' s soul. Powerful snaps of the mandibles would have instantly severed an armored man' s torso. This was a formidable opponent, this Krek.
" I, too, shall miss your quaint views, friend Lan Martak. But so spins the web, so goes life itself. One moment."
The spider leaped and caught a strand of the web with deceptive ease. Faster than any hunting wolf, Krek raced along the great aerial highway. Lan sat on his haunches, back against the stony wall, and vainly tried to force enough oxygen into his protesting lungs. Far above, Krek met Klawn. For a brief instant the pair remained motionless in the web; then the entire valley whistled as the web whipped to and fro with their frenetic movements.
The two spiders, still high in the air at the center of the web, separated. The smaller one vanished, only to reappear in a short while with a blazing gem clutched in his beak. Lan' s attention instantly fixed on the jewel. He had actually forgotten the promise to receive part of Krek' s web treasure for his aid in bringing the two arachnid lovers together once again.
The blazing jewel turned out to be a large chest, its sides encrusted with indescribable gems. As it weaved a crazy pattern in the spider' s clutches, it touched every color imaginable. His eyes ached from the strain of trying to focus on light not meant for the human eye. Most of all, as the jeweled chest came closer, he felt himself pulled deeper and deeper into its crystalline perfection. Never had he seen such flawless gems- and the best was locked within.
" This is yours, Lan Martak. May you do well with it."
Krek dropped the heavy chest into Lan' s benumbed grip. He lowered the treasure trove to the ground and opened the silent- hinged lid. Inside glowed gems of all kinds, many types of which Lan had never before seen. His heart beat rapidly as he allowed the cool gemstones to run through his fingers like expensive water. He was rich beyond his wildest imaginings!
If only Zarella had lived to see this. He sighed, then forced his thoughts away from his dead love.
" Krek, I couldn' t. This is too much."
" For the service you have performed, it barely suffices. I am content. For the moment. Take this small portion of my web treasure and buy the flowers you seem so fond of nuzzling."
Lan laughed. With wealth such as this, he could buy more than flowers to nuzzle. And he would, as soon as he reached a city!