Lan turned in time to see Inyx hit the general over the head with the chair leg while Krek taunted the man. As the soldier fell forward, Krek' s mandibles snapped once. They hardly slowed as they passed entirely through the body. Lan put his hand to his mouth at the gory sight, holding back his gag reflex.
" Well done, spider," Inyx congratulated her bloodstained ally. " A blow worthy of any warrior."
" You fared well alone, friend Inyx," answered Krek. " A pity you are not a spider."
" If I were, I' d shave my legs," came back Inyx, stroking over the rough bristles on Krek' s front leg. " Still, I prefer this form, thank you."
" Humans are like that," Krek agreed. " Irrational about their frail forms. I must admit, though, there is something to be said about possessing appendages capable of firmly gripping a club." He attempted to pick up Inyx' s fallen chair leg and failed, his chitinous claws not curving properly to hold the small- diameter stick. " I might have more luck with a sword."
The spider hoisted a fallen sword, holding it through the guard. With a quick flinging motion, Krek sent the blade arrowing through space to sink half its length into the wooden door. The giant bobbed up and down, silently congratulating himself on the feat.
Lan turned his attentions from the mutual admiration society forming and went to Velika. She still sprawled gracelessly on the table where she' d been raped, hardly moving during the fight. At the sight of Lan bending over her, she threw strong arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers. Her tear- dampened cheeks brushed his; electric tingles passed through his body, exploded in his brain, ignited passions he' d never before known.
After a satisfactory kiss, she sighed and said breathlessly, " I knew you would come to save me."
" I was a bit late. Seems the best I did was avenge your lost honor." Lan looked at Surepta and felt the cold rage billowing inside him again. But a broken neck and stilled heart ensured Surepta would never again harass him.
" What honor?" asked Inyx contemptuously. " She spread wantonly for that beast, no doubt thinking to save her precious hide. Honor? She knows nothing of the word."
“ Another few seconds and you’ d have ended up the same as her,” snapped Lan. “ If we hadn’ t come along:"
" I would have died defending myself. I never will give my life but rather will sell it dearly. And with my life goes my honor."
" Humans," shrilled Krek, " please perform your silly ritual of mutual insults at some later time. I feel a company of men marching toward this room. Whether they come to avenge the deaths of their leaders or to partake of the peculiar mating ritual decreed by their king, I cannot say. It seems to me that nothing in this horrid chamber can turn for the good. Those awful leaping flames! I cringe at the thought of them singeing my fur." As the spider rambled on, he shrank down to rock size, all the while detailing how terrible a fate it was being allied with humans.
" The gods protect us," muttered Lan. " All right. We can escape this castle and flee to another world through an artificial gateway constructed by Waldron."
" He need not use a cenotaph?" asked Inyx, her green eyes glowing at the thought. " That secret must be mine! I can then travel to the ends of the universe. I can even return to Klendalu, a conquering explorer of the premier rank."
" All that' s come to my mind, too, Inyx," said Lan. " But of more immediate importance is getting out of here unscathed."
" My lord!" cried Velika. " You bleed from a hideous wound." She hid her eyes in cupped hands and turned away from him. Inyx walked over and pulled away the matted grey cloth with a jerk that made Lan cringe, but her fingers probing the wound were curiously gentle.
" You' ll live, more' s the pity. Such a stupid person would be better off dead, yet I fear you' ll soon fulfill that minor prophecy. I pray you won' t take us with you as you die." All the while she muttered and cursed Lan' s stupidity, she was binding his wound. When she finished tending him, she' d applied a tightly bound bandage. He experienced a twinge of stiffness, but little pain. Inyx had proven herself useful at doctoring wounds.
" Let' s make haste for the new Road," said Lan. " Come, Velika, the blood' s all gone." Her relieved look filled him with warmth that made up for the lack of blood. Her safety was all that mattered to him.
" Leave her, Lan Martak," advised Krek. " She is hardly worth the effort of squiring along with us. Speed and a modicum of ruthlessness are needed to win free from all these cavorting flames." The spider cringed as he looked into the corner containing one of the gas torches. " Such horrid people, having those spider- burning flames open like that. And do try to avoid the awful wetness that continually leaks from her eyes. It seems so: unhealthy."
" I agree with Krek," seconded Inyx. " Leave her. She faints at the sight of blood. If we walk the Road, even one of Waldron' s manufacture, blood and death will be our constant companions."
" No. She comes along. And consider the treasure I' m abandoning. I' m willing to remain a pauper for Velika." His reward was a small frown.
The looks Inyx and Krek exchanged were even less respectful.
CHAPTER NINE
" Are you so greedy that you' d risk our lives in this way?" demanded Inyx. " Never have I heard of such stupidity."
" Dammit," exclaimed Lan. " I' m not going to argue with you. That cask of jewels belonged to me by right, and it was stolen. I' m going to get it back."
" It strikes me, friend Lan Martak, that this sudden desire for wealth instead of life did not take possession of your brain until it was placed there by her." Krek bounced up and down on springy legs and balefully looked at Velika. The blond temptress said nothing, but the way she clutched even harder at Lan' s upper arm supplied all the impetus for his reply.
" We search out the jewels. If you and Inyx wish to try and win through to the Road opened by Waldron, do it!"
" You know we can' t do such a thing, you fool. You saw the guards around that chamber," said Inyx angrily. " This entire place is a maze of twisting corridors. If we don' t all work together to escape this accursed castle, we shall all die within its walls. Treasure hunting will buy us unmarked graves. Is that what you want?"
" We can get the gems back and escape," Lan doggedly told her. " I haven' t come this far to turn back. Look at it my way. You' ve already been liberated from Waldron' s clutches. That' s fine for you, but I want all that' s due me. Waldron' s men stole the jewels, and I demand the right to fight and regain them."
" Isn' t killing Kyn- alLyk- Surepta enough?" the spider asked. " Your mind is fogged by her presence. She bewitches you in some fashion a poor weakling spider such as myself cannot discern. Oh, how I wish I were back in the blessed Egrii Mountains, swinging idly on my noble web, feeling the wind sensuously singing through the fur on my legs. And Klawn, lovely Klawn!"
" May your ' lovely Klawn' burn, damn you," snarled Lan. " And I' m sick of you moaning all the time. Velika hasn' t ensorcelled me. I come from a world where magic is commonplace and can defend myself against all but the most arcane."
Inyx snorted. " There' s none quite so blind as a lovesick jackass. And I wonder about that. She holds a strange power over you that seems more than simple idiotic infatuation. But," she said, holding up her hands in acquiescence, " we cannot escape if we are divided. I shall help you in this idiocy, though it means our death. I will go out fighting, not snivelling." She cast a venomous glare in Velika' s direction.
" I, too, shall add whatever pitiful efforts I can to the quest," said Krek, slumped to the floor in a giant, furry mass. " How I can aid you against that abominable firemonger, I am at a loss to say, but the attempt is the important thing. But a Webmaster deserves a better fate than being roasted."