" Let him cut your chains, Lan; then we' ll figure how to get out of here!"
" I tell you Velika has a plan to free us. If we just wait, she' ll free us and we can all four be gone from this pest- ridden castle and that bird- loving Waldron."
" Unless my eyes deceive me, friend Lan Martak, it lacks but a few minutes of dawn. Waldron seems nothing if not totally efficient in his slaughter. Linger much longer and we all die. And I am too insignificant a spider to come to such a fate. Please, Lan Martak, save me. Inyx? Lan?"
The tone made Lan turn and see a huge, salty tear forming at the corner of a limpid eye. He sighed in defeat and dejectedly held out his wrists.
" Snip ' em off, and hurry. You' re right about the time. I just don' t know what delayed Velika."
" She' s probably having too much fun in Waldron' s bed," Inyx muttered under her breath. The words were drowned out by the metallic snicks as Krek severed the last of Lan' s shackles. Louder, so both Lan and Krek heard, she said, " Do we overpower the guards when they come for us? These lengths of chain hardly seem adequate weapons, although the metallic skeleton used them dexterously enough back in Waldron' s maze. Or do we attempt to escape in some other way?"
Lan pointed to the window through which he' d kept his futile watch for Velika.
" Down the wall to the courtyard. It' s still empty. We might be able to win free through the main gate from there."
" Down that wall? You' re insane. It' s too sheer. Why, the surface is slick glass. Not even fully outfitted for mountain scaling could I get down that way!"
" We don' t have to scale it, just get down it. Krek? Honor us with a bit of web spinning." Lan watched as the spider emitted a coughing noise and began generating yard after yard of strong silken cable. In a few minutes, the pile on the floor reached up to Inyx' s knees.
" Is this sturdy enough?" she asked dubiously.
" My dear lady!" said Krek, puffing himself up and banging the ceiling of the small chamber. " I am Webmaster of the Egrii Mountains, and this is the finest silk you shall ever see. Humph!"
" Sorry," apologized Inyx. " This does seem strong. Shall I go first?"
" Go on," said Lan, realizing this was Inyx' s way of gaining forgiveness from the spider. " Krek will come down last."
He helped Inyx into the narrow window slit, his hands almost encircling her trim waist. For the first time he marvelled at her litheness, her strength, even her muliebrity. Then she dropped over the edge and adeptly swung lower and lower on the silken cable. When she touched the ground, Lan followed. Her hands were most welcome to guide him into the dense shadows at the base of the tower. Krek came hurtling down, descending the sheer wall ten times faster than either of them had dared.
Legs spread widely around his thick body, Krek sighed. " One day, I shall have the opportunity to rest. Just me, swinging to and fro in a simple yet elegant web, the soft, warm wind caressing me, making me feel less old, less tired, more like my original youthful self."
" Sure, Krek, sure you will, but let' s talk about it later. After we' re out of here." Lan glanced around nervously, wanting to see Velika' s trim form, fearing to find a guard patrol instead.
" One moment," Krek said. He whistled and spat out a long streamer of gooey material that clung to the silk cable. In a few seconds, the silken strands were totally eaten away and all trace of their escape route erased. " Now, do we tread wearily on the Road once again? I sense that Waldron has reopened the route."
Lan pressed a hand to his head, knowing that Krek was right. The dull, throbbing ache between his ears seemed a sure indication of the artificial Road' s coming back into existence. Still he balked at travelling it again.
" We' ve got to rescue Velika. It won' t take long. She' ll be in Waldron' s private chambers. We:"
" We' ll be shorter by a head if we stay," hissed Inyx. " Look and tell me how to fend off so many- and us without weapons?"
The troops marching in perfect syncopation stopped in front of the locked door leading up into the prison tower. The commander fumbled out a key, then ordered his men inside. The door locked again to thwart any escape of his supposed prisoners, the officer led his men up the spiralling staircase.
" Seconds, friend Lan Martak, before they discover our apparent dematerialization," said Krek. " I would like to stay and see you through your pointless excursion to rescue the lumpy human female, but my weakness and quivering fear overwhelm me. Please forgive me."
" And I am with him, Lan," declared Inyx firmly. " I refuse to watch Waldron' s talons close around us still another time, and all for that worthless whore of yours."
" She' s no whore!" blurted Lan. Then he calmed. He took a deep breath and slowly released it. He had to admit they had a point. Waldron was not stupid; he would not allow them to escape still another time if he caught them now. While Lan didn' t agree with Krek and Inyx about Velika' s merits or lack of them, he saw it was unfair and dangerous to insist they stand beside him while he attempted a rescue.
" The Road opens again," Krek told them. " A huge flow of power surges between worlds. It makes the fur on my legs bristle, so great is the force."
Lan nodded, his head pulsing strongly and making it difficult for him to think clearly. Why did the gate open now, just when he needed the clarity of his senses to rescue Velika? He hardly noticed Inyx pulling him along through the deserted courtyard until they were outside a blackened door, the product of some raging fire long forgotten save by the tortured grain of wood.
" Inside is the Kinetic Sphere," said Krek. " My abilities to find other Roads are blurred by its stark power."
" I' ll be leaving you here, Krek. Good Luck, old spider." Lan stroked fondly over the fur of the leg nearest him, then turned to Inyx. " And I' m sorry to be leaving you, too. I can' t help but feel things might have been different in a less strained circumstance." Lan bathed in the radiance of her smile and realized for the first time how lovely Inyx truly was. Shakily, he held out his hand and was surprised to find her pull him close for a proper kiss.
" I shall miss your bullheaded ways, you stupid fool," she said softly, but without sting of sarcasm. Lan wanted to say just the right words, but none came.
" Lan Martak, we are trapped!" came Krek' s warning. Lan shot a glance over his shoulder in time to see the commander of Waldron' s guard run from the prison tower, scan the courtyard, and spy them. A shout caused a drowsy sentry to ring the warning bell and rapidly fill the castle grounds with sleep- dazed, half- armed men. When the greyclad soldiers came fully awake, the trio would find themselves prisoners once again- unless the gateway produced by the Kinetic Sphere still quivered open between worlds.
" That' s the door. Hurry!" Lan cried, pushing the others in front of him. It proved difficult herding Krek, but necessity lent strength to his efforts. Slamming the door behind, he searched frantically for a locking bolt. There was none.
" The Road is still open," said Inyx. " Quickly, Lan, let' s all tread that path again."
" Get going," he ordered. " I' ll hold them as long as I can. And don' t stand around arguing."
" He is lamentably correct, friend Inyx. Go and forge ahead for us. We shall come shortly."
Inyx nodded, then ran for the shimmering curtain drawn between them and the ball. It seemed a perfect stereographic projection, each point on the surface of the sphere corresponding to a point on the planar sheet of dancing, scintillant energy. Inyx plunged through, vanishing from the sight of the two remaining behind.
" Go on, Krek, before Waldron shuts the damned thing down and strands you here, too."
" I go. Hold tightly," he said cryptically. Krek trotted to the edge of the gateway, then shot out a sticky strand of the web stuff that curled around Lan' s middle. He continued holding the door shut against the increasing efforts of the soldiers outside. Lan then felt himself jerked into the air and sliding along the smooth floor toward the interworld portal. Krek bounded through, and Lan followed, a human balloon on a string.