" She wanted to eat you, that' s why," said Inyx.
" Of course she wanted to devour me. We had mated." Krek heaved a human- sounding sigh and added, " Why must I be so weak? Staying and allowing my hatchlings to feed off my carcass is so: natural."
The crunch of sand under their boot soles was the only sound reaching them. Lan found it harder and harder to speak through his parched lips. Even swallowing presented problems. But what Krek had said triggered a line of thought.
He held out his left hand, fingers spread slightly, lips barely forming the proper words. Tiny blue sparks danced from finger to finger as he conjured the simple fire spell he had learned so long ago. A small change in the magics and those sparks turned to intense jets of flame. He pondered the spell, examined the parts, and worried over the intricate fittings of one chant with another, one syllable with still another.
" What' s wrong, Lan?" asked Inyx. " You' re not suffering, like Krek, from the lack of water?"
" No, it' s something else, something he said. If I can bring forth fire, why can' t I also conjure the reverse?"
" Cold?"
" Cold," he agreed. " That would condense water from the atmosphere. I' ve tried producing water wells or even bringing water to the surface where we could get at it, but that' s beyond my power. But cold- that ought to be possible."
" Work on it," the woman said, her voice telling him that she held no chance for success. " Look, here comes Jacy."
The leader of the band walked up, stride sure in spite of the sun wilting all the others. He gave Inyx a broad smile and clapped Lan on the back.
" I' ve spoken with my people. They have agreed to allow both you and the spider to remain with us until we reach Bron."
" I hadn' t realized there was any debate. You' d said we could accompany you."
" A leader always respects the wishes of his followers. Or rather, a wise man decides what the people want, then tells them that' s what he is going to do. They don' t disagree- they agree. And they follow, even when other matters arise."
" Our presence was one of these ' other matters?' "
" Correct." Jacy Noratumi glanced up at Krek and said, " He was the point most debated. Some of the warriors have had relatives devoured by the mountain spiders."
" Tell me of them," Krek interjected. " I must know if they are of my clan. Of all the worlds along the Road I have seen, never have I encountered others directly related. Of course, there were those mere spiders who gave my good friend Lan Martak such a difficult time while we ambled up Mount Tartanius. They were:"
" Krek," Lan said sharply, silencing what might turn into a long and boring recital. " His point is well taken, though. What of these mountain arachnids? Are they exactly like Krek in size?"
" A merest hair smaller, mayhap, but that is difficult to say. Certainly no larger." Noratumi pulled forth his sword and thrust upward, stopping a hand' s width away from Krek' s thorax. " Yes, they are his size. I' ve killed enough of their number to know my distances."
" The others won' t harm him, will they?" asked Inyx. " You' ve given your word. Will they abide by it, also?"
" Dear lady, I have given you my word, my bond, my surety. On my honor, none will break it, else they answer to me personally," Jacy replied.
Lan snorted dust from his nostrils, as much in reaction to the clogging as to Noratumi' s melodramatic words and gestures accompanying them. The youth recognized that Noratumi played to an audience of one: Inyx. And he did not care for it.
The day dragged on; the burnished sun above seared skin and sucked precious moisture from their bodies. Lan idly played with the fire spell, altering it until he felt coolness rather than heat forming at his fingertips. Still not satisfied, he continued refining it until they took a break from their plodding across measureless desert sands.
Seated under a canvas canopy, he and Inyx set up a small glass flask, its narrow mouth inverted over a shallow dish. He concentrated, did the chants in a low voice, and felt the coldness forming between his hands. Placing them on the flask, he sat with eyes closed, allowing the spell to do its work.
" Lan, you' re doing it!" cried Inyx. " Water is forming. Look!"
He opened his eyes, forced them into focus, and saw that the darkmaned woman spoke the truth. The chilled flask condensed moisture inside; it beaded on the glass walls, then trickled into the dish. He had accumulated a saucerful of precious water.
" So little," he muttered. " I had hoped for more."
" But Lan, it' s enough to show you can do it. This is enough to keep a person from dying of thirst." She bent down and sipped at the liquid. " Hmmm, it' s quite good, too. Better than the tepid slime Jacy carries in his casks."
It was small enough as compliments went, but it warmed Lan. Inyx and her enthusiasm for his accomplishment made his hardships more bearable. He leaned over and kissed her. The passion increased until Inyx pulled back and said, " Lan, not here. It: it' s so public."
He didn' t answer- with words. The rest of the encampment either slept, tossed in exhausted dreams, or were busily engaged in fixing equipment. None cared what went on under the canopy balanced between two stony outcroppings at the far edge of camp. None except Lan and Inyx. His lips stilled her protest, his body pressed into hers, and soon they were passionately engaged.
Afterward, Inyx stretched out like a feline and sighed.
" It has been so long, Lan. Since the Twistings."
" That wasn' t so long ago," he pointed out. " But it certainly seems it. It was a world ago."
" New enemies, new friends," she agreed. " New dangers, also."
He followed her line of sight and saw the cause of her concern. Krek melted in with the landscape, appearing nothing more than a lumpy boulder among boulders. His entire body had become shrunken with the ordeal of marching in the summertime desert. The spider exalted in the cold heights of the mountains; heat depleted his strength far faster than it did a human' s.
" He has to get out of this wasteland soon," she said.
" Noratumi says it is another week' s march to Bron. I get the feeling that Bron and Wurnna are closer than that to one another, but this detour takes them far enough from the sorcerers to avoid confrontation." Lan idly ran his fingers over Inyx' s sweat- sheathed body, the thrill he' d felt for her now turning to concern for Krek. " I think you' re right. Krek can' t last that long."
" What about the mountains yonder? They appear only a day or two distant."
Lan frowned. He had considered this, but didn' t want to broach the topic. Splitting forces when they were so few wasn' t wise; yet if it meant saving Krek' s life he had no real choice. The mountains thrust rocky, scrub- covered foothills out into the desert to the west, while the humans pushed ever southward.
" We might reach the mountains, then skirt them until we can meet again at Bron. That route is much longer- perhaps a week longer."
" But safer for Krek. He can find food and moisture in the mountains."
Lan Martak worried over the best course of action to follow. He knew what it was and hated it the more. He finally said, " Krek and I will head for the mountains. You continue on with Noratumi and see what condition this empire of Bron is in."
" Lan, no! I' ll go with you and Krek. We shouldn' t split up like this."
" I wish it were possible to stay together, but someone has to stay with Noratumi, if we want his people to fight alongside us. You are the only one in our small rank that they find totally acceptable. They brand me a sorcerer and Krek, well, it is obvious about him. Rally support, find their weaknesses so we may strengthen them, find their strengths so we may best use them against Claybore."
" We should stay together," she said.
" Time is of the essence. It is dangerous dividing our forces while Silvain still patrols this area. He will not accept his defeat lightly. He will return with reinforcements- and he has probably informed Claybore of his encounter at the oasis. Claybore might decide to eliminate Bron in one quick stroke. Any such attack weakens our position."