" Krek, come down here. There' s nothing to-"
Lan Martak felt the earth shuddering beneath his boot soles, shuddering as if a tidal wave thundered down upon him.
CHAPTER NINE
" Krek, don' t!" screamed Lan. The spider bounded away, bouncing once or twice off the face of the cliff, climbing swiftly, leaving Lan and the other humans behind to face their deaths.
The rumbling grew greater, deeper, more powerful. Lan glanced from side to side, estimating his chances. A wall of water coming down from high in the mountains would easily fill this ravine. Merely getting up on the slopes of the arroyo wouldn' t help much if the flash flood proved too large.
" Krek, use your web to save us!"
The spider' s bulk diminished as he scuttled over the top of the cliff. Lan saw his friend shiver and shake in fear. The only thing the arachnid feared more than fire was water. Lan took no time to berate Krek for his cowardice. Much had happened to the spider to shake what little self- confidence he had. He had to move quickly. Saving his own life took precedence.
" Up the slopes. Hurry. Flood!" he cried to the pilgrims. They stared at him, eyes wide, expressions blank. They were so lost in their religious ceremonies that they hadn' t felt the vibrations beneath their feet- or if they had, they thought their earth god answered their supplications.
Lan rushed forward, using the flat of his sword to smack bottoms and chivvy along the pilgrims. They moved- too slowly.
The entire planet shook under Lan' s feet. A quick look up the ravine made him shake as hard as Krek had. A grey- green wall of water forty feet high smashed its way down, ripping out dead trees, picking up boulders five feet in diameter, promising sudden death. Lan forgot about the pilgrims; his own life hung in the balance. He scrambled up the side of the sandy embankment, fingers clawing frantically.
The first rush of the water ripped him loose from his precarious hold. Flung outward, he smashed painfully into a rock. As agonizing as this was, it saved his life. The powerful current carried him around the rock and up against earth. The pounding of water against his body wedged him further and further into the crevice between rock and dirt. Gasping, sputtering, he fought weakly against the water.
He survived. That thought went over and over in his head. He struggled harder and pulled himself up onto the rock that had saved his life. The man looked downriver at the watery maelstrom boiling around the site of the battle with the scorpion. Neither the carcass nor the boulder that had crushed the life from it remained.
If he' d been swept into the raging river, no amount of swimming ability could have saved him.
He turned, slipped, caught himself, then more carefully sat on the rock and peered upstream. Tiny water droplets exploded into the air, caught the sun, and turned into colorful prisms splitting the sun' s rays. Even in destruction came beauty. The awesome tide abated but little. Lan Martak peered at the banks, seeking some sign of life, some indication that Ehznoll and the others had lived.
Nothing.
" Ehznoll!" he cried out. His words were sucked under by the roaring waters just a few feet away. " Ehznoll!" he called again. " Where are you?"
A tiny murmur, hardly more than a subliminal message, reached his ears. The singsong chant built in tempo and volume until he recognized the words.
" Ehznoll!"
The chant came still louder. The fanatical pilgrim recited his prayers. He' d survived the onslaught of water.
Then Lan saw another survivor: Melira. But from the way she clung desperately to the rock in the center of the river, he could see that her strength would soon vanish and she' d be swept away.
" Melira, are you hurt?"
" The good earth will protect me," she called back. Her voice started out strong enough, then weakened. " Water is a part of the earth. The soil sucks it up, embraces it to its bosom. I shall join the water."
" Don' t let loose. I' ll save you!"
How he' d perform this miracle feat, Lan didn' t know. The first thing he did was strip off his heavy sword belt. His boots and tunic followed. Only then did he study the expanse he had to cross to save the woman. The floodwaters had receded slightly, but not enough to aid him. There wasn' t any way a human could swim that torrential outpouring from high on the mountain.
" Friend Lan Martak, I am so pitiable. A coward, not only to my own kind, but to humans, as well. How can I ever redeem myself?" The words came amid tiny chokes and moans of emotional pain. Lan looked over to the top of the cliff, barely ten feet above him now because of the water. Krek cowered there, trembling, his head hanging over the precipice while the bulk of his body remained safely on solid rock.
" Spin a web. Hurry, Krek. Let me swing out to the middle of the river. Melira." He pointed. The spider bobbed his head, then emitted a spitting noise. A long, slender strand whirled down to splat! on the rock beside the man.
Lan looked at it with trepidation. The web- stuffs diameter was hardly more than a single sewing thread' s. He tested it and worried even more. The elasticity of this silk might drop him into the drink. Still, Lan had no other choice but to trust the spider' s spinning skills. Melira weakened visibly, her fingers turning white against the rock, slowly slipping, letting her body be whipped about by the current.
Lan Martak took a deep breath, gripped the thread, then stepped out over the river.
" Noooo!" he shrieked as the thread lengthened under his weight.
Just as the man was positive he' d be dropped into the river and swept away, he snapped hard and swung past Melira. The web- stuff had stretched as much as it could and now held his weight easily. But he' d gone past the woman and crashed into the side of the cliff. Getting back to her might prove difficult.
" Allow me to aid you," came the spider' s voice from above.
The thread jiggled and bounced, then began pulling Lan upward. When he reached an out- jutting, Krek stopped.
" Swing free now. It is simple enough for even a hatchling."
" Here goes nothing." Lan again stepped into nothingness. This time, however, he aimed more carefully. As the short arc swept him by the failing Melira, he reached down with one arm and caught her about the waist.
Accomplishing this made his hand slip on the thread. It was too thin for an easy grasp.
" Krek, I' m slipping, I: I can' t hold both her and myself."
The spider didn' t answer with words. A tiny drop of amber fluid dripped slowly down the length of the taut web material. Lan held on the best he could to keep Melira from flying away in the current. His arms aching from the strain, his hand cramping and ready to release and throw both of them into the water to drown, the man wondered why his life should end in this fashion.
The droplet touched his skin. He shrieked in pain and involuntarily tried to pull back, to let loose of the web- thread. His hand glued firmly to the line.
Slowly, one inch at a time, he felt himself rising. He tightened his grip around the now- unconscious woman' s waist. The effort made his shoulders ache even more. Muscle strain and sudden spasms caused his right hand to open on the thread; the spider glue held him firmly. Seeing this, Lan concentrated all his effort on holding the woman. To drop her now after rescuing her would be worse than never reaching her at all.
" There," he finally heard the spider say. " You are safe. Now you may berate me, denigrate my abilities, call me craven."
" Krek," Lan cried, throwing his arms around the spider' s bulky abdomen, " thank you!"
" He thanks me," the spider sighed. Tears formed in the dishshaped chocolate eyes. " I show my true colors and he thanks me. I am a coward, friend Lan Martak- no, not friend. I dare not call anyone my friend. Who would have me?"