But how? He failed to understand what had happened. When he' d started up the mountain, his magical abilities had been minimal, yet he' d single- handedly fought off Claybore. The bending of those deadly ruby beams had been his doing, he was now sure. But how? He' d mended Krek' s crushed leg. Those were spells he' d known most of his adult life, but Abasi- Abi claimed the combination to be difficult, the weaving of three at once an ability of a master sorcerer. But how? He had no formal training. And had his increasing abilities really come on the mountain- or before? Krek had been beguiled by Nashira; Lan had been able to slip her seductive spells much more easily. The only explanation lay in the brief time spent between worlds, in the white fog. He' d felt a shifting of his senses. Had it also heightened his magical skill?
Lan Martak felt no different, except for being bone- weary. But he had to admit his facility with the spells he did know had improved greatly. He didn' t know whether to be thankful for that or not. He apparently held Claybore at bay; he also drew Claybore' s attentions because of his enhanced skill.
" Abasi- Abi and Morto will stay here," Krek said, " while I explore upward. Friend Lan Martak, are you and Ehznoll up to examining a more inward route? This ledge provides a space much too small for you humans. I find it cozy, but from past experience, you will no doubt say it is cramped."
" It is."
" See?" the spider said haughtily. " I go. Meet back here in one hour."
Krek flashed out with his web and vanished upward. Lan swallowed hard, thinking of the long drop under the spider' s legs.
He glanced over at Abasi- Abi and Morto, the only survivor of the sorcerer' s original group of assistants. Morto fixed a small dinner for the mage.
" Well, Ehznoll, are you up to exploring?" he asked. " We can eat some of our rations as we climb."
" The climb is easy because the earth now aids us. We are the true believers, the ones most beloved of the good dirt." Ehznoll piously crossed wrists over his breast.
" Stuff it," said Lan in a tired voice. " I just want to be done with this."
He chewed on jerked meat, drank melted snow, and climbed. The effort proved less strenuous than Lan would have thought. Krek had left the two humans an easy path to reconnoiter. The slight upward grade soon turned into a level expanse that opened into a chasm in the side of Mount Tartanius. A small, barren valley with high, rocky walls meandered back into the mountain.
" Easy climbing," said Lan, " if the valley goes anywhere we want to go."
" The good earth provides," intoned Ehznoll.
" It provides more than dirt, I see," said Lan, pointing. " Those look like some of Krek' s arachnid kinfolk. Their webs are strung all over the valley."
Feathery arrays of spider silk fluttered in the gusty winds blowing through the canyon. Spiders much smaller than Krek- but still larger than human size- darted along their aerial walkways. Lan noticed a small cluster of them dangling more than fifty feet over his head, waiting, watching, no doubt wondering at the rare human incursion into their mountain fastness.
" They' re probably as intelligent as Krek," he said. " Hola! Greetings, friend spiders." Lan waved his hand to draw their attention. A thin strand of silk drifted down on the wind and lightly brushed his wrist. It clung. He wiped it off with some difficulty.
" Martak, they are not of the earth. These creatures: they are of the sky. They are evil. Like your unholy friend, they are evil!" Ehznoll began backing away.
" Nonsense. They' re smaller than Krek, but no less intelligent. Look. They' ve formed a greeting party. Maybe it' s their Webmaster come to welcome us."
Lan Martak stepped forward- and a dozen strands of silk dropped down on him. He stood absolutely still, wondering about the protocol of meeting their Webmaster. When new strands came floating down, he began to get mad.
" Look, I' m not going to hurt you." He tensed his muscles and broke through the silken threads. " I mean no harm. We just want a path upward to the summit."
More web- stuff fell.
" Stop it! Ehznoll, I: " Lan turned and saw what had happened to the pilgrim. He had been unable to break the strands cascading over him. He lay trussed up in a small cocoon, futilely struggling against his silk bonds. One strand of sticky web had closed his lips. A dozen spiders, all human- sized, worked busily around the fallen man.
" Stop that! He' s not food!" cried Lan. Unbidden, the pyromancy spell came to his lips. Blue sparks erupted from his fingertips. The nearest spider ignited in a fiery ball of shrieking fury. " Wait! I didn' t mean to do that," he pleaded.
More strands fell, tangling his feet. Lan fell face forward. He twisted and began working his knife from its sheath. Overhead fifty or more of the spiders worked their spinnerets. A net of silk dropped, imprisoning him. He cut, sawed, slashed. For every silk thread he severed, two more fell. In less than a minute, he lay as immobile as Ehznoll. Only good luck had prevented one of the sticky strands from closing his mouth.
The spiders chittered to themselves. He felt their hard claws prodding him, turning him over, more silk swirling about his body. He cried out as he surged aloft, head down. The spiders worked diligently for another fifteen minutes. When they' d finished, he hung upside down twenty feet over the rocky terrain.
Wind coming from the canyon blew his cocoon so that he turned slowly, treated to a full upside- down three- hundred- sixty- degree view. A dozen feet away hung Ehznoll, similarly imprisoned.
Struggle as he might, Lan Martak didn' t budge the silk strands around him. He wondered when the hatchlings would come and feast.
" Krrrrrrek!" he bellowed. The action caused him to bob in a sickening up- and- down motion. He turned in the wind and only occasionally saw the form of the giant spider below. " Get us ouuuuut!"
Krek ignored him. The spider trotted over to the left side of the canyon, paused a moment, then walked up the rock as if it had steps cut into it. His feet found purchase where no human' s could, and he used tiny lengths of his own web to dangle in places where even he found no footing. Lan slowly turned and saw the giant spider gingerly walk out onto a web. A dozen of the smaller arachnids gathered about.
Much of what Krek said was swallowed by the wind, but Lan heard enough.
": no harm. They are silly- looking, but harmless."
" Food. Hatchlings need them as food."
" Your hatchlings are better served with more standard fare. Humans provide too much protein for such spindly offspring."
" Don' t insult them, Krek. Don' t!" Lan called. The giant spider ignored him.
" Grubs. Those are most tasty."
" We have them. We keep them." The spider in the center of the group bounced up and down, sending vibrations throughout the web.
" Do not get agitated," soothed Krek. " I have no desire to take them from you."
" Take us from them, you silly spider. Get us out of here!"
" They provide too much protein for your young. You wish strong, lithe hatchlings, not big, grossly overweight ones."
" No good for hatchlings?"
" Not in the least."
Lan Martak breathed a sigh of relief. The tone of the small spider indicated he' d come to believe Krek.
" Then we eat. Adults need protein. We eat. You join us."
" Krrrrrek!"
" These little fellows have a single- minded determination I find most stimulating after so much human company. They seem intent on devouring you, friend Lan Martak."
" Don' t let them!"
" Why the concern? All life survives by one form feeding on another. From the most minute protozoan to the largest squid, this is the way of the universe."
" I don' t want to be any damned spider' s supper!"
" That is very unsporting of you. They did capture you fairly."
" To the Lower Places with fair. Get us down!"