Rikus was the first to reach the noble’s side. “What’s all the noise about, Agis?” the mul demanded, his bone twin-axe in one hand and his satchel in the other. “You’re not scared of a little spider, are you?” He gestured at a nearby tent, where the spider had already dropped back to the ground on its silk cord.
“The spiders and I get along well enough, especially since I like to sleep dry,” Agis answered, holding one hand palm-up in the icy rain now soaking him. “I scared away a pair of halflings.”
“Halflings?” Neeva asked, stepping to their sides.
Before Agis could answer, Sadira joined them, her satchel already slung on her back and Ktandeo’s cane in one hand. She was using her free hand to brush her shoulders and hair.
“You can stop preening,” Neeva said. “After a few minutes in this drizzle, you’re going to look as bad as the rest of us.”
Sadira regarded the others with an air of disaste. “I can live with that, I suppose. You don’t see any webs on me, do you?” she asked. “I can’t stand webs.”
Neeva rolled her eyes, but turned the half-elf so she could inspect the sorceress’s shoulders. “No webs.”
“Good,” Sadira answered, breathing a sigh of relief. “Now, what’s this about halflings?”
“They were over here,” Agis said. “I scared them off, but maybe we can coax them back out.”
“Halflings are too skittish for that,” Rikus grunted. “Anzeka would have a better-”
The mul was interrupted by another spider’s screech, this time from where Agis had been sleeping. He turned and saw Anezka beneath his silken canopy, wrestling with Singer.
“Anezka, no!” Agis shouted, rushing toward the small woman.
He was too late. She lifted the steel dagger he had given her, then plunged it into the spider’s abdomen. Singer stopped struggling, but continued to rub its legs together in plaintive, agonized tones.
As Agis approached, he saw that the spider lay on its back. Anezka sat astride its thorax, having opened a long gash in its abdomen. Pushing at the halfling with the four legs closest to her, Singer weakly struggled with its attacker and chirped out its agony.
Anzeka plunged her arm into the slash she had opened in the spider’s abdomen. She felt around for a moment, then gave a quick jerk and pulled out a handful of froth-covered eggs. Singer’s legs moved more frantically, filling the air with a loud howl. The other spiders responded with sad melodies.
Agis grabbed the halfling by the shoulders. “What are you doing?”
Anezka’s arms were covered with green slime from the spider’s abdomen. She scowled at him and, by way of explanation, began to eat the eggs.
This was more than the noble could stand. He grabbed the halfling and threw her to the ground as far away as his strength allowed, paying no attention to where she landed. Next, he turned to the spider, which was now chirping a pained lyric. Intending to put Singer out of its misery, he unsheathed his sword-but found he had no idea how to kill the spider quickly and painlessly.
“Agis, your back!” cried Rikus.
The noble spun around and saw Anezka raising her dagger to throw at him. Rikus leaped to the halfling’s side and slapped her arm as she released the weapon. The knife plunged into the ground at Agis’s feet.
The noble looked from the dagger to Rikus. “Thank you.”
“I’m only paying you back for what you did at the cliffs. Now we’re even,” the mul answered gruffly. At the same time, he grabbed the halfling to prevent her from making another attack. She growled incoherently and struggled against Rikus’s grip.
“It’s not very smart to throw our guide around like that,” Neeva said, fixing her green eyes on Agis’s face. “What are you so upset about, anyway? It was just a spider.”
“Spiders or not, these are friendly creatures,” Agis said, gesturing at the canopies over their heads. “It would have been just as easy for them to string their webs someplace else, and then we would have had a wet, cold night.”
“I suppose so,” Sadira said, joining them. “But we don’t need any more hard feelings in the group right now. If Anezka wants to eat a spider, let her. After all, it’s her forest.”
Once again, Agis was reminded of the differences between himself and his four companions. The gladiators had spent their lives fighting for the amusement of others, so to them the spider’s agony must have seemed a small matter. No doubt, even Sadira had seen-or even suffered-much worse on Tithian’s estate. It was no wonder that they regarded the beast’s pain with indifference, whereas the noble, who had purposely shielded himself from such unpleasantness, regarded it with horror and revulsion.
Even considering the differences in their backgrounds, Agis was outraged at the halfling’s cruelty. Having someone in his company behave so callously made him feel as he thought Tithian must, simply doing what was necessary to survive. If he was going to risk life, property, and name, the noble was determined to do so in the cause of principle, not practicality.
“I don’t care if Anezka is our guide,” he said. “I won’t stand for needless torture, by her or anyone else.”
“If it will make you happy, ask her to kill her breakfast before she eats it, but don’t start a fight over it,” Neeva said. She pointed at the center of Singer’s body. “Now, if you want to put this spider out of its pain, strike there-deeply.”
Agis did as she suggested. As his sword plunged through the spider’s body, its legs stopped writhing and it died quickly. “Thanks,” he said, cleaning his blade on the groundcloud. “How did you know where I should strike?”
“We’ve often fought giant spiders of one sort or another in the arena,” she explained, turning toward where she had left her satchel. “Let’s get on with our journey.”
Agis picked up the dagger Anezka had thrown at him, then went to where Rikus held the halfling. “In my company, I’d appreciate it if you’d be more selective about what you eat and how,” he said to the small woman.
Rikus shook his head in derision. “Only a noble would be soft enough to worry about eating a spider.”
“Perhaps,” Agis replied, not taking his eyes from Anezka. “But I’m serious about what I say.”
The noble put the halfling’s dagger in his satchel. He had intended to return it to Anezka as a sign of good faith. From the way she had stared at him, however, he knew the halfling would only have used it to attack him the first time his back was turned.
After Agis slipped his satchel onto his shoulder, Rikus released the halfling. Anezka angrily gathered her things, then led the party down the crest of the ridge, moving through the forest as effortlessly and as silently as though she were walking on barren, level ground. Behind her, Rikus and Neeva crashed through the trees with all the grace of a matched pair of boulders tumbling down the hillside. Sadira followed the gladiators, carrying Ktandeo’s cane in one hand and grasping at tree fronds with the other as she fought to keep her footing. Agis came last, carefully weighing each step, yet cursing under his breath as he slipped with every fifth or sixth footfall.
They descended along the top of the muddy ridge for over an hour before it abruptly ended in a sheer cliff. Without pausing, Anezka simply changed directions to avoid the precipice. She moved down the side of the ridge, descending its steep slopes with the grace of a rock leopard. The others followed more laboriously, punctuating the soft patter of raindrops with the sounds of their passing: snapping sticks, tumbling rocks, and occasional cries of alarm as they slipped and fell to the ground.
After some time, they heard a faint hiss coming from the gully at the bottom of the ridge. Rikus and Neeva drew their weapons, carrying them at the ready position. Agis unsheathed his sword, and Sadira silently considered the spells she had memorized at the moment.