" Are you all right?"
" No," he said weakly, dropping to his knee. Putting one hand on his forehead as a support while resting an elbow on a knee helped quell the revolt inside his brain for the span of a heartbeat. Then he sank completely to the floor.
" Krek, have you ever seen anything like this wound before?" Inyx' s voice sounded muffled, distant, as if she spoke from the bottom of a well. Even her face refused to come into focus.
" A spider learns to brew many poisons, since it is our stock in trade. I suggest bleeding him to relieve the poison from the raven' s talons. And perhaps tourniquets here and here and here."
" You idiot," raged Inyx. " Putting a tourniquet around his neck will kill him instantly."
" Oh."
" But the rest of your suggestions are sound. Help me." Inyx drew the point of her dagger along each wound inflicted by the birds. When they flowed profusely, she dabbed away the excess blood and bandaged the new wounds. " I hope that will help," she said, worry tingeing her words. " The poison seems to have gotten a foothold already. Look at him twitch about."
" He has always appeared twitchy to me," observed Krek. " But then, most humans do. You say a poison affecting his nerves was used? This is the basis for my own personal brand of killing poison. It paralyzes the body without inhibiting thought, although in his case there was precious little brain to begin with. Why, I remember once when we:"
" What are you getting at, Krek?"
" Oh, nothing, save that I might be able to concoct an antidote for the poison if I obtained a small sample."
Inyx speared one of the dead ravens with the tip of her sword and held it out for Krek' s inspection.
" Is this satisfactory?"
" Not quite." He took the raven and devoured it in front of the woman' s horrified eyes. " Ugh, such a vile, stringy texture that meat has. I fail to see what you humans enjoy about it. Bugs are much more satisfying." He sneezed, sending a cascade of feathers spiralling about his mouth. Then he sank to the ground and pulled Lan nearer. " The poison is simplistic for one of my acumen. Allow me." Krek' s mandibles punctured veins on the inside of each of Lan' s wrists. Tiny drops of yellowish fluid beaded at the hinge of his pincers to run down a duct to the very tip where the viscous ichor entered Lan' s blood stream.
In a few seconds, Lan went into convulsions. Krek' s powerful legs held him, and the spider commented, " Humans lack a certain tolerance to this, it appears. But fear not for his safety."
True to his word, Krek soon released Lan, who looked up and smiled weakly.
" He is cured, of course," Krek pronounced with insufferable superiority. But neither Lan nor Inyx noticed. The man managed to get his feet under him again, and when the world stopped precessing, he felt as good as he had before the poison coursed through his veins.
" I owe you one, Krek," he said, solemnly squeezing a convenient leg.
" One what?"
" Never mind. I' ll let you know when the time comes. Did you notice any activity further inside the keep? Waldron?" He didn' t have to add " Velika."
" Several are inside. Perhaps as many as a platoon."
" A holding force?"
" More likely a bodyguard. For Waldron," said Lan grimly. " And if he' s still here, I' ll wager Velika is, too. I don' t feel too great, but this might be our only chance to free her." He started off on shaky legs, his hands trembling and his vision still slightly blurred.
" A moment, Lan," demanded Inyx. " We- Krek and I- have no interest in that blond bitch, but we will aid you in return for your promise of the Kinetic Sphere. To be able to walk the Road without searching out the scattered cenotaphs, and not having to bow to their haphazard destinations, would be a boon of incalculable value."
" If we possess the glowing sphere," added Krek, " I would be unable to find the natural cenotaphs, anyway. The power is far too great for me to penetrate the occluding veil it casts, but it would not matter if we sought out worlds we desired to explore. I remember one I spent some little time on years and years ago. Grubs as thick as your wrists! Never a worry about food. And:"
" I get the idea," said Lan, his mind racing. As much as he would have loved to keep the Kinetic Sphere for himself, he had to admit it would be better used by Inyx. And if he and Velika settled down on this world after Waldron was properly routed, why did he need to walk the Road at will? " I accept your offer, and in return, not only will I give you the Kinetic Sphere, but all the treasure you can carry."
" Fair. Shake." Their hands gripped once, then slipped down each other' s forearm to signify a permanent pact. Both started when a furry leg was added to theirs.
" Your sword- your nearness!- is a gift I can scarce repay, Inyx," he said, his voice choking slightly. " And Krek, without you I' d be dead many times over." He hurriedly wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and saw Inyx surreptitiously do the same. It would be difficult without her and Krek.
But for Velika!
What would he really do for the woman? Lan struggled with the inner turmoil again, the internal war that confused and bothered him. He loved her. He did! Yet:
" Let' s get this over with while you' re still able to stand upright," said Inyx gruffly. She swung off down the hall, with Krek and Lan following a few steps behind. Lan didn' t know if it was the possibility of sudden death or his eyes slowly opening to the world around him, but never had he seen Inyx so trim, so athletic, so beautiful. Her loveliness didn' t match Velika' s, but there is beauty and beauty. While Velika was the sheltered rose, the hothousenurtured beauty, Inyx impressed him as more of the wildflower growing in spite of adversity and appearing all the more desirable for it.
Then all such poetic nonsense flew from his mind as the hallway filled with grey- clad soldiers. He lunged well past Inyx, using his superior reach, and pinked the officer' s arm as he drew forth his blade. The enemy sword clattered to the floor when Inyx spitted him through the hollow of the throat. The other four men were as easily removed by quick snips of Krek' s fast- moving mandibles.
" Inside the audience chamber," came the spider' s appraisal. " Only a handful of humans there."
" Watch for the damned ravens," cautioned Lan as he kicked open the door. None of the winged messengers of death attacked, but he found himself fighting swordsmen far better than he. His wounds slowly took their toll of his strength. He had to rely on stealth rather than strength if he were to live much longer. Using every trick he could remember, Lan killed one man. Then he used a quick cut over to slay a second. The third demanded more attention and skill. And Lan found his stamina fading like a flower petal before winter' s onset. The man executed a bind that sent Lan' s blade sailing through the air. Before the death stroke landed, a dagger blossomed in the soldier' s side.
Inyx had accurately cast her knife, saving Lan still another time. He didn' t have time to thank her, except by joining against the three men she held at swordpoint. Her skill was great, but their lunges were longer, their attacks appearing to snake from impossible distances.
" Here goes nothing!" she cried, then heaved herself into the trio. She slashed the legs from under one, and the other two stumbled under her weight. Lan had no time for a chivalrous fight. Seated on a throne to the right of Waldron, who calmly watched the slaughter, was Velika.