" Why? To stumble along in the darkness of that cursed Road of yours, to allow the fleas to enjoy gourmet dining on my flesh, to be cold and hungry and miserable? I never loved you, Lan, not the way I love Waldron. He' s kind and-"
" And powerful and rich," interjected Inyx. " It seems the minx worships power more than freedom."
" Yes, yes, that' s true," raged Velika. " I love the power being Waldron' s consort gives me. Why shouldn' t I? A lifetime of deprivation is at an end. He rules seven worlds and will rule a dozen more! Take the Kinetic Sphere and leave us!"
Krek began to point out the logical inconsistency in Velika' s statement, but Inyx cut him short.
" Lan. You heard her wish. Will you join Krek and me now?"
" She' s under a spell. Come, Velika, come with us and away from the evil spell that steals your mind and emotion."
" I will see your liver drying in the sun, animal- lover!" came the snarled threat from Waldron. The strands of silk web- stuff still clung to his arms and sides, but he had done a rough, thorough job of cutting his bindings with a tiny knife.
Lan started to draw his blade, but Velika hung on his arm and prevented him from carrying out his bloody desire. He turned to her and, eyes blazing angrily, spat out, " You' re under no spell, are you? You willingly desire to be with Waldron." It sounded like an insult the way he said it, but Velika took the meaning differently.
" You finally understand, you bumpkin fool! Waldron' s a thousand times the man you claim to be." The triumph in her eyes as she went to Waldron infuriated Lan Martak. Something inside him burst, and he attacked in the worst way he could.
Words flowed from his lips, and the Kinetic Sphere glowed brightly, solidifying the gateway onto Waldron' s grey, dismally appointed world. Lan' s fist smashed hard into Waldron' s face, the nose breaking under the impact. He then threw the man back into his own world, a blaze of light throughout the curtain signalling Waldron' s precipitous return.
" I' ll follow and kill you for this, scum!" screamed Waldron from the other side of the energy curtain, blood spurting over his entire face from the damaged nose. " My entire life has been for the betterment of my world, and you' ve taken away the only chance for our survival."
" Waldron!" cried Velika, who stumbled forward, following the path just taken by the lord of the grey world.
Lan watched, numbed to the core of his being. Velika had actually followed Waldron back to the impoverished world, even knowing what Lan would do next. His lips moved in the patterns necessary to close the gateway. It crackled and collapsed in a fountain of wild color.
" Pick us another world, one far from the greyness," said Inyx, shivering at the fate of Waldron and Velika.
" Allow me to perform the ritual," spoke up Claybore from the security of his box.
The worlds spun by in a crazy kaleidoscope until Lan felt dizzy. But he managed to watch and listen carefully. Before the glittering sheet of pure energy formed, dotted with its dancing motes of rainbow hues, the scene in the Sphere had shifted more slowly, one world at a time parading by until one was chosen like a single specific card being plucked from a deck. Claybore had selected a world, and not at random.
" She actually followed him. I can' t believe she did it," a distracted Lan said sadly.
" She did it," said Inyx. " Now hurry before those grey- clad soldiers break through the door and find us. We can' t fight them across all eternity, but without Waldron, their empire will soon collapse in petty squabbles."
" Velika chose him over me. Why?"
" Come, Lan," insisted Inyx. " We have the universe in the palm of our hand!"
" But she didn' t willingly follow him," spoke up Krek. " Friend Inyx, you pu-" Krek howled in pain as Inyx ground the point of her knife into his leg. Krek subsided, muttering to himself. " Strange mating rituals, these humans have. And they express amazement at the civilized behavior of us arachnids."
The world shattered around all of them as the Road opened onto a new world, and again they followed it.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
" My legs ache so," complained Krek. " Must we carry that useless box with us?"
" I' d walk if I had legs. Lend me a pair of yours," snapped Claybore from the inside of his wooden box. " Or perhaps I can conjure enough to take them from you."
" Enough of that," cut in Lan. " We' re in this together. No squabbling." For a moment he feared that the sorcerer could do exactly as he threatened. He remained in awe of the talking skull, and mingled with that awe came a touch of fear. Claybore' s power had been severely limited when his skull had been imprisoned in the wooden box by Waldron, but Lan couldn' t erase from his mind the memory of the twin beams of ruby destruction.
" Wherever this is," added Krek.
Lan sighed and sank to the ground under a convenient tree. He rested his tired back and felt the weight of the world descend on him. He' d lost Velika. She had chosen Waldron over him. And all he had to show for the emotional pain was a crystal globe capable of moving between worlds- and the head of the sorcerer who had originally conjured it into existence.
Sorry fare in exchange for one he' d loved so.
Inyx came up and laid a surprisingly gentle hand on his shoulder and said, " Be glad for her. She is with the one she truly loves."
Lan didn' t hear Krek mumble, " Yes, herself."
" You might be right," Lan said, " but that doesn' t make the ache any less real."
She squeezed his shoulder in a way that was more than comradely, then told him, " We have all we need from Waldron. We have the Kinetic Sphere, We can walk the Road and find treasures undreamed of, even in our wildest imaginings."
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He might have lost Velika, but the Siren' s call of unknown worlds still tugged mightily at his sleeve, urging him onward.
" Which of those worlds do we choose?"
" Any- all!" cried Inyx. " What does it matter? Aren' t we free to venture where we please?"
" Yes," cut in Claybore. " Take this world for example. A lovely world simply waiting for your presence. Explore it! Experience it!"
Lan Martak remembered how Claybore had spun the worlds by in the Kinetic Sphere, then slowed and appeared to seek out this particular one. But he pushed the thought from his mind. Too many other things rushed in to confuse him. Velika. Inyx. The Kinetic Sphere. Krek. The jumble was too great to worry what it was about this particular world that Claybore specifically sought.
" This does appear to be a kindly world for one as old and infirm as myself," said Krek. The trilling words came with a modicum of animation now. The spider rejoiced in his own way of being free of his home world and his overamorous bride, Klawn- rik' wiktorn- kyt.
And Lan rejoiced, too, for him, for himself. What the old sheriff said to him so long ago about Zarella came back. He belonged in the country, not locked in the city. This countryside stretching off as far as the eye could see was for him. He didn' t believe ZarellaVelika- would ever have appreciated the sylvan beauty, the simplicity, the intricacy, the life- giving feelings he now felt.
" I' ll explore ahead. Any direction pleasure you more than that one?" asked Inyx, pointing into the setting sun.
" That' s fine," said Lan. He glanced into the box containing the sorcerer' s skull and saw an eerie caricature of a smile form on the exposed teeth. He started to ask Inyx to scout elsewhere, then thought better of it. Better to see where Claybore wanted to go than to blunder unsuspectingly on it.