" Can you rally them against Claybore?"
" I do not believe that is possible. Not in the sense you mean. To fight against Claybore and his troops if they enter this valley, yes. They will do that. To sally forth and do battle elsewhere, never. Or at least not unless the situation changes dramatically. It is difficult enough protecting this valley from the sorcerers in Wurnna."
" Wurnna?"
" Where this Iron Tongue rules. He makes life most deplorable in this valley, what with his raids and ugly spells. The locals do not like him one bit."
" Why does Iron Tongue even enter this valley? What' s here that draws him so?" Lan felt lightheaded from so much talking. Dangling upside down did nothing to improve his circulation or disposition.
" Here, nothing. But on the far end of this mountain range, in spots reached only by traveling this valley, seem to be mines of some sort. Murrk knows that the humans imprison their own kind and ofttimes even kill them in pursuit of whatever is locked within the ground."
Lan frowned. Was gold or silver so important that the wrath of the spiders was dared?
" Murrk is the Webmaster?" he asked.
" Oh, yes, a fine specimen. So regal, even royal in appearance, as befits a Webmaster." Krek vented a gusty sigh that caused the entire web to bounce from side to side. The effect on Lan was even more pronounced. The man closed his eyes and imagined he was aboard a windpowered sailing ship pitched on twenty foot waves. It didn' t help his churning stomach settle down.
Lan gasped out, " Stop moving. I: I' m getting sick."
" Well, mage, heal thyself," the spider said primly. " I rather enjoy the sensation of being once more in a decent- sized web, a hundred feet above the ground, feeling the gentle zephyrs wafting through the fur on my legs, tingling and ever so lightly teasing. That is a sensation second to none."
" I' m going to be sick."
" Do not despoil the landscape, friend Lan Martak. Murrk would not approve. He is most jealous of preserving this terrain for posterity."
Lan had to fight down the rising wave of nausea and almost gagged. But life or death hung in the balance. That thought entered his head and he started to laugh at the unintentional pun. Hung in the balance. Harder and harder he laughed, until hysteria seized control.
It was a more difficult battle fighting down this fear- fed laughter than it had been the physical upset.
" You take this setback hard, friend Lan Martak."
" Krek, can you get me down from here? We' ve got to escape this valley. If: if you like, you can return, but I must get away and find Inyx and the others. Fighting Claybore is all I want to do. It' s what I must do."
" Come back? Why would I do a silly thing like that?"
" But I thought you liked it here. The way you' ve been talking, I thought you:"
" Murrk is Webmaster. I cannot remain in the company of spiders at less than my former rank. It is too demeaning. As long as he rules this valley, I am merely a traveling dignitary. For me to stay is out of the question. Lan Martak, you say the most peculiar things."
" Then get me down!" Lan' s temper flared. His outburst caused the bobbing motion again. For once he silently thanked Murrk for hanging him so far above the ground. Up here there was no chance of banging his head on the ground.
" It is not that simple. I thought I had adequately explained it to you."
" Explained what? Get me down!"
" You are only a small victim in the war between spiders and humans on this world. Whatever is mined from the ground is very important to Iron Tongue and the others of Wurnna. They desecrate the valley, threaten spiderlings, even use fire to drive warriors away. Such high- handedness is not to be tolerated."
" What could they be mining?" mused Lan. This entire world remained at war, no matter if Claybore were added into the equation or not. Spider fought human, whether from Bron or Wurnna it made no difference. Jacy Noratumi fought Iron Tongue for imprisoning his subjects. And now Lan knew that Iron Tongue used those slaves from Bron in mines.
" Murrk says the stone glows in the dark. Is that of any real importance?"
" I have never heard of a rock doing that, at least not without either phosphorescent moss or slime on it. Or an ensorceled rock."
" Why would anyone place a spell on all the rock coming from a single location? If Iron Tongue desired that, why choose stone from a region guarded by my fellow arachnids?"
" Those aren' t questions I can answer dangling like this, Krek. Free me. Let' s run for the end of the valley."
" We would be stopped within yards. Murrk is doubling the number of his patrols. Claybore and the grey- clads march constantly in the direction of Bron, and the Webmaster does not like such intrusions."
" Bron will fall soon. Inyx is in danger."
" I fear you are correct, friend Lan Martak. Friend Inyx has chosen a dangerous path, unlike ourselves."
" There' s no danger to you, dammit!" snapped Lan. Regretting his outburst, he soothed the spider by saying, " We must aid Inyx. Only we can do it. You with your strength and me with my magics."
" My intelligence is important, also."
" Yes, that," Lan said patiently.
" And my devastating grasp of tactics."
" And your fighting prowess. Yes, all of those. Now how do you propose to get me down from here?"
" Eh? Oh, I suppose it behooves me to go speak with Murrk about this. His hatchlings won' t be hungry enough for a complete human for several days."
" How comforting."
" I thought it would ease your mind." Krek walked up his web and gained the main strands, striding off in a gait that was the epitome of grace. On the ground his eight- legged, rolling motion appeared awkward. In this aerial world of webs, he was perfectly suited for smooth, swift movement.
Lan Martak hoped Krek did not forget his stated purpose of freeing him. The thought of hungry spider- lings caused cold sweat to bead on his forehead. And worst of all, he couldn' t even wipe it off.
Krek approached the Webmaster and hung in the web at a respectful distance. By human conventions, they remained motionless for an impolite time; by arachnid standards, Krek hurried the conversation almost to the point of rudeness.
" Webmaster Murrk," he began. The other spider twitched slightly, indicating his distaste for such precipitous behavior, but Krek wasn' t to be swayed. Something of his human friend' s desperation had taken seed within him. To leave this pleasant valley bordered on the absurd, since he had searched world after world along the Road for such a wonderful place filled with his own kind, but other important duties had overtaken him in those wanderings.
Inyx. The spider thought carefully about the dark- haired woman whose manner differed so from other humans. She was almost bearable at times and the thread of bloodthirstiness in her pleased the spider. He understood her more than he understood the others, especially Lan Martak.
Lan. His powers grew at a pace none comprehended, much less the man himself. Krek' s unspiderly abruptness with Murrk was fueled by those powers. Claybore presented a clear and present danger, but Lan' s own untried, untrained powers seemed as much a hazard.
Allowing his friend to remain cocooned and dangling only added to the magical problems. By accident Lan Martak might hit upon a spell to free himself. The consequences of destroying this valley and all the gallant, noble beings within it made Krek shiver with horror. Rescuing Lan and rejoining Inyx outweighed any consideration of further enjoyment of this fine, restful resort area.
" Webmaster Murrk," he said again, " there are problems in the web."