Cenotaph Road

Lan and Krek slipped into the room, bolting the door behind them. Lan wanted no outside intervention.

" Behind you!" screeched Krek, his long legs springing straight. The huge arachnid launched through the air like a furry skyrocket. He landed between Inyx and the groggy general.

" Take care of him, Krek. Lyk Surepta is mine!" shouted Lan. But he found himself bowled over by a sudden rush. The attack cost him both his sword and pistol. Rather than attempt to recover either fallen weapon, Lan locked his arms around Surepta' s body. Whatever else the man might have been, he was no weakling. Lan felt the flow and play of powerful muscles. He experienced a curious dйjа vu feeling, remembering the night in the Dancing Serpent so long ago when he and Surepta had fought over Zarella.

Now they fought over Velika.

Lan gritted his teeth and tightened his bear- hug. Doubting he could win with this tactic, but fearful of letting go and allowing Surepta to pick up his own sheathed sword, Lan continued to squeeze with all his might. An adept twist sent him flying across the room.

He landed and rolled to his feet. As he faced Surepta, he saw death advancing on him. The gleaming length of blade between them was both sharp and well used. From the step- glide, step- glide motion, Lan knew Kyn- alLyk- Surepta meant to end this quickly.

" So, Dar- elLan- Martak," snarled Surepta, " we meet again. The sheriff thought you had escaped through the Road, but I never expected to find you here. It' s my pleasure to kill you now as I should have done before!"

Surepta' s first thrust was intended to be the last. Lan' s counterattack only partially succeeded as he avoided the blade and drove his fist toward an unprotected throat.

The sharp, searing pain told him his right side had acquired another scar. But the meaty thunk of his fist drove Surepta to the ground. Lan felt a murderous rage seizing him. Surepta had killed his lover, poisoned the old sheriff against him, driven him from his home world, raped and killed his half- sister, and now he had raped Velika. Lyk Surepta deserved no mercy.

He got none from Lan Martak.

Powerful fingers clamped around the straining throat. Slowly, inexorably, life fled from Kyn- alLyk- Surepta' s body until only a corpse remained behind.

Lan Martak stood and shook in nervous reaction, looking down at the dead body of his adversary. He realized then that the Resident of the Pit had been correct. Surepta had been brought to justice, but Lan' s revenge tasted bitter and dry. There should have been more.

Lan turned in time to see Inyx hit the general over the head with the chair leg while Krek taunted the man. As the soldier fell forward, Krek' s mandibles snapped once. They hardly slowed as they passed entirely through the body. Lan put his hand to his mouth at the gory sight, holding back his gag reflex.

" Well done, spider," Inyx congratulated her bloodstained ally. " A blow worthy of any warrior."

" You fared well alone, friend Inyx," answered Krek. " A pity you are not a spider."

" If I were, I' d shave my legs," came back Inyx, stroking over the rough bristles on Krek' s front leg. " Still, I prefer this form, thank you."

" Humans are like that," Krek agreed. " Irrational about their frail forms. I must admit, though, there is something to be said about possessing appendages capable of firmly gripping a club." He attempted to pick up Inyx' s fallen chair leg and failed, his chitinous claws not curving properly to hold the small- diameter stick. " I might have more luck with a sword."

The spider hoisted a fallen sword, holding it through the guard. With a quick flinging motion, Krek sent the blade arrowing through space to sink half its length into the wooden door. The giant bobbed up and down, silently congratulating himself on the feat.

Lan turned his attentions from the mutual admiration society forming and went to Velika. She still sprawled gracelessly on the table where she' d been raped, hardly moving during the fight. At the sight of Lan bending over her, she threw strong arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers. Her tear- dampened cheeks brushed his; electric tingles passed through his body, exploded in his brain, ignited passions he' d never before known.

After a satisfactory kiss, she sighed and said breathlessly, " I knew you would come to save me."

" I was a bit late. Seems the best I did was avenge your lost honor." Lan looked at Surepta and felt the cold rage billowing inside him again. But a broken neck and stilled heart ensured Surepta would never again harass him.

" What honor?" asked Inyx contemptuously. " She spread wantonly for that beast, no doubt thinking to save her precious hide. Honor? She knows nothing of the word."

“ Another few seconds and you’ d have ended up the same as her,” snapped Lan. “ If we hadn’ t come along:"

" I would have died defending myself. I never will give my life but rather will sell it dearly. And with my life goes my honor."

" Humans," shrilled Krek, " please perform your silly ritual of mutual insults at some later time. I feel a company of men marching toward this room. Whether they come to avenge the deaths of their leaders or to partake of the peculiar mating ritual decreed by their king, I ca

" The gods protect us," muttered Lan. " All right. We can escape this castle and flee to another world through an artificial gateway constructed by Waldron."

" He need not use a cenotaph?" asked Inyx, her green eyes glowing at the thought. " That secret must be mine! I can then travel to the ends of the universe. I can even return to Klendalu, a conquering explorer of the premier rank."

" All that' s come to my mind, too, Inyx," said Lan. " But of more immediate importance is getting out of here unscathed."

" My lord!" cried Velika. " You bleed from a hideous wound." She hid her eyes in cupped hands and turned away from him. Inyx walked over and pulled away the matted grey cloth with a jerk that made Lan cringe, but her fingers probing the wound were curiously gentle.

" You' ll live, more' s the pity. Such a stupid person would be better off dead, yet I fear you' ll soon fulfill that minor prophecy. I pray you won' t take us with you as you die." All the while she muttered and cursed Lan' s stupidity, she was binding his wound. When she finished tending him, she' d applied a tightly bound bandage. He experienced a twinge of stiffness, but little pain. Inyx had proven herself useful at doctoring wounds.

" Let' s make haste for the new Road," said Lan. " Come, Velika, the blood' s all gone." Her relieved look filled him with warmth that made up for the lack of blood. Her safety was all that mattered to him.

" Leave her, Lan Martak," advised Krek. " She is hardly worth the effort of squiring along with us. Speed and a modicum of ruthlessness are needed to win free from all these cavorting flames." The spider cringed as he looked into the corner containing one of the gas torches. " Such horrid people, having those spider- burning flames open like that. And do try to avoid the awful wetness that continually leaks from her eyes. It seems so: unhealthy."

" I agree with Krek," seconded Inyx. " Leave her. She faints at the sight of blood. If we walk the Road, even one of Waldron' s manufacture, blood and death will be our constant companions."

" No. She comes along. And consider the treasure I' m abandoning. I' m willing to remain a pauper for Velika." His reward was a small frown.

The looks Inyx and Krek exchanged were even less respectful.