Cenotaph Road

" No quarrel and you would still murder us?" bellowed Lan. " What ma

" Silence, fool," hissed the chamberlain. " He could have you executed now while it is still dark and allow the demons to devour your souls. The Saviour does you great favor by allowing the sunlight to drive off the demons before removing your spiteful heads."

The last thing Lan Martak heard as they dragged him from the audience chamber was Velika' s soft purring, " Anything at all for my wondrous saviour!"

He wondered what evil magic Waldron had used on the woman he loved to turn her so much against her will.

" You deceive yourself if you really think that, Lan," declared Inyx, trying to keep her voice gentle, and failing. The harshness crept in and made her words sting more than she intended.

" You' re wrong, I tell you, wrong! Velika did it to save us. There' s no other reason she' d go to Waldron' s bed so swiftly. She is plotting our escape even now. How could she do it if she were thrown in here with us?"

" She might be a simple whore," observed Krek.

The spider bobbed out of the way as Lan took a vicious swing at him. " Are you upset over this possibility, friend Lan Martak? I merely stated what seems a fact. You humans have the oddest sensibilities to offend. The very concept of whoredom amuses me, and I have oft thought on it during the long nights I spent alone along the Road. While I personally ca

Lan rattled his chains savagely as he paced the confines of the narrow tower cell. The three slits in the stone walls looked out over the castle, but, under the cloak of darkness, there was little of interest to see. Lan still pressed his face close and peered down in the vain hope of seeing Velika sneaking across the courtyard, keys to their chains dangling from her slender fingers.

" She will come. She has to. I know she will," Lan repeated to himself.

" While he' s mooning over a traitorous bitch, let' s figure out our own escape, Krek," said Inyx, seating herself next to one of the spider' s furred legs. She rested against the post- thick leg and rubbed her back until her muscle strain eased. " These offensive chains are the key to our escape, as I see it. We can do nothing as long as we wear the shackles of a tyrant."

" Oh?" Krek said mildly. " Is that all we have to do to escape this drafty, damp place?"

" Well, not all, but: aieee!" Inyx looked stupidly at her severed chains. Krek' s mandibles had made one swift snap and left only shining metal where one link had been. She lifted the bracelet on her left wrist so that Krek could snap the metal without injuring her. In a double flash of chitinous material, her wrists were free. She sprang to her feet and whooped loudly.

" Friend Krek, you are a marvel!" she crowed. " That is the slickest cut of hardened steel I have ever witnessed. You should rent yourself as a blacksmith' s assistant. For a modicum of work, you could earn a young fortune!"

Lan turned dull eyes to them and said, " He could' ve done that a long time ago. He' s versatile," then went back to his lonely vigil at the window.

" Let him cut your chains, Lan; then we' ll figure how to get out of here!"

" I tell you Velika has a plan to free us. If we just wait, she' ll free us and we can all four be gone from this pest- ridden castle and that bird- loving Waldron."

" Unless my eyes deceive me, friend Lan Martak, it lacks but a few minutes of dawn. Waldron seems nothing if not totally efficient in his slaughter. Linger much longer and we all die. And I am too insignificant a spider to come to such a fate. Please, Lan Martak, save me. Inyx? Lan?"

The tone made Lan turn and see a huge, salty tear forming at the corner of a limpid eye. He sighed in defeat and dejectedly held out his wrists.

" Snip ' em off, and hurry. You' re right about the time. I just don' t know what delayed Velika."

" She' s probably having too much fun in Waldron' s bed," Inyx muttered under her breath. The words were drowned out by the metallic snicks as Krek severed the last of Lan' s shackles. Louder, so both Lan and Krek heard, she said, " Do we overpower the guards when they come for us? These lengths of chain hardly seem adequate weapons, although the metallic skeleton used them dexterously enough back in Waldron' s maze. Or do we attempt to escape in some other way?"

Lan pointed to the window through which he' d kept his futile watch for Velika.

" Down the wall to the courtyard. It' s still empty. We might be able to win free through the main gate from there."

" Down that wall? You' re insane. It' s too sheer. Why, the surface is slick glass. Not even fully outfitted for mountain scaling could I get down that way!"

" We don' t have to scale it, just get down it. Krek? Honor us with a bit of web spi

" Is this sturdy enough?" she asked dubiously.

" My dear lady!" said Krek, puffing himself up and banging the ceiling of the small chamber. " I am Webmaster of the Egrii Mountains, and this is the finest silk you shall ever see. Humph!"

" Sorry," apologized Inyx. " This does seem strong. Shall I go first?"

" Go on," said Lan, realizing this was Inyx' s way of gaining forgiveness from the spider. " Krek will come down last."

He helped Inyx into the narrow window slit, his hands almost encircling her trim waist. For the first time he marvelled at her litheness, her strength, even her muliebrity. Then she dropped over the edge and adeptly swung lower and lower on the silken cable. When she touched the ground, Lan followed. Her hands were most welcome to guide him into the dense shadows at the base of the tower. Krek came hurtling down, descending the sheer wall ten times faster than either of them had dared.

Legs spread widely around his thick body, Krek sighed. " One day, I shall have the opportunity to rest. Just me, swinging to and fro in a simple yet elegant web, the soft, warm wind caressing me, making me feel less old, less tired, more like my original youthful self."

" Sure, Krek, sure you will, but let' s talk about it later. After we' re out of here." Lan glanced around nervously, wanting to see Velika' s trim form, fearing to find a guard patrol instead.

" One moment," Krek said. He whistled and spat out a long streamer of gooey material that clung to the silk cable. In a few seconds, the silken strands were totally eaten away and all trace of their escape route erased. " Now, do we tread wearily on the Road once again? I sense that Waldron has reopened the route."

Lan pressed a hand to his head, knowing that Krek was right. The dull, throbbing ache between his ears seemed a sure indication of the artificial Road' s coming back into existence. Still he balked at travelling it again.

" We' ve got to rescue Velika. It won' t take long. She' ll be in Waldron' s private chambers. We:"

" We' ll be shorter by a head if we stay," hissed Inyx. " Look and tell me how to fend off so many- and us without weapons?"

The troops marching in perfect syncopation stopped in front of the locked door leading up into the prison tower. The commander fumbled out a key, then ordered his men inside. The door locked again to thwart any escape of his supposed prisoners, the officer led his men up the spiralling staircase.

" Seconds, friend Lan Martak, before they discover our apparent dematerialization," said Krek. " I would like to stay and see you through your pointless excursion to rescue the lumpy human female, but my weakness and quivering fear overwhelm me. Please forgive me."