Cathbad strapped his long staff to his back and breathed hard with the effort of the climb. I wondered what toll being enslaved for centuries would have on a druid’s body and made a note to ask Osmos to check on his health on our return.
Only the slight rustle of dried leaves broke the stillness in the air, and even Rosalind’s wings made no sound. Dead bark loosened from beneath my fingers, turning into dust.
Dread clenched at my gut with icy fists. What if this was also a poison? I couldn’t hold my breath for too long as the dust lingered in the air. And if no one attacked us on our climb, did that mean we would walk into an ambush?
After a few moments, we reached a section of the vines that covered a tall window with one segment opened a few inches. I steadied my feet on one of the thick branches and rested my arms on the wooden sill. Drayce’s shadows parted the dead vines with several sharp snaps, and he pulled open a window with a soft creak.
Rosalind swooped down and handed us back our torches, and we stared into a room filled with cobwebs. Our light shone through the first few layers, coloring them a vibrant gold. Further on they became as opaque as shrouds.
I clenched my teeth to suppress a full-body shudder. “What kind of spider created this?”
“Allow me.” Drayce flicked a hand, and his shadows cleaved the webs in half. They parted to create a walkway to a wooden door with rusted hinges.
Rosalind floated her torch through Drayce’s path, and a long, hairy appendage whipped out from the dark and pulled it so deep into the webs that the light stopped glowing.
“Spider,” I hissed a breath through my teeth and reached for my sword.
Drayce placed his hand on its hilt. “Killing spiders is bad luck.”
I reared back. “What?”
“His Majesty is right,” said Rosalind from behind. “Everyone I know who ever hurt a spider on purpose fell into misfortune. Killing a spider that large might mean instant death.”
Next to me Aengus nodded as though this was common knowledge but Cathbad’s eyes bulged. Perhaps magical spiders were different. The creatures I encountered when I was growing up just spun their webs and caught smaller insects, and nothing happened to humans who killed them.
“How do we pass it without getting dragged into its web?” I asked.
“A gift,” rasped a clicking voice deep into the room. “Give me something you value, and I will let you pass.”
“You already have my source of light,” said Rosalind.
“I require a gift from you each,” said what I supposed was the spider.
With a huff, Cathbad pulled off the ivy from around his staff and threw it into the room. Drayce tossed in a small dagger. Aengus pulled a short sword from his belt, but I gave him a sharp nudge.
He turned to me with a confused frown, and I tugged his damp cloak. When he didn’t take it off, I motioned for him to throw it into the room. Aengus unfastened the garment and hurled it on top of the pile. I reached into the pocket of my leather skirt and threw my handkerchief.
“There,” I said. “Five gifts, including the torch you took.”
What shuffled out from the curtain of webs had eight legs but it was no spider. Its torso was human-shaped with coarse hairs standing from its pale skin like lashes. A pair of long, sinewy arms made up its front legs with two pairs of similar appendages jutting from its spine.
Four jewel-like eyes stared out at us from a bony face consisting of nothing but a pair of pincers.
My stomach plummeted.
“What a majestic spider you are,” Aengus said in a voice meant to encourage us to say the same.
It made several low clicks that almost sounded like purring.
“Very majestic,” added Rosalind.
“The most majestic I have seen in all my years.” Drayce gave me a soft nudge.
Every organ in my body shuddered with horror at the hideous monster, but I managed to say, “I’ve never seen anything so majestic.”
Cathbad made a grunt that sounded like vague agreement.
The spider placed my handkerchief between its mouth pincers and pushed Drayce’s dagger into the shadows. Then it made a headdress of Cathbad’s ivy, picked up Aengus’ cloak and wrapped it around its back. I held my breath throughout this, wondering why it wasn’t skittering back into its web.
We waited several moments for the spider to say something else but it remained silent. I leaned into Drayce and whispered, “Can you create a barrier?”
With a nod, he raised a hand and rolled out a walkway of shadows that stretched up to the ceiling and across. “Nothing should get through this.”
All the tension left my body in an outward breath. “Let’s go.”
Drayce climbed through the window and dusted off the sill before helping me inside. The wood beneath my feet crumbled, but the shadows kept me from stumbling. Rosalind flew in next, and the others followed. We walked through Drayce’s barrier of shadows to the door, which didn’t yield when I turned the handle.
“Allow me.” Aengus jerked down the handle with his strength. The door splintered and fell into an empty hallway of cobwebs that hung from the ceiling like clouds.
Something large dropped down from above, and skittering footsteps hurried toward us. I sucked in a breath, unsheathed the Sword of Tethra, and readied myself to fight. Drayce stepped in front of me, Aengus and Cathbad on my left and right. Rosalind flew overhead, her black sword drawn.
The same spider from before emerged into the light, still wearing Aengus’ cloak. It bobbed its head up and down, staring out at us with its quartet of gleaming eyes.
“We gave you your gifts,” said Drayce.
“Ah… yes,” replied the spider.
Keeping the tremor out of my voice, I said, “What do you want?”
The spider raised itself on spindly legs
