They didn’t speak until they’d retreated several steps back down the tunnel, out of sight of the fallen rocks.
“Did you see it?” Ashok said.
Vedoran nodded. “Spider,” he said. “Hound-sized or larger. It was hard to tell how far the crevice went back.”
“Probably made itself a good ambush spot after the rockslide,” Ashok said.
“We should deal with it now,” Vedoran said.
“Why not bring the others up?” Ashok said. “Between the four of us, we should be able to dispatch it with little effort.”
“So can you and I,” Vedoran pointed out. “And with minimal stress put upon Ilvani. If she feels pressured to use her magic in defense of the group, it could weaken her further.”
“You’re right,” Ashok said. He took out his chain. “We’ll deal with it now.”
“Wait here,” Vedoran said. A plan had begun to form in his mind. “I’ll draw it out, and you can finish it from afar.”
“Be careful,” Ashok said. “If it jumps, you won’t have much time to react.”
“Don’t worry. It won’t touch me,” Vedoran said.
They moved cautiously back up the tunnel, watching the crevice for movement. After several breaths they saw hairy brown legs feather gracefully across the stone. Pebbles knocked loose by the movement tumbled down the slide with the faintest of sounds. The legs drew back out of sight.
“Go,” Ashok said.
Vedoran darted up the tunnel, keeping his body as far away from the crevice as possible. He was almost past the slide when the spider popped out. As Ashok had predicted, it was a deathjump spider, a creature with an incredible ability to leap on its prey from a distance.
Watching the spider prepare its attack, Vedoran caught his foot against one of the loose stones. He uttered a cry and went down hard on his knees, exposing his back to the spider.
Like a dream, everything fell into place. Vedoran heard Ashok’s chain whistling as it flew through the air. The spider leaped for Vedoran, and at the last possible breath Vedoran spun and put his hands up to block the bite attack he knew was coming.
Ashok’s chain got to the spider first. The end stuck in the creature’s abdomen and dragged it back several feet.
The spider immediately changed its attack course and leaped on Ashok, covering his torso with its body and knocking him to the ground. While Vedoran pretended to recover, the spider sank its mandibles into Ashok’s shoulder.
Vedoran got to his feet and limped toward Ashok. He waited until the spider had delivered its poison before he drew his own sword and came at the creature from behind.
Ashok raked the chain across the spider’s abdomen so he could push it off him and draw out the poisoned mandibles. He got his boot under the creature and levered it off him, just in time for Vedoran to put his blade through the spider’s body.
Legs jerked and twitched as the spider tried to move, but Vedoran’s sword held it in place like a pin until it died with Ashok’s blood still dripping from its mouth.
Ashok cursed and sat up gingerly, wiping blood from his neck and chest. His wounds bled and oozed poison liberally. Vedoran saw Ashok’s face crease in pain.
“You were right. We should have waited for the others,” Vedoran said. He hooked the end of Ashok’s chain with his boot toe and dragged it out of reach. Ashok heard the metal links clink against the stone and looked up at Vedoran.
“You were clumsier than usual,” Ashok said. He tried to gain his feet, but Vedoran stepped close, into his space, and Ashok was too unsteady to rise without making himself helpless. “I always thought you were the picture of grace-a true, cold warrior.”
“And you are the opposite,” Vedoran said. “You fight with too much passion and too little regard for yourself.”
“Is this where it ends then?” Ashok said. “You kill me for taking your place as leader?”
Vedoran laughed. “I gave you credit for being smarter than that,” he said. “I told you: you and Chanoch are nothing to me. This is much bigger than both of you.”
“Yes,” Ashok said. “It’s about the gods. Neither of us can control our fates.”
“I can take the burden out of
Ashok’s mouth tightened. He held a hand over his bleeding wound. “Whatever you think of me, I didn’t kidnap Ilvani, and I didn’t have anything to do with her torture.”
“I believe you,” Vedoran said. “But you’re planning to overthrow the city anyway, or so the evidence will show.”
Ashok winced as the poison threaded through his blood. His face was flushed, though from pain or anger Vedoran couldn’t say. “Is this going to give you what you want, Vedoran?” he asked.
“No,” Vedoran said. “But ruining you is ruining Tempus, at least for Ikemmu. I’ll have to settle for that.”
Ashok surged up then and wrapped his arms around Vedoran’s waist. Caught off guard, Vedoran stumbled and fell back over the spider corpse. Ashok got on top of him and reached for Vedoran’s blade.
Grunting, Vedoran punched Ashok in the face with his left hand. The blow got Ashok in the jaw and broke his momentum. He grabbed Vedoran’s tunic to steady himself. Vedoran swung his sword and clipped Ashok on the back of the head with the pommel.
Weakened already by his wounds and the poison, Ashok went limp on the ground next to the spider’s corpse. Vedoran sat up and sheathed his weapon. He crouched next to Ashok and loosened the buckles of his armor. He removed the bone scale breastplate and searched inside until his fingers found a slit in the leather where a pouch was hidden.
He reached inside and pulled out several folded parchment sheets, blood-spattered but legible, written in Ashok’s hand. Vedoran unfolded the maps and noted the detail Ashok had used in recording the city’s defenses.
“You damned yourself from the beginning,” Vedoran said.
Gravel crunched near the tunnel bend, and Vedoran looked up sharply.
Ilvani stood several feet away, watching him.
“What are you doing here?” Vedoran demanded. “You were supposed to stay with the others.”
Ilvani walked forward and kneeled next to Ashok’s prone body. She brushed the hair off his forehead and trailed her hand down to his neck to feel for a lifebeat. Her hand came up bloody, but she seemed satisfied. She wiped her hand on her skirt.
“He was attacked,” she said. She looked up at Vedoran.
“A spider jumped out of the crevice up there,” Vedoran said, pointing to the creature’s hiding spot. “It poisoned Ashok.”
“Poisoned him with a sword hilt,” Ilvani said. She fixed a mocking, innocent expression on her face.
Vedoran worked his jaw. There were two courses open to him. If she’d only witnessed him rendering Ashok unconscious, there was nothing to worry about. But if she’d heard everything.…
There was one way to know, Vedoran thought. He wondered if Ilvani would rattle as easily as her brother had.
“You’re right, I knocked Ashok unconscious,” Vedoran said. “He was trying to run away-with this.” He held out the bloody parchment sheets.
With a curious tilt to her head, like a child, Ilvani took the sheets and unfolded them. Vedoran went on, “This may be hard for you to hear, Ilvani, but I’ve discovered something shocking about Ashok. He’s been deceiving us all this time.”
“Everyone lies,” Ilvani said. She examined the notes, and her brow furrowed. “He’s not an artist. Why would he draw pictures?”
“So he could deliver the information to his enclave once he had escaped the city,” Vedoran said. Ilvani looked even more confused. “Natan didn’t tell you about that, did he? Ashok was captured by patrols outside of
