Princess of Amathar Read online

  "You fell asleep."

  "Yes,” I replied.

  "You were supposed to be on guard."

  "Yes."

  "Now you have killed us. These are Pell."

  "We're not dead yet,” I offered.

  "You will be soon," a grotesque, high-pitched, squeaking voice said. Chapter Seven: Doomed to Die

  I couldn't believe it. It was one of the spiders which had spoken--a particularly large, ugly, and bloated individual.

  "Soon I will bite you on your neck, and suck the delicious juices from your body."

  "I hope you get indigestion,” I replied.

  "I won't. I have eaten many Amatharians. You are delicious. Of course that furry one is not fit to eat.”

  The disgusting thing pointed one of its front legs at Malagor. "We will lay our eggs upon it."

  "You have killed us," Norar Remontar repeated.

  "I suppose I’ve disgraced myself by my negligence."

  "No. It was merely an unfortunate mistake."

  "I don't have to kill myself to atone for it?"

  "My people do not believe in suicide. If an Amatharian must make reparation for a wrong, he does it by doing service for the one he has injured. Besides, I do not think that you would have the opportunity to kill yourself."

  The large ugly spider creature spoke again.

  "You must remain alive. You must be alive when I suck your insides out." Now it is not so much that I mind someone, or in this case I guess it was something, talking about sucking my insides out, but I had the impression that this thing was baiting me and trying to scare me. I was determined to put a brave face on the situation, if only to give Norar Remontar a good impression of me. So I spat right in the spider's face, or what I took to be its face. It screamed out in a high pitched whine that made my spine tingle, and actually made Malagor yelp out in pain. The spider jumped and danced around in a circle, whether in pain or in ecstasy I couldn't say, but after that it seemed to keep farther away from my face for which I was grateful. If you would like to get a real idea of my predicament, simply go out to the back yard and move some wood or a flower pot until you find a large plump Black Widow spider. Put the spider in a jar, and look at it through a magnifying glass. Now imagine that face right up next to yours talking to you, and you will see almost exactly what I saw there in the forests of Ecos, for the Pell, as the Amatharians call these creatures, resemble nothing so much as a fifty pound Black Widow, without the red hour glass marking.

  For the first time since being trussed up, I looked around to take a real stock of our enemies. There were about twenty of the disgusting creatures around, and they all looked about the same, with slight variations of size. Then without so much as another word or shrill squeal, the spiders started off through the forest. Four spiders grabbed my cocoon in their vertical mouths and began to drag me across the forest floor. Malagor and Norar Remontar were subjects of similar treatment. It was neither a comfortable nor a dignified way to travel. We were dragged about a mile into a very dark and silent portion of the forest.

  The Pell had taken us to their home. This settlement, if one can so dignify the place with that name, was nothing more than an immense spider web covering several hundred square yards, and rising high into the upper branches of a number of trees. We were taken to the center of the spider web, then long strands of silk were tied to our feet, and we were hauled up to hang upside down some thirty feet above the ground. I then noticed that the Pell numbered in the hundreds, ranging in size from about as big as a tarantula, to one individual, possibly the village elder, which was about the size of a large pony. All of these beasts climbed around the webbing, but their main residence seemed to be a large hole in the ground below us and a little to my left.

  I have always hated spiders, and the experience of hanging by my ankles in a giant web, and being examined by arachnids close to my own size did nothing to strengthen my opinion of them. I tried to think of some way to free my hands, but they were wrapped tightly at my sides. I couldn't imagine things getting any worse than they were at that moment, but they really always can. Just then it started to rain. I like rain. I suppose that it is because I grew up in the southwestern United States, where rainfall is relatively rare. However rain, when in conjunction with gravity, has an unfortunate effect upon an individual who is hanging upside down. It runs up his nose.

  "You have killed me,” said Malagor, and he stretched out his head and began a long low howl. This did nothing to improve my own state of mind. I looked around, blinded by the water running over my face, but desperate to find some means of escape. There seemed little hope.

  "Can't you call on the power of your sword?" I asked Norar Remontar.

  "What?"

  "Can't you call upon the soul in your sword to rescue you?"

  "I do not call upon the soul. It comes of its own accord. And it does not do so to cut bonds. It comes only for battle."

  "That seems inconvenient,” I replied. "I see no way of escape."

  "There is no way of escape," said a high-pitched voice. "You are doomed to die, as am I." I twisted my body around to look upon a Pell sitting nearby. It was about the size of a big dog, but otherwise seemed identical to all the other spider creatures.

  "You are doomed to die?" Malagor asked. "Why?"

  "I have angered the web-leader. I feasted upon food that was not mine."

  "Could you get us out of this web and these cocoons?" I inquired.

  "Why would I want to do that?"

  "Why not? You are going to die anyway."

  "My death will not be as horrible as it would be should I release you."

  "We are going to Amathar. If you were to come with us, you would escape death, and be welcome there." I was attempting to weave a web of my own as I talked. "He'd be welcome. Wouldn't he, Norar Remontar?"

  "No,” he said.

  "Work with me here!" I pleaded.

  "The Amatharian speaks truly. I have no place else to go. Amathar would not welcome me," the arachnid whined.

  "What if Norar Remontar promised to protect you. You know Amatharians always keep their word. He could promise to find you a new home." The Pell's forelegs began to twitch.

  "You'll protect him and find him a new home. Won't you, Norar Remontar?"

  "No,” he said.

  "Do you want to live to see Amathar? Do you want to be able to rescue your sister?" I hissed. "Tell the damn spider you'll protect him if he'll let us go."

  "No,” he said.

  "I cannot go far away,” whined the Pell.

  "Why are you up here anyway?" I asked him. "Why would you be sentenced to death for eating something that wasn't yours?"

  "We eat any live flesh,” he explained, "but thinking, speaking creatures are reserved for the leader and the hive elder."

  "That hardly seems fair. Why, a fellow like you... what was your name?"

  "Vvvv."

  "Why,” I continued, "I would much rather be eaten by a fine fellow like you than almost anyone else. What about you, Malagor?"

  "Indeed,” said my companion. "It would be an honor to be eaten by Vvvv."

  "You must surely be the finest of the Pell,” I said. "In fact, now that I think about it, why aren't you the leader?"

  "I should be!" squealed the spider, puffing himself up larger. "I have always known that I should be leader! Even the lower forms can see it!"

  "Just let us out of these cocoons. Free us from this web, and we will kill the leader for you."

  "You must kill the hive elder too,” hissed Vvvv.

  "Of course we will,” I assured him. "Won't we Norar Remontar?" The Amatharian looked blankly at me. I continued.

  "Then the rightful ruler of the Pell will be able to take command."

  "You must hurry,” said Malagor. "The rain is beginning to stop. Soon the other Pell will return."

  "I will do it!" shouted Vvvv. "You promise to kill them both?"

  "We will,” I asserted.

  The spider qui
ckly crawled over to Malagor and using his vertical mouth snipped through the webbing. Norar Remontar was freed next and finally me. I was free no more than a second before I lost my balance, not being particularly arboreal. Flailing my arms wildly, I fell from the webbing, thirty feet down toward the ground, and landed in a sitting position right upon the back of the largest spider creature in the settlement.

  Chapter Eight: Pursued

  I felt a crushing, squishing sound, as the life and the insides were crushed out of the giant spider upon which I had landed. Jumping to my feet, I found the hulking arachnid looking much like a very small one looks, after it has been stepped upon. The many other spider beings of the compound stood completely still for what must have been several minutes, enough time for Norar Remontar and Malagor to clamber down from the web. They were standing by my side, as was our liberator Vvvv, when the Pell began once again to move. They did not move toward us, or attempt to attack, but instead simply spun around in a bizarre dance as if they had lost their minds. Vvvv seemed immune to this behavior.

  "Now would be a great time to leave,” I said.

  "We have fulfilled only half of our commitment,” said Norar Remontar, and drawing his sword, leapt toward the Pell whom I had earlier enjoyed spitting upon. As he raised his sword above his head, it began to provide a lovely pale illumination, and as he sliced through the body of the monster, the body hairs and flesh sizzled as if the weapon had been a hot brand. The Amatharian moved quickly away from the arachnids and began a trot toward the forest. Malagor and I followed.

  "It's all yours, Vvvv!" I called out, stopping to look back from the forest edge. The Pell who had freed us positioned himself upon a large rock and began speaking to his fellows in the whistling language of their kind. Presumably he was presenting his credentials to be leader, or urging them to some sort of action. The other spiders listened for a moment, then with a swift and determined viciousness, set upon him with their stingers and their fangs. In scant seconds, the hapless Vvvv had been torn to pieces. Then the entire horde turned toward me.

  I quickly took off after my companions who were several hundred feet ahead of me by now. It didn't take me long, with my gravity enhanced muscles, to catch up with them. I quickly relayed the events going on behind us, and we all redoubled our efforts to get away from the area. I of course, had no trouble in trotting along at quite a good pace, and Norar Remontar seemed to be quite the long-distance runner, but my friend Malagor, though he was quite capable of attaining great speed for short distances, was clearly not built for the long haul. We were forced to stop every so often so that he could rest. As soon as we perceived our pursuers approaching, we would be off.

  "Perhaps we should simply stop and fight,” suggested Norar Remontar, as we trotted along. "We are not asleep this time, and I feel quite certain that we could sell our lives dearly."

  "I am not quite sure that I am ready to sell mine at all,” I replied. Just then however, the forest abruptly ended at the base of a tremendously high mountain. It was as if the ground had simply turned perpendicular to itself. There was no way to continue forward, so we cut to the left, and began to trace our way along the edifice. We jogged along at a renewed pace, but soon discovered that our detour had allowed our pursuers to reach us. Just to our left, several dozen of the Pell rushed out of the forest and toward us.

  Norar Remontar and I drew our swords, Malagor pulled out his knife, and the three of us turned to face our foes. I could see from the corner of my right eye, the Amatharian's sword begin to glow with its unearthly light. Foremost in my mind however, was the spider that was directly in front of me, and the two others who were attempting to sneak around to my left.

  Rather than wait to be completely encircled, I made the first move. Jumping up and to the side, I dropped down sword point first on one of the two Pell to the side of me. I quickly rolled over the top of the creature's body pulling the sword blade free as I did, and using the body as a shield from the other two who lunged forward. I swung the sword in a great arc and actually sliced through the bodies of both attackers. My appreciation of myself was short-lived however, for at that moment, I felt thick silky strands being sprayed upon me from behind.

  I am sure that most can understand my feelings when I say that having once been encased in the cocoon of a giant spider-creature; I had lost any desire to be so encased again. I jumped straight up into the air, my intention being to land behind the attacker who was at the moment behind me. The silk threads now attached to my back made this impossible. Instead I flipped over backwards and landed on the back of the spider. He was a large one. I drove my sword down into its body so hard that it stuck into the ground beneath him.

  Jumping to my feet, I prepared to meet any additional onslaught, but the only other Pell near me was already beating a hasty retreat back into the forest. A quick glance at my two companions confirmed that they were relatively unharmed. Malagor, while practically covered with web strands, had managed to keep from being trapped. Several dead enemies lay around him, in some cases connected to him by the strands of webbing running from him to the spinnerets in their lifeless bodies. Norar Remontar stood amid a ring of dead Pell, their bodies still smoking from the effects of his fantastic sword. I resolved to learn as much as I could about the Amatharian swords and the souls within them. It seemed to me that the Pell had gotten more from us than they expected, but Norar Remontar insisted we go some distance from the sight of the battle before we stopped to clean ourselves up. We followed along the edge of the seemingly impassable mountain for quite a while until we found a small pool of water collected from a spring in the rocks. It was twenty feet across, looked to be some eight to ten feet deep, and was crystal clear. We sat beside it and drank from it, washed, and then rested. We slept, taking turns at watch, and this time none of us fell asleep during our turn to stand guard. When I awoke from my turn at sleeping, I found the other two bathing in the water. I was surprised at this, since I knew that Malagor was not much for swimming.

  "We are not bathing or swimming,” said Malagor when I questioned him on the subject. "Norar Remontar has discovered a passageway below the water. It leads four kentars back into the mountain, where it opens into a large chamber."

  "I believe that we should explore the cavern," said Norar Remontar. "My people leave caches of weapons and food many places, much like the one you found before you met me. I believe that your swords were left along with the other supplies as an emergency cache some twenty or thirty generations ago. Perhaps we may find a similar cache here."

  My friends had already gathered their gear. I had only my weapons. So after making sure they were secure; I plunged into the cool, clear water and dived down into the underwater passage. It was indeed a tunnel leading back into the mountain. I held my breath and swam into it. I am a fair swimmer, but not when fully clothed. Just as I was beginning to feel desperate for air, I reached the other end of the tunnel, and surfaced to find myself in a dark cavern. It was, just as Malagor had said, about four kentars, or seventeen feet from the outside pool.

  I climbed out of the water, which on this side of the passage, was merely a round hole of about three feet in diameter. My Amatharian friend was looking around in the darkness with some type of small flashlight. It seemed strange that I had never seen the light before, until I realized that in all the time that I had known Norar Remontar, we had never been in darkness. The eternal noon day sun of Ecos had been our constant companion.

  The cavern was roughly circular and quite large, some forty feet across. There seemed to be nothing in it, with the exception of the small pool from which we had made our entrance, and several large round boulders. However at the end of the room, farthest from the pool, Norar Remontar found something. I stepped over to where he was carefully examining a section of the cavern wall. Malagor followed. In the beam of the Amatharian's small light was a patch of stone, which had been artificially smoothed. Within this flat area was carved a series of symbols. There was nothing abo
ut them that seemed in the least familiar to me, but then I was from another planet after all.

  "This isn’t written in Amatharian, is it?" I asked.

  "No," replied Norar Remontar. "If I am not mistaken, this is an example of the petroglyphic writing of the ancient Orlons."

  "I am not familiar with those people," said Malagor.

  "The ancient Orlons occupied much of the area that we of Amathar now call our own. They were long dead in the time of Amath, but they left many ruins scattered around the area. We Amatharians study their remains in our schools. They existed for many thousands of generations, and in the last stages of their civilization, the Orlons were quite technologically advanced, using aircraft and high speed ground transport systems. Of course their early sights are quite primitive by comparison. This certainly looks to be a very early example of their writing."

  "Can you read it?" I asked.

  "I am no expert in archaeology," Norar Remontar replied, "though I do remember a few of the symbols from my school days."

  He carefully examined the writing for several minutes. There were twenty two symbols in all on the smooth section of the wall. The first was a simple triangle, but others were squiggly lines, circles with little pictures in them, sun symbols, and a thing that looked a lot like a cow's head. Finally Norar Remontar pointed to a square with a stylized arrow running through it.

  "This is the only one that I recognize," he said. "It is the symbol for a door."

  "Perhaps this is an indicator that there is a door within this chamber somewhere," offered Malagor.

  "A doorway to where?" I asked. "Into the mountain? Maybe it's indicating the water passage we just came through."