Chapter 8

Ursula shook her head vigorously no, but Bael ignored her, kneeling to pick up a handful of dirt from the floor. No, don’t do it. In a slow, underhand motion, he tossed it about ten feet in front of her. As soon as the dust hit the floor, one of the twitching appendages flicked over to touch it.

“Now, Ursula!” Bael hissed.

“I’m going to kill you,” Ursula snarled as she leapt. But she was too slow, the manacles and the long gown throwing her off. The spider’s appendages snatched her in midair. Oh balls. Her pulse raced wildly.

Claws of fear pierced her rib cage. Above her, the spider’s fangs stabbed downward, aiming straight at her head. Instinctively, she summoned her flames. As the venom-soaked fang plunged toward her face, she caught it in her burning fingers.

Her blazing hands melted through the tip of the chitinous fang like butter. The arachnid’s head jerked back with a dry scream. The severed end of the fang narrowly missed puncturing her leg as it spun past her. The loss of its fang sent the arachnid into a sort of frenzy as the remaining fang flexed and pulsed.

Ursula’s heart slammed hard against her ribs. She pulled the heat from her hands, and reached above her head in an effort to pull herself up one of the spider’s legs.

From the darkness below, Bael shouted, “Ursula, are you all right?”

“Sort of. I melted one of its fangs.”

“Can you climb any higher?” asked Bael.

“I’m trying, but my hands are bound.” Seriously,what the fuck were you thinking?

The appendage moved, and she swung out over darkness. In the dark cavern, she had no idea how high up she was.

“Maybe try moving the leg lower,” Bael suggested.

“Does it look like I’m in control of this thing?” she shouted.

“This was your idea?” Kester asked.

“Can you two be quiet?” yelled Ursula. “I need to concentrate.”

A light blazed below her—Bael had called up a glowing orb. While she could now see what she was doing, she could also see that she was at least fifty feet in the air, and her stomach swooped. A fall from this height would kill her.

Ursula stared down at her body—her torn, mud-spattered gown practically hanging off her, draping to her ankles. Frankly, the damn thing was encumbering her. Ankle-length gowns weren’t made for climbing spiders any more than they were made for running through mushroom forests. Time to give the gown a trim.

She summoned fire into her body—enough to burn the fabric off the lower half of her dress, until the flames quickly snuffed out again in the damp air. She now wore a dress that reached just below her arse—much better. She kicked her legs forward so that she was able to wrap them around the appendage. Slowly, she began to shimmy upwards, blocking out the fact that her inner thighs were rubbing against the spider’s disgusting skin. At last, she made her way up onto the spider’s head.

The spider must have worked out what she was trying to do, because the other appendage swung back to pinch her. And yet, this time she was ready. As it neared, she cinched her legs tightly. When the approaching appendage was about five feet away, she let go with her hands. She only had to think of Bael and this asinine plan to channel enough heat into her fingers to melt a deep hole in the exoskeleton of the incoming appendage. The spider unleashed another eerie howl that keened throughout the cavern. That’s for trying to smoosh me.

She shimmied upwards, making it maybe ten feet, when the spider suddenly began to swing its head from side to side like a terrier shaking the life out of a rat. It took all of Ursula’s strength to hold on.

“Can you try burning it again?” Bael shouted from below.

Ursula’s stomach was churning, her nerves blazing, but she channeled some fire into her hands, letting it flow through her fingertips. The spider shrieked, then raised its head into the air like a trumpeting elephant—bringing her up with it.

Ursula’s blood roared in her ears. Okay, this isn’t ideal. For a moment, she felt almost weightless, suspended a hundred feet above the floor of the cavern.

Then, the spider flung her down.

The fall felt like slow motion, her hands slipping loose, her body tumbling backward, plunging into darkness.

Midair, a powerful set of arms caught her, absorbing her impact with a shocking grace—and hurtling back upward with her. Shadow magic whirled around them, propelling them through the air. Her blood thundered in her veins, and she gripped tightly to Bael’s shirt, clinging on for dear life.

They raced toward the giant arachnid’s carapace, shadow magic flowing around them in dark wisps. They landed hard on the spider’s body, Bael clinging tightly around her waist to keep her steady. Ursula gasped as the impact knocked the wind out of her. The spider screamed, lurching upright.

Bael grabbed tightly to a ridge of exoskeleton with one hand, and with the other, he pulled Ursula close. “Are you all right?”

“You almost got me killed.”

“But you survived.”

When we’re off this thing, we’re going to have some stern words. They were sitting on the back of the spider’s body now, and it shifted beneath them, stalking into the darkness. Up here, and with her dress shorn, it wasn’t quite so difficult to balance.

“So what’s the plan?” asked Ursula.

Bael crouched on the spider’s back. “Are you ready?”

Ursula was rapidly losing patience. “I asked you for the plan. I’m not ready until you tell me the plan. If you ask me to battle this spider again?—”

“Molok,” said Bael.

“Spider, Molok, whatever. I almost died.”

Bael smiled. “I think you’re going to like what I have in mind. Do you remember how to call Sotz?”

“Do you think he can hear us from here?”

Bael nodded. “We’re right under the rookery. He’s up there somewhere.”

“And the plan is?—”

Her question was cut off by a lurch from Molok as the spider lumbered on. Okay. No time to ask about the plan.

While Bael helped steady her on the creature’s back, Ursula put her fingers to her mouth and whistled. A moment later, the sound of bat wings rhythmically beat the air, and Sotz swooped out of the shadows. Ursula’s chest unclenched at the sight of the enormous bat.

Sotz kept pace alongside them as the spider trudged through the cavern. She could probably jump onto Sotz from here, but they were missing someone.

“What about Kester?” she asked.

“The Headsman? We could just leave him behind.”

“Bael.” Her voice was growing sharper. “He’s a friend.”

A wry smile from Bael. “Of course. I’ll get him. Tell Sotz to take you to the Grotto. We’ll meet you there.”

Before she could say another word, Bael leapt off the back of the spider into the darkness below.