Evolution (Demon's Grail Book 2) (8 page)

“And you get by as a thief?” Abby replies, clearly still suspicious.

“I get by the only way I can!” Ash says, turning to her. “Turns out GCSE History and Geography aren't so useful in a place like this.”

“What about your parents?” Absalom asks.

“They're not here,” she replies, taking a step back, almost as if she's bristling at the mention. “I guess they're back at home, they probably think I ran away or got hurt. I'm here alone. I don't belong in this place.”

“I know the feeling,” I tell her.

“And I'm not really a fan of small-talk,” she continues. “I heard you guys talking before the psycho came after me, so I've got a vague idea what you're doing out here. Something to do with the spiders and trying to get to Gothos.” She turns back to Abby. “Oh, and these two are worried about you. They were talking about how quiet you've been since you left Jaga... Ja... I don't remember what it was called.”

“No-one needs to be worried about me,” Abby replies, scowling at me.

“You mentioned spiders just now, Ash,” Absalom continues. “Usually when spiders come up in a conversation, people still think they're extinct, but you don't seem very surprised to have heard us talking about them. Why not?”

“I've got my reasons.”

“Care to elaborate?” Abby asks.

“Don't take this the wrong way,” Ash replies, “but you already seem pretty wound up.”

Abby take a menacing step toward her, but I hold her back.

“You're not surprised at all,” Absalom points out. “Sorry, Ash, but that makes me more than a little suspicious. Why don't you find it hard to believe that there are spiders in this area?”

“Because I've seen them,” she replies, rubbing the red mark on her neck from where Abby tried to throttle her. “I've seen them all around here lately. I've been following them, actually. I could tell you what they're doing and where to find them.” She pauses. “For a price.”

Abby Hart

“It started about three months ago,” Ash explains as she leads us through the darkness, up a rocky incline beyond the forest. “People have always told stories about meeting weird creatures out near the Navarian ridge, and most of those stories are just garbage, but I started noticing... Well, this time something felt different.”

“Different in what way?” I ask, still not convinced that she's anything more than a drifter trying to con us out of some coins. “Come on, be specific.”

“The stories started to match each other,” she continues. “Before, it was just wild ravings, just lunatics and drunks who either enjoyed lying, or who'd been so badly damaged that they genuinely believed they were seeing things. But gradually I noticed some common threads emerging. The people telling the stories were still kind of unreliable, kind of crazy, but it was like they'd all seen the same things.”

“Spiders?” Absalom asks.

“Exactly. So I came to check it out.”

“You came out here alone?” Jonathan replies. “That's brave.”

“It's not brave,” I mutter. “It's stupid.”

“It's both,” Absalom interjects.

“I came because I know this area,” Ash continues, sounding a little annoyed. “I've never been able to afford to hide from danger. Around here, hiding means starving. Just to the east of the Navarian ridge, you can pick Calicle Surmounts fresh from the ground. Ever heard of those?”

“They're a type of spice,” Absalom replies. “Very valuable. Merchants will pay a lot for the stuff.”

“And not many people dare come out to collect it,” Ash explains. “That's how I stayed alive, though, by coming out here to forage, searching in the shadowy places that usually go undisturbed. And like I said, about three months ago, people started talking about seeing giant spiders late at night on some of the more lonely trails.” As she gets to the top of the incline, she pauses for a moment, staring at the plain that spreads out ahead of us under a starry night sky. “People around here have always been scared of spiders. It's an instinctive, in-built thing after everything that happened in the past, but I could tell these latest stories were real. When I came to check for myself...”

Her voice trails off for a moment. Keeping low, I look out across the plain, but all I see is a vast tract of rocky, dirty ground in the moonlight. It's hard to believe that anyone or anything has spent much time here.

“Have you seen anything yourself?” Absalom asks finally.

When she doesn't reply immediately, I turn to Ash and see a hint of fear in her eyes. “Not at first,” she continues, her voice sounding a little smaller now, as if she's struggling to sound strong. “It's not like the place is swarming with spiders, it's more like... For a few nights, I kept my guard up more than ever but I didn't see a damn thing. I mean, I'm no fool, right? I'm not going to go running around if I think there are spiders, but at the same time I was worried someone was spreading the rumors to scare people away, maybe so they could get all the Calicle Surmounts for themselves. Anyway, I think it was the fourth or fifth time that I...” Another pause, and her eyes have that faraway gaze of someone remembering a shocking sight. “It was big, the size of a bear, maybe even bigger, and that's just the main part. Each of those long black legs, scurrying quietly through the cold night air, scratching on the rocks... And then that black, glistening kernel of a body at the center... It made me feel sick just seeing it. It makes me feel sick now.”

“Where was it?” Absalom asks.

“Down there,” she replies, pointing toward the plain. “See where the old dry riverbed meets the crest? It was right there, making its way toward the mountains.”

“That's the direction
we're
headed,” Jonathan adds.

“I've seen more since,” Ash continues. “At first it was just one a night, but lately it's been more like one every few hours. I don't know what they're doing, not really, and I've stayed well clear so far, but if you ask me, they're moving through this area because they really,
really
don't want to attract too much attention. I mean, the plains around the Navarian ridge are mostly lawless, you can get away with pretty much anything provided you don't make too much noise. And those spiders are
really
quiet. You only hear their legs on the rocks when you...”

Again, her voice trails off.

“I accidentally got real close to one,” she continues finally. “I'd been out foraging, and I stopped to rest in the shadows of a tree root. That's what saved me, 'cause if I'd been out in the open, the spider would have seen me when it came past. I was tired, so I didn't notice it coming closer, and then suddenly it was almost on top of me.” She takes a deep breath, as if reliving the moment is difficult. “I could have reached out and touched it. I just curled up into a ball and tried not to make a noise, and slowly it crawled right over me. One of its thick black legs was just inches from touching me, close enough that I could see drops of night dew on the little hairs growing out from its skin, and I heard a clicking sound from its body. When I looked up, I saw its underside, all dark and glistening with meat, with fangs glowing in the moonlight. How it failed to spot me, I don't know, but... Like I said, I was in the shadows, and I can make myself pretty small when I want.”

“There's nothing here now,” I mutter, watching the empty plain. “Maybe they've already moved on.
If
they were here at all.”

“I know the exact route they take,” Ash replies. “If you really wanted to see one, I reckon you'd have a good chance if you went to the base of the third ridge. I don't know why, but they often seem to come up from around there before they reach the plain.”

I turn to Absalom, and I can see from his expression that he believes her. Still, I can't shake the fear that somehow we're being fed a story, and that she just wants some gold for her trouble; either that, or we're being told what the spiders
want
us to believe, and this Ash girl has been paid to trick us. Sure, she's just human, but humans can be pretty deadly, especially when they're desperate. Of all the species I've encountered, humans are by far the most skillful and persuasive liars.

“I want to see for myself,” I say finally, turning back to Ash. “Show us this third ridge. If there are spiders in the area, we have to know for sure. And don't take this the wrong way, but we can't rely on your word. We need proof.”

“No way,” she replies, taking a step back. “Not for all the money in the world.”

“I'll give you five gold coins if you take us,” I tell her, figuring I need to find out if she's telling the truth. “Six if we actually see one of these things.”

She pauses, before nodding slowly. “Okay,” she says hesitantly, “I guess... I guess I can't afford to turn
that
down, can I?”

***

It takes almost an hour to get to the ridge Ash was talking about. She leads the way, although I can tell she's a little hesitant and Absalom has had to remind her several times that we'll pay her for her troubles. I'm starting to think that maybe she's genuine, that she's really just some random human kid who ended up scrabbling to survive out here, but I'm not going to let my guard down just yet. As we get to the edge of the third ridge, however, she suddenly stops ahead of us, as if she's scared to go any further.

“If you walk about ten feet that way,” she whispers, her voice trembling with fear as she points ahead into the darkness, “and wait maybe a couple of hours at most, you'll probably see one. They seem to come through this way alone, always sticking to the exact same route, usually about three or fours hours apart -”

“They really
are
trying to stay under the radar,” Absalom mutters, interrupting her. “Whatever they're doing here, they don't want anyone to notice.” He turns and looks toward the plain. “The question is, where are they headed?”

“Maybe they think Karakh is near here?” Jonathan suggests.

Absalom shakes his head. “Impossible. They're planning something else.”

“This is as far as I go,” Ash says suddenly, taking a step back. “Even for six gold coins, you can't make me get near one of those things again. I might even clear out of the area all together soon.”

“Where will you go?” Jonathan asks, obviously worried about her welfare.

“Maybe she needs to report back to her spider masters,” I mutter.

“Get real,” Ash replies. “I only look out for one person, and that's me. Six gold coins might be enough for me to get home, back to England. Whatever else is going on here, it's none of my business if you guys want to get yourselves killed by going hunting for these spiders.” She holds a grubby, dirt-encrusted hand out toward me. “Payment, please.”

“We haven't seen a spider yet,” I point out.

“Maybe we can help you get home,” Jonathan tells her, before turning first to me and then to Absalom. “We could do that, right? I'm sure one of you must know someone around here who'd be willing to take her.”

“We don't have time,” Absalom replies, making his way toward the edge of the ridge. “Waifs and strays from the human world are not our concern.” He glances at Ash. “Do you know how to get to the Great Library?”

She nods.

“Go there and ask around at one of the markets. Someone'll cut you a deal. Don't trust Hossarians or Yammerells, though. Inveterate liars, the lot of them.” He turns to me. “We need to check this out.”

“You haven't paid me yet,” Ash says firmly.

“I haven't checked the ridge out yet,” I reply. “What's wrong? Want to get away before we realize you're lying?”

Following Absalom, I keep low until we reach the edge. We both lean over carefully, but all we see below is a dark, shadowy channel carved into the rocks. It's not hard to imagine one of those disgusting spiders crawling this way in the moonlight, but right now there's no sign of anything.

“What do we do now?” I whisper. “Is it really worth staking this place out, just because some human kid told us a half-convincing story?”

“There are scratches on the rocks,” he points out. “Spider legs could have caused that.”

“So could a million other things. What if she's been paid to slow us down?”

“Do you always assume that people are lying to you?”

“They usually are,” I reply, resisting the temptation to mention the lie he and Oncephalus told me back at Jagadoon, about how they had confidence in me.

He pauses for a moment. “We'll keep going. We need to get to Gothos as soon as possible and tell them what we've learned.”

“What about the girl?” I ask, before turning to see that Jonathan is still talking to Ash. If I didn't know better, I'd say my brother was actually starting to get a little attached to her. “For all we know, she's been sent specifically to spread misinformation.”

Absalom sighs. “You're getting paranoid.”

“Am I?” I hiss. “I've read the Book of Gothos enough times to know that the spiders of old were known to ally themselves with other, weaker species when they needed to get a job done. Why
wouldn't
they try to trick us like this? Maybe they want us to think they're massing in this area specifically so they can throw us off the scent?”

He opens his mouth to reply, but I can tell that he knows I'm right. “It's a possibility,” he says finally, “but something about this girl seems very genuine to me. I think she's telling the truth, or at least what she
thinks
is the truth. In my opinion, we should just point her toward the Great Library and send her on her way.”

I watch as Ash turns to leave, but Jonathan grabs her arm, as if to hold her back. They're talking urgently now, and I'm pretty certain my brother is trying to persuade her to stay with us. After a moment, however, she pulls away and starts walking.

“We can't let her go,” I whisper.

“Abby -”

“We can't!” I hiss, hurrying back down the ridge and past Jonathan, and then finally grabbing Ash from behind. “You're staying with us!”

“As if,” she replies, pulling away. “You're never gonna pay me, are you? You're just trying to trick me!”

Stepping past her, I block her path. “How do we know you're not going to go and sell information about us to the highest bidder?”

“Why would
anyone
care about you?” she replies. “Seems to me, you're just three losers wandering around in the dark. Three losers who promise gold coins and then don't deliver!”

“Maybe you -” Before I can finish, however, I realize I can feel something at the edge of my senses, something coming closer. I look back toward Absalom and I immediately see that he's sensed it too, and then I glance up toward the edge of the ridge.

“What?” Ash asks, her voice once again filled with fear. She tries to pull away from me, but I grab her arm and hold her tight. “What's wrong?”

“Something's coming,” I whisper, still watching the top of the ridge. All my senses are starting to burn, and it's that same feeling I get every time I've been close to a spider. I look around, trying to work out which direction it's coming from, but there's a sense of panic in my gut that's making it hard to be accurate.