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I’m sure they don’t know what I’m saying, but on the off chance they do, maybe it’ll help.
With little effort, I pull the sac out of the crevice, causing the little spiders to lose their grip on the opening and tumble to the closed side. The bottom of the sac is sticky but that actually comes in handy. I slap the sack on my chest, using a hand to keep the top portion closed and hopefully as smoke free as possible.
The sound of falling branches makes me look up. A tree that’s been weakened by the fire crashes between the trees around it. I leap off my boulder just as it lands across the rocks, narrowly missing my head. If I had been a minute later reaching this point, I wouldn’t have been able to rescue the spiderlings. The tree would have blocked my efforts.
Counting myself lucky, I run headlong back into the inferno. The trip takes me longer because the fire has spread farther. The smoke is so dense I can barely see where I’m going. My skin forms blisters in spots just from the enveloping heat. I try not to breathe too much. I would rather have my lungs burn from lack of oxygen than inhale the acrid smoke surrounding me. When I reach the front of the fire, I’m met by a wall of flames that has grown to ten feet high. The only way I can cross it is by jumping through it, but that will mean sure death for me and those I carry.
A loud squeal from the mama spider comes from the other side of the wall. It’s not as plaintive as it was before. No. This one sounds more urgent, like a warning.
A large rock soars through the air and lands smack dab in the middle of the fire wall, making a large enough hole in the flames for me to cross over. At this point, I’m almost too tired to climb the rock to safety, but I force myself onward. Ivy needs me. My people need the cure, and I’ll be damned if I let any of them down for my stupidity.
The blisters on my hands pop, oozing clear liquid, as I grab hold of the rock and clamber up its surface to reach the top. Every muscle I have aches. I end up falling onto my hands and knees to reach the other side. The ground beneath me vibrates as the mama spider crawls up. Her massive head looms over me, but I’m too tired and injured to do much more than watch her open her pincers and lean down. To my surprise, she gently picks me up with them and hurries away from the fire.
Exhaustion overcomes me. I lose consciousness for a while. The next thing I know, my friends are shouting franticly, and the coolness of grass cushions my back. When I open my eyes, I see Oliver’s worried face.
“He’s alive!” Oliver looks at my body and shakes his head in dismay. “What happened, Damon? And what is that thing on your chest?”
I try to sit up but find the task difficult without assistance.
“Help me up.” My voice sounds raspy from all the smoke I inhaled.
Oliver stands straight and offers me his hand. Once I’m on my feet, I look around. Nahla and Alek are both holding large branches and swinging them at the spider to keep her away from us.
“Stop!” I tell them, stumbling toward the spider to stand in front of her. “She isn’t a threat. All she wants is her babies.”
With both hands, I peel the egg sac off my chest and set it on the ground. When I open the slit, all four of the baby spiders crawl out and head straight for their mother. They climb up one of her legs and don’t stop until they’re safely nestled on top of her head.
“What the hell happened?” Nahla asks. “Why do you look like you just crawled out of a chimney?”
“There’s a fire coming,” I tell them. “And I may have a way to get us out of here.”
“How?” Alek asks suspiciously.
I turn to the spider, hoping my good deed will pay off.
“Can you help get us up there?” I ask, pointing to one of the holes overhead. “Us,” I say, patting my chest and using a hand gesture to include my friends, “up there.” I point directly to one of the holes in the top of the mountain.
The spider seems to understand what I’m asking of her. She bends her legs in and sits on the ground.
“Get on her back,” I say.
“You must be joking,” Nahla says in disbelief. “I’m not getting on that thing. It tried to kill us.”
“Look, I saved her young, and now she owes me a favor. I know this is crazy, but the fire is spreading fast. Where do you think all this smoke is coming from? We have to leave this place or we’ll be burned alive. This is our only way out.”
“I vote for not being burned alive,” Oliver says as he grabs a handful of the prickly fur on the spider’s body and begins to pull himself up.
Nahla gestures to Alek. “Are you going to go along with this fool plan?”
Alek turns his gaze in the direction of the fire. Flames are becoming visible now, and it’s only a matter of time before they reach us.
“I don’t think we have much choice,” he tells her. “I may not like Damon, but he isn’t a fool. If he says this is our best way out, I believe him.”
Alek strides over to the spider and follows Oliver up to the top of the spider’s body.
“Come on, Nahla.” I stretch my hand to her. “Come with us.”
Nahla starts gnawing on one of her fingernails as she looks between me and the oncoming fire. Finally, she throws her hands up in defeat.
