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"I arumbled, bent his head low over the sheet of paper so his nose was alressed, stu

Finally, after crawling through an especially se cave that was coated fro with spiderwebs "Quiet now," Seba whispered as we stood "We do not want to disturb the residents"

The ?residents" were spiders Thousands - possibly hundreds of thousands - of the on cobwebs, scuttling across the floor They were like the spider I’d spotted when I first arrived at Vae as Madaer than most ordinary spiders

A number of the spiders scurried toward us Seba dropped cautiously to one knee and whistled The spiders hesitated, then returned to their corners "Those were sentries," Seba said "They would have defended the others if we had coht they weren’t poisonous"

"Singly, they are harroups, they can be dangerous Death is unlikely - for a human, maybe, but not a vampire - but certainly severe discomfort occurs, possibly even partial paralysis"

"I see why you wouldn’t allow any candles," Kurda said "One stray spark and this place would go up like dry paper"

"Precisely" Seba wandered into the center of the cave The rest of us followed slowly Madae and wasa careful study of the spiders "They have been here for thousands of years," Seba whispered, reaching up and letting some of the spiders crawl over his hands and up his arms "We call them Ba’Halen’s spiders, after the vaht them here No human knows of their existence"

I took no notice as the spiders crept upMadam Octa, and before her I’d studied spiders as a hobby - but Gavner and Kurda looked uneasy "Are you sure they won’t bite?" Gavner asked

"I would be surprised if they did," Seba said "They are gentle and usually only attack when threatened"

"I think I’ to sneeze," Kurda said as a spider crawled over his nose

"I would not advise it," Seba warned hiression"

Kurda held his breath and shook fro the sneeze His face had turned a bright shade of red by the time the spider , shaky breath

"Best suggestion I’ve heard all night," Gavner agreed

"Not so fast,you here for fun We are on a mission Darren - take off your shirt"

"Here?" I asked

"You want to put a stop to the itching, don’t you?"

"Well, yes, but" Sighing, I did as Seba ordered

When my back was bare, Seba found some old cobwebs that had been abandoned "Bend over," he commanded, then held the cobwebs over ers, so that they cru?" Gavner asked

"Curing an itch," Seba replied

"With cobwebs?" Kurda said skeptically "Really, Seba, I didn’t think you believed in old wives’ tales"

"It is no tale," Seba insisted, rubbing the webby ash into my broken skin "There are che process and work against irritation Within an hour, the itching will stop"

When I was covered in ash, Seba tied some thick, whole webs around the worst-infected areas, including my hands "We will take the webs off before we leave the tunnels," he said, "although I advise against washing for a night or two - the itching may return if you do"

"This is crazy," Gavner muttered "It’ll never work"

"Actually, I think it’s working already," I contradicted hiis barely noticeable"

"If it’s so effective," Kurda said, "why haven’t we heard about it before?"

"I do not broadcast," Seba said "If the curative powers of the idely known, vampires would come down here to the caves all the time They would disturb the natural routines of the spiders, forcing them farther down into the mountain, and within years the supplies would dry up I only bring people here when they truly need help and always ask them to keep the secret to themselves I trust none of you will betray my confidence?"

We all said ouldn’t

Once I’d been taken care of, Seba took Madae and set her down on the floor She squatted uncertainly while a crowd of inquisitive spiders gathered around her One with light grey spots on its back ducked forward in a testing attack She swatted it aith ease, and the rest withdrew Once she’d familiarized herself with the terrain, she explored the cave She cli other spiders in the process They reacted angrily to her intrusion, but cale she was and that she nizeto lines of spiders following Madarey spots was in the front "If we left her here, they would make her a queen"

"Could she breed with them?" Kurda asked

"Probably not," Sebaif she could There has been no new blood introduced to the colony for thousands of years I would be fascinated to study the offspring of such a union"

"Forget it" Gavner shivered "What if the babies turned out to be as poisonous as theirthe tunnels, killing at will!"

"Hardly" Seba ser than themselves, not while smaller and more vulnerable prey exists Still, she is not my spider It is for Darren to decide"

I watched her carefully for a couple ofthose of her own kind But I knew better than anyone the awful consequences of her bite Better not to risk it "I don’t think we should leave her," I said

"Very well," Seba agreed, pursing his lips and whistling softly Madah once inside she kept close to the bars, as though lonely I felt sorry for her, but reminded myself that she was just a spider and didn’t have any real feelings

Seba played for a while with the spiders, whistling and inviting therabbed the flute - it was really just a fancy tin whistle - froe and joined hihts into the spiders’ - they weren’t as easy to make mental contact with as Mada the webs that connected us from head to foot

Gavner and Kurda watched, bemused "Could I control them too?" Gavner asked

"I doubt it," Seba said "It is ifted with spiders Very few people have the ability to bond with spiders You are a fortunate young man, Darren"

I’d lost enthusiasm for spiders since that nasty business between Madao, but at Seba’s words I felt so and made myself a promise to take more of an interest in the webby world of spiders in the future

When ere finished playing, Seba and I brushed off the cobwebs - being careful not to re webs he’d attached to my body - then the four of us crawled out to the tunnels Some of the spiders followed us, but turned back when they realized ere leaving, all except the grey-spotted one, which trailed behind us alh in love with Mada to see her leave