none too firm voice.
‘I am Mishassa - the Great Mishassa, lasst of
the folk of Shaassazheen.'
‘And those creatures - your
minions?'
There came a sound that might have been an
unhuman chuckle.
‘My sspawn. Produced
by experimentss in the laboratoriess of Shaassazheen - the culmination of . . .
But you would know your fate, would you not?'
I shuddered. I fancied that I guessed it
already. I did not reply.
'Quake, little one, for you are to be my
ssupper ssoon...’
Now I could see the creature more clearly. It
was a giant spider - plainly one of many produced by the atomic radiation that
had affected this part of the country all those thousands of years before.
Mishassa was slowly beginning to climb the
web. I felt the thing sag as his weight went on to it
I continued my effort to release my other arm
and at last managed to free it of the net without trapping it on the web. I
remembered the little skinning knife in my harness and decided I must try to
reach that if I could.
Inch by inch I moved my hand towards the
knife... Inch by inch...
At last my fingers gripped the haft and I
eased the knife from its sheath.
The spider-beast was coming closer. I began to
hack first at that part of the web holding my other arm.
I worked desperately but the web was tough.
Then at last it parted and I was able, moving cautiously, to reach my sword.
I stretched my arm upwards and sliced away as
much of the web around Hool Haji as I could reach, then turned again to face
the giant spider.
Its voice whispered at me:
‘You cannot esscape. Even if you were
abssolutely free you would not esscape me - I am sstronger than you, sswifter
than you...'
What he said was true - but it did not stop me
trying!
Soon its horrible legs were only a few inches
from me and I prepared to defend myself against it as best I could. Then I
heard a yell from Hool Haji and saw his body fly past me and land squarely on
the back of the spider-beast
He clung to its hair shouting for me to try to
do the same.
I v/as only dimly aware of what he intended to
do, but I leapt, too, breaking free of the last of the strands and dropping
towards the spider-beast's back to land there and hang tightly with one hand to
the weird fur. In my other hand I held my sword.
Hool Haji said, ‘Give me your sword - I am
stronger than you.'
I passed it to him and drew my knife.
The beast yelled in fury and shouted
incomprehensible words at us as we began to hack at its back with our weapons.
It had probably been used to more passive
offerings in the shape of its own minions - but we were two fighting men of
Vashu and were prepared to sell our lives dearly before allowing ourselves to
become a banquet for a big, talkative spider!
It hissed and cursed. It darted about in fury,
dropping from web to ground. But still we clung on, still driving our weapons
into it, seeking a vital spot.
It reared up and nearly toppled over so that
we should have been crushed beneath its great bulk. But perhaps it had the
instincts of the originals of the species - many of which, once on their backs,
cannot get to their feet again. It recovered its balance just in time and began
to scuttle backwards and forwards at random.
Sticky, black blood was spurting from a
‘I am Mishassa - the Great Mishassa, lasst of
the folk of Shaassazheen.'
‘And those creatures - your
minions?'
There came a sound that might have been an
unhuman chuckle.
‘My sspawn. Produced
by experimentss in the laboratoriess of Shaassazheen - the culmination of . . .
But you would know your fate, would you not?'
I shuddered. I fancied that I guessed it
already. I did not reply.
'Quake, little one, for you are to be my
ssupper ssoon...’
Now I could see the creature more clearly. It
was a giant spider - plainly one of many produced by the atomic radiation that
had affected this part of the country all those thousands of years before.
Mishassa was slowly beginning to climb the
web. I felt the thing sag as his weight went on to it
I continued my effort to release my other arm
and at last managed to free it of the net without trapping it on the web. I
remembered the little skinning knife in my harness and decided I must try to
reach that if I could.
Inch by inch I moved my hand towards the
knife... Inch by inch...
At last my fingers gripped the haft and I
eased the knife from its sheath.
The spider-beast was coming closer. I began to
hack first at that part of the web holding my other arm.
I worked desperately but the web was tough.
Then at last it parted and I was able, moving cautiously, to reach my sword.
I stretched my arm upwards and sliced away as
much of the web around Hool Haji as I could reach, then turned again to face
the giant spider.
Its voice whispered at me:
‘You cannot esscape. Even if you were
abssolutely free you would not esscape me - I am sstronger than you, sswifter
than you...'
What he said was true - but it did not stop me
trying!
Soon its horrible legs were only a few inches
from me and I prepared to defend myself against it as best I could. Then I
heard a yell from Hool Haji and saw his body fly past me and land squarely on
the back of the spider-beast
He clung to its hair shouting for me to try to
do the same.
I v/as only dimly aware of what he intended to
do, but I leapt, too, breaking free of the last of the strands and dropping
towards the spider-beast's back to land there and hang tightly with one hand to
the weird fur. In my other hand I held my sword.
Hool Haji said, ‘Give me your sword - I am
stronger than you.'
I passed it to him and drew my knife.
The beast yelled in fury and shouted
incomprehensible words at us as we began to hack at its back with our weapons.
It had probably been used to more passive
offerings in the shape of its own minions - but we were two fighting men of
Vashu and were prepared to sell our lives dearly before allowing ourselves to
become a banquet for a big, talkative spider!
It hissed and cursed. It darted about in fury,
dropping from web to ground. But still we clung on, still driving our weapons
into it, seeking a vital spot.
It reared up and nearly toppled over so that
we should have been crushed beneath its great bulk. But perhaps it had the
instincts of the originals of the species - many of which, once on their backs,
cannot get to their feet again. It recovered its balance just in time and began
to scuttle backwards and forwards at random.
Sticky, black blood was spurting from a
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