Shadowland. Spider World 06 by Colin Wilson

The thought of Sephardus had the effect of focusing Niall’s attention and halting the slide into discouragement. After all, Sephardus had spent years alone in his cell, learning to control the powers of his mind. And one thing about the Magician was certain: he had never learned the discipline of self-control. The murderous rage on his face when Niall had defied him proved it. In that respect, he was vulnerable.

Niall remembered the crystal sphere that was at present in the cave of the trolls. The elder troll had taught him how to reestablish contact. This involved creating a connection with one of the troll family, dividing his attention, and then allowing his mind to blend with the crystal. In order to reverse the process, he had to achieve contact with one of the trolls.

Niall envisaged the female troll and imagined that she was there in the room. But there was no feeling of contact. It struck him then that it was, after all, somewhere in the middle of the day, and that probably she was busy cooking or doing housework. It would have been pointless trying to contact his own mother at that time of day.

Next he tried envisaging the grandfather, but again the effort was unsuccessful. It was like knocking on a door when no one was at home.

Finally, for the sake of making one more effort, he tried envisaging the younger child, for whom he had felt a natural sympathy based on his feeling for his own sisters. This time it worked, and he was suddenly able to see the child as clearly as if he was in the room. Moreover, he knew the boy was aware of his presence. He seemed to be playing some kind of game involving wooden blocks, so his mind was passive and receptive.

Before the child’s attention could wander, Niall did what the grandfather had taught him — detached a part of his mind and directed it toward the crystal. At once, he experienced the electrical, tingling sensation. A moment later, his energies had blended with those of the crystal, and he felt as if he was at the center of a web, which transmitted waves of power.

Unfortunately, this influx of energy also brought agonizing pain. He had adjusted to his cuts and bruises, but this electrical force was like pouring salt into his wounds. He whistled, and groaned aloud. As this happened, he once again felt that his mind was being probed. That meant someone was listening outside his cell.

A moment later, the door opened, and the hunchback came in. He said: “What’s going on?” Niall made no reply. The hunchback came over to the bed and peered down into Niall’s face, then grunted and went out.

It was clear to Niall that his attempts to establish contact with the crystal must be left until he had recovered some of his strength.

But the knowledge that he could call upon the energies of the crystal restored his optimism. Feeling much better, he closed his eyes and relaxed, then drifted into sleep.

He was awakened as the door opened again. This time it was not the jailer, but a brown-haired girl, dressed in the plain blue dress of a servant, who was carrying a tray. As she came into the cell, Niall saw that, although obviously a descendant of the cliff dwellers, with the typical receding chin, she had circular eyes, which, as usual, gave her a look of startled innocence. As with Katia, the overall effect was one of flawed prettiness.

She smiled shyly at Niall, and asked telepathically: “Are you hungry?” The voice that sounded in Niall’s chest was clear and gentle.

Niall sat up and swung his feet onto the floor, leaving room to set the tray on the bed. He looked suspiciously at the food — a slice of dry bread, a small piece of cheese, half an apple, and a cup of water. But he was very thirsty. He raised the water to his nose and sniffed it.

The girl asked: “What is it?”

Niall grimaced. “The last lot made me sick.”

Her reply was to take the glass from him and sip it herself, then hand it back. Niall tasted it, and was glad to find that it had none of the oily flavor.

He asked the girl: “What is your name?”

“Umaya. And you?”

“Niall.”

She was looking intently at the abrasions on the left side of his head. She asked: “Who did that?”

“I don’t know. Somebody knocked me down.”

She reached out and touched a scratch with her fingertip; Niall winced.

Then, to Niall’s disappointment, she turned and left; the bolt slid back into place behind her. Yet Niall had a sense she would be back. He sipped more of the water, resisting the temptation to empty the cup, then ate the dry bread with the apple and cheese. It left his hunger unappeased, but he felt better.

Umaya came back, this time carrying a white box, which she placed on the tray. It contained bandages, jars of ointment, and a white tube about six inches long with a brush at its tip. She was also carrying a damp, warm cloth, with which she delicately cleaned the abrasion on his left cheek. Her fingertips were cool, and as she leaned close to him, the blue smock smelled as if it had just been washed and ironed. Her hands, he noticed, were pretty and shapely.

When she had dabbed the abrasion dry with a handkerchief, she picked up the white tube and pushed a slide on its side; it made a faint humming sound. She placed the tip against Niall’s face, and he winced as he received the buzz of a mild electric shock. She smiled and shook her head, and as he looked up at her open mouth, he saw, as he expected, that she had no tongue.

She reached around his head, and gently pulled it against her smock, then again applied the brush. After the initial sting, it tickled rather than shocked. Feeling the warmth of her bare arm against his temple, he relaxed, exactly as he did with his own female body servants, and enjoyed the contact. As she changed the position of his head against her, he could feel that the breast under the blue smock was bare. He asked: “What is it for?”

“To heal you, and liquify the blood.”

This last statement left him puzzled, but he was too relaxed to ask what she meant.

A few minutes later, she went around to his other side, and this time applied the brush to the bruise from the blow that had knocked him down. At first, the vibrations made it hurt, but gradually, this gave way to a soothing sensation. He seemed to see tall trees swaying in the wind, and was reminded of something that eluded him. After five minutes, he could no longer feel the bruise. Finally, she pushed his head away from her, smiled at him, and then pressed the bruised spot with her fingertip. To Niall’s surprise, there was not even a twinge of discomfort.

He pointed to the tube.

“What is this force?”

“It is vrees.” She seemed to expect him to know the word.

“What is vrees?”

She seemed surprised. “You do not know? It is a force that comes from the Earth.”

Now he knew what it reminded him of: the force of the crystal that the troll had enclosed in the walking stick. It seemed the Magician had found some way of capturing and storing Earth-force, as a battery stores electricity. It was hard not to admit that he was a remarkable inventor. Umaya then applied a green ointment to the other abrasions on his face, which took away their sting and throbbing heat.

She replaced the ointments in the box and closed the lid, then asked: “Why are you in prison?”

He was surprised. “Don’t you know?”

“No. My father is only the jailer. They tell him nothing.”

He said: “I am in here because I refused to obey the karvasid.”

She looked horrified. “Refused to obey! But why?”

“Because he was ordering me to do something I did not want to do.”

He could tell that she was so shocked that she preferred not to pursue the matter. She picked up the tray and hurried to the door. But as she pushed it open, she turned back toward him, and asked in a tone of formal inquiry: “Is there anything you want?”

“Yes. Can you tell me what happened to my companion, the spider?”

She hesitated, and he could see that, like her father, she had been ordered not to answer questions. But she allowed good manners to override her doubts.

“He is well.”

“Uninjured?”

“Yes.”

Standing there, with the tray held in front of her, she reminded him irresistibly of Jarita and Nephtys, and he found himself thinking that he would enjoy taking a bath with her, and feeling her delicate hands soaping his body. As this thought crossed his mind, she blushed a deep red, and he realized that she had read his thoughts. A moment later she hurried from the room, and he heard her setting the tray down and bolting the door. Her feet ran up a flight of stairs as if anxious to escape.