Tales from the vulgar unicorn- Thieves World 02 by Robert Asprin Read Free Book Online Page B

her. She stifled her scream and leaped towards the thing instead of following her desire to run away from it. Her" sword leaped out as the thing sprang, and it spitted itself. Something soft touched the back of her hand. The end of a waving leg. Smhee came up behind it as she stood there holding the sword out as far as she could to keep the arachnid away. Her arm got heavy with its weight, and slowly the blade sank towards the ground. The fat man slashed the thing's back open with his dagger. A foul odour vented from it. He brought his foot down on a leg and whispered, 'Pull your sword out! I'll keep it pinned!'
    She did so and then backed away. She was breathing very hard. He jumped up and came down with both feet on the creature.
    Its legs waved for a while longer, but it was dying if not already dead. 'That was a real spider,' he said, 'although I suppose you know that. I suspect that the false spiders will be much smaller.'
    'Why?' she said. She wished her heart would quit trying to leap up through her throat.
    'Because making them requires energy, and it's more effective to make a lot of little spiders and costs less energy than to make a few big ones. There are other reasons which I won't explain just now.'
    'Look out!' she cried, far louder than she should have. But it had been so sudden and had taken her off guard.
    Smhee whirled and slashed out, though he hadn't seen the thing. It bounded over the web, its limbs spread out against the dimness, its great round ears profiled. It came down growling, and it fell upon Smhee's blade. This was no man's-head sized spider but a thing as big as a large dog and furry and stinking of something -monkey? - and much more vital than the arachnid. It bore Smhee backwards with his weight; he fell on the earth. Snarling, it tried to bury its fangs in Smhee's throat. Masha broke from her paralysis and thrust with a fury and strength that only fear could provide. The blade went through its body. She leaped back, drawing it out, and then lunged again. This time the point entered its neck. Smhee, gasping, rolled it off him and stood up. He said, 'By Wishvu's whiskers!
    I've got blood all over me. A fine mess! Now the others will smell me!'
    'What is it?' Masha said shakily.
    'A temple guardian ape. Actually, it's not an ape but a very large tailless monkey. Kemren must have brought some cubs with him.'
    Masha got close to the dead beast, which was lying on its back. The open mouth showed teeth like a leopard's.
    'They eat meat,' he said. 'Unlike other monkeys, however, they're not gregarious. Our word for them, translated, would be the solitary ape.' Masha wondered if one of Smhee's duties had been teaching. Even under these circumstances, he had to be pedantic.
    He looked around.' Solitary or not, there are probably a number on this isle.'
    After dragging the two carcasses into the river, they proceeded cautiously. Smhee looked mostly ahead; Masha, behind. Both looked to both sides of them. They came to the base of the ridges of rock. Smhee said, 'The animal pens are north. That's where I heard them as I went by in the boat. I think we should stay away from them. If they scent us and start an uproar, we'll have the Raggah out and on our asses very quickly.' Smhee stopped suddenly, and said, 'Hold it!'
    Masha looked around quickly. What had he seen or heard? The fat man got down on his knees and pushed against the earth just in front of him. He rose and said, 'There's a pit under that firm-looking earth. I felt it give way as I put my foot on it. That's why it pays not to walk swiftly here.'
    They circled it, Smhee testing each step before taking another. Masha thought that if they had to go this slowly, they would take all night before they got to the ridge. But then he led her to a rocky place, and she breathed easier. However, he said, 'They . could carve a pit in the stone and put a pivoting lid over it.'
    She said, 'Why are we going this way? You said the entrances are on the north