These giant plants possessed highly developed powers of telepathy; on their own planet, evolution was a communal effort. On Earth, their evolution soon came to a halt because a mere five superbeings could not build up sufficient thought-pressure. There was only one solution: for the plants to create more superbeings by accelerating the evolution of other species. The plants became giant transmitters of vital energy, causing the energy to flow through the Earth itself. All creatures who could receive the vibrations began to evolve at an accelerated rate. Unfortunately, most animals on Earth -- including man -- had already evolved too far to be able to receive these vibrations. Insects, on the other hand, seemed highly receptive to these waves of pure vitality, and many species quickly developed into giants. But certain types of spiders were the most receptive of all; this is how they quickly replaced man as the most dominant species on Earth. Aware that they owed their life to the energy transmitted by the giant plant of the Delta -- men called it the empress plant -- they worshiped it as the great goddess. It was because Niall had spoken with the goddess face to face that the spiders now revered him as a kind of god.

The Mighty Cheb must have been among the earliest of the giant spiders; this is why he was so much smaller than his modern descendants.

Now Niall asked the question that had always puzzled him, even as a child. "But why did the spiders become the enemies of men, instead of their friends and allies?"

Cheb answered: "It was not our choice. During the great winter, many of our people were forced to share habitations with men. When they found us, they killed us.

We would have been glad to live in peace. But long before I was born, men and spiders had been bitter enemies."

And now, transmitting his images more slowly, Cheb told a story of murder and cruelty that made Niall feel slightly sick. During Cheb's lifetime, the spiders were already increasing in size and intelligence at an astonishing rate. Oddly enough, many human beings regarded them with respect, believing that it was unlucky to kill a spider unnecessarily. But the steady increase in size was noted with alarm. With the exception of a few rare species -- such as the black widow -- few spiders secreted a venom that could kill human beings, and the venom of the large and hairy tarantula -- the species to which Cheb belonged -- was too weak to kill even a cat or dog. It was unfortunate, therefore, that during the great winter, the bite of a hairy tarantula was responsible for the death of a sick child, and that the child's brother, a youth named Ivar, thereafter killed every spider he came upon. In due course, Ivar became a great leader, known among his own people as Ivar the Strong, but to others as Ivar the Cruel. It was Ivar who conquered most of his neighbors in the country of the two rivers, and who seized its largest city and massacred its inhabitants. This city he renamed Korsh -- meaning stronghold -- and he and his descendants built its great walls and towers with slave labor.

The land to the far north of Korsh was a mountainous region, full of deep valleys, and it was in these valleys that the hairy spiders had established their own kingdom. They lived on birds and small animals and reptiles. Their nearest human neighbors had allowed them to live in peace. But when Ivar conquered these neighbors, he learned of the existence of the "Valley of the Spiders," and decided that the hairy tarantulas had to be exterminated. The entrance to the valley was blocked by webs; these were destroyed by fire. Ivar had discovered an underground source of a black, tarry substance which burned fiercely and gave off a poisonous smoke. The spiders, confident that they were safe in the depths of their caves, made no attempt to resist the invaders; they learned too late that the black smoke could suffocate them. As spiders tried to flee from the depths of the caves, men waiting above the entrance covered them with the black tar, while others drove them toward bushes that had been set on fire. The spiders, blinded and half-poisoned by the smoke, were easy prey; by evening, the valley was piled high with their burnt bodies.

Because they were telepathic, the pain and misery of the dying spread panic and madness among the living. Spiders in other valleys retreated to the north, into a land still in the grip of winter, and thousands died there. And because of the massacre of the spiders, Ivar became known as Ivar the Strong.

So great were Cheb's powers of description that Niall could smell the charred flesh and the choking odor of burning tar; he witnessed the spectacle of mothers, with their young clinging to their backs, battered to a pulp with wooden clubs, or deliberately burned alive by men who ignited their tar-sprayed bodies with blazing straw. Now, at last, he understood why the death spiders regarded man as the most evil and depraved creature on Earth.

Ivar's cruelty led to his downfall. The spiders were already evolving at an accelerated rate; now their misery and hatred concentrated the powers of the will. Within a few generations, they had developed a poison strong enough to kill the largest man or horse, and a will power capable of paralyzing a man in his tracks and preventing him from moving until he had been injected with venom. This was how the spiders became the deadliest creatures on the planet -- out of a desperate need to prevent their extermination by human beings. Ivar, of course, knew nothing of this -- he had been too busy conquering the lands to the east. So when he learned -- from shepherds and herdsmen -- that the spiders had returned to their valleys, he prepared for another massacre. The webs that blocked the entrance to the valley were burned, and wood soaked in tar was piled outside the caves. Ivar himself, on a mighty black horse, prepared to give the order to ignite the bonfires. His men, holding their blazing torches, awaited the signal. But the signal never came. As Ivar began to raise his arm, a look of surprise and alarm crossed his face, and he seemed to be struck dumb. And the men who were holding the torches also found that they were unable to move; even the strongest could only twitch their limbs and roll their eyes. Then the spiders swarmed out of the caves, while others blocked the entrance to the valley. Fleeing men -- for many were still able to move -- were overwhelmed by spiders that climbed their backs and sank fangs into their necks. No fires were lit that day. Instead, more than a thousand paralyzed men were dragged into caves, and their clothes stripped from them by the powerful chelicerae of the male spiders. Then the children drank their warm juices, while the adults gorged on their living flesh. Ivar the Cruel lasted for three days; his eyelids were eaten away so that his eyes remained open until the hour of his death. It was said that he remained fully conscious until a few minutes before he died. So great was Niall's state of empathy with the Spider Lord that he experienced no horror at this recital -- rather, a feeling of satisfaction that the humans had received the punishment they deserved.

He asked: "And were you alive at the time of these events?"

"No. I was born a thousand moons later." (It took Niall a few moments to work out that this was approximately eighty years.) "That was in the reign of the king called Vaken the Terrible. His warriors hunted and killed our people in order to obtain their poison, which they used to preserve animals in winter."

Niall interrupted: "But if your people had developed the power of the mind, surely they had nothing to fear from human beings?"

"Unfortunately, that is not so. My people are peace-loving and unsuspicious. All they wanted was to be allowed to live without fear. This is why we moved away from the valley of the massacre -- even after our triumph over Ivar the Cruel -- and went to live in the valleys of the north. But human beings were full of desire for revenge, and they often took us by surprise. The grandson of Ivar the Cruel started an avalanche that buried alive thousands of our most courageous warriors. We retreated to a ruined city between the mountains and the sea, hoping to find safety. But on the night of the strong winds, Skapta the Cunning started a fire which swept through the city with the speed of a storm cloud, and again thousands of my people were burned to death.

"After that came Vaken the Terrible, and he never ceased to persecute us until my people were driven to find refuge on the mountainous side of the great river. I was born in these cold lands which are far to the north. I can remember the year of the icy winds, when many of our people froze to death. When my father failed to return from hunting, I went out to look for him. I found him buried in snow, still standing guard over the carcass of a stag, which had frozen into a block of ice. And since my father was our ruler, and I was his strongest son, I became Death Ruler in his place.

"It was I who decided that we should leave the lands of the north wind and return to the south, even if it meant being killed by human hunters. I was the first of our kind to decide that we had to make war if we were to survive. That is why I became known as Cheb the Mighty. I led my people back to the city that had been burned by Skapta the Cunning, and for many years we lived among its ruins, undetected by human beings. I taught my people to be vigilant -- to keep guard so that we could no longer be surprised by enemies. If herdsmen came close to our city, we hid ourselves until they went away. If they came too close, and discovered our presence, we captured and killed them.

"Now my chief adviser was a counselor called Qisib, who was entrusted with the task of demolishing the dangerous parts of the city. And it was he who realized that our human captives could perform these tasks more efficiently than my people. They were physically stronger than we were, yet their minds were feeble by comparison. So instead of killing our captives, we began to use them as slaves. Among these was a boy called Hallat, who was as strong as an ox. One day, when he was demolishing a building, his guard was killed by a falling beam. He had the opportunity to escape, yet he preferred to remain. That is why I began to trust him, and to treat him with kindness. And it was through Hallat that I began to understand the ways of men."

Niall asked: "And who was Princess Turool?"

"I do not know. Hallat was allowed to take his pick of female prisoners. But I never knew their names." "And is it true that he was killed by lightning when he tried to enter the white tower?"

"No. Hallat was never in this city, for in those days it was still occupied by human beings. But it was through my counselor Qisib that the city finally fell into our hands.

One of Hallat's wives died in childbirth, and the child was given to one of Qisib's daughters. Instead of eating him, she decided to keep him as a pet. And when the child was old enough to walk, some other human children were sent to play with him. Instead of welcoming them, the child rushed at them and tried to bite them. And Qisib, who happened to be in the room, realized that the child did not regard himself as a human being. Because he had been brought up among our people, he regarded himself as a spider.

"It was now that Qisib displayed the wisdom for which he was famous. He ordered that all human children should be taken away from their mothers when they were newly born, and brought up by our women. Until the child was old enough to walk, it was not allowed to see another human being. Only then was it taught human language by our slaves. In this way, Qisib created a class of humans who regarded their own kind with contempt, and preferred the company of our people.

"When they were old enough, these humans were sent out among the shepherds of the wilderness to act as spies. They always told the same story -- that their parents had been captured by spiders, that they had been brought up as slaves, and had seized the first opportunity to escape. They were welcomed everywhere as heroes. When they came to the city of Korsh, the son of Vaken the Terrible, known as Vaken the Fair, commanded a feast in their honor. Some of them even married maidens from the city. Yet they remained faithful to their task. And those who became shepherds and goatherds were able to bring us information about the defenses of the city.

"Finally, the night came when a million of my people surrounded the city of Korsh. There was no need to launch a surprise attack, for we merely had to paralyze the minds of all its inhabitants. When this was done, the city was ours. The next morning, Vaken the Fair was brought before me, bound hand and foot with spider web, and I made him pledge his loyalty and swear to be my slave for the rest of his days. When that was done, my own subjects proclaimed me the first Death Lord. And from that day forth, my people were masters of all the lands between the two rivers."

As he ended his story, the Death Lord lapsed once more into human language, which -- compared to telepathy -- seemed cold and expressionless. This was a gesture of politeness, a recognition that Niall's loyalties might be divided; yet nothing could disguise the note of triumph and excitement in Cheb's voice as he described his greatest victory. And although Niall was aware that this victory marked the beginning of human slavery, he still found it impossible not to thrill with sympathy. The spiders had been a subject people; yet in one day, they had displaced man as the lords of the Earth. It was surely one of the most momentous days in the history of the planet.

Cheb was studying Niall's reactions with interest -- unlike the other spiders, he felt no inhibitions about probing Niall's mind. Now he asked with a kind of rough humor: "Well, human, did we not deserve our victory?"

"Yes, lord, you deserved to live in peace. But there can be no true peace while there is slavery."

The Spider Lord responded with a sound like a grunt. "Perhaps. But while I was alive, there was no alternative."

Niall asked curiously: "Are you not still alive?"

"In your sense, no." The Death Lord suddenly sounded weary. "My brain is kept alive by the strength of these children." He sent an impulse of affection toward the young spider, who responded with a movement of gratitude, like a dog being stroked. "But now this one is becoming tired, and I must not exhaust him further."

Niall made a formal obeisance. "I thank you for your courtesy and patience."

"The pleasure was mine. Before I go, do you have anything further to ask me?"

Niall was reminded of why he had been brought to this sacred place. "Only one thing, lord. Have you ever heard of a race of humans who live underground, and whose leader is a great magician?"

"No. But wait. . ." The Death Lord paused to reflect. Then he sighed wearily. "No, I can no longer remember. Speak to my adviser. He knows everything. Now it is time for me to return. Goodbye and safe voyage."

A moment later, Cheb was gone. He vanished so quickly that Niall was taken by surprise. His mind, still in contact with the mummified brain, found itself suddenly surrounded by emptiness. The sensation was like waking from a deep sleep. It seemed incredible that this long-dead shell had ever contained a living presence.

For several minutes, no one spoke -- spiders were never in a hurry to break silence. Finally Asmak said: "The Great One was in a good humor today."

His voice sounded oddly hesitant, and it made Niall aware of the momentousness of what had just taken place. Cheb was a legendary being, almost a god; yet he had spoken to Niall as to an equal. Asmak was hesitant because he was overwhelmed by what he had just witnessed: a dialogue between the Mighty Cheb and the emissary of the goddess.

Niall asked: "What did he mean by 'Speak to my adviser'?"

"The Mighty One was referring to Qisib the Wise."

"And is it possible for me to speak to Qisib the Wise?"

It seemed to Niall that Asmak was troubled by this question; for a moment, he even wondered whether the request would be refused. Then, without replying, Asmak turned and led the way out of the sacred chamber. Their original guide followed behind.

The young spider remained where he was, obviously in a daze of total exhaustion.

Now they were back in the sacred cave, Niall became aware of a strange tension in the atmosphere; it was as if all the spiders were holding their breath. It was when he allowed his mind to blend with that of Grel that he understood the reason. Like Asmak, these young servants of the mighty dead felt that they had been privileged to witness an encounter that would be preserved in legend. Niall himself was feeling oddly relaxed and alive, a feeling that seemed to be a presage of some interesting experience or discovery.

As they stood in the center of the floor, three young spiders descended softly from above, and advanced toward them. Niall was surprised to observe that these were brown wolf spiders -- they were physically bulkier and more powerful than death spiders. Since wolf spiders were generally treated as servants -- and seemed to accept themselves in this role -- Niall was surprised to see them in this sacred place. He was even more surprised when the three spiders ignored Asmak, and seemed to consult among themselves. It seemed clear that they possessed some kind of authority or responsibility. Finally, the largest of the three -- he was almost full-grown-turned to Asmak and made a mental gesture of acquiescence. He then led the way across the cave, followed by his two companions. Asmak gestured for Niall to precede him. This time, Grel brought up the rear.

Niall expected to be led to another cave whose entrance was concealed by layers of spider web. He was surprised when the spiders halted at the foot of sheer rock face, then proceeded to climb upwards. At close quarters, he saw that the rough surface of the rock afforded many hand-and footholds. With only a moment's hesitation, he gripped a small projection a foot above his head, placed his right foot on an inch-wide ledge near the ground, and hauled himself up. A moment later he was relieved to feel himself supported by Asmak's will-force, which prevented him from falling backwards while he groped for further holds.

When he was about six feet from the ground, he realized that the three wolf spiders had vanished. The mystery was explained a few minutes later when -- gasping from the exertion -- he found himself looking into a small circular hole in the rock face. It was scarcely more than two feet high, and he was forced to scramble into it headfirst. As he did so, he lost telepathic contact with Asmak, and for a moment experienced a queasy sensation as he found himself in total darkness in a passageway so low and narrow that it induced a feeling of claustrophobia. A moment later, contact was again resumed, bringing an illusion of sight; but his ability to "see" his surroundings brought no comfort.

The "hole" was man-made -- its sides were covered with the marks of tools -- but was so narrow that it would have been totally impossible to turn. Moreover, it sloped downward, increasing the sense of claustrophobia by making him feel that retreat was impossible. A dozen or so yards ahead, the rear of the young wolf spider was disappearing around a corner. In this narrow space, the acrid and distinctive smell of spiders was very strong.

If Asmak observed his alarm, he was too tactful to show it. When he had squeezed his own large bulk through the entrance, the passageway was effectively blocked, and Niall felt as if he was immured in a kind of rocky coffin. For a brief moment Niall struggled with panic that made him feel suffocated; then he forced himself to crawl on down the passageway, keeping his head low to avoid the roof.

A bend in the passage proved difficult to negotiate; it had been made for spiders rather than human beings. For a distance of perhaps ten feet it became even more narrow, so that the walls pressed upon his shoulders, and he had to push himself forward with his toes. Then, to his intense relief, it widened, and he found himself in a small chamber, pressed against the hairy bodies of the wolf spiders, with their oddly distinctive smell. It seemed impossible that there could be room for anyone else; but as Asmak pushed his way into the chamber, Niall had to squeeze against the wall, wedged tightly by the armored, crablike legs of one wolf spider and the upper portion of the soft abdomen of another.

Unlike the tomb of Cheb the Mighty, this tiny chamber, scarcely five feet in diameter and less than six feet high, contained no altar, nor any other repository for the body of a dead spider; it seemed to be empty. Then, on the opposite wall, Niall noticed the patch of newly spun cobweb, little more than six inches in diameter, and realized that it must conceal some kind of hole in the rock. In this narrow space, the heat of the spiders' bodies was oppressive, and their distinctive odor even more so. Yet in the presence of these young spiders, Niall made a decisive effort to overcome his feelings of oppression and alarm; as the representative of the goddess, he felt that it would be shameful to display weakness.

Now Asmak's attention centered upon the cobweb-covered hole in the opposite wall, and Niall became aware that it was no more than a small hollow, scarcely six inches deep, and that its backward-sloping floor was covered with a cushiony mass of cobweb.

In the center of this lay all that remained of Qisib the Wise, the spider who, according to legend, was the first to learn how human beings could be enslaved.

Niall had ceased to feel surprise; instead, he merely observed that Qisib was far smaller than his master Cheb. By comparison, Cheb was a giant. The body of Qisib was the size of a small bird, and most of the legs upon which it rested had broken away, so that they looked like withered segments of dry stick. The cephalic region and the thorax were complete, but the abdomen, which should have been the largest portion of its body, was so shriveled that it was almost nonexistent.

And now, for the first time, he understood why it had been necessary for three wolf spiders to accompany them. Qisib the Wise was in such a state of dissolution that he was scarcely more than a few mummified fragments. It was hardly surprising that Asmak had been troubled by Niall's request to speak to him -- it seemed inconceivable that even the vital force of three healthy young wolf spiders could restore this dehydrated shell to some semblance of life and intelligence.

The moment the three wolf spiders began to concentrate their attention on the fragments of the corpse, Niall's sense of claustrophobia vanished; he was so totally absorbed in what was happening that his present situation was unimportant. This time, he allowed himself to become identified with the unified awareness of the spiders; like them, he entered into the shell of Qisib the Wise, and drifted into a kind of gray emptiness as his mind groped for a foothold in the world of nonexistence. What amazed him was that the wolf spiders seemed in no way discouraged by this emptiness; their vitality poured into it like water pouring over some bottomless waterfall. For a moment he was gripped by a feeling of loneliness that was close to panic, as his own mind threatened to dissolve into the void. Then he became aware that the grayness was no longer a featureless nothing; some kind of life was erupting to the surface, like an expanding pattern of ripples. It was like a monster rising from the bottom of the sea. The sense of erupting energy was due to its attempt to awaken itself from nonexistence. For a moment, it seemed doubtful that the energy of the spiders would suffice, and that they themselves would be dragged down into nonexistence. Then, like a sleeper opening his eyelids, the consciousness of Qisib the Wise began to take its bearings, and to struggle for a foothold in the world of the living. Oddly enough, it seemed intensely reluctant to do this, as if to be alive was an unutterable burden.

The difference between Qisib and Cheb was immediately apparent. Cheb had treated his excursion to the world of the living as a kind of holiday; for Qisib it was a wearisome duty that he would have been glad to escape. Like a sleeper roused from a heavy slumber, he was anxious to sink back into oblivion. And at this point, Niall realized why wolf spiders had been chosen rather than death spiders. They were less intelligent than death spiders, but their minds possessed the kind of brute force to prevent Qisib from escaping back into the grayness. What happened next took Niall by surprise. It was exactly as if one of the young spiders had seized Qisib in his powerful front legs and dragged him across the threshold of the living world. What happened, in fact, was that the spider transferred Qisib's consciousness into his own brain, then retreated into a kind of trance, leaving Qisib in possession. The dead spider had ceased to be a disembodied mind, and became part of a living entity, supported by his life system. For a moment, he remained passive, as if still unwilling to make any kind of effort. Then he turned his attention to Asmak, and asked wearily: "What is it this time, guardian of the dead?"

The voice, unlike that of the Lord Cheb, was thin and without resonance. Niall had observed before that the "voices" of spiders were as distinctive as those of humans, even though the communication was from mind to mind. They were clearly an expression of the spider's whole personality.

Asmak said: "This youth is the emissary of the great goddess. He wants to ask you a question."

Qisib surveyed Niall without interest. "Let him ask it."

The voice was bored and flat.

Niall said: "I want to ask, lord, whether you know who built the great wall across the Valley of the Dead."

"Yes. I did."

"You!" Niall was aware that Asmak and Grel (who was standing behind him in the corridor) shared his astonishment.

"That is so. I don't mean on my own, of course." Qisib sounded slightly defensive.

"I mean I supervised the work."

"And that was after the time of Cheb the Mighty?"

"Yes, that's right. It was in the reign of his son Kasib the Warrior. Although, in fact, I suppose the whole thing started in the time of Cheb."

Qisib spoke slowly, as if he was ruminating on his words. His voice had none of the vigor of Cheb's voice, nor any of his natural authority, and the reedy intonation made him sound very old. Yet there was something oddly likable about Qisib the Wise, as if he combined modesty with a sense of humor. It was easy to understand why he had been chosen by the two great Spider Lords as their chief counselor.

Niall asked: "But why was the wall built?"

"To keep out those human creatures from the north." The image Qisib used for "human creatures" was vaguely insulting, as if referring to some particularly disgusting insects.

Niall made an effort to repress his excitement. "Who were they?"

"I don't know. We never found out."

He realized that it was going to be difficult getting specific information out of Qisib. It was not that the great counselor was trying to be difficult or was unwilling to tell what he knew. It was simply that Niall was questioning him in human language, and Qisib -- who had obviously had little mental intercourse with humans -- found it confusing, like a man trying to understand a foreign tongue.

Niall drew a deep breath, and reflected on how to phrase his next question.

"The mighty Lord Cheb has described to me how you conquered this city. He said that he then became master of all the lands between the two rivers. Yet now you tell me that he failed to conquer the humans from the north." Niall paused, but Qisib made no reply; it was obvious that he failed to understand what Niall was asking. Niall tried to clarify: "What land did these people come from?"

"I don't know. We never found out."

"But didn't you want to find out?"

"Not in the beginning. We weren't interested in the mountains to the north of the Valley of the Dead. They weren't of any use to us, and the coastal plain was too narrow."

And now, at last, Qisib's mind was beginning to convey geographical images, first of the Valley of the Dead, with its black volcanic lake, then of the bleak and precipitous mountains to the north, with their strange, needlelike spires. Niall also observed that these northern mountains were heavily coated with snow; it was clear that, in the time of Qisib the Wise, the land was only just emerging from the grip of the great ice age.

Niall was struck by the clarity of the mental image; it seemed even sharper and more real than his recent view of the same mountains through the mind of Asmak. It seemed incredible that memory -- even the memory of a spider -- could store any scene in such photographic detail.

Now that their minds were in close contact, it suddenly became easier to communicate. When Qisib realized that Niall was interested in the mental image of the northern mountains, he sustained and enlarged it, so Niall could study it in more detail.

Niall immediately became aware that the lake in the center of the valley had been far larger at the end of the great ice age, and the rivers that flowed from it were more turbulent. The mountain streams that fed the lake were like cascades of white foam; they had filled it to the brim, so that the steep sides which Niall had noticed earlier were now hidden below the black surface.

Niall asked the question that he had been meaning to raise ever since his first sight of this valley. "Why is it called the Valley of the Dead?"

"Because so many of our people died here on the night of the great storm."

"How did this come about?"

For answer, Qisib conjured up a vision of torrential rain, followed by an image of rushing water that seemed to explode across the valley, sweeping away thousands of spiders who had taken shelter under the southern flank of the mountain. The image lasted only a second -- Qisib obviously had no desire to prolong it -- but it left Niall feeling shaken and breathless. He could see that it had the same effect on the other spiders.

"But what were so many spiders doing in this valley?"

"They were preparing to march north, to seek out the enemy."

"But you told me your people were not interested in the lands to the north."

"That is true. But we had to defend ourselves from attack."

And now Qisib's mind created an image of a coastal city with white houses and tree-lined terraces, and buildings that Niall recognized as old churches. There was something oddly familiar about the surrounding plain, and the two domelike mountains that enclosed it. With a stir of excitement, Niall recognized the town of Cibilla that he had seen a couple of hours ago. It had then been a desolation of rubble-filled streets and smoke-blackened houses; yet the mountains in the background left no doubt that this was the same place.

Then, in a series of unambiguous images, Qisib told the story of the catastrophe in the Valley of the Dead.

The coastal town of Cibilla had been the one in which Cheb had taken refuge on his return from the northern wastes. More than a century earlier, it had been burnt by Skapta the Cunning. Men had never returned there, for the ruins were full of disgusting slimy creatures. (Niall knew that when a spider dies, its body turns into a lower form of life called a squid fungus -- an octopus-like invertebrate that was fairly harmless to adults, but which loved to suffocate and consume sleeping children.) The spiders were unafraid of these creatures, for they could be controlled by will-force. So Cheb and his people had lived for many years in the ruined town, unsuspected by Vaken the Terrible, or by his son Vaken the Fair. When wandering shepherds came too close, they were captured and held as slaves. And this is how Qisib came to understand that he held the key to the conquest of the human race. Human babies were taken from their parents and brought up as spiders. And it was this new breed of spider-servants who enabled the Mighty Cheb to conquer Vaken the Fair, and to become lord of the spider city.

Within forty moons, all the human strongholds had been conquered, and Cheb was the undisputed master of the world. The conquest was not an easy one. In spite of their highly developed will-force, few individual spiders were a match for individual men. Compared with the spiders of that time, men were giants. And when a fully armed soldier, maddened with drink, charged into battle, he could kill a dozen spiders before their united will-force paralyzed his sword arm. Even the poison of the spiders was useless against a warrior in protective clothing. And since, at this time, men vastly outnumbered the spiders, the war was long and bloody, and after one major defeat, Cheb even considered returning to the lands of the north. But with the aid of the great goddess, he finally prevailed, and his kingdom extended from the deserts of Khaybad to the Gray Mountains in the north.

And when Cheb was in his hundred-and-twentieth year, and his legs were no longer strong enough to support the weight of his body, he retreated to the sacred cave beneath his capital city, and there made his entry into the land of the unliving. His son Kasib the Warrior, who had conducted Cheb's last campaign against the men of the southern desert, became Death Lord in his place.

During the last years of his reign, the coastal town that men called Cibilla was used by Cheb and his ministers as a summer retreat -- for now that the great ice age was over, the weather was becoming increasingly hot. It had been rebuilt by slaves under the command of Cheb's faithful human servants, and the spiders and their servants often shared the same buildings, with the spiders living in the upper stories. The cool sea breezes were welcome in the heat of midsummer. But as Cheb grew old, he began to dream of his childhood in the cold lands of the north. He sent an expedition there, and learned that the ice had now retreated, and that the marshes were full of birds and other wild game. And in the year after the death of Cheb, his son Kasib sent some of his human servants, under the command of Madig, grandson of Hallat, to select a site for a new city.

But Madig failed to return, and a search party of spiders and human warriors could find no trace of him. He had vanished somewhere in the mountains to the northeast.

But Kasib refused to believe that a dozen men could disappear without trace, even in the dangerous wastes of Kend, and he sent a second search party, headed by the famous tracker Tubin. Tubin soon picked up their tracks, and they led him to Madig's last camp site. And a dozen miles from the camp site, he found a single clue -- a dagger whose handle had been pushed into the damp earth, so that the blade pointed toward the Gray Mountains in the west. Madig's wife identified it as her husband's dagger and said that he always kept it strapped to the inside of his leg above the left ankle.