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Marigold made the climb easy enough. I, on the other hand, stuck my foot in a biter nest toward the top. Luckily it was new and small. I couldn’t swat at them and risk falling, so I pushed through, growling through clenched teeth, despite multiple flying, stinging bugs swarming in my pant leg.

At the top, I darted out the crevice, stripped off my pants, and danced around, slapping furiously at my leg.

“Xander, what are you doing?” Marigold stood next to Roi, his spiders all behind him.

“Xander found bug nest. Bad luck.”

I paused long enough to glare at Roi, then went back to killing the last of the nasty biting bugs. “No, Roi. I did it on purpose. Perfect excuse to dance with my pants off in the night. You should try it.”

Roi looked down at the conglomerate of cloth and spiderweb covering his groin, leaving his muscled legs exposed. “I do not have pants.”

Marigold giggled, handing me my pants, not bashful about looking at me in my briefs. In other circumstances, none including spiders—or Roi, I would have enjoyed the attention. I snatched my pants from her. “Do you mind?” I said for show.

“No. No, I don’t.” She glanced to Roi and back at me, smiling. “I’m just the lucky girl being escorted by half-naked men.”

And any ghost of levity was gone. Ruined by Roi. Again.

“Lucky you,” I said and walked off.

My leg already burned from bites and I wanted to dig into it with my fingernails, but I didn’t. I was going to put on my pants and not scratch my leg. I wouldn’t give Marigold and Roi the satisfaction. Logical? Probably not, but it made great sense to me at the time.

Bending to put on my pants, I had the distinct feeling that someone was standing behind me. I looked over my shoulder at Roi. “Can I help you? Or are you fascinated by the act of putting pants on?”

Roi stared at my bit leg. “Don’t put on pants.”

Oh, joy. Awkward moments with Roi never stopped. “Excuse me?”

“Roi will—I will help.” He chirped three times.

“Um. That’s okay. It’s sort of a one-leg at a time process. I’m good.” One leg in my pants and I was tackled me to the ground. I rolled instantly to my back, ready to bash Roi across the head for taking a cheap shot literally while my pants were down. “Son of a—” My curse caught in my throat. Not from Roi kneeling next to me, but from the spider next to him.

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“Xander!” Marigold yelled, but kept her distance from the spider.

Roi slowly raised his hand to Marigold. “Xander is safe. Do not be afraid.” He stroked the spider’s back. “She only wants to help.”

Help me to die, more like it. I’ve had lots of nightmares and this could’ve been one. Dark. Injured. A spider looming down on me. Too terrified to move. Unable to save Marigold. The addition of Roi just made it worse. “Sh-sh-she?” I was about to die, and my last words?Stammering about the sex of the spider that was going to kill me.

The spider crawled over me, covering me in shadow, its body easily longer than I was tall. In the blackness only the white fangs of its double pincered mouth showed. It smelled of musty dust, something dessicated and dead. A low clicking emanated from it.

To my credit, I didn’t scream. I couldn’t. But still, that’s to my credit.

Something warm and wet spread over my leg. Oh great, I thought, piss yourself in front of your girlfriend right before you die. I closed my eyes, ready for the end.

“All done. Rub her. Say thank you.”

I popped open my eyes. Instead of the spider fangs, Roi’s smiling face looked down at me. “Damn it, Roi!” I pushed him away and sat up, annoyed at him and surprised my severed head wasn’t in the spider’s mouth. The spider stood next to me—better than over me, but still not comforting. Out of its shadow and in the moonlight, I could see it was the smaller blue spider I’d noticed from before. Smaller being relative to the half a dozen bigger spiders looming a few paces away.

Marigold rushed to me, hugging me. “Xander, are you okay? I looked away for a moment and when I looked back that spider was on top of you and—” She stared at my leg, a look of repulsion on her face. “What. Is. That?”

Yippee. Time to tell my girlfriend I’d pissed all over myself. I looked to my leg expecting a sandy puddle, but instead found it covered in white sticky goo. My stomach lurched looking at it. “Did that thing crap on me?”

“No!” Roi looked horrified. “That is spider milk. Help take away bites.”

“It’s sticky.” Marigold poked at it. “Ooh, its like a wet towel.”

I could feel the goo solidifying on my leg, snugging up to it, but not too tight. Even better, the burning from the bug bites was gone. “How? What…?”

“It is medicine.” Roi cut away the excess goo with what appeared to be a severed spider fang. “Spider mothers use it to heal.” He stood up and chirped at the blue spider. “Now. Rub her. Say thank you. Like this.” Roi reached under the spider, petting the mid-section right in front of its legs.

“Um. No.” I shook my head. “I’m good.” I pulled my pants up, glad they were dry.

“Say thank you.” Roi grabbed my hand and pulled it under the spider.

“What the—” I expected slime or thorns, but the spider’s underside was covered in short, silky hair. Roi made me pet the spider for a few seconds. The spider chittered and shook its head. I stumbled back.

“It is okay.” Roi patted me on the shoulder. “Sweety likes you.”

“Sweety?” Marigold and I said at the same time. She appeared as bewildered as I felt.

“Yes. Sweety.” Roi rubbed the spider more. “Now. Enough fun. We must go help.”