Adon felt the tension in his body suddenly relax.
There’s something left, he thought but did not transmit.
I’m so glad you saved some, he sent after a moment.
I was just lucky, Goldie thought. We were both lucky. I know how wasps are. They hit like natural disaster. That kind we fought is not unique. They came once when I was young. A different breed than the ones we saw, but similar. I always hid from creatures like that. If you hid too slowly, they would carry you off. I think they used our bodies to feed their young. It was the only way I could explain them carrying us off instead of eating us on the spot. Amazes me that now we are strong enough to fight them. I never thought that day would come.
I can’t believe you endured attacks like that before, Adon transmitted. It must have been terrifying.
It was terrifying to see them carry off my siblings, Goldie replied. But this attack was different. They targeted you and me individually. Not out of hunger. But personal hatred. Maybe even envy. A malevolence like nothing I have seen in this life. It is part of why I cannot blame you for what happened. This behavior is unnatural even to predators like wasps. Hatred made them crazy. Sounds like the Queen you dealt with was rotten. You cannot predict something like that.
I wonder if the rest of her hive is still out there somewhere, Adon sent. I doubt she would just let her colony die out like that. Her ego was too big. She wanted to be the most important creature in the world. Maybe I could find a way to track them down…
It sounded like an impossible task, tracking the origin of a group of flying creatures that could have come from miles away. They might live as close as the palace rooftop or as far away as the middle of a distant swamp. His mind nevertheless immediately started sifting through his abilities, trying to come up with ways he might determine the location the wasps had come from.
But Goldie was shaking her head.
I do not see the point, she thought. Revenge is a pointless pursuit. You killed the Queen. We have nothing left to worry about.
You were just saying that these things eat spiders, Adon sent. Isn’t that something to worry about?
Then will you kill every wasp in the world? Goldie asked.
Only the ones who are close enough to threaten you and your children. The ones who might know what we did to the previous generation.
No creature in this garden that I have ever seen has inherited its mother’s grudges, Adon, Goldie thought. Please just let this rest. They attacked. We survived. We killed all the wasps that came. Now we have to look after each other and the young ones. Would you really leave me alone now?
Adon felt the exhaustion and the pleading in Goldie’s tone, and all the argument went out of him.
No, he sent. I’ll stay here. We can forget about the hive. Um, do you need more healing?
A memory presented itself to Adon unbidden as he thought about the potential future problem of the wasps. He remembered an Adaptation he had seen when flicking through his Evolution Store options days ago. The description had mentioned that it would allow him to mimic the scent of ant larva.
The obvious purpose of that Adaptation was to infiltrate an ant colony to kill and eat wasps while disguised as a harmless larva.
It was arguably less violent than the wasps’ approach, but the memory reminded him that he and his kind were potentially not very different from them.
I should be trying to escape from the brutality of nature, he reminded himself. Not holding onto grudges. This bug eat bug environment is the problem.
I could use a little more healing, I think, Goldie replied. But I do not know if you should waste your energy. It might be better if I simply evolve. I can do it safely now that you are here to watch over me. If the process is like last time, it will take a few hours.
That’s great, Adon sent.
There is just one more thing I would like to do before I evolve, Goldie thought. Well, two things. My body will need full Biomass to complete the process. And the other thing is, I want to bury Red. Will you help me?
Adon felt the guilt of his failure to protect them in his stomach again, but he forced himself to nod.
Of course I will, he sent. Red deserves better than to be left for some scavenger. I’ll bring his body up to keep it safe, and then I’ll get you some food.
Adon returned to the ground, tied Red to himself by a silk thread, and brought him back up to Goldie. She covered her eyes with her forelimbs and emitted a telepathic sob again. He decided to give her some time alone with Red, to say her goodbye.
He went back to where the wasps Red had killed himself had fallen and bound them all up with silk. Then he waited in silence for what seemed to him a respectful amount of time, his body falling into the near-sleep state that it reached when he was exhausted and inactive for long enough.
Finally, he tied the package of dead wasps to his body and jumped back up onto the web.
He found Goldie almost cradling Red in the crook of one limb and stroking him with another, like a mother soothing a baby.
Thank you, Adon, she thought when she noticed his presence.
She placed Red in the old hiding place she often used, near the top of her web, and they sat down to eat the dead wasps.
They ate in silence at first, but gradually, Goldie seemed to become comfortable talking.
I wonder what his next incarnation will be, she thought.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
They speculated about that, back and forth, each idea grander and more outlandish than the last. A penguin. Human. Elephant. Dragon!
Then Adon changed the subject.
Do you, um, have any particular traditions for funerals? he asked. Spiders in general, or you in particular?
Goldie shook her head. No. I would appreciate if you would say few words, though. You are better with them than me, and you knew him almost as well as I did.
The idea instantly made him feel slightly queasy, and he had to force himself to continue eating his hunk of wasp.
Well, only Goldie will hear it, Adon reminded himself. She’s always been very accepting of my lack of social skills.
I’ll do my best to honor him, he sent.
I appreciate it, she thought.
With the meal finished, both were a bit stronger. They descended from the web, carrying Red’s body on a silken litter between them. They walked under the gap that separated the web from the soil, and together, with limbs poorly adapted for moving dirt, Adon and Goldie dug as deep a grave as they could manage for Red.
It was deep enough, in Adon’s analysis, that Red’s body would probably be eaten by worms or other underground creatures rather than excavated and consumed by some random surface insect.
And Adon gave his best attempt at a funeral oration.
Dear Red, he transmitted, you have left us today, but you will never leave our hearts. You died as you lived, protecting your mate and your children with your life. I know you loved Goldie, as Goldie loves you. You could not say it, but you showed it with your gestures. Adon paused and looked for more words. How exactly had Red shown his love? But Adon quickly found examples of what he was trying to say.
Your protectiveness, your willingness to fight, and your constant proximity. You never left her alone. Even when she wandered the garden, looking for food to take care of me, you did not let her face monstrous creatures by herself. You fought them beside her when you could have escaped alone. I know that Goldie’s and your hatchlings were your world. Adon faltered again, this time because emotion was hitting him harder.
Even though you will never meet them, you loved them until your dying moment. Most of us are abandoned by our parents in this place, but not your eggs! You raced into death for them. Because the creatures in the garden were that dangerous, and you were determined that they not be exposed to that danger. I promise that we will honor your sacrifice, Red. Goldie loved you, but I think you were my friend too. No, I know you were my friend! We will make sure your children have a better life than you had, whether they can talk or not. So please rest in peace. Enjoy your next life. We’ll miss you, but don’t spend too much time thinking about us. We’ll be all right. Thank you for everything.
Goldie almost collapsed onto Adon as he finished talking, her body shaking. She gripped him tightly with all her limbs, and it took him a few seconds to react. Finally, he hugged her back.
That was wonderful, she thought. Did not know you could speak so well.
Can I? he wondered. Am I a good speaker? Or am I just up to spider standards?
Even in this moment, he could not keep from doubting his own abilities.
But he did keep his doubts to himself.
They buried Red then, and returned to the web.
Goldie’s posture looked different, and Adon dared to hope that he had actually made her feel a bit better about losing her mate. Either that, or burying Red was simply that cathartic of an experience for her.
What did you mean about giving the children a better life? Goldie asked after they had arrived back in the middle of her now tattered web.
I had this idea. It’s not the first time I’ve thought about it…
Adon explained his thinking about getting them and Goldie’s children into the palace. Then the spider stood for a moment thinking quietly to herself.
It cannot be any more dangerous than life in the garden, she finally thought.
Good, Adon replied. Then once you finish evolving, can we return to my plant? That’s where the Princess knows how to find me. I know you might be more comfortable here. This is your home—
No, Goldie interrupted. Wasps destroyed it. She waved an arm to indicate the destruction the last fight had wrought upon her web, much of which Adon was responsible for. We lose nothing by going to your plant.
He thought about apologizing for the damage to her web, but he decided that would only be to salve his own conscience. Goldie had heard enough apologies from him for one day. The sun was setting now, and rather than trying to ease his feelings of guilt for helping to destroy her life, Goldie ought to be getting on with the business of evolving.
I’ll watch you, he sent. Go ahead and evolve, and then we can go.
She nodded. See you on the other side, my friend.
Then she moved up the web, to where she liked to be when she was looking out from her web. Adon followed her from a distance, just trying to keep within sight. He wanted to give her space, but he was also unwilling to let her out of his sight if he did not have to before she finished evolving.
When she stopped, he stood to watch her. At first, it looked like she was doing nothing in particular at all. Just holding unusually still.
Then he saw a gauzy surface appear between himself and her body, and he realized she was shedding a layer of exoskeleton.
So this is what Evolution looks like.
Over the next several hours, he watched from a distance as Goldie shed layer upon layer of exoskeleton. After just a few layers, there was a thick shield of tissue surrounding Goldie in all directions that made it impossible for him to see her main body clearly. The tissue shield was larger than Goldie herself was.
The one thing he could tell for certain was that underneath the thick layers of discarded skin, Goldie was growing larger. He could see the glint of her bead-like eyes through those first few layers, and they stood at a greater height than they had before, though as far as he could tell, Goldie had not shifted her position aside from that.
And the process continued.
Adon tried to count how many times Goldie shed layers of exoskeleton as she evolved, but it was impossible to keep track.
He guessed it must be hundreds.
It seemed impossible, but Adon doubted that word applied to much in this world of magic and self-directed Evolution.
Finally, a stillness settled in the air. The moon was out now, and the moonlight made the tissue of skin gleam elegantly. It took up almost half the web now. Adon had been forced to move backward to avoid becoming entangled in Goldie’s hundreds of layers of discarded skin.
Now the thick layers of accumulated exoskeleton moved and swayed as if there was a breeze in the air, and Adon could sense that it was Goldie moving underneath. He wondered if she needed help. He was certain the process must have taken a lot out of her.
And he was almost as curious as he was concerned. She would probably be all right after going through Evolution—she had done it safely before, after all—but would she be the same? How would she have changed?
Goldie? he sent nervously.
Adon, she replied instantly.
Are you all right? he asked.
I need food, Goldie replied, but I cannot remember when I have ever felt stronger. It is hard to describe. Her inner voice sounded clearer, stronger, and more resolute, he realized.
Evolution seemed to have done wonders for her.
Adon quickly moved in, dragging a wasp corpse up toward his friend.