Paraworld Zero (32 page)

    Just as the spider became lodged in place, it shot its silky web at Simon,
striking him so hard across the back that he almost fell. At the same time, Simon heard the
gruesome sound of the arachnid crunching against the walls of the cave. The spider’s hard shell
finally cracked open, releasing a gush of light blue blood that spilled out onto the floor.

    Simon peered into the darkness, towards the dead spider. “Oh, boy,” he said,
panting. “That was a close one.”

    Out of breath, he turned around and took a step forward, but the next thing
he knew, he was plummeting downward off the edge of a steep cliff.

    Simon yelled at the top of his lungs while the hot air whisked through his
clothing and hair. A fiery lake of molten lava came into view. He screamed even louder. Suddenly,
he felt himself come to a full stop and spring upwards a few feet. The spider’s web! It had saved
him.

    Now he dangled helplessly in the air—literally by a thread. He looked around
and beheld a massive spider web woven to form a bridge across the pit. The web was immaculate,
yet deadly. It stretched out in all directions, filling the entire cave above him.

    Simon could see dozens of large cocoons held securely in the air. He also
noticed the many skeletons strewn about the web. It was a catacomb of the dead! This alone
discouraged him from going near it. Besides, the makeshift bridge lay far beyond his reach.

    Several passageways were cut into the other cliff wall, but Simon’s side of
the pit contained no such passageways.

    The boy looked upward. He had fallen quite a long distance, and although his
arms had become very strong over the past few weeks, he wasn’t sure if he had enough strength to
climb all the way back up.

    Burning magma bubbled just thirty feet below him. Simon felt grateful for the
newfound light the magma emitted, but he could hardly bear the hot steam that saturated his
clothing. He crammed the little red book into his deep pocket, wiped the sweat from his forehead,
and contemplated his next move.

    Out of the small handful of spells he knew of, none seemed very suitable for
his current predicament. Just then, Simon noticed tiny specks of light glowing above him. He
squinted to see through the darkness and observed that the tiny lights were getting closer… and
closer.

    Then he saw them. Spiders! Hundreds of them—all descending the chasm.
Frantically, he grabbed the silky cord attached to the back of his vest and soon discovered that,
although the spider’s web had a tremendous hold on his clothing, it reacted in just the opposite
way to his skin. Furthermore, the chemical reaction to the oils in his hands caused the acidic
thread to burn his fingers. But Simon had no choice. Ignoring the searing pain, he held onto the
strong web and attempted to swing to safety.

    The glowing eyes got closer with every swing…
Whoosh!
Simon cut through the air like a pendulum…
Whoosh!
Another swing and his fingertips brushed the intricate latticework the spiders had
created…
Whoosh!
Only seconds were left before the spiders would be upon him…

    This would be his final swing. Simon headed towards the wall and kicked off,
just as a handful of smaller spiders—each about two to three feet tall—jumped towards him. All
but one of the furry creatures fell to a fiery grave; however, the remaining spider sank its
fangs deep into Simon’s left shoulder blade. The boy yelped in pain as he swung towards the main
web.

    Summoning a fierceness he didn’t realize he possessed, Simon struck the
spider with his free hand, causing the vehement creature to tumble off his back. But this
particular spider had an unnatural determination; as it fell to the fire below, the demonic
creature spurted out its web, which wrapped tightly around Simon’s ankle.

    Making things even worse, when Simon finally made contact with the bridge,
the strand on his vest snapped him back so that he almost lost his grip. He pulled and tugged,
but the elasticity of the thread had reached its utter limit. Simon was trapped, and a horde of
black spiders was about to pounce on him.

    He had to act quickly. “
Shawnee!
” the young wizard shouted in desperation.

    A bright flame sprang from his fist and ate its way through the entire
web—including the strand on his back—until it smacked against the domed ceiling above. Hundreds
of scorched bodies fell to the lava below. Bubbling and spewing, the lake reacted adversely to
the chemical composition of their bodies and began to rise. Molten rock spilled into the lower
tunnels.

    “
Eenwahs,
” Simon said, canceling the spell.

    The glowing red fire magnified the deadly beauty of the artwork that spanned
the diameter of the dome. For a second or two, the fledgling wizard felt sorry that he had
destroyed the poor creatures and their home; however, the realization that he was lugging around
one of these giant spiders—from a web attached to his leg, no less—made him come to his senses…
Make that a giant
climbing
spider!

    Although the tips of its legs had been singed off from touching the lava
below, the spider continued to limp up the silky strand, relentlessly pursuing its prey. Simon
heard the crackle of fire devouring the web right above him, so, hand-over-hand, he carried his
body across the deteriorating bridge. The acidic thread steamed every time he clenched his fist,
but he continued on, nonetheless.

    Like a chain reaction, the flame ran along the spider web, consuming
everything in its path. When Simon had cast the Shawnee spell, he had tried to avoid the web in
his general vicinity, but it didn't matter; the fire had now found its way to him. He looked down
at his unwanted passenger and saw that the injured spider was only a few feet away. His situation
could not get any worse.

    Suddenly, he heard a snap from behind.

    “
Noooo!
” Simon screamed, falling towards the menacing lava.

    Still holding the thin cord, he swung over the lake of fire—just barely
missing the deadly flames. His pesky companion, on the other hand, plunged right into the hot
lava, releasing its web from Simon’s foot in the process.

    Simon’s heart sank when he saw the sheer cliff wall ahead of him. In that
instant, he realized what his fate would be. He would crash into the rock and slide into the
boiling magma below. His life, his friends… everything would be gone. He’d never experience his
first real kiss. Tonya and Thorn would continue their lives without him, and he’d never discover
where his powers truly came from or the identity of his parents. There was nothing he could do to
prevent his untimely demise. He was going to die. Closing his eyes, he waited for the inevitable…
but it never came.

    Simon opened his eyes warily. The cave wall stood just inches from his face.
Dumbfounded, he looked down and realized he was floating. Somehow, he had cast the Halo-Marine
spell.

    A horrible thought entered his mind: The last time he cast the levitation
spell, it wore off the second he looked down. Panic-stricken, he jerked his head up to keep
himself from thinking of the bubbling lava below. But this was a poor alternative. Instead of
peering down at a fiery doom, he looked up at hundreds of baby spiders racing down the cliff wall
for their dinner.

    Simon stretched out his arms and caught hold of a tunnel entrance. He started
to pull himself up, but as his muscles flexed, a hot surge of pain ran down his left shoulder.
The spider venom began to attack his nervous system.

    Blood trickled from the spider bite as he pulled himself into the dark
tunnel. Moaning from the pain, he grasped his shoulder and flailed about the hard floor, as if to
massage the wound. The spiders would be upon him at any moment.

    Without warning, he felt himself slide down the tunnel uncontrollably. Deeper
and deeper into the mountain he slid, until, finally, the tunnel ended, and he shot out into the
air. Fortunately, he landed onto something soft and rubbery.

    The boy felt so exhausted that he just lay there in the dark. He closed his
eyes and, for the first time in weeks, wished he were back home on Earth. The toxins in his
bloodstream made him feel very sleepy, and for a few minutes, he experienced a floating
sensation.

    Fighting against the lethargy, he forced his eyes open and shuddered to see
the ground rippling beneath him. The ancient words on the cave walls glowed brightly—so brightly,
in fact, Simon saw that he had landed on a gigantic worm. The grayish-white skin reminded him of
a maggot. Was this the same type of worm—a gilaworm, as Thorn had called it—that Mrs. Troodle had
served him the first night after he had woken up from his coma? How did it get so big?

    Simon lay flat on his back and tried to forget the pain in his shoulder. He
took out his mother’s medallion and played with it in his hand. The glowing runes on the cave
walls reflected upon its shiny surface. He noticed the similarities of the medallion and the
emblem on the red book. How strange.

    “I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you,” Simon said to the medallion. His
voice possessed a distinct twinge of pain. “What other tricks do you have for me?” He clenched
the medallion tightly as the poison traveled down his arm. “Can you stop this poison?”

    As if his own body mocked his request, Simon sneezed. It was the first sneeze
he could remember since… since living on Earth. He wasn’t sure if it was the poison or not, but
he felt a sudden urge to take a puff from his inhaler. He sneezed again.

    “
Ahhh!
” Simon yelled in disgust. He had forgotten how sickly he used to be in his own
paraworld, and it made him angry to remember.

    Abruptly, the gilaworm stopped moving. It reared its head upwards and then
doubled back towards Simon. Terrified and in pain, the boy tried to stay calm. Although the huge
worm didn’t have any eyes, it obviously could hear and smell. The massive creature opened its
giant mouth and sucked in deeply as it probed the intruder on its back. Simon held his breath and
gazed into the toothless mouth above him. He felt another sneeze coming on but forced it to go
away.

    The gilaworm must not have sensed any immediate danger, because it brought
its head back to the front and started moving again. Simon exhaled quietly.

    After a couple of minutes, he glanced around and realized the worm was moving
on top of an old monorail built inside a deep trench. Dim artificial lighting replaced the
glowing runes in this part of the cave. Curious, Simon sat up and discovered that the tunnel had
opened up into a large and spacious cavern. High above him, he saw a giant machine that filled
half of the room. The tremendous height of the machine took his breath away, but the fact that it
appeared to be turned on astounded him even more.

    Simon couldn’t believe that after hundreds of years the colossal machine,
built by an ancient civilization, still hummed with power. He wanted to get closer to it, but
there was no way; the narrow channel he and the gilaworm traveled along sunk into the floor like
a moat around a castle and prevented him from getting to the machine. Even when standing on the
worm, Simon couldn’t quite reach the top of the ditch. The ancient Puds must have used the track
to haul out the rubble when they dug the tunnels. And the ditches, he realized, correlated with
the height of the big Puds.

    
Even the ancient Puds practiced slavery,
he thought to himself.

    While pondering this topic, Simon spotted a glint of metal shining near the
track below. An insatiable urge came over him to pick it up, but he didn't know why. The artifact
might help him convince the little Puds of his journey under the city, but it could also be a
trap. He felt like a moth drawn to a flame. Should he risk losing his ride for the chance at
getting a piece of worthless metal? The shard seemed to beckon him closer. He felt himself lean
towards it.

    Before the boy realized what he was doing, he slid off the worm and picked up
the strange object. He promptly thrust it into his pocket and ran back to his ride, but when he
tried to jump on, he slipped off the worm's rubbery exterior. After a few more attempts, Simon
finally clambered onto the giant creature.

    Terribly exhausted, he lay on his back and rested. The effects of the poison
crept into the joints of his left hand. He flexed his fingers to keep the numbness at bay and
wondered how long the poison would taunt him like this. Did he have minutes to live, or would the
spider venom string him along for days before it finally snuffed out his life?

    Simon closed his eyes and then remembered the artifact in his pocket. He
pulled it out and ran his fingers along the smooth surface. Paper-thin grooves decorated the
silver device. He wondered how it had kept its shine after all these years. Upon close
examination, Simon could find no discernable buttons to activate it. The internal batteries were
most likely dead anyway. It was probably just a child’s toy or trinket—hardly worth keeping.
Then, near the top of the object, Simon saw ancient words engraved in the metal, so he read them
aloud. “Holo-649.”

    “
Voice activation enabled.
” An elderly woman’s voice sounded. A needle shot out of the
device and pricked Simon on the wrist.

    “
Ouch!
” he yelled.

    The boy quickly sat up and looked over at the worm’s head, but the docile
creature didn’t seem to care that he had just raised his voice.

    “
DNA confirmed.
” A pleasant chime welcomed the image of a tiny hologram that fit in the
palm of Simon’s hand. “What is your request, Master Pentagola?” the old woman asked
pleasantly.