Spider-Bots Rising

Chapter Thirteen: The Edge

In the Dreamscape it is often difficult to tell day from night. Light and time act strangely in the land of dreams. When the party awoke, they found the storm looming darkly overhead. The storm made it impossible to see either sun or stars.

Dark sinister clouds hung low in the sky. Deep and dangerous growls of thunder echoed across the plains. But no lightning sliced through the air. Not a single raindrop had yet fallen to the ground.

"We should go on," the Dreamseeker said, trying to sound calm as she looked out across the flat land below. "We don't know how long we have before the storm hits. And every minute we waste, Queen Arachni could be getting stronger."

So, yawning and stretching, everyone got to their feet. They climbed carefully down the rough red rock face until they were back on the ground. Except for Nigel, of course, who bobbed gently in the air.

"We need to go that way," Nigel said, turning gracefully. He was pointing to the flattest and emptiest place on the horizon. Not a rock, nor even a bump in the earth could be seen.

"Uhhh," Chuck said scratching his moustache. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there ain't nothin' over there, Nigel."

"Exactly!" said Nigel, looking very pleased. "Well said, Chuck! There isn't nothing over there. There's a whole lot of something over there. That's where the canyon is! And that's where The World Wide Web is being kept."

"Oh, right. The, uh, the canyon...That's right."

Abby shuffled towards Chuck. "A c-canyon is a gigantic cleft or crack between cliffs left by a river over millions of–"

"I know what a canyon is!" Chuck growled, folding his arms.

"Just. Trying. To. Help," Abby replied innocently. "You s-s-seemed confused by your inability to s-see the canyon. You cannot see the canyon from here because the canyon is below us."

"I KNOW WHAT A CANYON IS!" Chuck shouted, his ears flopping wildly.

"You see, when w-w-we get to the edge, we will be able to look down into the canyon."

"Oh forget it!" Chuck said in a huff. He walked off in the direction Nigel had pointed.

Abby winked her sensors at the others and ran after him. Smiling, Nigel and the Dreamseeker followed.

They walked for hours. The desert was much larger than it had seemed at first. With no landmarks to judge the distance by, it felt like they were not moving forward at all. It seemed that time itself was standing still.

The air was heavy around them. And it seemed to be getting heavier the longer they walked. It reminded the Dreamseeker of how it had felt inside the Duskmare Forest, close to Aranay's nest. The air had felt thick then too, but she had thought it was because the air was full of moisture. Now it almost seemed to crackle. Like the air itself was electric.

Sure enough, at one point Chuck sneezed and sent sparks flying out of his nose. His moustache almost went up in flames. "It's all this dumb dust..." he grumbled nervously. "Upsettin' my allergies..."

Finally they reached the edge of the canyon. As they got closer, it looked like the land was splitting in two before their eyes. The canyon was miles and miles wide. It was so wide the Dreamseeker couldn't see where it ended.

They crept up to the lip slowly and carefully. They stayed low and quiet, unsure of how close the bots were. Even Nigel wriggled along the ground, coating his belly in the red dust.

When they peered over the edge, their jaws fell open.

The canyon dropped away at least two miles beneath them. Looking down into it was like suddenly lying on top of a very tall skyscraper. It made the Dreamseeker feel dizzy. The jagged rocks disappeared below into shadow and darkness. It was so deep the bottom of the canyon was just a sliver of absolute blackness.

Except for one small bright point of light.

Far below them, the Dreamseeker could see what looked like a glowing orb. From where she was lying, it looked like a tiny green marble. She was pretty sure she knew what it was: The World Wide Web.

A crash of thunder rolled over their heads making everyone jump.

The Dreamseeker had to look away from the light. It was almost too bright, even at this distance. And as she turned her eyes back towards the canyon walls beneath them, they adjusted to the darkness. Then she saw something else. Something that made her skin break out in goosebumps.

Spider-bots. Hundreds of them. Thousands of them. They were crawling everywhere.

They streamed down the rock face in a never-ending swarm. From the edge of the canyon, their red sensors gave off only the faintest glow. Their dark shiny bodies barely stood out against the shadowy cliffs. It looked like the canyon walls were alive, squirming. The bots crawled out of every nook and cranny in the canyon walls. There were more spider-bots than she had ever seen in her life.

And they were all heading straight for that little glowing orb.