Instead
she stood paralyzed in the center of the floor, staring with total
disbelief into the eyes of certain death.
Only the spider's cautious hesitation saved them. Seizing her by the
arm, Kalus forced her hurriedly toward the opening above her bed. Here
the wall sloped sharply to meet it. Helping her up the pitted incline,
they entered a broad and irregular chimney in the rock. Followed by the
girl he began winding his way up through the spiraling, almost vertical
passageway.
'Wait!' cried the girl, regaining her senses. 'What about the
wolf?'
'He will have to fend for himself!' retorted Kalus angrily.
Taking her by the arm once more, he forced her onward.
Seeing a pale yellow light filter down from above, he finally relented,
slowing their pace. Stopping to rest on a narrow ledge far beyond the
point where the spider could reach them, he felt his heart pounding
uncontrollably. As it did so it sent angry waves of blood pulsing
sharply through his veins, aggravating the deep head wound he had
sustained the day before. The pain, though not excruciating, combined
with the fear and frustration of the moment to form the totally negative
and inescapably fatalistic frame of mind which had haunted him since
childhood. All his thoughts, worded and otherwise, now seemed to crash
in upon themselves like the breaking of a wave, crushing and smothering
every positive impulse, every hopeful thought inside him.
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