I’m not sure how to answer that. “Possibly yes? I don’t want to be a bother.”
For a second, his mouth ghosts up into a hint of a smile. “After I took the time to keep Aron occupied so we could speak privately?”
Well that’s completely unnerving. “You…did?”
“Are you not curious about how you got here from your world?”
My mouth hangs open. I’m shocked. Of all the things I thought we were coming here for, that wasn’t on the list. But it’s a piece of information I’m desperate to have. “How did you know I’m not from here?” I clutch the webbed football to my chest. “Did Aron tell you?”
He gestures at the singing web, his weird, unfixed gaze on me. “I know everything. He did not tell me. He would not share a secret that would compromise you.”
For some reason, I take that as a compliment. It just reminds me that Aron’s surprisingly decent when he wants to be. “So you know how to send me back to Earth?” I mean, if he knows everything, he’ll surely know that. “You know how I got here, and how I get back, right?”
The Spidae gestures at the web again, his movements elegant. “Come. Let me show you something.”
As he glides forward, I follow after him, careful not to step on his flowing robes. He approaches the web, and as he does, the singing increases, as if welcoming him. He moves so close that it’s almost as if the strands are flowing around him, pulling him into their web. They’re alive around him, whereas when I came closer, they were just strings. Just shiny threads. With him here, though, they’re a symphony of light and color and sound.
It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
He reaches out and gestures at one section of the web, swiping his hand to the side as if swiping right on the biggest dating site ever. That casual flick sends the strands fluttering away, and then he pulls at open air. One shining, bright golden strand fills with light, and I step forward to get a better look at it, fascinated.
“This is Aron,” the Spidae says. He holds the thread delicately, and as I lean in, I can see where dozens of other threads cling to it, crossing over back and forth at various spots. The Spidae gestures again. “The other threads are where he meets with other mortals, where he intersects in their lives. Humanity is a web, crossing back and forth over one another, interweaving. No thread stands alone. Do you understand?”
I follow the beautiful thread of Aron’s, gazing up to see how high it goes, and I’m not entirely surprised to see that it extends far beyond the rest of the web, stretching high into the shadows. “Why does it go so much farther up?”
“Because he is anchored to the High Father’s realm. The Aether. Once he is torn from the mortal tangle and the Anticipation is complete, he will no longer be connected here.” The Spidae points at the web, and near his finger, I can see where the shining golden strand splits into three different threads. “He is still anchored there, to the cosmos above.” He gestures up, and when I glance overhead at the shadows, I see nothing but darkness, and it’s easy to imagine the thread leading all the way up to the heavens. “Each thread must follow its path to completion.”
I lean in, gazing at the split in the threads and the messy snarl of what looks like nothing but tangles. Paths crossing, he said. Lives interweaving with one another. Despite my worries, it’s fascinating. I follow Aron’s thread and notice the loose string dangling on one end, cut free from its moorings. I point at it and look over at my companion. “Liar Aron?”
He nods.
It creeps me out to see that loose thread sitting there, dead. It’s what we had to do, of course, but I still don’t like to see it. Farther up, I see another loose strand made of shining gold, and I wonder if it’s Tadekha. Hedonism Tadekha. I follow that thread as far as I can, but I can only see two connections left.
I return to Aron’s thread, gazing at it closely. “Where am I? If I’m Aron’s anchor, shouldn’t I be in the weave here somewhere?”
The Spidae smiles, and I can’t decide if it’s a creepy gesture or a fascinating one. “You catch on quickly, my dear. Allow me