Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.
Riddick's Death
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston
Chapter Six: The Stand
They never collected much and so packing their lives onto their backs was easy. Each had a light pack and each carried knives, not guns. They each carried a crossbow. Riddick's was heavy, Jacqueline's light. And the quivers. They were ready to leave only a few hours after Jonathan had arrived.
Iman and Jonathan watched as the Riddick's boarded their small, modified shuttle and took off. Once they were gone they would told the pilgrims the truth about their pilots.
"And so," Iman said, concluding the story. "Riddick has been a horrible person. But I believe that he has mended his ways. He and his wife brought us here safely and have never harmed any one of us. And I know that he would not. I ask you for your forgiveness of my lies to you and the lies the Riddick's were forced to tell you."
Peter and David Johns arrived much earlier than they were expected, but the pilgrims were ready. Iman and Jonathan were at hand when their small craft landed on the small landing strip the Riddick's had built for their own small craft.
The Johns brothers were smiling when they left their craft. Their smiles only widened when they saw Iman.
"If it isn't the holy man who hides fugitives." David Johns said, in a friendly tone of voice. "I guess you're going to tell us that Riddick and his whore aren't here?"
Iman smiled broadly. "Welcome to Caliga." He said. "I am not going to tell you any such thing. The Riddick's are on this planet. They were our pilots. They brought us to this beautiful land of plenty and are friends to the entire community."
Peter Johns rolled his eyes. "Then your entire community can give them the funeral of the century." He said. "Where are they?"
Jonathan stepped beside Iman. "They left the village early this morning." He said. "They had no wish to put us in harms way. I do not know where they went, but they were headed that way." He motioned with his arm. "They took their shuttle, which isn't going to get them off of the planet."
David Johns looked suspiciously at the gathering villagers. "I've heard the story of them not being close before." He said. "This time we will search as long as it takes to find them." And he started forward.
Rose Shin stepped in his way. "I know they have sinned. But they have repented and made it up to us all." She said, almost desperately. "Leave them in peace."
David raised his hand and slapped Rose tot he ground. He raised his voice. "We will search this village for that murdering ass and if anyone gets in our way,"
His words were cut off by the high whine of a shuttle engine. He looked up, as did everyone in the village. The shuttle passed them so low that everyone was forced onto their bellies. It passed, rose into the air, hovered long enough for the Johns brothers to get a good look at it and took off at a high speed.
"That's them!" Peter screamed. "Come on, David!"
The Johns brothers raced to their shuttle and raced after the shuttle.
Riddick was glad for the few months they'd had to explore Caliga. He led the Johns brothers into the most dangerous areas, the mountain pass that divided the entire planet into hemispheres.
He frowned when the Johns brothers began firing at their shuttle. The shuttle he was piloting was not equipped to fire.
"They're going to shoot us down!" Jacqueline said. "Just like you thought."
Riddick nodded. "And we'll go down into the mountains" he said. "Perfect."
Jacqueline was less sure than her husband. She braced herself as one of the shots fired by the shuttle chasing them found its mark.
"Ready for some fun?" He asked as black smoke billowed behind them.
Riddick miraculously maneuvered the shuttle in for a landing. The shuttle slammed on top of the mountain and slid down fast and furious before coming to rest against a large tree.
Riddick and Jacqueline grabbed their gear and quickly exited the shuttle. The side of the mountain was against the setting sun and so was the first part of the planet to become dark. That was advantageous to them.
They heard the John's brother's shuttle landing well behind them. They skittered down the mountainside for a while before the mountain began to level out.
"Time to stand." Jacqueline murmured as they looked around the dark landscape.
The forest they were in was dense. They stood behind large trees and listened. And it was not half an hour before they heard the voices of the Johns brothers.
Peter shouted first, his voice echoing against the trees. "We are evenly matched, Riddick." He yelled. "Night vision goggles make it so we can see as easily as you."
Riddick smiled. "In this forest, night vision doesn't matter. We aren't the only four who can see in the dark, Johns."
David wondered aloud to his brother. "What's he talking about?"
Jacqueline answered him. "First of all, you are after us for a crime no one committed. Some night creature killed your brother, not Riddick."
"Do you really expect us to believe that, little girl?" David shouted back, still scanning the area looking for them. The echoes made location difficult.
"That doesn't matter. This will be a short-lived chase. We'll be lucky if they don't kill all of us." Riddick shouted.
Peter scoffed. "I don't believe there is a 'they', Riddick. Now come out and die like a man."
Riddick heard the sounds before the Johns brothers did and he and Jacqueline quickly moved on.
The spider was easily as tall as Peter Johns. He froze in panic when it ran out and bowled him over. He would surely have died if his brother had not acted. The spider returned and began its attack. Its fangs had barely touched Peter when David shot it, blowing it off of his brother.
David helped Peter to his feet. "Do you believe there is a 'they' now?" He asked, dryly.
Peter was panting. "That was an "It." He said, angrily.
"Then that makes them 'they'." David said, leveling his weapon over in his brother's direction.
Peter saw the move and whirled. He pulled out his pistol and shot the second spider, this one smaller than the first three times. The spider jittered and died.
Peter stood staring at the spider he'd just killed. He pointed to it with the pistol. "Male." Then he turned and looked with his brother at the first, larger spider. "Female."
"They hunt in pairs?" David asked.
"Looks like. And if it weren't for the night vision goggles we would be dead already." Peter said. He took a deep breath. "But spiders aren't particular. They'll be hunting all of us."
"He crashed here on purpose." David said. "I'm willing to bet those spiders don't go far from this range of mountains. We're in the middle of their territory."
Peter did not respond. He was looking around. He slowly walked in the direction the spiders had come from.
"They went that way." David said, frowning and pointing in the opposite direction.
"I want to know where these spiders came from." Peter said. "Might give us some clues how to avoid them." He walked a bit further. "There." He said, pointing.
In the green of the night-vision goggles David and Peter saw the huge tree. It had been broken or chewed through just before the tree began to taper off. They could see the web material overflowing the tops of the obviously hollowed out tree. "They nested there." Peter said as his brother came up beside him.
"We must have disturbed them when we chased the Riddick's down here." David said. "Or they disturbed them coming down here. One or the other." He shuddered. "Fucking spiders." He groaned. "Wonderful!"
"We've dealt with worse." Peter said, turning around and heading back to the dead spiders. He raised his night-vision goggles. He saw the spider was covered in thin fur and lavender. "Pretty." He murmured. "I just hope we get to Riddick and his whore before these spiders do." David looked at his brother a moment. "I'd hate to lose out on the opportunity of killing them myself."
Jacqueline watched as the giant spider dragged the little remaining part of its prey up the trunk of its tree and disappeared inside. "Beautiful." She breathed.
Riddick simply nodded, enraptured with the animal. They watched a moment longer then moved on. They jogged past several more of the spiders' nests before they stopped again.
"We can run around like this until we get lucky." Riddick said. "But I think it would be best if we got our friends to help us." He nodded towards the trees where they could see three of the spiders' nests. Behind them they saw another three. The arachnids effectively surrounded them.
Jacqueline pursed her lips. "Hands free kill." She murmured. "Basically we don't kill them. We let the spiders do it for us?"
"Exactly." Riddick said. "I didn't kill their brother. I'm not going to kill them."
Jacqueline nodded again. "Well, we know the spiders are really passive until provoked. Then they tear up anything that moves. They'll take the pieces back to their nest. Those spiderlings will have hatched by now. Hungry little babies to feed."
Riddick nodded, looking around. He pointed to a tree a few feet away. "We'll climb up there. Lay in the high branches. Stay as still as possible, Jacqueline. If they come after us, instead of the Johns brothers." He sighed. "That would seriously fuck up my plan."
Jacqueline grinned. "I was about to say the same thing to you, Benjamin."
They climbed the mammoth trees until they were well above the height the spiders usually lobbed off the trees. The used their knives to gain purchase against the bark. It was a tough climb, but they both made it. They lay each on a separate branch, but close to each other.
Each of them prepared their crossbows with the bolts they'd made themselves. Long ago they had given up on most conventional weapons. Weapon brought attention and they had always avoided attention. Riddick taught Jacqueline how to handle knives and together they had learned and mastered crossbows.
They could reach their quivers for more bolts if they needed them. Each had fifteen bolts. After they were spent they would have to resort to their knives if they still needed to defend themselves.
And they waited.
They heard the Johns brothers even before they saw them. Neither Riddick made a sound. When the Johns brothers were within the imagined perimeter Jacqueline fired first.
The bolt hit just inside of the spiders nest, making the entire top of the nest vibrate. The reaction was quick. Both the male and female spider came rushing out. They had sharp eyes and quickly saw the Johns brothers.
The second both brothers were turning in the direction of the first two spiders, Riddick loosed his bolt in the opposite direction.
"Jesus!" they heard Peter Johns scream as he opened fire along with his brother on the four advancing spiders.
Both Riddick's now sent bolts into two more spiders' nests, disturbing four more spiders into attacking. They prepared their crossbows again, but held their fire. They remained motionless and watched the scene below unfold.
The Johns brothers were unprepared for such a vicious attack. They killed the original two spiders and one of the second pair. It was then their troubles began. They ran out of ammunition.
David Johns was grabbed in the pincers of a small male. He realized then that the spiders were not poisonous, as they had assumed. He did not die immediately.
Peter Johns watched as the male began to pull his screeching brother away. He was so fascinated he did not see the large female come from behind him and grab him by the shoulders with her pincers.
The brothers screamed and watched each other as they were dragged in opposite directions. David Johns was grabbed by the head in a female's pincers. His screams were cut off as she ripped his head off. Immediately another male came up and began a tug-of-war for the corpse. The two males fought briefly over what was left of David Johns. He was ripped at the waist and then the first spider to grab him won most of his torso, leaving the other male with only his arm.
Peter Johns saw little of this. Grabbed and lifted by one of the three female spiders he found himself surrounded. Two other females grabbed him. One grabbed his legs and the other his head. He did not know which parted his body first; his legs or his head.
It was over in less than thirty seconds. Jacqueline and Riddick watched motionless as the spiders, having ripped the bodies apart now began fighting each other. It was as if they'd fought together only to turn on each other. Riddick was very glad he'd spent the time he needed to study these creatures.
The three females first turned on the four males, killing them quickly and ripping their legs off. The slowest female was still ripping at the corpse of a male when the other two females attacked her. They killed her in less than a minute and then they turned on each other.
The remaining two females squared off, waving their front legs at each other. They seemed to move closer to each other and then back off. They circled each other menanacingly.
Shrugging his shoulders ever so slightly, Riddick gave the signal. Jacqueline and Riddick shot their prepared bolts into a spider each. Jacqueline's bold killed her spider immediately, burying itself in the spider from head to furry purple abdomen.
Riddick's spider spun, a bold buried in its abdomen. It whirled around immediately and seemed to fixate on the tree Riddick and Jacqueline were in. With lightening quickness it charged the tree.
Riddick got another bolt in it before it reached the tree, but it barely slowed the spider. Jacqueline aimed at the spider quickly began climbing the tree. Her bolt went into the spider from head to abdomen and coming out the back of the spider, burying its tip in the soft ground.
The spider froze, tottered and fell onto the bolt in the ground, impaling itself.
Riddick stared at the corpse a moment, and then turned his head to his wife. "Do you know hoe jealous I am that you are better with a crossbow than I am?"
Jacqueline chuckled. "But no one can throw a knife like you can, Benjamin. No one. And if we had a pistol or rifle,"
"You are as good as I am with pistols and rifles." He said, interrupting her. "I taught you everything you know. You're going to have to help me with the crossbow. I obviously need more practice."
Jacqueline smiled. "Maybe we'll run into some more spiders on our way out of this forest."
Riddick snorted, smiled and looked again at the spider at the base of the tree. "I'm looking forward to it." He said, dryly.
Rose could hardly see anything in the pale dawn. She watched the sky anxiously.
"I'm sure they're fine, Rose." Jonathan said, coming beside her and putting his arm around her shoulder.
Rose was shaking slightly. "Pray so, husband. But it's been two days." She murmured. Suddenly she stiffened and pointed. "Look! Jonathan. A shuttle."
They ran in the early morning fog to the landing strip where they found Iman already waiting for them. They watched the shape approach in the heavy morning fog. It approached slowly.
Rose whimpered. "It's not them. That shuttle isn't theirs. It belongs to those horrid brothers." She began to cry.
The shuttle landed smoothly and the main doors began to open. Rose stopped shocked as two large bags were tossed out of the shuttle and onto the pad. One bag was drenched in a purple liquid and the other in a pale blue liquid.
Rose squealed in joy and ran to greet Jacqueline when she came walking out of the shuttle with her husband. Jacqueline was almost knocked over.
"I was so worried!" Rose sobbed. "Are you alright?"
Jacqueline smiled at her friend. "Of course I'm alright." She said, as if Rose had just asked a silly question.
Iman looked thoroughly relieved as he approached and shook Riddick's hand. "I am glad to see you alive." He said. "Where are the Johns brothers?"
Riddick remained deadpan. "Which part?" He said. "Those spiders we told you about. The ones that live in the mountains? They got 'em."
Iman grimaced. Jonathan was looking at the bags. "What are these?" he asked.
"Meat." Riddick said, simply. After a moment's pause he said. "The purple one is a baby spider. Try them before you turn your nose up, Jonathan." He said, noting Jonathan's look of disgust. "The blue one is a pig like animal the spiders like to feed on."
Jonathan did not look impressed, but took the bags away anyway. Rose followed him after giving Jacqueline a final look over.
Iman looked at the Riddick's. "They will come looking for the Johns brothers." He said, looking concerned.
"I know they will." Riddick said. "Tell them the secret to keeping the spiders calm and they should be able to find what's left of their bodies. Tell them whatever you want. Just keep us out of it, please."
Iman nodded. "You will be leaving us now?" He asked, sounding a little sad.
Jacqueline grinned. "We won't go far, Iman." She said. "We will always stay close to you."
Iman smiled as he watched the Riddick's adjourn into their home on the lake.
Riddick's Death
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston
Chapter Six: The Stand
They never collected much and so packing their lives onto their backs was easy. Each had a light pack and each carried knives, not guns. They each carried a crossbow. Riddick's was heavy, Jacqueline's light. And the quivers. They were ready to leave only a few hours after Jonathan had arrived.
Iman and Jonathan watched as the Riddick's boarded their small, modified shuttle and took off. Once they were gone they would told the pilgrims the truth about their pilots.
"And so," Iman said, concluding the story. "Riddick has been a horrible person. But I believe that he has mended his ways. He and his wife brought us here safely and have never harmed any one of us. And I know that he would not. I ask you for your forgiveness of my lies to you and the lies the Riddick's were forced to tell you."
Peter and David Johns arrived much earlier than they were expected, but the pilgrims were ready. Iman and Jonathan were at hand when their small craft landed on the small landing strip the Riddick's had built for their own small craft.
The Johns brothers were smiling when they left their craft. Their smiles only widened when they saw Iman.
"If it isn't the holy man who hides fugitives." David Johns said, in a friendly tone of voice. "I guess you're going to tell us that Riddick and his whore aren't here?"
Iman smiled broadly. "Welcome to Caliga." He said. "I am not going to tell you any such thing. The Riddick's are on this planet. They were our pilots. They brought us to this beautiful land of plenty and are friends to the entire community."
Peter Johns rolled his eyes. "Then your entire community can give them the funeral of the century." He said. "Where are they?"
Jonathan stepped beside Iman. "They left the village early this morning." He said. "They had no wish to put us in harms way. I do not know where they went, but they were headed that way." He motioned with his arm. "They took their shuttle, which isn't going to get them off of the planet."
David Johns looked suspiciously at the gathering villagers. "I've heard the story of them not being close before." He said. "This time we will search as long as it takes to find them." And he started forward.
Rose Shin stepped in his way. "I know they have sinned. But they have repented and made it up to us all." She said, almost desperately. "Leave them in peace."
David raised his hand and slapped Rose tot he ground. He raised his voice. "We will search this village for that murdering ass and if anyone gets in our way,"
His words were cut off by the high whine of a shuttle engine. He looked up, as did everyone in the village. The shuttle passed them so low that everyone was forced onto their bellies. It passed, rose into the air, hovered long enough for the Johns brothers to get a good look at it and took off at a high speed.
"That's them!" Peter screamed. "Come on, David!"
The Johns brothers raced to their shuttle and raced after the shuttle.
Riddick was glad for the few months they'd had to explore Caliga. He led the Johns brothers into the most dangerous areas, the mountain pass that divided the entire planet into hemispheres.
He frowned when the Johns brothers began firing at their shuttle. The shuttle he was piloting was not equipped to fire.
"They're going to shoot us down!" Jacqueline said. "Just like you thought."
Riddick nodded. "And we'll go down into the mountains" he said. "Perfect."
Jacqueline was less sure than her husband. She braced herself as one of the shots fired by the shuttle chasing them found its mark.
"Ready for some fun?" He asked as black smoke billowed behind them.
Riddick miraculously maneuvered the shuttle in for a landing. The shuttle slammed on top of the mountain and slid down fast and furious before coming to rest against a large tree.
Riddick and Jacqueline grabbed their gear and quickly exited the shuttle. The side of the mountain was against the setting sun and so was the first part of the planet to become dark. That was advantageous to them.
They heard the John's brother's shuttle landing well behind them. They skittered down the mountainside for a while before the mountain began to level out.
"Time to stand." Jacqueline murmured as they looked around the dark landscape.
The forest they were in was dense. They stood behind large trees and listened. And it was not half an hour before they heard the voices of the Johns brothers.
Peter shouted first, his voice echoing against the trees. "We are evenly matched, Riddick." He yelled. "Night vision goggles make it so we can see as easily as you."
Riddick smiled. "In this forest, night vision doesn't matter. We aren't the only four who can see in the dark, Johns."
David wondered aloud to his brother. "What's he talking about?"
Jacqueline answered him. "First of all, you are after us for a crime no one committed. Some night creature killed your brother, not Riddick."
"Do you really expect us to believe that, little girl?" David shouted back, still scanning the area looking for them. The echoes made location difficult.
"That doesn't matter. This will be a short-lived chase. We'll be lucky if they don't kill all of us." Riddick shouted.
Peter scoffed. "I don't believe there is a 'they', Riddick. Now come out and die like a man."
Riddick heard the sounds before the Johns brothers did and he and Jacqueline quickly moved on.
The spider was easily as tall as Peter Johns. He froze in panic when it ran out and bowled him over. He would surely have died if his brother had not acted. The spider returned and began its attack. Its fangs had barely touched Peter when David shot it, blowing it off of his brother.
David helped Peter to his feet. "Do you believe there is a 'they' now?" He asked, dryly.
Peter was panting. "That was an "It." He said, angrily.
"Then that makes them 'they'." David said, leveling his weapon over in his brother's direction.
Peter saw the move and whirled. He pulled out his pistol and shot the second spider, this one smaller than the first three times. The spider jittered and died.
Peter stood staring at the spider he'd just killed. He pointed to it with the pistol. "Male." Then he turned and looked with his brother at the first, larger spider. "Female."
"They hunt in pairs?" David asked.
"Looks like. And if it weren't for the night vision goggles we would be dead already." Peter said. He took a deep breath. "But spiders aren't particular. They'll be hunting all of us."
"He crashed here on purpose." David said. "I'm willing to bet those spiders don't go far from this range of mountains. We're in the middle of their territory."
Peter did not respond. He was looking around. He slowly walked in the direction the spiders had come from.
"They went that way." David said, frowning and pointing in the opposite direction.
"I want to know where these spiders came from." Peter said. "Might give us some clues how to avoid them." He walked a bit further. "There." He said, pointing.
In the green of the night-vision goggles David and Peter saw the huge tree. It had been broken or chewed through just before the tree began to taper off. They could see the web material overflowing the tops of the obviously hollowed out tree. "They nested there." Peter said as his brother came up beside him.
"We must have disturbed them when we chased the Riddick's down here." David said. "Or they disturbed them coming down here. One or the other." He shuddered. "Fucking spiders." He groaned. "Wonderful!"
"We've dealt with worse." Peter said, turning around and heading back to the dead spiders. He raised his night-vision goggles. He saw the spider was covered in thin fur and lavender. "Pretty." He murmured. "I just hope we get to Riddick and his whore before these spiders do." David looked at his brother a moment. "I'd hate to lose out on the opportunity of killing them myself."
Jacqueline watched as the giant spider dragged the little remaining part of its prey up the trunk of its tree and disappeared inside. "Beautiful." She breathed.
Riddick simply nodded, enraptured with the animal. They watched a moment longer then moved on. They jogged past several more of the spiders' nests before they stopped again.
"We can run around like this until we get lucky." Riddick said. "But I think it would be best if we got our friends to help us." He nodded towards the trees where they could see three of the spiders' nests. Behind them they saw another three. The arachnids effectively surrounded them.
Jacqueline pursed her lips. "Hands free kill." She murmured. "Basically we don't kill them. We let the spiders do it for us?"
"Exactly." Riddick said. "I didn't kill their brother. I'm not going to kill them."
Jacqueline nodded again. "Well, we know the spiders are really passive until provoked. Then they tear up anything that moves. They'll take the pieces back to their nest. Those spiderlings will have hatched by now. Hungry little babies to feed."
Riddick nodded, looking around. He pointed to a tree a few feet away. "We'll climb up there. Lay in the high branches. Stay as still as possible, Jacqueline. If they come after us, instead of the Johns brothers." He sighed. "That would seriously fuck up my plan."
Jacqueline grinned. "I was about to say the same thing to you, Benjamin."
They climbed the mammoth trees until they were well above the height the spiders usually lobbed off the trees. The used their knives to gain purchase against the bark. It was a tough climb, but they both made it. They lay each on a separate branch, but close to each other.
Each of them prepared their crossbows with the bolts they'd made themselves. Long ago they had given up on most conventional weapons. Weapon brought attention and they had always avoided attention. Riddick taught Jacqueline how to handle knives and together they had learned and mastered crossbows.
They could reach their quivers for more bolts if they needed them. Each had fifteen bolts. After they were spent they would have to resort to their knives if they still needed to defend themselves.
And they waited.
They heard the Johns brothers even before they saw them. Neither Riddick made a sound. When the Johns brothers were within the imagined perimeter Jacqueline fired first.
The bolt hit just inside of the spiders nest, making the entire top of the nest vibrate. The reaction was quick. Both the male and female spider came rushing out. They had sharp eyes and quickly saw the Johns brothers.
The second both brothers were turning in the direction of the first two spiders, Riddick loosed his bolt in the opposite direction.
"Jesus!" they heard Peter Johns scream as he opened fire along with his brother on the four advancing spiders.
Both Riddick's now sent bolts into two more spiders' nests, disturbing four more spiders into attacking. They prepared their crossbows again, but held their fire. They remained motionless and watched the scene below unfold.
The Johns brothers were unprepared for such a vicious attack. They killed the original two spiders and one of the second pair. It was then their troubles began. They ran out of ammunition.
David Johns was grabbed in the pincers of a small male. He realized then that the spiders were not poisonous, as they had assumed. He did not die immediately.
Peter Johns watched as the male began to pull his screeching brother away. He was so fascinated he did not see the large female come from behind him and grab him by the shoulders with her pincers.
The brothers screamed and watched each other as they were dragged in opposite directions. David Johns was grabbed by the head in a female's pincers. His screams were cut off as she ripped his head off. Immediately another male came up and began a tug-of-war for the corpse. The two males fought briefly over what was left of David Johns. He was ripped at the waist and then the first spider to grab him won most of his torso, leaving the other male with only his arm.
Peter Johns saw little of this. Grabbed and lifted by one of the three female spiders he found himself surrounded. Two other females grabbed him. One grabbed his legs and the other his head. He did not know which parted his body first; his legs or his head.
It was over in less than thirty seconds. Jacqueline and Riddick watched motionless as the spiders, having ripped the bodies apart now began fighting each other. It was as if they'd fought together only to turn on each other. Riddick was very glad he'd spent the time he needed to study these creatures.
The three females first turned on the four males, killing them quickly and ripping their legs off. The slowest female was still ripping at the corpse of a male when the other two females attacked her. They killed her in less than a minute and then they turned on each other.
The remaining two females squared off, waving their front legs at each other. They seemed to move closer to each other and then back off. They circled each other menanacingly.
Shrugging his shoulders ever so slightly, Riddick gave the signal. Jacqueline and Riddick shot their prepared bolts into a spider each. Jacqueline's bold killed her spider immediately, burying itself in the spider from head to furry purple abdomen.
Riddick's spider spun, a bold buried in its abdomen. It whirled around immediately and seemed to fixate on the tree Riddick and Jacqueline were in. With lightening quickness it charged the tree.
Riddick got another bolt in it before it reached the tree, but it barely slowed the spider. Jacqueline aimed at the spider quickly began climbing the tree. Her bolt went into the spider from head to abdomen and coming out the back of the spider, burying its tip in the soft ground.
The spider froze, tottered and fell onto the bolt in the ground, impaling itself.
Riddick stared at the corpse a moment, and then turned his head to his wife. "Do you know hoe jealous I am that you are better with a crossbow than I am?"
Jacqueline chuckled. "But no one can throw a knife like you can, Benjamin. No one. And if we had a pistol or rifle,"
"You are as good as I am with pistols and rifles." He said, interrupting her. "I taught you everything you know. You're going to have to help me with the crossbow. I obviously need more practice."
Jacqueline smiled. "Maybe we'll run into some more spiders on our way out of this forest."
Riddick snorted, smiled and looked again at the spider at the base of the tree. "I'm looking forward to it." He said, dryly.
Rose could hardly see anything in the pale dawn. She watched the sky anxiously.
"I'm sure they're fine, Rose." Jonathan said, coming beside her and putting his arm around her shoulder.
Rose was shaking slightly. "Pray so, husband. But it's been two days." She murmured. Suddenly she stiffened and pointed. "Look! Jonathan. A shuttle."
They ran in the early morning fog to the landing strip where they found Iman already waiting for them. They watched the shape approach in the heavy morning fog. It approached slowly.
Rose whimpered. "It's not them. That shuttle isn't theirs. It belongs to those horrid brothers." She began to cry.
The shuttle landed smoothly and the main doors began to open. Rose stopped shocked as two large bags were tossed out of the shuttle and onto the pad. One bag was drenched in a purple liquid and the other in a pale blue liquid.
Rose squealed in joy and ran to greet Jacqueline when she came walking out of the shuttle with her husband. Jacqueline was almost knocked over.
"I was so worried!" Rose sobbed. "Are you alright?"
Jacqueline smiled at her friend. "Of course I'm alright." She said, as if Rose had just asked a silly question.
Iman looked thoroughly relieved as he approached and shook Riddick's hand. "I am glad to see you alive." He said. "Where are the Johns brothers?"
Riddick remained deadpan. "Which part?" He said. "Those spiders we told you about. The ones that live in the mountains? They got 'em."
Iman grimaced. Jonathan was looking at the bags. "What are these?" he asked.
"Meat." Riddick said, simply. After a moment's pause he said. "The purple one is a baby spider. Try them before you turn your nose up, Jonathan." He said, noting Jonathan's look of disgust. "The blue one is a pig like animal the spiders like to feed on."
Jonathan did not look impressed, but took the bags away anyway. Rose followed him after giving Jacqueline a final look over.
Iman looked at the Riddick's. "They will come looking for the Johns brothers." He said, looking concerned.
"I know they will." Riddick said. "Tell them the secret to keeping the spiders calm and they should be able to find what's left of their bodies. Tell them whatever you want. Just keep us out of it, please."
Iman nodded. "You will be leaving us now?" He asked, sounding a little sad.
Jacqueline grinned. "We won't go far, Iman." She said. "We will always stay close to you."
Iman smiled as he watched the Riddick's adjourn into their home on the lake.