05 The Web

CHAPTER 5 THE WEB The spider dangled above them. It was twice as tall as Blaze and had a huge, round body. Tag held out his dagger with a shaky wing. Claw grabbed a rock in his talon, and Blaze's feathers lit up. "Please don't hurt us!" Skyla cried.

The spider watched the friends for a moment with her beady eyes. Then she giggled. "I won't hurt you," she said. "I heard your cries and came to help!" Tag frowned. "You don't want to eat us?" he asked. The spider laughed. "Why would I want to eat you? You are covered in fur and feathers!" Tag sagged with relief. "Then could you please let our friend down?" Blaze asked.

The spider crawled onto her web. Skyla squeezed her eyes shut as the spider snipped the threads with her sharp teeth. Finally, Skyla was free. "Thank you!" Skyla said, brushing pieces of web from her fur. "You're welcome." The spider smiled. "I'm Winnie." "I'm Skyla. These are my friends Tag, Blaze, and Claw," Skyla replied. "Have you lived in the jungle long?" Blaze asked. Winnie dropped to the ground. "All my life," she said.

"Have you ever seen any flrehawks here?" Blaze asked hopefully. "They look like me." Winnie thought for a moment. "Sorry," she said. "We don't get many visitors." "We?" Claw asked. "My mother and me," the spider said. "And all my brothers and sisters." She pointed to the trees above, which were covered in webs. The vines hung over into the temple through the broken roof. Tag gulped, hoping that the other spiders wouldn't show up too soon.

"There is something you might want to see," Winnie said. They followed Winnie and found themselves in a large, open hall. "Look at the floor," Winnie said. There were four flat stones in the middle of the room. Each one had strange markings scratched into it. Skyla brushed away dust and dirt with her tail. "Look!" she gasped. Blaze hopped closer. "Those are feathers," she said. Each stone held a picture of a long golden feather.

"Is that what you were looking for?" Winnie asked. "Maybe," Blaze said. "We could be looking for a portal. It is a magical door to another place." "How do you open a portal?" Winnie asked. "We'd need a magical object," Claw said. Tag glanced at Blaze and nodded. "We have golden feathers," Blaze said. "Show him, Tag."