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‘What do you need a date for, Gunda?’ Padan asked curiously

‘I was talking with Andar back in Castano a while back, and we both agreed that Jalkan’s deathday should be a national holiday in the Empire’

‘Deathday?’ Padan asked curiously

‘That’s like a birthday, but when it involves Jalkan "deathday" is a lot nicer than "birthday", wouldn’t you say?’

‘You won’t get any argurossly fat companion over the barricade, and then he numbly followed - for alan to claw at the fine-spun web that had just snared hinored his cries for help and rushed on toward the glea out to the horizon from no more than a few feet ahead of him

Then he too came to an abrupt stop as the silken web snared hi?’ Gunda asked

‘Very strong,’ I assured hile, the ’

Then the hard-shelled spider ca out fro-place just beyond the barricade and quickly spunto hold its two captivesall that ti webs?’ Gunda asked curiously ‘Why doesn’t it just kill them and have done with it?’

‘I don’t think you really want to know, Gunda,’ I advised him

‘Yes, as a ht, then,’ I said ‘Spiders spin webs to snare creatures to eat, but spiders don’t have mandibles like other insects do, so spider-venoestive fluid that liquefies the internal organs - and the flesh - of its victim Then the spider sucks that liquid out of the victih, doesn’t it?’

‘It paralyzes them, but it’s not instantly lethal like snake-veno venom as a means to store food for later’