Read Frog and the Sandspiders of Aridian for Free Online

digging his fingers into the fruit again.
    â€˜You need to spit out the seeds,’ said Ameer.
    â€˜Don't they taste very nice?’ asked Billy.
    â€˜No,’ said Ameer. ‘And they are poisonous.’
    Billy decided that he no longer wanted any more of the fruit, despite Ameer assuring him that as long as he didn't swallow too many of the seeds he would be all right. Billy also passed on the dried lizard's tongues and crystallised sand beetles, choosing to quietly sip his drink instead.
    When they had all finished eating and Cassaria and Ameer had cleared away the dishes, they all sat around the low table, drinking a refreshing green tea, which, to Billy's relief, had no hidden ingredients or dangers.
    â€˜How much does Billy know of the Dimensions and your previous visit to Castellion?’ Cassaria asked Frog.
    â€˜He has a rough idea of what happened on Castellion, but like me he does not know why he is here and what is happening,’ replied Frog.
    â€˜Let me start with Aridian,’ said Cassaria.
    â€˜For many generations, the good people of Aridian have existed and lived beneath the dry, scorched landscape, for it is here, below the world's surface, that the liquid of life is found – water.
    â€˜This is a world within a world, underground. The people live away from the desolate and hostile desert; their dwellings and communities are hewn into the bedrock of Aridian. Enormous caverns, vast enough to contain great lakes and watercourses, honeycomb throughout the sub-surface. Hot springs rise and give off steam as part of an underground ecosystem, which creates its own atmosphere where clouds of condensation gather and fall as rain.
    â€˜These organic, crystallised rocks grow on Aridian's surface.’ She indicated to several of them around the room. ‘They are fed by the twin sun's rays and, in turn, collect and store its power. The rocks generate heat and light according to their size, but the lifespan of even the largest is only about three months at the most. Then the rocks become a soft, brittle material that crumbles into coarse sand.
    The crystal formations are protected and carefully maintained by the Aridian people, who regularly harvest them and transport them below ground to provide light and heat. Without the rocks, we would have to live a life governed by flame and firelight. Eventually smoke would choke and pollute our subterranean atmosphere and poison our water sources, leaving us to either perish in cold darkness or face the furnace of Aridian's surface.
    â€˜Our diet consists of a variety of root vegetables and fruit that grow on vines in the large undergroundgardens; these are fed by the mineral-rich water and are constantly bathed in the light from rock crystals. Apart from smaller catches like Serpens, our fresh meat supply comes mainly from the herds of large lizard-like animals called Saurs that are resident to Aridian. They are the largest predator of this world, feeding mainly on the smaller reptiles, other snakes, insects and spiders. We keep some stock underground and when that gets low we send out hunting parties to replenish it. Our clothes and material comes from spider silk, which is produced at Pelmore, one of our underground communities.’ She paused to take a drink.
    â€˜In the history of the Dimension that is Aridian, this world once had water on its surface along with an abundant green landscape. Its people lived in peace and prosperity. Then, the distant sun, which gave us warmth and light, suddenly underwent a meta-morphosis, splitting itself into two twin orbs. Their heat intensified over a period of time and scorched and parched Aridian's surface, dried up the rivers and lakes and burnt away the atmosphere. Thousands of the population died before the alternative safe havens below the surface were developed and inhabited.
    â€˜Not all Aridians felt that this was the right existence and some saw no future living in the deep