Gregor surveys the scene in shock and realizes that, for a moment, they were all here—all twelve of the beings from The Prophecy of Gray. He reads the prophecy over, knowing that “only eight will be left when we count up the dead” (227). They learn that the brown spider who died was called Treflex, and the orange spider who’s still alive is named Gox. Ripred tells Gox that no one will think less of her if she dines on Treflex, so she proceeds to consume her old comrade. Gregor and Boots avert their eyes. He tells Luxa that if anything happens to him on the quest, to throw him off a cliff or into a river, not to let Gox eat him. She says yes, and he promises her the same. 

Gox tells them that several hundred rats invaded, with many rats and spiders dying before the rats’ retreat. Ripred says the attack on the spinners does not bode well for Gregor’s father. They make for another tunnel—this time, the bats can walk side by side with their human companions. Luxa explains the idea of a bond to Gregor: “When a bad and a human bond, they swear to fight to the death for each other […] Aurora would never leave me in danger, nor I her” (230).