In Spidersilk the novel, things begin to get intense when Ramses captures Draul to get information from him. Before the interrogation is over Ramses unleashes a hoard of scarab beetles. These beetles play a major role in the legends and mythologies of Egypt. In fact, these beautiful and mysterious creatures are often symbolized as the transition between life and death. This is largely because most scarabs spent the majority of their lives living in dung until one day they would mysteriously discover they had wings and leave their lives in the dung for better things. The Egyptians saw this mysterious event as a symbol of human death, as we leave one life and enter a better one. For more on the scarab beetle check out this site: https://suite101.com/a/the-symbolic-meaning-of-the-scarab-beetle-egyptian-symbolism-a334677.