“Eldon?” I called. “Hello?”
There was no response. I stepped inside the courtyard. Where was everybody? I figured they had to be in the castle. Maybe they were eating or something.
That’s when I felt it. Something was watching me.
I slowly turned around, my muscles tensed. Then I looked up. There, crawling down the wall over the gate, was a massive, furry black spider. It bared its glistening foot-long fangs, hissing loudly as it did, and prepared to jump directly on my head.
Chapter Seventeen
I screamed and took off the other way, glancing back to see the monstrous spider drop down onto the spot where I’d been standing. It was easily a metre tall at the tip of its furry black abdomen, and its hair-covered legs spread at least twice as wide. Combined with eight beady black eyes, two grasping mandibles, and those glistening fangs, I’d never seen anything more terrifying in my life.
“Eldon!” I shouted in a panic. “Lee! Someone!”
The spider scurried after me, raising its deadly looking fangs. I screamed again and sprinted for the castle, but for the first time I noticed that the heavy iron doors were closed. There was no way I’d have time to open them before the spider attacked.
What if there were more spiders? What if everyone else was already dead?
I whirled around and saw the spider racing toward me. I sprinted to the left, trying to circle back to the gate and make a break for the village. But the spider was too fast. It moved laterally with quick little steps, blocking my path and continuing toward me.
“Eldon!”
I looked around the courtyard in desperation. It was still set up for training, so there were bows and swords and spears littered everywhere. I spotted a long silver spear propped against the wall about three metres away and made a dash to grab it. The spider chased after me. I just managed to scoop up the spear when the spider flung itself through the air toward me, hissing loudly again. I dove onto the hard stones, and the spider crashed right into the wall, its hairy legs flailing as it stood itself upright again.
I might have been able to get up and stab it with the spear, but instead, I raced back toward the gate into the village.
I was halfway there when I heard a fast-moving patter closing in on me. I looked back and saw the spider right behind me. I wasn’t going to make it. In a last desperate attempt, I tried to turn around and stab it with the spear.
It didn’t quite work out.
My feet crashed into each other, and I went spinning back-first toward the ground, realizing in horror that the spider was going to land right on top of me. Just before I hit the ground, I pointed the spear at the creature’s soft padded underbelly as it launched itself through the air. I slammed into the stones, and the spider landed right on top of me, the spear tip piercing right through its chest and out its back.
But I didn’t have much time to celebrate. The spider was still alive.
It sunk closer and closer to my face, its massive fangs gnashing in front of me, the black venom already beginning to form droplets at their tips. I tried to push it off, but it was too strong. The fangs got closer. They were centimetres from my face now.
Suddenly a long feathered arrow flew into its head, followed by three more. The spider went limp and I managed to shove it off me, using the spear for leverage.
I lay there for a second, unable to move. Then I heard it. Laughter.
Warriors started appearing on the walls, some of them holding bows. I looked around in disbelief from where I was lying in the middle of the courtyard and saw Eldon appear over the gate. Even he wore a faint smile.
I scrambled to my feet and looked at him furiously. “You sent a spider after me?”
“I wanted to prove you weren’t a coward.”
I scowled. “Well that worked. I screamed, ran away, and fell over.”
“You also killed it,” he replied simply. “Mostly. You said you were afraid of spiders. Now you’ve killed it. You should be proud.”
“Proud? It almost killed me!” I shouted, starting for the door. “I’m going home.”
Eldon jumped off the roof, landing in a practised crouch in front of me.
“Every Monster Crusher must kill a monster before their training can be complete. It’s one of the tests. We always try to find the monster they fear most to test their courage. You’ve done it early. That was worth a hundred trips through the Way.”
I paused. “Does that mean I don’t have to do it anymore?”
Eldon laughed. “Of course not.”
“Great,” I muttered, walking around him and heading for the elevator. I could hear the warriors snickering on the walls. “I’m taking a break tonight.”
“Fair enough,” Eldon said. “But I do want to speak to you for a moment.”
I glanced at him. “What about?”
“Walk,” he said, falling into line beside me.
We strode through the gate, and I noticed the villagers starting to emerge from their houses, many laughing and talking to each other. Apparently all of Derwin was sharing in the joke.
“The war is intensifying in Riverfield. We are killing more and more monsters surrounding your house. They obviously want to murder you soon.”
“This isn’t making me feel better.”
“They also seem to be searching for our tunnels, just as we are searching for theirs. At the moment we are both chasing shadows. We need to figure out where their tunnels are, and soon.” He shook his head. “There is something we are missing here. The monsters have never attacked the Monster Crushers on the surface before. For some reason they’re paying special attention to you.”
“Lucky me,” I muttered.
He stopped in front of a white stone fountain and put a rough hand on my shoulder. “We’ll protect your house as best as we can. But the war is coming faster
