East Wall Guardian

 

Duke Arthelon was worried. He gathered his advisers and said, "With the plague raging through the knights, how are we to defend the east wall?

One said, we can dig a pit and fill it with vipers.

Another said, we can setup empty armor on the walls to trick enemy spies.

All of his other advisers spoke for or against these ideas. Except one.

After the clamor died down, Duke Arthelon looked at the silent adviser, saying, "So, my friend Cendrol, you have said nothing. Do you have counsel?"

Cendrol stood and looked at the faces around the room. "I have the solution, but you're not going to like it. Follow me."

He led everyone to the wide balcony overlooking the east wall. A lad was below, looking up. He stood near a wooden crate big enough to hold a hunting dog.

Cendrol said, "I found this specimen during my travels in the southern rain forest." He waved toward the lad. "Go ahead."

The boy used a poleaxe to lift the crate's latch.

The crowd on the balcony strained to see...nothing.

The boy tilted the back of the crate, and a monstrous spider jumped out. Its yellow-banded legs spread as wide as a man's outstretched arms. It was altogether a thing from the blackest nightmare.

Everyone gasped, even Duke Arthelon cried out in dismay.

"She is not quite trained, but nothing will get past her except a few of us that she knows," Cendrol said.

The lad used the poleaxe to close the lid and gently urge the massive arachnid to the brick wall. She snapped at him but obeyed. Soon she was climbing and spinning a messy web.

The duke composed himself and said, "What, uh, do we feed her?"

Cendrol said, "She's fond of pigeons." Then he smiled. "And spies."

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