around the three unconscious guards. “It’s my turn now, right?”
“Yes.” Nevis gave the young boy an encouraging slap on the back. “Good luck, soldier.”
“Aye, Colonel.” Quentin saluted him, then skipped through the woods.
As they headed back to the guardhouse, Nevis realized they were lucky that Quentin was so nosy. He had known the captain’s greatest weakness. According to Quentin, the captain had gotten drunk one night and confessed that he was enamored of the Embraced soldier Farah.
Nevis and Elam positioned themselves at the corner of the building while Quentin sneaked up to the door, grinning. He pounded on the door.
“What the hell is it now?” the captain bellowed.
Quentin pounded again on the door.
“See who it is and get rid of him,” the captain ordered.
“Aye, Captain.” More footsteps shuffled toward the door, and then a guard opened it. “Oh, it’s Quentin.”
“Tell him to go back to work!” the captain growled.
“Did Sheldon find you?” the guard asked. “Where is he?”
“He’s talking to Alfred,” Quentin said in a loud voice. “And guess what I heard.”
“You little snitch,” the guard mumbled. “Go back to work.” The door squeaked as he started to shut it.
Quentin raised his voice. “They were talking about you, Captain!”
“What?” the captain asked, and the squeaky sound of the door stopped.
“Alfred said you were fat and lazy,” Quentin announced.
“What?” the captain roared.
“And Farah was there, and she agreed with him.”
“What the hell? I’ve had enough of that asshole Alfred.” After some rustling sounds, booted feet stomped toward the door. “I don’t care what kind of power he has. I’m going to whip his ass!” The captain charged out of the guardhouse, slamming the door behind him.
Elam promptly tripped him, and Nevis clocked him. Soon, the captain was tied and gagged and lying next to his unconscious comrades.
Back at the edge of the forest, Elinor gave two of her pictures to Bettina, another two to Catriona, then kept two for herself.
Nevis made sure everyone was equipped with a sword, knife, or hammer from the smithy. “This will be the tricky part,” he warned them. “There are eleven who will come running out. Elam will trip the first two, and hopefully, the rest will fall over them. We have to knock them all out quickly.”
The Spiders nodded, their hands tightly gripping their weapons.
“Let’s go.” Nevis led half the group to huddle by one corner of the guardhouse, while Elam led the other half to the corner on the other side of the door.
The women with the pictures sneaked up to the shuttered windows at the back of the building. There was a back door, but Nevis figured that once the pictures came to life at the back of the building, all the guards would flee out the front door. That would mean the three women at the back would be safe. Still, he worried about them, so he eased to the back corner to make sure they were all right.
They had the drawings unfolded and ready to go. With a nod from Elinor, they all quickly opened the shutters and tossed the drawings in to land on the floor. Then they ran to join the groups at the front corners of the building.
“Hey! It’s too bright in here,” a guard yelled. “Who opened the shutters?”
“What’s that? Ack!” a guard shrieked.
“Sp-sp-spiders! Giant spiders!”
“Run!”
The front door burst open, and the guards jostled with one another as they all tried to escape at the same time. Two squeezed out, and Elam promptly tripped one, then the other. As the others broke free from the jammed entrance, they fell over the first two.
Nevis and Elam and their groups dashed forward to clobber all the guards on the head.
Nevis had knocked three unconscious when one that Elinor had hit turned to her and said, “Ouch! What the hell are—” He slumped over when Nevis hit him.
Elinor winced. “I’m not very good at this.”
Nevis smiled to himself. “You’re not hitting hard enough.” Another soldier that Hannah had hit sat up, and Nevis clonked him, too. Then Catriona’s target sat up, and Nevis hit him.
Quentin laughed. “They’re like moles sticking their heads up.”
Nevis grinned as he knocked out Bettina’s guard. “I’ll make sure they’re unconscious. You all just start tying them up and dragging them away.”
“Aye, Colonel!” Quentin saluted, then helped the others tie the guards up.
As they started to drag the guards into the woods, Nevis noticed a huge, hideous spider creeping out of the guardhouse.
“Dammit.” He drew his sword and sliced the spider in two. More spiders were