by Dean Lorey
“XIX!” he screamed as the cold wind tried to steal the words from his mouth. “PROFESSOR XIX! ARE YOU THERE?”
Charlie saw several students from the Academy staring up at him in confusion - but Xix was nowhere in sight.
“XIX, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, I NEED YOUR HELP! THIS IS CHARLIE BENJAMIN!”
The top leaves of the Nightmare Academy whipped past his face as he plunged through them, only seconds from slamming into the hard sand below.
“PLEASE, PROFESSOR! HELP ME!”
He was out of time. Either Xix was there and could save him or he was going to—
Something scuttled across a tree limb. Charlie saw a sticky strand of white webbing shoot out from between the leaves. It snaked around his feet and wrapped around a thick branch as he fell, pulling taut, stretching like a rubber band, slowing his descent.
“Thanks, Professor!” Charlie yelled, catching just the briefest glimpse of his old friend and teacher before hurtling past him towards the ground below.
“My pleasure, Charlie Benjamin!” Professor Xix shouted back.
Even though the silken strand was slowing his fall, Charlie realised it wouldn’t be able to bring him to a stop before he slammed into the earth. Just as the hard sand rushed up to meet him, he opened another portal and dipped through it into the Nether, just a few metres above the wide ledge where the Smith stood. The webbing attached to his ankle stretched to its breaking point, slowing Charlie to an almost complete stop. With another wave of his hand, he closed the portal above him, snapping the silken strand in half, and dropped the remaining few metres to land harmlessly on the ground next to Theodore in a puff of dust.
Everyone stared at him, shocked.
“That was simply ridiculous,” Theodore said finally. “Truly outrageous.”
Charlie staggered to his feet, then turned to the Smith. “Well, does that prove to you I’m a Banisher and a Nethermancer?”
The bloated creature laughed its thick, phlegmy laugh.
“So you ARE a Double-Threat, BOY! Good. You have earned the right to TRY for the sword.” It leaped towards the dark tunnel that snaked its way into the mountainside. “Follow me, ALL of you. It is time - crooooak! - for the Test of SACRIFICE!”
Charlie and his friends blindly groped their way through the blackness of the tunnel. The walls were moist and the air had a chalky smell.
“I can’t see a thing…” Brooke complained.
“Yeah, well, just be careful you don’t bump into the big, ugly frog,” Theodore whispered. “It’s probably not too far up ahead and, remember, Rex said touching it would be - and I quote - ‘bad’.”
“The big, ugly frog can HEAR you,” the Smith croaked.
Charlie was startled to discover that the beast was only a couple of steps in front of him. “Are we close?” he asked.
“Almost THERE…” They heard a grinding of stone as an unseen door rumbled aside, allowing a shaft of blue light to spill into the tunnel. “Now…enter the CHAMBER of Ancient WEAPONS.” They followed the creature inside.
The chamber glowed dimly blue, illuminated by the same kind of lava that they had previously seen bubbling up from the well in the Netherforge. It ran through cracks in the floor. Charlie noticed that the Smith was careful to avoid touching the stuff.
“What is that?” he asked.
“The MAGMA? It rises from the - crooooak! - CORE of the Nether. It causes EXCRUCIATING pain to the monsters here. That’s why they AVOID the Forge…and that’s why we temper the BLADES in its terrible fire. The Ancient Weapons are filled with its POWER.”
The Smith hopped from the small chamber into a large cavern. Charlie and his friends followed and were left literally breathless by the astonishing sight before them. Easily five storeys high, blue magma dripped down the sides of the rough stone walls, creating the impression of a star-streaked sky, an exploding constellation of glowing cobalt that rained down around them like fireworks.
And that wasn’t even the most impressive thing. In the centre of the cavern stood a massive amber crystal, shining like a sun. And in the centre of the crystal was a sword of unequalled magnificence.
“The Sword of SACRIFICE,” the Smith said darkly.
Charlie walked towards it, amazed by the craftsmanship. Seen through the crystal, the metal of the blade gleamed a brilliant turquoise and the hilt was fashioned from a wood so dark it looked almost black. There were carvings on it as well - pictures of monsters that Charlie had never seen before. A two-headed thing with hooks for hands. Something that looked like a snake walking upright.
What were these creatures? he wondered. Were they other Named? Beasts the blade had previously killed? Or something else entirely?
“It’s incredible,” Charlie whispered.
“AYE,” the Smith croaked. “It IS. As the seeker of the blade, we begin with YOU. Come.” The creature hopped to the far wall. Charlie followed and, as he neared it, he noticed a hole in the rock, about the size of a man’s fist. “Put your hand INSIDE.”
Charlie hesitated. The hole was dark and he couldn’t see where it led. He put his ear to it. There was a buzzing sound.
“Uh, Charlie,” Theodore said, walking up. “My dad wasn’t around to tell me much when I was growing up, but one of the things he did tell me was ‘never stick your hand in a dark hole, stupid’. Or something like that. Point is - if it were me, I wouldn’t be putting my hand anywhere near that thing.”
“Good ADVICE!” the Smith cackled. “Let’s just end this charade and - crooooak! - go HOME.”
Charlie glanced at Violet. Even though she was clearly concerned, she gave him a small, supportive nod.
Taking a steadying breath, Charlie stuck his hand in the hole, all the way up to the elbow. The buzzing sound intensified and, suddenly, he felt something on his hand. It was feather-light and had four feet that dug into his flesh like pinpricks - not painful but definitely unpleasant.
“There’s something on me,” he said, trying his best to stay calm. “I can feel it crawling around.”
“Let’s have a LOOK,” the Smith replied. The others all leaned in as Charlie pulled his arm out.
“Ugh, gross!” Brooke exclaimed when she got her first look at the oversized purple wasp that clung to the back of Charlie’s sweaty hand. Veiny wings spread out from a bloated abdomen that ended in a curved, needle-like point. It buzzed ominously. “Does that thing sting?”
“Oh, YES,” the Smith said pleasantly. “Indeed, it DOES. It’s called a SHOCK WASP.”
The Shock Wasp crawled around Charlie’s hand and on to his palm. A clear fluid oozed from the stinger on its back.
“Well, get it off him!” Theodore yelled. “It’s going to hurt him! Here - I’ll do it…” As he reached forward to swat the hideous thing, the creature suddenly reared back and plunged its stinger deep into Charlie’s open palm.
“No!” Violet screamed.
The pain was immense - a red-hot spike of torment. Charlie could see the wasp’s abdomen beating like a small heart as it pumped him full of poison. A horrible throbbing spread from the wound until it consumed his entire body, quickly followed by a welcome numbness. Charlie collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
“What’s happening to him?” Violet demanded. “Is he dying?”
“He is PARALYSED,” the Smith replied. Charlie’s breathing came in harsh gasps as the wasp took wing and flew back into the darkness of its hole. “Do not WORRY. It wears off in time. He is quite - crooooak! - SAFE. Far safer than you are about to be, I’ll WAGER.”
“But why?” Theodore said. “Why did you do it to him?”
“So that he cannot - crooooak! - interfere with what is to come. His part in this little test is OVER. Yours is just BEGINNING.” With one giant leap, the Smith hopped to the crystal that housed the sword. “The Sword of Sacrifice gets its name not from the SEEKER’S sacrifice - but from YOURS. If Charlie Benjamin is to - crooooak! - obtain it, you must prove he is worthy of the gift by giving up the thi
ng that is most VALUABLE to you.”
“How?” Theodore asked.
“I will TAKE it from you.”
Brooke stormed up to the creature. “And what does that mean? The thing most valuable to us - how are we supposed to know what that is?”
“YOU don’t,” the Smith replied, a devilish gleam in its bulbous eyes. “But I DO. I will ask you if you wish to SACRIFICE. If you say yes, then you will LOSE something, something PRECIOUS, something…IRREPLACEABLE. So…who goes FIRST?”
Theodore and Violet glanced uneasily at each other. They both opened their mouths to speak, but Brooke beat them to it.
“Me.”
Violet turned to her. “Are you sure? We don’t know what’s going to happen here. Maybe I should go first.”
Brooke shook her head. “You two have helped Charlie in a million ways with your skills. Me? Going first is the…well, it’s the least I can do.” She turned to the Smith. “I’m ready.”
Charlie was desperate to yell out: “Wait…let’s consider this! We need to find out more! He’s not to be trusted!” But his muscles wouldn’t obey him and all that escaped his lips was a weak moan.
The Smith leaned in nauseatingly close to Brooke. “Do YOU, Brooke Brighton, agree to SACRIFICE that which is most important to you so that Charlie Benjamin can - crooooak! - wield the SWORD?”
Brooke took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “I do.”
Silence. No one moved. No one spoke.
What’s happening? Charlie wondered.
A second later, he found out. With a gesture as quick as the strike of a snake, the Smith reached out and stroked Brooke’s milky-white cheek with the tip of a pus-covered finger. She leaped back in disgust.
“Ugh, what did you do that for?”
She quickly wiped the slime off with the palm of one hand…but the damage had already been done. The skin the Smith touched began to change. It bubbled and darkened and then spread like wildfire across her exquisite face, leaving behind a pocked, greenish landscape of pitted flesh.
“Oh, no…” Violet gasped.
“What?” Brooke shrieked. “What’s going on?”
“Your BEAUTY has always been the thing most important to you,” the Smith said softly. “And now you have SACRIFICED it.”
Brooke looked down to see that the horrible brackish colour was now spreading across her arms and hands. Her beautiful blonde hair fell from her head in thick clumps. “No! This can’t be happening!” she moaned, turning to look at her reflection in the crystal beside her. A grotesque, reptilian face stared back - pocked, rubbery lips on a protruding mouth, bulging eyes, slits for ears.
Don’t let the Smith touch you, Charlie thought with dismay and now he knew why. All along, Brooke had relied on her beauty…but that was gone. He wanted to hold her, comfort her, but he couldn’t. Summoning all his strength, he managed to gasp out one word: “Sorry…”
“You’re, you’re SORRY?” Brooke shrieked, spinning round on him. “I look like a frog! I’ve been turned into a big, horrible, green thing just so you could get some stupid sword and now you’re just - crooooak! - sorry!” She clamped a hand over her sticky lips. “Oh, my God, I just croaked! I croaked! I CROAKED!”
“Well, here’s the good news,” Theodore said. “True, you may have just croaked - which, I admit, is a little creepy. And you’re definitely green and sort of reptile-ish, but you’re not actually a frog. Not like he is, I mean.” Theodore nodded to the Smith. “You look just like you did before, except now you’re bald and have froggy-looking skin, but you’re definitely not the kind of frog that lives in swamps and jumps over logs and eats flies. Definitely not that kind. You’re the good kind.” Theodore did his best to smile comfortingly.
“The good kind?” Brooke shrieked and, weeping, she ran to a corner of the room and curled into a ball.
“Good work, Theo,” Violet said with a sigh.
“What? I was trying to be nice.”
The Smith turned its large, bloated head towards him. “It’s now YOUR turn, boy. Do YOU, Theodore Dagget, agree to SACRIFICE that which is most important to you so that Charlie Benjamin can wield the SWORD?”
Theodore swallowed hard.
CHAPTER TEN THEODORE TAKES HIS TURN
Theodore started to reply, but Violet clamped her hand over his mouth before he could.
“Don’t say anything!” She walked up to the Smith, her face glowing amber in the light of the crystal. “Why are you making us suffer like this? Why are we playing games? Why don’t I just kill you now and take the sword.” She raised her axe threateningly.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Brooke said, looking up, her pocked skin streaked with tears. “Wait a minute - now is when you decide to take a stand? Unbelievable! I mean, where was all this bravado two minutes ago when I still looked like a human being?”
“I’m sorry, Brooke. When he said he was going to take something valuable, I thought he meant an actual thing - an object. I didn’t realise he meant…this.” Violet gestured to Brooke’s discoloured skin.
“Well, that’s quite a - crooooak! - mistake! I’m so glad you saw the error of your ways before something bad happened to you and Theodore!”
“It’s not like that…”
“Oh, really? You’ve always envied my beauty and now look at me! I’m hideous! This is probably the happiest moment of your life, isn’t it? This is everything you’ve ever dreamed of!”
Violet shook her head. “No. I hate that this has happened. I just don’t want to make it worse.”
“Worse? Worse than what?” Brooke ran towards her. “This is no fairy tale! I’m not some transformed princess that’s going to get kissed by a handsome prince and magically become beautiful again! Don’t you - crooooak! - get it?”
“I do. And if there was anything I could do about it, I would. Tell me what you want me to do.”
Brooke glared at her…but had no answer. “Just make him pay,” she said before glaring at the Smith and skulking away.
“You’re welcome to KILL me, young Banisher,” the Smith croaked. “Or to TRY, but it won’t help. The sword will only release from the crystal at MY command. Even if I am dead, the price SHE paid—” the creature glanced at Brooke “—will STAND, the weapon will be lost to you for ever and the world of HUMANS will most certainly FALL!” The Smith leaned in close, its diseased nose nearly touching Violet’s. “Go ahead, girl…make a MOVE.”
Violet glared at the beast and Charlie was pretty sure she was going to take a swing…but common sense seemed to get the better of her. Without another word, she turned and walked away.
The Smith chuckled and then focused its burning red eyes on Theodore. “Once again, BOY, I ask - do YOU, Theodore Dagget, agree to SACRIFICE that which is most important to you so that Charlie Benjamin can - crooooak! - wield the SWORD?”
What could the horrible creature want from Theo? Charlie wondered. Brooke lost her beauty, but what could it take from him? His relationship with his father? Maybe…but that was already lost, wasn’t it? What else could it be?
“ANSWER!” the Smith demanded.
“I do,” Theodore said softly. “I agree to sacrifice.”
“Don’t do it!” Charlie screamed - or tried to - but the paralysis in his throat only allowed the first word to escape his lips.
“Too LATE,” the Smith said. It leaned back its bulbous head, parted its wide, rubbery lips, filled its throat to bursting point and then let out an enormous “CROOOOAK!”
The whole cavern echoed with its thunder.
Theodore looked around, wild-eyed. “What’s happening?” he gasped, checking himself out in the reflection of the crystal. “Am I changing? Am I turning into something?” Then, panicked, “Do I look green?”
Violet shook her head. “No. I don’t see anything yet.”
Yet.
The cavern was silent and still. The Smith stood there quietly, betraying nothing.
“C’mon, what?” Theodore shouted. “What did you d
o to me? The waiting is worse than the result!”
“No, it’s not,” Brooke moaned. “Trust me.” And that was when they heard the cackle.
Manic and definitely female, it drew closer with surprising speed. Soon Charlie could make out another sound - the frenzied beating of wings. Within moments, that horrible, shrill laughter was so loud that everyone instinctively clamped their hands over their ears - everyone but Charlie because his arms wouldn’t obey. There was something familiar about that cackle and it took him only a moment to recognise where he had heard it before.
It can’t be… Charlie thought. Not now. Not her…
The Hag Queen soared into the chamber on wide, leathery wings. Her pink ballgown was filthy and tattered. A tarnished tiara rested atop the stringy hair that hung round her face and her long, hooked nose nearly touched the warty protrusion of her chin. She grinned, her mouth a forest of teeth.
“You called?”
The giant frog nodded. “I have a little TREAT for you.”
“It had better be good. You interrupted me while I was feeding my Gorgons. The poor dears never get to eat any of the humans that get lost in their maze because they always turn them to stone before they can.” She sighed dramatically. “Of course, it’s not the monsters’ fault. As soon as a human so much as glances at them—” the Hag snapped her fingers “—it’s statue time. And to make matters worse, people are constantly coming in and trying to decapitate my snaky-headed little darlings in order to revive their friends. I mean, really! It’s absolutely brutal being a monster these days. Don’t you agree?”
The Smith grunted. “ENOUGH chatter. I called you here, HAG, because I have a JOB for you. Something you might - crooooak! - ENJOY.”
The Hag Queen glanced at Charlie and his friends. “Oh, them again? Not long ago, they paid me a visit - along with that delightful cowboy.” She licked her black lips and then pranced forward, as if she were as thin and delicate as a ballerina. “So which one of these tasty little morsels may I dine on? Or, wait! Do I get to choose? Yes, that’s it! Delicious…delicious…”