Monster War

by Dean Lorey

  The Hag Queen suddenly grew cold. “You wouldn’t be teasing me, would you, boy? Because that would be terrible for you.”

  “Look into my eyes and tell me if I’m being truthful.”

  She flew to him on her great wings.

  Don’t look away, Charlie told himself. Hold her gaze. Look serious…maybe even a little lovestruck. You can do it. Just a moment more…

  The Hag Queen cackled. “You old charmer, you!”

  She swooped down and snatched Theodore up in her strong arms, then leaned her head back, snaked out that long, terrible tongue and drove it into the boy’s ear like a hammer driving a nail into a plank.

  Theodore felt a rush of memories flood into his brain, memories of Charlie - his first and best friend. As quickly as it had started, it was over. The Hag Queen let him go and he dropped roughly to the ground.

  “Are you OK?” Charlie asked, running over to him.

  Theodore looked up, recognition in his eyes. “Charlie?”

  Charlie nodded. “Hey, pal. It’s me.”

  Theodore’s sunny grin seemed to light up the entire Gorgon Maze. “Of course it’s you! Let’s see, we’re in a miserable pit in the Nether, surrounded by dead monsters - who else would it be?”

  They hugged.

  “There…” the Hag said. “Just as you asked. Now would you all care to accompany me back to the manor to watch me slaughter my ladies? We can have tea after.”

  “We’d love to,” Charlie said, “but I’m afraid we’ll have to decline. Our world is dying and we have to save it.”

  “Yeah,” Theodore added. “Plus, you’re so darn ugly, I can’t figure out whether to pity you or flush you.”

  The Hag Queen’s eyes went wild with fury. “What did you say? Trickery! Hateful trickery!”

  “Thanks, Theo…” Charlie said with a sigh.

  Theodore beamed. “Don’t mention it.”

  “You will pay!” the Hag screamed and then attacked.

  As she flew towards them, Charlie opened a portal back to Earth - back to the beach in front of the Nightmare Academy - and he, Violet, Theodore and Brooke ran through. Moments later, the portal snapped closed behind them, silencing the Hag’s shrieks of rage, leaving only the sound of breaking waves and the chirp of crickets in the cool, night-time air.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHARGING THE SWORD

  This has been some day,” Charlie said as his friends gathered around him on the beach in front of the Nightmare Academy. “Let’s see…so far I’ve been mind-controlled by a Chasm Wyrm, paralysed by a Shock Wasp and turned to stone by a Gorgon.”

  “Yeah, but at least you’re better now,” Brooke said, brushing sand from her green, warty cheek. “So is Theodore, and Violet never even got Reduced to begin with. But me, well - crooooak! - just look at me.”

  Charlie stepped towards her with a gentle smile. “I know you’re going to want to punch me for saying this, but I actually kind of like you better this way.”

  Brooke snorted with laughter. “You’re a moron, you know that? You kind of like me better this way? Why - you’ve always had a weird reptile fixation? Your first crush was a newt?”

  Charlie shook his head. “Nope. You may have lost your looks, but you got your Gift back in its place. I mean, you were doing some seriously awesome Nethermancy back there.”

  “Uh, Charlie,” Theodore said. “Let me give you a little wake-up call here - she looks like a frog! Now I may be going out on a limb, but I’m guessing she doesn’t consider that any kind of great trade-off.”

  “It’s OK,” Brooke said, looking away at the vast, rolling ocean. The silvery moonlight revealed several dolphins jumping playfully in the waves. “What’s done is done. Let’s just get on with this. You have the sword now, Charlie. Let’s go and kill the Fifth and end this.”

  Charlie nodded. “We will - as soon as I charge it in the well at the Netherforge.”

  “Charge it?” Violet stared curiously at the glowing weapon. “Looks pretty powerful already.”

  “It is, but it needs to connect to the Core before it’ll be strong enough to kill the Fifth - at least, that’s what the Smith said. Now come on. Let’s just get this done.”

  He raised his hand to open a portal back to the Netherforge when they heard a familiar voice.

  “There you are!”

  Everyone turned to see Sir Thomas stomping up the beach, nightshirt soaked in ocean water, mace in hand.

  “Oh, great,” Theodore moaned. “The return of Sir Dork.”

  Huffing and puffing, the rotund knight walked up to them. “I thought the witch had destroyed you, children! I would have slain the foul beastie, but something preposterous happened and I fell through to this deserted isle!”

  “Deserted?” Charlie said. “It’s not deserted - there’s tons of people at the Academy.” He gestured to the great tree behind them. “Didn’t you look?”

  Sir Thomas nodded, causing the fat under his chin to ripple like ocean waves. “Aye. There are plenty of people, lad - but none that are conscious. It is as if they have been placed under a sleeping spell by a great and terrible wizard…”

  Theodore rolled his eyes. “What is this nut talking about?”

  “You dare call me a nut? You’re the nut, nut! And I shall crack you open like one!” Sir Thomas raised his mace threateningly.

  “OK, that’s it,” Brooke said and, with a wave of her hand, she opened a small portal beneath Sir Thomas. He fell into it with a shout. As soon as he was out of sight, she snapped it closed behind him, sealing him in the Nether.

  “All right!” Theodore shouted. “Go, Brooke! Way to dump the mouthy knight!”

  “Where did you put him?” Charlie asked.

  “Same place I put Director Drake - somewhere safe. Now let’s forget about him and figure out what’s going on inside the Academy…”

  Like fallen leaves in autumn, the students of the Nightmare Academy lay scattered across every deck, cabin and catwalk - even Mama Rose. Violet tried to shake her awake, but to no avail. It was almost as if she was in a coma.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” Violet sighed. “She won’t wake up - none of them will.”

  “They have been cursed by the Fifth,” a voice said from the darkness of the shadowy tree limbs above them. They all looked upwards.

  “Xix?” Charlie asked tentatively.

  The friendly Netherstalker dropped towards them on a thick line of spider-silk. “Yes, Charlie. It is me. The Queen of Nightmares herself came here, along with Edward Pinch. She…touched everyone…and they fell where they stood. I have kept careful watch on them. With every passing minute, they grow sicker…”

  Xix gestured to Mama Rose with a bristly foreleg. Charlie noticed that the large woman’s normally ruddy complexion was now waxy and pale.

  “Something terrible has happened to them,” Xix continued. “And it’s getting worse. And that’s not even the most awful part. Come.”

  Moments later, they entered the Headmaster’s study. It was empty.

  “What am I supposed to be looking for?” Charlie asked.

  Xix scuttled over to the wine-coloured couch. “This is where the Headmaster used to be - and Rex and Tabitha were just in front of her before the Fifth took them.”

  “Took them?” Violet asked, alarmed.

  Xix nodded. His five eyestalks bobbed in unison. “Whatever she did to everyone else, she did to them as well - and then she and Pinch portalled out with their bodies. Where they went to, I do not know.”

  Great, Charlie thought. As if things weren’t grim enough…

  With a quick wave of his hand, he opened a portal. “Xix, you stay here and keep an eye on things, please. The rest of you come with me to the Netherforge.”

  The first thing they noticed was the bodies.

  Slain Nethermancers and Banishers lay scattered across the place in crumpled heaps. “What happened here?” Brooke asked, aghast, checking the people nearest her for signs of life.

&nb
sp; Charlie shook his head. “No idea. But I’m willing to bet that someone - or something - was looking for me and they got in the way. All of you just stay here and keep watch while I finish this.” He turned and walked towards the centre of the Forge.

  Violet drew her axe and followed.

  “Violet, I told you to—”

  “I’m coming with you - and if you even try to say no, I’m going to brain you with this.” She gestured to her axe handle. Charlie knew better than to argue.

  Soon they arrived at the large well. Inside, blue magma bubbled up from the Core.

  “So…what are you supposed to do exactly?” Violet asked.

  Charlie shrugged. “Just plunge the blade in, I think. Not totally sure. Let’s just see what happens.”

  He stood in front of the low stone wall and held the brightly glowing Sword of Sacrifice out over it. As feather-light as the weapon had always felt in his hands, it was now drawn down towards the magma with terrific force. Charlie aimed the blade downwards and, taking a calming breath, slowly lowered it into the bubbling blue lava. The second the weapon made contact, there was a brilliant explosion of light and the weight of the sword seemed to intensify a hundredfold. The magma sucked at it greedily, like a thirsty child slurping juice through a straw, and it took all of Charlie’s strength just to hang on to it.

  “What’s happening?” Violet yelled.

  “It’s getting sucked in - and so am I!”

  “Hang on! I’ve got you!”

  She dropped her axe and grabbed Charlie around the waist. Even with her added strength, the entire blade was soon submerged and, moments later, so was the hilt. Charlie expected searing pain to slam through him the second his hands entered the blue liquid, but he was astonished to discover that it was actually quite cool - apparently, it was only deadly to creatures of the Nether.

  “Theo, help!” Charlie yelled as his arms were pulled below the surface - he could still feel the sword in his hands even if he couldn’t see it.

  “On my way!” Theodore shouted, rushing over. He grabbed on to Charlie and, together, he and Violet struggled to pull their friend away from the intense grip of the magma - but it was like playing tug-of-war with a giant.

  “Keep pulling!” Charlie yelled. “Brooke! Get over here and help us!”

  No answer.

  “Brooke!” Charlie shouted again. “COME HERE! WE NEED YOUR HELP!”

  Brooke didn’t reply…but something else did.

  “Well, well, well - what have we here?”

  The voice was deep and powerful…but also strangely familiar. Charlie glanced over his shoulder and saw something that actually made him gasp in surprise.

  It was Pinch.

  Monster Pinch.

  Towering above them, his red, antlike body looked almost brown in the shimmering blue light of the Netherforge. Brooke was gripped tightly in his mighty grasp. He smiled darkly.

  “Charlie Benjamin - I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Well, that’s typical. Look, Pinch, I’d love to chat, but we’re in a bit of a situation here.”

  “You’re about to be in an even worse one. Release the sword - let the Nether reclaim it - and I’ll let your friend live.”

  He gave Brooke a squeeze.

  Charlie, still clinging desperately to the sword, quickly tried to think through his options. If he let go of the weapon, he would lose it for ever, along with any chance of killing the Fifth. But would that save Brooke from Pinch?

  Charlie doubted it. Pinch was unpredictable even when he was normal. The chances of him honouring his word were even more remote now that he was transformed…but into what exactly?

  If he was more monster than man, Charlie knew that he could potentially use the Sword of Sacrifice to slay Pinch before he killed Brooke. But what if Pinch was still more man than monster? Would the sword even affect him then? Its power was to destroy creatures of the Nether. Against humans, it was just a regular sword and it would barely scratch the surface of Pinch’s massive, plated body.

  “Choose!” Pinch commanded, squeezing harder. “And do it quickly - your friend cannot last much longer.”

  What, exactly, was Pinch? Charlie wondered. Man or monster?

  Charlie turned to Violet and Theodore with a fierce gleam in his eyes. “On three, pull with everything you’ve got.”

  “Are you sure?” Violet asked.

  Charlie nodded. “One…two…three!”

  They yanked with all their might, pulling the sword free from the magnetic grip of the Core. Now charged, the weapon’s miraculous power energised Charlie with the force of a lightning bolt. He held the blade aloft and it shone with the brilliance of the sun.

  “You’ve chosen poorly,” Pinch roared as Charlie reared back and flung the Sword of Sacrifice at his head.

  Moving with supernatural quickness, Pinch snatched it from the air - it looked like a toothpick between his loglike fingers. As soon as he touched it, the sword exploded with an intense blue light that surrounded Pinch like a cocoon - but what emerged was no butterfly. Pinch shrieked in agony as his monster appearance was ripped off him like a cheap Halloween costume and he was violently transformed back to his boyish, human form. Unlike the other transformations, which had been slow and gradual, this one was fast and brutal and left a roadmap of pain on Pinch’s face.

  Brooke tumbled to the ground next to him as the boy (man, Charlie reminded himself) struggled to his feet, holding the blazing blade in his small right hand.

  “No!” Violet yelled. “He’s got the sword!”

  Pinch grinned crazily, the agony of his abrupt rebirth having driven him closer to madness. “That’s right…I do! And it’s mine now!”

  “That’s not fair!” Charlie shouted. “You didn’t do anything to earn it. You didn’t sacrifice!”

  “Neither did you!” Pinch shot back. “Your friends sacrificed, but they can’t hold the sword now, can they? Only Double-Threats are powerful enough to do that, Double-Threats like you…and me.” Pinch whipped the sword effortlessly through the air.

  “Give it back!”

  Pinch shook his head. “If you want it - try and take it.”

  Charlie, unarmed, raced towards Pinch - after all the horror that he and his friends had suffered just to get the blade, there was no way that he was going to let it be taken from him. Pinch held the weapon out in front of him and ran straight at Charlie. The two of them headed towards each other like missiles on a crash course of mutual destruction. Then, just before they collided, Pinch did something completely unexpected—

  He waved his hand and opened a portal.

  Unable to stop their momentum, both Charlie and Pinch sailed straight into it, leaving the enormity of the Netherforge behind them and falling through to Earth.

  Right into the lair of the Fifth.

  “NO!” Theodore screamed, watching his best friend drop out of sight.

  From somewhere on the other side of Pinch’s portal, Theodore, Violet and Brooke heard the familiar, chilling laugh of the monster that sometimes called herself the Fifth and sometimes Mother and sometimes simply Pearl - but whose real name was the Queen of Nightmares.

  “Welcome, Charlie Benjamin,” she said.

  The portal slammed closed.

  Deep in the throne room of the giant nautilus shell, Charlie struggled to his feet to see the Queen of Nightmares striding towards him on long, crimson legs, her purple cat-eyes swirling hypnotically under a flash of silver hair.

  “Don’t worry, child,” she said. “Soon it will all be over and then you can sleep - you can sleep your life away.”

  Charlie glanced to his left to see three familiar faces laid out next to each other on the glistening floor of the lair, unmoving and deathly quiet. He was alarmed to see how pale and drawn the Headmaster, Rex and Tabitha looked - particularly the Headmaster. Her beautiful brown skin was now a mottled, pasty colour, like bad cheese, and she looked far too thin. In a strange way, she reminded Charlie of how the Guardi
an had looked after being poisoned.

  They don’t have much time, he thought. If I can’t help them soon, they’ll die.

  He looked to his right to see Pinch standing there, holding the Sword of Sacrifice in an outstretched hand. It shone with the brightness of a supernova. The many Nethercreatures in the hallways and chambers that led to the throne room quickly backed away, afraid.

  “Give me the sword, Pinch,” Charlie rasped. “Don’t let this happen.”

  Pinch shook his head. “I’m sorry, Charlie - but it’s already far too late.”

  And then the Queen of Nightmares was on him and Charlie felt her strong arms wrap around his body like a winter shroud. He felt cold - numbingly cold - and his eyelids grew as heavy as a black hole that consumed even light itself. His lungs seized in his chest as he struggled to take one last gasp of air…

  “It can’t end like this,” he said.

  And then there was only darkness.

  PART FOUR THE QUEEN OF NIGHTMARES

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN THE SLUMBER

  Brooke ran to the empty spot in the Netherforge where Pinch’s portal had just slammed shut. “What are we going to do?” she cried. “Where did they go?”

  “To the lair of the Fifth,” Theodore replied grimly. “And Charlie is unarmed.”

  Violet picked up her axe and wiped the dirty blade clean on her trouser leg. “He may be, but I’m not. Theo, take us there. Now.”

  Theodore shook his head. “Sorry, no can do. I’ve never been inside. Charlie’s the only one I know who can open portals to places he hasn’t even seen - well, him and the Headmaster, I guess - but I can portal us to the entrance of the lair. I’ve seen that.”

  “Then do it.”

  “And what do we do when we get there?” Brooke asked.

  Violet shrugged. “Simple. We fight.”

  We fight.

  The words cut through the air like a knife.

  “OK, stand back,” Theodore said, raising his right hand.