by Dean Lorey
Everyone did as he asked, narrowly getting out of the way of the portal he snapped open back to Earth - through it, they could see the burned-out landscape in front of the giant nautilus shell in Central Park.
“Let’s go,” Violet said, leaping into the open gateway, axe raised high. Brooke and Theodore followed.
Charlie awoke in the Slumber.
He lay on a bed of soft clover. Oversized honeybees buzzed lazily above him in the fragrant, jasmine-scented air. The blue sky was filled with candyfloss clouds that seemed eager to form themselves into recognisable shapes - Charlie spotted a fluffy bunny on the horizon, chased by what looked like a smiling hippopotamus.
What is this place? he wondered as he got to his feet.
He expected his joints and muscles to ache from all the abuse they had suffered, but was surprised to discover that he was remarkably pain-free. In fact, truth be told, he felt great - maybe never better. The air was warm and sweet and the music of songbirds filled the air. The gorgeous creatures flapped around on large, luminous wings the colour of fruit - cherry reds, bright oranges and even plum purples.
The place was absolutely delightful - but where was he?
Glancing around, he knew only that he was in a vast, hilly meadow full of clover and wild flowers. It seemed to go on for miles until finally ending at a treeline that marked the beginning of what looked to be a green and sunny forest. Beyond the trees were mountains - wide and grassy at the bottom, leading to smooth, rocky expanses higher up until finally giving way to snow-covered summits. In the centre of the mountain range was a pillar of white light, shimmering gloriously, reaching high into the sky like a finger pointing up to heaven.
The whole place was magnificent…and yet strangely familiar.
Charlie struggled to identify the odd feeling of déjà vu he was experiencing. He had been here before - he knew he had - and yet he was also certain that this was somewhere new.
But how could that be?
And then, like an electric shock, the answer came to him.
He was in the Nether.
Or at least some weird, alternate version of it.
The lush meadow where he stood was the 1st Ring, although in the Nether it was rocky and barren. The forest beyond was the 2nd Ring, although the trees here looked nothing like the spooky, skeletal monstrosities found in the shadow version of this world. The mountains were clearly the 3rd Ring and, beyond them, Charlie imagined he would find an ocean - the 4th Ring - but he was certain that here it would be warm and inviting - a stark contrast to the foul, chill expanse of water in that other place.
But the clincher was that wondrous spire of clean, white light that ascended into the heavens. In the Nether, it was a red and churning column that speared down through an alien sky, right into the Inner Circle.
“Charlie Benjamin!” a voice called out in a southern accent as thick as cream. “How you doin’, child?” Charlie turned to see Mama Rose cheerfully waving to him from the waist-high grass. He was thrilled to see her…and yet he knew that back on Earth, she lay comatose in the Nightmare Academy, her body rapidly disintegrating, her life force draining away. “I’m so glad you’re here!” she exclaimed, walking towards him with a broad smile. And then he noticed other people in the meadow - youngsters, many of them from the Academy.
What was going on?
“Mama Rose…where are we?” Charlie asked, pushing his way through the clover to reach the cheerful woman.
She shrugged. “No idea, but I like it. Don’t you?” She breathed in deeply and smiled as soon as the fragrant air hit her lungs. “Wow! It sure is marvellous here. In fact, I don’t ever want to leave.”
“Yeah,” Charlie replied. “I know it’s nice and all that, but back on Earth, you’re unconscious. And your body is, well…it looks like it’s dying.”
Mama Rose glanced skyward, her expression as serene as a swan’s. “Let it. I don’t ever want to go back there, Charlie. I truly don’t.”
This place is a trap! Charlie suddenly realised. It’s beautiful on purpose - designed to lower your defences and make you so comfortable that you don’t ever want to try and find a way out!
Which opened the door to a really big question: Was there a way out?
“Have you seen the Headmaster?” Charlie asked.
Mama Rose nodded. “She and Rex and Tabitha were all just here. But they…they wanted to leave, if you can imagine such a thing!” She laughed then - great rolling gales of laughter, as if the very notion of wanting to leave such a wonderful place was beyond comprehension.
“Where did they go?”
Mama Rose turned and pointed to the spire of white light that Charlie knew must lead to this world’s version of the Inner Circle.
“The centre,” she said. “They flew there on birds.” As if to demonstrate how this was possible, Mama Rose whistled pleasantly and, moments later, a lemon-yellow songbird descended from the sky and landed at her feet, chirping sweetly - it was almost twice as big as she was. “See? Just like this one here.”
“Yeah. I see. Thanks.” Charlie walked towards the bird, which immediately lowered a wing to the ground so that he could climb up on to its back. Its feathers were soft and downy.
“Oh, Charlie, must you?” Mama Rose gently scolded. “Why can’t you just stay here and relax, like the rest of us…” She gestured to the other students from the Academy. They were running happily through the meadow. “We can have such fun together!”
Charlie smiled. “I know…but I have to go. I have to try and help us. Take care, Mama Rose…”
With that, the songbird flapped its wings and rose high into the air with Charlie securely tucked away on its back. He hadn’t communicated what he wanted to do - he’d only thought it - but the creature seemed to understand just the same. It banked, cutting a path through the warm air, and then headed straight towards the beam of light in the very centre of this odd and dangerously inviting place.
The buildings around Central Park were in ruins.
Golems had ravaged most of the structures, reducing them to heaps of concrete and steel. The sky was filled with a thick, choking smoke.
“They’ve destroyed the city!” Theodore yelled, looking around in dismay. He and the others stood at the edge of the park, some distance from the entrance to the massive nautilus shell. “The place is decimated.”
“And empty,” Brooke added. “I haven’t seen a single person.”
Violet nodded. “Me neither. They’ve all run off - or been portalled out by Nethermancers from the Division. The city is in the hands of the monsters now.”
The thought seemed to incense Theodore. “Man! I can’t believe everyone just took off running. Whatever happened to staying and fighting?”
“How?” Brooke replied. “We’ve seen what these - crooooak! - Golems can do. Heck, the military attacked them and it was like the soldiers weren’t even there!”
“Well, if there’s no way to fight them, then what are we going to do about these two?” Violet gestured to two giant Fire and Water Golems that were stationed on either side of the shell’s entrance to protect it from invaders. “I mean, if we can’t get past them, then this is all over before it even begins.”
Brooke seemed baffled. “When what is all over? I’m still not even clear what the plan is.”
“The plan,” Violet said, “is to fight our way into the lair, find Charlie and help him. But first we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to get past these two Golems.”
“Let me take care of that,” Theodore said with a chuckle. “It’s easy peasy mac and cheesy - trust me.”
Then, to Brooke’s astonishment, he ran straight at the massive creatures.
“What’s he doing?” Brooke gasped, turning to Violet.
“No idea…”
Theodore raced towards the monsters as fast as his spindly legs could carry him. “Hey! Look at me, you big goons! Down here!” The gargantuan beasts swivelled their heads in Theodore’s direction. �
�That’s right, you overgrown matchstick and you big bottle of water! I’m Theodore Dagget! Come and get me, you morons!”
They did.
Moving with surprising swiftness, the Water Golem surfed straight at Theodore on a wave of its own creation while the Fire Golem leaped towards him, leaving behind molten slag with every footstep.
“I can’t watch,” Brooke said, shutting her eyes tightly.
At the last possible second, Theodore swerved to the left and ran straight between the legs of the Fire Golem. The Water Golem corrected its course, chasing him.
“No!” Violet shouted, suddenly realising what Theodore’s plan was.
The Water and Fire Golems collided, creating a massive explosion of steam that destroyed both beasts instantly.
“Theodore!” Violet screamed, knowing that her friend could never have survived such a cataclysm. “THEO!”
“What?” a voice said calmly from behind her. Violet spun round to see Theodore stepping out of a portal. He smiled. “Don’t get so hysterical. Just before they hit each other, I summoned a portal and escaped into the Nether. I’m not stupid. Geez.”
Violet stared at Theodore, then punched him in the arm so hard that he dropped to the ground. “Don’t you…EVER…scare me like that again!”
“Uh, OK,” Theodore replied, massaging what he knew was going to be a massive bruise. “As long as you don’t ever punch me like that again.”
“OK, what’s next?” Brooke asked, walking up to the newly unprotected entrance to the lair. “What do we do now?”
“Now we go inside,” Violet replied, “and kill everything that gets in our way.” Saying that, the young Banisher strode into the lair of the Queen of Nightmares.
Hang in there, Charlie, she thought. The cavalry is on its way.
CHAPTER NINETEEN THE LAIR OF THE FIFTH
In the heart of the giant nautilus shell, the Queen of Nightmares gently stroked Charlie Benjamin’s cheek. He lay on the floor, comatose. Already his skin was beginning to grow cold.
“You have done well, Edward,” she said, turning to Pinch. Her purple cat-eyes fixed on the brilliantly glowing sword in his hand. “Why did you bring that wretched thing with you?”
Pinch shrugged. “I…I didn’t mean to. Things were just happening so fast and, before I knew it, it was in my hand and then we were here.”
“Well, open a portal and get rid of it. Throw it into the well at the Netherforge. It makes me…uncomfortable.”
Pinch held her gaze a moment then looked away. “I understand why you feel that way, but…”
“But what?”
Pinch raised the blade and cast his eyes lovingly along its razor-sharp edge. “It’s just so beautiful and, when it’s in my hands, I feel so powerful.”
The Queen of Nightmares suddenly lowered her head and growled. The sound was so deep and frightening - so unlike her - that Pinch actually stumbled backwards.
“Powerful?” she hissed. “Don’t be a fool, Edward! You have drunk from me twice and, once you cast away that revolting sword, I will allow you to drink from me a third time - a final time - and then your monstrous form will return and become permanent. That is true power. It comes from who you are - not from some ridiculous trinket, like the one you now hold.”
Pinch swallowed nervously. “If it’s so ridiculous…why are you afraid of it?”
She shot him a ferocious look that said, more clearly than words, that killing him would be a pure pleasure - if such a thing were possible while he still held the sword. “Get rid of it,” she said finally. “Right now. Right this second.”
Pinch considered. “No. I think…I think I’ll wait a bit.”
The jewel-like eyes of the Queen of Nightmares drew down to angry slits. “In that case, Edward - we are going to have a problem.”
As Charlie flew through the Slumber on the back of the lemon-yelloe songbird, he marvelled at how like - and utterly unlike - this place was from the Nether. The layout was the same, but the specifics were all different.
He crested the snow-capped mountains of the 3rd Ring - from this height, they looked like scoops of vanilla ice cream. And then he was swooping down and skimming over the ocean of the 4th Ring, which was as clear and as blue as the one in the Nether had been murky and grey. Sea animals leaped and dived cheerfully in the waves, seeming to follow him, chasing after each other in some kind of friendly game.
Moments later, he left the ocean behind and then sailed out over the crystals of the 5th Ring. Unlike the horrible mustard colour of the ones in the Nether, these were clear as diamonds and they all seemed to point in the same direction - towards the glorious column of light that surrounded the Inner Circle. It sparkled and shimmered enticingly, beckoning Charlie forward.
Soon he was through it and soaring over the Inner Circle itself. Back in the Nether, the four palaces of the Named were dark and gothic, each one perfectly reflecting the evil of its owner - but here they were as light as the homes of the gods on Mount Olympus, with crystalline domes and pillars of gleaming white marble.
But that wasn’t even the most surprising thing.
High in the sky, in the very centre of the statuary-filled courtyard that all the palaces shared, a pearly platform seemed to float in the air - although, as Charlie neared it, he realised that it was actually held aloft by arching bridges that led to it from each of the four castles.
Hovering in the middle of the platform was an enormous shadowy being, towering and translucent.
There was something familiar about it…
It took Charlie a moment to recognise what it was, before he suddenly realised that it was actually the Fifth - the Queen of Nightmares herself - or at least the version that she chose to present here in the Slumber. The very existence of the shadow creature seemed impossible given the brightness of the sun - and yet there she was, framed by a shimmering oval of light directly behind her. At her feet were three small dots. Even from this far away, Charlie knew who they were: Rex, Tabitha and the Headmaster.
He imagined the songbird drifting down to drop him off next to them and, to his amazement, that’s exactly what it did. It swooped through the air and then came to a smooth stop on the platform, quickly lowering a wing to allow Charlie to get down and join his friends.
They seemed unsurprised to see him.
“Mr Benjamin,” the Headmaster said with a sleepy smile. “I assumed you would join us sooner or later.”
“How long have you been here?” Charlie asked. “And how do we get out?”
“We don’t, kid,” Rex replied lazily. “Heck, when we first got here, we thought the same as you - that there had to be a way out. But, you know what? After you spend a little time here in the Slumber, you realise that there ain’t a way out and, even if there was, why would you ever want to leave? It’s so…peaceable here.”
Charlie turned to Tabitha. “You don’t feel this way too, do you?”
The Nethermancer grinned and stretched out on the platform, moaning pleasantly. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s nice here, Charlie. You’ll see. You just have to give it some time. It grows on you.”
It grows on you.
More like feeds on you, Charlie thought darkly. On your willpower, on your desire to escape it and, finally, on your life…
“Why fight it, Mr Benjamin?” the Headmaster said, her brightly coloured dress fluttering in the sweet breeze. “I’ve tried and…it’s no use. No use at all.”
“But, back on Earth—”
“Back on Earth, my body is a crippled husk,” she interrupted. “Here I’m in no pain, I’m never hungry and nothing is ever expected of me.” She sighed contentedly. “Here I can be…happy.”
Charlie shook his head. “Not for much longer. Your body is dying. Pretty soon it will be dead and so will you.”
The Headmaster shrugged. “So be it.”
So be it.
It horrified Charlie to realise that the Headmaster was lost to him - to everyone really, including herself. She
was the strongest of them all, but her time in the Slumber had broken her, just like the Chasm Wyrm in the Nether had broken him, if only briefly. The Slumber was like a deep and pleasantly warm ocean that lulled you out, away from shore, and by the time you realised you’d swum past the point of no return, it was too late.
You drowned with a smile on your face.
“Charlie Benjamin…”
Charlie turned to see the dazzling shadow image of the Queen of Nightmares looking down at him. She was grinning.
“Listen to your teachers. They are wise. They care for you.”
Charlie shook his head. “They’ve been too long in this horrible place. You’ve corrupted their minds. But not
mine. I’m getting out.”
“There is no way out.”
“That’s a lie. The only way to keep people from trying to escape is to make them not want to. That’s the reason you made it so nice in here - because if people wanted to leave, they might eventually figure out how.”
“You are smart, Charlie Benjamin. But that will not help you. No one has ever escaped the Slumber. Join your friends. Enjoy the time you have with them before you die.”
Charlie walked defiantly towards her. “I could say the same thing to you. Edward Pinch has the Sword of Sacrifice. How long before he slays you with it?”
For just the briefest of moments, Charlie saw a look of fear flash across her face.
“Edward Pinch has already disposed of the sword,” she said. “He has thrown it into the well of the Netherforge. It has returned to the Core.”
“That’s a lie.”
Again there was that brief flash of fear, and Charlie knew he was getting to her.
“You dare to question me?” the shadow form of the Queen of Nightmares thundered.
“I know Pinch. And I know that he wants power more than anything else. The sword gives him that.”
“So do I. When he drinks from me, he becomes transformed.”
Charlie shrugged. “See, and that’s exactly the problem - what you give to him, you can also take away from him. But no one can take the sword away.”
“You could,” she replied mockingly. “If you were out of the Slumber.”