“Today dawn’s a new age,” he began. “An age in which the old kingdoms shall be destroyed, and the new kingdom, our kingdom, shall rise up to rule both the land of the living and the Land of the Dead!”
The crowd of monsters cheered.
“And so, to celebrate this auspicious occasion, I give you a very special tournament. A tournament that shall mark the beginning of the Age of Animus!”
Buhwaaahmp! groaned the horns, and the crowd cheered. The prince nodded proudly and let them go on for a bit, then he raised his hand and all was silent.
“And now, I have the great honor of introducing our three eligible combatants. First, one of our fiercest competitors of all time, this giant of gore comes to us from the fjords of Norway with an impressive record of seventeen kills. That’s right, the most terrible troll of them all, Borg Gorallup!”
The monsters cheered, and a squat, pear-headed troll with an eye patch and a pronounced underbite stepped forward from the crowd. His shoulders were as broad as Nigel Stout was tall, his legs and arms as thick as tree trunks. And he was naked, save for an animal skin around his waist and a pair of spiked leather bands around his massive forearms. In one hand he carried a large mallet; in the other, a studded wooden shield.
“Gorallup!” the troll croaked, and he pounded his mallet in the dirt. The earth shook and the crowd cheered, and then the prince raised his hand and all was silent.
“Our next combatant,” he announced, “comes to us from deep within the caves of Lascaux, France. Boasting an unparalleled record of twenty kills even, and known in these parts as ‘the Scourge of the Shinobi,’ your favorite goblin and mine, Moosh-Moosh!”
The crowd went wild, and one of the larger, toad-faced goblins leaped over the heads of the other monsters and landed next to Borg Gorallup. His green, sinewy frame stood only as high as the troll’s waist, but his yellow eyes glowed fiercely, and between his pointy ears stretched a mouth littered with fangs. The goblin carried no weapons, but given the long, sharp claws on his hands and feet, I could understand why he didn’t need them.
“And finally,” said the prince, silencing the crowd, “I give you one of the newest additions to our menacing menagerie. An up-and-comer who has already racked up an impressive nine kills, each in less than a minute!” The crowd murmured excitedly. “Here he is, that mysterious, entomological nightmare from the Americas—Moth Man!”
The monsters cheered as Moth Man spread his enormous insect wings and lifted off the battlements. From where I was standing I could see that the black-eyed creature was carrying a spear, but when he landed next to Moosh-Moosh I noticed that—well, with a name like Moth Man, perhaps no further description is necessary.
“There you are, then, Grubb,” said the prince. “Choose your opponent and give us our tournament.”
“I choose none of them,” I said, and the crowd grumbled with confusion.
“None of them?” asked the prince. “But surely you know what will happen to the banshee if you choose not to fight.”
“I do, sire,” I said. “Which is why I choose to fight you.”
The monsters gasped.
“Me?” asked the prince, amazed. “You choose to fight me?”
“Yes, sire.”
“But don’t you know who I am, lad? Don’t you know that there is not a creature on this planet, magical or otherwise, who has ever proven a match for me?”
“Perhaps, sire. But if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to take my chances. Unless, of course, you’re a coward.”
The monsters gasped and the prince stiffened. The air hung tensely for a moment—but then the prince threw back his head and laughed heartily. The Black Fairy and the rest of the crowd joined him, and for a moment I thought the whole castle might come crashing down from all their belly shaking.
“Very well,” said the prince, regaining his composure, and his subjects immediately grew silent. “How can I resist such insolence?” Then he leaned over the balustrade and whispered: “Besides, it will make snuffing out Alistair Grim all the more enjoyable when I tell him it was I who broke your neck for you.”
The prince smiled widely and then jumped down from the balcony.
The Black Fairy screeched, the monsters cheered, and Gorallup, Moosh-Moosh, and Moth Man scattered back into the crowd.
The prince landed in the yard, and a cloud of dust billowed up around him—his bright red eyes shining through like a pair of lanterns in the fog. Prince Nightshade lowered the visor on his helmet, and as the dust began to settle, he drew his fiery-tipped whip.
A bolt of terror shot through me, and with my heart in my throat, I raised Ikari as I had seen Kiyoko do against the dragons. As if in reply, the prince raised his whip and cracked it over his head. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, and then the goblins gave the signal for the tournament to begin.
Buhwaaahmp!
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” cheered the crowd.
I held the blade out in front of me in expectation of the prince’s attack. But instead of advancing, Prince Nightshade fell to his knees, stretched his arms out wide, and said: “Go ahead, boy! Strike me anywhere you wish.”
I hesitated, unsure of what to do.
“No need to be afraid,” said the prince. “You have my word as a gentleman. I give you the honor of first strike as a reward for your courage.”
This had to be a trick, I thought, and held my ground.
“Does everyone here distrust me so?” the prince asked with mock offense, and the monsters laughed. “Very well, then, Grubb. I shall allow another to strike first in your place.” The prince surveyed his subjects and shouted, “Gorallup!”
The troll stepped forward from the crowd.
“Oh, Borg, dear,” said the prince. “Would you be so kind as to show young Grubb that my word is still that of a gentleman?”
“Gorallup!” croaked the troll, and without hesitation, he lumbered over to the prince, raised his enormous mallet, and brought it down hard upon the prince’s head!
I gasped, unable to believe what I was seeing, but as soon the troll’s mallet struck the prince’s helmet, it snapped back, lifting the troll off his feet and sending him flying backward into the crowd.
The monsters laughed and applauded, and then the prince stood up as if nothing had happened.
“Thank you, Borg,” he said. “Consider the first blow yours, young Grubb. And so, without further ado, it is my turn.”
Instinctively I backed away, and then the prince came rushing toward me. He looked as if he was about to leap into the air, but at the last moment he skidded to a halt in the dirt, cocked his whip, and let it fly.
I dove out of the way just in time, and the fiery tip exploded somewhere behind me. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked, and the air was sucked from my lungs as I landed face-first in the dirt.
Coughing, I quickly rose to my feet and turned around. The prince was upon me at once, swiping his black-armored fist straight for my head.
I ducked and rolled away as fast as I could. And before I even had time to regain my footing, the prince’s whip came for me again.
Somehow I scrambled out of the way, and Prince Nightshade’s whip cracked near my bottom and sent me tumbling head over heels. Finally I landed on my feet, and the monsters burst into raucous applause. Even the prince himself let out a howl of laughter upon seeing me standing there on guard with Ikari.
“Splendid!” he said. “This is proving to be quite entertaining after all!”
Then the prince raised his whip again, and just as its tip crested above his head, in a split second I decided that it was time to make my move.
I tossed aside Ikari and took off like a shot. The crowd cheered—and I heard the whip come cracking down—but I dove between the prince’s legs and sprang to my feet behind him. Hidden beneath his cape, I grabbed hold of his sword belt and pulled myself up to his waist.
Prince Nightshade whirled around and gasped at seeing me gone. But then the monsters be
gan to laugh and point at him, and he understood where I was. The prince twisted and turned and batted blindly at his back, but his chunky black armor made it impossible for him to reach me. Still, he cackled heartily and, to please the crowd, shook his bottom as if dancing a jig. The monsters nearly fell over with laughter, but I quickly slipped my hand around his waist and snatched Mack from his belt.
Then, without warning, Prince Nightshade fell backward in an attempt to squash me, but I let go of him just in time and tumbled away in the dirt. The prince landed square on his bottom, shaking the ground, and as the crowd was distracted by his antics, I opened Mack and tapped him on his XII.
“What time is it?” he cried, crackling to life.
“No time to explain, old friend,” I said. “Just stick to the shadows for as long as you can and try not to fizzle out.”
“What the—?” Mack said, spinning round. “Where are we, Grubb?”
I promise I’ll get you back,” I said.
The monsters began pointing and shouting, “Animus! The boy has the animus!” Confused, Prince Nightshade rose to his feet and groped at his belt, but upon catching sight of me with Mack, he let out a deafening roar of, “MINE!”
“My apologies, Mack,” I said.
And with that I promptly hurled Mack into the crowd.
“McClintock!” he cried as he sailed through the air. The monsters gaped and gasped, and then one of the goblins reached up and caught Mack in its claws.
“Give me back the animus!” the prince screamed, but the monsters ignored him and began fighting with one another for possession of Mack.
“Let go of me, ya ugly neep!” Mack shouted, his blue light illuminating the monsters’ faces as they tossed him about. And then old McClintock was swallowed up into the crowd.
“MINE!” cried the prince, pushing his way amongst them, and the Black Fairy swooped down from the balcony and joined the fray too.
It’s now or never, I thought, and I retrieved Ikari and raced across the yard. It sounded as if total bedlam had broken out behind me, but I dared not look back, and quickly dashed over to the prince’s chariot. I climbed up onto Phantom’s back, and when the stallion reared, I grabbed hold of the stable roof and pulled myself up. From there, I somehow managed to hoist myself up onto the battlements, sword and all.
It was then that I saw the first of the doom dogs take shape in a darkened corner of the yard below. I’d remembered from our previous encounter that it took nearly a minute for them to appear after Mack was opened. And as if on cue, another of the hounds materialized in the shadows nearby. And then another. And another—their burning red eyes brightening as they picked up on the animus and set off toward the crowd of scuffling monsters.
A chill shot through my body—I was counting on those smelly monsters to throw the doom dogs off my scent. After all, if the doom dogs tracked people who touched the animus, wouldn’t they track monsters, too? That was my hope, anyway.
I dashed across the battlements as fast as I could, and just as I reached the corner of the castle wall, a cry of anguish from the yard told me my plan was working.
“Get it off me!” a monster screamed. “Get it off me!”
Gazing down from the battlements, I saw Moosh-Moosh come tumbling out from the crowd. He landed in a sunny portion of the yard, screaming and thrashing about in an all-out brawl with his shadow—which, to my horror, had taken on the shape of a large, black hound. Nigel’s warning from the marketplace echoed through my mind.
Sunlight or no sunlight, once a doom dog latches on to you, you’re as good as done for.
More monsters began tumbling out into the sunlight, each screaming and wrestling with a doom dog. But the prince and the Black Fairy ignored them, and just batted the others out of the way as they searched for Mack amidst the crowd. My heart squeezed with worry for my mate, but my plan demanded that I rescue Cleona first.
Besides, I thought, it’ll take more than a gang of monsters to scrap old Mack.
I took off again across the battlements. The horn-blowing goblins had also joined the ruckus, so I had a clear shot across to the tower—but then something in the yard again caught my attention, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
Prince Nightshade seized McClintock from the crowd and punched one of the trolls in the face. The troll went flying backward, taking out at least a dozen or so of his mates along the way as the doom dogs dragged more monsters into the sunlight. I counted seven of the hounds in all—their victims screaming and writhing in agony as the other creatures backed away in terror.
The prince, on the other hand, seemed unafraid. He stormed over to Moosh-Moosh and, lifting the visor on his helmet, shot the goblin with a bolt of red lightning from his eyes. For a brief moment Moosh-Moosh was engulfed in a shower of shimmering sparkles, but then the light dissolved, and with it, the goblin’s doom dog too.
“Rise,” said the prince, and Moosh-Moosh stood up and stared vacantly ahead. His eyes were no longer yellow, but glowed with the evil of a purple-eyed Shadesman.
I gasped in amazement. So that’s how the prince uses the animus to make his Shadesmen. He shoots his magic at them just before the doom dogs take their souls!
Then a voice in my head told me it was no time for gawking.
My legs sprang into action, and as I climbed up onto a parapet, I was aware of the prince shooting more of his red lighting in the yard below. My heart sank at the idea of him making more purple-eyed Shadesmen, but still, my thoughts had room for only the tower. The jump from the battlements to the platform that held Cleona’s sphere was much farther than it had appeared from the ground.
“I’ll never make it,” I said to myself, and then the Black Fairy landed on the battlements beside me. My blood froze.
“THE BANSHEE!” roared the prince, and I glanced down into the yard to find Nightshade and his entire court of monsters staring up at me.
The Black Fairy screeched and reared back his head to spit.
Jump! I told myself. And before I could think twice about it, I did.
The Black Fairy spewed his bolt of thick black fire—I could feel its heat through the soles of my shoes—but thankfully I had jumped just in time and the bolt blew apart a section of the battlements instead.
As I feared, however, my landing came up short, and I hit the platform with my lower half dangling over the side.
“No!” the prince shouted at the Black Fairy from below. “You’ll hit the banshee!”
I grabbed one of the sphere’s conductor pipes and pulled myself up onto the platform. I took in the whole of the contraption at once. Unlike the sphere in the Odditorium’s engine room, its polished steel pipes twisted back into the sphere itself. And there was Cleona inside, staring back at me amidst the crackling red and purple light. My heart soared. She was all right!
“Thank goodness you’re safe,” I said. Cleona pounded her fists against the inside of the sphere. I could see that she was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t hear her through the red and purple flashing glass.
“Don’t worry, Cleona,” I said. “I’ll get you out!”
But then, in the reflection of the polished steel pipes, I saw the figure of the Black Fairy rise up behind me.
Without thinking, I struck the sphere as hard as I could with Ikari—but the blade merely bounced off, the force of it spinning me round. At the same time, the Black Fairy swung his fist for my head. Happily, I still had enough wits about me to duck, and the demon smashed one of the conductor pipes instead, tearing it free.
A freezing blast of air hit my cheek. The Black Fairy screeched and raised his fist to pound me. But then, in a streak of bright blue light, Cleona shot out from the ruptured pipe like a cannonball.
“AAAIIIEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” she cried, and slammed headfirst into the Black Fairy’s chest. The creature screamed, his arms and legs pinwheeling as he fell backward off the platform and out of sight onto the battlements below.
“Behind you, Grubb!” Cle
ona cried, zooming back in my direction, and I spun round to find Prince Nightshade standing above me atop the sphere. In one hand he held McClintock; in the other, his fiery-tipped whip.
“MINE!” roared the prince, readying to strike, but then Cleona whizzed past me and slammed smack-dab into his face. Nightshade howled with surprise, and as he tumbled off the sphere and into the yard below, Mack went flying from his hands.
“Mack!” I cried. And in a blur of streaking blue, Cleona darted upward and snatched him from the air.
“Quick, Grubb, we’ve got to get out of here!” she said, and she traded me Mack for Ikari. I slipped Mack into my remaining pocket, and Cleona stood with her back to me. “Wrap your arms about my neck,” she said. I obeyed, and in a flash Cleona took flight, soaring up and over the yard with me hanging on behind her.
“After them!” Prince Nightshade shouted. He leaped into the air and cracked his whip, but Cleona had already flown us much too high for him to reach, and the prince tumbled back to earth with a roar of frustration.
“Bring me the animus!” he cried, dashing for his chariot. Scores of Shadesmen mounted their skeleton steeds, while other monsters scrambled for weapons and shouted for the drawbridge to be lowered.
Higher and higher we climbed. And as Cleona flew us out beyond the battlements, I could see that the castle moat was completely empty. Farther off, all around the moat was a rocky cliff that dropped off abruptly into a sea of dark clouds, giving one the impression that Prince Nightshade’s fortress had been ripped from the earth, ground and all.
The sound of a tolling church bell drew my attention back to the castle. The heavy wooden drawbridge was being lowered over the moat.
“They’re coming!” I cried.
“I am well aware of that, thank you,” Cleona said.
As we dove toward the clouds, I looked behind me just in time to see the first wave of Shadesmen galloping out of the castle, and then everything went dark. I held my breath for what felt like hours, certain that at any moment the Shadesmen’s arrows would tear into the clouds after us, until finally Cleona and I burst out into a clear blue sky.
Alistair Grim's Odditorium Page 21