Nightmare Academy, Book 2: Monster Madness

by Dean Lorey

  “No,” the Director whispered. “I’m afraid I’m not.”

  The Guardian sighed then and whispered only three more words:

  “Alone…always alone.”

  It gasped once, then once more…and then finally was still.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  THE WORM TURNS

  While the Nethermancers continued their work, the Banishers grouped around the massive, immobilized bodies of the Named. Charlie stood next to Violet—mere feet from Barakkas’s tough, blue hide—while Rex and William took a position by Slagguron.

  “We will do this as quickly and painlessly as possible,” Pinch said, drawing his sickle. It gleamed a startling blue. “I know many of you find this distasteful. We are not assassins, certainly, but sometimes dark deeds must be performed so that the light of peace can shine.”

  The light of peace? Charlie thought. What kind of crazy talk is that? It was almost as if he were already campaigning for the job of Director of the Nightmare Division.

  “After we complete our duty,” Pinch continued, “we will arise tomorrow in a safer world than the one we awoke in today.” Pinch raised his sickle in his small hand.

  Following his lead, the other Banishers, including Rex and William, raised their weapons.

  “Banishers,” Pinch said, “on my command—”

  Charlie glanced at Violet, sick to his stomach. “I know,” she whispered, obviously just as upset as he was. “Let’s just get it over with.”

  Charlie nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

  He raised his rapier, she raised her ax.

  Pinch began to count down to the attack. “One…two—”

  Suddenly, Barakkas twitched.

  The Banishers glanced at each other, nervous.

  “Am I seeing things?” Violet asked, “or did he just—”

  Another spasm ran through the body of the mighty Named, causing a talonlike finger to curl up under his one good claw, ripping a giant trough in the ice beneath.

  “He…he moved,” Charlie said.

  “Uh-oh,” Rex muttered. “This is definitely not good.”

  Barakkas opened his eyes and looked over at the humans. “Apparently, no one has checked on the Guardian,” he said with a grin. Then he leaped to his hooves with such thunderous force that ice fell from the cavern ceiling, raining down like broken glass on the monsters and humans far below.

  Slagguron—also recovered—quickly raised up to his full height. He towered high above everyone, body curled into an S shape, dark eyes blinking, as the other creatures of the Nether regained consciousness around him.

  Just like that, the humans were surrounded by fully awake, fully furious monsters ready to seek their revenge.

  “This can’t be happening,” Tabitha said.

  William turned to Pinch with fury in his eyes. “You’ve killed us all.”

  “No,” Pinch protested. “This…this isn’t part of the plan…”

  And that was when the monsters attacked.

  Slagguron threw himself down onto the ice with stunning force, crushing humans and creatures alike under his awesome weight. Barakkas stomped the ground with his mighty hooves, fangs bared, eyes wild with rage.

  “Now we get our REVENGE!” the massive beast thundered, hot spittle flying from his mouth. “Now you will all PAY!”

  “Retreat!” the Headmaster screamed. “Portal away! We cannot win this!”

  As hundreds of newly risen monsters descended upon them, the Banishers swung into action, trying to protect the Nethermancers, who frantically struggled to open portals so that they could all escape.

  “You just do your best, sweetheart,” Rex said calmly to Tabitha, his lasso lashing and short sword flashing at the incoming creatures. “I’ll keep ’em off ya long as I can.”

  While she worked at creating a portal in the midst of the chaos, Pinch stumbled through the vast cavern in something like shock.

  “This is impossible,” he wailed. “My plan was foolproof!” Pinch grasped at the Banishers and Nethermancers, desperate for their forgiveness and acceptance, as they fought valiantly to save themselves and their comrades. “I couldn’t have known it would end like this,” he pleaded. “Remember, I killed Verminion. I’m a hero…”

  But there was neither forgiveness nor acceptance in anyone’s eyes as they pushed him away and continued to fight their doomed battle.

  Amid the screams and shrieks, Theodore’s father, William, ran from the main lair to see what had become of the Guardian. He found the gentle creature in the small, icy chamber where Charlie had hidden it.

  The Director was lowering its still body to the ground.

  “No,” William said. “What have you done?”

  “Only what had to be done,” Director Drake replied. “But surely you can see that.”

  William rushed up to the Guardian and pulled it from the Director’s hands, hoping for signs of life—but there weren’t any.

  “Can you imagine if this little operation had been successful?” Drake said, as if the very possibility were incomprehensible to him. “The Double-Threats would have taken over the Division, William. They would have ruined us.” He shook his head sadly. “Clearly, something had to be done.”

  “People are dying out there!”

  “I know,” the Director replied. “And it’s terrible, it really is—but hard men must make hard choices, and sometimes sacrifices are necessary to protect the greater good.”

  “The greater good? My son is out there!”

  Suddenly, Theodore ran into the chamber. “Dad!” he yelled, “I’ll portal us out!”

  With a wave of his hand, Theodore created a portal…and that was when he noticed the lifeless Guardian in his father’s arms.

  “What are you doing?” Theodore asked softly, backing away, horrified.

  “No,” William replied. “It’s not what you think…”

  “You touched him? He can’t be touched—you know that. We all know that! Everyone knows that!”

  William shook his head. “You don’t understand—”

  “How could you?” Theodore screamed. “My best friends are in this fight! Because of you, I don’t even know if Charlie and Violet are still alive! I don’t know if anyone’s alive!”

  Just then, a new sound echoed down the hallway and throughout the cavern. It was the bright and lunatic laugh of something monstrous.

  “GREETINGS!” a booming voice cried out, “and many great hellos!”

  Tyrannus flapped down on his great, golden wings, his wild eyes rolling crazily in their sockets. “Yum, yum, yum! I thought I missed all the fun!”

  Oh no, Charlie thought as he fought off a Dangeroo. It just doesn’t end, does it?

  Now there were three Named in the giant lair.

  Rapier flashing, Charlie began to race around, desperate to find his friends before Tyrannus joined in the frenzy, but the air was thick with swirling snow and the ground was slick with monster blood. Through the freezing haze, he could see some portals winking into existence as others disappeared, taking with them desperate Banishers and Nethermancers. People were either escaping from this death trap or falling prey to the monsters of the Nether.

  As Charlie fought, he ran down a mental checklist, trying to figure out where he’d last seen his friends. He knew Rex and Tabitha were working as a team near Slagguron, but that had been a while ago. He had no idea if they were still in the lair or if they’d been able to make their escape.

  Please let them have gotten away, he wished desperately.

  As for the Headmaster, Charlie had glimpsed her brilliant blue staff light up the far reaches of the frozen cavern while she cut down vast armies of attacking Nethercreatures. The last he’d seen of her, she was so swarmed by monsters that only her staff was visible. Whether she had survived or not, whether it was even possible to survive the terrible odds she faced, was anyone’s guess.

  He was little more certain about Violet and Brooke. While he was fighting off a Hag, he thought he
saw Brooke create a portal that both girls had escaped through—but he wasn’t a hundred percent sure. They were far away and his eyes played tricks on him in the crazy reflections of this icy maze.

  And Theodore—Charlie had seen him run off a while ago, chasing after his father. But where were they now?

  Be safe, Theodore, he thought fiercely, willing it to be true. Be alive.

  From somewhere behind him, he could hear Pinch wandering through the madness, yelling about how sorry he was, about how none of this was really his fault. Charlie didn’t know whether or not that was true, and frankly he didn’t really care—not now, anyway.

  Now was the time for survival.

  “Pinch!” Charlie cried out. “Where are you? If you’re hurt, say so and I’ll come get you and portal us out!”

  “They all hate me now,” Pinch wailed pitifully in the distance. “Just like before.”

  “Hang on, I’m coming to find you!”

  Charlie fought his way past a Class-5 Netherstalker as he headed in the direction where he thought he’d heard Pinch. In his frenzy he slipped on a frozen patch of blood and hit his head—hard—on an icy ledge. It didn’t seem too bad, at first—nothing he couldn’t shake off after a minute or two—but then his body began to feel distant, as if he were looking at it in a faraway mirror.

  He tried to stand but his legs felt like rubber, and he slid back down to the ice.

  Oh no, he thought, I’m fainting. I can’t believe it!

  And soon blackness washed over him in a warm, wet wave.

  When Charlie awoke, he was all alone in the lair of the Named.

  As far as he knew, the other humans were gone—those who were still alive, anyway. His head throbbed and he was fighting the urge to vomit, but he stood on shaky legs and prepared to open a portal to escape, when he heard a familiar throaty voice:

  “Charlie Benjamin,” Barakkas said.

  Charlie turned.

  Barakkas, Slagguron, and Tyrannus stood behind him like giant trolls from some ancient, evil fairy tale. Their Artifacts of the Nether gleamed brilliantly, reflected a hundred times over in the walls of ice that surrounded them.

  “Yes?” Charlie replied. He was exhausted.

  “It doesn’t have to end like this, boy,” Barakkas said pleasantly, stepping toward him. “Just because the rest of humanity will die at our hands doesn’t mean you have to.”

  “Of course not!” Tyrannus chirped happily, flapping into the air with enthusiasm. The force of his wings sent the smaller Nethercreatures around him tumbling away. “There are no hard feelings! We are your friends, Charlie Benjamin—and friends always eat friends, don’t they!”

  “Friends always eat friends?” Charlie repeated. He wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “What does that mean?”

  “It means,” Slagguron said, his voice a low rumble, “that Tyrannus has lost his mind.”

  “I have NOT!” Tyrannus shrieked. “After all, how could someone crazy clean his own ears with his tongue?”

  Shockingly, he proceeded to do just that.

  “Fine,” Slagguron said, “but you still cannot eat the boy.”

  Tyrannus pouted. “Why not?”

  “Because he is going to help us.”

  “How?” Charlie asked. “How can I possibly help you?”

  Barakkas tossed something down in front of him. As big around as a water tower, it hit the ground with a tremendous clang, and Charlie recognized it almost immediately.

  “Verminion’s choker? What’s that for?”

  “You wore my bracer once,” Barakkas said. “Which means you’re the only human who has ever been able to wield an Artifact of the Nether without being destroyed.”

  “So?”

  “So, Verminion may be dead—but you, Charlie Benjamin, can use the Artifact in his place to join us in summoning the Fifth.”

  Charlie’s blood froze. “No…I thought you had to have all four Named to do that.”

  “We needed all four Named,” Barakkas said, “because we needed all four artifacts. It is the artifact that is important, not the one who wields it.” He nodded to the choker on the ground with his great horns.

  “YOU can be the fourth Named, Charlie Benjamin.”

  Suddenly, Charlie understood what Slagguron had meant during the attack on the Nightmare Division when he had told Barakkas “there is still hope.” Verminion’s death wasn’t fatal to their plans as long as they still had Charlie.

  He shook his head. “I won’t do it.”

  “Oh, you will,” Barakkas replied, “or you will die.”

  Charlie shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe I’ll be able to portal out before that happens. Wanna see who’s quicker?”

  “Stop being so DIFFICULT!” Tyrannus shrieked, flapping forward. “You have to use it—you must! You’re the only human who can!”

  “That’s not entirely true,” a voice behind Charlie said.

  He spun to see Pinch standing there, bloodied and bruised. Pinch smiled grimly, and the combination of world-weary eyes on such a young-looking face was, at best, disturbing. “Charlie was able to put on the Bracer because he’s a Double-Threat…but so am I.”

  “No, Edward,” Charlie said. “Don’t do this.”

  “There’s nothing for me here anymore,” Pinch said softly. “They all hate me now—everyone at the Nightmare Division. They blame me for this.” He gestured to the massacre that surrounded him. “I can’t fault them, I suppose. I would hate me, too, if our positions were reversed.”

  “They’ll forgive you, Edward,” Charlie said. “I’m sure they will. It just might take some time.”

  Edward shook his head. “I may look like a child, but you are one, Charlie Benjamin. You have a lot to learn about people. They do not forgive and they do not forget.” He craned his head up to look at Barakkas. “If I do this for you, what will you give me in return?”

  “Your life,” Barakkas replied with a smile. Charlie could see bits of meat hanging from his teeth. “And a place at our side. The Fifth will want you to remain here, of course, to open more portals to the Nether, to bring monsters to aid us in our fight.”

  “They’re lying to you,” Charlie said. “You know they are. After you do what they want, they’ll kill you.”

  “So what? I have nothing to live for anyway.”

  The higher you go, the Headmaster had said, the farther you have to fall.

  Pinch, who had started out as one of the most powerful Double-Threats ever born, had spent most of his life as a miserable, broken man after being Reduced. Then, through nothing short of a miracle, he had quickly risen to dizzying heights, regaining his Gift and slaying Verminion.

  To lose all that now, again, was simply too much for him to bear.

  He reached out his hand—smooth and small—and touched Verminion’s choker. It shrank down to a size that would fit him perfectly.

  “Please don’t,” Charlie said. “It’s not too late, Edward. You can still make things right.”

  “Grow up, Charlie,” Pinch said, unhinging the Artifact of the Nether and fastening it around his own neck.

  All four Artifacts suddenly glowed with a brightness that rivaled even the sun’s.

  Tyrannus cackled with glee. “Yum, yum, yum—time for the FUN!”

  “Good!” Slagguron shouted, rising to his full, astonishing height. “That feels very good!”

  “It does!” Pinch yelled, his face a mask of ecstasy. “I never thought something could feel so wonderful!”

  “Yes, indeed!” Barakkas shouted, orange eyes now purple with unquenchable lust. “It is time!”

  Charlie backed away from them, utterly heartbroken, feeling that he had failed himself, his friends, and maybe even the entire human race.

  “Let us begin, my friends,” Barakkas thundered, “and use all our strength to summon the Fifth!”

  The ritual of summoning began.

  PART IV

  THE FIFTH

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  PEAR
L

  The Artifacts of the Nether shined so brightly that Charlie had to close his eyes to avoid being blinded. He knew he should use this opportunity to portal away, to escape, but how could he leave before seeing what was to come?

  “Let it flow!” he heard Barakkas roar. “Does it not feel wonderful? Is this not what we have been missing all our lives?”

  “Yes!” Pinch shouted deliriously. “Wait—I see a doorway in front of me—a bright and shining light!”

  “Open it!” Slagguron commanded. “That is the doorway to the Fifth. We must all open it so the Fifth can come through!”

  “The Fifth is KIND,” Tyrannus screeched. “The Fifth is MERCIFUL!”

  A loud vibration rumbled through the cavern, and Charlie could feel its steady pulse throbbing all the way into his soul. Heat baked him from all sides, melting the ice, turning it into steam that blasted his face. The light was now so intense that, even with his eyes closed, it penetrated, driving itself into his brain like a red-hot spike.

  “The door is open!” Pinch shrieked.

  “Come through!” Slagguron shouted.

  “The Fifth is coming!” Tyrannus cackled, then: “THE FIFTH IS HERE!”

  The brilliant light began to dim. That intense thrumming noise receded into the distance, and the heat that enveloped Charlie started cooling. Soon, everything was quiet in the lair of the Named, except for the sound of running water and the patter of many feet as the creatures of the Nether scuttled fearfully away.

  Full of dread, Charlie opened his eyes.

  The Fifth stood in the center of the lair, flanked on all sides by the three remaining Named and Pinch. Like the Guardian, it wasn’t what Charlie expected at all.

  The Fifth was a woman, roughly eight feet tall—much larger than a human but dwarfed by the towering Named that surrounded her. She was incredibly striking, with an alien beauty that Charlie found uncomfortably appealing. Her skin was a deep, flawless scarlet—the color of blood—and her wide catlike eyes glowed like brilliant purple jewels. She had four arms with fingers that ended in sharp, precisely manicured nails the exact color of her eyes. Her legs were long and her body was full of alluring, womanly curves. The hair on top of her head was silver and wild and seemed to move on its own, against the wind, as if it were a separate living thing.