by Wesley King
“You were with him,” I said. “When he saw the tunnel in the woods last year.”
“I knew right away that he was a Shadow Sight, but I didn’t tell Eldon. I don’t know why. It was the first time it had ever happened, a surface human having the Sight, and I thought the secret could be valuable. And when I was captured…I used the information. When I told the monsters about Tom, well, I knew I had to get him to Riverfield. I was just going to try and have him over for a weekend, but when your Dad said you wanted to move, I figured it was worth a try to see if you would get the house. Then he would just be here, and I could take him when the invasion was ready.”
“And me?” I asked, feeling sick. “What was my part?”
“Just an unfortunate add-on,” he said quietly. “I had hoped Tom would get your room. I didn’t want you involved.”
“So you lied to me…when you said you thought I had what it takes.”
“Laura…you’re just a little girl. I didn’t want you in this war. When the invasion—”
“What invasion?” I asked darkly, gripping the hammer.
Laine hesitated and looked away. “They’re invading Riverfield tonight. There’s an army gathering at the entrance to another tunnel, up by the hydro towers on the north side of town. Dungan is with them. They’re going to use Tom to show them the secret tunnels across Riverfield, and then they’re going to invade Derwin.”
“They’ll burn Riverfield to the ground,” I whispered.
Laine shifted uneasily. “They said they wouldn’t—”
“You’re the one who took Tom from my house,” I said, stepping toward him.
“I wanted to do it,” he said. “I knew I could make sure he was safe—”
“What about my parents?” I asked softly.
“They’re safe in the house,” Laine said. “I would never hurt them—”
“How could you?” I whispered.
“I had to do it for my family,” he said weakly. “I didn’t have a choice.”
He looked toward the tunnel.
“Eldon will kill me when he finds out,” he said softly.
I looked at him for a long moment, the hammer in my hands. A part of me wanted to make him pay. To have him arrested and brought to Derwin and stuck in prison. But he was still my uncle. He still had a family. And I had a feeling he was right about Eldon.
“Go to Grandma’s and join your family. I don’t ever want to see you again.”
He met my eyes, and then he turned and ran into the woods. I watched him go. I was still stunned. It was bad enough that the monsters had Tom. But my uncle was responsible. It was almost too much to deal with.
A minute later, Eldon climbed out of the tunnel. “We’re clear…where’s Laine?”
“Get the others,” I murmured. “We’re at the wrong place.”
Eldon narrowed his eyes. “Laine?”
I nodded. He immediately disappeared, and a few minutes later the other Swords had all filed back through the portal, looking very confused.
“What happened?” Allison asked.
“We’ve been betrayed,” I said. “My uncle made a deal with the monsters.”
The Swords looked at each other darkly. Eldon stared out into the woods. I could already tell he wanted to go after Laine.
“The leader is a troll named Dungan, and if my uncle was telling the truth, he is currently marching on Riverfield with an army,” I said.
Eldon turned back to me. “Why?”
“My little brother…he’s a Shadow Sight.”
Eldon and the others looked stunned. “What?” he whispered. “How can that be?”
“I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want anyone to know. I’m sorry. But Dungan knows, and he’s using Tom to show him the tunnels. He’s going to use them to invade Derwin. And I’m guessing he’s going to burn Riverfield to the ground on the way.”
“How are we going to stop an army?” Laren murmured.
I turned to him. “We’re going to crush the leader.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
We raced through the woods, heading directly for the massive line of hydro towers at the north end of town. As we hurried across Main Street in the darkness, I listened for screams, but I heard nothing but cars in the distance.
Obviously the attack hadn’t happened yet. We still had a little time.
“I should have suspected something earlier,” Eldon said grimly as we picked our way into the forest on the other side of the road. “He’s been acting strangely for months now. I just thought he was worried about his family.”
“He was,” I said quietly. “Part of it, anyway.”
Eldon glanced at me and then darted forward, slipping through the night like a mountain lion. I thought about Tom as I followed closely behind, knocking branches out of my way as we weaved in and out of the trees. I missed, and one sliced across my face, just missing my eye. The only thing giving me hope was the fact that if they were using Tom to find the portals, that at least meant he was all right. For now.
But if Uncle Laine was right, and there was an army gathering outside of Riverfield, then I still had to fight through hordes of monsters to get to him. Considering we had five Swords and myself, that was not going to be easy.
“What happens if the monsters take over Riverfield?” I asked.
Eldon paused. “They will flood through the tunnels, killing everyone in their way. They’ll emerge in Derwin, behind our defence lines. The battle will be over in minutes, and the monsters will claim Derwin and use our trains to attack the rest of the Under Earth. Even with the other Monster Crushers, the Under Earth will probably fall. And from there, the monsters only have one more place to attack. The surface.”
He looked at me.
“If we lose tonight, both our worlds may be destroyed. Mine tonight.”
We continued on, and I caught sight of the hydro towers through openings in the canopy, a few blinking red lights marking their place in the darkness. We were getting close now. My sweating fingers tightened on the hammer, itching to fight.
Allison suddenly fell in step beside me, her eyes darting to mine.
“I’m sorry about your uncle,” she said.
“So am I,” I replied. “But right now I just care about my brother.”
Allison nodded. “Then let’s go get him back.”
I saw the last comforting orange lights of Riverfield passing to our right, just visible through the trees. We were very close now. The night was cool and still; even the animals seemed to be hiding, as if they could feel the building tension in the air. And then I heard them: voices, rasping and cruel, shouting orders in the distance. Ahead, the trees suddenly opened onto a sprawling, grassy field, cleared away for the line of hydro towers that swept from Riverfield to a power station miles away. Secluded and enormous.
The perfect spot to gather an army.
We stopped at the edge of the trees, hunching in the brush. I pushed a low-hanging branch aside, trying to get a better look at the monsters. My eyes widened.
The field was littered with monsters. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. To the left, I saw them pouring out of the ground in a seemingly endless line before scurrying to join the others. They were forming ranks, gnashing their teeth and waving their shields and clutching their crooked swords. Yellow eyes sprinkled the field like fireflies. I looked toward the back of the army, searching for Dungan. It didn’t take long. The massive troll was standing in the midst of the horde, five times as big as any goblin. Even from there, I could hear him shouting orders. His horrible, booming voice shook the ground.
“Now what?” Allison whispered behind us.
Eldon scanned the area. “If we cut around the forest farther down, we can sneak behind the army and go straight for Dungan—”
He was interrupted by a piercing horn blow. The monsters suddenly straightened, tightened their ranks, and began to march toward Riverfield. In the background, the massive creature lifted someone up with his right ha
nd, clutching him by his shirt.
It was Tom.
I knew there was no time. If we tried to go around, the monsters would reach Riverfield. Even if we managed to stop them before they made it through the tunnel, Riverfield would burn. Thousands of people would die. And that thing had my brother.
I wanted him back.
“Tom!”
Hoisting the Iron Hammer with both hands, I stepped out of the woods. The hammer must have known I needed courage more than ever before, because the rubies flared a blinding crimson red, while the pale iron caught the moonlight. I heard the Swords step out behind me, Allison muttering something, and the marching line of monsters stopped, looking uncertain. I saw them buckle as the others marched into their backs and confused shouts flooded through the army. I just stood there, trying to be brave as my knees wobbled and shook and threatened to buckle. My hands trembled. My stomach felt like it was going to jump out of me and make a break for it. But my knees didn’t buckle, and my grip remained strong, and the hammer grew brighter.
“Laura!” Tom shouted. “Get help!”
“It’s here!” I called back.
I heard a commotion in the monster’s army, and I saw Dungan pushing his way forward. When he was about halfway through, he saw me and abruptly stopped. I saw the moonlight hit his jagged teeth as he smiled and lifted my brother high into the air, as if reminding me that he had him. Tom shouted and tried to wriggle free, but it was useless.
“Destroy them!” Dungan boomed, so loudly that the monsters around him flinched.
Lowering their rusted black spears, the army of monsters turned toward us, their feet thundering on the grass. Then they started to march.
“Do we have a plan?” Eldon asked tightly.
“Only one,” I said, knowing that if I failed, everyone here would die.
I stepped forward, lifting the hammer up like a torch.
“Dungan!” I shouted. “Are you too afraid to fight a little girl yourself?”
“What are you doing?” Eldon asked quietly.
“Challenging Dungan to a one-on-one fight,” I murmured.
He grimaced. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
But the challenge didn’t work.
The monsters closed in. I saw mammoth ogres approaching from the back, and imps taking flight and darting across the night sky. We would be swept away in moments. Dungan just smiled cruelly at me from the middle of it all. I tried again.
“Some king you are!” I shouted. “Letting your minions do the work. But I guess that makes sense. I’ve heard that all trolls are cowards.”
Yep, that did it.
I saw Dungan’s eyes flash, and then he suddenly lowered Tom to the ground.
“Stop!” he ordered, his booming voice cutting over the noise.
The marching army of monsters instantly stopped and then split in either direction, forming a clear path to Dungan. Uncle Laine had said I didn’t want to meet Dungan. I think he was right.
Dungan was bigger than any monster I had ever seen—double the size of the tallest man and as broad as a pickup truck. His arms were long and lined with iron-hard muscle, protruding from a rusted black chest plate that matched his gauntlets and leg protectors. Only his massive feet were bare—disgusting boogie board–sized feet that were covered with moss and marred further by twisted yellow nails. A shock of straw-like black hair contrasted sharply with his distorted green features, while his nose was mashed in like an overripe peach, his right cheek was bulging and lumpy, and he had disturbingly large fangs that protruded from his mouth and gnashed together as he stared at me.
“Are you challenging me, girl?” he asked quietly.
I met his eyes. “Yep. Unless you’re too afraid, of course. I would understand.”
“I think he gets it,” Eldon muttered.
Dungan laughed, shaking the earth. “Bring me my hammer.”
A goblin hurried forward and grabbed Tom, pulling him backward with a crooked knife to his throat. Behind Dungan, the army parted as well, and four goblins emerged, holding something enormous between them. They could barely lift it. Dungan reached down with one massive hand and picked it up. I felt my stomach sink.
The black hammer was bigger than my entire body. The handle itself was nearly as tall as I was, while the top was the size of my desk. It must have weighed half a ton. Dungan slowly walked forward, letting the top of his hammer drag along the ground behind him, digging into the soil. He smiled cruelly.
“I had my own hammer made,” he said. “Just to crush that puny one you are holding.”
I shifted, looking back at Eldon. For the first time since I’d met him, he looked afraid. I watched as Dungan’s disgusting green feet crunched into the grass, and I saw the muscles in his right arm shifting as he raised the hammer up onto his shoulder.
“I’m going to crush you too, girl,” he said quietly. “You’ve caused me a lot of trouble. More than that fool Laine predicted. Your brother is still of some use to me, of course. He’s going to win me the Under Earth. And when he does, I’ll crush him too.”
I narrowed my eyes, staring up at the massive troll.
“You better focus on killing me first.”
He laughed again. “That will be the easy part.”
Without warning, he swung the hammer up over his shoulder and brought it hurtling toward me like a meteor. I jumped out of the way, and the hammer hit the grass and imbedded itself into the soil with a tremendous thump. The ground shook with the impact. I backed away, thinking frantically about how I was going to beat such a monster. It seemed impossible. Dungan hoisted the hammer up again, still smiling.
“You can’t dodge them all,” he said.
I saw Tom standing with the crooked knife pressed against his throat.
“It’s all right, Tom,” I shouted, “I’ll get you home soon.”
Dungan attacked again, sweeping the hammer horizontally with two hands toward my waist this time. Between the hammer and his enormous arms, his reach was well over two metres. I dropped flat to the ground, letting the black hammer sweep over my head.
When I jumped back up, preparing to charge, I realized that Dungan wasn’t finished. He swept the hammer all the way around his back and then brought it down again over his head. I didn’t have time to dodge. I just lifted my hammer with both hands and tried to block his weapon with the handle. The impact was like a thunderclap.
My arms buckled but held, and the force of the blow almost knocked both of us backward. Dungan looked down at me in complete disbelief as I stood there and held my ground, sweat pouring down my face. He pushed down on his hammer with both hands, and I felt my knees shaking. But I pushed back, fighting to keep his hammer at bay.
The crimson rubies grew even brighter, casting everything in a red glare.
I couldn’t keep this up though. I had to go on the offensive if I was going to win.
I suddenly shifted my weight, pushing his hammer to the side and launching an attack of my own. I swung the Iron Hammer at his waist, and Dungan just barely blocked it, the metal ringing. I swung again and again, trying to take out his tree trunk–sized legs. The massive troll stepped back, his smile faltering just a little as I attacked wildly, fighting to get to Tom. But again and again Dungan blocked me, and I felt my arms starting to tire.
Dungan obviously sensed it, and he began to launch his own attacks again. He started pushing me backward now, his hammer crashing toward me. I blocked it, but my arms ached and strained with every blow. He was too big. Too strong. Finally, just after I blocked another powerful attack, he lashed out with his left hand, striking me across the stomach. It was like being hit by a car.
I went flying backward, the hammer slipping from my hands, then slammed into the grass, rolling over a few times before coming to a stop. I heard the monsters cheer and Tom cry out from the far side of the ring. I looked up and saw Eldon’s face, a spear point jammed up against his back. His eyes were sombre.
He knew what was comi
ng.
I tried to crawl to my hammer, but Dungan was faster. He kicked me in the ribs, and I flew backward again, my entire body flooding with pain. Tears poured out of my eyes—it felt like I was being stabbed on all sides. He must have broken my ribs. A lot of them. I clutched my side in agony as Dungan appeared over me, grabbing the front of my T-shirt with his huge, clawed green hand. He hoisted me up like I was a toddler, turning me to look directly into his pale-yellow eyes, those snake-like pupils scanning my face.
“You fought well, little girl,” he said, his foul breath washing over my face with the smell of rotted meat. “But you aren’t facing goblins now. You are facing Dungan, King of the Dead Mountains. Soon to be King of the Under Earth, and one day, the destroyer of the surface world.”
He smiled, revealing those yellow fangs.
“Did you really think I would be beaten by a fat little girl?”
He tossed me away, and once again I was crashing hard into the ground. My broken ribs flared with pain. I just managed to roll over, and I saw Dungan walking toward me, smiling again. This time he was slowly lifting the hammer over his head with two hands. He was done playing with me. He was about to end this fight.
My body hurt so much that it was hard to think. But there was something nagging at me as Dungan stopped beside me, smiling and preparing to crush me into the dirt.
“Any last words?”
It was something I’d read in the guide. Something about trolls.
It hit me just as he lifted the hammer. Grimacing through the pain, I slipped the silver knife out of its sheath on my ankle and gripped it with two trembling hands.
“I prefer husky,” I said, and then I plunged the blade into Dungan’s disgusting green foot.
It pierced right through to the handle, and Dungan let out a horrendous roar, dropping the hammer. I knew I didn’t have much time. I had to move.
I scampered around his legs as he reached down and tried to pull out the knife with his massive, clumsy fingers. The crowd of monsters was in an uproar. They were all shouting and cursing and waving their swords and spears at me.