The Wyrm King

by Tony DiTerlizzi

  “That tree is going to fall right on the house,” Jules said, his voice sounding hollow from horror.

  “Ring the doorbell—tell them,” Nick said. “But then we really have to go. We have to go, Jules.”

  Laurie yelled from behind them, a shout that was smothered. Nick looked back in time to see her slide deeper into the ground. Somehow the gap had widened, and now he could see only the top of Laurie’s head as she disappeared into the crack in the earth. Sandspur danced on her head, pulling at her hair, until he stepped wrong and slipped down beside her.

  “Laurie!” Jules shouted, throwing himself on his stomach and crawling toward her.

  He reached out a hand into the muddy crevice, digging around to get hold of her.

  Nick, stunned, rushed to help just as the earth split in a wide seam, creating a hole.

  Laurie caught Jules’s hand. Spitting dirt and struggling like she wasn’t sure where she was, she dangled over the new pit. Sandspur fell to the bottom and headed for the side, where he scratched at the dirt wall.

  “Hold on, Laurie!” Nick shouted. He pounded on Cindy’s door and shouted, “We need help! Help!”

  The door opened and Cindy stuck her head out. “Oh, that’s bad,” she said.

  Her father raced out after Cindy.

  “Cindy, come back inside,” her mother called.

  “Get a rope or something,” Nick said, and threw himself down on his knees next to Jules, trying to reach for Laurie’s other hand.

  “The tree!” Cindy yelled.

  Jules looked up, and all the color seemed to drain out of his face. He didn’t speak, he just let go of Laurie and lunged at Nick. Nick fell on his back, away from the seam in the earth.

  Laurie screamed.

  With a crack the tree fell where Jules had been standing. Nick felt the whoosh of it without fully comprehending, and a few thin branches scraped his cheek. Then everything seemed to go quiet.

  “Jules?” he said.

  Laurie seemed to be sobbing in the pit where Jules had dropped her.

  Somehow, Cindy and her father were already pushing the tree. “Nick!” she yelled. “We need your help.”

  In a daze Nick fought through the branches to get to where Jules was. His face looked pale in the moonlight, and his eyes were closed. Part of the trunk was holding down his legs.

  “Help us move it!” Cindy’s dad shouted.

  Nick threw his weight against the tree, groaning. Cindy and her dad heaved at the same time, and the trunk rolled in the mud, away from the pit and off of Jules.

  Jules’s eyes fluttered open. “Nick?”

  “I’m okay,” Nick said. “You got me out of the way.”

  “I can’t feel my leg,” Jules said, and shut his eyes again.

  “Do something,” Nick said to Cindy. “We have to get him inside!”

  Cindy’s dad shook his head and took off his raincoat, spreading it over Jules’s body. “We shouldn’t. You’re not supposed to move someone who’s been in an accident until you know what kind of injuries they’ve sustained.”

  “What do we do?” Cindy touched Jules’s hair. “We can’t just leave him in the rain.”

  “Okay, we can try and carry him into the house,” Cindy’s dad said. “But we’re going to have to be careful and move slowly.”

  “Go get your sister out of that pit,” said Cindy to Nick. “We can manage here.”

  Nick nodded, trying to take deep breaths and not panic. He wanted to shake Jules hard enough to wake him, but he knew he had to force himself to walk over to the edge of the sinkhole.

  Laurie was huddled against one side at the bottom, a few tiny bodies snaking around her. She looked like the methane was making her woozy, but she was still awake and breathing. In the center of the sinkhole was a creature the size of a dog, large-bellied and growing as it stuffed handfuls of black dragonets into its mouth. Although its features were distorted and strange, there was something so familiar about it that Nick took a second look. At its feet rested the remains of a small broken collar.

  The creature was Sandspur. And he was still swelling larger.

  “What’s happening?” Nick called down.

  “Sandspur’s not a hobgoblin,” she said in a small, unsteady voice. “I don’t know what he is—but as the dragon things come up, he keeps eating them before they can turn into hydras.”

  Maybe that’s why there isn’t enough methane to make Laurie pass out, Nick thought.

  “Hungry,” said Sandspur, fixing his gaze on Nick. “You three said you would feed me. You three said you would feed me anything I wanted.”

  “Uh,” said Nick, “okay. Aren’t those dragons delicious?”

  Sandspur kicked the wall of the sinkhole, and the edge crumbled, sending Nick sliding down on an avalanche of dirt and mud.

  “Hey!” Nick said, finding himself trapped in the pit too.

  “Still hungry,” said the creature, his mouth gaping wider and his weird eyes bulging.

  “There’s more of them,” Nick said, pointing to the dragons, but the few he saw were worm- ing their way back into the dirt to get away from the thing in front of him.

  “We’ll get you food,” said Laurie, moving away from the wall. “We’re going to keep his promise.”

  “Yessss,” said Sandspur. “Nick keeps it right now.” With that, Sandspur’s mouth stretched open wider than Nick could have imagined. Huge jaws closed over him.

  He tried to shout, but he was smothered by wet skin. A row of jagged teeth scraped his arm, and then he was sinking into hot, foul-smelling darkness. He was inside Sandspur.

  “There ‘s more of them.”

  “Auggggh!” he shouted, curled in a ball, beating his hands against the sticky walls of the monster’s stomach. A belch shook him.

  Outside he could hear Laurie yelling, as from very far away. “Sandspur! What did you do? Did you chew him? You better throw him back up right now.”

  “He is keeping me full,” saidSandspur. The squeaky voice seemed to echo all around Nick.

  “I thought you were our friend,” Laurie said.

  Nick had told her it wasn’t safe to trust faeries. He’d told her and told her and told her, but in the end it was he who’d forgotten. He was the one who let them make a rash, dumb promise. And now he’d been eaten up for it.

  “Spit him out. Spit him out and I’ll give you something else. Something tastier,” Laurie said.

  “What will you give me?” asked Sandspur.

  Quick, Nick thought. Quick.

  With each breath he felt dizzier. The heat and the smell were overwhelming. Things shifted underneath him, and he recalled all the dragons that Sandspur had swallowed. His skin crawled, but he couldn’t get away from their wriggling bodies or the methane they were doubtless breathing all around him.

  “Cake,” Laurie said. Nick could hear her voice breaking. “But you have to help me out.”

  He felt the creature shift and lurch. Taking another stinking breath, he choked. He couldn’t get enough air, and the walls were closing in on him.

  “Where do you go?” Nick heard Sandspur say.

  “To get the cake,” she said. It seemed to him like she was retreating farther into the distance, but perhaps he was passing out. He wasn’t thinking clearly. He couldn’t keep his eyes open.

  “Good,” Laurie was saying. “Now just open your mouth and I’ll throw it in.”

  Something hard tumbled down on top of Nick. It struck him on the arm heavily. It felt like a rock.

  “That’s right—keep your mouth open.”

  More rocks rained down on Nick, scraping his skin and hitting the side of his head hard enough to draw blood. He flung his arms over his head and only bit back a shout by remembering that if he shouted, he’d be breathing more methane.

  Then around him Sandspur shifted. “I can’t move! What did you do?”

  “I filled you up,” Laurie said. “With rocks.”

  Everything shifted again. “No fair! No
fair!”

  “Now you better puke, Sandspur. You better throw up right now or you’re going to be stuck where you are forever.”

  “You tricked me!” he howled. “No fair tricking!”

  “That’s right,” said Laurie. “No fair tricking.”

  Another lurch, and then Nick was thrown forward, out of the stinking darkness onto mud. Slimy things rained down on him and more rocks struck him, but he sucked in breath after sweet breath of air, and that took all his concentration.

  “Nick?” Laurie said from above him. “Are you okay?” She had climbed up into the branches of the toppled tree and was reaching down like she actually wanted him to stand up.

  “No,” he said, spitting out dirt and slime. “Not okay. Definitely not okay.” He was sticky with whatever stuff coated the insides of Sandspur’s stomach, and trying to wipe it off only seemed to spread the goo around.

  He turned on his side to see that Sandspur had shrunk down to his old size and was nibbling at the regurgitated dragonets that were wriggling into the walls.

  “What just happened?” Nick asked.

  “Well, the way he swelled up,” she called down, “I think he’s a spriggan. But he’s probably too sore to do it again for a while.”

  She kept talking, saying something about an old story about a creature that could inflate itself, but Nick found himself distracted by the bruise on his head and thoughts of Jules. Lightning cracked above them, and in that moment of brightness he saw the walls of the sinkhole where the dragonets had crawled through. They were laced with holes, some slender, others wide. Tunnels.

  Made of melted plastic

  Chapter Eight

  IN WHICH Everything Begins to Come Apart

  The way back to Jack Jr. and the Grace kids was soggy and miserable. Nick still felt light-headed from the methane, and his skin itched from being inside Sandspur. The rain should have washed the gunk off, but it seemed water resistant. But worst of all, he was left with the memory of Jules lying in the mud, telling them they’d have to go without him.

  Nick thought that maybe he should have stayed at Cindy’s with his brother. Maybe they should have waited for their dad or an ambulance. Maybe they’d lured enough giants back in enough time that the giants would eat all the dragonets before they became hydras, before they grew too large to contend with.

  But he wanted to make sure.

  Laurie walked beside him, and Sandspur trailed after them along the deserted streets. They passed by telephone poles knocked over like dominoes, flickering streetlights, and a Corvette that appeared to have been stepped on.

  “You’re really okay?” Laurie asked for what must have been the millionth time.

  “Yes,” Nick said. “Except that he’s following us. Sandspur, shoo!” Nick waved his hands at the faerie, who then slunk off into the bushes.

  “I’m sorry about the rocks,” Laurie said to Nick, looking sadly after the little creature.

  “Good,” he replied, touching a bruise on his temple. “You better be.”

  She gave him a wan smile. They headed for the sinkhole Jack Jr. had said they’d all be investigating, but Nick was surprised to find them along the road heading back.

  “What took you so long?” Mallory asked. “We saw the one sinkhole—there were already two giants digging it up. Our plan was to head for another sinkhole two blocks over in that direction.” She nodded her head in the direction they’d been going. “I called Jules, but he didn’t answer. Where is he? What happened?”

  “He got hurt,” Nick said.

  “Bad?” Jack Jr. asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Nick.

  “He’s tough,” Mallory said. “He’s going to be okay.”

  Laurie turned to Jared. “How come you didn’t tell me Sandspur was a spriggan?” she demanded. “He ate Nick.”

  “Seriously?” Simon asked.

  Jared’s eyes went wide. “How was I supposed to know? What’s a spriggan?”

  “They swell up,” Laurie said. “Don’t you read any books other than the field guide?”

  “Uh, comics?” Jared said.

  “Okay, you two, enough,” Jack Jr. said, and waited for their silence. “My motorcycle’s not far, but it can only carry me. The nearest sinkholes didn’t tell us much except that the giants seem to be eating the dragons at a pretty fast rate. I’m going to go see about behind the old mall. If there is a hydra there—one big enough to be spawning all the dragons—then I should find out.”

  “I found something,” Nick said. “There were holes in the sides of a sinkhole that opened up by Cindy’s house. They seemed big enough for the sinkholes to be connected by a network of tunnels.”

  “That makes it even more important that I go.”

  “I’ll come too,” Mallory said.

  Jack Jr. shook his head. “You’re all really brave, but you’re kids.”

  Nick couldn’t help wondering what it was about the Sight that changed you forever. Here was this guy, a successful lawyer, who didn’t have to put himself in danger. And yet he was walking toward trouble like there was nowhere in the world he would rather be and nothing he would rather be doing.

  Nick wondered how much he’d already been changed by the Sight and how many changes were ones he hadn’t even noticed yet.

  “I’m not a kid,” Mallory said. “I can fight.”

  Jack Jr. sighed. “I was trained, just like my father was trained before me, to fight giants. Even though I was told that it was going to happen in my lifetime, I didn’t want to face it.” He took off the leather glove on his left hand, and Nick could see the uneven patches of skin where he’d been burned.

  Mallory sucked in her breath.

  “All the way up my arm,” said Jack Jr., unbuttoning his collar to show more mottled skin. The burns made him look like he was made of melted plastic. He turned to Mallory. “All the way across my chest. It happened when I wasn’t all that much older than you. We went out to find a giant that was supposed to be sleeping, but he was up and moving around. A small one—maybe that’s why he woke up. And he had a wriggling black worm hanging out of his mouth.

  “Dad might have said something to me. I don’t really remember. I was terrified, and the only thing I could think to do was attack. I just remember running toward the giant. It nearly killed me.”

  “Is that when you stopped fighting giants?” Nick asked.

  Jack Jr. shook his head. “Not then, but not long after, either. It’s hard to fight nature,” he said. “If there’s something at the center of these sinkholes, then I need to face it for my father.”

  He reached under his long coat and came out with another blade—a machete. He handed that to Mallory. “In case any giants come your way. It’s heavier than you’re used to, and you’re not going to be able to do those fancy moves you can with a foil.”

  “Watch me,” Mallory said with a grin.

  Nick thought Jack Jr. would be offended, but he only grinned back at her. “Wish I could.” Then he headed through the rain in the direction of his bike.

  For a moment they stood silently on the sidewalk, watching him go.

  “Okay.” Mallory nodded slowly and shoved the machete into her belt. “Let’s get moving.”

  “Where?” asked Laurie.

  “That abandoned mall, where do you think?” said Mallory. “Just because Jack Junior is an adult doesn’t mean that we’re going to do what he says.”

  Simon groaned. “Are you serious? We’re on foot.”

  “It’s probably a mile-long walk,” Mallory said. “Maybe a little more. We can’t get there before Jack Junior does, but we’ll get there. And if he gets in trouble with whatever he finds at the center of the network of tunnels, he’ll be glad to see us.”

  Nick thought about Jules waking up without any of his family. He thought about their dad not knowing where his kids were. And Laurie—when she first figured out that faeries were real, that the Spiderwick stories were real, this couldn’t be how she’d ho
ped things would end.

  “Maybe Jack Junior’s right,” Nick said. “Maybe we can’t really help much at this point. What are we going to do against giants and full- grown hydras?”

  Laurie looked at him in surprise. “But you’re the one who figured out that there might be an adult hydra. You’re the one who found the tunnels in the sinkholes.”

  “Leave Nick alone,” Jared said. “He nearly died.”

  She frowned at Jared. “I know that. I didn’t mean—”

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Jared said. “I didn’t know the hobgoblin was really a spriggan. Uncle Arthur lost everything trying to beat faeries. And he put everyone he cared about in total danger. I don’t want to be like him, but I feel like I am a lot like him. Like I’m making all the same mistakes.”

  Mallory looked over at him and bit her lower lip. “Is that what’s been bothering you?”

  Jared nodded.

  “Arthur did what he did alone,” Mallory said. “We’ve got each other. And if we do this, it should be because we all agree to do it.”

  Nick nodded. His head hurt and he was tired and rain-soaked, but at least he could see if Jack Jr. was all right. “Okay.”

  “Okay,” Jared said.

  “Okay,” said Laurie.

  “Yeah, me too,” said Simon.

  Just then a giant came into view. It took two massive steps and crouched, sniffing the air. Then it sank its fists into the ground. It shredded roots and dirt and pavement to create a hole, stonelike fingers groping in the dirt for a few more wriggling dragonets. Then it walked a few more steps and plunged its hand into the earth again.

  “What is it doing?” Mallory asked.

  “I think the giants have figured out about the tunnels,” said Nick. “I think they’re following the dragons back to whatever’s at the center of them.”

  “Look at that!” Simon pointed to where another giant had stepped over a convenience store and was beginning to pull up a tree behind it. Then it started scooping black dragonets into its mouth.