The Northern Frights

by Derek the Ghost

  18

  The Cavern of Cadavers

  Minutes after Mr. Dullahan’s phone call to Principal Meltington, all the students were ushered up a snowy mountain into the Scream Academy assembly hall, also known as the Cavern of Cadavers.

  The cavern was built inside the biggest cave at Scream Academy. The mouth of the cave was the skull of a hundred-foot sea monster with more than five hundred teeth. Each tooth was the size of a kid.

  As Charles entered the Cavern of Cadavers, he thought it was the spookiest place he had ever set foot in. It was as broad as a soccer field and made entirely of eroded limestone. Flickering torches lined the cavern walls, creating monstrous shadows. Most limestone caves have pointy stalactites hanging from the ceiling and sharp stalagmites rising from the ground. However this cavern’s stalactites had formed into the shapes of claws that seemed to be reaching down from above to snatch up those who entered.

  Hundreds of stalagmites covered the ground in the shape of open hands. When the Scream Academy kids sat down on the stalagmites, Charles realized that they were naturally formed chairs! Probably the creepiest chairs in existence, but they worked. The six friends found seats together and gazed toward the front of the cavern, lit by a roaring fire, where a podium stood carved from bare rock.

  A blizzard of snow swept through the cave, marking the arrival of Principal Meltington. He stood at the podium and spoke quickly, since the roaring fire that lit the cave seemed to be melting his body at an alarming rate.

  “Students, I shall make this brief. Seven hundred years ago there lived an evil sorceress named Mortazella, and she had a monster servant by the name of Garzok Grubshanks.”

  The students cheered loudly. Garzok Grubshanks was the famous monster who had founded Scream Academy. The one whose statue stood in the school’s main hall.

  Meltington continued, “Mortazella was cruel and would not allow Garzok to go to school, no matter how much he begged. So Garzok taught himself to read, and he secretly read all of the books in the sorceress’s library. One day, Garzok escaped and ran away as far as he could, high into these Arctic mountains. Here, he built Scream Academy and began teaching monsters what he had learned, which would eventually be the key to setting us all free. As Garzok famously said, ‘Education is the path to freedom.’”

  The monsters in the crowd cheered even louder. This was their favorite story. Meltington’s legs had melted up to his knees. He spoke more quickly.

  “But Mortazella was not so easily defeated. She created the bookeaters. They ravaged all the books and writings of the monsters in hopes that Scream Academy would have to close down. But that didn’t stop the dedicated monsters. They still took classes, using only their memories, and became smarter than ever! Enraged, Mortazella and her three sorceress sisters transformed themselves into the four Elder Dragons and set forth to attack Scream Academy.”

  A rat-faced monster squeezed Fred’s hand in fear, but Fred told him not to be afraid because this was all just a dream. The rat-faced monster got a confused look on his face and twitched his whiskers, but he actually seemed relieved.

  “Garzok Grubshanks worked tirelessly until he had forged the most powerful swords ever created. The Sword of Salt, the Sword of Silver, the Sword of Gold, and the Sword of Fire. Mortazella attacked Scream Academy in the form of the Ice Dragon, and her sisters were the Mountain Dragon, the Sky Dragon, and the Sea Dragon. It was a terrible battle, but in the end, Garzok Grubshanks slew the Ice Dragon with the Sword of Fire.”

  The crowd burst into applause. Meltington’s legs had melted up to his hips, and he was half as tall as he was before.

  “Yes, and once the Ice Dragon was defeated, the other three dragons flew off to destroy the other swords, but all were defeated by the powerful monsters who wielded the swords. The dragons came back here to die, transforming into the three mountains that surround the school. In fact, the skull we just walked through is the skull of the Sea Dragon herself.”

  “Ewww!” the students exclaimed.

  “I agree. It’s quite disgusting. And now for the bad news. Grubshanks only thought he slew the Ice Dragon. But he had actually only wounded her. The spirit of Mortazella had remained alive and swore to one day return. It seems that day has come.”

  The students gasped.

  “Yes. The signs are clear. The bookeaters have returned and are bent on devouring all our knowledge. It can mean only one thing. Mortazella has become the Ice Dragon once again and will soon be attacking Scream Academy to destroy it for good.”

  The students were speechless.

  “But now for the good news. Before he died, Garzok left us the Sword of Fire in case it was ever needed again. He hid the sword and announced that when the time came, the true dragon slayer would be able to find it and defeat the Ice Dragon once and for all. I am happy to announce,” said Meltington with emphasis, even though he had melted up to his shoulders, “that the true dragon slayer is with us in the room today. The question is . . . which one of you is it?”

  The students looked at one another. Then several trolls, ogres, werewolves, and vampires leaped from their seats proclaiming: “It’s me!” “No, it’s me!” “Yar, it be me!”

  “Well,” said Meltington, “there’s only one way to find out. It’s time to see who can find the Sword of Fire.”

  “Huh?” said the crowd.

  “Yes, you will all get a chance to find the sword. Even our visitors from Scary School.”

  The crowd growled in anger. They didn’t want any exchange students claiming all the glory of defending Scream Academy.

  “All I can tell you is that the sword is hidden somewhere in Casualty Canyon.”

  The crowd became silent. Casualty Canyon was one of the few off-limits areas of Scream Academy. And if an area is off-limits at this place, death must be a certainty.

  Meltington concluded by saying, “There is no time to waste. Find the sword and good lu-glub-glub-glub . . .” Meltington had completely melted, and his last words sounded like gurgles of water. His liquid remnants were swept into a bucket and placed into a flash freezer so he would be able to take solid form again as soon as possible.

  As the students marched out of the cavern to search for the Sword of Fire, Charles Nukid hoped that the course of events wouldn’t lead to Scary School getting attacked again.

  He had a very bad feeling about this.

  19

  The Sword of Fire

  Following the assembly, Mr. Dullahan led all the students out of the Cavern of Cadavers and onto a rocky path through the snowy mountains. It was blisteringly cold. Charles had no meat on his skinny bones and no warm clothes either. Luckily, Wendy had packed an extra jacket and loaned it to him. Unluckily, the jacket was bright pink and very girly. Charles looked completely ridiculous in it, and all the monsters laughed at him. Charles didn’t care because not losing his arms to frostbite seemed more important.

  The rocky path was very difficult for the human kids to negotiate. Mountainous areas are made for creatures like trolls and ogres with their thick skins, padded feet, and strong stone-gripping paws. Even Lattie, with her ninja agility, was having a rough go of it among the rocks that were covered in slippery ice. The Scream Academy kids were constantly stopping so that the Scary School kids could catch up, which was making them very frustrated.

  “Yeesh,” said Petunia, huffing. “I wish there were some bees around here that could lift me over these rocks.”

  Lattie responded, “Wishing is a futile practice. We get only what we work for.”

  Aggravated from the tough hike, Petunia snapped back, “You know something, ninja-girl? You could work on saying something nice once in a while!”

  Lattie was taken aback. She stood still for a moment, contemplating Petunia’s words.

  Petunia felt bad almost immediately. After all, Lattie had stood up for her in class. It just bothered Petunia how Lattie thought it was her place to give advice all the time. Petunia was about to apologize, but Latti
e had already vanished.

  Eventually, the students reached a sign that said: CASUALTY CANYON—ELEVATION 11,200 FEET. HOPE YOU HAD A GOOD LIFE.

  As they approached, they heard an awful roar in the distance.

  Mr. Dullahan looked up to see the Ice Dragon on the horizon. “Quickly!” he exclaimed. “We have little time!” The dragon’s roar echoed off the walls of the canyon like an ominous pinball.

  The floor of the canyon looked like it could be the surface of another planet. There were thousands of boulders the size of trucks dotting the landscape and piled on top of one another. Hot springs bubbled from the ground, and the steam smelled like rotting eggs, indicating they were sulfuric and deadly.

  The deposit of boulders created thousands of crevices. The students fanned out and started searching within the cracks for the Sword of Fire. Jason reached into a promising one, but a snake popped its head out and hissed at him as if to say, “Stay out of my home, Hockeyface!” Fred reached into a crevice, but a scorpion popped out and snapped its pincers as if to say, “Step off! I’ve got poison coming out of my tail. Literally!”

  There were so many holes to search it seemed like it would take weeks to search them all. With the Ice Dragon undoubtedly about to attack the school at any moment, there seemed to be no hope.

  Wendy Crumkin was searching the crevices nearest the canyon wall. Everyone else thought the sword would be hidden deeper in the canyon and that she was wasting her time, but Wendy believed Garzok Grubshanks would have wanted the sword to be easily found if it were needed in an emergency.

  “Awwfff, we’ll never find the sword in time,” Tommy the Troll groaned.

  “I found it!” Wendy Crumkin announced with excitement, pointing at a paper-thin crevice between two stacked boulders. The students gathered around on top of one another to take a look. There was definitely something shiny in there, but the crack was so small they couldn’t tell if it was a sword.

  “How you know that is the sword?” asked Tommy the Troll.

  “Because it says right here,” said Wendy, pointing to markings on the bottom boulder.

  “Those just scratches.”

  “No, that’s ancient Monsterese. Some of the best checkers strategy books are written in ancient Monsterese, so I learned the language. It says: ‘Here lies the Sword of Fire. Whoever can pull the sword from under the stone is the true dragon slayer.’”

  Mrs. Basilisk, the three-headed serpent language arts teacher of Scream Academy, validated Wendy’s claim.

  At once there was a mad rush for the sword. Tommy the Troll pushed the others aside and tried to reach in first, but his arms were way too thick to even break the mouth of the crevice. One by one, each troll faced the same dilemma. They pounded the boulder with their fists, but it didn’t budge.

  The ogres fared no better than the trolls. The zombie kids’ arms kept breaking off inside. Ezelba tried a summoning spell, but the sword just rattled about in its resting place and didn’t come out any farther.

  The students from Scary School were the only ones left.

  The trolls started protesting, “Humans no get to try for sword! They too weak to be dragon slayer!”

  “Humans better as food than friends!” said a lumpy troll girl.

  That’s when Principal Meltington appeared at the cliff’s edge, having returned to his snowman form. Everyone turned their attention upward.

  “Hurry, young ones! I can see the dragon coming! Give them a chance or we’re doomed!”

  The Scary School students stepped forward. Jason and Fred reached in. They managed to get farther than any of the monsters but couldn’t even touch the handle. Petunia and Wendy made it farther than Jason and Fred but could not make contact.

  Finally, Lattie appeared in front of the boulder. She was secretly glad no one else had gotten the sword, for she was desperate to be the one who would slay the dragon that stole her master. She uttered a mantra to herself: “My arm is a noodle in hot soup.” She waved her left arm, and it undulated just like a wet noodle, as if she had somehow managed to will her bones away. She reached into the crevice, her hand slithering between the boulders. She touched the sword handle with her fingertips but could reach no farther.

  Reluctantly, she pulled her arm out without the sword. She stomped her foot on the ground, furious that she couldn’t get it. And judging by the sounds of the crowd’s groans, they were certain she was the last hope.

  The only one left was Charles Nukid. All eyes were fixed on him.

  “No,” he said. “I don’t want to. I don’t want to fight the Ice Dragon!” Panic was coursing through his veins. As soon as he saw the crevice, he knew that his toothpick arms were the only ones skinny enough to reach the sword. He couldn’t stop thinking about Marlin’s prophecy: That he would end up no more than a statue. A story. A fizard’s memory. “I don’t want to do it! I don’t want to—”

  Lattie reached back and smacked him across the face. Not in a mean way. Just hard enough to snap him out of it. She considered giving him some kind of sage advice to inspire him to action, but then she remembered what Petunia had told her just moments ago. It’s rude to give unwelcome advice. So instead she said to Charles, “If you don’t want to, then don’t. I’ll protect you.”

  Charles was speechless. Before him he saw a true friend who would protect him whether he was brave or cowardly. At that moment, he realized he couldn’t live with himself if he did not at least try to protect her in return. For the Ice Dragon would leave none alive.

  Charles threw off Wendy’s pink jacket and reached into the crevice. His right arm slipped in easily. He grasped the handle and pulled out the sword in one swift motion.

  The crowd gasped in awe.

  The sword was bigger than he was, but it felt as light as a feather. The handle was red as ruby and the blade was jagged as flames.

  The students fell to their knees, but Tommy the Troll did not kneel. He snarled and stomped toward Charles.

  “Impossible!” Tommy growled. “Garzok Grubshanks was monster! Only monster can wield his sword!”

  Tommy snatched the sword from Charles, but it felt as heavy as the boulder it had rested on. Try as he might, he couldn’t even lift it an inch off the ground. But then Charles grasped the sword and held it high over his head, as if it were no more than a paintbrush.

  Tommy backed away in awe and took his place kneeling among the others, proclaiming, “He is the dragon slayer. I am with you, Noodle-neck.”

  “My name is Charles Nukid,” Charles said. “I am the dragon slayer. I want everyone to know that—”

  “No time for speeches!” Principal Meltington hollered from the cliff. “The dragon is here!”

  The students hustled as fast as they could toward the school, Charles leading the way with the sword pointed in front of him like a spear, and Meltington flying beside him as an angry blizzard.

  They arrived at the wolf’s mouth and searched the skies for the dragon. It was nowhere in sight.

  “I thought you said the dragon was here.”

  “It . . . it was,” Meltington stammered. “I swear it was in the sky a moment ago.”

  Suddenly, the Sword of Fire began shaking in Charles’s hand. It felt like an unseen force was pulling it. The sword shot out of his hand and flew through the crowd of students. They had to dive out of the way to avoid getting sliced in half!

  The sword ended up in the hand of a tall, raven-haired sorceress who had appeared in a burst of smoke. She wore a long black dress, a black cape, and a metallic headdress that looked like an oversized crown.

  “It is I! The great Mortazella!” she proclaimed, holding up the Sword of Fire and shooting bolts of lightning from her wand. “I’ve been waiting hundreds of years for a dragon slayer to pull the Sword of Fire from the stone. Now that the sword is mine, there is nothing that can stop me from destroying this unspeakable school!”

  Principal Meltington approached her, steaming with anger. “Can’t you see that you are wrong a
bout monsters not being free to learn? Just look at this glorious school and the brilliant monsters it produces.”

  Tommy the Troll chose the worst moment possible to release a loud belch.

  “This school is a disgrace!” declared Mortazella. She pointed her wand and shot a lightning bolt at Meltington. Electricity surged through his snowman body, and he instantly evaporated into steam.

  The students gasped. Their brave principal would not be able to return as himself until the next snowfall. With one spell, it was as if Mortazella had ripped the hearts out of all the students and teachers.

  Mortazella laughed. “And now to end Scream Academy once and for all!”

  The sorceress placed the sword in her belt and wrapped herself in smoke rings. From the smoke emerged a tall and terrible dragon. It continued growing until it was more than five hundred feet tall, towering over the top spires of Scream Academy itself.

  Mortazella had transformed into the infamous Ice Dragon, shimmering white with crystal scales, silver wings, and icicle spikes on her tail. In a display of fearsome power, she roared over the crowd, and her icy breath stung like a thousand needles.

  She turned to one of the spires and blasted a stream of snow from her dragon mouth, which sent the castle’s stones crashing to the ground. The fearsome wolf-head entrance came to life, barking and snarling at the dragon. The dragon wasn’t scared one bit and smashed the bottom jaw of the wolf’s head with one mighty whip of her spiked tail.

  In awe of her power, Tommy the Troll turned to his friends and said, “Welp, this was fun while it lasted. I guess it’s time for us trolls to head back to our caves.”

  The trolls nodded in agreement and started to retreat, but then Petunia ran in front of the exit gates and shouted, “Now is not the time to give up! This is your school. You have a right to your education. Nobody can take that away from you.”

  “Look,” said Tommy. “This school’s great and all, but not worth dying for.”

  Petunia gritted her teeth. She couldn’t stand to see people bullied like she had so often been. If she had listened to those who said there’s no place for a purple girl, she would never have found Scary School. But, she also realized, maybe it wasn’t her place to tell these kids what was worth fighting and possibly dying for.