Monster War

Theodore Dagget and Violet Sweet were repainting the outside of the broken yacht that housed the Addy students at the Nightmare Academy when they heard a familiar voice.

“Thought I’d find you painting,” Charlie said cheerfully as he walked towards them over the rope bridge that was strung between two huge branches of the mighty banyan tree.

“Charlie!” Violet squealed, running over to him. She hugged him tightly - then quickly drew back.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked, surprised.

“You shouldn’t be here. You’re exiled. What if someone from the Nightmare Division sees you? It’s not safe.”

Charlie shrugged. “Nowhere’s safe right now - not with all those monsters out there. I’m not going to hide; I’m going to fight. Besides, no one’s keeping me from my best friends - no one - not even the Nightmare Division.”

Violet burst into a sunny smile and hugged him again, more tightly this time.

“Geez, calm down,” Theodore said with a grin, “or you’ll knock him off the bridge before he has a chance to save the world.”

Charlie laughed. “Yeah, right…” He gestured to Theodore’s clothes, which were covered in blue paint. “You get any on the ship or just yourself?”

“Hey, don’t give me any grief, OK? I’m a precision instrument! A finely crafted tool for Banishing! Painting is beneath me.”

“Yeah, beneath you, above you, in your hair, on your clothes - you’ve got paint everywhere but where it’s supposed to be.” Charlie inspected the Addy yacht. There was fresh wood on one side - it looked like it had been recently repaired. “Is that damage from Slagguron?”

Violet nodded. “We’ve been doing our best to fix things up, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Just a few weeks earlier, Slagguron, one of the four Named Lords of the Nether, had slammed his wormlike body against the trunk of the massive tree, knocking several boats from its branches and damaging many more. Charlie still found it hard to believe that the raging colossus was dead now - he and all the Named - killed, in an instant, by the Fifth.

“You’re thinking about the Fifth, aren’t you?” Theodore asked. Charlie always found it eerie how good his best friend was at reading his mind. He nodded.

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“Well, stop it! You don’t have to kill the most deadly monster the world has ever known right this second. Heck, you can relax for five or ten minutes before you go after her…”

“How generous,” Charlie grinned. But his grin quickly faded. “Look, I know I’m not supposed to be here right now - being exiled and all - but I think the Fifth is up to something, something big, and we need to check it out.” But before he could continue, a new voice suddenly cried out.

“Charlie Benjamin!”

Charlie turned to see Brooke Brighton waving to him from a platform high above. Even from this far away, he was amazed by how pretty she was.

“Hey, Brooke!”

“Stay right there.”

With an excited whoop! she slid down a vine strung between her platform and the Addy yacht far below, her long, blonde hair whipping freely in the wind. She landed next to Charlie with the nimbleness of a cat. “I missed you!” she said, then hugged him tightly before giving him a quick, friendly kiss.

There, Charlie thought, remembering his mother telling him he’d never even kissed a girl. Now I’ve been kissed twice.

“Hi, Brooke,” Theodore said expectantly. “You miss me too?”

“Lame,” Violet said, pretending to cough.

“I am not lame!”

“I didn’t say anything. Just had a little tickle in my throat.” Violet coughed again and said, “Desperate.”

“Hey!”

“Of course I’ve missed you, silly,” Brooke said with a smile. She gave Theodore a quick hug, then turned to Charlie. “So where have you been? Tell us everything.”

“I will…but you go first. Has anyone from the Nightmare Division been to the Academy?”

Brooke nodded. “Yeah. They checked out the damage that Slagguron did and said they were going to come up with a plan to protect the place. We’re completely exposed to the monsters of the Nether now that the Guardian’s dead.”

The Guardian.

A pang of sadness hit Charlie upon hearing the name of the small, sad creature whose aura had always protected the Academy from Nethercreatures. Its shocking death had set into motion the horrific chain of events that was still unfolding.

“I still think about him, you know,” Charlie said. “How needy he was. He just wanted a friend really.”

Violet nodded. “Ever since his death, the Nightmare Division has wanted to station some Banishers and Nethermancers here to protect us.”

And to keep me away, Charlie thought. Even though he didn’t exactly know the terms of his exile, he knew they wouldn’t want him anywhere near the Academy.

“So why did you come here, DT?” Theodore asked. “Is it about what’s going on in Central Park?”

Once again, Charlie found it freaky how easily Theodore could read his mind. He nodded. “What do you know about it?”

“Well, what I heard,” Brooke said, “is that, apparently, the Division used some kind of X-ray equipment to look into the mist.”

“And there’s things in there!” Theodore exclaimed. “Gross, snail-like creatures. And something else too. Something big is growing in the fog. Something giant.”

Something giant growing in the fog. That didn’t sound good.

“Someone needs to check it out,” Charlie said. “And I figure that someone is us. Who’s with me?”

But before they could answer, a familiar voice rang out.

“What are y’all yappin’ about?”

“Mama Rose!” Charlie yelled as the Housemistress of the Nightmare Academy stepped into view. “Great to see you!”

“I wish I could say the same,” the large woman sniffed, her meaty hands on her thick hips. “You’re skin and bones, Charlie Benjamin! Now follow me so we can get some grub into you pronto.”

Before Charlie could resist, Mama Rose roughly ushered them up to the pirate ship at the very top of the Academy - ever since Slagguron’s attack had destroyed the galley, the students had been using it as their new mess hall. Steaming piles of pancakes were heaped in towering stacks on a great wooden table.

“Pancakes for dinner?” Charlie asked with a grin.

“And why not?” Mama Rose replied, her southern accent as thick as the maple syrup that dripped off the food. “They don’t call them ‘breakfast cakes’, do they? They call ’em pancakes and pan is just the Greek word for ‘all’, which means you can eat ’em all the time.”

“Are you nuts?” Theodore howled. “They call them pancakes cos you cook them in a pan. Duh.”

“Well, don’t you just know everything, Theodore Dagget!” Mama Rose shot Charlie a wink and he couldn’t help but laugh.

It was good to be home. Or at least Charlie felt that way until he saw Geoff Lench - Brooke’s too-handsome, too-strong, too-everything boyfriend. The tall, blond boy bounded over. “Well, look who’s back. It’s Charlie Benja-traitor.”

“Benja-traitor?” Theodore replied with a snort. “Was that supposed to be a joke? Because usually jokes have some element of humour in them.”

“Shut up, Theo-dumb.”

Theodore shrieked with fake laughter. “Theo…dumb! Genius! In fact…it’s so funny that…I’m dying…from…hilarity…”

Theodore laughed so violently that he fell off the bench and on to the floor, where he twitched a few times and then went still.

“Ha, ha,” Geoff said as he sat down next to Brooke. “Your friends are morons, you know that?”

“They’re funny,” she replied, “and I like them.”

“Well, you’re the only one. You really need to stay away from these clowns, Brooke - particularly the exile.” He shot a withering glance at Charlie. “I leave tomorrow morning to start my job at the Division - Facilitator, Rank 1, thank you very much, hold the applause. They’ll be asking you to come and join me soon, Brooke, if you just don’t blow it.”

“I haven’t decided what I want to do yet,” Brooke said, looking away.

“There he is!” a cheerful voice boomed out and Charlie turned to see a flash of colour scrambling up one of the giant branches of the Academy, partially obscured by wide, green leaves. “Charlie Benjamin, monster hunter!”

“Professor Xix!”

The giant, friendly Netherstalker leaped from the branch and on to the deck of the pirate ship. “Indeed it is. I’ve been missing you, lad. Good to see you whole and well!”

“I was just thinking the same thing about you! Hey - this is the first time I’ve ever seen you up in the tree.”

“Because it’s the first time I’ve ever been able to come here! With the Guardian’s aura no longer preventing Nethercreatures from getting near the Academy, there’s nothing to stop me any more. I quite love it, actually - so peaceful, so much fun. It makes me realise what I’ve been missing all these years, down in those dank Banishing caves, tending to my beasties.” He absently cleaned one of his five eyestalks with a black, bristly foreleg. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think I ever want to leave.”

“Then don’t,” Charlie replied with a smile. It was good to see the Academy’s Beastmaster so happy.

“Would you like some dinner, Professor?” Violet offered, gesturing to the pancakes.

“Don’t mind if I do.”

Quick as a blink, Xix snagged a cockatoo in mid-flight with a sticky line of webbing then yanked the squawking creature into his mouth in a colourful explosion of feathers.

“Delicious,” he said, chewing loudly.

Geoff turned to Brooke in disbelief. “And this is who you want to hang out with instead of me? A bunch of dorks and a bird-eating monster? Unbelievable.”

Suddenly, a portal snapped open beside them and several adults stepped through, all dressed in the starched uniform of the Nightmare Division.

“Charles Benjamin,” a deep voice said. It was a voice they all recognised.

“Dad…” Theodore said weakly.

CHAPTER FOUR EXILES AT THE ACADEMY

Theodore’s father, William, stepped through the portal and on to the deck of the pirate ship. The medals on his black uniform gleamed in the sun, identifying him as the General of the Nightmare Division.

“What are you doing here?” Theodore demanded. Charlie had never heard him take such a stern tone with his father. It made him sound…older somehow.

“Why I am here does not concern you.”

“But it concerns me,” Mama Rose said, stomping up to the much bigger man. “In the Headmaster’s absence, I’m the head honcho and I don’t like fools portalling in and out of my tree. Now state your business or be on your way.”

“All right,” William said, then turned to Charlie. “Mr Benjamin, your presence at the Nightmare Academy suggests you are under the impression that you can return to your studies. Clearly, you do not understand the terms of your exile.”

“I guess not,” Charlie replied, “probably because no one has ever bothered to talk to me about it.”

“Then let me clarify. You are no longer allowed on any property owned or controlled by the Nightmare Division - which includes the Nightmare Academy. You are to have no contact with anyone associated with either of these places, including your former fellow students.” He glanced warningly at Theodore. “Further, you are forbidden from interfering in our battle against the monsters of the Nether. You may fight them in self-defence, but that is all. If you have any questions, everything is spelled out here in great detail.” William held up a document with the words ‘ORDER OF EXILE’ written in bold at the top and signed by Director Drake at the bottom. He handed it to Charlie. “Read it carefully and follow it to the letter.”

“Or what?”

William blinked, still holding the orders. “Excuse me?”

“I said ‘or what’? What if I don’t follow it? What are you threatening?”

Even Charlie was surprised by the depth of his anger. How dare Director Drake tell him where he could go, who he could hang out with and what he could and couldn’t do to protect innocent people in this terrible War of the Nether? Drake was just a bureaucrat, a pencil-pusher - he didn’t even have the Gift himself, but he certainly had no problem bullying people that did!

“If you violate any of the Rules of Exile, you will be Reduced,” William said simply.

Charlie shrugged. “So what? Do you know how many times Drake has called for me to be Reduced? He’s like a playlist with only one song.”

Charlie expected William to argue back, but was surprised when the Banisher gently pulled him to one side, away from the others. “That may be, Charlie - but he really means to do it this time.” For just an instant, Charlie could see through the tall man’s gruff façade to the human being underneath. It was a welcome sight. “Most people were on your side before - you were just a child and the Headmaster was highly regarded. But no more. They’re frightened now. The stakes are too high and almost everyone in the Division agrees that you’re just too great a threat. They all want to see you Reduced, Charlie, and Drake is looking for any excuse to do it. If you violate these rules—” he held up the Order of Exile “—the Director will call on me to carry out the punishment and I will do it, do you understand?”

The General thrust the Order at Charlie, then turned to address the others. “From this moment on, Charlie Benjamin is never again to set foot here at the Academy and is forbidden from having contact with any of its students.”

“That’s not going to work for me.”

Charlie stared in surprise at Violet. She was glaring at William with a hand on her hip and an expression that said, quite clearly, ‘You don’t scare me’.

“Whether or not it works for you, young lady, is irrelevant. It is simply a fact.”

“No one is going to tell me I can’t be with Charlie - I don’t care what kind of ‘orders’ you have.”

William frowned. “Well, you’re welcome to join him in exile…although I do not recommend it.”

“Then consider me exiled.”

“Violet!” Charlie cried. As gladdened as he was by his friend’s support, he couldn’t bear the thought of being responsible for her getting kicked out of the Academy. Her mother was dead and her father was nowhere to be found. Without the Academy, what did she have left? “Don’t do this. Really. I’ll be fine.”

“No, you won’t. You’ll be all alone.”

“That’s OK. It won’t be the first time.”

Violet shook her head. “No, it’s not OK. When you want to open a portal, what’s the fear you summon up?”

Charlie hesitated. “Being alone, I suppose.” He hated saying it out loud. It made him feel too…vulnerable.

“I won’t let that happen to you, Charlie. Not now, not ever.” She turned back to William. “You can tell Director Drake that I stand with Charlie.”

“Me too.”

All eyes turned to Theodore. He held his father’s gaze with steady conviction. “Charlie’s my best friend. I won’t leave him. That’s TI - Totally Impossible. You should know that.” Charlie was about to protest when Theodore threw up his hand. “And don’t even bother telling me ‘no’. You know you’re not going to change my mind, so don’t even try. This is a Double-D.”

“A Done Deal?” Charlie asked.

Theodore nodded and a smile broke through his stormy expression. “That’s just the way I roll.”

Charlie knew Theodore well enough to know that once his mind was made up, he wasn’t easily persuaded to change it.

“OK,” Charlie said. “And thanks. Seriously.”

“Don’t do this, Theodore,” William said with a sigh. “Consider your actions carefully. The choices we make can have great and terrible consequences.”

Theodore’s eyes blazed with anger. “You mean like the way you chose to kill the Guardian and then decided to blame it on Charlie!”

The other students gasped in astonishment. There it was, out on the table - the real reason for Charlie’s exile. William shifted uncomfortably, and Charlie was surprised by how unsettled the General looked in the face of his son’s rage.

“That’s not what happened.”

“I saw you, Dad. I saw you there in the lair of the Named, killing the Guardian.”

“You saw me holding it.”

“Which is what killed it!”

It had been several weeks since Theodore had stumbled across his father in the icy lair of the Named. Charlie hadn’t been with them then - he’d been in a nearby cavern, fighting the monsters of the Nether - but he could easily imagine the sight that had so tortured his best friend.

William, tall and strong, holding the limp body of the Guardian - a frail creature of great power, yet so desperate for human touch. But just as the Guardian’s aura was poisonous to the creatures of the Nether, the touch of a human was poisonous to the Guardian.

“The Guardian was already dead when I got there, Theodore. I told you that.”

“I know you did. And you also told me that Charlie killed it.”

“The Director said that.”

A small distinction, Charlie thought. But a very important one.

“So does that mean you deny it?” Theodore pressed. “Or do you agree with the Director? When Charlie took the Guardian away from the rest of us, did he touch it and kill it?”

William’s answer seemed to bring him pain: “Yes.”

He’s lying, Charlie suddenly realised. He’s not just mistaken - he’s actively lying. He knows he’s wrong, he knows I’m innocent, but he’s doing it anyway. Why?

And then the answer struck him like a thunderbolt.

Because he knows who really killed the Guardian - and he’s protecting him. Charlie knew there was only one person in the world, aside from Theodore, that William Dagget would gamble his reputation to protect…

Director Drake.

No one saw who really killed the Guardian, but that was only because no one saw Director Drake slip out of the icy lair of the Named and enter the safe haven where the Guardian was holed up. No one saw him embrace the frail creature and press the poison of his skin against it, knowing that it would mean the Guardian’s death.

No one…but Theodore’s father, William.

“I don’t believe you,” Theodore said, staring at his father as Charlie and the rest of them looked on silently. “Whether or not you killed it, you had something to do with it. It definitely wasn’t Charlie. Definitely.”

“Son, listen to me…” William replied, clasping Theodore’s shoulder with a strong hand.

Theodore shook it off. “Don’t call me that. Never call me that again. I’m not your son.” He turned to Charlie. “Let’s go. Let’s leave here and never come back.”

Brooke stood up. “Well, if you’re going, I’m coming with you.”

“Are you crazy?” Geoff cried out. “Don’t be stupid, Brooke! You’re a Leet Facilitator - you’re going to graduate in a few weeks and join me at the Division! Do you seriously want to throw that all away to go prancing around in exile with this…Noob?”

He spat the word ‘Noob’ at Charlie like it had a bad taste.

“He’s not a Noob,” Theodore said, stepping threateningly close. “He’s an Addy, just like the rest of us. The Headmaster promoted us.”

“The Headmaster!” Geoff laughed mirthlessly. “Is that old relic even still alive? No one’s seen her in a week! I heard she croaked.”

Even though Theodore wasn’t strong, he was fast, and his small, bunched-up fist connected with Geoff’s jaw almost instantly. Taken by surprise, Geoff dropped to the ground and Theodore pounced on him like a terrier, throwing punch after punch in crazy, windmill fashion.

“You take that back!” Theodore shouted. “She is not dead!”

Suddenly, Theodore felt a strong hand on his back as Mama Rose snatched him by the shirt and yanked him off the older boy. “Calm down, ya runt! I agree he needs a good butt-kickin’, but now is not the time!”

“I’m going to knock you into tomorrow, idiot!” Geoff said, leaping towards Theodore. But before Geoff could make contact, a strand of spider-silk snaked through the air and wrapped around his leg. Professor Xix quickly reeled him in, slamming Geoff to the ground and dragging him backwards across the floor.

“Save the fighting for later, child,” the Professor said calmly. “We’ve more important things to discuss.”

Mama Rose turned to William. “Yeah, important things like what a sad and stupid piece of work you and the Director are. If I didn’t have to protect these boys and girls here at the Academy, I’d join Charlie and his friends in exile!”

“Duly noted,” William said softly.

“And you can add me to that list,” Professor Xix seconded. “I would join them as well, if I didn’t have to stay and care for my beasts.”

“Well, we all have our priorities,” William replied. “For me, it’s the safety of all the human beings on this planet. For you, it’s…well, I guess it’s your beasts.”

Xix’s eyes darkened with anger and he was about to respond when a fiery portal popped open next to William and an adult Facilitator ran through.

“General Dagget?”

“Yes?”

“We need you right away, sir. There’s been a development.” The Facilitator suddenly looked very serious. “The fog over Central Park has lifted, General…and there’s something there.”

CHAPTER FIVE THE CENTRAL MYSTERY OF CENTRAL PARK

A purple portal snapped open on the roof of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. Charlie Benjamin stepped through, followed by Violet, Theodore and Brooke. The tall, pretty girl sighed dramatically. “Well, this is typical. We’ve only been exiles a couple of minutes and already we’re in trouble.”

“How do you work that out?” Violet replied, barely even glancing at her.

“You heard General Dagget. He said that exiles aren’t allowed to interfere in Nightmare Division business. Well…here we are. Interfering.”

“We are not interfering!” Theodore said. “We’re just looking. Heck, everyone on the planet is looking.” He gestured to the news helicopters buzzing noisily overhead.

“Well, they’ve definitely got something to look at,” Charlie replied, staring off at something the others couldn’t yet see. “You better come and check this out. You won’t believe it.”

Everyone joined him at the edge of the hotel roof and looked down. A gigantic nautilus shell, easily five storeys high, towered over Central Park - its gleaming, pearly exterior stretched nearly from one end to the other. Thousands of snail-like creatures swarmed across it, secreting a glistening ooze from their bellies. The slime quickly hardened in the afternoon sun, adding yet another layer to the massive spiral. It was as ominous as it was beautiful.

Violet shook her head in amazement. “What is it?”

“Their new lair,” Charlie replied. “At least that’s my guess. But I don’t know what those things are.” He pointed to the snail-like creatures that were now slithering off the side of the shell and heading into the large opening in the end that faced the hotel.

“Shellweavers,” Brooke replied. The rest of the group stared at her blankly. “Don’t worry, there’s no reason you’d know about them. I never saw one until Professor Xix showed them to us in our ‘Building The Nether: Deadly By Design’ class.”

Charlie nodded. “OK. So what do they do?”

“Basically, they build things. Their slime dries as hard as steel. Harder maybe. Apparently, they constructed a couple of the palaces in the Inner Circle.” She shrugged. “They’re not dangerous.”

“Maybe not,” Theodore said. “But there’s definitely something down there that is. Check out the soldiers.”

He pointed to the hundreds of soldiers that ringed the park. Some stood - rifles at the ready - while others kept watch inside their tanks and military vehicles. The entire area was on lockdown. There were no civilians anywhere.