The Wrath of Mulgarath

by Holly Black

  A large urn sat on the floor underneath an open window. There, in the wavering light, Jared could see sprites trapped in honey, sinking as though it were quicksand. The sprites’ tiny cries were the sound he had heard before.

  Simon reached in to pull the sprites free, but the honey was heavy and clung to their thin wings, tearing them. The sprites squealed as he set each one down on the table in a sticky, sodden heap. One was completely still and lay there limply, like a doll. Jared looked away, staring out the window.

  “Do you think there are more in there?” Mallory whispered.

  “I think so,” Simon said. “At the bottom.”

  “We have to keep going.” Jared moved toward another doorway. The thought of the tiny drowned faeries made him feel queasy.

  “The palace is just too quiet,” said Mallory as she followed him.

  “Mulgarath can’t be here all the time,” Jared said. “Maybe we got lucky. Maybe we can just find Mom and get out.”

  Mallory nodded, but she didn’t look convinced.

  They passed by a map hung on a wall. It looked much like Arthur’s old map, but the places had been renamed. Jared noticed that over the junkyard had been written MULGARATH’S PALACE and that lettered across the entire top of the paper was MULGARATH’S DOMAIN.

  “Look!” Simon said. Ahead of them was a large room with a throne at its center. Surrounding the throne were overlapping carpets in different patterns, all of them moth-eaten and worn. The throne was made of metal, welded together and jagged in places.

  At one end of the room was a spiral staircase, each step a plank suspended on two long metal chains. The whole thing looked like a web, wobbling slightly with each breeze. In the dim light the stairs looked impossible to climb.

  Mallory pulled herself onto the first rung. It swung alarmingly. She tried to step onto the next one, but her legs were too short.

  “These steps are too far apart!” she exclaimed.

  “Perfect for an ogre,” Simon pointed out.

  She finally managed to catch the second step, flop onto it chest-first, and pull herself up that way.

  “Simon’s not going to be able to climb this,” she said.

  The stairs looked impossible to climb.

  “I can . . . I’ll be okay,” Simon insisted, lifting himself awkwardly onto the first step.

  Mallory shook her head. “You’re going to fall.”

  “Hold on tight,” Thimbletack called from Jared’s hood. “You’ll be all right.” Then Jared watched in amazement as each step swung closer and held steady for his siblings to climb onto it. With one working arm and Mallory’s help, Simon climbed up the stairs.

  “It would behoove you to move,” said Thimbletack.

  “Oh, right.” Jared worked his way up the steps. Even with the brownie’s help, his heart thundered as he went higher and higher. The cut on his hand burned where he gripped the chains. Glancing down into the darkness below made Jared momentarily dizzy.

  At the top they found themselves in a hallway with three doors, all mismatched.

  “Let’s try the middle one,” Simon said.

  “We made so much noise just now,” said Mallory. “Where is everyone? It’s eerie.”

  “We have to keep going,” Jared said, repeating his words from earlier.

  Mallory sighed and opened the door. It opened onto a large room with a balcony made of mismatched stones and chains. Giant cathedral windows, filled with translucent mosaics made of glass shards, covered the other wall. Their mother was in one corner, bound, gagged, and unconscious. In the other corner, hanging from ropes and a pulley, was their dad.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Chapter Six

  IN WHICH All Hell Breaks Loose

  What are you doing here?” Jared asked. Behind him he heard Simon and Mallory exclaim “Dad!” together. Their father’s black hair looked slightly mussed and his shirt was untucked on one side, but it was definitely him.

  Their father’s eyes went wide. “Jared! Simon! Mallory! Thank goodness you’re okay.”

  Jared furrowed his brow. Something about this didn’t feel right. He looked around the room again. Out beyond the balcony he saw goblins milling in the gloom, holding torches. What was going on?

  “Quick,” Mallory said. “We have to move. Jared, untie Mom. I’ll work on Dad.”

  Jared leaned down and touched his mother’s pale cheek. It felt cold and clammy. Her glasses were gone. “Mom’s unconscious,” he said.

  “Is she breathing?” Mallory asked, halting.

  Jared put his hand against his mother’s lips and felt the ghost of her breath. “She’s okay. She’s alive.”

  “Did you see Mulgarath?” Simon asked his father. “The ogre?”

  “There was some commotion outside,” Mr. Grace said. “I didn’t see anything after that.”

  Mallory fumbled with the pulley and managed to lower her dad’s hands. “How did they get you all the way from California?”

  Their dad shook his head wearily. “Your mother called to say how worried she was—all three of you acting strange and then going missing. I came as soon as I could, but the monsters were already at the house. It was terrible. At first I couldn’t believe what was happening. And they kept talking about a book. What is this book?”

  “Our uncle Arthur—” Jared began.

  “More like Mom’s great-uncle, our great-great-uncle,” Mallory said as she picked at the knots.

  “Right. Well, he was interested in faeries.” Jared untied his mother as he talked, but even free from her bonds, she didn’t move. Jared smoothed back her hair, wishing she would open her eyes.

  “His brother got eaten by a troll,” Simon put in.

  Jared nodded, looking nervously around. How long before they were discovered? Did they really have time for this? Now that they had found their mother, they had to get out as quickly as possible. “And so he made this book that was all about faeries. It had stuff in it that even some of the faeries themselves didn’t know.”

  “Because they mostly don’t bother with one another, it seems,” Mallory said.

  How were they going to get their mother down the stairs? Could their dad carry her? Jared tried to concentrate on explaining. They had to make sure their dad would understand. “But the faeries didn’t want one guy to have that much power over them, so they tried to get the book back. When he wouldn’t give it to them, they took him instead.”

  “The elves did,” Simon said.

  “Really?” said their father with a strange gleam in his eye.

  Jared sighed. “Look, I know it sounds unbelievable, Dad, but look around. Does this look like the set of one of your movies?”

  “I believe you,” their father said softly.

  “To make a very long story short,” Mallory said, “we found the book.”

  “Except we lost the book again,” said Simon. “The ogre has it.”

  “And he’s got a really idiotic plan to take over the world,” Mallory put in.

  Their father’s eyebrows rose, but he only said, “So, now that the book is gone, all of the knowledge is gone with it. There’s no other copy? That seems like a shame.”

  “Jared remembers a lot,” Simon said. “I bet he could make a book of his own.”

  Mallory nodded. “And we learned some stuff along the way—right, Jared?”

  Jared smiled, looking down. “I guess so,” he said finally. “But I wish I remembered more.”

  Their father flexed his newly freed wrists and stretched his legs. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t here sooner. I shouldn’t have left you kids and your mom alone. And I want to make it up to you. I want to stay.”

  “We missed you too, Dad,” Simon said.

  Mallory looked down at her boots. “Yeah.”

  Jared said nothing. Something about this was too easy. It just felt wrong. “Mom?” he said softly, and shook her.

  Dad spread his arms wide. “Come and give your father a hug.”

&
nbsp; Simon and Mallory embraced him. Jared looked down at his mother and reluctantly started to cross the room, when his dad said, “I want us all to be together from now on.”

  Jared froze. He wanted it so much to be true, but it didn’t feel true. “Dad would never say that,” he said.

  His father grabbed hold of his arm. “Don’t you want us to be a family again?”

  “Of course I do!” Jared yelled, jerking his arm free and stepping back. “I want Dad to be less of a jerk, and for Mom to not be sad. I want my dad to stop talking about himself and his movies and his life all the time and remember that I’m the loser who almost got kicked out of school and Simon is the one who likes animals and Mallory is the fencer. But that’s not going to happen and you’re not him.”

  As Jared looked up into the familiar hazel eyes of his father, they started to turn pale yellow. His father’s body elongated, filling out, becoming a mammoth shape clad in the tattered remains of ancient finery. His hands became claws, and his dark hair twined together into branches. “Mulgarath,” Jared said.

  The ogre wrapped one arm around Mallory’s neck and with the other arm grabbed Simon.

  “Come here, Jared Grace!” Mulgarath’s voice boomed, far deeper than their father’s. He strode toward the balcony, still holding Simon and Mallory. “Give yourself up. Otherwise, I will heave your brother and sister into my moat of glass and iron.”

  “Leave them alone,” Jared said shakily. “You have the book.”

  “You’re not him.”

  “I can’t do that,” Mulgarath said. “You know the secret that speeds the growth of dragons and how to kill them. You know the weaknesses of my goblins. I cannot allow you to make another Guide.”

  “Run!” Mallory yelled. “Get Mom and run!” She bit the ogre.

  He laughed and pressed his arm tighter against her, heaving her up into the air. “Do you think your feeble strength is enough to match mine, human girl?”

  Simon kicked, but the hulking monster didn’t seem to notice.

  A groan came from the other end of the room, and Jared half turned. His mother stirred and opened her eyes. They went wide. “Richard? I thought I heard . . . oh my God!”

  “Everything’s going to be okay, Mom,” Jared said, wishing for his voice to stay even. Somehow her seeing all of this made it more horrible.

  “Mom, tell him to run!” Mallory shouted. “Both of you! Go!”

  “Quiet, girl, or I’ll break your neck.” The ogre growled, but when he addressed Jared, his voice became soothing. “It’s a fair trade, isn’t it? Your life for the lives of your brother and sister and mother?”

  “Jared, what’s happening?” their mother called.

  Jared tried to stay calm. He was afraid to die, but it would be so much worse to watch his brother, sister, and mother get hurt. Already the ogre’s fingers seemed to be loosening, ready to drop Simon and Mallory at any moment. “You won’t free us—even if I promise not to make another Guide!”

  Mulgarath shook his head slowly, eyes full of dark satisfaction.

  “Put them down!” Their mother’s voice was panicked. “Put my children down! Jared, what are you doing?”

  It was then that Jared noticed Mallory’s sword lying on the floor.

  Seeing the sword made Jared focus. He had to concentrate—to come up with a plan. Jared remembered what Arthur had said about ogres—they liked to brag. He only hoped that this one would. “I’ll give up and come over there.”

  “No, you idiot!” Mallory shouted.

  “Jared, don’t!” Simon yelled.

  “But before I do . . . ” Jared swallowed hard and hoped that the ogre would take the bait. “There’s something I want to know. Why are you doing all of this? Why now?”

  Mulgarath smiled toothily. “You humans take everything and keep the best part for yourselves. You live in palaces, dine on banquets, and clothe yourselves in fine silks and velvets like royalty. We, who live forever, who have magic, who have power, are supposed to lie down and let your kind trample us into the ground. No more.

  “Why are you doing all of this?”

  “I have been planning this for a long time. First I thought I would have to wait for my dragons to mature. I have time on my side. But with the Guide I was able to step up my plans. As long as they have enough milk, the dragons are quite docile, you know. And I am sure by now you’ve realized how fast the milk makes them grow and how powerful they become.

  “The elves are too feeble to stop me, and the humans will never see it coming. It is my time—the time of Mulgarath! The time of goblins! The land will have a new master!”

  Jared tipped his head to the side, hoping Mulgarath was too busy talking to notice, and whispered into his hood. “Thimbletack, can you make the chains on the railing attach to Mallory’s and Simon’s legs?”

  Thimbletack wriggled and whispered back. “I’d have to get to the ground without making a sound.”

  “I’ll keep him talking,” Jared whispered, then raised his voice, addressing the ogre. “So why did you have to kill the dwarves? I don’t understand. They wanted to help you.”

  “They had their own little dream of a world built of iron and gold. But what fun would it be to rule a world like that? No, I want a world of flesh and blood and bone.” The ogre smiled again, as though pleased with the way that had sounded, then looked down at Jared. “Enough talk. Come here.”

  “What about the Guide?” Jared asked. “At least tell me where that is.”

  “I think not,” Mulgarath said. “It is beyond you now.”

  “I just want to know if I could have found it,” Jared said.

  A cruel smile twisted the ogre’s features. “Indeed, had you been more clever, you could have found it. A pity that you are a mere human child, no match for me at all. The book was beneath my throne this whole time.”

  “You know,” Jared said, “we killed your dragons. I hope that doesn’t put too much of a dent in your clever plan.”

  Mulgarath looked genuinely surprised. Then his brow knotted with anger.

  Out of the corner of his eye Jared could see the chains unlinking and snaking across the floor like vipers. One wrapped around Mallory’s leg, and the other circled Simon’s waist. When the metal touched her skin, Mallory flinched. A third chain crept toward Mulgarath’s ankle, and Jared hoped that the ogre would not notice.

  But Jared’s pause was enough to catch Mulgarath’s attention. He looked down and spotted Thimbletack skittering along the floor. The ogre kicked the brownie, his giant foot tossing Thimbletack across the room, where Thimbletack landed like a crumpled glove beside Mrs. Grace. The chains stopped moving. “What is this?” Mulgarath bellowed, stamping down on the links near his foot. “You sought to trick me?”

  Jared ran forward and grabbed Mallory’s silver sword.

  Mulgarath laughed and dropped Simon and Mallory off the side of the balcony. They both screamed and then were silent, while their mother’s scream went on and on. Jared didn’t know if the chains had held. He didn’t know anything.

  Jared thought he might be sick. Rage filled him. Everything looked small and far away. He felt the weight of the sword in his hand as though it were the only real thing in the world. He raised it high. Someone far away was calling his name, but he didn’t care. Nothing mattered anymore.

  Then just as he was about to swing, he saw the look of satisfaction on the ogre’s face—as if Jared were doing just what Mulgarath had expected . . . as if Jared were playing right into his hands. If he swung the sword, he would be matching his strength against the ogre’s, and the ogre would win.

  Abruptly Jared changed the direction of his blow and brought the point of the sword down hard, stabbing Mulgarath in the foot.

  The ogre howled with surprise and pain, lifting his wounded foot. Jared dropped the sword and grabbed the chain that ran beneath the ogre’s other foot, pulling with his full weight. Mulgarath stumbled backward, trying to regain his balance. But just as his calves hit the c
hain fence, Jared slammed into him again. The ogre’s weight pulled the chains loose from the wall, and he went hurtling over the side.

  Jared rushed to the edge of the balcony. To his immense relief, Simon and Mallory were dangling over the pit, chains wrapped around Simon’s waist and Mallory’s leg. They called up to him weakly.

  Jared started to smile, but as he did, he saw Mulgarath, his fist clutching another chain, his body shifting into the shape of a squirming dragon. He began to writhe his way back up to them.

  “Watch out!” Jared shouted.

  Simon, hanging closer to the monster, tried to kick at it. He only made the chains swing dangerously.

  Mallory and Simon screamed as Jared leaned out as far as he could and swung the sword again. This time it hit the ogre’s chain, cutting through it and biting into the wall of the palace. Mulgarath started to transform once more. As the ogre fell toward the pit of jagged glass, his body became smaller and smaller until he finally became a swallow. The bird veered out of the pit, heading toward the assembled throng of goblins. In mere moments Mulgarath would lead that army into the palace. There would be no escape for the Grace family.

  But then, as the bird turned, angling to fly back toward where the children stood, a hobgoblin’s hand suddenly shot out and grabbed the bird out of the air. It happened so fast that Jared didn’t have time to be surprised and the ogre didn’t have time to shift again.

  Hogsqueal bit off the bird’s head and chewed twice with apparent enjoyment. “Cruddy mouth-breather,” he said as he gulped it down.

  Jared couldn’t help it. He started to laugh.

  “All this time and I never knew.”

  Epilogue

  IN WHICH the Story of the Grace Children Comes to Its Conclusion