Lair of the Beast

by Adam Jay Epstein

  “So it could snap at any moment?” Pryvyd asked, taking a step back.

  “To the contrary,” Wily countered. “The top of the rope has been smoothed by hundreds of hands holding it. It’s not going anywhere. But that’s also the bad news. It means whatever is lurking in that slime is the real danger.”

  “You made me feel better and worse all at once,” Odette said.

  “Most explorers walk slowly across a dangling bridge,” Wily said. “They think it’s safer. But if a slime squid is hidden below, being slow is the worst thing you could do.”

  Moshul shuddered at the mention of slime squid.

  “I’ve got this,” Wily continued. “I’ve been racing across hanging bridges my whole life.”

  Wily turned to Odette and plucked a metallic thread from her collar.

  “What was that for?” Odette asked.

  Instead of answering, Wily took a running start and sprinted across the gently swaying bridge. He had been told by the locksage that the enchanted compass needed a small bit of metal or stone to give it the magnetic scent of the object for which it would be searching. Odette was going to be his test subject. As he ran toward the island, he eyed the green ooze bubbling an arm’s length below the bridge’s wooden planks. He knew at any moment a long tentacle could burst forth, wrap around his ankle, and tug him into the slime. To his great surprise and relief, he made it to the island without being attacked.

  Wily swiftly approached the pedestal and found a round object resting there that appeared to be molded from silver. It looked a lot like every other compass he had seen before. Yet when Wily picked up the object and inspected it, he found that there were a few distinct differences. The compass arrow was fixed in place so it couldn’t spin or change direction. It also had a dozen holes around its outer perimeter that revealed that it was hollow inside. He wondered if this was, in fact, the enchanted compass and how it could possibly operate without a spinning arrow. Wily knew there was only one way to find out. He would test it.

  Find my friend Odette, Wily thought as he rubbed the metallic thread from her tunic on the compass.

  Wily stood and waited. Nothing happened. Perhaps this was not the compass after all. Disappointed, he took a step back toward the rope bridge. At once, the silver object in his hand began to whistle. When he stopped moving, it stopped making a sound.

  He took another step toward the bridge. The object whistled again. Wily understood: the enchanted compass would whistle when he moved in the direction of the object he was seeking.

  But before he could tell his friends what he had discovered, he heard Pryvyd scream, “Wily! It’s time to leave! Now!”

  Wily looked up to see faceless humanoids emerging from the slime around the small island on which he was standing. Their bodies and outstretched arms dripped with viscous green ooze. One of the strange creatures lunged at Wily. Instinctively, he blocked the attack with the boarcus’s shield. In an instant, a hole formed in the center of the shield where the creature’s slimy fingers made contact. Wily dropped the shield as the acidic green ooze ate its way through the metal. Within seconds, there was nothing left of the shield other than its leather straps.

  Wily sprinted onto the rope bridge, and immediately the faceless humanoids changed course, dove back into the lake, and moved at a frightening speed through the slime. Before Wily had even made it halfway across the bridge, the figures started emerging near Pryvyd and Moshul.

  Roveeka pulled out Mum and Pops, prepared to throw them at the attackers.

  “Don’t bother,” Pryvyd shouted. “These must be the Dissolved. Legend says they can melt metal with a single touch.”

  “And rock and bone,” Odette added, “and most other things, too.”

  When Wily finally reached the end of the bridge, he just kept moving, racing for the door out. Moshul scooped up Roveeka as Odette ran alongside Wily. Pryvyd had to grab Righteous, who was ready to do battle with the Dissolved, and drag it along.

  “I don’t care how brave you are,” Pryvyd said to his arm. “You may not be attached to me, but you’re still my arm.”

  The group sprinted out of the room, but the Dissolved were not ready to give up the chase. They followed Wily and the others into the maze of tunnels.

  Odette looked back over her shoulder with concern. “If we hit just one dead end and are forced to backtrack,” she said grimly, “the Dissolved will catch up to us. Even Moshul wouldn’t stand a chance against them.”

  No sooner did Odette say that when they reached a crossing where the tunnel forked in three directions.

  “Which way did we come from originally?” Pryvyd asked, looking at each tunnel in turn, clearly confused.

  “I don’t remember,” Odette said, eyeing the three paths. “I was following Wily.”

  “We can use the map again,” Roveeka said.

  “It was on the shield,” Wily informed her, “which is now a puddle of slime.”

  Looking back down the tunnel, Wily could see the Dissolved shambling toward them with their arms outstretched.

  “We’ll just have to take our chances,” Odette said, moving toward the center tunnel.

  Then, suddenly, Wily remembered what he was holding in his hand. “We’ve got something better than a map,” he said, a glimmer of hope in his eye.

  Wily bent over and plucked an iron pebble from the tread of his shoe he had picked up on their journey from the palace to the maze. Then he held the enchanted compass aloft in front of him.

  “Compass, show us the fastest way out of here.”

  Wily stepped toward the center path, but the compass was silent. Then, he moved toward the tunnel to the left. The compass began to whistle loudly, so loudly, in fact, that Roveeka put a finger in her ear.

  “It’s certainly not a compass to use when you plan on sneaking,” she said as they took off down the left path.

  Wily was barely looking where he was going; instead he was letting the compass lead the way. Right. Left. Straight. Left again.

  “The Dissolved are still on our tails,” Pryvyd said. “Hurry!”

  They ran past the boarcus, who was still slumped on the ground. The clatter of feet woke the tusk-faced guard with a start.

  “What’s going on?” the confused boarcus blurted at the passing adventurers. “Are we being invaded?”

  “Nope,” Odette said. “All good. Just doing a little practice drill.”

  “You’re very convincing,” the boarcus said. “I really believed the panic on your faces.”

  The compass took them right back into the large cavern with the quill grizzler. Only this time, it was very angry and very awake. The creature stood menacingly in front of the room’s only other exit, scratching its claws against the stone ground.

  This is bad, Wily thought to himself. Very, very bad.

  “Instead of asking the compass for the fastest way out,” Odette said, “maybe you should have asked for the safest way out.”

  A booming growl bellowed from the quill grizzler’s eight-foot-wide mouth.

  “I know you can speak a lot of monster languages,” Odette said to Wily. “Any chance you know what he just said?”

  Wily shook his head. “We didn’t have a quill grizzler in Carrion Tomb. And for good reason. They’re known for feeding on their feeders.”

  Just then, the slime-dripping Dissolved entered the cave. They were about to shamble toward Wily and his companions when they spied the giant bear. The Dissolved quickly turned and fled.

  “When even the mindless slime monsters run away,” Odette said, “you know you’re in trouble.”

  Pryvyd readied his spiked shield for battle. Roveeka pulled out Mum and Pops. Moshul stepped up beside Righteous, who was already swinging its sword.

  But before anyone attacked, Odette started running toward a sunken portion of the cavern floor. She did a double backflip before grabbing something off the ground.

  “Hey there, you big prickle puss!” Odette yelled. “I think you might wa
nt this.”

  She held aloft the stuffed sheep the quill grizzler had been snuggling before. After swinging it in two circles overhead, she tossed the sheep into a distant corner of the cavern.

  The quill grizzler’s eyes went wide with terror. It chased after its toy with a soft whimper, leaving the far exit of the chamber clear. The distraction had worked.

  Everybody sprinted for the door. Unfortunately, as soon as they moved, the compass began to whistle loudly again. It snapped the quill grizzler back to attention. The giant beast changed direction and came lumbering after them. The mighty creature arched its back and shot a series of sharp needles at the fleeing adventurers. Pryvyd was able to deflect some with his spiked shield, and Righteous batted the others away with its sword.

  Wily had nearly made it to the exit of the cavern when he felt the quill grizzler’s claws snap closed around him. The fanged bear lifted him off his feet and began to squeeze. The pressure was intense, much more intense, Wily thought wistfully, than the pressure he had been feeling over the last few months in the palace.

  Before Wily’s world went dark, Righteous came flying up to the quill grizzler’s face and grabbed a fistful of its nose hair. The hovering arm gave a hard tug. With a mighty yelp, the needle-backed bear released Wily, allowing him to run.

  Wily sprinted through the cave exit just as the quill grizzler slammed against the too-small-to-fit-through door. As the monster tried to squeeze his head in between, Wily and the others took off together.

  They continued through the room of swinging axes, where the trapsmith had been working earlier, ducking their heads to avoid the sharpened blades. They sprinted past the Archway of Many Eyes, not caring whether they were spotted, heading straight for the maze’s exit and the circle of blue sky beyond it.

  As they burst outside, Wily laughed with relief. They had retrieved the Enchanted Compass and survived the Maze of the Dissolved. The thrill of accomplishment gave him goose bumps all the way down his arms. Beaming with pride, he looked up at the cliffs that surrounded the maze’s entrance. With a sense of calm, he took in the autumn yellow leaves that carpeted the mountainsides.

  Roveeka sat down on a large hard rock and removed her sandals to massage her feet. “That was a close one,” she said. “I think I need a pair of faster running sandals.”

  “What do you need running sandals for?” Odette asked. “Moshul was carrying you the whole time.”

  “Maybe he wouldn’t have to,” Roveeka responded, “if I had faster sandals.”

  Just then, from behind a bush, a seven-year-old boy and girl emerged. They had frightened looks in their eyes.

  “Are you Wily Snare?” the boy asked. “The new Prince of Panthasos?”

  Wily nodded with a puzzled look.

  “How’d you know I was here?” he asked.

  “We asked a passing merchant for help,” the boy said. “He told us you had come this way.”

  “We saw you enter the maze from up the mountain,” the girl said. “We tried to shout to you but you didn’t hear us. So we just waited here, hoping you’d come out safely.”

  “Our town is in big trouble,” the boy said. “We need your help at once.”

  The moment of relief and joy Wily had experienced blew away like a yellow autumn leaf in the mountain breeze. It felt as if the quill grizzler’s claws were tightening around him once more. Wily was quite good at escaping from trap-filled dungeons, but escaping the pressures of being the Prince of Panthasos was turning out to be much more difficult.

  3

  FROM BETWEEN TWO ROCKS

  Despite the direness of their situation, the boy and the girl appeared to have just left a very formal party; both of them were dressed in green buttoned shirts and matching green shorts. Their hair was neatly brushed and combed. Even their fingernails were clean. The only thing slightly out of place was the faint odor of rotting tunnel trout clinging to them. It smelled as if they had been hiding in a fish barrel.

  “It’s just up thish mountain,” the little boy said, pushing his blond hair out of his face.

  “Yes,” the girl quickly added. “Just up the mountain.”

  The boy scrambled up the rocky slope, taking big clumsy steps.

  The girl beckoned the others to follow. “Hurry,” she said. “Our family and neighbors are in grave danger.”

  “What’s happened to your village?” Roveeka asked.

  “It was the middle of our birthday party,” the boy responded. “Everything was candy and cake, when out of nowhere came this big turtle dragon. Tearing up the whole town. Breaking things and all.”

  “A turtle dragon?” Odette asked with a puzzled look. “This far from the Chamango River? That’s unusual.”

  “Perhaps it was a different kind of dragon,” the young girl said, “but it definitely was big!”

  “That’s right,” the boy chimed in as he hustled over a nest of brambles. “I was too busy being a scared little boy to know exactly what kind of dragon it was.”

  Wily raised an eyebrow at the strange response.

  “Did it have long green antennae?” Pryvyd asked.

  “Sheesh,” the boy said, “you’re asking an awful lot of questions. We just want you to save our village from the dragon. Not write a book about it.”

  Roveeka sidled up to Wily. “He’s very rude,” she said under her breath.

  “There’s no time for talking,” the girl said, looking back over her shoulder. “You must save your energy for fighting the dragon, whatever kind it is.”

  “And she’s not much better,” Roveeka added.

  “Something is off about them,” Wily said quietly. “I don’t think they’re what they appear to be.”

  “Quit jibber jabbering,” the boy called back. “Before I get all killy and the like on yoosh.”

  The girl slapped the boy in the shoulder hard.

  He quickly changed his tone to light and sweet. “I mean, could you please stop talking and focus on walking, sir.”

  Wily felt a chill run up his spine. He knew someone else who had used words like killy and yoosh, and it wasn’t a little boy with dirty blond hair and green knickers. Wily signaled Pryvyd, Odette, Moshul, and Righteous to come over to his side.

  “Even the ghost spiders who eat their own mothers have better manners than those children,” Roveeka whispered to her companions.

  “They’re not children,” Wily said to the others. “It’s Agorop and Sceely, Stalag’s oglodyte minions. A powerful illusion must have been cast on them to change their appearance and even the sound of their voices.”

  Odette’s blue eyes went to where the two children were bouncing up the hill in their matching outfits. She snapped her fingers as if figuring something out. “But an illusion can’t change their smell,” she sputtered. “They stink of old fish rotting on a cave floor. I should have realized it the moment they stumbled out of the bushes.”

  Pryvyd, Moshul, and Roveeka nodded in agreement.

  “I knew there was something I didn’t like about them,” Roveeka said.

  “I have a feeling,” Wily said quietly, “that they’re leading us right into a trap.”

  Pryvyd cleared his throat and called out to Moshul, who was a few steps ahead of them. The moss golem turned his jeweled eyes toward Pryvyd, and the knight quickly began to sign. Wily wasn’t sure exactly what he was saying, but he had a pretty good idea.

  The little boy, who Wily suspected was actually Agorop, looked over his shoulder to see what was slowing the group down.

  “Please, kind heroes,” the little boy said, “there’s no time to waste. We must get to the town before our human families are swallowed up by the beetle dragon.”

  “He means ‘turtle dragon,’” the little girl, who Wily guessed was Sceely, corrected quickly. “We are very sad and worried. We don’t know what we’re saying.”

  Suddenly, Moshul made a move for the two children with his big mossy hands extended.

  “Whash you doing?” the little
boy screamed with panic in his eyes.

  “Get away, you pile of mud!” the little girl howled.

  The two took off, scrambling to avoid the golem’s fingers. The boy tripped on a rock, but before he hit the ground, Moshul scooped him up into his right hand. The little girl was moving faster, making a break for a cluster of high shrubs, but Righteous came flying up and grabbed her by the shoulder, slowing her down.

  “Get your metal mitt off me,” the young girl said, swatting at the floating arm.

  She tried to break free, but Righteous had given Moshul enough time to catch up. The moss golem snagged her in his other hand. Both of the “children” struggled to free themselves.

  “You can stop pretending,” Wily told the captives when he reached Moshul’s side. “We know who you are.”

  “Yoosh talking crazy and the like,” the boy said. “I’m just a little boy. I isn’t an oglodyte.”

  “Watch what you’re saying,” the girl yelled to the boy.

  “Tell us what sort of trap you were leading us into,” Pryvyd said.

  “We’re not ass-sist-erating you in any way,” the boy said.

  Moshul shook them both like a pair of baby rattles. As he did, the illusions faded away, exposing them as the slimy oglodytes they actually were.

  “Okay! Okay!” Agorop yelled. “We’ll lead ya to Stalag. We’ll do whatever you want. Just make the mud man stop shaking me.”

  “Where is he?” Wily said.

  “Just up the hill,” Agorop stammered.

  “How many soldiers does he have with him?” Pryvyd asked.

  “He’s alone,” Sceely shouted down.

  Roveeka looked up at Sceely skeptically.

  “I don’t believe her,” Roveeka said. “Her eyes dart back and forth when she’s lying.”

  “I’m telling the truth,” Sceely said as her pupils danced.

  Odette signed to Moshul, who began to shake them again.

  “Stop! Stop!” Sceely screamed. “He’s with two others. I swear.”

  Wily noticed that her eyes were no longer darting around. He turned to his fellow companions. “If it is just Stalag and two others against the six of us,” he said with a burst of confidence, “we should be able to capture them. They’ve lost their most powerful weapon: the element of surprise.”