Free Monster War by Dean Lorey Page B

he took.
    Must be nice to shoot webs , Charlie thought as he plunged through the terrible dark. Then: Shoot webs. Spider-Man. Spider shoots webs. And he knew what he had to do.
    Charlie waved a hand and opened a portal directly beneath him. Through it, he had a bird’s eye view of the Nightmare Academy. He plummeted into the portal and was soon hurtling through the air back on Earth, towards the great tree far below.
    “XIX!” he screamed as the cold wind tried to steal the words from his mouth. “PROFESSOR XIX! ARE YOU THERE?”
    Charlie saw several students from the Academy staring up at him in confusion - but Xix was nowhere in sight.
    “XIX, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, I NEED YOUR HELP! THIS IS CHARLIE BENJAMIN!”
    The top leaves of the Nightmare Academy whipped past his face as he plunged through them, only seconds from slamming into the hard sand below.
    “PLEASE, PROFESSOR! HELP ME!”
    He was out of time. Either Xix was there and could save him or he was going to—
    Something scuttled across a tree limb. Charlie saw a sticky strand of white webbing shoot out from between the leaves. It snaked around his feet and wrapped around a thick branch as he fell, pulling taut, stretching like arubber band, slowing his descent.
    “Thanks, Professor!” Charlie yelled, catching just the briefest glimpse of his old friend and teacher before hurtling past him towards the ground below.
    “My pleasure, Charlie Benjamin!” Professor Xix shouted back.
    Even though the silken strand was slowing his fall, Charlie realised it wouldn’t be able to bring him to a stop before he slammed into the earth. Just as the hard sand rushed up to meet him, he opened another portal and dipped through it into the Nether, just a few metres above the wide ledge where the Smith stood. The webbing attached to his ankle stretched to its breaking point, slowing Charlie to an almost complete stop. With another wave of his hand, he closed the portal above him, snapping the silken strand in half, and dropped the remaining few metres to land harmlessly on the ground next to Theodore in a puff of dust.
    Everyone stared at him, shocked.
    “That was simply ridiculous,” Theodore said finally. “Truly outrageous.”
    Charlie staggered to his feet, then turned to the Smith. “Well, does that prove to you I’m a Banisher and a Nethermancer?”
    The bloated creature laughed its thick, phlegmy laugh.
    “So you ARE a Double-Threat, BOY! Good. You have earned the right to TRY for the sword.” It leaped towards the dark tunnel that snaked its way into the mountainside. “Follow me, ALL of you. It is time - crooooak! - for the Test of SACRIFICE!”
    Charlie and his friends blindly groped their way through the blackness of the tunnel. The walls were moist and the air had a chalky smell.
    “I can’t see a thing…” Brooke complained.
    “Yeah, well, just be careful you don’t bump into the big, ugly frog,” Theodore whispered. “It’s probably not too far up ahead and, remember, Rex said touching it would be - and I quote - ‘bad’.”
    “The big, ugly frog can HEAR you,” the Smith croaked.
    Charlie was startled to discover that the beast was only a couple of steps in front of him. “Are we close?” he asked.
    “Almost THERE…” They heard a grinding of stone as an unseen door rumbled aside, allowing a shaft of blue light to spill into the tunnel. “Now…enter the CHAMBER of Ancient WEAPONS.” They followed the creature inside.
    The chamber glowed dimly blue, illuminated by thesame kind of lava that they had previously seen bubbling up from the well in the Netherforge. It ran through cracks in the floor. Charlie noticed that the Smith was careful to avoid touching the stuff.
    “What is that?” he asked.
    “The MAGMA? It rises from the - crooooak! - CORE of the Nether. It causes EXCRUCIATING pain to the monsters here. That’s why they AVOID the Forge…and that’s why we temper the BLADES in its terrible fire. The Ancient Weapons are filled