Alistair Grim's Odditorium (30 page)

The drums beat on, and the monsters continued to chant “Fight! Fight! Fight!” as they formed a wide, open circle in the middle of the yard. The Shadesmen escorted me to its center,
and then left me there alone with Kiyoko’s sword.

Buhwaaahmp!
groaned the horns again, and the chanting crowd broke into cheers. I followed the monsters’ gaze and discovered Prince Nightshade standing on the balcony above the
castle doors.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” cried the prince, pumping his fist, and his subjects immediately took up the chant again.

The drummer-trolls now flanked the entrance to the stables, out of which emerged the prince’s chariot, drawn by four black steeds. My heart sank. Phantom was among them—the Black
Fairy must have brought him back to the castle after he killed Kiyoko.

Buhwaaahmp!
groaned the horns. Phantom and the other steeds reared, and a goblin attendant rushed over to settle them. A wave of panic rippled through me, and I gripped Ikari tightly with
both hands.

I might be Mr. Grim’s apprentice, I thought, but when it comes right down to it, I am still just a humble chummy. What chance could a lad like me possibly have against these monsters?

The first weapon a shinobi learns to use is her mind,
I heard Kiyoko say in my head. She was right. If I was going to save Cleona, I stood a much better chance using my wits than a
sword.

The prince raised his hand, the drumming stopped, and the crowd of monsters immediately fell silent. Indeed,
everything
was silent, except for the wind in the battlements.

That’s odd, I thought. If I were going to die, wouldn’t I hear Cleona wailing?

As if reading my thoughts, the prince shouted,
“Bring me the banshee!”

Everyone turned their eyes toward the tower as a loud cranking noise began overhead. Near the top of the tower, an entire section of the wall split apart and a small platform extended out over
the yard. On top of the platform was a large conductor sphere like the one in the Odditorium’s engine room. But instead of glowing yellow, this sphere flashed and crackled with red and purple
light.

“Cleona,” I gasped. I could see the vague outline of her form inside, but I could not see how she was faring, nor could I hear her wailing.

No matter, I thought. I am still going to die. I just can’t hear her wailing because she’s stuck in that sphere.

But maybe something has changed,
I answered back in my head.
Like when Mr. Grim changed his mind about riding the wasp. The future can be altered by even the most insignificant
decisions made in the present, he said.

But the only decision I made was to use my wits instead of Ikari.

“The banshee!” the Black Fairy hissed, and he stepped out onto the platform beside the sphere. The crowd cheered, and the Black Fairy spread his wings and took off across the yard.
All eyes followed him as he circled the battlements—but something else had caught my attention.

Neither the ground nor the castle’s outer walls were covered in magic paint. The sun was still low in the sky, so the majority of the yard was engulfed in shadow. And the stench—I
would not have though it possible, but the stench out here seemed even worse than in the Great Hall.

“Mack,” I muttered, glancing over at the prince. I could see that the pocket watch was still tucked in his belt. And just like that I knew what I had to do.

The Black Fairy swooped down into the yard, snatched up Judge Hurst, and landed with him on the prince’s balcony. A handful of goblin attendants stepped out beside them, and then Prince
Nightshade, leaning over the balustrade, addressed the crowd below.

“Today dawn’s a new age,” he began. “An age in which the old kingdoms shall be destroyed, and the new kingdom,
our kingdom
, shall rise up to rule both the land of
the living and the Land of the Dead!”

The crowd of monsters cheered.

“And so, to celebrate this auspicious occasion, I give you a very special tournament. A tournament that shall mark the beginning of the
Age of Animus
!”

Buhwaaahmp!
groaned the horns, and the crowd cheered. The prince nodded proudly and let them go on for a bit, then he raised his hand and all was silent.

“And now, I have the great honor of introducing our three eligible combatants. First, one of our fiercest competitors of all time, this giant of gore comes to us from the fjords of Norway
with an impressive record of seventeen kills. That’s right, the most terrible troll of them all,
Borg Gorallup
!”

The monsters cheered, and a squat, pear-headed troll with an eye patch and a pronounced underbite stepped forward from the crowd. His shoulders were as broad as Nigel Stout was tall, his legs
and arms as thick as tree trunks. And he was naked, save for an animal skin around his waist and a pair of spiked leather bands around his massive forearms. In one hand he carried a large mallet;
in the other, a studded wooden shield.

“Gorallup!” the troll croaked, and he pounded his mallet in the dirt. The earth shook and the crowd cheered, and then the prince raised his hand and all was silent.

“Our next combatant,” he announced, “comes to us from deep within the caves of Lascaux, France. Boasting an unparalleled record of twenty kills even, and known in these parts
as ‘the Scourge of the Shinobi,’ your favorite goblin and mine,
Moosh-Moosh
!”

The crowd went wild, and one of the larger, toad-faced goblins leaped over the heads of the other monsters and landed next to Borg Gorallup. His green, sinewy frame stood only as high as the
troll’s waist, but his yellow eyes glowed fiercely, and between his pointy ears stretched a mouth littered with fangs. The goblin carried no weapons, but given the long, sharp claws on his
hands and feet, I could understand why he didn’t need them.

“And finally,” said the prince, silencing the crowd, “I give you one of the newest additions to our menacing menagerie. An up-and-comer who has already racked up an impressive
nine kills, each in less than a minute!” The crowd murmured excitedly. “Here he is, that mysterious, entomological nightmare from the Americas—
Moth Man
!”

The monsters cheered as Moth Man spread his enormous insect wings and lifted off the battlements. From where I was standing I could see that the black-eyed creature was carrying a spear, but
when he landed next to Moosh-Moosh I noticed that—well, with a name like Moth Man, perhaps no further description is necessary.

“There you are, then, Grubb,” said the prince. “Choose your opponent and give us our tournament.”

“I choose none of them,” I said, and the crowd grumbled with confusion.

“None of them?” asked the prince. “But surely you know what will happen to the banshee if you choose not to fight.”

“I do, sire,” I said. “Which is why I choose to fight
you
.”

The monsters gasped.

“
Me?
” asked the prince, amazed. “You choose to fight
me
?”

“Yes, sire.”

“But don’t you know who I am, lad? Don’t you know that there is not a creature on this planet, magical or otherwise, who has ever proven a match for me?”

“Perhaps, sire. But if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to take my chances. Unless, of course, you’re a coward.”

The monsters gasped and the prince stiffened. The air hung tensely for a moment—but then the prince threw back his head and laughed heartily. The Black Fairy and the rest of the crowd
joined him, and for a moment I thought the whole castle might come crashing down from all their belly shaking.

“Very well,” said the prince, regaining his composure, and his subjects immediately grew silent. “How can I resist such insolence?” Then he leaned over the balustrade and
whispered: “Besides, it will make snuffing out Alistair Grim all the more enjoyable when I tell him it was I who broke your neck for you.”

The prince smiled widely and then jumped down from the balcony.

The Black Fairy screeched, the monsters cheered, and Gorallup, Moosh-Moosh, and Moth Man scattered back into the crowd.

The prince landed in the yard, and a cloud of dust billowed up around him—his bright red eyes shining through like a pair of lanterns in the fog. Prince Nightshade lowered the visor on his
helmet, and as the dust began to settle, he drew his fiery-tipped whip.

A bolt of terror shot through me, and with my heart in my throat, I raised Ikari as I had seen Kiyoko do against the dragons. As if in reply, the prince raised his whip and cracked it over his
head. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, and then the goblins gave the signal for the tournament to begin.

Buhwaaahmp!

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” cheered the crowd.

I held the blade out in front of me in expectation of the prince’s attack. But instead of advancing, Prince Nightshade fell to his knees, stretched his arms out wide, and said: “Go
ahead, boy! Strike me anywhere you wish.”

I hesitated, unsure of what to do.

“No need to be afraid,” said the prince. “You have my word as a gentleman. I give you the honor of first strike as a reward for your courage.”

This had to be a trick, I thought, and held my ground.

“Does everyone here distrust me so?” the prince asked with mock offense, and the monsters laughed. “Very well, then, Grubb. I shall allow another to strike first in your
place.” The prince surveyed his subjects and shouted,
“Gorallup!”

The troll stepped forward from the crowd.

“Oh, Borg, dear,” said the prince. “Would you be so kind as to show young Grubb that my word is still that of a gentleman?”

“Gorallup!” croaked the troll, and without hesitation, he lumbered over to the prince, raised his enormous mallet, and brought it down hard upon the prince’s head!

I gasped, unable to believe what I was seeing, but as soon the troll’s mallet struck the prince’s helmet, it snapped back, lifting the troll off his feet and sending him flying
backward into the crowd.

The monsters laughed and applauded, and then the prince stood up as if nothing had happened.

“Thank you, Borg,” he said. “Consider the first blow yours, young Grubb. And so, without further ado, it is my turn.”

Instinctively I backed away, and then the prince came rushing toward me. He looked as if he was about to leap into the air, but at the last moment he skidded to a halt in the dirt, cocked his
whip, and let it fly.

I dove out of the way just in time, and the fiery tip exploded somewhere behind me. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked, and the air was sucked from my lungs as I landed face-first in the
dirt.

Coughing, I quickly rose to my feet and turned around. The prince was upon me at once, swiping his black-armored fist straight for my head.

I ducked and rolled away as fast as I could. And before I even had time to regain my footing, the prince’s whip came for me again.

Somehow I scrambled out of the way, and Prince Nightshade’s whip cracked near my bottom and sent me tumbling head over heels. Finally I landed on my feet, and the monsters burst into
raucous applause. Even the prince himself let out a howl of laughter upon seeing me standing there on guard with Ikari.

“Splendid!” he said. “This is proving to be quite entertaining after all!”

Then the prince raised his whip again, and just as its tip crested above his head, in a split second I decided that it was time to make my move.

I tossed aside Ikari and took off like a shot. The crowd cheered—and I heard the whip come cracking down—but I dove between the prince’s legs and sprang to my feet behind him.
Hidden beneath his cape, I grabbed hold of his sword belt and pulled myself up to his waist.

Prince Nightshade whirled around and gasped at seeing me gone. But then the monsters began to laugh and point at him, and he understood where I was. The prince twisted and turned and batted
blindly at his back, but his chunky black armor made it impossible for him to reach me. Still, he cackled heartily and, to please the crowd, shook his bottom as if dancing a jig. The monsters
nearly fell over with laughter, but I quickly slipped my hand around his waist and snatched Mack from his belt.

Then, without warning, Prince Nightshade fell backward in an attempt to squash me, but I let go of him just in time and tumbled away in the dirt. The prince landed square on his bottom, shaking
the ground, and as the crowd was distracted by his antics, I opened Mack and tapped him on his XII.

“What time is it?” he cried, crackling to life.

“No time to explain, old friend,” I said. “Just stick to the shadows for as long as you can and try not to fizzle out.”

“What the—?” Mack said, spinning round. “Where are we, Grubb?”

I promise I’ll get you back,” I said.

The monsters began pointing and shouting, “Animus! The boy has the animus!” Confused, Prince Nightshade rose to his feet and groped at his belt, but upon catching sight of me with
Mack, he let out a deafening roar of, “MINE!”

“My apologies, Mack,” I said.

And with that I promptly hurled Mack into the crowd.