Chapter 9

Chapter 9 The Cheese Monster had done the one thing the Knights of the Skround Table were warned never to do—he'd let his enemies see him sweat. Stinky, slimy, cheesy sweat! That growing puddle around the monster's feet was actually melted cheese. The more the monster moved around in the hot sun, the more his cheesy body dissolved.

But the monster was huge. At this rate it would take days, even weeks, to get him to melt away. And the pink-haired troll would be back soon. Princess Pulverizer had to rush this melting thing along. Somehow she had to raise the temperature around here. But how? "Dribble!" she cried out suddenly. "Breathe fire!" Dribble looked at her in shock. "Breathe what?" he asked her.

"Fire!" she repeated. "You have to shoot your flames at the monster." "You know I don't use my fire to hurt anyone," Dribble reminded her. "That's why the other dragons threw me out of our lair." "This isn't anyone," Princess Pulverizer insisted. "It's just a big mound of cheese. And when you grill the bread to make sandwiches, the cheese melts, doesn't it?" "I guess so," Dribble agreed. "Then start grilling," Princess Pulverizer told him. "Well, when you put it that way," Dribble replied. He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and let out a roaring flame. Almost instantly, the monster's knees began to melt down into his ankles. "It's working!" Princess Pulverizer shouted excitedly. The smell of smoked cheese filled the air. "Yum!" Dribble said. He blew a heavy flame right at the monster's arm. His mozzarella muscles melted. "I love smoked mozzarella."

So did Princess Pulverizer. The smell was making her hungry—until Dribble aimed a fiery flame at the Cheese Monster's belly. "Oh, yuck!" Lucas exclaimed. "Smoked limburger cheese actually smells worse than regular limburger cheese." Princess Pulverizer had to agree. The air around her was starting to stink. She held her nose and tried to breathe through her mouth. "Come on, Dribble. Breathe harder," she said. "We gotta get out of here." "I'm doing the best I can," Dribble told her. It wouldn't be long before the griffin would awaken from his nap and alert the troll that his prisoners had escaped. Princess Pulverizer had to speed things up. Quickly, she grabbed Lucas and turned him toward the sun. The hot rays bounced off his metal armor and up toward the monster's neck.

Aarrrggghhhhh! The monster tried to lunge toward the princess. But his legs had already melted away. And his arms were shrinking by the second. "Help me, Lucas," Princess Pulverizer called out. "Make this guy really sweat!" Lucas jumped into action, running in circles around the melting monster. The Cheese Monster turned his body around and around, trying to catch the knight-in-training. And the more the monster turned, the more he sweat. "It's working!" Princess Pulverizer cheered. The monster was now nothing more than a head made of swiss cheese floating in a sea of melted monster mush.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Princess Pulverizer stopped cheering. She would know that voice anywhere. It was the pink-haired troll. He was back. And he was angry! "What have you done? Do you have any idea how long it takes to build a monster from cheese?" the troll demanded. "Now how am I going to take over and become King of the Trolls? It will take me years to build another monster as strong and obedient as this one." "You want to be King of the Trolls?" Princess Pulverizer asked him. "Yeah," the troll said. "Why not me? Are you saying I can't?" "Well, I—" Princess Pulverizer began.