Chapter 18

chapter eighteen "Quint..." I say, trembling. "I see it," he says. "Why is Thrull doing battle with a servant of .e...c. when he himself is a servant of .e...c.?" I ask. "And why is there a monument to Thrull?"

"Also, why did they make Thrull so tall?!" Quint adds. "The scale is nonsensical." "Dramatic license!" a perky voice says. I spin around, startled. A monster stands outside what must be the visitors' center, looking very eager to chat. Beside her is a booth selling Thrull action figures, little baggies claiming to contain "authentic Thrull chest-hair fibers," and about two thousand magnets. "You folks must be interested in a guided tour!" We have zero time for a tour, guided or otherwise. "No, actually. We're in a rush," I say. "Just wanted to know what happened—" "Please save all questions for the end of the tour," she says curtly. "But—" Quint grins. "Not a problem!" I sigh. There's nothing Quint loves more than a guided tour. His dream is probably a guided tour of a tour-guide school. "Wonderful!" the monster says, scuttling out from behind the booth. She's got, at minimum, eight pairs of legs and three wide, bulging eyes. Her voice is high- pitched and she talks so fast, all the words overlap. "My name is Amarelda, and I'll be your guide!" "Do you get, um... a lot of visitors here?" I ask.

"SURE DO!" she says, then stops to think. "Correction: sure DID! After .e...c. and the portals and that bad stuff... visitation has dipped." Amarelda suddenly shoves out a small, toad-like monster, holding it by a flabby fold of neck skin. "Donations are encouraged," Amarelda says, and the toad-monster's mouth slowly opens. "OK," I say. "Strongly encouraged," Amarelda adds. We nod and smile. Amarelda turns to Stargrove, and I shoot her a quick mind-doodle: save your money. Finally, Amarelda tucks the frog back into a pouch and launches into her routine. "The skeleton is Horgaz, once believed to be the last of .e...c.'s great servants. In the very spot where you now stand, on the street now known as Warrior's Way, Horgaz was slain by the Great Champions."

THE FINISHING BLOW WAS DELIVERED BY THRALL, THE MOST LEGENDARY OF GREAT CHAMPIONS, AND NOW HIS TRIUMPHANT MOMENT IS PRESERVED IN TIME FOREVER. "There were Great Champions?" I ask. "And Thrull was... one of them?" "Of course!" Amarelda says. "Oh, help me, is Most Important Events in the History of Forever no longer part of a young monster's curriculum? The Great Champions were an unstoppable team, tracking and battling the servants of .e...c.. They were the most bonded of companions and the most accomplished of warriors. And this was their finest moment! A victory for the ages!" "It was?" I stare. "Absolutely. At the time it was believed that Horgaz was the very last of .e...c.'s great servants. .e...c.

slept—and so when Thrull slew Horgaz, the entire world believed no creature remained who would awaken .e...c. again. It was the Champions' last hurrah. Which is why this monument is called... Champions' Last Hurrah!" Amarelda keeps talking, but I don't hear what she says. I'm trying to put these pieces together, but nothing fits. When I entered the monster dimension, did I also enter some kind of alternate universe where Thrull is... a good guy?? I feel like I'm hallucinating. My mind's racing, processing this new information. The very first of .e...c.'s servants that I killed was a Blarg-creature—and that triggered so much of what followed. Slaying Blarg is what set me on this path, what led to where I am today. And now Amarelda is saying that the last of .e...c.'s evil servants ever to be killed was also a Blarg-creature. Slain by Thrull. I take a shaky step toward the statue of Thrull, staring up. He's lean and wiry. His beard is well-groomed.

That's not what Thl looks like. I mean, it is, but only sort of Amarelda says, "That is precisely how Thrull appeared when he felled Horgaz! And he only grew more handsome, I hear. Wink wink." You mean more monstrous, I think. I don't like this. It's not helping anything. It makes me uneasy to learn that Thrull fought the same type of creature that I did. I don't want to have anything in common with Thrull. "It's very peculiar," Quint agrees. "What's next—are we going to see Thrull's tree house fortress where he