Chapter 13

chapter thirteen Except, it isn't Thrull. The vines only look like Thrull for a quick, dream-like moment. Then the face vanishes as the vines split further, and I'm face-to-face with the most horrific monster I've ever encountered. One that I thought I would not see again... Never. Ever. In a million years. I mean, of course I didn't think I'd see this monster again—I already slayed this monster....

No way. It's Blarg. I see the hole in his skull. I put that hole there. I can still feel the way the bone cracked as I slammed the Slicer into the evil beast. No doubt about it, this is Blarg—lifeless, skinless; he's returned as a skeletal soldier. Suddenly, his massive jaw opens—and he howls. Cries of terror, pain, and anger all rolled into one anguished wail. The howl stops. And a voice comes from Blarg's horrible bleached-bone mouth. Not just a voice: words. It's Thrull.

Thrull's voice. Thrull's words. "Stop while you can, Jack," the voice says, "and I may let you and your friends live." I swallow. This is more than just Blarg and this is more than just another skeleton soldier. This is a servant of .e...c., one who now speaks for Thrull—speaks as Thrull. I take a slow step back—fully taking in this abomination.

"Go back to Wakefield, Jack..." the voice warns again. "Play your little games. Live your little life. Do that, and I will not destroy you." "You know I won't," I say. "I'd rather die trying to stop you than do nothing...." "Even death would be a merciful end," the voice goes on. "Continue with your journey, and I will do to each of you what I did to Bardle. Only much slower." I don't think Thrull is bluffing. I've seen quite a few things from .e...c.'s dimension by now. They are almost all unimaginably horrible. But at the same time, why is Thrull trying to convince me to quit? We must have him worried, at least a little bit—if not, he'd want us to press on. He'd want us to come for him—so he could deal with us easily. But instead, he's trying to scare me off. "What is it, Thrull? Mad about how things ended last time?" This new, pale, bleached-bone Blarg carcass —Blargus—roars, and one huge hand swings

toward me— I raise the Slicer to block his next attack, but a vine knocks the blade from my hand. In a flash, vines are slithering around me. I reach for the Slicer, but my Cosmic Hand instead finds a vine. And then: I'm not there anymore. I'm no longer standing outside the motel. Instead, I'm whooshing through a tunnel of earth and light and energy. And somehow, I

know I'm traveling through the vines—or, at least, along their path. My brain and body feel disconnected, like that horrible moment when the King Wretch showed me visions of a possible future. Except, here, what I'm seeing is real. And it's happening now. I see the path that Thrull's army has forged to get here. I see the destruction Thrull's army has left in its wake. Towns, cities—anything Thrull can reach—are being pulled toward the Tower. They are resources to be used in its continued construction. The world rushes past like I'm in a low-flying jet, too fast to see everything clearly. It's hazy around the edges, and there's so much I can't quite make out. And then I see, in front of me, an imposing structure. It rises up into a dark sky, pulsing with vines. And I know. It's the TOWER.