Chapter 15

chapter fifteen The adventurers stand in a circular clearing at the maze center, frozen into terrified silence. Thankfully, though, the Squancher is frozen, too. Frozen—'cause it's dead. Up close, Dirk sees that its hard-shelled body is divided into shimmering, segmented sections. They remind him of the armored plating they saw, weeks earlier, at the history museum. Everyone can relax. I took care of it. It was messy. But when I was finished, it was dead. "Galamelon!" Quint cries out.

"And—way more importantly—Carol!" Kimmy exclaims as the young carapace scampers around the dead Squancher. Quint is watching Skaelka. Her mouth is open slightly and her face is shifting from something like confusion to realization. "You did not kill this beast, fool," Skaelka says to Galamelon. Her voice is a whispered snarl. "I slayed the beast. Slayed it dead." Quint and Dirk exchange a baffled, anxious glance. Very gently, Quint says, "Skaelka, I think you're confused. We've been together since we entered the maze. How could you have—"

Quit, this is Tammy. This is my axe. my Axe slayed the beast. Oh, well, I took care of it. Like I said, I kept an eye on the monster and I got some gunk on me on the process. So points for me. A ripe, rotting smell wafts off the Squancher, but Skaelka doesn't seem to notice. She's turning the goo- splattered axe over in her hands, eyeing it closely. Her tail twitches as she looks from the Squancher to her axe and to the Squancher again. She takes a step back, looking around—like she's seeing everything for the first time, but also like she's not. When she speaks, her voice is soft—and she sounds spooked. "There is no doubt it was I who felled this unfamiliar creature. I do not know when... but I know that I did."

Everyone stands silent. A towering, corn-carved sculpture of King Possum looms over them—and it only further reminds Quint of his failed conjuration in the palace hall. Drooler meeps at Dirk curiously, and Dirk shrugs. "Sorry, champ, no answers for ya." "Hold on..." Quint says, eyes shut tight as he turns this new info over in his head. "That would mean you've been in this maze before, Skaelka. Which means you made it through this maze before. And could do it again!" Kimmy's ears shoot up stiff-straight: hope! But Skaelka grimaces. "I cannot remember!" she snaps, slamming her axe into the ground. "Skaelka's memories are lost!" Kimmy says, "If the way out is stuck in your memory, I may be able to retrieve it. But I won't know for sure without getting inside that lovely brain of yours. Which means, well, I gotta get inside that lovely brain of yours. So—" CRACK! Just then, thunder erupts in the distance. The wind picks up, ruffling the cornstalks. They all look to the sky. Dark clouds are gathering. "A storm is coming," Dirk says.

"Nice," Galamelon says. "My hair looks good wet." Kimmy glares. "Galamelon. Rain means another Drakkor attack. On my town." Skaelka's body is rigid. She scowls, like allowing someone to pry around inside her brain is a violation she cannot permit, then looks down. "Skaelka..." Quint says softly. "We can figure another way out. You don't have to." Skaelka lifts her head and looks Quint in the eyes. There's something like recognition there. As if she knows she's heard his voice before. But then her mouth turns into a jaw-clenched scowl. To Quint, it looks like Skaelka was close to retrieving a forgotten memory—but that the memory has vanished again. Or... could it be something else? Quint wonders if maybe Skaelka's memories haven't been lost, exactly, but stolen? Tampered with? Skaelka has fought in countless other-dimensional conflicts and taken more battle damage than any warrior—but he's never seen her so shaken, so defeated. And who or what could do that? A breeze whips past them, carrying around the clearing, shaking the King Possum sculpture. Skaelka stiffens. "Kimmy, my memories are needed to help

your monsterfolk, but they are also the key to discovering what has been done to me." We must escape this miserable mace, and I must have answers if the only way of doing that is by entering my mind, then I permit you entry folks. Skelter's brain. Kimmy, walk away. Let's get to it Then. Scelta sit across from me "I'll need the help of a conjurer," Kimmy says. "A true conjurer—which means you, Quint." Quint swallows. "Are you sure? You've been brain-poking me and Dirk pretty successfully this entire journey." "This is different," Kimmy says. "What I'm about to attempt—it's like nothing I've ever done before. I need you—and your conjurer's cane." Quint catches Dirk's eye—and thinks about what Dirk was surely about to say earlier, when he showed Skaelka the group photo. Skaelka left Wakefield with