As Palojax flew closer, Wily’s fear of the lair beast only grew. The three heads of the massive beast were now clearly visible—and how Wily wished they weren’t! The left one resembled a fiery cobra with red and orange scales that flickered like a burning flame. The right head was a pale white bear’s with blood-stained teeth. The center head, the frightclops, was the most horrifying of all. It resembled the face of a boarcus with tusks, floppy lips, and the nose of a pig. Yet, unlike any creature Wily had ever seen, it had a single eye buried in its forehead and a transparent skull that revealed the pulsing brain inside.
Moshul put Valor down on the ground and signed to Pryvyd.
“No,” Pryvyd said as he signed back. “It’s far too late to turn back now.”
Moshul continued to sign.
“I’m scared too,” Pryvyd replied. “And not just because he has tentacles.”
Moshul shuddered at the word.
As if the three heads weren’t terrifying enough, Wily saw, at the back of Palojax’s body, a massive tail with a spiked fleshy ball at the end. As the creature flew, the mighty sphere moved back and forth like a pendulum. It looked as if the tail alone could knock an entire palace down to its cornerstones.
Roveeka pulled Mum and Pops from her waistband.
“I don’t think those are going to do much,” Odette said.
“I know,” she replied. “It just makes me feel better to hold them.”
Wily turned to Valor, who was standing tall despite her hugely swollen ankle. “Can you even walk on that?” he asked.
“I can walk, climb, and jump,” Valor said. “It just hurts. A lot.” She leaned her weight down on her ankle and winced. “An awful lot,” she corrected herself. “But don’t worry. I’ll get on the back of that lair beast. I’m just going to need you guys to distract him.”
“Okay,” Wily said. He turned to Roveeka. “We may need Mum and Pops after all.”
The hobgoblet held the blades up to her ears, then pretended to listen to them. “They are ready to fly,” she said with a crooked smile.
“Hey, Wily,” Odette called out. “You still holding on to that wish?”
Wily looked down at the cube of pyrite in his hands. He nodded.
“Because,” Odette continued, “we might need it right now.”
The lair beast dropped to the ground with an echoing boom.
“In fact, we might need the whole darn pile of them.”
The three heads of Palojax each scanned the intruders, snarling angrily. This is the moment of truth, Wily thought. They would either find a way to succeed, or they would die, and Panthasos would have nobody to protect it from Stalag’s army of stone golems. Wily Snare looked at each of his fine companions in turn, wishing he had spent more time with each of them. Odette stood next to him, clutching a pair of mushrooms that she’d plucked off Moshul’s back. Righteous floated at the very front of the group, swinging its sword as if to say “Don’t mess with us.” Pryvyd stood behind Righteous, his spiked shield held aloft. Roveeka was on Wily’s other side, putting on a very tough face. Since being named the Grand Slouch, a great confidence had radiated from within her. Moshul stood tall with spikes protruding from the vines stretched tightly around his chest, only flinching slightly at the lair beast’s rows of squirming tentacles.
And Valor—where was Valor? She’d disappeared, which seemed impossible on this completely flat terrain. But she truly was nowhere to be found.
Then the frightclops, the center head of Palojax, opened its mouth and let out a long, low growl that sounded as if an enormous geyser had just erupted. “What brings you to the Below?” the frightclops asked with an ear-rumbling roar. “Do you wish to tell tales of my glory?”
The fiery cobra head twisted in front of the frightclops. “Let me eat them,” the cobra begged, the words slithering from its lips. “I have not tasted flesh from the Above in so long.”
The bear head roared, exposing its bloody teeth.
“Patience,” the frightclops said to the other heads. “You may desire food, but I welcome a bit of conversation before I dine.”
“We need you to return to the surface,” Wily said. “Neccanite golems are marching on the land again.”
“Tell me more about your misery,” the frightclops said. “I find it amusing.”
Wily was still trying to find Valor. Looking around, he spotted something in the cracks of the earth, just beyond the heads of Palojax: a pair of hands moving along the edge of a crack, slowly making their way to the side of the beast. Yes, it was Valor! She’d found a way to sneak up on the lair beast. They just needed to hold the creature’s attention a little bit longer. If Valor could get on the back of Palojax, Wily was certain she’d be able to quell it, just like she had the manticorn.
“If we don’t gain your assistance, all of the Above will be squashed underfoot by the mighty golems,” Wily said, emphasizing the miserable details. “Homes will be shattered to splinters of wood. People will run screaming in terror.”
“Go on,” the frightclops said with delight. “I have not heard a story for so long.”
Wily could see Valor was making progress toward Palojax but would need more time.
“And the cavern mages,” Wily offered, “will enslave every elf, gwarf, and squatling. Even the great beasts of the forest and sea will have nowhere to hide.”
“That may be worth seeing,” the frightclops roared.
“I’m hungry now,” hissed the cobra head. It spat a stream of acid at Wily and Roveeka. Pryvyd jumped forward and blocked the attack with his shield.
The bear head growled with anger.
“I can’t stop my other two heads from devouring you,” the frightclops said. “It’s time for them to eat.”
“Let me tell you one last horrible thing,” Wily implored.
He could see that Valor was climbing out from the crack in the ground. She only needed a slightly longer distraction and she would be able to leap onto the beast’s back.
“No,” the frightclops said as the beast’s body began to move. “It’s feeding time.”
The cobra head lunged for Odette. She tossed one of the yellow mushrooms in the palm of her hand at the face of the giant snake. When the mushrooms exploded, they created a noxious mist that would knock a smaller creature unconscious within a second, but the snake swallowed the mushroom whole … and nothing at all happened.
“You think that a noxshroom will do anything to us?” the frightclops asked. “There is nothing that grows on the back of your moss golem that will harm me. I am a battle you cannot win.”
Roveeka threw Mum with all the force and precision that had made her a famous knife-wielder in Carrion Tomb. The lair beast lazily flapped one of its batwings, causing a whoosh of air to blast forth, and the sharp blade was sent flying back to Roveeka like a boomerang.
“Why do you even bother?” the frightclops asked as the bear head let out another fierce howl. “You are like fleas on the back of a gristle hound.”
Wily could see Valor was now on her feet. She was half limping, half running as fast as she could on her injured leg. She gritted her teeth, fighting through the pain, and made a running leap for the rear of the lair beast. Palojax didn’t spot her until it was too late. The lair beast’s spiked tail tried to swat her away like a fly but it struck nothing but air.
Wily watched Valor scurry up the back of the beast. Palojax’s tentacles tried to grab her but she was too swift. She was going to make it.
“Get off me,” the frightclops growled.
Valor reached the base of the three necks and stretched her arms to press down on the pressure points on both sides of Palojax’s spine. But she seemed to be struggling. “I can’t reach both spots at the same time,” Valor shouted. “The beast’s spine is too big. Wily, I need your help!”
Wily froze. I can’t do it, he thought. He felt a wave of pressure roll over him like a large lava wave.
He was surprised when he felt a hand squeeze his.
It was Roveeka. “You won’t hit any target if you don’t throw the knife,” she said.
Wily nodded. He had to try. He spun to Moshul and grabbed a purple mushroom off his leg, then handed it to Roveeka.
“You know what to do,” he said to her.
Wily started to run for Palojax as Roveeka threw the mushroom at the ground. It exploded in a giant cloud of smoke.
Wily had to time this perfectly. As soon as the smoke surrounded him, he came to a sudden stop. He felt a rush of air as the cobra head snapped down at the exact spot he would have been if he’d continued running. He bolted for the back of the snake head and jumped on.
The batwings blew away the mushroom smoke as the cobra head lifted into the air with Wily on top.
“Did you catch him?” the frightclops asked.
“He’s on my head,” the cobra hissed.
But he wouldn’t be for long. Wily sat down on the cobra head and went speeding down its curved back like it was a giant twisting slide. He landed with a thump next to Valor.
“Pressure points now,” Valor said.
Wily jabbed his fingers directly into one spot where the heads joined together while, across the beast’s wide spine, Valor jabbed the other. Wily felt his fingers shove into the tough, leathery skin of the creature.
Palojax began to writhe. Every tentacle flailed in anger. The cobra head tried to twist backward to snatch the two humans.
“Harder,” Valor said. “There are a lot of animals and wall-dwellers counting on us.”
“Now you want to save the wall-dwellers too?” Wily asked as he dug his fingers in.
“I might have misjudged your people,” Valor said with a faint smile. “Push even harder.”
“I’ll try my best,” Wily said, giving it his all.
“That’s all you can do. You’ve already done more than anyone could have expected.” Valor’s words were full of sincerity. “I believe in you.”
Wily looked over at his friends to see them staring back at him proudly. They believe in me too. He continued to press down on Palojax’s spine with all his might. And I believe in me. Suddenly, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders. He was filled with a confidence that he hadn’t felt since his days in Carrion Tomb. All the pressure he had been putting on himself was gone.
At that same instant, Wily felt the great lair beast relax beneath him. As Valor and Wily continued to press down, Palojax’s whole body seemed to calm.
“Command it,” Valor said. “Firmly and with confidence.”
“You will return to the surface once more,” Wily said, “and help us defeat the army of stone that threatens the land.”
“I will help,” the frightclops said.
Suddenly, Wily felt as giant as the lair beast.
“Have your companions climb on my back,” the frightclops said.
“We will not bite,” the cobra head said.
“Good job,” Valor said. She gave Wily a big hug.
Palojax lowered its body onto the ground. One after the other, Wily’s friends climbed up the batwing Palojax had extended like a ramp. Only Moshul seemed hesitant to pass the tentacles.
“Get up there, you big bundle of daisies,” Pryvyd said to the moss golem.
Once all were onboard, Palojax flapped its giant batwings. They took off from the surface of the upside-down sun and started flying straight up toward a hole in the roof of the Below. Palojax raced past the upside-down hanging trees toward a wide tunnel in the ceiling. As they blasted into it, everything went dark, but moments later the bear head let out a burst of glowing frost from its lips.
Wily peeked through the gap between the heads of the lair beast as it sped higher. They were heading for what appeared to be a wall of stone.
“We’re going to crash!”
“Don’t worry,” the frightclops said. “It’s only ten feet of solid rock. Brace yourselves.”
Wily held on for dear life and squeezed his eyes shut. Palojax plowed straight into the wall, demolishing the barrier. Huge chunks of rock exploded outward. When Wily dared open his eyes again, he was surrounded by blue sky.
“It’s even more beautiful than I remember,” Palojax said.