"We don't have much time!" said Randall, as they reached another left-right intersection.

"Wrong!" said the Dark One, stepping into the hallway. "You don't have any any time!" He threw the axe with both hands. It sailed right in between Randall and Yvonne and thunked into the wall behind them. "Okay, you have a time!" He threw the axe with both hands. It sailed right in between Randall and Yvonne and thunked into the wall behind them. "Okay, you have a little little more time." more time."

A huge, clawed fist broke through the wall, grabbed the axe, and pulled it back through. Something roared. "See what you made me do?" said the Dark One. "You've awakened the Beast With Tentacles and Sharp Teeth!"

A clawed foot broke through the wall. Randall, Yvonne, and Shreddriff took this as their cue to run down the left corridor at top speed. As they ran, Randall broke a beam of light, causing darts to start firing from the floor and ceiling.

They rushed around the corner, and immediately screeched to a halt at the sight of the ten-foot-wide pit in front of them. The bottom and sides were lined with hundreds of needle-sharp spikes with thorns attached to them.

"We'll never be able to jump that far!" said Yvonne.

"Look!" shouted Randall, pointing to the other side. The only exit was a doorway, with a iron gate slowly descending, just about to close it off and prevent their escape.

The Beast burst into view. It was a truly disgusting creature, all tentacles and teeth and slime and eyes and suckers. Its tentacles shot forward, wrapping around Yvonne and Shreddriff, holding them tight.

"It's got us! We're trapped!" shrieked Yvonne.

Another tentacle shot out, wrapped around Randall's leg, and began pulling him toward the creature's open mouth.

Then Randall remembered that he was still holding the sword and shield. With a quick lunge he cleaved off the tentacle, then swiftly lopped off the ones holding Yvonne and Shreddriff. As the Beast yelped in pain, Randall swung the tentacle, wrapping it around a hook in the ceiling just over the pit.

"Grab a hold of me!" Randall said. "We'll swing across!"

Yvonne and Shreddriff wrapped their arms around him, and they swung across the pit. Until the tentacle broke.

"Whew!" said Randall. "Good thing we were on the other side when it broke."

The iron gate continued to drop.

"Crawl under it!" said Shreddriff. "Quickly!"

They all dropped onto their stomachs and crawled under the gate, an instant before it slammed onto the floor, sealing off the exit.

"We're safe!" said Randall.

"Except for that giant stone boulder rolling towards us!" Yvonne cried out. They took off running down the rounded corridor, as the boulder got closer and closer.

"Oh no!" shouted Shreddriff. "It's a dead end!"

Suddenly the boulder burst into flames, making it even deadlier.

"Dive into a corner!" said Randall.

The three of them dove into the corners, pressing themselves in tightly to avoid being crushed. The boulder pa.s.sed over them, igniting them but not squishing them, and smashed into the dead-end wall, breaking through and letting loose a huge flood of water that doused the flames and began carrying Randall, Yvonne, and Shreddriff back down the hallway at a perilous speed.

"Oh no!" shouted Randall. "Watch out for the spears protruding from the ceiling just ahead!"

"And the ones protruding from the walls!" added Yvonne.

"And the ones protruding from the floor!" added Shreddriff.

They hurtled past the spears, narrowly avoiding certain death at their tips. The water carried them around several curves, until- "Watch out!" shouted Randall. "The floor drops out!"

"We're going to plummet to a place unknown!" cried Yvonne.

They went over the edge, falling fifty or sixty or seventy feet until they landed in a cavern with stone walls and a floor covered waist-deep with mud. It took almost a minute for the water from above to quit pouring down upon them.

"Okay, let's not panic," said Randall. "It could be worse."

"It's worse," said Shreddriff. "This isn't mud." He swallowed a mouthful. "No, wait, I guess it is. My mistake."

There was one exit, at the far end of the cavern. "Hurry!" said Randall. "We've got to reach the prison before it floods in five minutes from when I accidentally set off the flooding mechanism back about three or so minutes ago!"

"We'll never make it!" Yvonne declared.

"We can't give up now! We just have to move quickly!"

"Especially since something with fangs just brushed past my leg," said Shreddriff. "And there goes another one!"

It took them a full minute to reach the exit. "Oh no!" said Yvonne. "I just realized something! This isn't regular mud! This is the Poison Mud of Ferrenz! If we don't get the antidote in two minutes, we'll die!"

"No time for that now!" said Randall. "To the prison!"

"I just remembered!" said Yvonne, pointing forward. "The prison is that way!"

"That's the only way this path goes."

"I know, but it's the right way! Let's go!"

Thirty seconds later, they rounded a corner which led to the prison. The latest group of women, children, and short men were being locked in cells by a crew of six guards.

"Do either of you know how to do that thing where you stick your little fingers in your mouth so that you can do a really loud whistle?" Randall whispered.

"Not me," said Shreddriff.

"I do," said Yvonne. "Want me to teach you?"

"Yeah, would you?"

"Okay, first extend your pinkies. Yeah, just like that, you're doing great. Now stick one in each end of your mouth, keeping your lips just a little bit apart. Perfect. Now, when you blow, you're going to need to vibrate your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Try it."

Randall did, but nothing but soundless air came out.

"Vibrate your tongue a little more."

"Like this?"

"Yeah, you've got the idea. Now try it with all the elements in place, and you should be able to do the whistle."

Randall let out a piercing whistle, getting the attention of the guards and prisoners.

"Everyone, listen to me! Any second now this prison is going to be flooded! And then, a few minutes later, this whole place is going to blow up! It would behoove you guards to get everyone outside, or you're going to lose everything you've worked for these past couple days!"

"And why should we believe you?" asked a guard.

"The Dark One said so."

"Oh. Okay." He turned to his co-workers. "Let's get 'em out of here."

"One question," said Randall. "Where are the other prisoners? The ones in group A, I think it was called."

"The new group would be up on the third floor, in the Training Room. To get there, you need to go out the north exit, go up two flights of stairs, go down the hall past the Inservice Room, make a right, go past the gymnasium, make a left, and it's the first door on your right."

"No, no," said another guard. "You turn before you reach the gym."

"Are you sure? I could've sworn it was after the gym."

"Well, if you're that certain, I could very well be mistaken. It's happened before, as you'll remember."

"Turn left after the gym," the guard told Randall.

"Thanks." Randall gestured for Yvonne and Shreddriff to follow him, and they hurried through the prison and out the north exit. "Yvonne, where would we find the antidote for the mud?"

Yvonne shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Well, what's it called?"

"Water."

Randall sighed. "Okay, everyone keep your eyes open. Some water is bound to show up eventually. Be on the lookout for a mop bucket or something."

They rushed up the stairs, when ssssssssssssssssuddenly aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....

HI, THIS IS the author talking to you. I know, I really shouldn't be breaking in so late in the book, and I've probably messed up all the momentum of this action sequence, but we had a bit of a computer error here. I won't get into the details, except to say that about 48 pages accidentally got deleted. If I had time, I'd retype them, but my editor already has a big crab up his f.a.n.n.y because I'm a few months over deadline. The guy is in serious need of relaxation techniques. Increase the dosage, buddy! Anyway, I figured I'd just summarize what happened. And I won't lie to you-it's not like the missing pages were all that great. There were a couple decent bits here and there, and another tongue joke that was fairly well-written, but character development took a nosedive and the symbolism was kind of heavy-handed.

Okay, so you've got Randall and Yvonne and Shreddriff going up the stairs, right? They found some water up there, which took care of the poison problem with only a minor cop-out on my part. Then this guy came out and ... no, wait, that was later. First there was this dragon, and Randall had a really big fight with it, finally slaying it. Unless it was Shreddriff that killed it...? I threw my notes away, so bear with me. No, I just remembered, it was was Randall that got the dragon, and then they were looking for the prisoners, and Randall that got the dragon, and then they were looking for the prisoners, and then then that guy came out and, no, sorry, I messed up again. I know that guy appeared somewhere, though. that guy came out and, no, sorry, I messed up again. I know that guy appeared somewhere, though.

Ah, who cares? They found the room where the prisoners were being trained, and that's where there was this big fight. A war, actually. I'm not lying when I say that this was one cool battle scene. You should've seen the guts fly! Whoa-mama! Then there was a s.e.x scene, which I kind of wish hadn't been deleted, although I have to admit that I was overly enthusiastic and ended it too soon. You know what? I just realized that I never explained why the place didn't blow up! What a goofball I am sometimes! Okay, well, the magical self-destruct system had a malfunction. That'll work. So ... where was I? We've got Randall, Yvonne, Shreddriff, Toby, and Jack all free. Oh, yeah, I guess I should've mentioned that Toby and Jack were freed in the battle scene, along with the other prisoners. Oh, and before that, they found Bug and freed him, too.

Dang! I can't remember what happened right after that. Hold on, let me think. Ah, forget it. I know! You, the reader, can use your imagination! Just make it really good, okay? Thanks. So, right before the computer mess-up, we were at the final confrontation with the Dark One. Randall is standing at the edge of a huge pit of lava, and lots of guards are pointing arrows at him. The Dark One is saying all this weird stuff to play with Randall's mind, and get hidden memories to return, and that kind of evil deeds.

So ... back to the story!

No, wait, not yet. I don't know if I should make this a new chapter, or just let this one run kind of long. Hmmmmm. Ah, what the heck? A long chapter won't hurt anyone.

Now, back to the exciting conclusion!

RANDALL HELD his arms out to keep his balance. The Dark One stepped closer. "Look within yourself," he said. "Search for a secret long-kept. A revelation you have yet to accept."

Randall closed his eyes, and the memories surfaced....

GRANDMA UNFASTENED the final lock, and swung the attic door open. She took young Randy by the hand and led him upstairs.

The attic was filled with hundreds of crumpled pieces of parchment. Seated in a corner, holding a quill and scroll, he sat, unshaven and bleary-eyed. Sir Randall. Randy's father.

"Darn it, Mom! How am I supposed to get any writing done if you keep bothering me like this?" he hollered. "The muse was here and you scared it away! You scared my muse! How many times do I have to tell you that I need my muse! Go away! Go away and leave me in peace!"

Grandma led Randy back down the stairs, but not before the boy had a chance to grab one of the crumpled papers. Grandma began to relock the door. "I'm sorry," she said, "but you had to see that. You had to know what your father's become."

Randy uncrumpled the paper. The words, written in shaky handwriting, were so horrible to witness that Randy let out a cry. No. That couldn't be right. Not his own father! The characters on the page were kissing!

"That's right," said Grandma, solemnly. "Your father writes girl books!"

And then Randy screamed and screamed.

"YES," SAID the Dark One. "Your father was a failed romance novelist. It became an obsession. It poisoned him inside. And now for another revelation..."

"Oh, I know this one," said one of the guards. "I bet his father also ate slugs."

Jack let out a whimper.

"Silence, you fool! Randall...I'm your father." your father."

"Daddy!" said Randall, stepping forward with open arms.

"Randall, no!" shouted Yvonne. "He's the bad guy!"

"Oh, yeah, that's right. And why should I believe anything I've been told?"

"Here is why," said the Dark One, removing his mask. There was a collective shudder, and then various gagging and retching noises. And the Dark One stood, his face bare.

It was Sir Randall, no question about it. And he looked just like a slightly uglier version of his son.

"Eeeewwww!" said Yvonne. "Look at that chin-the cleft is crooked! And his nose is a little too wide ... his eyes are beady and too close together! It's grotesque!"

"Dad, how could you do this? You were such a big hero!"

"Listen to me, Son. I had finally got eight pages done on a book. Eight whole pages. Good ones! For the first time in my life, I was actually producing literature!"

"And then...?"