Monster War

William frowned. “Well, you’re welcome to join him in exile…although I do not recommend it.”

“Then consider me exiled.”

“Violet!” Charlie cried. As gladdened as he was by his friend’s support, he couldn’t bear the thought of being responsible for her getting kicked out of the Academy. Her mother was dead and her father was nowhere to be found. Without the Academy, what did she have left? “Don’t do this. Really. I’ll be fine.”

“No, you won’t. You’ll be all alone.”

“That’s OK. It won’t be the first time.”

Violet shook her head. “No, it’s not OK. When you want to open a portal, what’s the fear you summon up?”

Charlie hesitated. “Being alone, I suppose.” He hated saying it out loud. It made him feel too…vulnerable.

“I won’t let that happen to you, Charlie. Not now, not ever.” She turned back to William. “You can tell Director Drake that I stand with Charlie.”

“Me too.”

All eyes turned to Theodore. He held his father’s gaze with steady conviction. “Charlie’s my best friend. I won’t leave him. That’s TI - Totally Impossible. You should know that.” Charlie was about to protest when Theodore threw up his hand. “And don’t even bother telling me ‘no’. You know you’re not going to change my mind, so don’t even try. This is a Double-D.”

“A Done Deal?” Charlie asked.

Theodore nodded and a smile broke through his stormy expression. “That’s just the way I roll.”

Charlie knew Theodore well enough to know that once his mind was made up, he wasn’t easily persuaded to change it.

“OK,” Charlie said. “And thanks. Seriously.”

“Don’t do this, Theodore,” William said with a sigh. “Consider your actions carefully. The choices we make can have great and terrible consequences.”

Theodore’s eyes blazed with anger. “You mean like the way you chose to kill the Guardian and then decided to blame it on Charlie!”

The other students gasped in astonishment. There it was, out on the table - the real reason for Charlie’s exile. William shifted uncomfortably, and Charlie was surprised by how unsettled the General looked in the face of his son’s rage.

“That’s not what happened.”

“I saw you, Dad. I saw you there in the lair of the Named, killing the Guardian.”

“You saw me holding it.”

“Which is what killed it!”

It had been several weeks since Theodore had stumbled across his father in the icy lair of the Named. Charlie hadn’t been with them then - he’d been in a nearby cavern, fighting the monsters of the Nether - but he could easily imagine the sight that had so tortured his best friend.

William, tall and strong, holding the limp body of the Guardian - a frail creature of great power, yet so desperate for human touch. But just as the Guardian’s aura was poisonous to the creatures of the Nether, the touch of a human was poisonous to the Guardian.

“The Guardian was already dead when I got there, Theodore. I told you that.”

“I know you did. And you also told me that Charlie killed it.”

“The Director said that.”

A small distinction, Charlie thought. But a very important one.

“So does that mean you deny it?” Theodore pressed. “Or do you agree with the Director? When Charlie took the Guardian away from the rest of us, did he touch it and kill it?”

William’s answer seemed to bring him pain: “Yes.”

He’s lying, Charlie suddenly realised. He’s not just mistaken - he’s actively lying. He knows he’s wrong, he knows I’m innocent, but he’s doing it anyway. Why?

And then the answer struck him like a thunderbolt.

Because he knows who really killed the Guardian - and he’s protecting him. Charlie knew there was only one person in the world, aside from Theodore, that William Dagget would gamble his reputation to protect…

Director Drake.

No one saw who really killed the Guardian, but that was only because no one saw Director Drake slip out of the icy lair of the Named and enter the safe haven where the Guardian was holed up. No one saw him embrace the frail creature and press the poison of his skin against it, knowing that it would mean the Guardian’s death.

No one…but Theodore’s father, William.

“I don’t believe you,” Theodore said, staring at his father as Charlie and the rest of them looked on silently. “Whether or not you killed it, you had something to do with it. It definitely wasn’t Charlie. Definitely.”

“Son, listen to me…” William replied, clasping Theodore’s shoulder with a strong hand.

Theodore shook it off. “Don’t call me that. Never call me that again. I’m not your son.” He turned to Charlie. “Let’s go. Let’s leave here and never come back.”

Brooke stood up. “Well, if you’re going, I’m coming with you.”

“Are you crazy?” Geoff cried out. “Don’t be stupid, Brooke! You’re a Leet Facilitator - you’re going to graduate in a few weeks and join me at the Division! Do you seriously want to throw that all away to go prancing around in exile with this…Noob?”

He spat the word ‘Noob’ at Charlie like it had a bad taste.

“He’s not a Noob,” Theodore said, stepping threateningly close. “He’s an Addy, just like the rest of us. The Headmaster promoted us.”

“The Headmaster!” Geoff laughed mirthlessly. “Is that old relic even still alive? No one’s seen her in a week! I heard she croaked.”

Even though Theodore wasn’t strong, he was fast, and his small, bunched-up fist connected with Geoff’s jaw almost instantly. Taken by surprise, Geoff dropped to the ground and Theodore pounced on him like a terrier, throwing punch after punch in crazy, windmill fashion.

“You take that back!” Theodore shouted. “She is not dead!”

Suddenly, Theodore felt a strong hand on his back as Mama Rose snatched him by the shirt and yanked him off the older boy. “Calm down, ya runt! I agree he needs a good butt-kickin’, but now is not the time!”

“I’m going to knock you into tomorrow, idiot!” Geoff said, leaping towards Theodore. But before Geoff could make contact, a strand of spider-silk snaked through the air and wrapped around his leg. Professor Xix quickly reeled him in, slamming Geoff to the ground and dragging him backwards across the floor.

“Save the fighting for later, child,” the Professor said calmly. “We’ve more important things to discuss.”

Mama Rose turned to William. “Yeah, important things like what a sad and stupid piece of work you and the Director are. If I didn’t have to protect these boys and girls here at the Academy, I’d join Charlie and his friends in exile!”

“Duly noted,” William said softly.