Good Ogre by Platte F. Clark

Author:Platte F. Clark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

CHAPTER TWELVE

SPIDERS AND MENTORS

MAY AND HIS FRIENDS LEFT the gracon and made their way from the basement. They found a door at the far end of the room that opened onto a narrow staircase, and took the steps in single file. Candles burned everywhere, their dripping wax leaving long trails along the stone walls and making it unnecessary for Moki and Megan to light the way. They had only traveled a few feet when Puff asked, “Just how old was this school of yours?”

“Not old,” Max answered. They spoke in hushed tones as they continued to climb. “Why?”

“The webs.”

Max took a closer look along the winding staircase. There were a lot of spiderwebs along the walls. And with each step the webbing seemed to grow thicker. Max had a sudden flashback to the mechanical spiders that had chased him into the old cement factory when he’d first used the Codex. A shiver ran up his spine—spiders kind of freaked him out.

The staircase continued to turn until they found themselves face to face with a large door beneath a carving of a giant spider, its legs spanning the width of the hallway. The door itself was framed by the spider’s two giant mandibles, each ending in a sharp claw.

“If you put a giant spider above your door, doesn’t it basically mean go away?” Sydney asked. Max thought it was a reasonable observation.

“Stand back,” Dwight said. He carefully poked at the stone spider with his axe. The density of spiderweb had markedly increased, hanging in thick sheets over the door and around the walls and ceiling.

“Seems to be stone,” Megan said. “But that didn’t stop the gracons.”

Dirk poked at the spiderweb with Glenn. “Stone spiders don’t make real webs.”

“Could be a trap,” Melvin suggested. “You know, open the door and the spider comes to life—that sort of thing.”

And then Megan began reciting a poem from memory:

“Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly,

“’Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;

The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,

And I’ve a many curious things to shew when you are there.”

“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “to ask me is in vain,

For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.”

“That is super-creepy,” Dirk said. “Thanks for sharing.”

“I had to memorize it for a class,” Megan replied. “It seemed . . . relevant.”

“It’s not like we have much choice in the matter,” Puff said.

Suddenly a mass of swirling lights formed in front of Max and Dwight. They retreated several steps and Max opened the Codex, readying himself for an attack. But the lights took on a form he recognized, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Bellstro!” Dirk exclaimed.

The old wizard hovered slightly above the stone steps, glowing with an otherworldly light. “It is I!” he announced.

“You know this spirit?” Melvin asked.

“He’s like our mentor,” Dirk offered, as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world to say.

“I have come to give you wisdom and counsel from beyond the grave,” Bellstro continued.

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