“What are you doing?” hissed Viola.

“It’s a charm! It wards away Beasts.”

“That’s ridiculous. There’s not Lore in it!”

Of course it worked—he’d bought it from Mrs. Esser, Dullshire’s most respected charm-maker. But he agreed they needed a better plan.

“Can’t you trap it or something?” he asked.

“No. I don’t have the right ingredients for a Styerwurm.”

“What about bonding with it?”

“You think I want a Beast like this? It’s huge! And its brain is the size of a pine cone.”

Stupid or not, the Styerwurm only grew angrier at Viola’s attack, and it narrowed its eyes at them and slithered forward, paying no mind to Barclay’s charm. It opened its jaw wide, wide, wide, and even though Viola stood her ground, Barclay tore off in the opposite direction.

He turned around in enough time to watch Viola get swallowed whole.

“Viola!” he screamed, but he was too late. The Beast’s mouth had closed, and Viola and Mitzi were gone.

She’s been eaten, he thought wildly, and I’m next.

He wished that he could undo all the events of the past few days. That he had never chased after Selby in the Woods. That he had never demanded Viola stop her dangerous trap. That they’d never broken any rules.

But he couldn’t take any of that back. And now he was going to die.

“Barclay!” he heard something shout. It sounded an awful lot like Viola, and Barclay realized with extreme panic that it must have been her ghost. “Barclay!”

He looked around for a glimmer of her spirit form but saw nothing. His gaze fearfully fell back on the Beast, who was writhing uncomfortably after eating something it had not had the chance to shake to death first.

“Barclay!”

It was then that he realized that Viola’s voice was coming not from the life beyond but from the Beast’s stomach. Something jutted out and punched at its abdomen, and it was not indigestion. Viola was alive. And she was trapped inside.

With the Beast distracted by its queasiness, Barclay raced to its side, where he’d seen her move. “Viola! I’m here! You need to get out!”

“Of course I need to get out! Do something!” Her voice was muffled by the low groan of the Beast’s unhappy stomach.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Anything!”

Barclay reached into his pocket and grabbed his dull mushroom knife. He plunged it into the Beast’s side, but it was too small. It didn’t even go past the barky scales.

“I can’t!” he screamed.

“Use your Beast! It’s a higher class!”

Barclay could think of many reasons why that was a terrible plan. First off, he didn’t even know how to summon his Beast. And even if he did, they were already dealing with one vicious monster. They certainly didn’t need to deal with two.

As he hesitated, the Styerwurm whipped around, whacking Barclay on the stomach and sending him flying down a hill. He tumbled to the bottom and landed painfully at the edge of the creek.