I had to pretend work out in my bedroom to explain why I was constantly washing so many pairs of shorts and hoodies. Whenever my mom walked in, I started doing sit-ups and stretches, and she would just smile and tell me to keep it up. Yeah…on it.
And probably the hardest one to explain was when Stache asked me for help carrying some bags of concrete down to the basement, which apparently we were supposed to do together to make sure no one got hurt. He almost dropped his hammer when he saw me walk downstairs with a bag under each arm. I told him I was doing a lot of curls. He just went back to work, shaking his head.
Eldon kept me updated on the activity of the monsters around Riverfield, but as of yet, the Swords—both mine, who I still hadn’t met, and those from the Protectorate—hadn’t found the tunnels the monsters were using to access the surface. At least I didn’t see any yellow eyes for a few weeks, which was good. Uncle Laine even started coming over a lot to help Stache, and he and I would sit in the backyard and chat. I had a feeling that even a goblin would hesitate to attack with him sitting next to me.
We were sitting outside one afternoon when I asked him about the factory.
“Yeah, nothing yet,” he said, sighing deeply. “Got a couple more months and that’s it. Sandra’s been looking, but she’s been out of work for years. Between the two of us, we’re a couple of dinosaurs. I’ve been doing the same job for so long I don’t have any other skills. I might have to head out to a logging camp or something, if they’ll take me.”
“It’ll work out,” I said encouragingly, but he just smiled from behind that thick black beard and changed the subject. “Liking the house a bit more yet?”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. Still looks like the setting of a B horror movie, but I haven’t been eaten by spiders yet, so I can’t complain.”
Uncle Laine laughed, glancing up at my bedroom window. “You get that rattling fixed yet?”
“Yeah,” I said, shifting a little. “It’s gone now.”
He looked at me for a moment and then turned back to the yard. “Nice to have the forest behind you. Even with the whole hiker thing. Terrible. You never know what’s creeping around in the dark, do you?”
“No. That’s why you turn a light on.”
Uncle Laine laughed again. “Right you are.”
—
As the brisk October air swept in and the forest turned a fiery red and orange, I started to think that being a Monster Crusher wasn’t so bad after all. I didn’t get as much sleep as I might have liked, but I was getting in shape and had friends, and even Eldon was being a little nicer to me, though he still seemed dubious about actually having me fight monsters, which was fine with me. I was still hoping to skip that part anyway.
Halfway through October I stepped out of the elevator on a quiet Thursday night, the guide tucked under my arm as usual. I brought it everywhere for reference, since Eldon was always firing monster-related questions at me while I was training. I nodded at Porton, who flashed his crooked, yellow teeth.
“Evening,” he said brightly.
“Do you ever sleep, Porton?” I asked curiously.
Porton laughed. “Most of the time. That’s why I have a rocking chair.”
I laughed and hurried through the meadow, watching the butterflies flit across the pathway. Derwin was starting to feel like a second home. Some of the villagers had actually started nodding at me, and once a little girl even ran up and gave me a beautiful blue flower that I’d never seen before. Most of the adults still looked at me a bit condescendingly, but at least some of them had accepted that, like it or not, I was training to be a Monster Crusher. Maybe they were even secretly cheering me on. I reached the gate to Arnwell and stopped immediately. Something was wrong.
The Monster Crushers and Swords were all standing in a closed ring against the walls, leaving the courtyard empty. Eldon stood at the far side, and he was flanked by three old men in dark, violet robes. I could see their eyes flashing at me even from here.
Eldon walked toward me, his face disconcertingly grim. When he reached me, he didn’t say hello or smile or even give me his customary nod. He just met my eyes.
“Two days ago one of our scouts spotted an army of goblins moving through the tunnels. We have reason to believe they are approaching Derwin and, in turn, Riverfield.”
I looked behind him at the three mysterious robed men. “So what’s going on?”
“Your training is being sped up,” Eldon said, sounding perturbed. “Those three men are the last of the Brotherhood, and they will determine if you are worthy of the Iron Hammer. They test different Monster Crushers in different ways, depending on their weaknesses. For you, they have chosen one particular test.”
I already knew what it was, but I had to ask. “What test?”
He sighed deeply. “They want to watch you run the Warrior’s Way.”
“Perfect,” I muttered. “When?”
He turned and strode toward the start of the course.
“Right now.”
Chapter Twenty
“Are you ready?” Eldon asked, eyeing me from beside the three members of the Brotherhood. None of them had betrayed the slightest expression since I’d been there.
I looked out over the Way, feeling my stomach knot up. “Not really.”
“Begin!” he shouted.
I was really nervous, and it showed. I stubbed my toe on the first log and then half-ran, half-limped over the rest of them, just trying to keep my balance. Usually the warriors would be snickering by now, but when I snuck a glance, they just looked disgusted,
