Everyone gathered at the front of the cave. They all stood in the subtemperate air along with their new-found dragon ally. Mena gazed up to the sky. The cold wind rustled her clothes. Somewhere at an unknown vantage point of the sky was the barrier that divided this table-top-kingdom from the reality where it was written.

“Now, in order to achieve the speed of sound,” the dragon-mother lectured, raising one of her claws in a teacher-like manner. “I have to achieve an accelerate to match it.”

“So, you’ve gotta warm up?” Ashlan asked. “You aren’t generally that fast?”

“Precisely,” the Aero-Dragon said, “As speedy as we are, we’re not exactly zero to three-hundred creatures.”

“That works perfectly,” Mena said, clasping her hands together. “I’ll be less likely to barf that way.”

“Ah the benefits of not having guts,” Janus giggled, as she spread her midriff to reveal her bony torso.

“Now mount up,” the dragon-mother demanded as she lowered her back. “I want to get back to my child before someone calls Dragon Protective Services on me.”

Mena sat right above the dragon’s broad neck, Ashlan slid next to her, followed by Chad and Janus as the bookend. “Don’t worry Chad,” Janus said in her whispy, carefree voice. “I’ll be there to catch your esophagus if it falls out.”

“Oh joy,” the cadaver groaned, rolling his one remaining eye.

“Ready?” the Aero-Dragon asked, but before anyone could answer she sprang into sky, flapping her wings rapidly.

The dragon ascended, flying towards the twisted peaks of Twin Spire Mountain. Clouds and airborne birds passed them by as the mighty dragon soared higher and higher. A loud blare came from behind them; sounding like a dire, out-of-tune trumpet. Mena turned around and screamed. “Dragon lady, we…uh got company!”

Everyone turned around to see the terrible ink Blot dogging them at a rapid pace. It spread its dark arms to snatch the dragon as its terrifying singular eye gaped at them. The Aero-Dragon continued her spiral ascent up the mountain. “If I can get to the top,” she told them, “I can out pace this flying nightmare, but it’s a big ‘if.’ Try to slow it down!”

The terrifying beast reached one of its ink arms forward, ready to swipe at them. Janus, pulled out her scythe and sliced the inky tentacle in half. “Anyone up for some evil calamari?” Janus asked, slinging the scythe over her shoulder.

But everyone only gasped in horror, the severed arm continued to pursue them even when it was split apart from the main beast. Janus ducked it as it seized Chad. The black arm wrapped around Chad’s body. “Why must it end this way!” he bellowed as it dragged him away. “Someone who was once as beautiful as me doesn’t deserve this treatment.”

But before he could be pulled away, Janus seized his hand tightly. “Hold on,” she cried.

Chad pivoted in the wind, but he held Janus’ arm tightly. The abomination continued to advance, but as Chad swung forward, his esophagus flew out of his opened gut and clonked the beast right in the eye. Another terrifying trumpet-scream blared in the air, but it loosened its terrible grip on Chad, allowing him to return to the dragon’s backside.

Janus, with surprising strength for someone with bony arms, hoisted Chad behind her. “Wow…dead lady,” Chad said, looking somewhat mystified in his singular eye. “You saved me. I thought this was truly the end for me.”

Janus’ purple eyes shined brightly, and a kind smile spread across her pale face. “Death is never the end, my friend, but this was never your time to go.”

“I…uh…I’m very grateful,” the fop said, looking away bashfully before holding onto her tightly to avoid falling off again. Janus turned around to smile at Ashlan and Mena.

Mena gave her a thumbs up. “Now this is the kind of necrophilia I approve of!”

“No, time to get sappy!” the dragon-mother exclaimed. “We’re nearing the top, but so is that beast!”

They all turned around to witness the terrible beast gaining traction once more. The mountain’s peak had split into two, but now were swirled around each other in a surreal manner. The dragon mother began tightly weaving around the twisted peaks, like she was tethered to it. The mountain began to sparkle and glow and so did the Aero-Dragon. The terrible Blot was so close to them now; its dark aura practically leaked onto them, but as its arms closed in on them, the dragon accelerated and streaked across the sky.

“You didn’t tell us it’s the magic of the mountain that makes you fly so fast,” Ashlan yelled as everyone leaned close to the dragon to avoid being thrown off.

“You never asked,” the Aero-Dragon responded, before she added. “Aero-Dragon Trade secret!”

They zoomed closer and closer to the edge of the sky. Everything was rushing so fast that Mena could no longer sit up. She peered out of the corner of her eyes. A rainbow-colored barrier appeared before them from out of nowhere. The dragon was moving so fast, there was no way she could stop in time. Was this the end?

The dragon hit the wall, and a loud boom resounded. Everything exploded in a burst of prismatic colors, but soon, it all went dark.

Bright rainbows burned Mena’s eyes. The colors had returned to the world…or at least, the world she was now. She groaned and rubbed her eyes, and when they came into focus, she was stupefied. Right below her feet, was a pencil the size of her whole body. It was bright yellow, with a pink eraser and a lead tip, sharpened to perfection. There were pieces of parchment, the width of a house. The surface below her was grey and smooth, and beside her, an enormous mug that read, “World’s Greatest Ghost Writer.”

“Wowie zowie,” Mena exclaimed. “We’re standing on the Ghost Writer’s desk!”

“You’re telling me, Rainy,” Ashlan said, and Mena looked off to see her friends, and the dragon mother all standing beside. “Fortunately, we’re all accounted for.”

“Excellent,” Mena said with a head nod. She craned her eyes across the desktop terrain. “Now all we need to find is the…aha!”

At the far end of the desk, inside a glass bottle was a marvelous feather with a golden sheen. A small pigman was trapped in the bottom of it too, alongside the feather. “The Golden Plume!” Mena yelled. “And Pigchard! They’re right before us!”

A refined and deep voice scoffed at her words. “Ah, but usually when things seem too easy for the ‘heroine,’ a cleverly placed trap lies in wait for her! Is that not Fiction Writing 101?”

Mena staggered backwards, as a malevolent shadow formed before her. A six-foot tall figure rose from it, and when it solidified, she gasped. “King Ink?”

The imposing man wore a draping cape of black feathers. He still sported an inky beard, hair, and eyebrows, but there was a jet black darkness in his eyes that seemed unnerving. His giant pen scepter completed his ensemble.

“That is what I was once called,” his voice boomed, “but now I’m known under a different, more fitting name: The Great and Terrible Ink Blot!”

Mena threw her arms forward in disbelief, lunging her head forward. “Wait…you’re not the king?”

King Ink treaded proudly in his steel toed boots. “King Ink is no more…he existed until Maggie created me with the Golden Plume and ordered me to devour him and his body.”

“But why?” Mena stammered.

King Ink leveled his gloved finger at Mena’s head. “A little price to pay for her execution!”

“You mean…” Mena stammered. “She took her revenge on the King by having him get devoured by the Blot?”

“If you need me to spell it out for you,” the king said, his inky eyebrows lowering all by themselves. “Then that is what transpired. One needless death for another. Now, it’s only a matter of you.”

“Me?” Mena said, pointing at herself. Her mind was already rushing from the fact she wasn’t talking to the real King Ink.

“Once Maggie assumed control of this kingdom, and imprisoned it within a book, she allied herself with the great and powerful nightmare witch, Anguish.”

“I cannot believe that Anguish was behind this whole thing,” Mena responded, taking a step back.

“Maggie promised to give this kingdom, the source of everyone’s Imagicnation to Anguish, but unfortunately, her useless cronies were intercepted in Wormwood and the book ended up in your hands.”

King Ink gestured to the bottle that Ashlan clutched, holding the beetles. “Those simpering cronies, attempted to get the book back, but it seems they’ve failed yet again…”—King Ink extended his scepter and assumed battle position—“No matter, because you’ve neatly handed yourselves over to Maggie and myself.”

“You really think we’re going to surrender to an ink-face like you?” Ashlan screamed petulantly.

“Of course not,” King Ink chortled, “You are foolish, but hardly that foolish. That is why I am here, as Maggie attends to other businesses.”

Mena and her friends exchanged uncertain gazes. It was five on one. But could they take on an otherworldly abomination made of black ink? Ashlan charged forward, her claws sharpened to slash the king, but when she did, he stamped his scepter and she stopped moving. A shadow from below her seemed to tether her to that very spot. Ashlan struggled helplessly, calling out for Mena. Mena ran to her. “What are you doing?” she demanded.

“Hold on, you guys,” Janus said, and twirled around, unleashing her scythe with its glowing pink aura. “I’ve got a bone to pick for what you did to my friends.”

The king stamped his scepter again, and another shadow rooted Janus to the ground. “That’s it,” Chad groaned and lumbered forward. “Don’t you touch the only cute corpse I’ve ever met. She may be dead but at least she cares about me.”

“Oh Chad,” Janus swooned, clasping her hands and she rocked back in forth in her spot. “It’s times like this I wish I had heart because it would be positively fluttering right now.”

Her gushing stopped when she soon realized Chad was also stuck to the ground.

Only Mena remained, but surprisingly, the weird inky shadow did not surround her. “Why didn’t you do this to me?” Mena asked, looking at her friends who were now bound to the desktop.

‘Because” King Ink announced, casting his pen scepter over the rest of her friend. “You are coming with me. As for the rest…”

The shadows that lingered below everyone, liquified into pools of living ink. They began to climb their bodies like undead hands grasping further and further. “What’s happening?” Ashlan cried. “Mena, please help us!”

“Stop it you, inky fink,” Mena lunged forward to stop King Ink, but found herself with an ink shadow of her own.

“Mena,” King Ink threatened. “If you don’t come with me, you too shall be blotted out of existence!”