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wasn’t sure if he’d actually spoken the words or just thought them - but that didn’t really matter, did it? The important thing was that the creature seemed to understand .
    Go to sleep , it whispered in his head. You will be safe. You will be protected .
    “Sounds good. I’m dead tired.”
    Charlie dropped to his knees, preparing to lie down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friends leaping and shouting excitedly. He couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, even though he was certainly close enough to hear them. Maybe sound travelled in a funny way over the chasm? That would explain it, although it didn’t account for why he could hear the butterfly with no problem at all - the pleasant chiming of its voice seemed to fill his world.
    What’s wrong with them? Charlie wondered, staring at his friends.
    They want you to jump, the butterfly-creature replied, so that they can have me for themselves.
    “They want to steal you?” Charlie asked. And then he realised that of course they did! Who wouldn’t want to possess something so beautiful? Greedy little thieves…
    They’ll never stop, you know. They call themselves your friends, but they really hate you. They want you dead.
    “They want me dead,” Charlie echoed. The shimmering creature’s words were so clear and reasonable. He was astonished that he had never before realised how evil his so-called ‘friends’ really were. It was a shame that it had taken a marvellous being like the butterfly to open his eyes to the truth.
    That’s right - I do speak the truth. I would never lie to you. They’re the ones who lie. They must be stopped.
    “I have to stop them,” Charlie said, rising to his feet. Yes, that felt right. Action was called for in such a dire situation, wasn’t it? Extreme action.
    You have to destroy them. It’s the only way.
    Charlie drew his rapier. “Destroying them is the only way.”
    He walked down the bridge to where his friends - who weren’t really his friends, he was certain of that now - stood waiting. He knew what he had to do.
    He had to kill them all.

C HAPTER E IGHT T HE C HASM W RYM
    C harlie walked towards Theodore with a mad gleam in his eyes, rapier at the ready. The monster flapped slowly behind him, like a kite on an invisible string.
    “What’s he doing?” Brooke asked, stepping back.
    “I think the Chasm Wyrm got to him,” Theodore replied grimly. “It looks like he wants to hurt us.”
    Violet turned to the Smith. “The Headmaster said we would suffer. Is this part of the test for the Sword of Sacrifice? Does Charlie have to sacrifice us in order to get the sword?”
    The Smith grinned. “OH, I can’t tell you that. It would spoil all the - crooooak! - FUN!”
    Violet raised her axe to the creature’s throat. “Answer me or I’ll kill you right now. Look me in my eyes and see if I mean it.”
    “Oh, I can see you MEAN it, girlie. And you might be able to do it too - but not before HE - crooooak! - kills THEM!”
    Violet turned to see Charlie swing his rapier at Theodore. Without thinking, she sprang between the boys and intercepted the blow with her weapon.
    “Charlie! Stop it. You don’t want to do this.”
    He answered with a flurry of strikes - quick, precise blows that Violet struggled to repel. In his extraordinarily talented hands, the weapon was a blue blur and it took every ounce of her skill to counter the blizzard of incoming attacks.
    He’s better than me , she suddenly realised. I’m fast, but he’s faster. I’m strong, but he’s stronger. If this keeps up, we’re all going to die by his hand.
    She stumbled backwards, barely managing to parry an overhead blow. “Theo! Say something to him! Wake him up!”
    As Violet absorbed yet another round of slashes, Theodore stepped forward. “Charlie, we’re not the enemy, we’re your friends! I’m your best friend in fact. Your superhero sidekick, your closest compadre…Don’t you remember?”
    From somewhere far away,