Edward awoke in the core of the planet. The sounds of shots outside the cavern he hid. He cradled his throbbing head in one hand. His other arm was also throbbing. It had been cut off long ago by the blind skeleton witch somewhere outside. He had replaced it with a sharp crystal cutting hook. This had been nabbed by the zombie wizard who had let the zombie witch cut off his own arm in order to attach it. Edward inspected his stump.. Little scales of hard crystal scale had begun to scab his wound. He got up, teased his hair, and then stuck his head out of a hole in the ground.

The Knights had decided to make their escape. They had previously taken refuge inside the safety of the dungeon. Now some took a slow moving van, while most escorted. It was a gunfight taking place in the ice castle's courtyard. The knights unloaded their clips, or swung their swords. The advancing zombie leprechauns found themselves full of lead, but still moving.

“Bang, Bang, Bang!” a knight fired off his pistol at a zombie getting close.

The bullets shot out the other side of the leprechaun while his teeth dug into flesh. Another knight took out his massive musket with a bayonet stabbing Mickey before blowing his brains out at close range.

“Grrrr” said Ratom, eating another knight's brains around the corner. Skeletons had been summoned in. The knights blasted apart the animated bones turning them into dust with every hit. The mob had been mopped up.

“We have got to get out of here,” said a knight wearing rusted scraps for armor.

“You can say that again,scrappy,” said another knight through the van's open window.

He was the driver wearing crystal plates. The van slowly advanced as the Knights pilled in the opened back door. Edward ran from his crevice to the street. He stood waving for help.

“Oh man that looks like trouble, what are you thinking fellas?” said the driver.

“We gotta pick him up, he might have a key to our teleportation out of here, don’t be dumb” said Scrappy. .

The van skidded to a stop in front of the king. The rear door swung open. Those inside looked sternly out.

“I'm glad there's still some civility around here” said Edward, waving as he grew ever closer.

“Weren’t you supposed to have some kind of hooker on you?” inquired a curious knight aboard.

Edward laughed, fitting into tight quarters.

“Let's get going now,” said the passenger, hitting the driver's shoulder to get his attention.

“Right, Right I know it's dangerous” said the driver.

They took off with a slurp of shlock out of a straw from the driver.

“So how long have you knights been trapped in the core?” asked Edward.

“We don’t know,” said one.

“How so you must have some vague clue?” asked Edward again.

“Look man, this place is a twisted house of horrors. We are so messed up, we don’t know, So just listen here we need you to get us teleported, and we'll work to piece everything else together at home alright” screamed Scrappy at him in frustration. .

“Right, that is a sound plan I'm also extremely interested in, I’ll be the one to take you to the nearest teleporter” said the king to his men.

The van erupted full of cheers. The road had become snow luckily this vehicle was jacked up, and four wheel drive. The van driver put in a Terp tape, and the vehicle played rock n roll.

"There's the door to a teleport," said King pointing down a side road.

He saw Ned through the building window on the top floor, then the corpse was standing on the roof with his hook. They came to a stop at the end of the street.

"Give me a blunderbuss, and stay behind while I clear the building" ordered Edward.

"Take mine" said the driver.

He passed one up from the center console. Edward was running along a shoveled path. The building was a hollowed block of ice. He smashed a frosted window with his scaled stump, then climbed inside.

The floor was slippery, accumulated drips from the ceiling melting. He had spotted Ned on the roof. He crouched up the steps with blunderbuss ready.

The second floor looked empty. He heard the knights crashing around on the lower level. His eyes scanned this level one more time. It was time to move on to the next. Edward started feeling his way up the steps in the dark.

"Grrrrr!"

What sounded like a little rat dog was waiting above. Ratom jumped onto the king, going in for a bite of meat.

"AAAA" cried the king.

The zombie leprechaun snapped his sharp teeth held back from brains by the stump. The king briefly lost his footing descending back to the second story floor. The zombie bit harder into the king. He flattened the creature into a box of bricks, but it remained dug in like a tick. Next he took a folding chair breaking it over the zombie leprechaun to no effect. He smashed it through glass, and it bit into his arm harder.

An icebox in the corner. The King opened the door, and placed the attacking creature's head between the rubber seal. He slammed the door closed, and open. Again, and again he repeated this process over, and over. The zombie was momentarily stunned falling inside the box it thrashed around. Edward slammed the lid, and clamped the padlock together. The icebox continued to shake. He dusted off his hand and stump as a knight climbed the steps with a light.

“Where's the teleport?” asked the knight.

“The roof was where it was unless it was destroyed, I’ll take the lead and follow me,” said the king, throwing himself to his feet.

The knight had already started up the stairs. Two more had climbed the lower case and had stopped for a chat blocking the way.

“Out of my way I must be the first man on the roof” said Edward.

He used his stump to whack over the knight who was chit chatting too close. Next he sprinted up the stairs where the leading knight had turned on the lights. The door to the roof was hidden behind a pallet of frozen rations. Scrappy looked around for clues.

“Help me sir, would you lend me a hand” said Edward, pushing unsuccessfully at the obstacle blocking roof access.

“Of course,” said Scrappy, lending aid.

The rations were dumped over. The door to the roof was open. Edward ran up the steps, and out into the open. He was blinded by moonlight.

“Came looking for this” said Ned, taunting the hook from where he stood on the edge.

“That’s my property ghoul. Give my hook back to the king or I'll blast you” replied Edward raising his blunderbuss.

“No can do, he he. You might have been a king somewhere else, but in the core you are not in charge” said Ned, getting ready to jump.

“We will see about that,” said Edward.

He shot the dead wizard who tumbled off the roof with his hook laughing all the way down. Reinforcement knights busted onto the roof behind him looking for threats.

“Where’s the teleport at huh, I don’t see nothing” said Scrappy, spitting.

“It’s been looted off the building or something. It's been a long time since I was here fellas remember.. Anyway I gotta get to the ground floor at once” said Edward pushing past them down the dark stairwell.

He burst outside frantically scanning the snowbanks. The king walked in circles around the building as the driver watched him listening to music. There was no signs anywhere of the zombie wizard who had taken his hook.

“Farc” yelled the king kicking up the snow in frustration.

The knights had returned to the van and begun to depart. Edward flagged them down and jumped in. The tires were screeching.

“You put us in danger in another spot you aren’t sure of, and we will leave you for dead pal,” said Scrappy.

“Alright, I know a sure spot with a teleporter locked inside a vault. It’s a sure bet” assured the king.

“Alright where is it?” asked the driver, turning down his loud music to hear.

“Far up ahead on that ledge where the lightning sparks” said Edward pointing.

“The old deserted temple that we never cleared because of it being haunted by ghosts?” gulped the driver.

“Yeah well have you looked around lately. It can’t be any deader inside there, then out here. So it's worth it for sure if that’s how we escape” said a knight.

The van climbed the hill heading towards the destination. Shadows danced, and morphed outside in the northern lights. The wind blew screams of dead terror at them. Chimes on the temple added to the eerie ensemble. Outside the lights had shifted into dancing green skulls taunting silent laughs at them.

“Do you see that?” shivered the driver who shook.

“Yeah I did, but you gotta keep driving towards the crystal temple up ahead, that will save us” said Edward.

The ancient gate of frost was knocked over, and there was a large cemetery. The van drove onto the property, stopping outside the porch. The moon lit up the stones, and large crypts outside. Penguins played sliding down a bank of a large grave that been freshly dug.

"Lets go quick" said Scrappy.

The door swung open and they were out.

Moans, snarls, hissing, and grunts began to grow as dead hands pushed out of the soil. An army of raised skeletons had gathered surrounding them. Some of the dead was freshly dead empire soldiers with all their flesh. The sound of a blind witch lost somewhere in the distance cackled.

"I'll be taking that back" said the driver snatching his weapon back from Edward's single hand.

"What is a king supposed to do to protect himself out here" he cried.

"Use your stump it looks tough" suggested another knight readying his sword.