by Tom Jolleys
Erich stooped down to pick it up but he was unable to move it. The Sorceress Zena leant forward in her rocking chair. ‘I thought so. I want power, complete control over the Sword of Davalon.’ Then she screamed at Diana. ‘Tell me the secrets of the sword.’
‘Only David knows its secrets,’ she said, nervously, ‘and as he’s asleep then you won’t find out, will you? Anyway he would never tell you, and even if he did, I’m sure the sword couldn’t be used for your evil purposes.’
‘Ahha, now there, child, you are wrong.’ Then she bellowed at Johnny. ‘And what are the secrets of this box?’
‘You’ll never, never know. Give it back to me.’
‘I could smash it into tiny pieces if I really wanted to. Do you want me to do that?’
‘No, no,’ said Diana, quickly, ‘but if you break the box then you’ll never know.’
‘Don’t you know who you are dealing with?’ screeched the sorceress, her voice going up and down like a yo-yo in a lift. ‘I have powers that you can only dream of. Do you think I can pick up the Sword of Davalon?’
‘No you can’t,’ shouted Johnny, ‘it wouldn’t let you. Only David can control it.’
The sorceress stared at the sword, she was really concentrating, and her eyes seemed to glow red in the darkness of the room, the only light coming from a blazing log fire. Slowly it rose up into the air and floated across the room into her right hand. ‘Do you see my powers, do you see?’ screeched the wizened, old witch. ‘Now Sword of Davalon, tell me the powers that you possess.’ The sorceress continued to stare at the sword, but suddenly a blinding, yellow light, like a laser beam, flashed out at her, hitting her on the forehead. ‘Aaagh,’ she screamed, as a searing pain surged through her body. The Sword of Davalon fell heavily once more to the floor. ‘This sword is more powerful than I first thought, but it shall not defeat me. Tie them up, Erich. I will deal with them in the morning.’
It was clear to see that the Sorceress Zena had been badly shaken by the powers of the sword, but the children knew that she would try again, and they also feared that this time she would be more successful!
As Erich tied up Johnny and Diana, the Sorceress Zena studied the face of Diana. ‘You remind me of a young girl I once imprisoned in the castle, many, many years ago. She was called Lara, and you are even wearing the same dress. How did you know that it was hers?’
‘I went into her bedroom at the castle,’ replied Diana, calmly. At least the sorceress was speaking in a more normal voice and was no longer screeching. ‘The room was dark and dusty, but I saw a portrait of the girl, Lara, and when I found one of her dresses, I decided to wear it.’
‘Yes, the portrait, yes, I see now,’ said the sorceress, thoughtfully. ‘Did you like the portrait?’
‘Oh yes, it was beautiful – it must have been painted by a brilliant artist.’
‘It was!’ laughed the Sorceress Zena, who reached over the table and picked up a bundle of paintbrushes! ‘Ah ha ha ha ha – she really didn’t have a chance, did she?’
‘Oh no,’ thought Diana, as a deadly, cold shiver ran down her spine – her eyes wide, staring and unseeing.
‘Oh yes,’ nodded the sorceress, ‘it was me who painted her portrait! Ha ha ha ha ha.’ Then she began rocking again in her chair, now thinking only of the Sword of Davalon. She knew that if she could control the sword, then she would hold unbelievable power.
Johnny and Diana were picked up by Erich and thrown into a corner of the room. They landed in a heap next to David, who was still unconscious.
‘Diana,’ whispered Johnny, ‘the girl who was held captive was called Lara.’
‘Yes I know. The sorceress has just told us.’
‘Yes but remember the poem I was telling you about earlier, the name Lara was in the message. The verse even told me how to free her and defeat this witch, maybe it was a message from Jodadi.’
‘Well what did it say exactly? How do we defeat her?’
‘Oh I don’t know, I mean I can‘t remember.’
‘Well try and remember, it might hold the key to her powers.’
While Johnny was thinking of the rhyme, Diana looked around the room. ‘It would have been quite a nice cottage,’ she thought, ‘if only this witch didn’t live here.’ There was a well-built stone fireplace in which logs were blazing away, the flames flickering up high into the chimney and the dark sky above. The curtains hanging over the three small windows looked as though they hadn’t been washed for many years, and the same applied to the large rug that lay in front of the fireplace. She thought how nice it would be if this was her own cottage and she could snuggle up on the rug and listen to her favourite music. Diana was quickly brought back to reality when she gazed upon the Sorceress Zena. Her eyes were still open, but she had stopped rocking back and forth. ‘Maybe she always sleeps with her eyes open,’ thought Diana, ‘but she’s probably concentrating on the sword, after all, it’s already beaten her once.’ Diana was thinking of the various possibilities. ‘Maybe if she tries it again she’ll feel the full force of Davalon.’ Next to the sorceress rested a large, wooden table on which stood an array of bottles containing variously coloured potions, medicines and mixtures, and also those paintbrushes. Diana was now beginning to feel sleepy, and her eyelids were slowly closing. She had that feeling of drowsiness where she wanted to stay awake but couldn’t keep her eyes open. Erich had disappeared into another room, but returned momentarily to build up the log fire.
Johnny was still racking his brains, trying to remember the poem he had seen in Lara’s prison cell. ‘Now what was it? The poem was about Lara and being imprisoned. Oh I can’t remember. Wait a minute, it was a poem, a rhyme, now that might help.’ Johnny was muttering away to himself so that no one else could hear, not even Diana, who lay next to him but was very nearly asleep. ‘It mentioned my name, Johnny Dalton to read this message. Now what rhymes with message? That’s it, passage, the secret passage. Then it went on to say how the girl could be set free. The youthful Lara was her name, err, something to do with frame. Yes that’s it. Of course, the cottage and the evil crone, imprisoned in a zone, yes a timeless zone. I remember the last line being a command to a magic ring. I’ve got it, free her magic ring of green. I’m sure that’s right, but who’s got the ring? Wake up, wake up, Diana.’
‘Ooh, what do you want, Johnny?’
‘The poem, the poem, there’s something about a ring of green.’
‘Do you mean like this one?’ she said, holding up her right hand on which was a gold ring with a green stone at its centre. Her hands were still tied together in front of her.
‘Wow, where did you get it from?’ said Johnny, excitedly.
‘Well I found it in Lara’s room. It was in a jewellery box in one of the drawers, along with this medallion.’
‘Point your ring at her and try to blow her up. Just concentrate, I’m sure it will work.’
Diana thought that this was a really silly idea, and she didn’t actually want to blow up the sorceress as Johnny had suggested, but she pointed her ring at the witch and tried to make her fall from her rocking chair. ‘Oh nothing’s happening, it can’t be a magic ring.’
‘But it must be,’ insisted Johnny, ‘it’s too much of a coincidence. I remember now, the ring has a name, you know, like the Sword of Davalon, the Cloak of Mennea and Pollen of the Odessa Tree, and the ring will only work when its name is called.’
‘Well tell me the name and I’ll try again.’
‘Oh I’m sorry but I can’t remember.’
‘What’s going on?’ growled the sorceress. ‘If you are planning anything you will be sorry, I will turn you all into toads!’
‘I bet you can’t do that, you old bat,’ muttered Johnny under his breath.
‘What were you talking about?’
‘We were wondering about David. When will he wake up?’ asked Diana.
‘He will wake up when I want him to wake up and not before,’ purred the sorceress, ‘ah ha ha ha ha.’
‘We’d better go to sleep,’ said Diana.
‘Well you can, but I’m going to try and remember the name of your ring, even if I have to stay awake all night long,’ he yawned. He really did try to stay awake but within only a few minutes he had fallen into a deep, deep sleep. So the three children lay there, helpless to fight the Sorceress Zena, who rested and prepared for the day ahead, a day when once more she would do battle with the Sword of Davalon!
Chapter 13:
The Magic Tyros Ring Of Green
Johnny was the first to wake, mainly because he was uncomfortable with his hands tied in front of him. He had his back to the sorceress, so he started to undo the ropes around his wrists. If he could get free then he could use the Cloak of Mennea. As they were beginning to loosen, he slowly turned round to see if he was being watched. The Sorceress Zena still had her eyes wide open, but he tried to convince himself that she always slept like this, as Diana had thought the night before. Just as the ropes fell from his hands, she laughed out loudly. ‘Ah ha ha ha ha, what do you think you can do, you pathetic little boy?’
‘I’ll show you, you nose freak,’ he shouted, placing the Cloak of Mennea over his head and immediately becoming invisible.
The Sorceress Zena was unprepared for this piece of magic. She hadn’t realised that Johnny possessed such a cloak, but she leant back in her rocking chair and stretched out her right hand on which were four coloured rings. Suddenly a red beam flashed out from one of her rings, making Johnny’s outline visible. ‘Stop,’ she screamed, ‘do not come any further or David will never wake again!’
Johnny stood motionless for a few seconds, but realising that he couldn’t risk his brother’s life, he reluctantly removed his cloak. He appeared directly in front of the haggard face of the Sorceress Zena. ‘I see that you have your very own special powers, but as you can see, Johnny, my powers are much too strong for yours. Now give me the cloak.’ He passed it over to her. ‘Thank you Johnny, you are a good boy. This cloak of invisibility can only increase my powers, ah ha ha ha ha.’
By now, Diana had woken up, and Johnny went over to untie her ropes, while Zena placed the cloak over her head, but she didn’t disappear.
‘I’m sorry, Diana, but I can’t undo this knot. What did you do with your dagger?’
‘Oh I threw it down on the floor when I saw David collapse. There it is, just over by the witch’s chair.’
‘I’ll try and get it while she’s messing about with my cloak.’
‘Be careful,’ whispered Diana, as Johnny crawled, commando-style, across the floor. He slowly crept towards her chair, not daring to look up, although he thought she would grab hold of him at any moment. His heart was pounding so fast and so loudly that he thought she’d be able to hear it! Then he crawled underneath her chair as it rocked backwards and forwards, and grasped hold of the dagger. ‘So far so good,’ he thought as beads of sweat dropped down onto the dusty floor. With the handle of the dagger in his mouth, he made the difficult journey back to Diana. For one brief moment he thought about stabbing the witch with Diana’s special dagger, but that thought quickly disappeared as he could see himself being turned into some ugly and very smelly toad! He couldn’t believe that she hadn’t seen him, but she was still toying with the cloak. ‘I’ve got it,’ he whispered while cutting the ropes around her wrists.
‘Well done, Johnny, that was really brave.’
‘Right then,’ said Johnny, ‘let’s go for her while she’s still busy with my cloak.’
They both stood up, just as the sorceress turned her head and stared directly at them. ‘What is this treachery?’ she screamed as they ran towards her. She swept out her right hand to face them, and a yellow beam surged towards the children, knocking them both to the ground.
‘Aaargh,’ screamed Johnny and Diana, as they crashed to the floor. Odessa’s Dagger of Life and Death, flew through the air into the witch’s right hand.
‘Ah ha ha ha ha. You are very brave but very, very stupid. You have no powers at all now because I have them all. That will teach you to try and surprise me. I am going to watch you more closely from now onwards. But first, you Johnny, I want to know the name of this magical cloak of invisibility.’
‘I won’t tell you, I’ll never tell you,’ shouted Johnny in defiance.
‘I can make you tell me, Johnny. Look at me, look into my eyes.’
Johnny could feel himself being forced to look at her, but as his head moved round, he noticed that the medallion around Diana’s neck had turned over. He could just make out the inscription, Tyros. Johnny was slowly going into a trance, and he couldn’t stop himself from looking at this evil witch, but just as he was turning his head he was able to utter these few words, ‘Diana, the ring, Tyros, the ring, Tyros.’ He was now unable to say anything else as he came under the spell of the Sorceress Zena, who was searching his mind for the name of the cloak.
Suddenly Diana jumped up, shot out her right hand and shouted, ‘Tyros, Tyros.’ Immediately a green beam from the centre of the ring, sped towards the sorceress, hitting her on the shoulder.
‘Aaargh,’ she screamed, ‘you fool, do you think the Ring of Tyros can defeat me?’ Then she stretched out her right hand again, and a similar green beam shot out at the oncoming beam from Diana. The two beams lit up the room as they joined in battle, but the witch’s beam was slowly forcing back the beam from Diana’s ring, the Magic Tyros Ring of Green.
‘Ah ha ha ha,’ laughed Zena, ‘when this beam hits you Diana, you will be blown into a thousand pieces, into dust, ah ha ha ha ha!’
As the beam drew nearer to Diana, David awoke from his deep sleep. At least the Ring of Tyros had broken the spell on him and also Johnny, who looked on helplessly as Diana was being overpowered.
‘Davalon,’ shouted David, and the sword flew across the room into his right hand. Then he turned the sword so that it faced the sorceress like a cross. Although he didn’t fully understand the sword, he concentrated on the green stone, and immediately a green beam surged forward to join forces with that of Diana’s. Slowly but surely the two beams from Diana and David were pushing back the green beam of the Sorceress Zena.
‘No, no,’ she screamed, ‘I will destroy you all.’ Suddenly a yellow beam swept towards David from another ring. It ricocheted off his sword and knocked him to the floor. He staggered up and shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now he realised that the sorceress’s four rings each had a special power, similar to the four coloured stones on the hilt of his sword, but by now, Diana’s green beam was being forced back once more.
‘Do something David,’ cried Diana, as she was almost engulfed by this green light of deadly power.
‘Davalon, red, green, yellow, blue.’ Sssh, sssh, sssh, sssh, four beams scorched across the room, but they were met by four similar beams from the Sorceress Zena, which lit up the room in a rainbow of fireballs.
Johnny could only look on through squinted eyes at the battle that was taking place. Now the combined forces of the Sword of Davalon and the Ring of Tyros were proving too powerful for the Sorceress Zena. Realising she was near to destruction, she reached out with her left hand to pick up a potion from the table, but Johnny leapt like a cat over the beams and grabbed it from her grasp.
‘We’ve got her,’ said David to Diana, as the coloured laser beams were gradually overpowering the sorceress.
‘You may think so,’ she growled, ‘but this is only a fraction of my power. Now you puny imps will feel the wroth of the Ring of Zenotek – ahha ha ha ha!’ The Sorceress Zena stretched out her left hand on which was a gold signet ring, with the letter Z, engraved deep into the gold. ‘I didn’t think I would need to use all of my powers, but now you shall all perish. Zenotek,’ she shouted, and immediately a golden beam surged against
the oncoming beams, which again were being forced back.
‘David, we can’t hold her off much longer,’ said Diana, tearfully. ‘Johnny, you know the secret, the message. What were the final two lines? THINK!’
‘Now what were the last two lines of the verse?’ said Johnny to himself, still squinting and seeing that his brother and sister were being forced back against the wall, with the beams growing perilously close. ‘The youthful Lara will be freed by the Ring of Tyros, no, by the Magic Tyros Ring of Green, helped by the Sword of Davalon’s silver sheen. SILVER!’ shouted Johnny.
‘Davalon, silver,’ shouted David. Suddenly his sword spun round so that the blade was now facing the Sorceress Zena. All the beams stopped, and she was caught in a spiraling, circular light, as bright as any anti-aircraft searchlight. Then an amazing thing started to happen – the wizened, old witch slowly began to change. The wrinkles gradually went from her face, her crooked nose began to straighten and grow smaller, and her withered, long fingers were growing young again. The Sorceress Zena, caught up in the Sword of Davalon’s silver sheen, was becoming younger. Within a minute the silver beam ceased, and in front of them was a young girl. She was dressed in a tatty, grey dress, still sat on the rocking chair, but then she slumped to one side.
‘It’s Lara,’ said Diana, who ran over to her.
‘Do you think she’s still alive?’ said Johnny.
‘Let’s just hope so,’ replied David.
‘Lara, Lara, wake up. Can you hear me?’ said Diana, who slapped her across the face.
‘She’s already unconscious,’ said Johnny, ‘you don’t need to knock her head off!’
‘Oh shut up, Johnny. Can’t you see I’m trying to help her?’
‘Well I hope you never have to wake me up,’ he muttered.
Just then, Lara’s eyes flickered open. She looked up, turned her head and then spoke in English, but with a strong, French accent. ‘Oh what has happened? Where am I and who are you?’