Arnie, Mervin, & The Blood of Kings

by Pedliham, Luke

  Before Arnie can even finish his sentence Morgan flings Lady off of her arm with disproportionate strength while simultaneously unleashing the chaos fire from her other hand in the same direction. Lady yelps loudly in pain as she is hit by the chaos fire and rolls along the ground hitting a tree with an audible crunch! Arnie and his companions can only look on in horror as Lady writhes around the floor yelping in pain.

  “NOOOOOOO!” screams Arnie desperately as he stretches out his arm from his crippled position in the mud, gesturing in vain towards his fallen friend.

  Loui is the first to his feet as Arnie flops back down hopelessly into the mud. He grabs his sword and swings it recklessly at Morgan who is still smiling wickedly while admiring her work. Morgan is still very aware of everything around her and she claps her hands together, catching Loui’s blade one inch away from her face! She grabs him by the throat and lifts him off of the ground as he drops the sword and tries in vain to remove her hand from his throat. Loui coughs and splutters and kicks at her wildly but it has no effect whatsoever as Morgan is clearly much stronger than she looks. Gwyneth, Vera, Archie and the others all manage to free themselves shortly afterwards and all try to attack Morgan from every which way to no avail as she deflects their attacks with ease and sends them flying off into nearby bushes or trees. Morgan turns back and smiles at Loui in the same menacing way she did to Arnie a moment ago as she lifts her free hand once more and a ball of red flame begins to appear in her palm again. As she admires the chaos fire reflecting in Loui’s frightened eyes - she is suddenly interrupted by the brazen sound of an ‘OWOOOOGAAAAH!’ sound from a car horn and the revving of a very powerful sounding engine! She drops Loui and watches as Mervin suddenly roars out of the mist in the Dragon and hits the brakes - skidding it around (covering her from head to toe in mud again) so its backside is facing her. Morgan wipes her eyes and looks at the five litre beast whilst raising an eyebrow blankly before it backfires and sends her flying across the forest into a tree in a big puff of black smoke. Mervin then appears quickly from the driver’s side, throws the Scrying stone after her, holds his cane up to the heavens and screams at the top of his lungs;

  “ACOLYTUS!!”

  The stone quickly grows, glows brightly and practically bursts open with beams of light in all directions as it freezes Morgan stiff once again. Mervin runs over to the Scrying stone, picks it up and conjures a further spell over Morgan, bringing a golden net down over her to keep her grounded for as long as possible while they attempt an escape.

  “That ought to do it!” says Mervin.

  Just as he is walking away he sees Lady lying badly injured on the ground and in a moment of anger - turns back, bends down and uncharacteristically punches Morgan right in the face!

  “Ok, THAT ought to do it!” he says as he rubs his hand and walks over to the others.

  While this is all going on Arnie has climbed back to his feet and is walking slowly over to Lady. He bends down on one knee next to her and rolls her burnt, delicate body around to face him. Lady whines in pain as he does so and can only manage to look at Arnie, her best friend and master out of the corner of her eye. Arnie begins to sob uncontrollably and places his hand on her head for comfort as Gwyneth, Vera, Loui and even the birds all look over his shoulder solemnly at their fallen comrade, as the few rays of sun that were left begin to disappear behind a large dark cloud, the temperature drops and it’s begins to rain lightly.

  “What did you do girl?” sobs Arnie gently;

  “I said she was too strong but you wouldn’t listen. You shouldn’t have been disobedient. That’s the second time today you’ve done that.” he continues, blurting out the last part, partially crying and partially laughing at the memory from what happened earlier.

  He sniffs and wipes the tears and snot away on his sleeve;

  “You saved me though girl. I’m ok because of you! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry….” he continues as he goes back to sobbing again;

  Arnie turns and looks back at his other friends for help or comfort or something, but they’ve all got nothing and all just look back at him blankly.

  “MERVIN!” screams Arnie loudly as it begins to rain heavily and the wind picks up even more;

  Mervin arrives almost immediately and sees the brave but broken animal lying helplessly on the ground with Arnie, equally helpless, kneeling next to her.

  “Chaos fire?” he asks downheartedly;

  Arnie just nods as Mervin kneels down next to him, putting his arm around him and pulling him close;

  “Oh no! I’m so sorry Arnie, really I am. But we can’t do anything for her now. We need to go – and now!” he says with urgency;

  “NO! I’m NOT leaving her.” he sobs as Gwyneth also bursts into tears behind him;

  “We’re taking her to the caverns under Tintagel! To the magic pool!” continues Arnie as he carefully places his hands underneath Lady’s tender belly and lifts her up from the ground.

  “It won’t work on her Arnie. She’s been in already.” says Mervin gloomily as Arnie carries her back towards the shack.

  “WE HAVE TO TRY!! We have to….” sobs Arnie as he continues onwards determinedly.

  Gwyneth walks over to Arnie and Lady and takes off her cardigan - placing it over Lady gently who barely manages to lift her head and whimper again as a gesture of acknowledgement. Arnie and Gwyneth both look back expectantly at Mervin who for the first time since they met shows some real emotion as his eyes also well up;

  “Yes. Yes I suppose we do.” he says solemnly, his voice wobbling and cracking all the while.

  Mervin walks over towards the shack and the rest of them follow as they all start the longest and most painful walk that most of them have, or ever will experience.

  Chapter Thirteen: A King amongst kids

  Half way through the tunnels underneath Tintagel, Loui notices Arnie is struggling somewhat with carrying Lady, and Lady herself is fading quickly, slipping in and out of consciousness.

  “Arnie, let me help.” he says as he gestures to take Lady away from him to lighten the load.

  “NO!” snaps Arnie aggressively;

  “She’s my responsibility! This is MY fault and I will carry her! I should never have brought her here. I mean, she didn’t know what she was getting herself into did she? She’s a Dog.”

  “Arnie, it’s not your fault.” says Gwyneth gently;

  “It’s really not Arnie.” reiterates Vera, but Arnie just ignores it and continues forward determinedly.

  As they reach the door in the cliff that Arnie had passed with Mervin only a few days earlier it blows open violently to reveal a dark, thunderous sky when it should still be calm and light like the weather forecast had said. Cliff is there again outside the door, this time with Archie, Alfie and the two blue tits as well – all getting blown around from pillar to post by the bad weather (especially the two smaller birds who are both seemingly having a real bad time of it).

  “How is she?” shouts Archie through the door;

  “Same.” says Mervin as they continue onwards and the door is slammed shut both physically and metaphorically.

  As they reach the main part of the caverns, Mervin turns on the lights illuminating the polished black and gold granite surfaces. All except Arnie and Mervin stop momentarily to marvel at the uniqueness of what they are seeing.

  “Whoa!” says Vera, forgetting herself briefly.

  Gwyneth and Loui both raise an eyebrow and quietly share a bemused look acknowledging the huge chandelier that’s hanging above them and then continue following Arnie over the beautiful rocky surface to the standing stones. Mervin waves his hand over the smooth solid surface and it again turns to water;

  Arnie barges past Mervin and lowers Lady into the water. Her nose and head goes into the water but she doesn’t move or flinch or respond in any way as she had already slipped away during the journey in the arms of her best friend. Arnie bursts out crying almost hysterically, still gently resting Lady’s motionless bod
y under the surface of the water;

  “She’s gone! She’s gone. It’s too late! What have I done! LADY, LADY, OH GOD NO!” screams Arnie in vain.

  Mervin places his hand on Arnie’s shoulder and says;

  “I’m sorry Arnie. It wouldn’t have worked for her anyway. You did all you could.”

  Everyone is now beside themselves crying - even Mervin. Loui hugs Vera and Sir Jumpalot pops his head up from under her jumper looking as upset as a three eyed blue Rabbit can possibly look, as they all kneel at the pool side – broken.

  As Arnie sobs his tears fall into the pool and the water begins to ripple and sway as if there were something else in there with them other than Lady’s body and the small luminous fish that reside there. The ripples gradually get larger and turn into small waves as they get closer and closer to the side where Arnie and the others are currently stood. Then the water in front of Lady’s lifeless body begins to rise and take the shape of a woman. Arnie immediately recognises her as the same apparition he saw at Stonehenge on the ethereal plane, but this time he doesn’t run back to his friends and is in fact not scared at all - instead as she fully materializes he addresses her directly, still sobbing;

  “You,…you told me to protect her. Gaia! And I’ve been trying, WE’VE all been trying so hard! Lady tried too……but she got hurt……..and…..can you help her now? Can you….protect her now? Please? She’s my best friend, I love her! I want her back….”

  Arnie looks down at his fallen friend still under the water in his arms and continues to cry inconsolably. The woman of water looks at Lady and Arnie sympathetically and then directs her attention to Mervin;

  “Don’t look at me!” snaps Mervin aggressively;

  “I know you have rules, but the rules are wrong! If anyone deserves help right now, in return for what they have sacrificed for us here today then it‘s Lady! She has shown more courage, loyalty and love in the past few days than I have seen in hundreds of years. She has valour beyond limit. You have to bend the rules if you can, because she…….she….she is my friend too!” he continues in the most heartfelt of ways as his bottom lip begins to quiver and a single tear rolls down his old wrinkled cheek.

  The woman gestures helplessly as she holds her hands out and shakes her head. She looks across the faces of Arnie, Mervin and their companions and see’s the pain and anguish filling them all up and drops her arms to her side despairingly. She sinks down into the water to the same level as Arnie who is still kneeling with Lady in his arms and extends her own arms gently placing them underneath Lady’s limp body. She looks Arnie directly in his red and puffy eyes and says in her ghostly voice;

  “We……will protect her now.”

  Arnie suddenly finds himself strangely calm and almost warm with reassurance as he lets Lady’s body slip away from him into the watery apparitions arms without a second thought. As Lady’s body slips down underneath the surface of the water with the woman, they both gradually disappear into the dark waters at the back of the pool.

  “Where are they taking her?” asks Gwyneth as Vera nods anxiously to reiterate.

  Arnie wipes his face, sniffs loudly and says;

  “I don’t know,…..but,…..they will look after her.”

  “Who are they?” asks Vera;

  “The priestesses.” says Mervin matter-of-factly;

  “Who?” asks Loui as he wipes his eyes and nose on his sleeve.

  “The priestesses of Avalon. They’re friends of mine, sort of - but I have to say I have never seen anything like this before.” replies Mervin;

  “Will I ever see her again?” asks Arnie;

  Before Mervin can answer, a hugely powerful gust of wind sweeps through the cave and violently blows the chandelier into the wall, shattering it and leaving them all in darkness. A chilling voice then reverberates around the cave as all except Mervin and Arnie freeze with fear;

  “PENNNDRAGONNN!!”

  Mervin pulls out the Scrying stone and attaches it to the end of his cane;

  “ACOLYTUS!” he says as he holds it above his head and lights up the cave.

  Mervin takes a panoramic look around but sees nothing as some places still remain shrouded in darkness;

  “Loui, take Gwyneth and Vera and lock them in that cupboard over there and give them the key to the park. They’ll be safe there. Then come back and keep your sword handy.”

  Loui nods and walks over to Gwyneth and Vera, the former of whom stops Loui dead in his tracks;

  “Oh no you don’t! That was Morgan right? She killed Lady,….there’s NO WAY ON EARTH I’m leaving now! If she wants a fight then she’s bloody well got……”

  As Gwyneth is mid-sentence she is flung across the cave by an invisible force and hits the wall forcefully enough to knock her out.

  “HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!! Not much of a fighter that one is she!” says Morgan as she partially steps into focus and conjures another ball of chaos fire in her hand, bathing herself in its bloody red light;

  Arnie immediately loses his temper, grabs his sword and runs at Morgan with nothing on his mind other than revenge! Morgan shoots the chaos fire at Arnie and everyone’s heart collectively jumps into their throats as they watch him run and swing Excalibur at the ball of chaos-fire, somehow destroying it in mid-air. For a split second afterwards Morgan’s face speaks volumes as she stands, stunned that this fourteen year old boy has the audacity and presence of spirit to attack her! Arnie swings the sword once more when he is feet away from Morgan, forcing her to recoil backwards to evade the blade. He misses by millimetres but just nicks a small amount of her hair which gently falls to the ground as Morgan watches on in disbelief. Arnie loses his balance slightly due to Morgan’s evasive action which gives her the opportunity to send him flying across the cave into the wall, hitting his head and knocking him unconscious also.

  Loui then picks up his sword with a view to attacking Morgan himself but is quickly held back by Mervin who looks at him and says;

  “No Loui. She’s mine!”

  Morgan turns and vainly admires her handy work again as she stands over both of her currently unconscious victims. She towers over Gwyneth who is just coming to when Mervin gets her attention;

  “GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BITCH!” he says furiously as he grips his cane tightly and readies himself for the coming battle.

  Morgan turns and looks Mervin straight in the eyes whilst wearing a wry smile. She extends her hand back to where Arnie is laying and ‘summons’ Excalibur from his hand to hers. She takes hold of it and also takes a fighting stance, Excalibur in one hand and a ball of idle chaos fire in the other;

  “Today is the day you die old man!” she says spitefully;

  “You don’t frighten me Morgan. Fear leads to hate and hate leads to loss and,….no wait…fear leads to loss and loss leads to…….something else and,…well, that leads to the dark side!”

  Morgan looks at Mervin blankly and raises an eyebrow whilst Mervin looks a bit confused himself!

  “What?” says Morgan as the chaos fire in her hand disappears through a lack of concentration;

  “You heard!” says Mervin defiantly as he decides he has had enough of talking and launches himself towards Morgan shouting;

  “HAVE AT THEE!!”

  He thrusts out his staff sending out a beam of light towards Morgan which hits her in the chest and sends her flying into the cave wall, causing her to drop the Ex right next to Arnie. She slides down the wall clutching her chest and the back of her head just as Arnie is just coming to;

  “How do you like it?” says Mervin as he grins at Loui and the others as if to say ‘look what I did’.

  Loui and Vera nod and smile as if to say ‘well done Mervin as Arnie picks up Excalibur, helps Gwyneth up and runs back over to where the others are stood.

  Morgan pulls herself to her feet and dusts herself off. As she stands up her face drops as she sees Arnie, Mervin, Loui, Gwyneth and Vera all standing together, creating a strong united front against her. T
he former three all clutch their respective weapons so tightly their knuckles whiten and Gwyneth and Vera pick up some loose rocks from the ground to throw should it come to it.

  “You stupid children! You think you are safe from me, hiding behind this geriatric old fool and this spoilt little simpleton?”

  Arnie looks up at Mervin and says;

  “Did she just call me a simpleton?”

  Mervin simply nods to acknowledge but doesn’t take his eyes off of Morgan for a mili-second;

  “He’d be offended if he knew what it meant!” snorts Vera, momentarily forgetting herself as Gwyneth and Arnie look round at her scornfully.

  “Sorry.” she says sheepishly as she backs off in shame.

  “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me Morgan.” says Arnie boldly.

  “Well, you’re half right!” replies Morgan as she lifts her hands from her sides and every loose rock in the cavern, including the ones Gwyneth and Vera are holding levitate in mid-air in front of them.

  “HEOFONFYRRR!” shrieks Morgan with evil purpose as she throws out her arms and sends each loose rock hurtling towards Arnie and the others at high speed.

  “SKOSOW!” shouts Mervin in return as he thrusts out his cane towards her once more, creating a shield of light that deflects most of the rocks away and into the walls.

  The rocks that Gwyneth and Vera were holding were already too close to be deflected by Mervin’s shield however so Arnie and Loui are called into action and both quickly and expertly deflect the stones away from Gwyneth and Vera’s respective faces with their swords, returning to fighting position quickly and seamlessly afterwards – again ready for action! The twins hearts melt a little as they swoon and look at their corresponding boyfriends with doughy eyes as they are saved from very painful bump on the head. Loui looks round and gives Vera a cool little wink to acknowledge - and to show off!

  “Enough of this!!” screams Morgan petulantly;

  “I have been in a virtual purgatory for hundreds of years just waiting to put an end to your wretched, diseased bloodline, and I will NOT be scared off by a few parlour tricks and some amateur swordplay boy!”