“Oh yeah, well I’ve only just got here and I’ve already had more than enough of you! In less than a week you’ve taken more from me than I could EVER take from you! YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND YOU….BLACK HEARTED WITCH!” replies Arnie as he loses his composure temporarily and holds back the tears;
Loui helps to steady Arnie by placing his hand on his shoulder, but he soon regains his poise with the literal support of his new best friend and refocuses on the matter at hand.
“Awwww, poor little Pendragon misses his little Bitch does he? Don’t worry boy - you’ll be re-united with her much sooner than you think.”;
Morgan then raises her arms in a grand gesture and starts waving them around wildly yet methodically while chanting something completely incomprehensible. She then begins to levitate as they all look on with a mixture of fear and awe as they find themselves bathing in the bloody red glow of a huge ball of chaos fire that Morgan is constructing above her head.
“INTO THE WATER NOW!” shouts Mervin with urgency as he turns and dives headfirst into the pool - grabbing a twin in each arm and throwing them backwards into the pool with him.
Arnie and Loui look at each other and double-take before diving into the pool as well, just as the huge red ball of fire is thrown and engulfs the entire cave, burning the very air and bringing the already broken chandelier down to the floor in the process which falls in between Morgan and her prey – inadvertently providing them with some well needed cover.
Morgan levitates up and over the top of the broken remains of the chandelier just as a saturated Mervin bursts out from the pool, staff in hand screaming;
“YN FEW, DEFENDYA!!”
The Scrying stone glows brightly again as Mervin thrusts it towards the downed chandelier, suddenly causing it to come to life! The sentient chandelier then split itself apart and sends all of its extremities careering towards Morgan like long metal tentacles as they wrap themselves around her arms and legs and pull her down to the floor. Morgan, temporarily weakened from creating the big ball of chaos fire a moment ago can only fire off a few small bursts at the chandelier, breaking a few metal tentacles in the process but not enough for her to escape its clutches. Arnie and the others suddenly re-surface, gasping for breath only to see Morgan being restrained by a plethora of metal appendages. Loui is the first one to react and starts to make a move towards her;
“Stay where you are! We are safe in here.” says Mervin as he restrains Loui again.
“But she is weak! Now is our chance!” replies Loui.
“Loui is right. We should kill her now.” interjects Arnie angrily.
Mervin looks back at Arnie scoldingly;
“Killing is no easy task and should not be taken lightly Arnie. You may think you want to kill her now but when and if you ever have someone at the end of your blade and you are looking into their eyes, watching them gasping for what could be their last few breaths in this world, let me tell you – it becomes far more of a difficult thing to do! It is something that‘ll stay with you forever. It can change a man beyond all recognition, trust me! And anyway, I’m not sure she’s entirely secure over there.”
Mervin steps out of the pool and over some of the loose debris from the chandelier and cautiously approaches Morgan who remains motionless, grounded in her metal prison with her head bowed and her greasy black hair covering her face - seemingly unconscious. As Mervin gets up close, he lifts her head with his cane just as Arnie and Loui disobediently take a step out of the pool. As Mervin turns to chastise them once more Morgan suddenly ‘wakes up’ with the wrath of a spitting Cobra!
“Get away from me!” she hisses as she breaks free of her bonds, sending the unsuspecting wizard flying across the cave and back into the pool in an explosion of black light. Morgan then levitates above the wreckage amongst the swirling back mist, looking down upon the scared and soggy children, her eyes glowing blood red;
“Stupid old fool! YOU HAVE UNDERESTIMATED ME FOR THE LAST TIME! It is that pathetic excuse for a wizard that created all of this Pendragon! Because he is weak and is subjugated by the desires of men. It has always been this way. No longer will I come off second best. No longer will I be forgotten and cast aside like the unwanted toy of a spoilt child. I will take my revenge on the great wizard Merlin from whom I once learned all - and destroy all that he holds dear!”
Gwyneth and Vera both help Mervin regain consciousness by turning him around, sitting him upright in the water and slapping his face. Mervin brushes off their help petulantly and attempts to pull himself to his feet with his cane. As his tall, thin, saturated frame stands upright and to attention Arnie shouts back;
“What are you talking about you stupid old tart? You killed my father….and my Dog and you talk like it’s me that has wronged you??? You will not end my bloodline Morgan. You are part of it, so it will never be….”
“DO NOT INSULT ME BOY!” screams Morgan, her screeching voice shaking the very walls of the cave;
“I am not like you in any way! Several hundred years ago I was La Fey, NOT Pendragon! I was half-sister to a pig of a King that bore the name Pendragon as you do but it was never my name. Your ancestor forced himself upon my mother disguised as my father, while my real father fought against an army – YOUR ANCESTORS ARMY, AND WAS LEFT BLEEDING AND BROKEN ON THE BATTLEFIELD WHILE….”
“ENOUGH!” shouts Mervin as he once more thrusts his cane in Morgan’s direction creating another beam of light that she brushes off with ease due to his weakened state;
“Enough is it? For once I agree with you Merlin. That is indeed ENOUGH!” replies Morgan angrily.
Morgan then raises her arms like an orchestral conductor and there is a massive crack of thunder outside that is heard even this far underground. She looks down at her prey as she prepares to conjure another symphony;
“Let me show you what power you can summon when you control chaos magic AND the power of the Dragon boy.”
Suddenly a massive bolt of red lightning punches through the walls of the cave sending rocks and debris crashing towards Arnie and the others. Mervin again lunges forward with his cane and creates another shield of light that just barely holds the lightening and the rocks at bay.
“ARNIE, WE NEED YOU NOW! YOU HAVE TO CONNECT TO GAIA. FEEL HER………USE THE FORCE!”
Mervin screams as he gives it one last push forward and finally deflects the lightning bolt away, sending him crashing back into the pool again and again Gwyneth, Vera and Loui rush to his aid and attempt to help him up;
“But I don’t know how!” says Arnie helplessly as Morgan refocuses herself and raises her arms above her head again.
Mervin comes round just in time to see the terrified expressions on Loui and the twins faces,….just as he feels something brush past his leg in the water;
“What was that?” says Loui as he flinches and watches a small ripple that passes by him gradually get bigger.
Arnie shakily holds out the Ex towards Morgan in a seemingly futile attempt at defence as the wind and rain break through the cave wall and it all begins to crumble down around them;
“Even the mighty Excalibur can’t help you now boy!” screeches Morgan as an even bigger, louder crack of thunder reverberates across the dark sky and throughout the cave as the clouds outside appear to sizzle and crackle with veins of red electricity.
Arnie looks back at his friends for what he thinks is the last time, his eyes welling up with tears as he prepares for the worst. He then also feels something brush past him in the water and glances down in to see a small watery figure beginning to emerge beside him. Not the figure of a woman however, this time it is the unmistakeable figure of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The figure of his best friend and ever faithful companion Lady!
“LADY!!” screams Arnie with glee as Mervin, Loui, Gwyneth and Vera all see her too and momentarily forget themselves and what is about to happen.
The others call out her name in unison as well as Lady fully emerges albeit transparent and made of
water.
The watery apparition of Lady barks in acknowledgement of her friends.
“Impossible!” hisses Morgan in astonishment as she momentarily lowers her guard.
Suddenly and out of nowhere Arnie feels something completely alien to him surge through his body like molten lightening in his veins. He feels strong, confident, capable and most importantly he feels an almost overwhelming sense of hope. He turns back towards Morgan gripping his sword assuredly and looks at her with a wry smile as the black clouds in the sky behind Morgan disperse so quickly it could only be magic. Then, from behind the heavy dark sky that was almost literally pushing down on them and looming overhead like a lead weight, the glory of the Sun literally explodes through the clouds and across the sky, causing Morgan to shield her eyes as the sun’s rays bounce off of the shiny blade of Excalibur and hit her in the chest as if they were blasts from a ray-gun - knocking her to the ground. Arnie looks at Excalibur in awe and exclaims;
“Whoa! Awesome!!”
Arnie steps out of the pool and walks towards the currently downed witch.
“ARNIE! Stay here, it’s not safe!” Gwyneth shouts anxiously as she goes to try and hold him back;
Mervin pulls her back gently and says in a reassuring voice;
“It’s ok Gwyneth, he is a Jedi. Like his father before him.”
“Eh?” says Gwyneth blankly as Mervin continues to watch his protégé take a hold of his destiny.
As he approaches Morgan who is writhing around on the floor in pain, clutching at her torso, Arnie raises his sword high above his head and watches as Morgan cowers beneath him, holding her arms out for protection, beseeching him for mercy;
“No! You can’t do this to me. He needs me!” she pleads;
“Who? Mervin? I don’t think so!” says Arnie as he looks round at Mervin who shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head as he exits the pool too.
Arnie raises his sword even higher, once again catching the brilliance of the Sun in its blade. But in that moment he notices fear and panic in Morgan’s eyes that could only be attributed to her being a human being with flaws - just like him and everybody else he’s ever known. He grits his teeth and raises the sword higher still. He wants to punish her for killing his father and his best friend and for hurting his friends but he just can’t bring himself to plunge his blade into this seemingly helpless and pathetic woman currently cowering at his feet. His companions all look on, completely captivated by the events that are unfolding in front of them, expecting Arnie to finish her at any moment. All except Mervin that is, who says in a very quiet and calming voice that Arnie hears as if he were speaking directly into his ear;
“Can you feel that Arnie? That is compassion.…..mercy,….humanity! Important qualities that you will need to become a King amongst men. Her life is in your hands now. What you do next WILL define you and will put you on a path towards your destiny, but a person’s destiny is only written as they go. So choose wisely my young apprentice for much rests on what you choose to do next.”
Arnie breathes a heavy sigh as he drops his arms and lets the sword fall by his side. He then holds the gleaming sword underneath her chin and at her throat, forcing her to look him in the eyes, and says;
“I should kill you where you stand….….even though you’re not actually standing. I should definitely kill you where you sit though that’s for damned sure! You deserve no less. But I’m better than that. I’m better than you. I am a Pendragon!”
Arnie then hears Mervin’s dulcet tones in his ear again;
“Modesty Arnie. Modesty is also a very important quality of a King. You don’t want to.….”
“THANK YOU MERVIN! I’VE GOT THIS!” he shouts back as the others all look at each other not knowing what he’s talking about.
Arnie turns back to Morgan but as he does so she hits the sword away from her throat and lets out the same high pitch screech she used when she froze all the animals in the forest during the drone attack. Arnie quickly reacts and holds his sword up in front of him, deflecting the wave back at her. She wears an unfamiliar look of fear and realisation for a split-second before she is frozen stiff by her own evil magic.
“It wasn’t me!” says Arnie as he lowers his sword and holds his other hand up defensively.
He turns around to attempt an excuse but as he does so he accidentally clips the frozen witch at his feet with the sword causing her to shatter into thousands of pieces which then disappear into a swirling black mist.
“Oops. Ok, THAT was me!” he says as he shrugs his shoulders and walks back towards his companions nonchalantly.
Loui leaps out of the pool first and says;
“Incroyable! You are a hero Arnie. I was right behind you the whole time my friend I swear it.”
“Yeah, pretty far behind.” says Vera as she and Gwyneth also exit the pool and shake themselves off.
“I’m only joking. You were……totes manifique!” says Vera as she takes Loui’s arm, stand on tip toes and kisses him gently on the cheek.
Gwyneth runs towards Arnie, throws her arms around him and plants a big wet kiss right on his mouth. Arnie and Gwyneth both blush as they pull away, still embracing, and everyone else smiles and says “Awwww” in stereo.
Suddenly Archie, Alfie, Cliff and even the two as yet unnamed Blue Tits fly in through the hole in the cave wall;
“What did I miss?” asks Alfie;
“Yeah, what happened?” reiterates Archie;
“Wa gwan!” says Cliff as they all turn and look at him perplexedly apart from the two blue tits who giggle like a pair of schoolgirls, clearly taken with the big butch seagull.
“What? I heard it somewhere. It means what’s going on?!” says Cliff defensively.
Vera turns to Loui and says;
“They are definitely talking right? The birds I mean? I’m not going mad am I?”
Loui just nods and shrugs his shoulders acceptingly and Vera mirrors his actions straight after as they turn back for someone to answer Alfie’s question.
“She’s gone. Morgan I mean. We beat her!” says Arnie triumphantly;
The birds all tweet celebratory tweets as they fly around the cave in merriment.
“But…….we, we lost Lady. Sort of…..” continues Arnie as the others all stop celebrating and frown accordingly.
“Sort of?” asks Alfie perplexedly;
“Yeah. Sort of. She’s still with us in a manner of speaking. Look…..”
Arnie points to the pool where the watery visage of Lady is still splashing around and wagging her tail happily.
“Oh!” replies Alfie as Cliff and the blue tits look at her very disconcertedly but seemingly just accept it.
“Awww! She looks just like one of those weird alien things from The Abyss right Mervin? Mervin?......” says Archie as he tries to put a positive spin on the situation.
They all look over at Mervin who is uncharacteristically quiet. Arnie gets his attention and asks;
“Mervin! Hey Mervin? She’s is gone right? Morgan I mean? She’s gone?”
Mervin nods;
“Mmmm. Yes It would certainly seem that way…..” he says with a look of concern on his face.
“Aww, cheer up Mervin. I know how you feel about killing and all that but she did it to herself!” says Vera as Gwyneth nods along in agreement.
“It’s not that. It’s something……elusive, dark! I feel a disturbance in the….”
“You know you really need to watch some other movies Mervin. It’s affecting your normal cheery disposition.” says Arnie sarcastically as he cuts him off mid-sentence.
Mervin grins and snaps himself out of it;
“You’re right. It’s just been a hard slog hasn’t it? Come on, we should get our backsides topside so we can enjoy the rest of this lovely sunshine!” he says.
Everybody agrees and starts to leave the cave except for Arnie, who lets go of Gwyneth, tells her he’ll be right behind her and walks back over to the pool where the watery inca
rnation of Lady is still standing with her watery tail splashing around joyfully as she waits for him. As he gets to the side of the pool Lady stands upon her hind legs to greet him with her mouth open and tongue hanging out. He runs his hands over her head but it is not the soft fur he was used to, it’s just wet like water. Arnie begins to sob again a little and the sky behind him gets just a little cloudier because of it. He sniffs, wipes his eyes and says;
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you girl. We tried but weren’t quick enough. You were too bloody heavy! I’m glad you’re ok now though….sort of. The lady,…..the other lady I mean took you away and she….well to be honest I don’t know what she did, but it is you isn’t it girl? It’s definitely you…..”
Then a voice from behind Arnie says;
“It’s her Arnie. She is the new lady of……wow, actually what a bloody coincidence! Lady,….is the new Lady of the lake!”
Arnie looks around and sees Mervin towering above him, now bone dry and clean. His suit pressed and tidy as if nothing at all had just happened. Arnie looks confused and looks Mervin up and down but doesn’t ask as he has a more important agenda;
“Lady of the lake? What does that even mean though?” asks Arnie confoundedly;
“Well, it’s like she….she was struck down and became more powerful than you could possibly imagine! It’s a bloody shame she couldn’t say that herself before that old bat,….well,… you know what she did. Anyway, the lady of the lake, the other lady of the lake - has been around for a very long time. She never changed her appearance until now so this is a first even for me. What I do know is that she will help you and help us to help you. The love that she has for you is…..unquantifiable. Which I’m guessing is why the lady……..the other original lady of the lake chose her. She will be around much longer than the other Lady, your old Lady (not your mum) - would have been otherwise!” replies Mervin;
“I have no idea what you just said Mervin! Lady’s going to be around for how long?” asks Arnie.
“Well she’s basically immortal now so a good while I should think!” replies Mervin very matter-of-factly;
Arnie, Mervin, & The Blood of Kings Page 23