Arthur Hood: the Heir of Robin and King

Chapter Thirty-Six

'YOU'LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT!' shouted Merlynna.

The fairy princess opened her mouth, stretching it until it was beyond double and exposing her teeth of daggers, and gave out a raging shriek.

'YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T DO THAT!' Melynna continued. 'YOU'LL CATCH SPELLS!'

And with a jab of her finger, the young witch shot over a bubbling spell. It was so fast, the fairy princess had no time to react. The enchantment zipped into her mouth and fizzed and popped until a loud sneeze sent the winged beast zooming off like a burst balloon.

Meanwhile, and as Arthur continued to battle, Little Johnny had met the Deputy.

'Even with your shoes, you have no chance to defeat me,' the Deputy snarled at him.

Sadly, the man was right.

Little Johnny zipped around him, trying desperately to find a way through, to send him over the side of the ship and into the water, but the man's blade was always there to greet his staff.

'This is too easy,' the Deputy laughed.

Little Johnny tried again and again until the man slashed down with a thwack, breaking the staff in two.

'HA! Your weapon is no more.' The Deputy gleamed like his badge. 'You have been defeated.'

Little Johnny dropped his gaze in sadness but quickly realized something, a smile soon growing from ear to ear. 'Well now I have two staffs.'

He also had an idea.

With a wink, Little Johnny took off and began circling the Deputy. Around and around he went, not stopping until the man grew so dizzy that he started to stumble. And as his eyes rolled back into his head, the boy sent him packing over the side of the ship, where Nessie gobbled him up with the biggest of belches.

'It looks like you're the one defeated,' Little Johnny burst out before joining Arthur and Merlynna, who were about ready to engage a stampede of Sheriff's Men bounding from the bow.

Suddenly, the wooden board's below them began to shake. In fact, the whole ship was shaking. The water too. Then with a boom, sending almost all the water out of the lake with a churning surge, the giant serpent that was the leviathan appeared. And it had grown since the last time the children had seen it, easily clearing Nessie's height.

'What in the conjuror's tricks?' swore Merlynna.

'How–how–how did that get in?' stammered Little Johnny.

'It must have smashed through the well,' Arthur yelled.

Though such a deadly danger the giant serpent was, its tail whipping around like some mad enormous worm on a hook, the water creatures did not hesitate to confront the beast. But sadly, its distraction gave way for more and more of the Shadow to get onto the ship.

Soon, everywhere became one enormous skirmish. And all Arthur could see as he slashed and chopped were a jumble of fluttering wings, fur, glinting blades, flashing spells and apples that turned to applesauce.

'I can't keep this up,' Little Johnny wheezed next to Arthur. 'We can't keep this up. More are coming too.'

'But we have to try,' puffed Merlynna.

'Little Johnny's right,' said Arthur. So much for the prophecy, he thought. 'It looks like the battle is lost.'

If that wasn't bad enough, a swath of forest beyond the train in the trees crashed to the ground as if they were made of dust. And in the destruction's wake came Morgana and the Sheriff, who sat in their troll-carried carriage.

'Not them too,' howled Little Johnny as Morgana's unearthly cackle echoed off the sails. 'Now what?'

'I need to do something,' Arthur answered before sending a minotaur into the water.

'But what?' asked Merlynna.

'I need to try to lure as many of the Shadow as I can away. Being that I have the crown–'

'You won't be able to get out of this,' snapped Little Johnny.

'Unless we fly,' came Merlynna. She then took the broomstick from her back and mounted it. 'That's if I can get this thing up.'

'Well I'm coming,' said Little Johnny and climbed on too.

Arthur nodded. 'What other option do we have?' And before he jumped on, he took the crown from his backpack and put it on his head, replacing Robin's cap. He then yelled, 'DO YOU WANT THIS? THEN COME AND GET IT!'

'On the count of three,' shouted Merlynna, 'push up as hard as you can.'

'Got it,' answered Arthur and Little Johnny.

'ONE. . . TWO . . .THREE–'

With an unpleasant lurch, the broomstick swayed and shimmied as if it was a jackhammer. But as the three looked down, they saw the deck start to drop below them.

'You're doing it, Merlynna,' shouted Arthur.