We quickly lined the stun sticks on the ground. Fern sent a flare through his beak. The tips of the sticks glowed bright red. “Okay, they should be good to go in a few tics of the clock.”
“We’ve got this now!” Gail said.
Sebastian looked me in the eyes. “You go back and get your staff and save the day!”
“Will do!” I said with a grin.
Fern flew behind me. He lifted Merlin and me up off the ground. “This feels kind of cool,” I said.
Merlin shuddered. “You know how hard it is for a cat to trust a bird!”
I laughed.
Floating above, we saw the back door guarded by four big burly guards. The good news was they were all regular people. The bad news was I really couldn’t hurt them! But I knew they would think I posed a great danger and they would have to take care of me in any way they could.
“Drop me on top of them!” I ordered Fern.
Fern maneuvered himself to the point he thought I could fall, without me being hurt. He opened his mouth. Gravity did its thing, Merlin and I dropped down ten feet, on top of the two back guards. The other two guards turned. One went for his stun gun. Merlin sprang at the guard’s face, claws flying.
“Ouch! Bad kitty! Bad kitty!!” the guard screamed. Merlin touched his neck on a pressure point. The guard passed out.
The last guard grabbed me by the shoulder. I took his arm and flipped him over my shoulder. He hit the ground hard. Before he could get up I dropped to the ground and put him to sleep with a pressure point strike.
“Freeze!” another guard shouted. Merlin and I turned to see a guard holding a big gun on us.
The guard fell over. Standing there and holding a big club was Arthur. “I thought you could use a little help!” he smiled.
“Thanks!”
I turned and pointed to the door. “Diir Ipan!” I shouted. The door popped open.
“I’m in!” I told my knights over my mask’s headphone.
“Great!” I heard Sebastian say. “We have it under control out here.” From the chaos I heard through the headset, I knew that couldn’t be totally true.
Fern flew down and landed on my shoulder. I pointed to the sky. “I want you to stay out here and help my friends!”
Fern nodded. “Yes, my queen.”
He flew up into the air.
I walked through the doorway. I noticed yellow beams of light cutting across the hall. These had to be laser alarms. I took a deep breath. I jumped, dove and crawled through, over and under until I was past the beams. Merlin popped out his claws and walked along the ceiling to the end of the hall.
Merlin and I met at the other side of the hall. “That was easy,” I said.
“Agreed!” Merlin said.
We heard a rumbling behind us. I turned to see a T-Rex’s bones had come to life and were thundering towards us.
“Now this is different,” Merlin said.
My notes
Way too busy for notes now. Let’s just say I’m close...but yet, so far away from victory.
Chapter 15
I fought back a large gulp. “This has to be magic!” I said.
“Well, duh,” Merlin said. “But that doesn’t mean it can’t eat us. Those teeth are real and they’re really sharp!”
Out of reflex, I reached for my staff behind me. It wasn’t there of course. I sighed.
I pulled out my stun stick. Merlin stuck out his tongue. “I don’t think that thing can stop a T-Rex, even a T-Rex made of bones…”
The T-Rex continued its charge. It opened its mouth wide. It snapped at me. I rolled under its bony legs. I sprang to my feet. I threw my stun stick at it and yelled, “Stock griw Hyga!”
My stun stick flew through the air, expanding in size as it twirled towards the chomping set of dino bones. The stick, now the size of a boat, smashed through the T-Rex’s bones, showering the floor with debris.
I heard clapping behind me. A tall slim dark haired man with small round ears walked towards me. He looked like a human rat, I knew this man. He was Morgana’s son from our world. “Mordred!” I scoffed.
“In this world, I am called Morton. Being evil, I was naturally suited for the business world as my mother’s agent.” He smirked. “Seems I arrived here just in time to claim her staff.”
“It’s my staff!”
He shrugged. “Her museum, her staff.” He walked towards me. “Looks like we’re in for a little magic showdown.” His hands started to glow.
“Ni megoc!!” I shouted.
His hands stopped glowing.
“I turned off your magic so we can do this nice and personal!” I said, taking a fighting stance.
Morton grinned. “Impressive.” He took a karate stance. He laughed. “Of course, I don’t do anything personally. I’m rich.”
He snapped his fingers. Five big security guards started running towards us. Each of them was wielding a large spiked club.
Morton laughed. “I hypnotized them beforehand. Just in case. I like clubs,” Morton snickered.
“We’ve got your back, Gwen!” Sebastian shouted.
Sebastian, Arthur, Gail, Mika, and Brett all rushed past me.
“I told you guys to stay outside!” I said.
Sebastian looked over his shoulder at me. “We could hear through your communication device that you needed a little backup!”
The security guards were big and strong, but being hypnotized seemed to make them extra slow. My knights easily dodged their blows and stunned them. The fight was over in less than a minute.
“See, I could have handled them!” I insisted.
“Maybe,” Arthur said, “but save yourself for the important things.” He pointed at Morton.
Morton took his karate stance again. “Fine. Mother has given me the finest teachers. I will beat the snot out of you all. Then I will claim the staff and we will…”
Before Morton could finish I darted up and faked like I was going to knee him between the legs. He bent over and protected himself. “Ha, silly…” he started to say.
POW! I hit him with an upper cut to the jaw. Morton staggered backward.
I jumped up and hit him with a snapped kick to the jaw! His head shot back again. This time his body followed. He dropped to the ground. He rolled over on his stomach. “You haven’t heard the last of me!” he groaned.
I lunged at him. He disappeared.
“What?” I said.
“Looks like his mommy took him back home,” Merlin said.
I walked up to my knights. “Okay, you guys get out of here.”
Sebastian shook his head. “No way, all for one and one for all.”
The others nodded.
“That was the three musketeers,” I said.
“Still, good sense is good sense!” Merlin told me. “We’ve taken care of Morton. Robin and Fern have handled the dark knights. I think it’s only fair that your knights finish this quest with you.”
“Follow me!” I sighed.
We walked through the museum down the staircase to the armor room. There was a large weaved black and gold rug on the floor that I hadn’t noticed the first time I was there. Now that I knew there was another room below, I paid more attention the rug. I bent down and started rolling it back. Gail stepped forward and said, “I’ve got this.”
Gail rolled the rug up until it revealed a trap door in the floor.
“Now we are getting somewhere!” I said. I moved towards the door’s handle.
“No, wait!” Mika shouted. She dove on me, taking me to the ground.
I pushed myself up. “What gives?”
Mika pointed to the door. “This is too easy. I’m betting that door is boobie trapped!”
“The kid has a great point,” Merlin said.
“So what do you suggest I do?” I asked.
“Too bad you can’t get rid of the door!” Mika said.
“Who says I can’t!” I smiled. I pointed at the door and shouted, “Diir gi eweu!”
; The door glowed and disappeared, revealing a ladder leading downwards.
“Nice, but in the future, there is no need to shout,” Merlin said.
I pointed at the ladder. “Down we go!”
Now Gail stepped in front of me. “I’ll lead in case it’s a trap!”
Merlin jumped on my shoulder. “The girl is right.”
Gail turned and dropped a foot down on the ladder. We heard a sizzling sound. Gail’s feet started to spark and smoke. Her body twitched. “I I th I n k t h e la dddd e r I s e l e t r ic…” she said.
The sizzle and sparks stopped. Gail dropped off the ladder. She hit the ground below us.
“So, the door wasn't trapped, the ladder was,” Merlin said. “Clever.”
“How far down do you think it is?” I asked.
Merlin looked down. He spat into the darkness. He waited for the sound of his spit to hit the floor. “Ten feet, three inches,” he said.
“You guys stay here!” I ordered. Before anybody could protest, I jumped down into the room below making sure I didn’t touch the ladder.
Landing on my feet near Gail, I looked at her. Her chest rose up and down.
“I’m okay,” she moaned.
I pointed to Gail. “Geol rosa!”
Gail rose up and floated out of the room. The only other thing in the room was a box. A box just the size of my staff. A box that had a three number lock on it. Right now all the numbers were set to 0 0 0.
A giant magic mouth appeared.
“Well, past and possible future queen, Morgana wishes you well. She truly does. You may be the one person in this world who can be a challenge to her. I will give you three questions to help you figure out the passcode for the lock. Turn the wrong numbers and this box will magically go boom and so will you and your friends.”
“Get out of here!” I shouted up the ladder.
“But…” Merlin said.
“Froands laeva niw!” I magically ordered.
“Okay, we’ll be waiting outside,” Merlin called down.
My mind drifted back to a time long ago. Merlin, Arthur, Lancelot and I stood in Merlin’s tower.
“Morgana says she wants to make peace,” Arthur said to Merlin.
“Do you think you can trust her?” I asked.
“I like to believe everybody has some good in them,” Lancelot said.
Merlin stroked his long white beard. “I have known Morgana forever. She takes great joy in deceiving. Her words often lie with the truth…”
Coming back to the present, I spoke to the mouth. “No need for any questions!”
“Ah, why?” the mouth asked.
I reached down and opened the box. “Cause it’s already set to the combination 0 0 0.
“Bummer…” the mouth said as it disappeared in a poof of stinky smoke.
There in the box sat my staff. I reached in and pulled it out. I held it over my head.
The image of Morgana appeared next to me. She grinned. “Very good, Gwen. You passed the first of many tests. You may prove to be worthy yet. Remember, others may offer help but they would much rather help themselves.”
I pointed to the ladder. “Can you get rid of the charge on the ladder?”
“I will,” she said. Her image disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
I waved the smoke away and coughed. “What’s up with all the smoke?”
I started towards the ladder. I stopped. I went back and picked up the box that held my staff. I touched the box to the ladder. The box and ladder crackled with power.
“Yep, she never said when she’d remove the spell on the stairs,” I grinned.
“Up!” I said pointing up.
I floated up out of the room.
There, standing in the armor room, I found Ms. Vivian. She held out her hand. “Very good, Gwen. Now the staff please.”
“Excuse me,” I said.
She opened and closed her hand. “You’re just a kid. You’re not ready to stop Morgana. I’m older. I have more control of my power. I can stop her.”
I shook my head. “Sorry, not going to happen.”
“Well, so much for the easy way!” Ms. Vivian said. She pointed at me. A bolt of lightning fired from her finger.
I lifted up my staff and deflected the bolt back at her.
“Ouch!” she screamed, staggering back. “That hurt!”
I leaped forward. I lifted my staff. I touched her gently on the head. She lowered her head. She smiled. She frowned. “Oh, Gwen how could I have been so corrupted by power…”
Robin, Merlin, Fern and the others came into the room. Robin walked over to Ms. Vivian. Her eyes lit up. “My love, where did I go wrong?”
They embraced, “You’re not the first to let power get to you!” He said.
Merlin looked around. “I suggest we all get out of here. Now!” he said.
“The cat speaks the truth,” I said.
“No, I want to know if I’m a knight!” Brett said.
“Me too,” Bart said.
“Fair enough,” I agreed. I touched Brett on the head.
He smiled. “Sir Bedivere at your service!” he bowed. Bedivere was one of Arthur’s older brothers.
I touched Bart on the forehead with my staff. Bart smiled. “I’m Sir Kay.”
Kay was another of Arthur’s brothers.
Arthur groaned. “No wonder they gave me such a hard time…”
I walked over to Gail, Sebastian, and Mika. “You guys interested?” I asked.
“But I’m a girl!” Gail said. “There were no girl knights.”
“Times change!” I said. I touched her on the head with the staff.
“I can’t believe it! I’m Galahad!” she said.
I smiled. “Figures you’d be the strongest and truest of the knights!”
I moved over to Mika. I touched her with the staff. She shrugged. “Still just me…”
I touched Sebastian. He raised his hands. “I’m just me too. Guess we’re not knights.”
“Don’t be silly!” I touched Mika on the shoulder. “I dub you Mika the wise and brave.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“I dub you Sebastian the bold and true!” I told him.
“I’ll take it!” he said.
I grinned at them both. “In this world, I feel new knights are just as important as the old.”
They both looked up at me and smiled. Sebastian’s smile made me smile. I couldn’t help but notice Arthur noticing. My smile grew a little more.
My notes
I’ve done it! I’ve got my staff of destiny in my hands and fully charged. I have some of my knights back. I have new knights. I have some old allies. We are forming an alliance to stop, or at least, slow the pace of Morgana.
The catch is, I’m the one in charge. I’m the leader. But guess what? I like being the leader. I think I do. No, I know I do.
Chapter 16
That night, I sat at home with my mom, Maude and my dad, Claude. I felt pretty good about what we had all accomplished. Yet, I still felt nervous about the future. I still hadn’t found Lance. I still hadn’t stopped Morgana, who had Excalibur. I couldn’t be sure Ms. Vivian was really on our side now.
Mom handed me a mug of hot cocoa. “Smile, you’ve accomplished a lot.”
I sipped the cocoa. Yum. “Still a lot to do…” I noted.
Dad patted me on the shoulder. “Yes, but we take one step at a time. We go day by day. We learn from our defeats when they come. We build on our victories but never rest on them.”
It was funny. All the others from my old Camelot had their realities twisted by Morgana’s spell, so they appeared in this world already members of a family. Morgana had that kind of reality twisting power. Yet with me, Morgana brought me into this world as a scared ten-year-old. I was alone. I had to first find Merlin and then my adopted parents. I’m still not quite sure if Morgana did that to weaken me or to make me stronger. I am sure that my parents are not my blood, but they are my heart and soul. They
give me my strength. Well…them and Sebastian’s smile.
I don’t know what the future will bring. But I feel confident that whatever Morgana and the rest of the world will throw at me, I’ll be able to handle it. Not alone, but with my parents and my new knights by my side!
The end…for now.
Next...To find Lancelot!
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Girl Power – Book 2: Good versus Evil!
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About the Authors
John Zakour is a humor / SF/ fantasy writer with a Master's degree in Human Behavior. He has written thousands of gags for syndicated comics, comedians and TV shows (including Simpsons and Rugrats and, Joan River's old TV show.) John has written seven humorous SF novels for Daw books (the first The Plutonium Blonde was named the funniest SF book of 2001 by The Chronicle of Science Fiction). John has also written three YA books, four humorous self-help books and three books on HTML. As well, John has optioned two TV shows and three movies. His books may be found here: http://www.amazon.com/John-Zakour/e/B000APS2F0
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