by Kevin McLeod
Chapter 14
Graff shouted orders, readying his hideous hordes to defend the ship and stop it being boarded by Jacob and his small army. Trolls and goblins were tough to control, and they jumped around excitedly as the battle drew near. The Master watched on with her sisters by her side. Tolldruck prowled the deck, his knee fixed by some Master magic. The Shadow King directed his walkers, hiding them all over the ship. When they were all in place, his swirling darkness could be seen moving in and out the sails. The Longship was only about one hundred metres away now, and they could see the shapes of the Vikings on board, although it was hard to see anything clearly in the darkness and the rain. The Master and her sisters began chanting and the storm increased in intensity, battering the Longship mercilessly, yet still it came. With all their attention focused on the Longship they did not look to the sky as the gryphon silently flew down, dropping Granddad off behind all the commotion. Every goblin and troll were watching the Longship, screaming with delight each time a large wave battered into it. Next came the eagle carrying the three Vikings and finally the dragons carrying Peter, George, the Elders and the knights. They flew with a graceful quietness that defied their size. The dark storm that filled the night provided the perfect cover.
When everyone was safely on board Granddad turned to the Elders and nodded, all three took out one of their bombs, this time, filled with liquid sunshine, and got ready to throw them. Granddad gave the signal and the bombs were thrown. The sudden bright light contrasted the darkness, blinding the enemy army and creating utter confusion and terror as the liquid sunshine exploded amongst them, killing scores of goblins and trolls in seconds. The Master threw up a protective bubble around her and her sisters cursing the stupidity at being fooled so easily. Tolldruck roared in pain as the liquid sunshine burned his skin. Unlike the others, it was not strong enough to kill him but burned him badly.
With all the chaos on the deck, the remaining Vikings on the Longship were able to board the ship and join the battle. Arto jumped on board with a ferocious deafening roar. Trolls and goblins screeched and screamed not knowing which way to face as the attack came from two sides.
‘Look, Granddad,' Peter shouted, pointing just behind the witches. ‘Charlotte and James are in those cages.'
‘It is a trap, why else would they be out in the open?’ Granddad questioned.
‘We have to save them. We can’t let them get hurt,’ Peter replied, grabbing George and moving towards the cages.
‘Vikings with me, knights go with the Elders and find the children,’ Granddad shouted.
With that he set off after Peter, catching up with them just in time to meet a group of goblins head on. Peter and George both froze as the reality of the battle hit them. Granddad and the Vikings moved past, drawing swords and cutting down goblin after goblin effortlessly. They moved as a unit, taking down their enemies with blurring speed, seemingly untouchable. Granddad turned to Peter and shouted,
‘Use the sunshine Peter, and stay close.’
Peter snapped out of his frozen state and dragged George with him. He looked up to the cages and stopped, the witches had gone, and James and Charlotte were alone with no one guarding them.
‘Granddad the cages, they are unguarded.’
Before Granddad could warn Peter to stop, he and George had moved across to the cages desperate to free their friends. Peter went to James, and George went to Charlotte.
‘I knew you’d come for us,’ Charlotte said to George, fear etched across her face.
George was about to answer when something dropped from the mast and grabbed him. Peter turned, as Charlotte screamed, just in time to be lifted off the ground by a swirling dark cloud. The Shadow King had them both. It had been so easy. Their plan had worked perfectly.
‘I knew you would come too,' he said mocking Charlotte. He held the boy's upside down with ease and left them dangling for Granddad to see.
The Master reappeared, smiling as her eyes met Granddads.
‘It appears your grandson was not ready for battle just yet Jacob, or should I call you Granddad as well?’
‘Call off your Vikings or the boys will know the pain of the darkness,’ she said, nodding to the Shadow King, who tightened his grip on the boys' legs making them scream.
Granddad looked around desperately for help, for something to turn the situation around.
‘Who are you looking for Jacob? Maybe your knights can save you?’ the Master asked as Tolldruck appeared with the two lifeless bodies, throwing them to the floor.
‘Perhaps the Elders will come to your rescue?’ she said beginning to enjoy herself. The Elders appeared, bound together, being carried by the other sisters.
‘It seems you underestimated us and the foolishness of boys.’
Peter tried to concentrate, dangling upside down with the blood rushing to his head. He reached into his pocket and felt the water pistol still there. Slowly he pulled it out hoping the Shadow King was too busy watching Granddad being humiliated by the Master. George watched Peter then remembered his pistol and looked for it in his pocket. His hands were not as sure as Peter's, and as it came out his pocket he lost his grip, and it fell to the ground. The movement caught the Shadow King's eye as he saw George trying desperately to make a grab for the falling gun. He twisted his darkness round to George.
‘Trying to be a hero boy? What were you going to do, shoot me with your water pistol?’ he asked, giving George a glimpse of his face.
‘Maybe I'll shoot you with mine,' Peter said taking aim, and just as the Shadow King turned his darkness to Peter, the liquid sunshine sprayed out the pistol covering his face, spreading quickly over his body. He roared in pain, releasing the boys to fall towards the ground. The Shadow King glowed brightly as the sheer amount of liquid sunshine overwhelmed him. He writhed in pain, helpless against the sunshine as it continued to spread. Arto charged through the goblins and trolls to try and catch the boys just as the gryphon and eagle swooped down catching them both perfectly. The Shadow King gave one last scream and dropped to the floor using all his strength to fight and overcome the liquid sunshine. George picked up his water pistol and ran to where the King’s darkness writhed and shimmered, glowing in places then burning with intense heat.
‘Shooting you with my water pistol is exactly what I'm going to do,' George said taking aim and sending a stream of sunshine into the King, finishing him off once and for all. He glowed white for a moment then exploded into ashes.
The Master screamed with rage.
‘Enough of these games, kill them all!’ She pointed to Granddad and a bolt of blue shot from her left hand.
Granddad reacted quickly, diverting the bolt with his sword, sending it back at the Master, knocking her to the ground. Her sisters ran to help her, giving the Vikings the chance to free the Elders. The battle raged on around them, and the deck was covered in the bodies of trolls and goblins while only a few Vikings had fallen.
Tolldruck watched as the Master dropped to the ground and he turned his attention to Granddad. Roaring he charged, the speed of the attack took Granddad by surprise, but Arto was quicker and intercepted, smashing into Tolldruck seconds before he would have crushed Granddad. The pair of them began to struggle on the ground. Slowly Tolldruck gained the upper hand and threw Arto across the deck taking out goblins and trolls like bowling pins as he went. He didn't want to give the bear time to recover so charged after him. A large form landed on the deck blocking Tolldruck from getting to Arto. One of the dragons roared shooting fire at Tolldruck forcing him back, turning several goblins to ash in the process. The other dragon landed on the other side blasting fire at Tolldruck, surrounding him. Granddad saw his chance and together with the three Vikings they charged Tolldruck. He brought his sword down taking off more of the beast's tail. Tolldruck yelled in pain and surprise as one of the Vikings took off half an arm with a single stroke of his big axe. Another roar from Tolldruck and he thrashed out, catching a Viking, sending
him flying like a leaf in the wind. One of the dragons flew up in the air then swooped, taking Tolldruck in its massive claws, lifting his injured body off the ship and dropping him into the sea. The dragons turned their attention to the deck again, blasting more fire, killing tens of goblins trying to run for cover.
Graff was terrified. This was not his kind of fight. Everything was going so badly. The Shadow King was dead, Tolldruck had been thrown overboard, and even the Master was injured or worse. The Vikings were too strong as they had been in the caves, even the young boys had weapons powerful enough to kill the Shadow King. He ran left and right avoiding the main areas of fighting, finally managing to roll towards the hatch and get off the deck.
The Elders, protected by the knights, advanced towards the three witches. The Master lay motionless; her sisters were preoccupied trying to wake her and did not notice the Elders approach. They took out the bottles of liquid sunshine and poured them over the head of the nearest sister while the knights attacked the other. The witch screamed as smoke rose from her burning skin. Somehow she found the strength to stand and shot a bright red bolt from her hand which caught Elder Andersen squarely in the chest throwing him backwards. He landed heavily on the deck unmoving. The witch turned to the other Elders cackling, with red and blue sparks dancing at her fingertips. The sight of her was grotesque as she continued to burn; her hair fell out as she stumbled towards them. She opened her mouth to speak and her jaw fell off. A momentary look of surprise crossed her face before the sparks stopped dancing at her fingertips and she fell forwards onto the deck.
At the same time, the knights attacked the second sister, who sensed them at the last second and with grace and speed threw herself into a backwards somersault landing out of reach of their swords. She motioned with her hand, and one of the knights was thrown twenty feet. The other charged but was met with a green bolt which dropped him on the spot. She saw her sister struggling, clearly in trouble, and was about to fly over to help her when she was grabbed from behind by powerful arms. She could not break the iron grip no matter how she struggled. Breathing was becoming difficult as she gasped for air, howling in pain. Arto didn't let go until the witch had stopped struggling, only then did he let her drop to the ground. Elder Thomson came over and emptied the last of his liquid sunshine on to her. She sizzled and popped, giving off a greenish brown smoke.
‘Now for the Master,’ said Arto, striding to where she had been lying just seconds ago. The Master was gone; she was nowhere to be found.
‘Find the Master, search below the decks,’ Arto bellowed.
Granddad and the boys fought side by side, sword and liquid sunshine dropping many goblins and trolls. The battle was won, and soon the enemy were jumping overboard taking their chances with the sea rather than stand and fight. Finally, Granddad sheathed his sword and took in the scene. The deck of the giant ship was covered in countless bodies of trolls and goblins. A few Vikings and knights had been killed which saddened him, but his main thoughts were for the children. He saw Elders Thomson and Sanderson leaning over the lifeless body of Elder Andersen. Tears welled in his eyes, but there was work still to be done before they could call this day a victory, and ensure no one had died in vain. He gathered his three Viking brothers and together with Arto, Peter and George they freed Charlotte and James. They sent them back to the Longship with a Viking escort before going below deck to find the rest of the children.
They could hear the cries of the terrified children somewhere below them.
‘I smell Shadow Walkers, be careful,’ Arto said.
The boys pointed their water pistols, ready to shoot any Walkers that crossed their paths.
‘Be careful with those, remember we burn just as easily as they do,’ Granddad said, drawing his sword once again after Arto's warning.
Finally, they arrived in the narrow corridor of cages where the children were being held. The Vikings and Granddad broke lock after lock with their weapons while Arto ripped bars apart using his brute strength. Eventually, all the children were free, and Granddad was trying to calm them down so he could tell them where to go to get out of the ship. He pointed to the door at the end of the corridor and stopped. A mass of black shadows guarded the entrance.
‘Peter, George, stay with the children and if any Shadow Walkers get past us, you must stop them.'
The boys nodded, staying with the children as Granddad led the Vikings and Arto in an attack against the Walkers. Their resistance was futile and within a few minutes, all the Walkers were dead. Granddad signalled for the boys to bring the children as they made for the deck and back to the Longship. Once the group were gone Graff came out of his hiding place and breathed a sigh of relief. They had not won the battle but he was alive, and that was the most important thing.
