William Wright and the Dragon's Treasure

by Uriah Szilagyi

  Chapter 8: Arachnophobia

  William woke up refreshed that morning. After jumping out of bed, he headed down to the kitchen where he could hear the familiar voices of the Turner family at the breakfast table. They all sounded very excited about something, but what? William was soon to find out.

  “Ah, William, have a seat,” said Mr Turner joyfully. “I’ve got some great news. A fairy came in this morning and brought a message from Merlin. He said that, wait for it … you’re going to get all morning off to walk around Camelot before lessons this afternoon.”

  “Why?” asked William, bewildered.

  “Oh, Merlin forgot to tell you yesterday that you should’ve visited Godell. He’s renowned for making the very best staffs in the whole of Camelot, and by the sounds of it, he’s got a special one made just for you.”

  “That’s great,” said William, looking at the broad smiles beaming on Sarah and Eric’s faces.

  Following another fantastic meal made by Mrs Turner, who continued to treat William as if he was royalty, William left for Godell’s shop with Sarah and Eric.

  “Did you sleep well?” asked Sarah, as they walked down one of the many streets of Camelot.

  “Yes, never better,” replied William. “Why do you ask?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing really …”

  William smiled. “Go on, you can ask me. We’re friends now, right?”

  “Well … yesterday, you looked really tired,” she said, looking a little ashamed for bringing it up, “I was, err, I was just wondering if anything had happened?”

  “Yeah, well, about that --”

  “I knew it, I should’ve kept my big mouth shut,” blurted out Sarah, angry with herself.

  “No -- no, it’s no big deal,” said William reassuringly. “Do you remember the feast in the King’s Hall?”

  “Yes,” replied Sarah.

  “Well, that night a message was scratched into my bedroom door,” said William darkly. “It said to leave Camelot or suffer death.”

  “I couldn’t have slept for the whole night if I found that scratched onto my bedroom door,” remarked Eric, astonished.

  “Nor could I,” agreed Sarah, and she peered at William. “Do you have any idea who wrote the message?”

  “I’ve got my suspicions,” answered William quietly, “but I’ve got no evidence to prove it --”

  “Who is it?” she asked.

  William quickly looked left and right to see if anyone in the street was listening, and then he whispered, “Zorloth.”

  “Isn’t he Oden’s uncle?” said Eric.

  “Yes,” replied William, “and he’s been giving me dirty looks ever since I came to Camelot.”

  Sarah looked at William with determination in her eyes.

  “If you need any help gathering evidence, just let us know, OK?”

  “OK,” nodded William, and they continued on their journey to Godell’s shop.

  After rounding a few more street corners, Eric suddenly pointed to a shabby wooden shop.

  “That’s where Godell works,” he said excitedly.

  “I thought he’d be running a much better looking shop than that,” remarked William.

  “Oh, don’t let the look of his shop trick you,” said Sarah. “No one makes better staffs.”

  “What’s the advantage of a wizard having a staff, anyway?” asked William.

  “You’d better ask Godell that one,” replied Sarah, as they walked into the shop. “He’s also an expert salesman.”

  Once inside the small shop, they were greeted by Godell, a friendly dwarf whose ginger coloured hair and beard almost touched the floor.

  “Ah, welcome to my humble establishment,” he said, standing on a stool behind the counter. “Here to pick up the staff, eh?”

  William smiled. “That’s right, and I’ve been wondering, why does a wizard need a staff?”

  Godell looked completely shocked.

  “You mean … you don’t know?”

  “Nope,” replied William.

  Abruptly, Godell jumped down from his stool and rummaged behind the counter. He then hopped back up with a finely crafted staff in his hand.

  “Here, catch!” he said, and he threw the staff to William. “Feel the weight of it.”

  “It’s much lighter than it looks,” remarked William, holding the long wooden staff.

  “Yeah, that’s because it’s a top-quality model,” said Godell proudly, “but why does a wizard need a staff? Well, without it, a wizard can’t cast a lot of powerful spells.” He chuckled. “Just imagine trying to fire a lightning bolt through your finger tips. You’d get more than a little shock.” He gestured to the staffs on the walls. “If you use one of those beauties, the spell will be focused through it and exit the crystal on top, saving your fingers when you cast something a little dangerous … oh, and since the spell is focused through the staff, you don’t even need to say it. Just say the spell in your mind and the staff will take care of the rest.”

  William held the staff up into a beam of sunlight and gazed into its deep blue crystal, a crystal the size of a tennis ball.

  “Is there anything special about the crystals used?” he asked Godell.

  “Of course there is,” he answered. “It has to be carefully shaped to fire the spell accurately, and not only that, the type of crystal used can amplify the potency of some spells.” He pointed at the staff in William’s hands. “The one you’re holding there has an extremely rare crystal. It works well with all spells.”

  “Well, I can’t wait to see the staff you made for me,” said William excitedly. “Where is it?”

  Godell smiled. “You’re holding it.”

  “This … this is for me?”

  “It sure is,” replied Godell.

  “You’re so lucky,” said Eric to William, shaking his head in amazement. “I’ve never even seen a staff that well made before.”

  “He’s right,” said Sarah, “that staff certainly looks like it’s one of the best.”

  Godell looked very honoured by both their remarks, and before they knew it, he was back under the counter, rummaging for something.

  “Ah, look what I happened to have lying around,” announced Godell, and he pulled out two more staffs from under his counter.

  “T-t-those are f-for us?” stammered Eric.

  “You bet,” replied Godell, and handed Sarah and Eric a staff each.

  “Thank you, thank you,” repeated Eric, lovingly holding his new staff. “I’ve never been given anything so special in my life before.”

  “You’re truly the nicest shop keeper around,” said Sarah, and she gave Godell a warm hug.

  Godell blushed.

  “It was really nothing, nothing at all … I’d, um … I’d better get back to work,” he said. “Let yourself out when you, err … ready. I’ve got to go into the back to, um, to cleanup. I’ll see you again some other day.”

  With Godell leaving for a backroom, obviously trying to hide his cheery red cheeks, William left the shop and headed out onto the street with Sarah and Eric.

  “This is fantastic,” shouted Eric ecstatically. “Now all of us can enter the yearly Fire Ring Race.”

  “Fire Ring Race, what’s that?” asked William, as Eric pointed his staff at a stray cat and made zapping sounds.

  “It’s a contest where young wizards race on horseback through the forest.”

  “There’s a bit more to it than that,” remarked Sarah sarcastically. “The track has three major obstacles to test the three fields of magic: fire, water and earth. Each obstacle requires you to use your staff’s powers to get past. The most problematic being a huge ring of fire at the end that you must ride through to win.”

  “What’s the difficultly with the ring?” asked William.

  “It takes a powerful ice spell from your staff to extinguish the flames and most competitors waste too much of their staff’s energy on the other obstacles. As you might have guessed, no one’s daring enough to r
ide through a ring that has flames around it.”

  “Rings of fire, riding horses and magic obstacles, it all sounds pretty dangerous to me,” said William.

  “It is,” said Sarah. “Every year a few competitors end up badly hurt --”

  “Don’t listen to her,” butted in Eric. “Eveador is always there to give you a spoonful of her exceptional healing potion, just in case you do get slightly hurt.”

  “Yes, but you’re still in pain until she can get to you,” replied Sarah.

  “Yeah, well … it’s still fun,” mumbled Eric.

  While making their way back to the castle, where William was to attend his first lesson with Merlin, Eric ran ahead around a street corner chasing another stray cat. Suddenly, Eric came scampering back around the corner.

  “Oden’s here,” he panted. “He’s just around the corner, and he’s coming for us. Let’s get out of here.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” said William confidently.

  Sarah stood silent. She understood William needed to show Eric he wasn’t afraid, and anyway, it was too late to run. Oden and his gang had already arrived.

  “Well, well, well … if it isn’t the Chosen One and his two nags,” remarked Oden. “I see you and the nags have stolen some staffs.”

  “They weren’t stolen,” replied Sarah sharply. “Godell gave them to us.”

  Oden smirked. “Godell gave them to you, eh? Well, you still won’t be able to beat me in the Fire Ring Race with those toothpicks.”

  The moment Oden called his new staff a toothpick, Eric exploded.

  “This toothpick will not only beat you in the race, but it will knock you so badly off your feet that even Eveador’s potions won’t be able to help you --”

  “Tough words from someone who burnt out his staff’s crystal during last year’s race,” replied Oden, sneering. “Even beginners know how to pace their spells.”

  “Yeah, well … that was because my staff was damaged. This year you won’t win because of a fancy staff,” snapped Eric.

  “Come on, let’s go,” said William, not wanting Eric to lose his temper anymore. “We’ve still got a far walk ahead.”

  They turned and started walking but Oden and his goons continued to follow.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Oden, as he walked beside William. “Too scared you’ll get into something you can’t handle? I bet a wimp like you hasn’t even been outside of Camelot’s walls yet, have you?”

  William didn’t answer.

  “Thought as much, hiding inside Camelot’s walls like a frightened little mouse too scared to venture outside. You know what? You’re just like Eric, a complete loser.”

  “That’s it!” shouted Eric, and he turned around to tackle Oden.

  Instantly, William grabbed onto Eric and held him back.

  “Don’t let him get to you,” he whispered to Eric. “He’s not worth it.”

  “Temper, temper,” mocked Oden. “If only the Chosen One would stick up for himself, too … but what do you expect … from a coward?”

  “OK, I’ve had it with you,” snapped William, and this time, he turned around to tackle Oden.

  Thankfully, Eric was there to hold him back.

  “So, the Chosen One isn’t all words. Maybe there’s hope for Camelot after all. Why don’t you prove how tough you are by collecting an Ider mushroom from the forest?” asked Oden, looking pleased with himself.

  “I’ll not only grab your mushroom but ram it down your skinny neck, too!” answered back William.

  Oden pulled a wicked grin.

  “I can’t wait. Meet me at the town gates when you’ve got it.”

  “You can’t go outside Camelot to pick an Ider mushroom,” said Sarah worriedly, as they walked away from Oden and his gang. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “You must be joking -- how can picking mushrooms be dangerous?” asked William.

  “Those mushrooms grow in one place, and one place alone, at the entrance of a giant spider’s burrow deep in the forest.”

  William gulped.

  “Forget Sarah,” said Eric, still furious with Oden’s remark about his staff. “It’s not that dangerous if you know what you’re doing.”

  William wanted to back out, but he couldn’t, not with Eric counting on him to show Oden up.

  “Yes, I agree it sounds dangerous, Sarah,” he said. “If you don’t want to come along, I fully understand --”

  “And leave you and Eric to get lost in the forest? I don’t think so,” she replied firmly. “Listen, if you feel you have to go that much, then I’ll come as well.”

  William felt bad that he had dragged Sarah into his feud with Oden, and as they headed to the town gates to leave the safety of Camelot, he tried to make it up to her.

  “Hey, how would you and Eric like to come and eat supper in the castle today?” he asked Sarah, smiling. “I’m sure King Arthur wouldn’t mind if I invited my two best friends along.”

  “Really, you’re not kidding? We can come to the castle for supper?” blurted out Eric.

  “Of course you can,” replied William. “How about you, Sarah? Do you want to come?”

  “And let Eric get lost trying to find the castle, I don’t think so,” she replied tongue-in-cheek, and they all laughed.

  With the mood now being a much happier one, Sarah and Eric joked with William about how they thought Oden looked scared for a second when William turned to tackle him. William joked, too, about the worried expression on Oden’s face when Sarah mentioned that they had staffs made by Godell.

  Soon they arrived at the town gates, where there was a steady flow of merchants entering and exiting Camelot. Standing to the side of the gates stood armed guards, who regularly stopped and checked any suspicious looking carts.

  “It won’t be long before we’re out of Camelot,” remarked William, heading straight for the gates. “Let’s hurry.”

  “Hang on,” said Sarah, and she grabbed William by the sleeve, “those guards won’t let kids our age out of Camelot alone.” She spoke darkly. “Ever since a young girl disappeared venturing into the forest alone, no children are allowed beyond Camelot’s walls without a parent.”

  “Do you know how we can get past the guards?” asked William.

  “Well, assuming your wizard robe is the same as ours, we could try wearing it inside out and sneaking past them,” she suggested.

  Eric sighed. “But what about our staffs, though? They’re sure to attract the guards.”

  “There’s a simple solution to that,” replied Sarah confidently. “Just make out your staff’s a walking stick.” She demonstrated how pulling her sleeve over the top of the staff hid the crystal and made it look like a walking stick. “Oh, and hunch your back over and hobble, making it look like you’re a really old dwarf, too. They’ll never tell the difference.”

  “Looks convincing,” said William, as Sarah played out how they would act. “Let’s put it into practice.”

  They would first need to take their robes off, but that didn’t matter, wizard robes were always worn over your everyday clothes. William wore his Harsly uniform under his. Sarah and Eric, on the other hand, wore clothes similar to the everyday townsfolk under theirs.

  After quickly folding their robes inside out, they raised their hoods over their heads and ducked in behind a group of travellers leaving Camelot.

  “It’s working,” whispered Eric excitedly. “It’s really working --”

  “Shhh, a guard’s coming,” hushed Sarah.

  The guard headed directly towards William, and it looked like the plan had failed. Not giving up, William kept his head down, hoping the guard wouldn’t see him.

  Suddenly, the guard seized a man walking beside William.

  “You’re coming with me,” barked the guard to the man, and he dragged him away.

  The man hissed violently.

  “I didn’t steal no necklace. Let me go!”

  The guard paid no attention. You see, he never mentioned
anything about the necklace in question.

  Finally, they had made it through the town gates and were in the all clear, standing along the main road leading off into the forest.

  “Phew, that was close,” remarked William.

  “Yeah, I thought we weren’t going to make it,” agreed Eric, looking back towards the gates. “I just hope the return trip won’t be so close.”

  William shrugged. “So … where now?”

  “We need to follow that trail,” answered Sarah, pointing to one of the many overgrown paths snaking from the road into the misty forest. “It’s the path Eveador always takes when Eric and I travel with her to collect Ider mushrooms.”

  “I suppose she uses the mushrooms in her potions?” asked William, as they headed into the forest.

  “Yes, but not just in any potions, the most powerful.”

  The forest was a foreboding place. An ankle deep mist constantly hung and the calls of wild creatures echoed throughout it. As they journeyed deeper, the forest seemed to get darker and darker. Sarah noticed William looked a little apprehensive, and she tried to reassure him that Eveador always told her that the animals of the forest wouldn’t hurt you as long as you didn’t hurt them. She did mention, however, that giant spiders and nocturnal creatures were the exception to the rule.

  As they crossed a shallow stream, Sarah peered ahead.

  “It’s just up there,” she announced, “not much further to go.”

  After walking a bit more, they suddenly stepped out into a beautiful sun filled meadow. The meadow looked inviting enough, but in the centre, lay the home of a giant forest spider, just waiting for an unwary animal to wander into its trap.

  “Those are the Ider mushrooms,” said Sarah, as she pointed at a ring of bright yellow mushrooms in the centre of the meadow. “They’re growing around the spider’s burrow.”

  “That burrow’s big enough for a horse!” said William, now realising how giant the spider really was. “How on earth are we going to pick a mushroom safely if they’re so close to the spider’s lair?”

  “Well, there is one way to pick Ider mushrooms without alerting the spider of your presence, but it’s by no means safe,” replied Sarah. “For starters, you have -- look! A rabbit!”

  From the forest, a young rabbit had hopped out. It began happily nibbling the lush grass in the meadow.

  Sarah pointed to it.

  “You just watch what happens when it gets too close to those Ider mushrooms.”

  “Come on, I don’t want to watch a rabbit eaten alive. Let’s scare it away,” suggested William.

  “Shhh, trust me,” said Eric quietly, “it’ll be OK.”

  After a short period of time, the rabbit made its way to the centre of the meadow and began nibbling on the tastier grass that grew there. As it ate, the forest spider stirred from its lair, sensing the rabbit’s presence along one of the many strands of web laid out around its entrance. With the rabbit completely unaware, the spider poked out one of its long black legs and felt the web strands, trying to confirm the rabbit’s exact position.

  “Keep your eyes peeled,” whispered Eric, the spider silently emerging from its lair. “It won’t be long --”

  Suddenly, the spider pounced and brought down its huge fangs upon the rabbit, but it was a fraction too slow. The terrified rabbit had bolted, just barely managing to escape.

  “As you just saw, once the spider senses your presence, you’re pretty well much finished … unless you’re as fast as a rabbit, of course,” said Sarah.

  William looked impressed.

  “You two already knew the rabbit was too fast for the spider, didn’t you?”

  “We sure did,” replied Eric smartly. “Everybody knows rabbits can’t be caught by forest spiders.”

  William peered out into the meadow and watched the spider crawl back into its lair, where it would wait for its next meal to wander past.

  “OK, I’m not a rabbit,” he said to Sarah and Eric, “so how do I go about collecting the mushrooms without ending up as dinner?”

  “That’s easy,” replied Sarah, “just don’t touch any strands of web around the spider’s entrance, and you’ll be alright.”

  Eric grinned. “Oden’s really going to look like a fool when you come back with a mushroom, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah,” replied William, sounding a lot less enthusiastic than Eric.

  “There’s another thing you have to remember, too,” said Sarah, looking at William with concern. “If you do accidentally touch a strand of web and the spider starts checking it, don’t move a muscle or it’ll know where you are and strike!”

  William felt a chill down his back.

  “Yes, I’ll try and remember that,” he replied uneasily. “Well, if that’s everything, I suppose it’s time to get this over with.”

  “Hang on, give me your staff,” said Sarah. “You can’t cast spells using it, and it’ll only get in the way.”

  William handed Sarah his staff.

  “Wish me luck,” he said resolutely, and he headed out towards the centre of the meadow.

  As William reached the place where the rabbit had been attacked, he noticed the grass was covered with strands of shimmering web. The strands of web were woven into a complex matrix, which had small open patches throughout. Some were just large enough for William’s shoes to fit in.

  “Here goes nothing,” he murmured, slowly placing his right foot down into one of the open patches.

  With extreme caution, William tiptoed between the strands of web and up to the spider’s burrow, where the Ider mushrooms grew. William looked down into the pitch-black burrow and knew, even though he couldn’t see it, a huge spider patiently waited, sensing for movement. With his eyes half fixed on the spider’s burrow, William carefully leant down and pulled out a small bunch of Ider mushrooms.

  “Got it,” he said softly, and he turned around to show Eric and Sarah, but instead of giving him the two thumbs up, they were frantically pointing to something behind him.

  William knew what it was they were pointing to, and he knew not to run.

  Ever so carefully, he turned around to see how bad the situation was. The spider wasn’t out, but one of its legs was tugging the strands of web a hair’s width from his feet. After a few terrifying minutes, the spider gently drew its leg back down into its dark lair, satisfied there was no prey. Fighting the urge to bolt, William turned from the burrow and proceeded to tiptoe between the gaps of the spider’s sensory trap.

  “Just this last step to go,” muttered William, almost free from danger.

  As he stepped out of the spider’s trap, William suddenly felt the sticky tug of web on his trailing foot. On impulse, he glanced back over his shoulder and saw the giant spider burst from its lair. With its black soulless eyes, the spider stared at him for a moment and then scuttled forward. Spontaneously, William bolted for Sarah and Eric, who were both screaming at him to run. As he ran, the spider pounced at him again and again, each time only just falling short. William looked back to see how much distance there was between him and the spider. It was less than a car’s length away! Frantically, William looked forward to where he last saw Sarah and Eric, hoping they could help him, but they were nowhere to be seen.

  “Looks like it’s up to me to get out of this,” panted William, determined not to give up.

  William put his head down and ran harder than he’d ever run before, but he still wasn’t fast enough, the spider kept gaining.

  “This is it,” he thought, glancing back and seeing the spider about to pounce on him. “I’m done --”

  Suddenly, there was a flash of light to the right, then another one from the left. Sarah and Eric were blasting the spider with fireballs from their staffs!

  “Try that on for size,” yelled Eric, as the spider squealed with pain. “You like that, eh? Here, have some more.”

  Sarah unleashed pain on the spider, too. The hideous thing deserved no mercy.

  “Drive it
back into its burrow,” she shouted, letting loose a volley of fireballs.

  William watched as Sarah and Eric worked together to drive the giant spider back down its lair, all the time thinking how close he had come to being killed.

  “Are you alright?” Sarah asked William, after running back from the spider’s burrow with Eric.

  “Yeah, I think so,” replied William, checking himself over. “No scratches or anything.”

  “That’s a relief,” she said. “We would’ve shot at the spider earlier, but we weren’t in the right position.”

  “Hey, we did teach it a good lesson, though, didn’t we?” beamed Eric, looking very satisfied with the results of his new staff.

  “You sure did,” answered William, and he shook his head. “I’m just glad it’s all over.”

  “Make that double for me,” said Sarah. “Oh! I just remembered your staff. It’s by that tree over there. Come on, let’s fetch it and head back to Camelot.”

  Eric grinned. “Yeah, let’s go. I’m dying to see how Oden reacts when we return with the Ider mushrooms.”

  The journey out of the forest didn’t take long, and before William knew it, they were approaching the town gates. After once again pretending to act as old dwarfs, they sneaked back into Camelot, where William felt something unexpected awaited them, something Oden had arranged.