Chapter 9: The Face Off
“Where’s Oden? He’s supposed to be waiting around here,” questioned Eric, as soon as they had made it through the gates and were clear of the guards.
“I don’t know,” replied Sarah.
William now felt positive that Oden had indeed planned something and was about to suggest they leave, but it was too late, they had already fallen into his trap.
“Ah ha! Found you just where I was told,” snapped Mrs Turner, after catching sight of Eric’s face and striding over to them. “I know both of you took William into the forest even though you know you’re not allowed.” She crossed her arms. “Why did you two think it was OK to do that?”
“We were, umm, err …”
“They both warned me it was a dangerous,” spoke up William, noticing Sarah and Eric were lost for words, “but I demanded they take me anyway.”
Mrs Turner looked at William in shock.
“You what?”
“I demanded they take me into the forest.”
“But why?”
William didn’t know how to answer. He couldn’t mention anything about the Ider mushrooms stuffed deep in his pockets. If he did, Sarah and Eric would be in even more trouble.
“Because … err, because --”
“William wanted to see the river,” interrupted Sarah.
“Yes, that’s what I wanted,” agreed William. “The river was one of the first things I saw from the castle when I arrived, and I’ve been dying to see it up close ever since.”
“I’ve often been down to the river myself,” remarked Mrs Turner, smiling at William. “It’s beautiful.” She abruptly turned to face Sarah and Eric. “Even though William wanted to go to the river, you two should’ve known better! It’s dangerous in the forest and William could’ve been hurt or, heaven forbid, killed!” She waved her finger at them both. “I’m going to make sure you two remember never to do this again. Neither of you are allowed to enter the Fire Ring Race --”
“No, please, anything but that,” begged Eric. “I’ll clean the floor and do the washing up for a year. Just let me enter the race.”
“My minds made up,” she answered resolutely, “and just to make sure you two don’t get into any mischief, I’ll take those staffs, too.”
“But that’s not fair,” complained Eric. “We just got them today.”
“Yeah,” said Sarah, “they were a gift.”
“I’m not interested!” she snapped, snatching the staffs from them. “Now, I want both of you to take William back to the castle and then come straight home. The house needs cleaning, and I think you two should clean it.”
“We’re going,” grumbled Eric.
William, however, had one last thing to ask Mrs Turner before leaving.
“Just out of curiosity, Mrs Turner,” he said politely, “how did you find out we went into the forest?”
“Oh, one of the townsfolk sent a message by fairy, saying that you’d been spotted leaving Camelot,” she answered. “The nice person who sent the message also suggested not letting children enter the Fire Ring Race would be the perfect punishment. I really have to find out who sent the message and thank them for all their efforts.”
“You mean … you don’t know who sent the fairy?”
“No, they didn’t say, but I’m sure it’s a kind-hearted, loving old woman who’s just concerned about the safety of children.”
William wasn’t quite so sure the person who sent the message was either kind-hearted or loving, and as they headed for the castle, he told Sarah and Eric who he thought really dobbed them in.
“I think Oden was the one who sent that fairy to your mom --”
“Oden … are you sure?” asked Sarah.
“I’m positive,” answered William angrily. “I had my suspicions Oden had planned something, but I couldn’t figure out his motive.” He frowned. “That was until your mother said the message suggested stopping children entering the Fire Ring Race as the perfect punishment.”
“You mean … collecting the Ider mushrooms was just a way to get us into trouble so that we couldn’t enter the race?” questioned Eric.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” replied William, as Eric’s face slowly changed from looking confused to looking enraged. “It looks like after seeing those new staffs of yours, he didn’t want either of you two in the race.”
“That no good cheating -- just wait till I get my hands on him!” shouted Eric, waving his fists. “He’ll regret ever stopping me from entering the race.”
Not wanting Eric to do something stupid if they meet Oden, Sarah tried to calm him down.
“Don’t worry about it, Eric,” she said gently. “There’s always next year to beat him, and anyway, that gives you a whole year to practice.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” grumbled Eric, still angry.
Noticing Sarah’s attempt to calm Eric down hadn’t worked very well, William tried his own method.
“Hey, I can’t wait for supper today, can you?” he asked Eric.
“What’s so special about supper?” mumbled Eric.
“Don’t you remember? I invited you and Sarah to the castle.”
“Yeah, that’s right, you’ll see King Arthur and Merlin,” said Sarah, understanding what William was up to.
Eric’s face lit up.
“I’d completely forgotten,” he said excitedly. “I’ll get to -- it’s him!”
Before William had a chance to grab him, Eric ran off at full speed towards Oden and his gang, who were heading up the street.
“Stop!” called out Sarah, as she and William took off after him.
Eric didn’t stop. He crash tackled Oden to the ground.
“You scaly skinned cheat! It’s all your dirty work,” shouted Eric furiously, laying punches into Oden. “You stopped me from entering the Fire Ring Race.”
“Get this crazy off me,” hollered Oden to his goons.
After a fierce struggle, Oden’s goons finally managed to pull Eric from him.
“I’m gonna teach you a lesson,” ranted Eric, as one of Oden’s larger gang members fought to restrain him, “a lesson you won’t forget!”
Oden calmly got back to his feet, brushed the dirt off his robe and stared Eric straight in the eye.
“I’ll be the one giving lessons around here,” he said bitterly.
“What are you gonna do, you, you cheat?” snapped Eric.
Oden grinned. “I’m not going to do anything … gang, bash him up for me, will you?”
“Stop!” yelled William, arriving just in time with Sarah. “If you’ve got a problem with Eric, then you’ve got a problem with me!”
To the shock of everybody, William walked straight up to Oden, pulled out the bunch of Ider mushrooms and threw them in his face.
“He collected the mushrooms,” muttered Oden’s goons fearfully, and they hastily backed off, letting go of Eric.
“Hey! You pack of cowards, where are you all scampering off to?” shouted Oden at his gang, who were now keeping their distance from William.
“Do you still question my ability?” said William, as he stared Oden off.
“Your little pretence doesn’t fool me,” replied Oden, a smirk visible across his thin face. “Maybe my gang of dimwits are scared of you, but I know what you’re about --”
“And we know what you’re about, too,” answered back Sarah. “A coward too scared to face either me or Eric in the Fire Ring Race with our new staffs.”
“I … err … that’s a lie, a complete lie!” snapped Oden awkwardly.
“You can deny it, but we know it’s true,” said William.
“It’s funny to hear you comment,” said Oden, and he glared at William. “You’re too chicken to even enter the contest --”
“That’s not true,” butted in Eric. “William’s not chicken of anything.”
Oden smirked. “If what horse boy there says is true, you won’t have any issues with entering the contest, will you,
Chosen One?”
William didn’t know how to answer. He didn’t want to be drawn into another one of Oden’s devious plans.
“Umm … I …”
“What’s up, afraid you’ll lose?” laughed Oden. “Hey, gang! The Chosen One’s too chicken to enter the Fire Ring Race, still think he’s special?”
William instantly recognised what Oden was trying to achieve by challenging him to enter the race. It wasn’t to drag him into a trap. It was to make him look like a coward in front of his gang, proving to them that William was only pretending to be tough. William wasn’t about to let that happen.
“Don’t worry,” he said loudly, making sure Oden’s returning gang overheard him, “you’ll see me in the contest, and you’ll regret it, too.”
With disgust, Oden slithered up to William’s ear and whispered, “You think you’ve outwitted me by entering the contest, don’t you? One way or another, I’ll make sure my gang sees how pathetic you really are.”
Before William had a chance to answer, Oden turned and left with his nervous gang.
“You really showed him,” said Eric, watching Oden walk away.
“Yeah … I suppose,” replied William, “but I’ll have to beat him in the race to make it stick.”
“Oh, don’t worry about the race,” said Sarah. “Eric and I will train you for it.”
“Yeah,” said Eric excitedly, “I’m a master with the staff and Sarah’s an expert horse rider. With both of us on your side, you’ll beat him for sure!”
“I hope so,” replied William, and they headed off towards the castle.
Sarah and Eric knew the streets of Camelot well, and it didn’t take long to reach the castle. After saying their goodbyes, William continued on across the castle’s drawbridge to Merlin’s study, where he was to start learning the skills of a wizard.
“So, how was your trip around Camelot?” beamed Merlin, as William entered his study and sat down at a table.
“Umm … it was, err … exciting,” replied William, not wanting to mention the troubles he had with Oden. “I’m curious, Merlin, while I was away, was there any success with finding out who wrote the message on my bedroom door?”
Merlin’s usual smiling face suddenly turned grim.
“Only very limited,” he answered, sitting down next to William. “A few guards described seeing a short figure in the shadows leaving the castle at around the time the message was discovered, but that was the best description I managed to gather.”
William pondered a moment on what Merlin had said.
“If it was a short person seen, that rules out Oden’s uncle, Zorloth -- hang on … maybe Zorloth told Oden to do it --”
“You look as though you have something on your mind,” said Merlin. “Do you know something about who wrote the message which I don’t?”
“No -- no,” answered William, thinking it best not to accuse Oden until he could find some real proof, “I was just thinking about what you said that night. You remarked there was an essence of magic in the air. Doesn’t that mean a wizard did it?”
“Yes, I remember that,” replied Merlin, “but it’s hard to say if it was from a spell or an enchanted item. They would both produce the same effect.”
The fact there was magic used, a short figure was seen sneaking in the shadows and Oden was the nephew of Zorloth, cemented in William’s mind that, yes, Oden was the guilty one, but how could he positively prove it? Maybe he could talk to Sarah and Eric about it during supper. Together they could figure out a way to find some hard evidence.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” said William abruptly, “I invited Sarah and Eric for supper at the castle today, is that OK?”
“Of course,” replied Merlin, getting up and rummaging through a bookshelf. “Is there anything else you want to ask me before we start today’s lesson?”
“Umm … now that you mention it, there is,” said William sheepishly. “Would entering the Fire Ring Race be OK? Sarah and Eric already offered to train me for it.”
“As long as your lessons aren’t forgotten, I don’t see a problem with that,” smiled Merlin, and he turned back around holding a thick brown book in his hands.
“What’s in that?” asked William, eyeing the book as Merlin sat down next to him.
“It’s a book containing maps and descriptions of where many deadly creatures reside around Camelot,” replied Merlin darkly, and he handed William the book. “Read it, for the knowledge it contains may someday save your life.”
“Don’t worry, I will,” said William, thinking back to his encounter with the giant forest spider.
As Merlin rose from his seat and headed over to the bookshelf, no doubt to pull out another useful book for William to study, there was an unexpected knocking at the door.
“I wonder who that could be?” muttered Merlin, and with a click of his fingers, the door magically opened. “Ah, come in, Foddle.”
Foddle floated into the room, looking worse for wear.
“I haven’t seen you for a while. What have you been up to?” William asked him.
“I be travelling around Camelot with yer two big friends,” he replied, before flopping down on to the table, exhausted.
“Why on earth were Trevor and Albert travelling around Camelot?”
“They be going around judging cakes,” answered Foddle. “They be saying to King Arthur that Camelot be needing culinary critics. I not be knowing what that be, but all they be doing is eating non-stop!”
William shook his head in amazement.
“Those tricky little -- where are they now?”
“Oh, they be in the King’s Hall, still finishing off cakes they not be having time to so call scrutinise,” replied Foddle, and he hovered over to a small wooden table in the corner. “Old Foddle very tired. I be talking to you again later after having a quick nap.”
“Typical of those two to figure out a way to fill their stomaches,” said William to Merlin.
“Everyone has their weaknesses,” replied Merlin wisely, as he continued looking through the bookshelf. “As you will find out in the book you were given, the dangerous creatures of Camelot also have weaknesses.”
As the hours ticked by, Merlin sorted through the bookshelf, handing William book after book. Inside, they contained valuable information about spells, traps, potions and enchanted items. After quickly flipping through each book as it was handed to him, William discovered how little he actually knew.
“I think that should do for today,” remarked Merlin, pulling out one last book.
“I agree,” said William, peeking over a huge pile of books resting on the table in front of him.
“I’ll arrange for someone to take the books back to your bedroom so that you can read them later when you have time,” said Merlin, placing the last book down on the pile. “Tomorrow we’ll look at spell casting, but right now, I think it’s time for supper. Shall we go?”
“Yes, I’m starving,” said William, and he glanced down at the floor, “but what should I do with my staff?”
“Just leave it on the table and I’ll get it taken back to your room with the books,” smiled Merlin, and they left for the King’s Hall, leaving Foddle to snooze peacefully.
William Wright and the Dragon's Treasure Page 9
