 
### William Wright and the Dragon's Treasure

By

Uriah Szilagyi

SMASHWORDS EDITION

PUBLISHED BY:

Uriah Szilagyi on Smashwords

William Wright and the Dragon's Treasure

Copyright 2015 by Uriah Szilagyi

Credits to LordHannu for the amazing cover background. Website for this talented artist is: http://lordhannu.deviantart.com/

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

*****

Chapter 1: Arriving Late

It was another freezing day in the small town of Hopscotch. As the townsfolk awoke early to defrost their car windows and ready themselves for work, the students of Harsly were dressed and lining up for morning classes. All except for one, William Wright. He had forgotten to wind up his old clock the night before. As William slept-in, he dreamt of a place far away from the strict boys' boarding school he had spent the last three years of his life, a place where he wouldn't be yelled at by his skinny grade four teacher, chased by overweight school bullies or be bored to death with rants of bravery from the toupee wearing headmaster. Maybe, just maybe, today was going to be different than the rest.

"I haven't slept that good for ages," yawned William, getting out of bed and looking out the window. "Another miserable --"

Suddenly, William realised something, he wasn't woken up by his clock's alarm. A cold sweat trickled down his forehead as he looked at the hands of his clock. They weren't moving.

"Can't be late, can't be late," panicked William, frantically dressing himself in his stringent school uniform.

Before his bed sheets even had time to cool, William had grabbed his bag, flung on his blue knitted scarf and taken off for class.

"Maybe everybody's just sitting down," hoped William, pelting down the corridor leading to class. "I'm probably only a second behind."

Once he had arrived at his classroom's door, William quietly put his ear up to it and tried to hear if anything was going on inside. With a bit of luck, he'd hear the students still unpacking their bags, but there was nothing, only deathly silence.

"Might as well get this over with," sighed William to himself, and he softly knocked on the door.

From the other side of the door came the high-pitched voice of William's teacher, Miss Peebottom.

"Come in," she squawked.

The thought of seeing Miss Peebottom sent shivers down William's spine, but what could he do? There was no escape.

With a gulp, William opened the creaky door and was instantly welcomed by Miss Peebottom's cold stare. William didn't know what to do. The only thing he could think of was to try and explain why he was late.

"S-sorry Miss," stammered William, "but I-I --"

"Shut up! I don't care for your wretched excuses," screeched Miss Peebottom, peering over the top of her sharp-edged glasses. "You think you can just waltz in here whenever you like and get away with it? Well, not today, Mr Wright."

As William looked on with despair, Miss Peebottom wrenched a ridiculously thick mathematics book from her desk and began scratching questions from it onto the blackboard.

Arriving late to Miss Peebottom's class wasn't anything unusual for William. Most times, he was held up trying to avoid two fat bullies. They were named Trevor and Albert, but William always referred to them as the Twins.

The Twins were brothers in grade five who took exceptional pleasure in picking on William. Why? William wasn't quite sure, maybe it was because he was brainier than most students. As for the Twins' appearance, you couldn't imagine two boys looking more like little piglets if you tried. Both were grossly overweight, had extremely short brown hair and funny looking piggy noses. William, on the other hand, looked quite different. Having missed so many lunches trying to avoid them, he was far from overweight. He had loose fair hair, a slim face, light-blue eyes and could run like the blazers. Being able to run fast was, on many occasions, the only thing that had saved William from a fate worse than death, being wedgied in front of the whole school.

By the time Miss Peebottom had finished writing up the questions for William, the whole board was covered, and it wasn't just covered with simple additions or multiplications, either. It was covered with advanced algebra.

"OK, Mr Wright," said Miss Peebottom, a smirk visible on her thin lips, "let's see if you can forgo any of my class time in future, shall we? Drop your bag and answer those questions on the blackboard, pronto!"

With the other students sniggering to each other, William slowly walked over to the blackboard, picked up a stubby piece of chalk and began writing up the answers.

"Hurry up," barked Miss Peebottom, as William desperately tried to work out the moon's gravitational pull on Pluto, "we don't have all day."

Miss Peebottom always took joy in making William look like a fool in front of the class. Whenever she could, she would ask him the hardest questions in an endless quest to trip him up, but why... why would a teacher be so interested in making a student suffer? William had a good idea that it had to do with Miss Peebottom's own lack of brain matter. Going by what he overheard two gossiping teachers say about her, Miss Peebottom wasn't even smart enough to pass her exams to become a properly qualified teacher, and it was only because her brother knew the headmaster, Mr Boil, that she was allowed to teach at Harsly at all. Whether it was true or not, William didn't care. Miss Peebottom had it out for him, and that was that.

After William had completed half of the questions, Miss Peebottom began getting immensely irritated by his ability to answer the questions correctly. She had been referring back to her mathematics book on a regular basis to check his progress. With her frustration building, Miss Peebottom slammed the book on her desk with fury.

"Get on with it!" she shouted at William, trying to pressure him. "Stop wasting my class time with your feeble attempt to answer those questions."

Ignoring Miss Peebottom's rage, William continued on, determined not to let her get to him. In a short period of time, William had finished all the questions. Symbolically, he placed the chalk down and turned to face her.

"OK, Mr Wright," snorted Miss Peebottom, her eyes darting up and down the blackboard. "Since you think you're so clever and know so much, perhaps you would like to go to the headmaster's office and explain your late attendance. Pick up your things and head there immediately!"

"Yes, Miss," replied William, and he picked up his bag and left, satisfied he had shown her up once again.

As he walked through the dilapidated school to the headmaster's office, William remembered how good life was before his parents had abandoned him at Harsly. At his old school, William had many good friends and got along extremely well with his teacher. If it wasn't for his parents' bizarre change of behaviour after winning big one day, he'd still be going there. That was in the past now. He was here and his parents were off, travelling the globe. Their selfish minds only concerned with how much joy they could squeeze into each day. It seemed so unreal that people could be changed so much by money, but there was no denying it, William's parents had changed, and it wasn't for the better, either.

After making his way down a long corridor, William had arrived at the headmaster's office. He knocked on the army green door in front of him and waited.

"You may enter," boomed Mr Boil from behind the door.

William opened the door and stepped inside to see Mr Boil sitting behind an expensive mahogany table, cleaning his beloved Vietnam War medals.

Mr Boil was a short round man with tiny mole-like eyes who never went anywhere without covering his baldness with a scruffy toupee. The toupee itself looked ridicules and was the bud of many jokes as it never seemed to sit squarely on his head.

In Mr Boil's office, there sat a proud assortment of military memorabilia: guns, helmets, flags. You name it, he had it. None of it, however, meant as much to him as his beloved Purple Heart medallion. It was polished and cleaned hourly and was locked away in a secure glass cabinet. Some students at Harsly believed Mr Boil to be a brave man with the way he talked about charging into enemy fire and taking people out with his bare hands, but not William, he had seen Mr Boil sulking over little things like paper cuts and itchy jumpers more than once. After such unusual scenes, William had often wondered if Mr Boil had actually received any of the medals adorning his office. That was one mystery, assumed William, which would never be answered.

Once Mr Boil had finished cleaning the second layer of polish off his medals, he glanced up at William and groaned. He then rose from his desk and placed the medals on a shelf before sitting back down, looking irritated.

"So, it's you again?" he said to William.

"Yes, sir," answered William humbly. "Miss Peebottom sent me here to --"

"Let me guess... explain your late attendance?"

"Umm, that's right, sir," replied William.

Mr Boil, once again, rose from his seat, but this time, he casually walked around his office, staring up at his medals and slowly nodding to himself. This indicated to William that the usual war hero speech was just around the corner.

"You don't have a clue how good you've got it, Mr Wright," began Mr Boil, his chest pushed outward. "When I was back in those leech infested jungles of Nam, soldiers who showed up late for inspections were sent to the front line." He slapped his chest. "Only tough men like me could deal with that sort of harshness, a boy like you wouldn't last one day. Is that understood?"

William couldn't help but find the sight of Mr Boil standing proudly with a comical looking toupee resting on his head funny. He looked completely absurd.

"Yes, sir," sniggered William.

Detecting William's less than serious tone, Mr Boil squinted at him and said angrily, "Because this is the third time this week you've been late to Miss Peebottom's class, I'm going to make sure you won't forget this punishment anytime soon. Maybe then you'll understand what it was like for me in Nam."

William instantly knew this didn't sound good. Most times, all he'd been forced to do is clean the blackboard after class for a week or two.

Looking extremely cross, Mr Boil sat back down.

"The punishment is as follows," he announced to William. "At the end of each day and for the period of one month, you, Mr Wright, will go to the kitchen and clean every single dish Mrs Dumpling tells you to -- no questions asked. If you ever show up late to Miss Peebottom's class again, your punishment will be increased to the remainder of the year."

"But it's not always my fault I'm late," retorted William, being shocked by the severity of the punishment. "Trevor and Albert hold me up at lunchtime."

Mr Boil looked William in the eye and answered back sharply, "I don't like slackers like you. If the cane was allowed, I'd give you a good whopping for your disobedience. Now get out of my office!"

Knowing not to push his luck, William left Mr Boil's office without saying another word.

Along the way back to class, William's mind once again drifted off to the happier moments of his life. The happiest being his seventh birthday. On that day, he had received a present from his great-grandmother. The present was a scarf. On a card his great-grandmother had attached to the scarf, she wrote:

Dear William

This scarf has been passed down through our family for countless generations. Please take care of it and wear it with pride.

Wishing you the best birthday ever,

Great Granny Lucy

William did exactly what his great-grandmother said and wore the scarf with pride. In some strange way, William always felt an attachment to the scarf. He felt it was from a distant land, a land he would be visiting one day.

Before William had realised it, he had arrived at the dreaded door leading into Miss Peebottom's class. After the formality of knocking, William walked in.

"Ah, look who's finally showed up?" remarked Miss Peebottom sarcastically.

William didn't say anything and headed for a vacant seat at the back of the dusty old classroom.

"I hope you've learnt your lesson," she continued. "You don't want to have to see the headmaster again, do you?"

"No, Miss Pee-bottom," replied William sarcastically as he sat down.

Miss Peebottom looked annoyed by William's cheeky response, but she didn't say anything for fear of the other students picking up on it.

As William unpacked his things, Miss Peebottom made an announcement to the class.

"There will be a maths quiz going around shortly. I've scaled it to match our brightest student, Mr Wright."

After a helpless student had finished handing out the quizzes for her, Miss Peebottom peered up at the classroom's clock and sneered, "You've got five minutes to finish the quiz. Oh, and I forgot to mention, anyone receiving a mark lower than ninety-nine percent will have detention at lunchtime."

William knew Miss Peebottom was trying to get back at him for mispronouncing her name, but he felt confident he could handle any exam she could throw at him. As he opened the first page, it struck him that the questions were from grade six exams!

"Smarty pants. Look what he's got us into," William overheard students mumbling to each other, as they opened their quiz papers.

"What am I supposed to do?" pondered William. "If I don't pass the quiz, Miss Peebottom will put me in detention, but if I do, the rest of the students will hate me because I'll be the only one that does."

A moment or two later, William realised what needed to be done. It would be hard. It would push him to his limits, but it was the only way to beat Miss Peebottom and still retain a mutual relationship with the class students.

Frantically, William started the quiz, ploughing through mathematical calculations at a pace that would put Einstein to shame. Amazingly, he managed to finish the whole quiz in twenty seconds flat. That, he hoped, would give him just enough time to sneak his completed quiz around to the other students.

With Miss Peebottom engrossed in reading Maths for Toddlers, William leaned over to the student next to him.

"Here," he whispered, handing the quiz over. "It's finished. Pass it around."

He then nodded in Miss Peebottom's direction and made a zip gesture across his lip.

The quiz went zooming from student to student until it landed on the very last table, Egor's table. Egor wore astonishingly thick glasses and suffered acute short sightedness. This meant he would constantly have to stare down at William's finished quiz and then back to his paper to write the answer. This extra time factor was not calculated into William's original plan.

"One minute left," called out Miss Peebottom, as she twisted her long scrawny neck and looked up at the classroom's clock once more.

"O-oh," fretted William, "Egor's still got my quiz! If Miss Peebottom catches me without it, she'll send me back to Mr Boil, and this time, he'll really have a freak-out!"

Miss Peebottom continued to stare up at the classroom's clock and call out the time.

"Fifteen seconds left... ten seconds..."

All of a sudden, Egor turned around and handed William's finished quiz to a student behind him. As the final seconds ticked down, the quiz went flying between the students. A moment before Miss Peebottom looked back towards the class, the quiz landed safely on William's desk.

"Pencils down!" snapped Miss Peebottom, eyeballing each student.

With the students all sitting quietly, she adjusted her glasses and grinned at William.

"I hope each of you enjoyed the quiz and liked the way it was adjusted to meet Mr Wright's level."

To her surprise, William and the other students smiled back at her. Not knowing what it meant, she continued on.

"Before you hand in your quizzes, I need to talk to you about tomorrow's field trip to the Pimple Pompous art museum. There will be other schools attending, too." She glared at the students. "That means you'd better be on your best behaviour."

William was looking forward to the fieldtrip all week as only the grade four students were going. That meant the Twins wouldn't be there. Just as William began imagining how much fun it was going to be to get out of Harsly for a day, Miss Peebottom said something that would change all that.

"Yes, and one last thing," she said, "Mr Boil has arranged for the grade five students to come with us."

With that news, William now dreaded the fieldtrip. The Twins were going to be there. His mind rapidly filled with nightmarish thoughts of being bullied on the bus and wedgied in front of everyone.

Suddenly, the school lunch bell rang.

"OK class, settle down." shouted Miss Peebottom, over the noise of shuffling students. "File up in one line and place your quizzes down on my desk." A wicked smile stretched across her gaunt face. "I suspect you'll all be missing out on lunch today."

The students quickly filed up into a rough line and began placing their quizzes down on her desk.

"T-this is impossible," muttered Miss Peebottom, as she scanned through the quizzes. "Everybody can't get one hundred percent!"

As each student placed down their quiz, Miss Peebottom had no choice but to let them go to lunch. After all, they did receive over ninety-nine percent.

Finally, it was William's turn. Miss Peebottom's eyes immediately sharpened.

"You think you've outwitted me, haven't you?" she snarled.

"Miss?" William tried to wipe a big smile off his face.

"I know you had something to do with this. Confess now or I'll make you suffer for it later."

"Sorry, Miss, but I don't have a clue what you're on about."

Miss Peebottom's right eye began twitching uncontrollably at William's obvious disregard to her threats, but what could she do? She had no evidence. Much to her anger, she was forced to let William out to lunch.

Outside of class, William was surprised to find the other students happily waiting for him.

"You taught Miss Peebottom a good lesson that time," said Egor, a friendly smile on his face. "I've never seen her so shocked."

"Yeah," agreed the other students, looking at William with respect, "you really showed her up. Good work."

"Thanks everyone," replied William, "but it was really nothing."

"How can you say such a thing?" questioned Egor. "No one could've answered those questions like you did. You're a genius!"

William looked ashamedly downward. He knew the only reason he could answer the questions was because he spent so much time studying in the library to avoid the Twins.

"I'm no genius," replied William. "I... err, I just study a lot --"

"Wedgie time, bookworm!"

William spun around to see a huge undulating blob of fat ploughing towards him. It was Albert, and he looked furious.

"I've got to go," said William quickly, flinging his bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you guys later."

Without wasting another second, William bolted for the only place he knew the Twins wouldn't dare bully him, the library, but was he fast enough? Albert could always manage a single burst of speed, and today he looked well and truly fuelled up with high energy burgers.

"Almost there," puffed William, successfully out running Albert, "I've just got this last corner to --"

Screech!

William stopped dead in his tracks.

"Ha! Think you could outsmart us, didn't you, bookworm?" said Trevor bitterly, standing at the entrance of the library.

Not bothering to answer, William swiftly turned around to run back along the corridor, but too late, Albert had caught up and was now blocking his retreat. It looked like William had fallen into a trap. He was doomed.

"So, what's the brainy bookworm gonna do now?" called out Trevor to William. "Mommy's not here to save you."

"Yeah," sniggered Albert, tearing open a caramel Big Boy bar to replenish his energy supply.

What was William to do? Both escape routes were blocked. There was no way he could sidestep Albert or Trevor as each of them took up almost half the width of the corridor. What William needed was a plan and a fantastic one at that.

"Surely we can talk about this," suggested William, slowly undoing his scarf as the Twins closed in.

"What's there to talk about?" replied Trevor, now only a few yards from William. "Lunchtime is wedgie time, isn't that right, Albert?"

"Yeah, wedgie time, wedgie time," chanted Albert excitedly, chewing into his Big Boy bar.

"It doesn't have to be like this," continued William.

Trevor laughed. "Like what? You getting the most painful wedgie of your life?"

"No," answered William, "you two numskulls banging your heads together."

"You're gonna pay for that threat," snapped Trevor. "Grab him, Albert!"

There was a moment's pause as Albert's feeble mind processed the order, but once it had, he was off, charging towards William like an angry bull. A split-second before being tackled to the ground, William threw his scarf up into the air and went flat against the wall. Albert, who eyes where now focused on the scarf, continued running forward.

"STOP!" screamed Trevor.

By the time Albert's brain could workout what was going on, it was too late.

SLAM!

Albert crashed into Trevor with the force of an overweight sumo wrestler.

With the Twins lying on the ground, William hastily picked up his scarf and headed for the library.

As William walked through the large double doors leading into the library, he noticed a cardboard box full of books. Beside the box, a sign read: Due to bad condition, all books herein are free to students.

"Wow," thought William, walking over to the box. "First I managed to outwit the Twins, now this. Things are looking up."

Soon, however, William discovered why the books were being given away. They were falling to bits.

"This is just a pile of junk," he mumbled.

Out of desperation, William plunged his hand deep into the box, hoping to find some books in more respectable condition than the ones on top.

"What the?" William's fingers made contact with a cold, scaly object.

Wondering what the strange object was, William took hold of it and tried to pull it free, but it didn't budge.

"C'mon," he muttered, continuing to try and dislodge it.

Crash!

The whole box flipped over, spilling books everywhere.

William looked down towards his hand and discovered he was holding onto a dark green book with golden writing on the cover, the title read: Merlin's Book of Spells. Before he had a chance to open it up, the end of lunch bell rang. Not daring to end up late to Miss Peebottom's class, William quickly stuffed the strange book into his bag and took off at full speed down the maze of corridors leading back to class.

It looked like he'd have to wait till after class to find out what the book was all about.

Chapter 2: The Book of Spells

Other than Miss Peebottom giving him dirty looks, the afternoon class went by without much happening to William. During class, however, one thing did bother him. Why hadn't the Twins tried to get him as he left the library? They normally chased him. Maybe they were planning something big to get back at him instead.

After the bell rang for supper, William headed out of Miss Peebottom's class and straight to the school's large dining hall. Along the way, William noticed the other students avoiding him.

"Stay away from him," he heard one of them whisper. "I don't want to be head flushed."

It seemed the Twins had been busy bullying William's class mates during lunchtime. They obviously felt threatened by William making new friends and potential allies.

Once inside the grubby dining hall, William filled his tray up with all that was available to the students: putrid gruel and a week old bread roll. With the Twins nowhere to be seen, he seated himself in a secluded spot and gazed into the slimy pile of food matter wobbling in his tray. The smell that rose up from the tray was sickening, but there was nothing else on the menu.

William pinched his nose and took a small spoonful.

"Yuck! This is horrible," he said, spitting out the gruel. "Maybe I'll have a look at that weird book I found in the library before having anymore."

After going through his bag, William pulled out the ancient looking book. Slowly, he opened it up to the first chapter and read:

INTRODUCTION TO CASTING SPELLS.

The first step in learning to cast a spell is achieving the pronunciation of that spell correctly. Many a time has one been chased by an angry dwarf and wished to cast an invisibility spell, only to accidentally make one's clothes disappear.

The pages of the book were filled with the most elegant writing William had ever seen. The first chapter contained lots of information about how to cast spells, how to mix potions up and a list of practical spells that every wizard should know. William was an exceptionally fast reader for his age, and in no time, he had read the entire first chapter. At the end of the chapter, there was a short quiz. William chose to skip it and see what chapter two was about, but when he tried to open it up, he discovered the pages firmly stuck together.

"What a pity," he thought depressingly. "This book really caught my interest."

He then peered down on the quiz and read:

TESTING YOUR KNOWLEDGE

How would one:

1 -- Extinguish a candle made of black beeswax.

2 -- Temporarily silence a wicked witch from casting curses.

3 -- Deter a garish goblin.

"I know the answers to these," muttered William, skimming through the list. "The first one's easy. It's just a matter of saying --"

William unknowingly said the spell out loud.

All of a sudden, the lights in the windowless hall flickered and died, leaving everybody in pitch blackness.

"Who on earth turned out the lights," William heard Mr Boil bellow, as students and teachers accidentally spilled their suppers on the floor.

"Go and check the fuse box," squawked Miss Peebottom.

"You better not mean me," answered Mr Boil. "I'm the headmaster, and nobody tells me what to do."

Just then, when the hall had quietened down a bit, everybody heard a cheeky student sing out:

"Mr Boil, Mr Boil,

He wears a funny wig,

Mr Boil, Mr Boil,

He's smelly like a pig."

The hall filled with giggles and laughter.

"Out of my way, move!" roared Mr Boil, stampeding through students as he made his way out of the hall.

"I couldn't have had anything to do with this... could I?" pondered William, waiting for the lights to come back on.

Abruptly, the lights flickered on and Mr Boil walked back into the hall. William noticed Mr Boil looking a bit bewildered as he sat back down at the teachers' table. Maybe it wasn't the fuse after all.

With lights on once more, William turned back to examining the book. As he glanced down at the quiz page, he discovered something very unusual: a gold coloured tick was next to the first question.

"That tick wasn't there when I last looked... was it?" William tried hard to remember. "This book isn't really magic, is it?" He grinned. "I guess there's only one way I'm going to find out for sure."

William then whispered the spell for the second question and anxiously waited for something outrageous to happen like the roof taking off or the chairs to start dancing.

"Nothing, what an anticlimax," he said with a sigh.

But then he remembered something, the tick! William quickly looked down at the page and hoped. The seconds felt like hours, but it was happening, a golden tick was magically appearing next to the question.

"This is amazing," he said excitedly, "but what about something weird \--"

Suddenly, William heard a loud commotion going on at the teachers' table.

"What's the problem?" asked Mr Boil hysterically, standing over Miss Peebottom. "Speak to me!"

Miss Peebottom sat bulgy eyed, frantically pointing at her throat and making wheezing sounds.

One of the more sensible teachers jumped out of their chair and ran out to call an ambulance, just as Mrs Dumpling, the school's extremely overweight cook, charged out of the kitchen.

"Out of my way," she said confidently, storming through the teachers and students surrounding Miss Peebottom. "I've seen this a hundred times."

In one quick action, she heaved Miss Peebottom up from her chair and grabbed her around the lower chest, ready to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre.

"Ready or not, here we go," she said, ignoring Miss Peebottom's desperate protests. "One an' a two an' a three, out!"

After four of these crushing compressions, each one making Miss Peebottom look more and more frazzled, the ambulance officers rushed in. Quickly, they ran over to Miss Peebottom and persuaded Mrs Dumpling to let go of her.

Miss Peebottom looked a mess. Her hair, which was normally done up in a painfully looking tight bun, was now everywhere. Her glasses had fallen off, landing in a student's bowl of gruel, and her old fashioned teacher's uniform was badly torn.

The officers checked Miss Peebottom's breathing and made an unexpected discovery.

"What! She wasn't choking?" questioned Mr Boil.

"No, it appears not," replied one of the ambulance officers. "She's fine. She just lost her voice, that's all."

Miss Peebottom dizzily nodded her head, indicating that the ambulance officer was indeed correct.

"Her voice will probably come back by tomorrow," explained the ambulance officer, "but in the mean time, I suggest she's left alone to rest."

With their job done, the ambulance officers packed up their equipment and left, leaving a sheepish looking Mrs Dumpling to help Miss Peebottom out of the hall.

"OK, shows over," yelled Mr Boil, clearing the mess off the teachers' table, so he could start devouring his second serving of truffle soup. "Get back to eating your suppers."

William stared back down at the book, thrilled.

"I guess that settles it. The book and the spells in it are really magic," he thought. "The second spell I whispered did work to a degree. Next time, I'll have to pronounce it better. That's why it probably affected Miss Peebottom." He laughed quietly. "Though, she's pretty close to being a full-blown witch, anyhow."

While Mr Boil sat happily gulping down his soup and muttering to himself, William decided to secretly cast the spell for the final question, the one to deter a garish goblin. This would confirm a suspicion he had about the book.

"Here goes nothing," said William softly.

He then took in a deep breath to cast the third spell.

"Goblins small, goblins tall,

I cast this spell, to rid you all."

A split-second after the words left William's lips, an ear-piercing noise filled the hall.

"It's the fire alarm!" shrieked Mr Boil, as he leapt from his chair and ran for the nearest exit, spilt soup covering his groin.

"Everybody get to the nearest exit and stay calm," called out a less panicked teacher.

William excitedly looked down at the book, and sure enough, a small tick appeared next to the third question.

With trembling hands, he attempted to open the book up to chapter two.

"I knew it, I knew it," he said repeatedly, as the pages of chapter two freely opened. "The chapters only open up if you successfully answer the quiz at the end correctly... but what happens at the last chapter when there's no more pages to reveal? I guess I'll find out when I get to it."

William then looked up and discovered the hall completely empty, the usual mouse-sized cockroaches were the only thing remaining. Hastily, he stuffed the book into his bag and ran out towards the playground, where the evacuation point was located.

"E-e-everybody just stay calm, j-j-just stay calm," stammered Mr Boil to the students and teachers.

As William waited in the playground for the all clear, he slipped the book out again and began reading the newly discovered chapter. He was surprised to discover that this chapter talked more about mythical creatures, like dragons and trolls, than of magic. While reading, he learnt that goblins have large ears, giving them excellent hearing. That was why the third spell made such a deafening noise.

With undivided attention, William continued reading the second chapter, only stopping after a fire-fighter arrived to inform everyone of what had happened.

"Could I have your attention, please?" said the fire-fighter loudly. "It was just a false alarm, there's no fire. It's safe to head back in. One last thing, however, I'd like to speak to the headmaster."

"Over here," answered Mr Boil sheepishly, poking his head out from behind a tree.

William hadn't realised that Mr Boil, avoiding his responsibilities as headmaster and man of action, was cowering behind the very tree he was resting against. Thinking it would be interesting to hear what the fire-fighter had to say, William packed his book away and listened intently.

"Are you aware that we found a woman in the school?" the fire-fighter questioned Mr Boil.

"A woman?" replied Mr Boil, looking completely dumfounded.

"Yes, a woman. We've called an ambulance to pick her up. She seems to have tripped down the stairs and bumped her head trying to get to the exit. I think she's one of your teach --"

"Peebottom!"

"Did you just call me a pee bottom?" said the fire-fighter angrily.

"M-me? N-n-no," stammered Mr Boil. "I-I-I was just referring to the t-t-teacher, Miss Peebottom."

The fire-fighter looked suspiciously at Mr Boil.

"I hope you've got a good excuse as to why you forgot her."

"W-well, yes, of course I do," replied Mr Boil, looking worried and desperate for a scapegoat. "It was that student over there." He pointed accusingly at William. "He was the one who held up the evacuation and caused me to forget about her."

"Is that true, son?" the fire-fighter asked William.

William looked at Mr Boil and noticed him cracking his knuckles in a threatening way. He knew if he didn't say yes, Mr Boil would definitely keep him on kitchen duty forever.

"Yes, it's true, sir," sighed William.

"That's alright, son, everybody makes mistakes," said the fire-fighter, patting William on the shoulder.

Mr Boil coughed lightly to bring the fire-fighter's attention back to him.

"I guess your waiting for an apology?" asked the fire-fighter.

"Well, of course," replied Mr Boil, looking pleased with himself.

"There's still no excuse for the amount of incompetence you displayed," snapped the fire-fighter. "If you forgot about one of your own staff, I'd hate to think what could happen to your students."

"But --"

"I'm not interested in your pathetic excuses. Good day!"

Mr Boil stood frozen as he watched the fire-fighter storm off towards his fire truck.

"What are you looking at?!" Mr Boil shouted at William, and promptly stomped off towards the school.

With his book safely packed away, William headed back inside the school and onward to the dining hall to complete his punishment: cleaning dishes. There was no way he dared skip it, not with Mr Boil being so cross with him.

Upon opening the creaky doors leading into the hall, William heard a strange snorting noise emanating from within the kitchen.

"What on earth could that be?" he wondered, worried that his previous spell might have brought back some sort of hideous beast.

Cautiously, William made his way across the hall and onward to the kitchen's door. His heart racing, he peeked around the door and looked inside the kitchen. What he saw was so absolutely revolting, he felt instantly like puking. Mrs Dumpling sat hunched over a small dirty table with trays of students' meals piled so high they almost touched the ceiling. In one hand, she held a large wooden spoon, which she plunged into a bucket filled to the brim with leftover gruel. In the other, she grasped a stale bread roll that quickly found its way down her bottomless stomach. As she slobbered and gobbled this foul menu down, she made satisfied grunting noises. These grunts were the sound William had heard in the dining hall.

Not wanting to embarrass her, William thought it best to silently slide his head back behind the door and then knock to let her know someone was entering, but just as William was beginning to pull his head in, the door creaked. Immediately, Mrs Dumpling stopped feeding and spun around to face him.

"Err, hello," said William, trying not to pay any attention to the dribble of gruel which hung from Mrs Dumpling's chin. "I'm here to clean the dishes."

Mrs Dumpling's face turned as red as a radish, but it wasn't from embarrassment. It was from rage.

"Haven't you learnt to knock before entering!" she shouted, heaving herself up from the table and waddling over to a cupboard.

"Sorry, but I forgot," answered William, knowing better than to mention the snorting noises which had drawn him in.

"Here," she said, handing William a dish mop from the cupboard. "Start cleaning!"

With the dish mop in hand, William headed over to the kitchen's pot filled sink and began his punishment.

As William scrubbed a gruel encrusted pot, he noticed a half-eaten Big Boy bar and a small scrunched up piece of paper lying next to the garbage bin. Instantly, he realised the Twins had been in the kitchen. What had they been up to?

Being curious to find out what was written on the paper and escape the strong sweaty odour that wafted from Mrs Dumpling's body, William hurriedly cleaned the last of the dishes.

"Umm... Mrs Dumpling, I've finished the last of the dishes... could I go now?" he asked, a tone of desperation in his voice.

Mrs Dumpling, who had been scoffing down cream cakes during his efforts, looked up with a big fat smile and replied, "You think you've really finished?"

"Well, yes, all the dishes are clean," answered William, looking a little bit confused.

With cream all over her month, Mrs Dumpling struggled up and opened a side door to another room.

"You haven't even started on this pile yet," she said with a laugh.

William's jaw dropped at the scene that lay before him. There was literally a room overflowing with filthy pots and pans.

"But -- but -- but," sputtered William.

"No buts. Get to work," snapped Mrs Dumpling.

Knowing he had no choice, William walked depressingly into the dimly lit room to pick out a pot to clean.

"While you're doing that, I'm going out for a couple of minutes," called out Mrs Dumpling, wiping the remainder of a chocolate laxative bar from her flabby cheeks, a bar William noticed she had a whole box full of in the cupboard.

As soon as Mrs Dumpling had left to attend to more private matters, William began pacing up and down the kitchen.

"This isn't fair," he thought angrily. "I wonder if there's any way I can get out of cleaning all those -- I've got it!"

Quickly, William ran over to his school bag and started rummaging through it. Soon, he had pulled out the book of spells and was flipping through the pages of chapter one.

"I remember it's in here somewhere," he murmured. "Here it is, spells for a bachelor."

This was one of the most useful sections in chapter one. It contained all sorts of spells to keep a household clean and tidy, no matter how much of a mess it was in. Luckily for William, it had just the right spell to take care of dirty pots and pans.

"Well, here it goes," said William apprehensively, and he cast the spell.

Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then, out of the corner of his eye, William saw one of the pots shudder, then another and another. It wasn't just the pots, either. The whole kitchen seemed to come alive!

"It's working!" cheered William, as the pots and pans floated over to the sink and were washed by a dancing dish mop.

Over the noise of clattering dishes, William remembered the piece of paper lying next to the bin.

"I wonder what those Twins were up to?" he pondered, making his way over to the small bin. "Surely no good, I bet."

As William bent down to pick up the tightly scrunched up piece of paper, he was startled by a ruff voice.

"What'd you think you're doing?"

William looked around confused, not knowing where the voice had come from.

"Down here, elephant ears."

William peered down at the grubby bin.

"Did you say something?" he asked, unsure if he was talking to the correct thing.

The bin's lid suddenly flapped open.

"Yeah, I said something," it answered irritably. "What'd you think you're doing?"

The odour that rose up from the bin's mouth was absolutely revolting. Pinching his nose, William managed to answer it.

"Me? Well... I was just about to pickup that piece of paper," he said, pointing to the paper on the ground.

"And throw it in me, I hope?" questioned the bin suspiciously.

"No, I was going to take it with me and read it later --"

"Hang on there, beetle brain, you're going to take it out of this room?"

"Yes, of course," answered William.

"Can't let that happen, frog face. Garbage goes in the garbage bin, and that looks like garbage to me," said the bin, and it scooped up the piece of paper with its mouth and swallowed it.

"Hey, I need that!" shouted William, having just about enough of the insulting bin.

The bin paid no attention to William's objections and kept its lid firmly shut.

"I'm warning you," said William crossly. "Spit that paper out, or I'll take it by force."

The bin still didn't budge.

"That's it! No more mister nice guy," snapped William, and he jumped on top of the bin to pry its lid open.

The instant William grabbed onto the bin, it began to bounce around violently, trying to throw him off. It was like riding a bucking bronco. William was smashed against tables, chairs, dishes and trays, but he still held on. After a couple of adrenalin pumped minutes, the bin began to tire and lose the strength to keep its lid firmly shut.

"Ha! I've got you now," yelled William, successfully prying open the bin's lid.

William thrust his arm deep into the bin's smelly depths and felt around for the tight ball of paper. All the time, the deranged bin continued to jump around feverishly, determined not to lose.

"Yes," shouted William, jumping off the bin with the prized paper in his hand.

The bin sighed. "If I was a couple of years' younger, hippo hips, I would've won."

"Sure you would have, bucket brain," answered William, and he tucked away the paper in his bag.

During all the excitement, William had completely forgotten something, Mrs Dumpling.

"Oh no," panicked William, looking around at the condition of the kitchen. "Mrs Dumpling's sure to be back any second now. What am I supposed to do?"

But just then, before his very eyes, the items began magically gliding back to their original places. It wasn't a minute too soon, either. The sound of Mrs Dumpling's laboured breathing could be heard. She was in the dining hall!

Frantically, William ran over to where he last left the magic book and flipped through the pages, looking for the spell to un-enchant the kitchen before Mrs Dumpling waddled in.

"C'mon, it's gotta be in here," he said tensely, as the breathing got louder and louder. "Yes! Here it is."

As fast as his lips could move, William said the spell. He then dived over to his bag and rammed the book inside. The very next second, Mrs Dumpling barged into the room.

"Get back to cleaning the --" She paused and looked at the huge pile of shimmering dishes resting next to the sink. "It's impossible. You couldn't have cleaned all those dishes?"

"Yep, it was hard work, but I managed to pull it off," answered William, trying to look calm and collected as if nothing special had just happened.

Mrs Dumpling shuffled around the kitchen and examined each pot. Finally, she looked up at William.

"OK then," she said irritably, frustrated by his unbelievable results, "get outta here."

Hastily, William left the kitchen.

After a quick walk through the school's hallways and up a spiral staircase, William had arrived at his dormitory room.

"Ah, finally, a place of tranquillity," he said to himself, opening the door of the shoebox sized room.

As soon as he was inside, William threw his bag onto his small wooden bed and went to peer out of the window. It was dark and windy. Suddenly, a piece of paper flew past the window.

"The paper in the kitchen," remembered William. "How could I forget?"

William hurried over to his bag and rummaged through it. Soon, he had pulled out the ball of paper he was searching for.

"Those no good Twins, I wonder what they were planning?" he pondered, unravelling the scrunched up paper.

He stared down at the badly written note and read:

The Big Plan -- Code Named: Worm Pie

1. Go into kitchen and steal meat pie

2. Find worms in garden

3. Fill pie with worms

4. Make bookworm think we are his friends on fieldtrip

5. Get him to eat worm pie

6. Laugh in bookworm's face

William grinned. "So, that's why they were in the kitchen. Well, I'll have to come up with a plan of my own, just to teach them a lesson."

His mind already filling with ideas, William rushed back over to his bag and pulled out a pen and paper. In a couple minutes, he had written up a devious plan of his own, a plan which the Twins would never suspect.

"This'll teach them," he yawned, reading the plan back to himself.

Once he had filed the plan away into a drawer, William glanced towards the book of spells poking out of his bag. He was tempted to pick it up and begin reading the next chapter, but he decided to finish it off the following night. He was too tired right now.

After sliding his bag off his bed, William crawled under its itchy woollen sheets and fell fast asleep, the thoughts of tomorrow bringing a cheeky grin to his face.

Chapter 3: Worm Pie

William had awoken extra early that morning, partially from the excitement of the next day but also because his plan required it. With everyone still asleep, he crept out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. Once inside, he took what appeared to be a chocolate bar from one of the cupboards and then hurried back to his room. This was the first step of the plan he had written the night before. The other steps would be implemented during the fieldtrip.

The morning's breakfast went smoothly with both Miss Peebottom absent and the Twins keeping their distance. Miss Peebottom had been released from hospital late the previous night and hadn't been seen outside her room since. This gave William the hope that Mr Boil might arrange for another teacher to take them on the fieldtrip.

After breakfast, Mr Boil ordered the students to head out to Harsly's jail like entrance and line-up along the footpath. Once there, they were to wait for the bus to arrive. The students were lucky and didn't have to wait long.

"All aboard," called out the bus driver, after coming to a stop in front of the students and opening the doors.

"You heard the man, get on!" barked Mr Boil.

The students quickly filed into the rickety bus.

Before the bus had arrived, Mr Boil warned the students not to talk to the bus driver, Mr Wilder, whether he was driving or not. It seemed a bit extreme, but maybe is was for the better, as Mr Wilder was one of the most edgy looking individuals William had ever seen. He had more tattoos than teeth and a vicious looking clean shaven head. William felt sure that there would be some sort of conflict between Mr Boil and Mr Wilder today on the bus trip. It was just a matter of time.

After William had climbed aboard, he noticed the Twins sitting in the back row watching him and giggling stupidly to each other. William managed to find a seat at the front of the bus, just behind Mr Wilder. As William sat down, the Twins quickly got up, forcefully removed two students sitting behind him and sat down in their places.

"How's it going there, William?" asked Trevor, half a smile visible between his flabby cheeks.

"Aren't you going to wedgie me or something after what happened at the library?" questioned William, knowing full well of their dumb plan.

"Naaah, that's all in the past. We want to be your friends, isn't that right Albert?"

Albert looked up with his small piggy eyes and agreed, "Yeah, we're your friends now."

The Twins kept this apparently friendly discussion up with William until being silenced by Mr Boil.

"Shut up you two," he said sharply. "I don't want any talking. What do you think this trip is meant to be, fun?"

With Miss Peebottom running late, Mr Wilder began getting more and more agitated. He had a deadline to meet.

"If we don't get going now, we'll be late," he said to Mr Boil, his lip twitching slightly.

"Let's wait one more minute," replied Mr Boil, peering out of the window and up towards the school. "Miss Peebottom should be here any second now."

"OK, one more minute, but that's it!" snapped Mr Wilder.

The minute ticked pass.

"It doesn't look like Miss Peebottom will be coming," remarked Mr Wilder, reaching over to close the bus doors.

Suddenly, Miss Peebottom ran up the steps, wearing a large bandage wrapped around her head. It was there to cover the bump she had suffered the day before.

"Thought I wasn't going to make it, eh?" she said coldly to Mr Wilder, before taking a seat.

"Err, yeah," he answered, while mumbling something under his breath.

"OK, that's everybody then, let's get going!" ordered Mr Boil.

Mr Wilder started the bus's rattly engine, released the handbrake and took off towards the museum at a dangerously high-speed.

Screeeeech!

The bus slid sideways around a corner, just barely missing another vehicle, and roared down a backstreet.

"Are you crazy or something?" shouted Mr Boil fearfully. "You could've killed us back there."

Mr Wilder laughed. "You think you could actually trick me?"

"I don't know what you're going on about?" said Mr Boil, his knuckles as white as snow from grasping the rails.

"Trying to make me fail the contract I signed," replied Mr Wilder. "Well, it won't work. I saw right through your stalling tactic with Miss Peebottom." He punched the accelerator pedal to the floor. "We'll make it to the museum... one way or another."

Screaming like a madwoman, Miss Peebottom jumped from her seat and started scratching at the windows. All sanity had left her. The brave war hero, Mr Boil, followed suit and began rocking back and forth in his seat.

"I-I-I promise," he begged Mr Wilder, "you'll still get paid even if you don't get us to the museum by ten "o'clock. Please, just stop the bus."

With the squeal of tyres and the smell of burning rubber, everybody was flung forward in their seats. The bus had stopped.

"We have arrived at our destination. Please, exit the vehicle in an orderly fashion," announced Mr Wilder, and he opened the bus's doors.

Mr Boil instantly jumped from his seat and ran out of the bus screaming, followed by a frazzled Miss Peebottom and queasy looking Twins. It seemed the trip had played havoc with their donut filled stomachs. The rest of the students, including William, thought the trip was better than the best roller coaster ride. They got off the bus with smiles that stretched from ear to ear.

Mr Wilder peeked his head out from between the bus's doors and called out to Mr Boil, "I'll be back to pick you up at two "o'clock."

This didn't go down too well with Mr Boil, who after a little lay down had managed to pull himself together.

"No way am I getting back on that bus!" he replied doggedly.

"Hey, I completed my part of the contract," shouted Mr Wilder. "You never added a clause which dealt with my driving style. You still need to pay me."

Mr Boil instantly backed down. He knew Mr Wilder was right, but not only that, he felt intimidated by him.

"You'll still get paid," replied Mr Boil, "but don't bother coming back. We won't be here waiting for you."

With that announcement, the students sighed. They were looking forward to the return trip.

Mr Boil glared at the students.

"What'd you think this is, some sort of theatre? Get going to the museum, or I'll put you all on detention!"

The students quickly filed into the museum, leaving Mr Boil to continue his discussion with Mr Wilder. William, on the other hand, headed over to where he last saw the Twins running.

"Where's Miss Peebottom?" he asked the Twins, finding them behind a large tree, puking up half-digested donuts.

Looking worse for wear, Trevor lifted his head up and answered, "Uhhh, me stomach. Miss Peebottom... yeah, I saw her. She ran into the museum."

"Well, come on fellas, let's go," said William, slapping Trevor and Albert on the back. "Buddies always stick together, isn't that right?"

Trevor grinned. "Yeah... buddies."

Upon entering the art museum, William spotted Miss Peebottom being attended to by one of the museum's staff members. Miss Peebottom looked completely out of it and was gibbering something about life and death. Before William had a chance to ask the staff member where he and the Twins were to go, a toffee-nosed woman wearing a beret and garish pink rimmed glasses ran over to them.

"Are you three part of Miss Peebottom's group?" she asked quickly.

"Yes, we \--"

"Oh, that's good," she interrupted rudely. "Well, since your teacher is a little ill, I'll be taking you and your little class friends around the museum today. Follow me, then."

The woman hurried off, leading William and the Twins down a number of art filled hallways. Finally, they arrived at where the rest of the Harsly students were waiting, a large room full of sculptures.

"We're here," she announced to William and the Twins. "Hurry up and file in with your friends." She looked towards the students. "If anyone has any questions, just put up your hand and ask me."

A student quickly poked up their hand.

"You haven't told us your name," said the student. "How do we address you?"

"You may address me as Madam Nooty," she replied, pronouncing her name like it was some sort of exotic French cuisine. "Now, file into a line, and we'll head off to view some of the fine portraits done by Fredrick Crackerpot."

Along the way to see the portraits, they walked back through a series of hallways and past the main entrance. In the main entrance, there was none other than Mr Boil. He looked extremely cross and was ranting on a public phone.

"Yes, I want a taxi," William overheard Mr Boil shouting, "and I want it now, understood?"

It seemed that Mr Boil was trying to get back to school, probably to arrange for a new bus driver to pick up the students and Miss Peebottom later on.

With the sound of Mr Boil's rants disappearing behind them, the students continued on through the museum. Abruptly, Madam Nooty stopped and stared up at a painting.

"Ahh, look at the shear brilliance of this painting," she said, awestruck. "The mind of this painter is surely something of magnificence."

She then noticed Albert scratching his head and took it instantly as a sign of confusion. In reality, Albert was probably just suffering a case of nits.

"You, over in the back there," she called out, looking directly at Albert.

"Me?" answered Albert, still scratching his head.

"Yes you. Tell me what this painting says to you. How does it make you feel?"

After a minute or two of staring at the picture, which was just a blank canvas with a few circles painted randomly around it, Albert looked back towards Madam Nooty and asked dumbly, "What was the question again?"

"I'll try and rephrase it," she replied. "This painting, what do you think the artist was feeling when he painted it?"

The rest of the students stood silent. If they dared to giggle, they knew they'd be guaranteed a wedgie later. With the deafening sound of silence, Albert looked up at the picture, not knowing what to say. Soon, however, the silence was broken. Albert's stomach hadn't been fed for at least ten minutes, and it let everyone know with a loud grumble.

"I'm hungry," said Albert, rubbing his big round belly.

Madam Nooty stared up at the picture and then back towards the students, wide-eyed.

"I have never heard a more profound expression than that to describe what this artist was feeling," she began excitedly. "The shear minimalism of unfilled circles expresses an empty feeling, a feeling of hunger." She winked at Albert. "It looks like someone here understands the deeper side of art, eh?"

Albert stood dumbfounded and picked his nose.

"Talking about hunger," remarked Trevor, a smirk on his face, "how about we have lunch?"

"How does that sound with everybody?" Madam Nooty asked the students.

The students looked over to Trevor and saw him cracking his knuckles in an all too clear way.

"Yes, yes, let's have lunch," they replied fearfully.

"Excellent, follow me," said Madam Nooty, and she led the students off towards the museum's cafeteria.

As close friends would, William and the Twins sat together for lunch. Once seated, William pulled his lunch box from his bag and opened it. Inside, there was what all the students were given for the field trip: one small rotten apple, a single boiled sprout and a bread sandwich, which was nothing more than three bread slices slapped together. In the Twins' lunch boxes, however, it was a completely different story. They had acquired a range of different treats from Mrs Dumpling's private stash for themselves like lollies, donuts and chocolate bars.

"You don't have to eat that rubbish anymore," said Trevor, and he pulled out a tasty looking pie. "Here, take this as a sign of our good friendship."

"Thanks, guys. What type of pie is it?" asked William, with full knowledge of the worms that filled it.

Albert began giggling stupidly. He soon stopped when Trevor kicked him in the shins.

"Errr, ahhh, that's a surprise!" answered Trevor, an immense smile on his face.

While the Twins watched on with baited breath, William slowly drew the pie up to lips and made the gesture that he was about to take a big bite.

"Hang on," said William abruptly, placing the pie back down on the table and reaching for his bag, "I can't eat your delicious looking pie without giving something in return."

"Naaah, don't worry about us," said Trevor impatiently, as William rummaged through his bag. "You go ahead and take a bite of the pie."

"I couldn't do that without first giving you this," answered William, and he pulled out what looked like a chocolate bar from his bag. "Receive and give alike, isn't that right?"

Albert greedily snatched the bar from William and started devouring it.

"Hey, give me some of that!" said Trevor, grabbing the remainder of the bar from Albert's hands.

Eagerly, Trevor scoffed the rest of the bar down. What he and Albert didn't know, though, was that the bar wasn't just your everyday sweet. It was one of Mrs Dumpling's chocolate laxative bars, which William had pinched from the school's kitchen that morning. William knew the laxative would take a couple of minutes to kick in and now needed to bide his time.

"So, how was the chocolate?" asked William.

"Mmmm, good," grunted Albert, licking the empty packet.

Trevor looked suspiciously at William.

"Why haven't you taken a bite from your pie, yet?" he asked.

"I really like tomato sauce on my pies. You wouldn't happen to have any, would you?"

"Nah," replied Trevor.

"Well, I'll just go and see if one of the cafeteria ladies could spare some," said William, and he got out of his seat.

As William headed away from the Twins, he looked back over his shoulder and saw them huddled together whispering.

"I just need to buy a little more time for the laxatives to work. Once it does, they'll be more concerned with the closest toilet than me," he thought, on the return trip to the table.

Upon sitting down, William noticed Trevor eyeing him distrustfully.

"I'll just squeeze this sauce onto the pie. Then I'll dig right in," announced William, trying to make it sound like he was looking forward to eating the pie.

William slowly dribbled the sauce around the pie, taking care to rub it right to the edges.

"It doesn't look like the laxatives are going to work," worried William, emptying the last drops of sauce onto the pie. "Maybe the Twins are so fat, they need multiple bars."

Trevor grinned. "That looks like the last of it. Dig in, William."

Desperate to stall them a little longer, William quickly tried to start a conversation.

"Hey, did I ever tell you two about the time... Mr Boil kicked a chair?"

"No," said Albert, dumbly interested. "Tell us about --"

"Yes, tell us about it after you take a bite of your pie," interrupted Trevor, eyeing Albert crossly.

"You sure? It's really interesting."

"Yes, I'm sure," snapped Trevor.

The little time that was bought from William's stalling tactic worked! Albert, who had eaten a larger portion of the laxative bar, abruptly lurched forward, holding his stomach.

"I don't feel too good," he moaned, shuffling around in his chair. "I need to \--"

With his stomach grumbling violently, Albert burst from his seat and raced out of the cafeteria towards the boys' toilets.

"What was that about?" panicked Trevor.

Before William could answer him, the laxative bar had worked its magic.

"Oooooh, me gut," groaned Trevor, quickly rising for his chair and supporting himself with both hands on the table. "It doesn't feel right."

Trevor looked unsteadily at the table. Suddenly, something caught his attention, the empty laxative bar. He grabbed it and focused attentively on the small writing on the back. As Trevor attempted to read it, William looked at the bar and discovered that the writing he had tried to mask with a coloured marker was visible. It must have been wiped off by Albert's frenzied licking.

William looked on with a smile as Trevor read out the bar's directions.

"Eat -- one -- bar -- for -- instant -- relief -- of -- constipation!"

William laughed. "That's right. You just ate one of Mrs Dumpling's laxative bars. I knew all along about your dumb plan to get me to eat that worm filled pie."

"You're gonna suffer for that, bookworm!" roared Trevor, and he lunged across the table to grab him.

Quickly, William ducked to one side.

"You're going to have to be faster than that," said William cheekily.

With the students in the cafeteria looking on and Madam Nooty out checking on Miss Peebottom, Trevor rolled off the table and lunged for William's neck. William was caught off guard and fell backwards over a chair.

"I've got you now," said Trevor, bearing down on William like a deranged hippo.

Just as William thought he was done for, Trevor stopped dead in his tracks.

"O-oh," winced Trevor, his stomach letting out a huge grumble.

"What's wrong, baby need to go potty?" beamed William, getting back to his feet.

"This ain't over, bookworm," growled Trevor, as another worrying grumble reverberated from his stomach.

William was going to reply with another clever remark, but before he could, Trevor had taken off at full waddle towards the toilets. As soon as he had left, William was given a huge round of applause from the other students in his school. The applause only stopped when Madam Nooty walked into the cafeteria.

"Has everyone filled their tummies?" she asked.

The students nodded.

"Good. File into a line. We still have much to see." She glanced at William. "Where are your two little friends?"

"They had a little indigestion," he answered. "It seems they ate too much chocolate."

With the students all lined up, the trip through the art museum was back on. As they made their way through the museum, Madam Nooty regularly stopped and praised the works on the walls.

"Oh, isn't this artist talented," she would say. "See how they express so much by only adding a few drops of paint."

By the time it was two "o'clock, William had seen more dribbles of paint than on an art class's floor. With the tour at its end, Madam Nooty led the students out of the museum and to the front gates, where Miss Peebottom stood waiting for them.

"I hope each of you has learnt to appreciate fine art a little more," said Madam Nooty to the students, handing them over to Miss Peebottom.

Miss Peebottom pointed sharply at William.

"Did that one give you any trouble?" she questioned Madam Nooty.

"No," replied Madam Nooty, "he was very well behaved."

"Well, you can't trust him," said Miss Peebottom, "he's a weaselly one."

Miss Peebottom then did a quick head count.

"Two are missing. Where are they?" she shouted at the students.

Just as William was going to put up his hand, the Twins staggered out of the museum. William expected them to start laying into him right then and there. Instead, they kept their distance. He noticed how terrible they looked and guessed the potency of the laxative bar had physically exhausted them.

Being satisfied that everybody was accounted for, Miss Peebottom swiftly ushered the students onto the waiting bus.

"Get going," she barked at them, "or I'll put you all on detention."

The trip back to the museum was slow and boring. Vehicles would constantly beep their horns in protest of the driver's dawdling nature to look both ways eight or ten times before pulling out into traffic. It seemed Mr Boil had taken special care to brief the driver to take it slow.

As the bus came to a stop in the school's driveway, William noticed Mr Boil standing at the front gates. He had wild-eyes and clenched fists!

"I hope this doesn't have anything to do with me," fretted William.

But it would.

Chapter 4: The Truth Potion

Before the driver even had time to fully open the bus door, Mr Boil was at them, sticking his head through the small gap.

"Get those students out, now!" he shouted.

Miss Peebottom looked back at the students with a grin.

"You heard the headmaster. Get out!"

Looking fearfully at each other, the students quickly spilled out of the bus and lined up along the footpath.

"OK, I'm only going to ask you this once," started Mr Boil, taking a deep breath. "Which one of you broke into my office and STOLE MY PURPLE HEART?"

There was complete silence, not a single soul uttered a word.

"So, what happened then... my medal just decided to get up and walk out of the cabinet. Is that what you're telling me?" asked Mr Boil, pacing up and down the row of students, eyeballing each of them carefully.

"I saw that one over there twitch," called out Miss Peebottom, pointing accusingly at William. "I bet he's the one who stole your medal."

A crooked smile stretched across Mr Boil's face as he stormed over to William.

"Ahhh, so the pressure got to you, Mr Wright. Thought you'd get back at me for giving you kitchen duty, did you?"

"I didn't have anything to do with taking your medal," protested William, "and I never twitched."

"Excuse me, sir," said Trevor, sticking up his hand. "I've got some information that might be helpful."

"And what information is that?" questioned Mr Boil, withdrawing his glare from William.

"Well, at the museum today, William told me that the headmaster was going to be in for a big surprise," replied Trevor, lying through his teeth. "If you don't believe me, just ask Albert here."

Albert stood silent, nodding his fat head.

"I think we need to do a room search," suggested Miss Peebottom. "You're not going to get the truth out of William. In my experience, he's always been a little liar."

"Good thinking," agreed Mr Boil, and he quickly dismissed the rest of the students.

Having no other option, William led Mr Boil and Miss Peebottom up to his room. Once inside, Mr Boil began ransacking it.

"Where is it? Where'd you hide it?" he raved, ripping William's clothes from drawers and throwing them on the ground.

"Why don't you check under his bed?" recommended Miss Peebottom, giving William a sly look. "He's a cunning one, you know."

Mr Boil charged towards the bed and flung the mattress off, and there, lying on the wooden racks, sat his Purple Heart.

"I found it," he peeped, carefully picking up his medal.

"It's impossible. I didn't take it," said William, shaking his head.

Mr Boil was deaf to William's protests. His mind was focused on coming up with a punishment so severe that no other student would dare touch his precious medallion again.

"Do you know what the punishment is for taking my medal?" he asked William.

"But I didn't take it," replied William. "Someone put it --"

"SHUT UP!" exploded Mr Boil. "YOU'RE DOING KITCHEN DUTY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE." He caught his breath. "THAT'S NOT ALL. YOU'LL SERVE THE TEACHERS' TABLE EVERY SUPPER TIME, FOREVER!"

Miss Peebottom let out a squeak of delight and looked towards Mr Boil.

"And that punishment starts today, right?"

"Absolutely," answered Mr Boil, regaining his composure. "Now, about those two boys who squealed... let them know they can come and sit at the teachers' table today for supper. They warrant a reward for their assistance."

"Agreed," said Miss Peebottom. "Their reward will show the other students what happens with good behaviour." She glared at William. "Mr Wright's punishment, on the other hand, will show what happens to trouble makers."

After Mr Boil had given William one last dirty look, he and Miss Peebottom walked out, kicking William's meagre possessions out of their path.

It took William hours to clean up his room, but that gave him plenty of time to think about how he was going to prove his innocence. He suspected the Twins, but he couldn't be sure.

Pacing up down his small room, William pondered who else could've done it, "Maybe Mr Boil planned it all along. He did have it out for me after the fire-fighter incident. Then again, it could've just as well have been Miss Peebottom. She was evidently enjoying my misfortune. Now that I think of it, Mrs Dumpling was as good as any suspect, not being too pleased with my exceptional pot cleaning results."

With so many potential suspects, William would have to come up with one simple plan to get the truth out of all of them. Obviously, the true perpetrator wouldn't own up voluntarily.

"I've got it!" shouted William, and he ran over to his bag and pulled out the book of spells. "Mr Boil said I've got to serve the teachers' table today. That'll give me the opportunity to add something special to their meals."

William quickly flipped through the pages of the book.

"Ahhh, here it is. Potions," he said darkly.

After a quick scan down the page, William found exactly what he was looking for, a truth potion. Once someone had taken the most minuscule amount of the potion and a few minutes had elapsed, they would begin telling anybody around them their deepest and darkest secrets. This was just what William wanted. Whoever placed the medal under his bed would be forced to babble about it.

The plan seemed simple enough. William needed to mix up the potion and add it the teachers' supper, but there was one little hitch, the potion required him to collect some unusual ingredients and supper was only twenty minutes away!

"Where on earth am I going to find four cockroach eggs, six rat droppings and a pinch of salt in time?" muttered William, writing down the list of items he would have to gather. "Hang on, I've seen rat droppings and cockroach eggs in the dining hall, and I bet there's salt in the kitchen, too."

Quickly, William stuffed a small jar into his bag and made off for the dining hall.

"Got to hurry," he panted. "I haven't got much time."

After dashing down one last hallway, he had arrived. Swiftly, William looked up at the dining hall's old clock and saw there was only ten minutes left before supper time. Without a second to lose, William began crawling under the tables looking for the cockroach eggs and rat droppings.

"Finally," exclaimed William, seeing a neat little pile of eggs under the teachers' table.

Using the paper he had written the list of ingredients on, William quickly started scooping up the cockroach eggs into his glass jar.

"That's one ingredient down," he said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Just two more to go, and that's it."

Looking for the rat droppings, William continued to crawl under the teachers' table, but time had got the better of him. The bell rang for the supper. Having no other option, William rolled out from underneath the table and hurried off to the kitchen.

"I see you've arrived on time to serve the teachers' table," said Mrs Dumpling, upon William's entrance into the kitchen.

"Errr, yes, I thought I'd better get here on time and save myself from further punishments," he replied, watching Mrs Dumpling stir a vat of gruel.

"Hmm, I think this broth needs more lard," remarked Mrs Dumpling, tasting the gruel. "I'll have to have a look in the back and see if I've got any left." She glared at William. "Stir the pot while I'm out."

She then waddled into an adjoining room to look for the lard.

"Now's my perfect chance to have a look around," realised William, pulling his glass jar from his bag. "There's got to be some rat droppings around here somewhere." He looked down towards the corner of the room. "Ahhh, there they are. I knew Mrs Dumpling's sloppy cleaning habits wouldn't let me down."

Not willing to waste time picking the rat droppings out individually, William plunged his glass jar into the filthy pile, scooping up who knows how many.

"Eh, I'm sure more can't hurt," he murmured, tightening the lid down on his jar and stuffing it away into his bag. "It might even make their meal taste better."

Just as William was getting back to his feet, Mrs Dumpling lumbered in, carrying a huge roast chicken on a platter.

"I couldn't find any lard -- hey, I told you to stir the pot," shouted Mrs Dumpling.

"Sorry, my shoelace came undone. I had to tie it up," answered William.

"Well, here, take this to the teachers' table," she said, handing William the platter, "and don't even think about having a taste of it."

"I wouldn't dare," replied William, noticing sizable chunks of the chicken strangely missing.

Carrying the huge chicken, William hurried out of the kitchen and over to the teachers' table.

"Hurry up and put that chicken down," shouted Mr Boil, already holding his knife and fork.

As soon as William had placed the platter down, Mr Boil sliced a large chuck of meat for himself and began ravenously eating it. He was like an animal.

"Mmmm, good," he grunted, tearing the meat from a drumstick.

While Miss Peebottom cut a slice of the chicken for herself, Trevor glanced up at William and grinned.

"So, how do you like your new job?" he asked. "It must be very rewarding."

Albert laughed. "Yeah, you must really love it."

"Oh, the work isn't too bad," replied William. "It's just like a day at the farm, feeding pigs."

Trevor's face instantly turned sour. Albert, however, was still giggling. It seemed he didn't get William's sly answer.

"This chicken needs more salt," snapped Miss Peebottom, glaring at William. "Hurry up and sprinkle some on my slice."

"But the saltshaker's right in front of you," retorted William.

"Maybe you miss heard me, Mr Wright... I didn't ask. I ordered!"

Grudgingly, William bent over the table, picked up the saltshaker and sprinkled some salt on Miss Peebottom's slice of chicken. Unbeknown to Miss Peebottom, William made sure to sprinkle a small amount of salt into his hand after remembering it was the last ingredient for the truth potion.

"No more chicken?" sputtered Mr Boil. "Go fetch another platter from the kitchen, Mr Wright."

"Yes, sir," replied William, and he quickly left.

On his return to the kitchen, William waited till Mrs Dumpling left the room to stuff her face with cream tarts. Once she had gone, he secretly added the salt to his jar and gave it a quick shake.

"That's the potion finished," he said, stuffing the jar away into his bag. "I just have to add it to one of their meals and that's it."

William tried again and again to add the potion into the teachers' meal, but whenever he did so, Mrs Dumpling would come back from gorging in a side room and usher him out. Finally, it was time for William to serve dessert.

"This is my last opportunity," fretted William, waiting for Mrs Dumpling to return with the dessert from another room. "If I don't add the potion this time, I've missed my last opportunity."

Mrs Dumpling came back into the kitchen, carrying a large bowl of rice pudding. It would be the perfect meal to add his potion into, but William couldn't exactly start tipping rat poo and cockroach eggs into it with Mrs Dumpling watching. He needed her out of the room.

"Take this to the teachers' table," demanded Mrs Dumpling, placing the pudding down onto a table.

"My shoes laces are a bit loose. I'll just retie them," replied William. "I wouldn't want to trip and drop the pudding."

"Just be quick about it," barked Mrs Dumpling in reply.

Being quick, however, wasn't what William intended to do. He planned to take his time. If he was lucky, Mrs Dumpling would walk out of the room to attend to her stomach. She hadn't been out for a cream tart for at least two minutes.

"How long does it take for you to retie a shoe lace?"

"Not much longer, I've just one more loop to go," answered William.

William made sure to do his shoe laces up loosely.

"Fiddlesticks, it came undone. Looks like I'll have to start all over."

Finally, Mrs Dumpling's stomach got the better of her, and she waddled out of the room to attend to it. This left William alone in the kitchen.

"Perfect, my plan worked," he said excitedly.

William quickly fetched the potion from his bag and tipped it into the pudding. After stirring the potion through, William carried the pudding out to the teachers' table.

"You took your time, didn't you?" snapped Miss Peebottom.

"Umm, yeah, Mrs Dumpling decided to add some sultanas at the last minute," he answered, looking at the rat poo speckled throughout the pudding.

Once William had placed the bowl of pudding down onto the table, Mr Boil greedily scooped out a large portion and promptly began devouring it. He was soon followed by the Twins and Miss Peebottom.

"I can see why Mrs Dumpling added the sultanas to the pudding. They taste fantastic!" commented Mr Boil, taking a mouthful of the pudding.

After the pudding had been gobbled down, William was ordered to take the empty bowl back to the kitchen. On his entrance, William discovered Mrs Dumpling huddled over the sink, eating a roasted chicken with her bare hands.

"Put that bowl on the sink next to me and then go back out to ask them if they would like seconds," she ordered, pointing with a drumstick.

"Yes, Mrs Dumpling," replied William, and he walked out.

As William made his way back to the teachers' table, he noticed Mr Boil had his hand over his mouth like he was trying to stop something coming out.

"What do you want?" questioned Miss Peebottom sharply.

"I'm here to ask if any of you would like seconds," said William.

"Well, I've had enough," she replied. "What about you, Mr Boil?"

Mr Boil sat motionless. His hand still clenched firmly over his mouth.

"Did you hear me, Mr Boil? Do you want --"

Suddenly, Mr Boil jumped up from his chair and cried out, "Every single one of those medals in my office is a fake, including the Purple Heart. I-I-I was never a war hero. I'm really a coward. That's why I was so angry when my Purple Heat went missing. I was scared someone would find out it was a fake." He tore his toupee of his head. "I'm completely bald, too!"

After Mr Boil had told everyone his secrets, he sat back down and quietly whimpered to himself, the whole dining hall now dead silent.

"I guess that's a no to seconds, then," commented William.

"I'm really a big wimp," yelled Trevor, jumping from his seat. "I pick on William because he's smart and I'm dumb. I cheat in every test, steal food from the kitchen and clogged the toilets at the art museum." He tried hard to stop talking, but he couldn't. "M-my middle name's Piggy and I only wash once a month."

With Trevor finished his confession, it was Albert's turn. He stood up and called out, "I'm dumb."

He then sat promptly back down.

It was apparent to William that Albert was so dumb he didn't know what a secret actually was, not that it mattered. Trevor was clean of stealing the medal, so Albert would be, too.

Finally, it was time for Miss Peebottom to let everyone know her secrets.

"I took the medal from Mr Boil's office this morning," screamed Miss Peebottom, tearing herself away from her chair. "I did it while you all waited on the bus." She looked wickedly at William. "I've always hated smart students like you. After you outwitted me during that maths quiz, I couldn't stand it anymore. I wanted revenge."

After Miss Peebottom had collapsed back into her chair, Mr Boil humbly looked up at William.

"I think I owe you an apology for what happened today with my Purple Heart and all. Please, feel free to grab some leftover supper from the kitchen." He rose up from his chair and addressed the students. "It's probably best if everyone leaves supper early today. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you all tomorrow by getting Mrs Dumpling to serve a nice cake for supper." He glared at the Twins and Miss Peebottom. "You three are to stay behind. We have much to discuss."

The students looked happy with Mr Boil's offer and filed out of the hall, excitedly discussing the cake. William, on the other hand, made his way to the kitchen. He hoped some roasted chicken had escaped Mrs Dumpling's bottomless stomach.

Just as William opened the kitchen door, Mrs Dumpling charged out and yelled, "I chewed on the chicken served today. I licked the empty pudding bowl. I eat all the leftovers after meal time, and I never wash my hands after using the toilet!"

"I think I just lost my appetite," muttered William.

After collecting his bag from the kitchen, William left the dining hall for his room, the sound of Mr Boil handing down harsh punishments to the Twins disappearing behind him.

William felt quite good about how well his plan had worked.

"I didn't expect to catch Mrs Dumpling out, too," he thought, walking up the stairwell to his room. "I suppose it was to be expected. She couldn't resist licking that potion laced pudding bowl."

Once William had arrived back inside his room, he took his bag off and rested on his bed.

"What a day," he said to himself, staring up at the mould covered ceiling. "If it wasn't for that potion -- hang on, the book, I haven't read it through and seen what happens after answering the last quiz."

Quickly, William jumped from his bed and fetched the book from his bag.

"Better lock the door," he muttered. "I don't want anyone bursting in here when I'm casting spells."

With the door locked, William lay back down on his bed and began reading. He read the rest of chapter two and answered the questions at the end. William was fortunate with this chapter as the quiz didn't ask for spells. Instead, it had questions relating to what types of herbs are used to cure different poisons. William continued reading the book for hours. Finally, he had arrived at the very last chapter.

"This is it, time to see what's at the end of this book," said William tensely, as he opened the last chapter. "What the?"

Without warning, the book slid from William's hands and magically flew to the far side of his bed. Once there, it propped itself up... and spoke.

"So, ye be the one keeping me stuffed away in that grubby bag, eh?"

William looked at the book with amazement. It was just like in the kitchen with the talking bin.

"I -- err, guess so," he answered.

"Good, at least I be knowing to be speaking to the right person," the book replied, sounding very relieved. "So, me lad, what be ye name?"

"Umm, William... William Wright, and, err, what's yours?"

"Oh, that be very kind of ye to ask. Ye can call me Foddle, but that not be important. Are ye ready for the last question?"

"How am I supposed to answer the last question without reading the last chapter?" asked William curiously.

"Oh, ye not be needing to read anything to answer old Foddle's question."

"OK, what's the question?"

Excitedly, Foddle began bouncing around William's bed. It looked like he had been waiting for this moment all along.

"He be wanting to ask the question, he be wanting to ask the question," repeated Foddle happily. "This be a great day for old Foddle. Now for the question... what be the question again? Oh yes, how would ye like to become Merlin the Wizard's apprentice?"

"I -- did you just ask me if I wanted to become Merlin the Wizard's apprentice?" questioned William, in disbelief.

"It be true that what I ask," replied Foddle. "Ye would have to leave all family and friends behind, and once ye choose, there be no coming back."

"Well, I don't have much in the way of friends," replied William, a little sad, "and as for my parents, they're not even worth mentioning. One thing I don't understand... what do you mean no coming back? No coming back from where?"

"Old Merlin be living in a place going by the name of Camelot," answered Foddle. "There be only one way to travel to Camelot, and that be through casting the spell in the last chapter. Foddle must tell ye. There not be a spell in the last chapter to bring ye back." He paused for a moment. "I must also tell ye. Camelot be a dangerous place and there be many wicked creatures that wish for Merlin's demise. An apprentice of Merlin surely be in life threatening danger, especially in times of late."

"Life threatening danger!" William replied, jumping from his bed. "You're j-joking, right?"

"Old Foddle never jokes about such things."

William sat back down.

"Well, I don't know... Harsly's pretty bad, but it isn't that --"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"We know you're in there, bookworm," called out Trevor, peeping through the keyhole of William's bedroom door. "We've come to give you some payback after what happened in the museum." He began bashing the door. "If you don't come out, we'll bust in and give you the most painful wedgie of your life. Not only that, we'll take you down to the toilets for a head flushing, too."

William dived off his bed and frantically attempted to barricade the door with anything he could find, but it was futile. The door couldn't hold up against the combined weight of the Twins. It was starting to go at the hinges.

Trevor laughed. "We're almost in, bookworm, better start crying for your mommy."

"Yeah, start crying," giggled Albert, ramming the door with his head. "Brains aren't going to get you out of this one."

There was no other option, William would have to accept Foddle's proposal. It was the only way out.

"I've decided to take up your offer," announced William, running over to Foddle. "I want to become Merlin's apprentice."

"I knew ye looked like the adventuring type," replied Foddle, unaware of William's predicament.

"Yes -- yes, I love adventure," said William quickly, looking back at the door. "Hurry up!"

"Keep yer pants on, lad, it'll only take a tick. Old Foddle doesn't see what all the fuss is about, anyhow."

Before William could say another word, Foddle fell flat on the bed, opened at the last chapter.

CRASH!

The door collapsed and the Twins exploded in. They looked ready to tear William apart. With his arms outstretched, Trevor led the charge. It was only a matter of seconds before he'd have William by the neck. Suddenly, a blinding light burst from the pages of the book... William had cast the spell.

Chapter 5: The Chosen One

"Ohhh, my aching head," groaned William. "Where am I?" He opened his eyes, but everything looked blurred. "Is this Harsly?"

William rubbed his eyes and gradually his vision began to return. Once it had, he discovered something truly amazing. He was in a castle's bedroom.

"This is unbelievable," he muttered, sliding off the soft bed he had woken up in.

Awestruck, William staggered to a small window in the room and gazed out at the world beyond. There, before him, lay a busy medieval town surrounded by wooden walls. Further out, William saw a huge forest with a slow flowing river weaving through it like a serpent. It all looked so unreal.

"I must be dreaming," said William, staring down at the people walking about the town. "This can't be real, can it?"

Finally, William accepted the fact that he wasn't dreaming.

"I guess I'd better find someone to query for information," he thought, leaving the window and turning back into his room. "Maybe I'm lucky and someone's waiting just outside my door."

As he headed for the door, William noticed something to the corner of his eye. He looked to his left and saw a familiar green coloured book. It was sitting on a table next to the bed.

"Surely, it couldn't be the book that called itself Foddle, could it?"

On closer inspection, William discovered that it was indeed the book. Immediately, he reached down to pick it up.

"Ahhhh!" screamed Foddle, as William grabbed him.

"W-what's wrong?" asked William worriedly, after being frightened out of his wits.

"Ye scared the heck outta old Foddle," he replied.

"I scared the heck out of you? You scared the heck out of me!" snapped William.

"Well, it not worries. Remember that I be a little jumpy when woken so unexpectedly. It be known that books need their rest, too," said Foddle, yawning. "I guess ye be wondering what happened. Take a seat on that fine bed and I'll tell ye."

William sat down on the bed.

"Let I be taking it from the start," began Foddle. "After ye cast the spell, ye, I and me lad's friends --"

"Friends?"

"Yes, two healthy sized lads. They be still fast asleep in a room next to here --"

"Hang on, you mean Trevor and Albert are here, too?"

"I not be knowing their names," replied Foddle, "but they be in the same room when ye cast the spell."

"Those two aren't my friends!" said William. "They're my worst enemies."

"Oh..."

"Please, you have to send them back," pleaded William.

"I be sorry, but old Foddle can't."

"How come there here at all? I cast the spell."

"I be not sure. Maybe they be too close to ye when ye cast the spell. That be Foddle's guess."

William stood up and began pacing the room, trying to think up a way he could get away from the Twins.

"Maybe Foddle was only testing me when he said there was no way back," pondered William hopefully. "Yeah, that's it. He was just testing my devotion to becoming an apprentice."

"So, is me lad ready to go and see Merlin?" asked Foddle. "He be waiting to see ye."

"I've decided this wizard stuff just isn't right for me," said William, sitting back down on the bed. "I think Trevor and Albert would make much better apprentices. They can stay here while you send me back to Harsly -- before you say anything, I've already worked out that this one-way trip stuff was just a test."

"A test?" questioned Foddle.

"That's right, a test. You just said there was no coming back to make sure I was committed to becoming Merlin's apprentice."

"Sorry, me lad, but that be no test. That be the truth."

"What?"

"And anyhow, doesn't ye love adventure? Ye say it before we be leaving."

"Are you crazy? I never wanted to come to a place where my life was at risk!" exclaimed William, getting back off the bed and pacing up and down the room. "The only reason I accepted your offer was to escape the Twins, and now they're here, what's the point?"

"But ye be the Chosen One," said Foddle, fluttering around William's head. "It be yer destiny to protect Camelot from the evil that soon be coming."

William stopped and faced Foddle.

"Me... protect Camelot? I'm just an ordinary kid. There's nothing special about me."

"But there is, me lad. The fact that ye be standing here proves ye special."

"What do you mean?" asked William.

"Those spells ye cast in chapter one... they be a test," replied Foddle. "Casting spells not be a skill anyone possess. Only the Chosen One be able to cast those spells so easily."

William sighed. "Even if you're right, it doesn't seem fair that I'm stuck here with the Twins. They're sure to make my life difficult."

"Old Foddle think it be the ones ye call the Twins whose lives be difficult, not me lad's. I be also thinking that it be part of a fantastic plan that ye be chased by the Twins. It be only because of them that me lad decided to come to here be Camelot at all, true?"

"I guess so," replied William, still a little sceptical. "I have one last question, though... why do people from where I come from know about Merlin, Camelot and all that?"

"Ah, that be a very good question. Old Foddle not be knowing the answer to that one. Why don't me lad ask Merlin? He be very wise and sure to be able to answer that for ye."

"OK, I will. Are we off to see him now?" asked William.

"That be soon, but me lad need to dress first."

William raised an eyebrow.

"But I'm already dressed," he said, tugging at his shirt. "See, I'm wearing my Harsly uniform."

"That not be the clothes of an apprentice. Check that there wardrobe and ye be in for a surprise."

With interest, William walked over to the solitary wardrobe and opened it. Inside, he found a grubby looking brown hooded robe.

"Is this my great apprenticeship clothes?" asked William, holding the robe by his fingertips.

"That be it," beamed Foddle. "It be truly a magnificent robe."

"Magnificent? It has to be the ugliest thing I've ever seen," replied William, still dangling it between his fingers.

"Has not me young lad heard of the saying that beauty is on the inside?"

"Of course, but what has that got to do with anything?" answered William bluntly.

Foddle smiled. "Fold yer robe inside out, and there the answer be."

William did what Foddle said and folded the robe inside out. To his astonishment, the inside of the robe looked absolutely stunning. It was dark blue, had thick golden bands around the edges of its sleeves and a large golden emblem of a phoenix sown onto the back.

"It looks fantastic," said William, holding the robe up into sunlight, "but why make the inside so much different than the out?"

"There be a simple answer to that one. When a wizard thinks it best that others not know he be a wizard, all he be needing to do is fold his robe inside out, and he be looking like an everyday beggar."

William pulled the robe over his old school uniform and looked at himself in a mirror against the wall. The robe fitted him perfectly.

"Ah, I not be seeing a finer example of a wizard," commented Foddle.

"Thank you, Foddle," said William. "So, are we ready to see Merlin?"

"That we are," answered Foddle. "Open ye bedroom's door and old Foddle with show ye the way to Merlin's study."

After opening the door, Foddle zipped over William's head and out into the narrow corridor beyond.

"Follow me," said Foddle.

Promptly, William closed the door, and he and Foddle headed off for Merlin's study. Foddle zipped through the castle at a frightening speed. He seemed to know his way around the castle. That was for sure.

"It just be up ahead," called back Foddle, and he disappeared from William's sights around a corner.

Suddenly, something caught William's ear. He stopped dead in his tracks to listen.

"That sounds like Trevor and Albert," muttered William, "and it sounds like they're in trouble, too."

William turned around and ran towards the Twins' panic stricken voices.

"They must be just around that corner," thought William, rounding a bend. "I wonder what's happening."

William stopped at the corner and then carefully poked his head around it. What he saw, to say the least, was bizarre. Both Trevor and Albert were desperately running away from an extremely large woman brandishing an oversized bath sponge.

"Come back here, you two," shouted the woman, "you haven't had your baths yet."

"Run!" cried out Trevor, looking over his shoulder and seeing Albert falling behind. "You have to keep up!"

"I... can't," puffed Albert. "I'm... too... tired."

William quickly pulled his head in before anyone saw him.

"I don't want to get involved is this," he thought. "Anyway, the Twins probably need a wash."

In an attempt to avoid the wild pursuit, William slipped into a side room and waited, hoping it would pass. It didn't. Soon, William heard Albert and Trevor struggling with the woman just outside the door.

"Get your hands off him," William heard Trevor shout, as the door buckled under the heavy load of the Twins and the woman slamming against it.

Without warning, the door completely caved in, and both the Twins and the woman fell to the floor in front of William's feet.

"W-W-William?" stammered Trevor, peering from underneath Albert's sweaty arm pit.

Looking shocked, the plump woman quickly got to her feet.

"Forgive me, Chosen One," she said, bowing her head, "I didn't mean to disturb you. I only wished to carry out the King's request to have these two boys washed."

William smiled. "Don't let me stop you. They need it."

"Please, don't let her make us have a wash," Trevor begged William. "She listens to you."

"Yes," whimpered Albert, "save us."

"Hmmm... why should I?" questioned William. "You two always bullied me."

"We'll be your friends," replied Trevor, "the best of friends."

"Yeah, yeah," nodded Albert, "good buddies."

William didn't really trust the Twins, but he had to give them a chance. They looked more honest than any other time.

"OK," said William, "I'll see what I can do."

William took the woman to the side and had a little chat with her. He told her he'd convince the Twins to have a wash later in the day. She thanked him and left to attend to less smelly matters.

"Thanks," said Trevor, as the woman left the room, "I thought we were done for. What's going on around here, anyway?"

"Yeah," said Albert, scratching his head, "we wake up in this strange place and that woman is waiting outside the door. Next thing I know, she says we need to have a wash." Albert crossed his arms. "Trevor tells her we don't wash, not for --"

Suddenly, Foddle glided into the room.

"Ahhh, old Foddle sees me lad has found his friends."

The Twins dived behind William in fear.

"W-what is t-t-that?" stammered Trevor, poking his head over William's shoulder.

"That is Foddle," answered William. "Why don't you say hello to him?"

"Err... hello, Foddle," said Trevor timidly. "M-my name's T-Trevor."

"Pleasure to meet ye, T-Trevor," replied Foddle cheerfully. "What be the name of yer friend."

"Me?" peeped Albert, pointing to himself.

"That be right. What be yer name?"

"I'm A-A-Albert."

Foddle smiled. "Well, it be nice to be meeting ye, too, A-A-Albert."

"I was just about to start explaining to Albert and Trevor what's going on around here," remarked William to Foddle. "They don't have a clue."

"That be strange. Someone was meant to be telling them as soon as they be awake."

"I think that someone mentioned the word wash, and after that, time for talking was over," said William. "Trevor and Albert don't mix with water. It's a scientific fact. Isn't that right, you two?"

"Yeah," replied Albert, "it's a science thingy."

"Well, it not be a big problem. I'll be taking care of it," announced Foddle, and he whizzed over to the Twins. "Enlightenarnus -- Explainarnus."

"What did you just do?" asked William.

"Why not me lad ask them?" replied Foddle, smiling cheekily.

"So, guys, what did he do?"

"To put in quite simply, your dear friend Foddle has explained to us what is going on here," answered Trevor smartly. "What a clever chap he is to do it with magic, too."

"Did you just speak like I thought you just speaked?" asked William, flabbergasted.

"Oh, I believe he did, my dear chap," said Albert, sounding like his IQ points had just quadrupled. "However, I must say to use the word speaked is, how does one say it without offending... incorrect. It would be better to use the word spoke or one might sound a little silly when chatting to his sophisticated companions. Of course, I am referring to Trevor and myself."

"What on earth did you do to them, Foddle?" questioned William.

"Old Foddle, errr, make them understand what be going on, just as me lad wanted."

"But you've made them, how does one say it without offending... eggheads!"

"Oh, ye be talking about them being smarter and all, don't ye?" asked Foddle.

"Well, yes, you could say that."

"Well, it be pretty simple. I be wanting to use the explaining spell on them, but it be needing them to be smarter, see?"

William groaned. "So you pumped up their brains and then used the explaining spell."

"That be right," said Foddle. "I see ye have no needing for bigger brains, though."

William turned to face the Twins.

"Are you two happy with the way you are now?"

"Absolutely," replied Trevor. "After one has been enlightened, one would never want to go back. Maybe you should ask your dear friend Foddle if he would cast the spell on you, too."

"Err, I think I'll skip on that one --"

Foddle smiled. "It not be any trouble."

"No, thank you. I think my intelligence is more than adequate," snapped William, frowning at Foddle to shut up.

"One should never think. One should know," remarked Albert, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, you're right, Albert. Thank you for your insightful input, but shouldn't you two be heading off to have a bath by now?"

"Yes, one should make an effort to be clean," said Trevor, straightening his tie. "Come on, Albert, let us depart and make our way to this establishment's bathroom."

"I'll see you later, guys," called out William, as Albert and Trevor walked out of the room.

"Well, we best get going, me lad," said Foddle. "We not be wanting to keep old Merlin waiting."

Together, William and Foddle left the room and headed off through the dimly lit castle to Merlin's study, occasionally passing suits of amour and burning torches.

"Ah, this where Merlin be," said Foddle, hovering in front of a finely crafted door. "Ye better knock before entering."

William walked up to the door and knocked. After a moments pause, he heard the voice of a friendly old man.

"Please, come in," said the voice, and the door magically flipped open.

Through the doorway, William could see a very elderly looking man with a long white beard. He wore a robe similar to William's, but his had golden stars and semi-crescent moons on it.

"Welcome, William," said the elderly man. "Come in and sit down."

Nervously, William walked inside. He sat down at a long wooden table heavily laden with bottles. The bottles were filled with different coloured liquids and were bubbling violently. They were potions, no doubt. After looking at the bottles, William glanced around the rest of the room. The walls were lined with bookshelfs and a large star chart hung from the door. A small table sat next to the room's window. On it, a misty looking crystal ball rested. It all looked very crowded.

After closing the door, the elderly man walked over to William.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself, have I?" he said, stopping and reaching out to shake William's hand. "I'm Merlin the Wizard."

"It's a pleasure," said William, and he shook Merlin's hand.

"Me lad had a question for old Foddle before. I be telling him to ask ye."

"And what question would that be?" asked Merlin, glancing down at William.

"Yes, how come I've heard of your name before? Everyone's heard of Merlin where I come from."

"Hmmm... to explain that would take sometime. I know, why not ask me during supper after I introduce you to the King Arthur and the people of Camelot? They're all waiting to meet you in the courtyard."

William gulped. "Meet me?"

"Oh yes, didn't Foddle tell you about the celebration that's been prepared for your arrival?"

"No," replied William worriedly. "I don't have to say anything to the crowd, do I?"

"No -- no, I'll do all the talking, my young friend," reassured Merlin, and he took hold of a long wooden staff from beside a bookshelf. "I'm a master of catching an audience with this staff. You just wait and see."

With some anxiety, William left with Merlin for the courtyard. Foddle, on the other hand, stayed behind to take care of one of Merlin's bubbling potions. William was positive he heard a small explosion after they had left.

"The courtyard is just beyond that door," said Merlin, and he stopped. "I must warn you of something before we continue through it. Not everyone believes my prediction of you being our saviour, the Chosen One. You may get looks of distrust." He looked disheartened. "Some on the High Wizard Council refuse to believe Camelot's future is in danger at all."

"What is the High Wizard Council?" asked William.

"It is a group of wizards who deal with the political matters of Camelot," replied Merlin, stroking his long beard. "I am a member, but I don't control the council. They debate and vote on issues all the time. It's all very boring." He smiled at William. "Are we ready to head out to the courtyard, then?"

"Yeah," conceded William, "we might as well."

Merlin opened the door, and they stepped outside.

It took a moment for William's eyes to adjust to the intense sunlight outside, but once they had, he saw an incredible scene. A mass of people stood in front of a huge wooden platform lavishly decorated with flags and silks. Seated on the platform in a royal chair was none other than King Arthur. Behind him, stood a group of men and women dressed in similar clothes to Merlin. These were the members of the High Wizard Council, assumed William.

As William walked out from the doorway, there was a blow of horns and the crowd fell into a murmur of whispers, "It's him. It's the Chosen One."

Merlin signalled with a wave of his staff for the crowd to part, and they did so. Together, William and Merlin proceeded through the crowd and up onto the platform.

"Greetings, Merlin," said King Arthur, rising from his chair to shake Merlin's hand. "I see your new apprentice is here."

"Yes," replied Merlin, smiling in his usual fashion, "the Chosen One."

"Well, you'd better introduce him to the people of Camelot. We don't want to keep them waiting."

The crowd, which had only whispered to each other during William's entrance, was now talking loudly. Merlin headed out to the edge of the platform with William beside him and stuck the floor three times with his staff. Suddenly, a blast of blue light shot skyward from Merlin's staff. This magical feat quickly got the attention of the crowd.

"I bring forward to you today the Chosen One," announced Merlin. "As young as this boy is, he alone will guarantee the future prosperity of Camelot." He put his arm on William's shoulder. "To ensure he reaches his full potential, I, Merlin the Wizard, will take him under my wing and train him as my apprentice. Long live the King, long live the people, and long live the Chosen One!"

The courtyard filled with the sound of applauds and whistles. William felt immensely honoured and waved to the crowd. Suddenly, something caught William's eye. It was a boy about his age. He had a gaunt face and was wearing a black robe. The boy was staring at William with hatred. William tried hard to ignore the boy's glare, but his eyes burnt into him like red hot needles.

With the crowd's applause dying off, William and Merlin returned to King Arthur and sat down next to him. Following a blow of horns, a jester jumped onto the stage and commenced pulling funny faces at the crowd.

As the audience laughed, a member of the High Wizard Council crept up to William's ear and whispered with revulsion, "Merlin is an old man, and his skills of prediction have long since faded. You may have been safe and secure from where you came from --"

"May I help you?" asked Merlin suspiciously, glaring at the wizard next to William.

"No -- no, just getting friendly with our future saviour," he replied innocently. "We were just having a friendly chat."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to talk to William during the feast," said Merlin. "Now leave us."

After the wizard had left, William quickly turned towards Merlin.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"He's a member of the High Wizard Council," replied Merlin. "Zorloth is his name. He is not a wizard to be trusted."

"Why is he allowed on the council, then?"

"His brother, a truly fine wizard, was a councillor."

"Was... you mean he's..."

Merlin sighed. "Yes, he is no longer with us. This was the reason Zorloth was allowed to become a member. He filled his brother's position on the council."

Sensing Merlin's grief for Zorloth's brother, William decided not to ask anymore questions and instead watched the entertainment, the most spectacular being Deadly Dragons. It was like a lion show at the circus but with dragons. The young dragons were obviously reared from infancy as they regularly tried to lick the trainer, much to his frustration.

With the close of the final show, the crowd departed and William headed off with Merlin to the King's Hall, where a grand feast was to be held.

Along the way to the King's Hall, William felt he had to find out about something. He had to find out about the boy in the crowd.

"Merlin... I have to ask you something. It's about a boy I saw in the crowd today. He looked at me with... with hatred. Why?"

"I know of the boy you speak of," answered Merlin. "As strange as it sounds, he believes you were responsible for his father's death."

"WHAT?"

"I know it is hard to believe, but it's true," said Merlin. "You see, it all started a year ago. It was during a stormy night when even I felt that Camelot's walls would crumble to the wind and rain. During the storm, I felt an uncontrollable pull to look into my crystal ball." He squinted. "I peered into the crystal ball and saw Camelot under attack. Hordes of goblins and trolls had entered the city and begun to destroy it. King Arthur and his knights fought valiantly, but they failed. Even members of the High Wizard Council fought, but they, too, failed." He leaned forward. "In a swirl of mist, the vision in the crystal ball changed, and I saw you in a strange world, where people wore funny clothes and travelled around in metal machines." He looked at William with a glimmer in his eye. "The scene in the crystal ball changed a final time. This time, I saw you walking through the gates of Camelot being thanked by King Arthur for saving the city. From that moment on, I knew you must be brought to Camelot. Quickly, I set about convincing the High Wizard Council to begin a search for a legendary staff known as the Staff of Tarlos. This enchanted staff has the power to transport objects or people between our worlds."

"But what has the boy's father got to do with all this?"

"He was one of the wizards from the council who went in search of the staff. Sadly, he went missing while exploring the uncharted lands of Evermist, where it was said the staff was last seen."

"I never wanted anyone to die to bring me here," said William, a little upset, "and I never asked to be the Chosen One. It's all too much. Please, send me back to Harsly."

"I understand it is a lot of responsibility for a young boy," said Merlin reassuringly, "but even if I wanted to, I cannot send you back to your world." He sighed. "We possess the staff but not the crystal which should rest on top of it. The crystal is still in Evermist, somewhere. That is why only a small object like Foddle could be sent to retrieve you, and why we had to enchant the spell in the last chapter to bring you here."

"What if the crystal was found?" asked William, pulling himself together.

Merlin stroked his long white beard.

"Well, it was written in texts long ago that the Staff of Tarlos was used during a great battle between an evil warlock and the High Wizard Council. In that battle, one of the most powerful councillors was struck by a blast... a blast which emanated from the completed staff."

"And then what happened?"

"He simply vanished," replied Merlin mysteriously. "It is assumed to your world."

"So, if the crystal was found, it's possible to leave?"

"I believe so," replied Merlin. "Ahh, we've arrived."

William looked up and discovered they were standing in the doorway of a grand looking hall.

Chapter 6: The Menacing Message

Upon William and Merlin's entrance into the King's Hall, a small hunched over man ran up to them.

"Follow me, sirs, follow me," he said, and he led them inside.

As William followed the man, he looked around the hall and saw great arches overhead and flaming torches hanging from the walls. It was all very similar to the inside of a grand cathedral. The air above the tables was filled with the green glow of fairies taking orders from the guests and carrying plates to the kitchen. In the middle of the hall, there was a huge round table. This was where King Arthur and the members of the High Wizard Council were seated. It was also where William and Merlin were being led to.

"Ah, my dear friends," said King Arthur, with their arrival at the round table. "Please, take a seat."

As they sat down, William looked along the table and noticed the Twins weren't present.

"Where's Trevor and Albert?" he asked Merlin. "Are they coming?"

Merlin glanced over towards the doorway and smiled.

"Oh, I have a feeling they'll be here sooner than you think."

William looked over to the doorway and noticed Foddle entering with the Twins.

It didn't take long for Foddle to see William and fly over to greet him.

"It be good to see ye," said Foddle, hovering beside William. "Ye don't know how bad it be for old Foddle to listen to them two."

"You mean Trevor and Albert?"

"Yes. Me be thinking about changing them back," he replied, "ye know, to be a bit slower up top."

William laughed. "Well, I don't think you can wedgie a book, but if you did that to them, I'm pretty sure they'd come up with something that even you'd find uncomfortable. I think it's better to leave them the way they are, and anyway, at least they're happy to wash."

"Yes, ye be probably right --"

"Shhhh, shhh, they're coming over," interrupted William.

Trevor and Albert pulled up a chair each and sat down next to William. Surprisingly, they were still dressed in their extremely tight fitting Harsly uniforms, which always looked as if they were about to tear around the bottom.

"I thought you two would've changed into something more comfortable," remarked William. "I'm sure they have plenty of spare clothes available around here."

"Preposterous! Our clothes show our superior intellects, and we would never replace them," snapped Trevor. "The people around here haven't even heard of a tie."

Albert nodded. "Yes, look at you, William. Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately? It looks like you're wearing a bath robe."

Trevor and Albert both laughed. It seemed their old habits of hassling William hadn't stopped, only changed. Instead of physical, now it was mental.

"Well, that's great guys," answered back William, "but have you two seen yourselves in the mirror lately?"

"We don't need to listen to this anymore. Waiter, waiter!" called out Trevor, waving his hand up in the air and clicking his fingers.

A waiter quickly hurried over, the same one that had brought William over to the table.

"Yes, sir, how may I be of assistance?" he asked, nervously fiddling with an expensive looking ring on his finger.

"How much longer till the food is served?" questioned Trevor. "Seriously, one could starve before being nourished around here."

"Very soon, sir," replied the waiter. "Is that all, sir?"

"Yes -- yes, be gone," said Trevor sharply. "Foddle, go into the kitchen and see what they're up to in there."

"Why not ye go?"

"How dare you ask me to walk into the kitchen. I'm the guest, not you!"

Foddle sighed. "OK, I be going."

With Foddle gone, Trevor and Albert began to talk to each other about the science of food, or rather, the taste of it. This bored William, and he looked towards Merlin to see what he was up to. As William turned to face Merlin, his eyes made contact with the cold stare of the boy he saw earlier in the courtyard. William was shocked to see that the boy was sitting next to the black robed wizard, Zorloth. Were they related? It appeared so. William looked away from the boy and turned to face Merlin. Merlin, however, was deep in conversation with King Arthur and a highly decorated knight.

William listened in.

"Three outlying towns have been attacked by goblins in the last month, sire," said the knight to King Arthur. "It's very strange. We've never had this problem before."

"Yes, the time grows nearer," remarked Merlin darkly.

"What do you suggest we do, sire?" asked the knight. "We must find a way to defend these towns."

With concern, King Arthur looked up at the knight.

"I need you to organise my personal guards to defend the towns. It's the only way."

"Yes, sire, I understand. I will leave and begin organising the guards right away," said the knight, and he left to carry out his orders.

"These attacks on the towns are very suspicious," said King Arthur, looking tensely at Merlin. "They always seem to happen when the guards are at their most vulnerable. Take the last battle for example. On the day the archers were having their bows restrung, the attack happened. It seemed too incidental for my liking."

"You believe there is a spy involved?" questioned Merlin, stroking his beard.

"There could be," replied King Arthur.

William had heard enough. With a spy creeping around gathering information, life in Camelot just got a whole lot more dangerous. William would have to keep his wits about him. He was the Chosen One, and he would be considered a threat by the spy's evil master, a threat which must be eliminated.

Suddenly, Foddle made his reappearance from the kitchen.

"The food be on its way," he said, hovering beside the Twins.

"It's about time," snapped Trevor. "I've never had slower service."

The food arrived a moment later and everyone began filling their plates.

As he ate his fill of roast beef and mashed potatoes, William thought it would be a good time to remind Merlin of a question he had asked but which Merlin didn't answer.

"Merlin... how come you are known where I come from?"

"Ah, that is a good question," replied Merlin. "Hmm, maybe... yes, I know. Do you remember when I told you about a legendary battle between the High Wizard Council and an evil warlock?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, the wizard struck by a blast from the Tarlos staff was sent to your world, and going by what I know about the wizard in question, he had an unusual ability to foresee the future," said Merlin, slicing into a sausage. "I would say during his life in your world, he more than likely wrote of his numerous visions."

"But if the wizard had such an ability to foresee the future, how come he didn't predict his own demise?" questioned William.

"Oh, wizards can never predict their own demise," replied Merlin. "Their emotions always cloud the visions."

With Merlin in a talkative mood, William thought he'd find out about his training.

"I'm just wondering, when do we start, you know, lessons?"

"Ah, it is good you show interest in your studies," replied Merlin, smiling at William. "I plan your training to commence after tomorrow."

"Why after tomorrow? What am I doing tomorrow?"

"I was going to tell you later this evening, but since you've asked, I thought a little tour of Camelot was in order."

"Sounds interesting, but I'll get lost. Are you going to take me around?" asked William.

"I would've liked to, but age has got the better of me," answered Merlin, patting his legs. "These old twigs of mine aren't all what they used to be, but not to worry, one of my close friends in the High Wizard Council offered his children to take you around --"

"If William is to begin starting lessons with you," butted in Trevor, "then shouldn't Albert and I apply our minds to something, too?"

"Our minds are too great to be wasted sitting idle," added Albert, chewing on a large pork chop. "We need something of nobility and where good wit is needed."

"Well, there is one position I know of," said Merlin, giving William a sly wink.

"What is it?" asked Trevor excitedly.

"Yes, hurry up and tell us," demanded Albert.

Taking his time, Merlin picked up a piece of sausage with his fork, chewed on it for a moment and then replied, "A knight."

"A k-knight?" stammered Albert.

William laughed. "Where else does a quick mind come into play more than in the heat of combat? And anyway, what could be nobler than a knight?"

"Y-yes, b-but \--"

"It's settled, then," announced Merlin. "King Arthur, it looks like you've got two new knights for Camelot."

"Fantastic," said King Arthur, playing along with the game. "They start tomorrow."

"We couldn't possibly start tomorrow," blurted out Trevor. "We, umm, we were going with William around Camelot tomorrow."

"I don't remember anything about that?" questioned William.

"You wouldn't leave your buddies behind, would you?" said Albert, trying to look upset.

William sighed. "Well... I guess not."

"It's settled. Tomorrow, we all take a walk around Camelot, and if Trevor or I see any other things that we could do besides being knights, we'll make sure to let you know," said Albert, looking satisfied.

It was obvious to William that the Twins were scared of being knights, and their plan to come along with him was only to find something a little less dangerous to do.

As the feast continued late into the night, William was stuck with listening to the Twins talk about food. It was like listening to accountants discussing tax returns. Foddle suggested to William that he could turn the Twins into slimy slugs to shut them up for a while. William agreed it would at least be a visual improvement, but that he'd better not. Through the feast, Merlin continued to have much to discuss with King Arthur. By what William could overhear, they were still talking about a spy.

Following a brief argument with the Twins, William's throat had begun to feel dry.

"You don't think a waiter would mind filling my glass with some water, do you?" he asked Foddle.

"No, of course he wouldn't --"

"More water, sir?" asked a waiter, who had served William earlier that night.

William was astounded.

"How did you know I was thirsty?"

"Oh, a good waiter always knows what's on the mind of his guest," he replied.

"You don't have to call me sir, just call me William."

"I have been honoured, William sir," replied the waiter.

"Please, what's your name?" asked William.

"Oh, you honour me again, William sir, my name is Grudly," he said.

William smiled. "Well, thank you, Grudly, for offering me some water, and yes, I'll have some more."

"That be very worthy of ye to show so much respect to a mere waiter. Old Foddle never see a boy so good of heart," commented Foddle, after the waiter had left them.

"It was nothing," replied William, shrugging his shoulders. "I was just being friendly."

At the end of the feast, there was an exchange of handshakes between the guests and William. William was enjoying the attention, but that was until Zorloth made his reappearance with the boy, the one who stared at William with hatred.

"Ah, we meet again, Chosen One," said Zorloth, sneering. "You haven't met my nephew, Oden, have you?"

"No, not yet," replied William, reaching out to shake Oden's hand.

Abruptly, Oden grabbed William's hand firmly and pulled him forward to whisper in his ear, "I promise you, you will suffer for my father's death."

William wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault, but it was too late. Oden had let go of his hand and slithered back into the crowd with Zorloth. Happily, the guests continued to file past and shake William's hand. William, however, didn't smile or say anything. His mind was lost in what Oden had whispered to him.

"Are ye planning to head to bed now?" Foddle asked William, the last of the guests leaving the hall.

Being snapped out of his zombie like state, William looked around and saw the hall was almost completely empty.

"Oh, bed... yes, you'd better show me back up to my room."

Together, William and Foddle left the hall. The Twins followed right behind after grabbing a few leftover pieces of roasted chicken from the table.

William felt exhausted after the day's celebrations and was looking forward to bed that night. As he walked towards his bedroom door, William noticed something scratched deep into it. Apprehensively, he approached the door and discovered a message:

LEAVE CAMELOT OR SUFFER DEATH.

"Quick, get Merlin!" shouted William to Foddle.

Foddle zoomed off down a corridor and left William and the Twins standing at the door, alone.

"Umm, err, maybe that wasn't s-s-such a good idea," peeped Albert, huddling close to Trevor.

William was too occupied with examining the scratches to pay any attention to Albert and Trevor's whimpers. As William looked more closely at the scratch marks, he couldn't believe his eyes... the marks looked like they had been made by finger nails.

"That's impossible," he thought, running his fingers down the text. "Nobody's finger nails are that strong. Maybe there's some sort of medieval tool that makes a similar cut, or possibly, magic was used."

"Don't y-you think we should get o-o-out of here?" whispered Trevor, tugging on William's robe.

"Listen, you two," replied William irritably. "If whoever did this wanted to hurt us right now, they wouldn't have left us a warning, would they?"

Trevor let out a squeal of fear, "I h-h-hear something."

Out from the gloom of the corridor came Foddle, Merlin, King Arthur and two knights.

"You two search the corridors and rooms," said King Arthur to the knights.

Holding flaming torches in their hands, the knights quickly left, heading further down the corridor. Merlin, meanwhile, went to examine the door.

"Who do you think did this?" William asked Merlin.

"I don't know," he replied uneasily, "but an essence of magic seems to hang in the air."

"I'll order two of my best knights to keep guard outside William's room tonight," said King Arthur.

"Yes, that would be good," agreed Merlin, and he glanced up at Foddle. "You, Foddle, will rest in William's room, just as an extra precaution."

"That I will," replied Foddle.

"Hey, how about us?" shouted Albert angrily. "That message could've just as easily been put there for us, too, you know."

"He's right," said Trevor, "someone out there mightn't like ultra intelligent people."

King Arthur sighed. "I'll arrange for some guards to be stationed outside your bedrooms as well."

"That's not good enough," retorted Albert. "We want a magic book to keep guard inside our rooms, too."

"Sorry, but there is only one Foddle in Camelot," answered Merlin. "Maybe I could arrange for a magic toothpick to protect you, eh?"

"Just forget it!" snapped the Twins crossly.

After the guards had returned and reported that they couldn't find anything, Merlin and King Arthur wished William goodnight and left. As soon as two more guards had arrived, which Albert had demanded to know were the toughest, the Twins waddled off to bed.

William crawled into bed with Foddle resting next to him on a small table. The hours ticked past, but William couldn't fall asleep. His mind kept seeing the message written on the door. Who wrote it? After a final yawn, he slowly drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Chapter 7: Trouble in the Streets

It was a fresh new day. William, however, was feeling anything but. He felt tired and looked bleary eyed. With some encouragement from Foddle, William crawled out of bed and headed off to the King's Hall for breakfast.

The Twins were already eating breakfast when William and Foddle arrived. Having the cruel nature of bullies still in them, the Twins soon made a sarcastic remark about William's appearance.

"Did the bogeyman keep you up last night?" they asked, giggling.

"No, but your snoring did," replied William bluntly, fully aware that it wasn't snoring that had kept him awake.

Albert and Trevor continued to make jokes about William looking so tired. After listening to this for about ten minutes, William had enough, and he was about to tell Foddle to go ahead and turn the Twins into slimy slugs like Foddle had suggested the previous day. Before William had the chance, a fairy fluttered in through the hall's window and landed on his shoulder. The fairy looked like a tiny pointy eared person with butterfly wings. William had never seen one of the fairies up so close before and noticed that the green glow actually radiated from their wings, not their bodies.

"I bear a message for you," said the little girl fairy.

"Yes, what is it?" asked William politely.

"Two children, one named Sarah and the other Eric, are waiting for you at the castle's drawbridge," she replied.

"OK, thanks," said William, and the fairy fluttered from his shoulder and back out the window.

"We had better be going," suggested Foddle to William.

"I know," replied William, and he looked towards the Twins. "Finish up, you two, it's time to go."

"Just after I finish this," said Trevor, gobbling into a plate stacked high with cream buns.

"Yes," added Albert, a chicken's drumstick hanging from his mouth, "one must always journey on a full stomach."

"Take what you want and leave the rest," snapped William.

The Twins grabbed a handful of food and grudgingly left the hall with William and Foddle.

"So, Foddle, do you know anything about these kids that are going to show us around Camelot today?" asked William, as they walked through the castle.

"Don't ye remember talking to them at the end of the feast? They be ever so friendly."

William tried hard to remember, but after meeting Oden, the other guests seemed blurred in his memory.

"Umm, errr... Sarah and Eric, wasn't it?" said William, remembering the names the fairy had mentioned.

"Ah, ye does remember," answered Foddle, and he laughed. "I be worrying that me lad be losing his memory."

The walk to the gates was short, but the Twins had already begun to puff and pant. As they crossed the castle's drawbridge, William could see a curly haired girl and boy standing at the far end wearing wizard's robes.

They both ran up to William as soon as he had got halfway across the bridge.

"Hi, I'm Eric \-- Eric Turner," said the boy excitedly. "You shook my hand yesterday at the feast."

"Err... yes, I remember," said William, really unable to recollect a thing.

"See, I told you he'd remember us, Sarah," said Eric to his sister. "She reckoned you hadn't paid any attention when I shook your hand. Ah, what do sisters know?"

"That's not true," snapped Sarah, a slight blush visible on her cheeks. "I said, if you recall correctly, that it looked like he had other things on his mind and that he might've missed our handshake. That's all."

William smiled. "No -- no, I couldn't forget you two."

"I had better be off, now," said Foddle.

"Why? Where are you going?" asked William, who thought Foddle was coming along with them.

Foddle whispered in William's ear, "I be going to help Merlin, ye know... to find out who be after ye."

"What did he say to you?" questioned Trevor suspiciously, as soon as Foddle had left for the castle.

"Nothing important," replied William, shrugging his shoulders.

Trevor smirked. "You had better tell us or we'll tell your new friends about last night and the bogeyman."

"Yeah," said Albert, "you wouldn't want that, would you?"

"OK, if you must know, Foddle told me that we should take regular stops," replied William.

"And why is that?" asked Albert.

"Well, if we didn't, we'd end up carrying both of you."

"He did not!" snapped Trevor.

"How do you know?" questioned William.

"I-I, err..."

"Good, that's settled then. Let's get going," said William to Eric and Sarah, who both looked impressed with the way he handled the Twins.

William, the Twins, Sarah and Eric headed east along a cobbled road to where a potion shop was located. As they walked, the townsfolk regularly came up to William offering baskets of fruit and fresh chicken eggs. William smiled at each of them and graciously refused, telling them not to consider him a hero until he had actually done something heroic. The Twins, on the other hand, had no such qualms and took whatever gifts they could get their greedy hands on. Their excuse being they didn't have the heart to say no, William thought stomach would've been a better word for it.

"How much further to the potion shop?" whined Trevor, half bent over and rubbing his gigantic thighs.

"Don't worry, it's just around that corner up ahead," replied Eric reassuringly.

"Why are we going there, anyhow?" complained Albert, for the third time.

"They've already told you before, Albert. It's because that's where the Potion Master lives, and that's who will take me for potion lessons," said William, and he thought back to the explosion he heard from Merlin's study yesterday. "Merlin's not an expert at everything, you know."

"Well, it's too far. That's all I know," grumbled Albert, kicking a loose pebble on the road.

As they journeyed towards the shop, William learnt that Eric was aged eight and his sister, Sarah, was aged eight, too, but she made sure they understood she wasn't just eight. She was eight and three quarters.

The atmosphere was cheerful as they continued to walk, even the Twins seemed to have quietened down a bit, but that was until they headed up a secluded backstreet.

"Hey, give me back my hat," shouted a young boy at a group of kids, who had his hat and were throwing it cruelly to each other.

"Come on, William, let's put a stop to this," said Eric heroically.

"Umm... don't you think there's quite a large number?" said William nervously. "Maybe we should go get some help, instead."

"Very clever, but you don't have to pretend to be scared just for our safety," replied Eric. "We know you're the Chosen One and couldn't possibly be scared of anything, especially a group of only seven bullies."

"Yes, well... I just didn't want you two to get involved in something that could get ugly," said William, trying hard to sound valiant, "but if you're happy to go ahead..."

"Absolutely," said Eric, rolling up the sleeves of his robe.

"Are you sure you want to get involved in this?" William asked Sarah.

"Hey, I am in my third year of magic training," she replied, a little insulted. "I think I can handle some snot nosed bullies."

"Sorry, I didn't know," said William, and he looked over at the Twins. "I \--"

"Don't even think about us going to fight your battles," interrupted Trevor.

"Yes, how dare you even think of it," added Albert accusingly.

"I wasn't," replied William. "I was going to suggest you stay here."

"Oh, were you. Why, may I ask?" said Trevor, sounding very intellectual.

"Because I know two big heads like you two wouldn't want to get hurt," he replied.

"That's what you may have thought, but there's a time when even intellectual geniuses like myself and Albert must put our bodies on the line for others," announced Trevor valiantly, his chest pushed outward, "for the strong must protect the weak, and the smart must educate the \--"

"Yeah, yeah, you coming or what?" interrupted William.

"Yes, Albert and I will venture into battle with you, no matter the odds or the dangers we face."

"OK, if that's settled, we need to work out a plan," said William, and everyone quickly huddled around him. "I don't think it would be a good idea to just run in there. They'll probably see us coming and run off with the hat." He grinned. "I suggest we work our way as close as possible to them and then wait for the right moment. When that comes, I'll run in and grab the hat, while the rest of you can back me up. What do you think?"

"Sounds good," replied Eric.

"Yes, I like it," agreed Sarah.

"It's a ridicules plan," said Trevor stubbornly.

"Yes, foolhardy and stupid to boot," remarked Albert.

"Do you have a better idea?" asked William.

"Err... no, but I'm positive we could've come up with a much better plan if you let us have a proper breakfast," answered Albert, crossing his arms.

"Well, I'm sorry guys, but since your stomachs aren't at bursting capacity, we'll go ahead with my plan," said William.

Having finished disagreeing, the Twins grudgingly followed William, Eric and Sarah as they edged their way closer to the bullies. Standing just out of sight, they waited for the right moment. With a strong gust of wind, it had arrived. One of the bullies missed catching the hat.

"Now!" shouted William, leaping from the shadows and running towards the hat.

"Get him!" William heard a familiar voice shout out.

Suddenly, the group of bullies were hot on William's heels, trying to run him down. It was just like old times at Harsly when the Twins had less brain cells than a bowl of spaghetti.

"Watch out!" yelled Sarah and Eric, seeing a bully dive for William's ankles.

William heard the warning. Instantaneously, he zipped left, and the bully dived face first into a fresh pile of horse manure.

"Just a little further," panted William. "I'm almost there."

With William only a few yards from the hat, Oden unexpectedly slithered out from the shadows and swiped it from the ground.

"Looking for this?" he asked sarcastically, dangling the hat in front of William's stunned face.

William didn't have a clue why Oden didn't just grab the hat straight from the start.

"But why did \--"

"Why did I wait for you to get so close?" he interrupted, as his goons began to surround William. "So you can feel what it's like to have something important taken away, like I did with my father!"

"It's not \--"

"Shut up. I don't feel like hearing your worthless excuses as to why you think it's not your fault my father died," snapped Oden hatefully. "Your very existence caused my father's death. If you had never been born, Merlin wouldn't have seen you in his crystal ball and requested the search for the staff. I blame you, and only you, for his death."

William could see the crazy logic to Oden's argument, but it wasn't his fault he was born.

Oden turned to his gang of ruff faced bullies, who were almost twice the size of William, and said, "Make the worm squirm."

"I don't think so," snapped Sarah, pushing her way through the bullies after finally catching up.

"Nor do I," said Eric, as he pushed his way in, too.

Oden laughed. "Oh, look guys, someone left the stable doors open and two nags have escaped."

William guessed Oden was making a joke about the symbol printed on the back of Sarah and Eric's robes, a symbol of a unicorn.

"Why don't you crawl back down the hole you came from, Oden," said Sarah heatedly.

"Tough words from a Turner," replied Oden. "Your magic skill is nothing compared to mine, so just be careful what you say, eh?"

"No, you be careful!" snapped Eric sharply, as he stood next to William. "William's on our side, and he's the Chosen One. If you're not careful, he'll vaporise you and your thick headed friends with a single wiggle of his nose."

Oden grinned. "Oh really, we'll see about that."

As Oden's goons dived for cover, William quickly tried to whisper in Eric's ear that he hadn't learnt any magic yet, but it was too late, Oden had flung up his arms ready to cast a spell.

"Leviarnus," shouted Oden, and he brought his hands down not on William but Albert, instead.

Suddenly, Albert soared skyward, only stopping once he was level with the rooftops.

"Ahhhh! Let me down," he screamed widely, kicking his legs and flapping his arms.

Oden pointed to Albert in the sky and laughed to his goons, "Look, fellas, pigs can fly."

"Put him down!" ordered William.

"What are you going to do if I don't?" mocked Oden.

"I, err..."

"Oh, it looks like the Chosen One doesn't even know how to remove a levitation spell. I knew Merlin was a fool when he said you were the Chosen One. How could a pathetic thing like you protect anything?"

"That's not true!" said Eric. "William just doesn't see the need to prove himself to the likes of you. Isn't that right, William?"

"Um, yeah... that's right," agreed William awkwardly.

"Come on, gang, let's leave these pack of losers," said Oden, as he turned to go. "Maybe their Chosen One will feel more willing to show his abilities another day when he realises how pathetic he's made himself look."

"Don't worry, Oden, next time we meet, William will show how pathetic you are," answered back Eric.

Oden turned around and looked Eric straight in the eye.

"Once a loser, always a loser," he said mockingly, and he threw the hat back to the young boy, showing that William had failed in his attempt to retrieve it.

"Forget about him," said Sarah, coming to William's side. "He's been twisted ever since his father died."

"I know, Merlin told me about it," said William.

"Hey! If you've finished chatting, maybe you'd like to bring Albert back down," shouted out Trevor, as he attempted to jump up and grab Albert by the feet.

"Oh, yes, Albert. Um... do either of you know how to reverse the levitation spell?" asked William, looking at Sarah and Eric.

"Sure, but don't you want to do the honours?" said Eric.

"I think it's time I tell you something, Eric," began William shamefully. "I... I can't cast spells."

"But why did you tell Oden you didn't need to show off?" asked Eric, confused.

"I didn't want to make you look bad after you had already told him I didn't need to prove myself to him," replied William, seeing Eric's face look saddened.

"Thanks, thanks a lot!" yelled Eric, and he ran off down the street, teary eyed.

"I didn't mean to hurt his feelings," said William to Sarah, feeling guilty.

"I know you didn't, William," she replied. "It's probably best he finds out now rather than later."

"How come you're not upset?" he asked, bewildered.

Sarah smiled. "I could tell you didn't know any magic the moment I saw you."

"How?"

"Let's just say it was intuition."

"Hey! For the second time, get over here and bring Albert down," shouted Trevor furiously, now dangling from Albert's foot in a vain attempt to pull him down.

Sarah pointed her hands at Albert and said the reverse spell, "Releviarnus."

Instantly, Albert crashed down, landing flat bang on top of Trevor.

"That's the last time I ask you to do anything," bellowed Trevor, his head sticking out from underneath Albert's rump.

"I didn't know he was going to fall so suddenly," replied Sarah innocently, and she gave William a wink.

After getting back to their feet and straightening their ties, the Twins glared at William.

"This is all your fault," said Albert, pointing accusingly at William.

"Why? What did I do?" asked William.

"If you would've let us have a proper breakfast, we could've come up with a much better plan, which wouldn't have resulted in the mess yours did," replied Albert.

"That's absolutely right," agreed Trevor.

William didn't feel up to listening to the Twins have their usual whine.

"If you've finished, I'd like to continue to the potion shop," he said impatiently.

"Yes, we've finished, and we've finished following you around Camelot, too!" shouted Trevor. "We're heading back to the castle."

Before William could say anymore, Albert and Trevor walked off in the direction of the castle, their noses pointed skyward.

"Well, that just leaves us, then. Shall we be off?" Sarah asked William.

William sighed. "Yeah, let's go."

The potion shop was only a short distance from where they were, and it didn't take long before William could see it. The shop was small and inconspicuous, but there was something unusual about it. Green coloured smoke rose from one of its many chimneys. Sarah commented that, going by the smoke, it looked like the Potion Master was making a fresh cauldron of Toad Wart soup. William didn't feel he had the stomach to ask exactly why they called the soup that, but if his guess was right, it was the grossest thing ever.

As William and Sarah walked through the shop's door, there was the familiar sound of a dinging bell. Behind the front desk, William could see into an untidy room. In it, he saw a short, hooded individual hunched over a boiling cauldron, the Potion Master.

"Ah, if my ears do not deceive me, two customers have entered," said the Potion Master, who, William now realised, was an old woman. "Today's special is Rumpkin Pumpkin. One spoonful and you'll look five years younger."

"Sorry, we're not here to buy any potions, Eveador," announced Sarah. "I've brought the Chosen One, William Wright, to see you."

"Ah, the Chosen One, the boy who will protect Camelot from disaster, the boy with untapped power," murmured Eveador, and she began filling up a small wooden bowl with the soup she had been tending.

"Is she alright?" whispered William to Sarah.

"She's just a little eccentric, nothing more," replied Sarah quietly.

William wondered if the fumes coming off the boiling potions had got to the Potion Master's brain, but he thought it best not to say anything about that to Sarah. She seemed protective of the old woman.

"Please, come closer so that you can warm yourselves next to my cauldron," said Eveador, her back still to William and Sarah as she ladled the soup.

Being careful not to knock over the potion bottles sitting on the shelfs or touch the dried bat wings hanging from the walls, William and Sarah walked deeper into the shop.

"Ah, so let me have a look at you," said Eveador, as she turned around to face William.

William was shocked when he saw the face of the Potion Master. He expected to see the face of a wrinkled, toothless woman with big warts on her nose, but it was the complete opposite. She had a kind hearted face with bright green eyes.

"So, this is the boy that I will need to teach my knowledge of potions to," she said, smiling. "Are you hungry? I've just finished cooking a fresh pot of Toad Wart soup, and I believe it's one of my tastiest."

Eveador offered William the wooden bowl she had just finished filling up. The soup was green and William swore he saw a frog's leg bob to the surface for a split-second.

"Err, no, not really," replied William awkwardly.

"Oh, not feeling hungry? I'll put it away for later, then," she said, placing the bowl down on a table. "So, if we're to talk, let's find some place more comfortable, shall we? Follow me."

Eveador led William and Sarah into an adjoining room where they all sat down next to a fireplace.

"It'll only take me a moment to get the fire started," said Eveador, as she reached up and grabbed a bottle from above the fireplace.

Eveador emptied the red coloured liquid from the bottle over the wood in the fireplace. There was a moment's pause, and then, whoosh! The wood burst alight.

"I didn't know you could do that with potions," remarked William, astounded.

"Oh, there's more to potions than you could imagine," replied Eveador, slowly sitting down in a chair facing them. "Yes, there's a huge amount one can do with potions... much more than just make you look younger."

Eveador talked to William and Sarah for hours about all the different potions she had made over her life. It all sounded very interesting and William was captivated by her stories.

"Potions can do amazing things," said Eveador. "Sometimes, however, the ingredients required for the potions are so rare you can't make them."

"Is that often a problem?" asked William.

"Yes," she replied. "Take for example the potion required to cure Black Leech poison, a poison fatal to its victim. The ingredients needed for that potion have long since vanished. The only known way to cure the poison is by venturing into the lair of a huge dragon. Legend has it a solitary bottle of Scarlet rests with its treasure, the cure of Black Leech poison."

"Why does a bottle of Scarlet rest with the dragon's treasure?" enquired William.

Eveador smiled. "Ah, I see the interest on your face. You're not planning to venture into a dragon's lair, are you?"

"No way," replied William, shaking his head. "I'm just curious about how the bottle got there."

"Well," began Eveador darkly, "because it is widely known that dragons always store a wealth of treasure in their lair, many greedy sorcerers have tried to enter the lair of the dragon. All died in their foolish attempt to steal the treasure, including a dark sorcerer." She spoke in whisper. "It was said the sorcerer always carried around a bottle of Scarlet for self preservation." She smiled. "Don't look so worried. You won't have to worry about Black Leech poison. It's as rare as the cure itself."

"That's a relief," said William.

"I've been talking for hours, haven't I?" asked Eveador shamefully. "Maybe it's time for a little break. Shall I go and warm up your soup?"

"Oh, err, no -- no, we'd better be off. Sarah's still got a lot to show me of Camelot," stammered William, rising from his chair.

"Are you sure you don't have time for a little soup? It wouldn't take long to warm it up," said Eveador.

"Umm... as tempting as your soup is, I'm sorry, but we really need to be running," replied William anxiously.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. We'll make time in one of your lessons with me to have a good pot of soup together."

"Yeah, I'm sure," mumbled William. "Come on, let's go, Sarah."

"Bye, Eveador. I'll come and visit you another time," said Sarah.

Eveador waved goodbye to them, and they headed off through the streets of Camelot.

"Why did you want to leave so suddenly? We could've stayed a bit longer," questioned Sarah.

"What, and eat some of that Toad Wart soup. No, thank you," answered William, already feeling sick just thinking about it.

"Do you consider Toad Wart soup to taste bad?" asked Sarah, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, of course I do. Why else would it have such a yucky name?" replied William.

Sarah laughed. "It's called Toad Wart soup because Mrs Toadwart came up with the recipe. Mrs Toadwart is renowned for making fantastic soups, and Toad Wart soup is her best."

"Oh..."

The rest of the walk around Camelot was enjoyable. Sarah showed William the town water fountain and the wizard school she and Eric go to for their magic lessons. By the time William had seen everything, the sun had begun to set.

"Thanks for showing me around, Sarah," said William, "but could we go see Eric before I go back to the castle? I'd really like to say sorry to him, you know, for what happened today."

"Sure," she replied, "home is not far from here, and I'm positive that's where he'll be."

Sarah was right. After walking around a few corners, they arrived at a simple town house, her home.

"You'd better wipe your feet on the doormat," Sarah told William, as they walked up to the door. "Mom's pretty strict with cleanliness."

Hanging above the doorway, there was a small golden bell. Sarah rang it. Almost instantly the door flung open and Mrs Turner, a tall stringy woman, made her appearance.

"Do you know what time it is, young lady?" she asked crossly, unaware that William was waiting to the side, just out of view. "Eric came home a good two hours ago. Why didn't you?"

"Didn't he tell you I was still taking William around Camelot?" said Sarah.

"No, he just went straight to his room," answered Mrs Turner. "He looked a little upset, I might add."

"Yes, that's my fault," announced William, stepping into view. "I let him down today."

"Y-you're the Chosen One. Oh my, oh my, it's an h-h-honour," stammered Mrs Turner, as Sarah rolled her eyes in embarrassment. "Please, c-come in and grace our home with your presence. I'd feel so g-grateful if you just let me make you a cup of tea."

William smiled. "I'm not sure if I've got time for tea. I really just wanted to talk to Eric and head off."

"Oh, there's plenty of time for tea," replied Mrs Turner. "Come in and meet my husband. He'd love to say hello."

"Ooops, I should've wiped my feet," said William, as he walked into the house. "Sorry, Mrs Turner."

"Oh, don't worry about that. The very dirt that clings to your shoes is honoured in this home," she answered, in a way that made William think twice about his decision to walk in.

As he entered the house, William noticed that everything inside was extremely neat and tidy: paintings on the wall were perfectly squared up, the carpet was spotless and the candles along the hallway were all the exact same height. Mrs Turner obviously had a thing for order.

"This way, umm... William sir," said Mrs Turner, leading William down a long hallway. "My husband's always lounging in the library room."

Upon entering the room, William saw a well rounded man sitting in a soft chair reading a book. No doubt, it was Mr Turner.

"Look, Rodney darling, look who's decided to pop in and say hello," said Mrs Turner.

"Well, I'll be a witch's wart -- if isn't William Wright himself," replied Mr Turner cheerfully. "Come sit down and tell us what you think of Camelot."

"I will, but could I see Eric first?" asked William.

"Oh, you can see him at dinner," answered Mr Turner. "You are staying for dinner, right?"

"I, umm... I don't think I could. Merlin will be wondering where I am if I'm not back soon," said William, noticing the sun was almost set through the window.

"Don't worry about that," said Mr Turner, "I'll just get a fairy to tell him you've decided to stay with us the night."

"The night?" questioned William.

"Yes, of course," he replied. "It'll be dark soon, and you wouldn't want to be walking back in the dark, would you?"

William thought for a moment about the message scratched into his bedroom door.

"No, I guess not."

With that settled, Mr Turner looked over to a fairy resting on the windowsill. It was the same little girl fairy William had met during breakfast.

"Isabella," he said politely, "could you come here for a moment?"

The fairy fluttered over, and he told her what to tell Merlin. Soon, she had left through an open window for the castle.

Mr Turner patted a seat and looked up towards William.

"So, come and sit down," he said, "tell me about your trip around Camelot."

"Yes, and I'll make a start on supper," announced Mrs Turner, looking very happy. "Come on, Sarah."

Sarah left with her mother for the kitchen, leaving William alone with Mr Turner. William felt a bit uneasy and didn't really know what to talk about. Mr Turner, however, did, and he quickly started babbling about life in Camelot and the High Wizard Council. William learnt that not all the wizards on the council were equal, and it depended on your magical abilities to set your voting power. By the sounds of it, some people had a knack for magic and others didn't. Mr Turner, it seemed, didn't.

"Dinner's ready," called out Mrs Turner, ringing a small bell.

"Come on, let's eat," said Mr Turner, rising from his chair. "Sarah, sweetheart, could you go up and bring down your brother --"

"I'll go," said William, seeing this was his opportunity to talk to Eric.

"Sure, if that's what you want?" said Mr Turner. "It's the third room on the left upstairs."

William left for the staircase. Once at Eric's bedroom door, William knocked, but there was no reply.

"Ah, Eric... it's me, William," he began softly, standing beside the door. "I'm sorry about what happened with Oden today. I shouldn't have lied. I'd just like to say thanks for backing me up when it all got pear-shaped." He spoke with amazement. "It's pretty rare to see someone show so much bravery, and that impressed me. I'll probably even tell King Arthur about it."

"You'll tell King Arthur about my bravery?" asked Eric excitedly, answering back from behind the door.

"Absolutely," replied William

The bedroom door opened and out came Eric with a big smile.

"Come on, let's go down and have some dinner," said William.

Eric had become William's friend again, and they joked about Oden and his goons during supper. The supper that was served was delicious, and it seemed Mrs Turner was trying hard to impress William. After the meal, Mr Turner told stories of great wizards who had travelled to Evermist in search of treasure but had never returned.

"Oh, is that the time," said Mr Turner, glancing towards a huge clock. "It's best we head to bed."

"Yes, I'm feeling pretty tired," yawned William.

After saying goodnight to the Turner family, William walked into a spare bedroom and went to bed, its soft sheets sending him off to a restful sleep, a sleep he would more than need for the next day.

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 ride 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.

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.

Chapter 10: The Spy

The King's Hall looked as impressive as the last time William saw it. Food was abundant and fairies filled the air.

Merlin led William through the bustling crowd of waiters to the round table in the centre. Upon sitting down, King Arthur greeted William and then worriedly broke into conversation with Merlin about the continuing attacks on the local towns. It seemed they had increased.

Just as William was getting comfortable, Trevor and Albert showed up. They were both carrying large plates overflowing with cakes.

"Say hello to Camelot's new culinary critics," said Trevor proudly, as he and Albert sat down alongside William.

"Hello, critics, and how's today's gorging been going?" asked William.

"How dare you say that!" snapped Albert, his nose pointing skyward. "We merely taste the food the shop owners have on offer." He stuffed a piece of cake into his mouth. "To say that we gorge, nay eat, is preposterous."

"Absolutely," agreed Trevor, between gobbling down his third wedge of cake. "We never gorge."

"And what, may I ask, are you two doing right now?" questioned William.

"Oh, you mean this food? Well, this is our supper," replied Trevor. "One should always have a large, hearty supper each day."

"Looks like your simple minded friends just entered," remarked Albert snobbishly to William. "I don't like those two."

"Neither do I," said Trevor. "Let's leave."

Without another word, Albert and Trevor pompously got up and sat further down the table, much to William's relief. He couldn't stand their arrogance.

Looking excited, Sarah and Eric sat down beside William.

"King Arthur and Merlin are sitting just over there," peeped Eric, peering up the table.

"Hey, I know, why don't you go over and talk to him?" suggested William.

"Umm... err, m-maybe later."

Sarah smiled. "So, how was your first lesson with Merlin?"

"Let's just say I was given a lot of homework," replied William, "and how about you two? I hope the cleaning job your mom gave wasn't too hard."

"There wasn't anything to do, really," answered Sarah, shrugging her shoulders. "The house was already spotless --"

"Oh, I just remembered something," whispered William. "Do you two remember the message carved into my bedroom door?"

"Yes," they replied softly.

"Oden's uncle didn't do it."

"What... are you sure?" asked Sarah.

"Positive," replied William. "A guard saw a short person in the shadows sneaking out of the castle that night. That means it couldn't have been him."

"Who do you think did it?" said Eric.

William leaned forward and replied, "Oden."

"But can you prove it?" questioned Eric. "No one will believe you."

"That's what I hoped you two could help me with," said William.

"What do you mean?" asked Sarah.

"Coming up with a way to prove he did it," replied William, and he looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening. "You know, gathering some evidence."

Eric grinned. "If we prove he did it, he'll be banned from entering the Fire Ring Race." He rubbed his hands together. "It'll be the perfect payback \--"

"That's not why," said William, "I've got a feeling his uncle's up to no good and could be linked to the attacks carried out on the neighbouring towns... he might be a spy."

Sarah and Eric were completely shocked.

"A spy?" repeated Sarah.

"Yes," replied William quietly. "Oden's probably just doing what his uncle tells him to do. If we gather enough evidence to prove Oden guilty, then the authorities will investigate his uncle, too. That's my plan, anyway."

"Sounds good, but how are going to get the proof we need?" asked Sarah.

"I know," said Eric, "how about we sneak into their home and see if we can find anything in there? We might even find some stuff that proves Zorloth's a spy."

William frowned. "Isn't that a bit risky?"

"No, not if we sneak in when they're fast asleep," replied Eric. "Midnight's probably the best time to go."

"But how am I supposed to sneak out from the castle at midnight with guards stationed outside my bedroom?" questioned William.

"There is one way," said Sarah, "but you're not going to like it."

William sighed. "Let's hear it."

"You could cast a levitation spell."

"Yeah," nodded Eric, "with a levitation spell, you can just float down from your window."

"There's only one problem," said William. "I don't know how to cast a levitation spell."

"Oh, it's easy," replied Sarah confidently. "You remember the word Oden used when he made Albert float."

"Yes," answered William, thinking back.

"Well, just say what he said and you'll be set to go. As for the reverse spell, do exactly the same -- you do remember the reverse spell, don't you?

"Of course," replied William.

With the plan of creeping into Zorloth's house agreed on, William suggested they tuck into some of the delicious looking food on the table. Eric eagerly agreed and dug in, completely forgetting about his obsession with King Arthur.

Soon they had finished their tasty meals and it was time to leave. As they left for the exit, William went over the plan and suggested they meet at the town's water fountain. Both Sarah and Eric agreed and then left for home. William, on the other hand, headed up to his bedroom to sit out the hours, reading the books Merlin had previously arranged to be delivered there.

With his bedroom's clock almost at midnight, William knew it was time to go.

"This is it," he thought, placing down his book, "time to fly."

William quietly got out of bed and moved a small wooden table underneath the window. With butterflies in his stomach, he carefully climbed on top of the table and peered out.

"What did I get myself into?" murmured William, as the cold wind bit at his face and the blackness of the night filled his eyes. "This is suicide!"

The idea of having to crawl to the very edge of the window filled William's mind with horror, but he couldn't back out now. Sarah and Eric were counting on him.

"Here goes nothing," he said worriedly, and he slithered out onto the window's ledge.

It was frightfully windy on the ledge, and William uneasily joked to himself about it.

"I'd better hurry up and cast the spell, or I might get blown off."

After taking one last indecisive look back into his bedroom, William readied himself to cast the spell.

"Here I go," he said, and he took a deep breath. "Levi --"

Suddenly, William was falling. A freak blast of wind had knocked him off the ledge.

"Leviarnus, Leviarnus, Leviarnus!" shouted William frantically, but each time the wind muffled his voice.

It looked like this was it for William. There was only a few seconds left before he'd crash to the ground. Not willing to give up, William closed his eyes and, as loud as he could, shouted the spell one last time.

"LEVIARNUS!"

William instantly felt himself stop falling, but was it because the spell had worked or had he fallen to his death? With apprehension, he slowly opened his eyes.

"It worked!" he yelled, reaching out and touching the ground. "I'm alive."

Even though William had successfully used the levitation spell to get down, there was still one more task he had to do before he could use the reverse spell. He had to propel himself across the castle's water filled moat, a feat much harder than it sounded, especially with the wind blowing him around.

"OK, if I move my arms like this, I go up," muttered William, trying to control his haphazard flight, "but if I move my arms like that, I go down."

After experimenting for a couple of minutes, William had discovered that a swimming action seemed to work best, and with the wind having calmed down a bit, he decided it was time to head off across the moat.

"I'd better hurry," he stressed, breast stroking his way through the air and out over the moat. "This calm wind won't last."

William's progress across the moat was going well, and it looked like he'd be at the other side in no time, but his fears of the wind changing became a reality. It began gusting furiously. William was violently buffeted around and started being blown back across the moat, but he refused to give up.

"It's time to see what you're made of, William," he said firmly to himself, battling to stay in control.

The wind continued to throw William around. Sometimes, he'd be blown hundreds of yards into the star filled sky. Other times, he'd be only a few inches above the moat, choking on mouthfuls of icy, cold water. Suddenly, the wind changed. This time, it blew him swiftly across the moat.

Without a moments delay, William cast the reverse spell.

"Releviarnus!" he shouted.

In the blink of an eye, William began plummeting earthward.

"This is going to hurt," he fretted, realising that he was much higher up than he thought.

THUD!

William hit the ground hard, but thankfully, he didn't break any bones. With the worry of being late, William quickly scampered up the embankment and headed off into the darkness towards the town's water fountain.

"Not much further now," he thought, making his way through the dimly lit streets of Camelot. "It'll be good to talk with Sarah and --"

Suddenly, William heard footsteps from behind. He quickly turned around to see who it was, only to see the street completely empty.

"Am I hearing things?" muttered William to himself, and he turned back around to continue towards the water fountain.

After taking a few steps, William heard the sound of the footsteps again.

"Hello, is anybody there?" he asked timidly, peering down the misty street.

No one answered.

"Who's following me?" panicked William. "What do they want?"

Not prepared to find out, he took off at full speed down the street, occasionally glancing back to see if anyone was following him.

"Just this last corner and I'll be at the water fountain," he huffed.

With his legs throbbing from exhaustion, William had arrived at the water fountain... Sarah and Eric weren't there.

"I'm too late. They must've left without me!" fretted William, and he quickly looked back towards the dark street he had just run out of. "I'd better get out of here before I meet whoever's following me."

William turned to run back to the castle but stopped short after hearing the sound of something scampering across the rooftops. His heart racing, he turned around to see a cloaked figure crawling along the roof of a nearby shop, on all fours.

"I don't like the look of that," he gulped, and he turned to run for his life.

It was too late. The thing leap from the rooftop and grabbed him from behind.

"I tried to warn you, but you didn't listen," the thing hissed, clasping its hand tightly around William's mouth, stopping him from being able to yell for help. "Now, I have no choice. I must do my master's biding."

William didn't know what was holding onto him, but he knew for sure it wasn't human. Nobody could leap from a rooftop that high without hurting themselves.

"I've got to try and free myself," thought William, as the creature tightened its cold, bony hands around him and began to drag him towards one of the pitch-black streets.

Frantically, William tried to struggle free, but it was no good. The creature was too strong. In one last attempt to escape, William bit down hard on one of the creature's fingers, but it didn't work. His teeth crunched into what felt like a hard metal ring, instead.

"I am sorry, Chosen One, but I must do what my master tells me," explained the creature, repositioning its hand so that William couldn't bite it again. "I will make sure it is painless."

Somehow, William didn't feel comforted by the creature's remarks and continued to struggle with all his might.

"Please, stop resisting," said the creature, as it tightened its hold on William. "Once I have ridden my master of you, I will be able to complete my task of gathering information about the King's army." The creature shook with terror. "My master will punish me if I fail him."

Just when William thought his was done for, he heard the sound of footsteps.

"More hu-mans?" hissed the creature fearfully, and it foolishly loosened its grip on William for a split-second.

Sensing his opportunity, William kicked free and ran off in the direction of the footsteps. It was towards the water fountain.

"It couldn't be," he thought, running out from the street. "Yes, it is."

Sarah and Eric were standing beside the water fountain.

"Am I glad to see you two," panted William, collapsing in their arms. "Something hideous just attacked me -- it was the spy."

"Attacked you?" repeated Eric, stunned.

"Yes," replied William, "it was trying to drag me into one of the secluded side streets, where it planned to kill me." He shook his head in disbelief. "I only just managed to slip out of its hands when your footsteps distracted it."

"We'd better get out of here," suggested Sarah. "It might return."

Eric gulped. "Where's t-the safest p-p-place to go?"

"The castle," she answered. "It's not far from here."

Frantically, they took off towards the castle, avoiding the darker streets and constantly looking back to see if anything was following.

After a terrifying journey, they finally made it back to the castle's entrance and quickly informed a guard.

"Something tried to kill the Chosen One?" repeated the guard, overwhelmed by it all.

"That's right," replied Sarah swiftly. "Now please, hurry and send somebody out to find the attacker."

"Yes, good thinking," said the guard, still grappling to take it in. "I'll raise the alarm and get the guards out to search the town."

"Hey, what about us? Are we supposed to just stand here at the castle's gate in the open?" questioned Eric, as the guard turned to leave.

"Yes, umm... you're right, might be a bit dangerous. It's best you all follow me."

The guard quickly led them from the gate and into the castle.

"Stay here while I raise the alarm," said the guard, and he ran off, leaving them standing in the castle's courtyard.

Soon there were guards running past them and out into the town. Two of the guards stopped to talk to William.

"Merlin wishes to meet you in his study, right away," one of them said.

"What about Sarah and Eric?" asked William.

"We are to escort them safely back home. Now, if you two kids are ready to leave..."

"Yeah, I suppose," replied Eric half-heartedly. "Might as well face mom and get it over with."

After saying goodbye to Sarah and Eric, William left the courtyard and headed for Merlin's study.

"I hope Sarah and Eric don't get into too much trouble for sneaking out," worried William, walking through the now familiar corridors of the castle. "I shouldn't have brought them into it."

Once at the door leading into Merlin's study, William swallowed hard and knocked. He felt troubled that Merlin would be angry with him. The door opened and he walked in to discover Merlin sitting down at a table reading a book, Foddle still snoozing in the corner.

"Please, sit down, my young friend," said Merlin, placing the book down and looking up at William with an expression of concern. "I was informed that you were attacked in the town by some creature. Do you know what it was?"

"No," answered William, shaking his head, "but one thing I do know for sure about it. It's feeding information back to its master about King Arthur's army."

Merlin looked bewildered.

"Are you saying the creature that attacked you is a spy?"

"Yes," replied William, sitting down next to him. "Originally, I thought Zorloth was the spy. That's why I went into town to meet Sarah and Eric. We planned to sneak into his house and find proof while he slept, but after hearing the creature mention it was collecting information about the King's army, I realised I was wrong."

"Hmm... a spy in Camelot would explain why the local towns are being attacked at the most vulnerable times," remarked Merlin, tapping his lip. "Did it mention anything about who it was working for?"

"Nothing more than master," answered William.

Merlin stroked his long bread, pondering what William had just said.

"It seems to me the time of Camelot's doom grows nearer," began Merlin forebodingly. "Something of great evil is at work and is rapidly preparing to destroy all that is good."

William gulped. "How much time do we have left?"

"I do not know, but I believe the spy is the key in this evil creature's plans. If we can catch it or stop it from gathering anymore information, then maybe we can complete your training before it's too late. I'll speak to King Arthur tomorrow. Hopefully, we can take new precautions that will guarantee no more information is leaked."

"If finishing my training in time is in doubt, I'd better head off to my bedroom and start reading those books you gave me," said William anxiously, and he rose from his chair. "I'm sure I can finish a few more before dawn."

"I admire your enthusiasm, my young friend," beamed Merlin, "but rest is what you need, not study."

Merlin walked over to the door and opened it for William.

"I hope you're not disappointed in me for doing something that would put my life in danger?" said William, standing in the doorway.

Merlin looked at William and smiled.

"Your actions tonight haven't disappointed me. On the contrary, they have only reinforced my belief in you. Yes, what you did was dangerous, but it was only done in the interest of catching a potential spy."

"Do you think Sarah and Eric's parents will feel the same about them?" asked William optimistically.

Merlin chuckled. "Don't worry, your friends will be fine. I'll send a fairy around first thing tomorrow to clear everything up. Now, off to bed for some rest. A refreshed mind is always needed when learning."

"OK, then. Goodnight," yawned William, and he headed off to his bedroom.

As William lay in his bed that night, his mind kept bothering him about the spy.

"What was it? How did it know I was in the town? And who's its master?"

These three questions kept bouncing around William's head until, from exhaustion, he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 11: The Fire Ring Race

Over the following weeks, King Arthur raised security in Camelot and the local towns began reporting an end to the vicious attacks. It seemed the spy couldn't work with so much security around. William, meanwhile, continued to study, rapidly learning new skills from both Merlin and Eveador.

Even though his studies were important, William still made time to practice for the Fire Ring Race. During the afternoons, he would be out in the castle's courtyard with Sarah and Eric, training.

"Always fire from the hip," ordered Eric, as William would attempt to blast a straw target dangling from a tree, "and remember not to burn out your staff's crystal."

Sarah gave William advice, too, but it was in the skill of horse riding.

"Don't try to force your horse to go where you want, just guide it," she would say, riding next to him.

The Twins, however, weren't interested in what William got up to and preferred to waddle into town for daily tastings of cakes, each time dragging poor old Foddle along to guide them. As for Oden, he kept to himself and single-mindedly trained for the race.

Soon, the day of the big race had arrived, and William was to meet Sarah and Eric in the castle stables to go over what they had learnt one last time. After a hearty breakfast, recommended by Eric the day before, William made his way down to the stables and waited for their arrival.

"Ready for the big day?" asked Sarah excitedly, arriving in the stables with Eric.

"As ready as I'll ever be," replied William, and he patted his horse. "I just hope Thunder here knows how important this race is to me."

William's horse, Thunder, snorted in response to his doubts.

"Did you remember to have a proper breakfast?" said Eric, frowning.

"Of course," replied William, and he counted on his fingers. "Two boiled eggs, a cup of fresh milk, six slices of bread, and, last but not least, one spoonful of freshly squeezed orange juice."

"And how do you feel?" asked Eric eagerly. "Like you've got tons of energy, I bet."

William laughed. "If I get past the indigestion, yeah, I feel pretty well \--"

The sound of trumpets echoed in the distance.

"That's the call for the race," said Sarah. "We'd better head off."

William quickly tightened his saddle down on Thunder and led him out of the stables. With Sarah and Eric, they journeyed through the town and out into the forest. The track to the race field was lined with guards, so it was quite alright for them to enter the forest without an adult.

After a short walk, they arrived at a large open field, bustling with horses and people. William was amazed to see huge wooden stands packed with spectators and an enormous golden ring, magically floating a table's height above the ground. It looked brilliant. In one of the stands, William could see Merlin and the Twins. The Twins weren't there for William's sake, though. They only came for the celebratory feast planned after the race. King Arthur was present, too, but he was seated in a separate royal stand.

"The race is going to get underway," said Eric, almost shivering with anticipation. "You'd better mount up and head over to the starting line."

William climbed up onto Thunder and then reached down for Eric to hand up his staff.

"Remember what I've taught you and watch out for Oden," advised Eric, as he handed William his staff.

"Yeah," added Sarah, "he's always got something up his sleeve."

"Don't worry, I know what type of person Oden is," replied William, and he rode off towards the starting line.

Arriving at the starting line, William lined Thunder's nose up along a golden cloth tied between two flagpoles, and waited.

"I wonder where Oden is?" he pondered, looking down the line of other competitors. "He wouldn't have chickened out, would he?"

Just then, Oden made his appearance. He was riding a black horse and was holding a long dark staff, which had a unique gold band around the base.

"Thought I wouldn't show up, didn't you?" sneered Oden, forcing his way in between William and another competitor.

William didn't answer and continued looking forward.

"Ignoring me, eh? Well, just wait till I win this race," snapped Oden angrily. "You won't be able to ignore that!"

With the race about to start, Eveador walked out into the field and stood next to the starting line.

"I want a good clean race," she said loudly. "Remember to get clear of the race track and wait for me to come if you fall off. Is everybody clear on that?"

Everyone nodded.

"Well then... on your marks... get set... GO!" she shouted, and she yanked the golden cloth free.

The race was on.

"Go, Thunder, go!" yelled William, as Thunder charged from the starting line.

Oden and William had broken away from the other competitors right from the word go. Side by side, they galloped into the narrow forest track.

"You'll never win!" shouted Oden at William, as they rounded a tight bend. "This race is mine."

"We'll see about that," answered back William.

Up ahead, William could see the race track blocked by a dense wall of vines hanging from the trees overhead. This was the first obstacle.

Oden had the lead and engaged the vines first. With a quick aim of his staff, he vaporised them, but he had fired too early. The vines magically grew back before he'd be able to make it through. Frantically, Oden blasted the vines again. By the smallest margin, he made it through in one piece.

"I can see how you can waste your staff's power," thought William, seeing the vines close in once more. "I'll have to be careful with timing my blast."

William lined up his staff at the centre of the vines and continued riding Thunder at full speed. It would only be a matter of seconds before he'd be flung into the sharp thorns, but William wasn't going to fire until the perfect moment.

"Not yet... not yet... NOW!" he yelled, and he let rip with a scorching fireball.

The vines erupted into an enormous wall of fire and the path was cleared. After passing the first obstacle, William rode hard, determined not to let Oden get too far ahead.

"You can't win," yelled Oden, as William edged up to him. "Give up and go home."

"Never," replied William, and he overtook Oden around a sharp bend.

William continued to pull away from Oden around the next few bends, rapidly heading towards the second obstacle, a river.

"I'm almost there," muttered William, riding Thunder down a slight slope. "It's just around that -- WHAT THE?"

An intense ball of yellow light zipped past William's shoulder and slammed into a tree up ahead, completely blowing it apart. Shaken, William looked back and discovered Oden pointing his staff at him. Oden fired again. The ball of energy hit the ground just in front of Thunder. With an explosion of dirt, a large ditch was formed.

"Whoa, Thunder, whoa!" commanded William, desperate to stop Thunder from falling into the pit.

"Give up, loser," laughed Oden, and he took the lead.

Swiftly, William guided Thunder around the ditch and took chase. He was now even more determined to beat Oden.

By the time William had made it to the river, Oden had already managed to get to the other side. Quickly, he aimed his staff at the fast flowing river and fired a series of powerful earth spells, each bolt causing a large boulder to burst from the river. In a matter of seconds, a stony dam had been built.

With the dam in place, William rode out into the dry river bed. He thought he'd make it to the other side without any problems, but he was wrong. As soon as he was halfway across, there was a thunderous roar. William glanced back and discovered the river was bursting through the dam.

"Yah, Thunder!" yelled William frantically.

Thunder instantly understood the danger they were in and went from a cautious trot to a full-blown gallop. It didn't look like they were going to make it. The dam was collapsing too fast. Just when William thought the river was about to sweep them away, Thunder galloped up out of the river bed to safety.

"That's was too close," said William, his heart still racing. "I know you're tired, Thunder, but we can't let Oden win."

Thunder snorted loudly and hoofed the ground like an angry bull, seeming to understand what William was saying.

"That's a boy. Let's get him!" said William, and they took off.

With Thunder galloping at full stride, William caught back up to Oden in an instant. Oden had seen William coming up and wasn't about to just let him ride past like before. He turned in his saddle, lined up his staff with a huge tree and blasted it. The base of the tree was torn to bits and collapsed across the track. William wasn't about to back off, and he fired an almighty spell from his staff, blowing a large chunk of the tree away. Oden glanced back and found William still on his tail. He fired again, taking down another tree, but William reacted in the same way, blowing a gap to ride through it.

"If Oden keeps this up, I won't have enough energy in my staff to get past the third obstacle," realised William, noticing his staff's blue crystal was starting to glow red.

Even though Oden's staff should have been running out of energy, he kept firing.

"This is crazy," muttered William. "What sort of staff does Oden have?"

As he continued battling Oden through the forest, William managed to catch a glimpse of Oden's staff. Immediately, he recognized something strange about it. It didn't have a gold band like he remembered.

"That no good cheat!" thought William furiously. "He swapped staffs when I fell behind. I bet that's why he showed up so late. He was hiding it."

By the time they had burst free of the forest and back into the open field, Oden had gained a good lead on William. In a matter of moments, Oden was at the huge golden ring in the centre of the field. Suddenly, it burst into flames. Oden took aim and fired. Out spewed a stream of ice particles and the flames were extinguished. He jumped his horse through the ring and charged towards the finish line.

"Now it's my turn," sighed William, and he glanced at his staff's crystal. "Time to see if my staff has enough energy left."

As with Oden, the golden ring burst into flames. Quickly, William fired an ice spell but nothing happened. His staff was drained. At that moment, William should've turned away from the ring. Incredibly, he kept riding towards it.

"We can still win this, Thunder," he said firmly.

Thunder snorted loudly and began galloping even faster. William felt that Thunder knew what needed to be done, and he swiftly ducked down.

Suddenly, William realised something.

"My scarf!" he panicked, the ring now only a few yards away. "It'll get burnt."

Frantically, William tried to stuff his precious scarf inside his robe, but it was no good. There wasn't enough time. With the crowd watching in horror, William quickly ducked back down again and hung on for dear life. In an eruption of flames, Thunder jumped through the burning ring and out the other side.

"Go, William, go!" the crowd in the stands cheered.

Amazed he was still alive and that his scarf hadn't been singed, William continued riding for the finish line. In a matter of moments, he was side by side with Oden. He glanced over at Oden and saw an expression of utter shock upon his face

"It's impossible," muttered Oden, shaking his head. "It's just impossible."

With the crowds all cheering him, William charged through the finish line and won. Instantly, Sarah and Eric ran out from the stands to congratulate him.

"I can't believe what you've just pulled off," said Sarah ecstatically.

"Neither can I," replied William, dismounting from Thunder, "and my scarf still looks as good as new. I was sure it would've got burnt."

"Who knows, maybe it's lucky," said Eric.

As they walked from the field, Oden ran up from behind and grabbed William by the shoulder.

"Your staff must be out of energy," he said angrily. "I demand to know how you still got past the third obstacle."

William quickly tore himself away from Oden's grasp and replied, "I guess I could ask you the same question, but I don't need to. I know you swapped your staff during the race."

"How dare you say that," snapped Oden. "I don't need to cheat to beat you."

Eric sniggered. "Don't you mean lose?"

"This isn't over," said Oden furiously, and he stomped back to his horse.

While William tied Thunder up with the other horses, he explained to Sarah and Eric what happened during the race. They were amazed and angry at the same time. In the end, though, there was nothing they could do. It was only William's word against Oden's. With Thunder secured, they headed for an outdoor banquet where the Twins were seated and the Fire Ring Race trophy was to be awarded later.

As they made their way over, William noticed Merlin patiently waiting next to a tree, holding a small wooden box. They made a beeline to him to see what he had.

"Well done," said Merlin, upon meeting William. "You would have even beaten me in my younger days."

"Thanks, Merlin," replied William, trying to peek inside the little box.

"Ah, I see you're interested in finding out what's in this box," remarked Merlin. "Here, have a look."

William looked inside the box and saw a large greenish egg resting in a nest of straw.

"What is it?"

"It's a dragon's egg!" blurted out Sarah, peeking over William's shoulder.

"A dragon's egg?" questioned William.

Merlin smiled. "It's my reward to you for coming so far with your skills."

"Wow, thanks... but what am I supposed to do with it? Make an omelette?"

Merlin looked shocked.

"No, no," he answered, "raise it."

"Raise it?"

"Yes," replied Merlin, "for it is well-known that dragons are dangerous enemies, but they are also fantastic allies. Once you have raised a dragon from birth, it will be a friend for life."

"You mean... I'm going to have a pet dragon?"

"That's right," replied Merlin.

William handed Eric his staff and took hold of the box.

"How long will it take for the dragon to hatch?" asked Eric.

"Well, going by my calculations, it should be within --"

"Look!" squealed Sarah with delight. "T-the egg, it moved!"

William peered down into the box and, sure enough, saw the egg shudder.

"She's right."

"Quick, let me see," said Eric, putting his head back over the box.

Slowly but surely, the egg began to crack.

"Look, look, I see its tail," peeped Eric.

William watched in amazement as the dragon struggled to free itself from its egg.

"Can I help it?" asked William.

"Sure, why not," replied Merlin, "there's nothing wrong with giving nature a helping hand."

Still grasping the box, William gently placed his hand onto the egg and began pulling away some of the shell. Soon enough, the dragon, no bigger than a newborn kitten, fell out of its shell and began to make a sound like a cat's purr.

"Uhhhh, isn't that cute," said Sarah, as the dragon licked William's hand.

"Yeah, if you like dragon slobber on your hand," replied Eric, sounding a little envious.

After the little dragon had licked William's hand, it stretched out its bat-like wings and suddenly flew out of the box.

"Oh no, it's escaped," shouted William. "What now?"

"Just wait a moment," said Merlin calmly, watching the dragon fly around overhead. "It will return, trust me."

Sure enough, the dragon did return, but instead of resting back in its box, it decided to perch on William's shoulder.

"So, have you decided on a name for it?" asked Sarah.

"Hmmm, not yet," replied William, as the dragon nibbled on his robe. "Any suggestions?"

"I know!" said Eric eagerly. "How about Nibbles? You know, because he likes to nibble."

"Doesn't sound very terrifying for a dragon," replied Sarah, "but it does describe him pretty well."

"Well, it's settled." announced William. "From now on, we'll call him Nibbles."

Nibbles continued gnawing on William's robe as if nothing important had happened.

"I think it would be best to get Nibbles something more edible to nibble on than your robe," suggested Merlin, watching on.

William nodded. "You're right, and soon, too."

With Nibbles still perched on his shoulder, William left for the outdoor banquet with Sarah and Eric. As soon as they had arrived, the Twins stared up at Nibbles, looking disgusted.

"What's that ugly thing?" asked Trevor.

"It's a dragon," snapped Sarah, "and a handsome one at that."

"A dragon?" questioned Albert. "I've never seen such an ug --"

"I be sorry for missing the race," interrupted Foddle, floating in from overhead, "but old Foddle be travelling around Camelot so much that it be hard to wake early." He hovered beside William. "Ah, I see you be getting the pet dragon from Merlin."

Albert and Trevor both looked shocked.

"The dragon's a gift from Merlin?" they asked.

"That's right," answered Sarah, "so you'd better think twice about hassling him."

The Twins weren't stupid and knew insulting Merlin's gift would be like insulting Merlin himself. They quickly decided that it would be best to tolerate the dragon.

"Me hassle the dragon? How could you say such a wicked thing?" said Albert, sounding very offended.

"Yes," agreed Trevor, "we think it's adorable --"

Suddenly, Nibbles flew off William's shoulder and onto the table. He had smelt the Twin's food.

"Isn't that adorable," sniggered Eric. "Nibbles wants to share your food."

Sieving with anger, the Twins sat and watched Nibbles ravenously eating their beloved food. Soon there was nothing left and Trevor called over a waiter to bring some more roast chicken to the table.

"Yes, sirs, how may I be of service?" asked the waiter politely.

William glanced up from Nibbles and saw that the waiter was none other than his old friend Grudly.

"I wouldn't mind another plateful of roasted chicken," replied Trevor.

"Make that two," added Albert, looking sadly at his empty plate.

Grudly noted down Albert and Trevor's requests and then looked across the table.

"Ah," remarked Grudly, "I see the cake tray is empty. Shall I bring another?"

"Why not, we deserve it," replied Albert.

"And shall there be anything for the young William or his friends?"

After quickly consulting with Sarah and Eric, William jokingly replied, "Make that two on the cake trays. We deserve it."

"A wise choice," smiled Grudly, and he left to gather the food.

While waiting for Grudly to return, William talked with Foddle about the race and how he just managed to beat Oden. The Twins tried to play down the whole thing as being childish, but Foddle didn't listen. Instead, he praised William for winning and congratulated Sarah and Eric for being such good trainers. As they talked, Nibbles finished off the remaining food on Trevor's plate before flying back into his box for a snooze.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," said Grudly, as he lifted a cake tray from a small wooden trolley and placed it down.

"Long enough," snapped Trevor.

"I'm sorry, sir," replied Grudly humbly, "but I had trouble finding any cake trays left."

"Don't listen to him," said William, sick of Trevor's disrespect. "You didn't take long."

"Thank you, young William," replied Grudly, his spirits appearing lifted. "It was actually quite lucky I managed to find a cake tray at all. This one was destined for the King's table."

"The King's table? Are you sure it's OK that you took it for us?" asked William.

"Absolutely," replied Grudly, smiling. "The waiter who was carrying it told me that more would arrive later and the King wasn't ready to dine for a while yet."

"Mmmm, royal cakes," said Albert, looking hungrily at the tray. "I'm sure they'll taste even better."

As Grudly turned to place the Twin's roast chickens down onto the table, little Nibble's nose caught whiff of the cakes.

"O-oh," peeped Albert, looking under the table at Nibble's box, "I can hear movement."

William looked down and saw Nibbles poking his wide nose out of the box, sniffing excitedly.

"I think ye dragon want seconds," remarked Foddle.

Sarah giggled. "Me, too."

William thought it best that Nibbles didn't eat all the cakes Grudly had brought over, so he quickly grabbed one of the cakes and gave it to him, hoping he would be satisfied to stay in the box. Nibbles, it seems, had different ideas, and he swiftly flew out of his box and back onto the table.

"Not again," panicked Trevor, as Nibbles scampered across the table to the cake tray.

William jumped out of his chair and tried to grab Nibbles, but Nibbles was too fast.

"Sorry," said William, looking at Grudly, "he was too quick for me."

"Oh well," replied Grudly, looking a little grey as he watched Nibbles digging into the cakes, "at least he's enjoying them."

The Twins, on the other hand, weren't so forgiving of Nibble's behaviour.

"That's it!" shouted Trevor angrily, tearing a napkin from his collar and throwing it onto the table. "I've tolerated that thing for long enough. First it eats all my food, and now this! How dare you bring it to the table."

"Yes, how dare you," snapped Albert, throwing his napkin down, too.

William didn't know what to say, Trevor and Albert were correct. Nibbles had caused a mess, a funny mess but still a mess.

"You're right," replied William.

"They're right?" questioned Sarah and Eric.

"Yes, I shouldn't have let Nibbles onto the table from the start," answered William modestly, and he looked over at Trevor and Albert. "Sorry for ruining your dinner, guys. I'll put him away."

"I, err... I don't know what to say," said Trevor, as he sat back down. "You're admitting you were wrong?"

"That's right," replied William.

With the emotion of anger passing from them, Trevor and Albert suddenly felt guilt ridden.

"Umm, I probably shouldn't have... you know, gone off at you like that," said Trevor awkwardly. "I... err, I suppose it's not Nibbles fault. He's only a baby after all."

"Here, give him this," added Albert sheepishly, tearing a drumstick from his roast chicken and handing it to William.

As William brought the drumstick up to Nibbles, he noticed something was wrong, Nibbles was gasping for breath.

"Oh no, I think he's choking," panicked William, quickly picking Nibbles up.

"Quick! Whack him on the back," shouted Sarah, terrified.

Before William had a chance to wack him on the back, Nibbles had completely stopped breathing. What was to happen? Was Nibbles to die the very day he was born?

Chapter 12: The Dragon's Treasure

William hadn't realised it, but the moment he mentioned Nibbles was choking, Foddle had left to get help. Immediately, Foddle returned with Merlin and Eveador.

"Hmmm," murmured Merlin, taking hold of Nibble's lifeless body from William, "very strange, very strange, indeed."

Merlin then handed Nibbles to Eveador and said something softly to her that William couldn't quite hear.

"Yes, I think you're right," replied Eveador, feeling around Nibble's neck. "All the symptoms are there."

"What's going on? What symptoms are there?" asked William urgently.

"The symptoms of Black Leech poison," answered Merlin. "It appears the cakes were laced with it. If it wasn't for Nibbles being a dragon, he would surely have died by now."

Grudly looked horrified and stuttered, "B-b-but those c-cakes were for t-t-the King. T-that m-m-means..."

"The spy!" snapped Eric. "He's still out there, and now he's trying to kill King Arthur."

William's mind was still focused on Nibbles.

"So, Nibbles is going to be OK, right?" he said hopefully. "He'll pull through?"

"I'm sorry, William. As much as it hurts me to say it, I don't feel Nibbles will make it through the night," replied Merlin sadly. "He is still breathing, but it is extremely shallow."

"What about a cure? I vaguely remember Eveador saying there was a cure for Black Leech poison."

"That's right! Scarlet's a cure," said Sarah excitedly. "You've got some, haven't you, Eveador?"

The instant Sarah said Scarlet, it all came flooding back. William now remembered the story Eveador had told him. He knew she had none, and if he wanted to save Nibble's life, he would have to journey into the mountains and enter the lair of a ferocious dragon, hopefully being able to sneak the bottle of Scarlet from its treasure pit. It was lucky that William had read so much over the previous weeks as now the knowledge he had gained would be crucial in finding his way there.

"I wish I could say yes," answered Eveador, "but Scarlet is one potion I do not have. There is only one place I know where Scarlet rests, but it is too dangerous for me or even Merlin to retrieve."

William looked at Sarah and Eric. No words were spoken, but they knew what needed to be done. Before Merlin or Eveador could stop them, William had grabbed his staff from beside the table and run off. Together with Sarah and Eric, he ran towards Thunder and the other horses.

"Where are they running off to?" said Trevor. "Shouldn't they be comforting Nibbles?"

"T-that's right," whimpered Albert. "N-n-nibbles is g-going to die."

With a slight smile across his face, Merlin simply replied, "To save a life."

William rode aggressively through the forest, jumping Thunder over moss covered logs and charging him through shallow creeks. Sarah and Eric could only barely keep up. Even their horse riding ability couldn't match William in this state.

After hours of riding, they finally burst free of the forest and had arrived at the base of the mountains, the dragon's lair somewhere atop.

"We have to ride up that?" asked Eric, pointing to a narrow track that snaked its way up the mountain.

"I'm afraid so," replied William. "It's the only path to the dragon's lair that was shown in the books Merlin gave me to study."

"Just remember to go slow and you'll be OK," spoke up Sarah, trying to provide Eric with some sort of comfort.

At a much more cautious pace than before, William began leading Sarah and Eric up through the mountain path.

"Slowly, slowly," muttered Eric to his horse, as he peered over to his right and looked down at the sheer drop below. "We don't want to slip."

As they journeyed further up the mountain, the air became colder and the wind more intense. William often wondered why dragons lived atop mountains and now he knew. The constant gales made taking off for such heavy beasts easier. It wasn't just the cold and wind that caught William's attention, though. The track's condition did, too. The remains of recent landslides strewn across the pathway grew more frequent and this troubled him.

"What if we're caught on horse back," he worried, "surely they'll lose their footing and we'll fall."

Realising it too risky to ride any further, William stopped at the next wide section of track and dismounted.

"What's going on?" asked Sarah, riding up from behind.

"It's too dangerous to continue on horseback," replied William. "There's a good chance a landslide might happen, and if we're riding, we're done for."

Eric turned as white as a ghost.

"L-l-landslides?"

"Don't worry, there's not much further to go," said William, not thinking properly on what he remarked next. "Anyway, the climb up to the dragon's cave is probably the most dangerous part, not the landslides."

Eric froze stiff.

"C-c-climbing?"

It was obvious Eric was petrified of climbing the mountain, so William quickly made a suggestion to free him from it.

"Hmmm, maybe it would be best if one of us stays back to watch the horses," he said, after tying Thunder's rein around a large boulder. "How would you like to, Sarah?"

Sarah glanced up at William and noticed him flicking his eyes in Eric's direction. Eric, meanwhile, went about tying up his horse, fear written all over his face.

"Ah, let me think," she replied, her finger on her chin. "No, I'd rather go with you. I'd hate to miss out on the chance to see a full grown dragon."

Upon hearing this, the fear on Eric's face disappeared.

"I guess that leaves you, Eric," said William. "You don't mind, do you?"

"I suppose," answered Eric, trying to sound disappointed, "but if Sarah's determined to go, I can't stop her."

With Eric being left to mind the horses, William and Sarah continued on foot along the rocky path.

"If the path doesn't lead to the dragon's cave, where does it?" said Sarah, as they rounded another narrow bend.

"It goes over the mountains and into Evermist," replied William. "I'm not exactly sure where in Evermist. Hopefully, we'll never need to find --"

Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound coming from above. William quickly looked up and saw a huge pile of sharp rocks hurtling down towards them.

"RUN!" he shouted.

Sarah and William bolted for their lives, heading towards a small overhang that looked like it would provide some sort of cover from the rocks. With only seconds to spare before being crushed, they ran underneath the overhang. Together, they waited there for the landslide to end.

"That was too close," said Sarah worriedly, the landslide having ceased.

"I agree," said William, brushing a thick layer of dust from his robe. "Let's just hope getting the potion from the dragon isn't so dangerous."

With their faces dirtied and their robes looking worse for wear, Sarah and William emerged from underneath the overhang and persisted in their journey up to the dragon's cave. While they walked, William glanced at his staff's crystal and saw that it had changed back to blue. This was a clear sign to him that he could now cast spells with it. He hoped he wouldn't need to, though.

"There's the dragon's lair up there," said William, pointing up the mountain towards the entrance of a huge cave. "We'll have to climb from here on."

"Are you sure," remarked Sarah, a cheeky grin across her face, "remember the Leviarnus spell?"

"I remember," replied William, as he thought back to his terrifying experience sneaking out of the castle, "but we can't use it."

"Why not?" asked Sarah, dumbfounded.

"Well, I've read that dragons are very sensitive to magic, so if we cast any spells, it'll sense we're coming."

Sarah sighed. "I guess we have no choice. Climb we must."

With William grasping his staff between his teeth and Sarah following right behind, they slowly began climbing the steep, unforgiving mountain. The climb was harsh, but they both knew they couldn't give in. They were Nibble's only hope. With their bodies aching and their fingers frozen by the cold wind, they finally made it.

Cautiously, they walked into the dark cave.

"We have to stay quiet," whispered William to Sarah. "We don't want to alert the dragon."

"Hey," replied Sarah softly, "I'm not stupid."

Without another word, they apprehensively walked deeper into the dark cave. Looking up, William could see the roof of the cave was covered with stalactites. From these, a constant trickle of water dripped and made small puddles. While most wizards entering a dragon's lair would instantly use their staff to light the way, William knew better. He knew dragons selected particular caves for their lairs, caves which were filled with glowing mosses. Not making the mistake of using magic, William and Sarah continued further into the cave. As the light from the entrance slowly faded, the cave walls began to take on an amazing green glow. It wasn't a bright green, but it was enough for them to see where they were going. Up ahead, William could see the cave curving to the right and sloping downwards.

After rounding the bend, Sarah tugged worriedly on William's robe.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" replied William quietly.

"That!" she said fearfully.

William strained his ears and heard a distant growling, emanating from deep within the cave.

"Here," said William, and he handed his staff to Sarah, "take this and stay."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going on alone," said William. "If both of us go, it'll double the chance of alerting the dragon."

"Well, if you're going in alone, take your staff," she replied. "Don't leave it with me."

William looked worriedly at Sarah.

"If worse comes to worse and I have to run for it, you can hopefully slow the dragon down enough for me to get back here in one piece, firing spells backwards isn't something I'm an expert at."

"Oh... I see. Well, you can rest assured I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," said William, and he left Sarah huddled behind a boulder.

Making as little sound as possible, William continued deeper into the cave, the sound of dragon's breathing becoming louder and louder. Soon, William noticed the cave opening up in the distance. This would surely be where the dragon was. Holding his breath, William crept to the edge of the cavern and peered into it from behind a boulder. Inside, he saw a massive dragon, sleeping on a mountain of bones, some animal ... some human. Glittering behind the dragon, William could see a vast pile of gold and jewels. Not only that, there was also armour and shields of would be heroes. Dragons, it seemed, loved anything that shined.

Poking out of a chest, William saw what he was looking for, a small blue bottle.

"That must be the bottle of Scarlet," he thought. "Now, I just have to get it."

Ever so softly, William tiptoed into the cavern and towards the dragon's treasure pile. As he made his way, William was awestruck by the size of the dragon. It could easily swallow him in one mouthful.

Finally, after managing to avoid making a sound, William arrived at the treasure chest. Feeling triumphant, he reached into the chest and, without further thought, pulled out the bottle of Scarlet. This was a big mistake. As soon as the bottle was pulled free, the surrounding gold coins fell inward, causing a sharp noise as they hit each other. Behind him, William heard the shuffling of the dragon. He quickly turned around and discovered the dragon staring at him with its head only a car's length from his.

"Maybe if I don't move, it can't see me," hoped William, as the dragon's moist breath filled his face.

The dragon looked sleepily at William for a moment and then turned away.

"That was close," thought William, his heart racing.

With the dragon falling back to sleep and the bottle of Scarlet tucked under his arm, William started the quiet journey back out of the cavern. After tiptoeing around water puddles and taking care not to kick any rocks, William was now only a matter of seconds away from being free of the dragon's sleeping den.

"Made it," he thought ecstatically, and he hurriedly made the few last steps to freedom.

Splash!

"O-oh," peeped William, looking down at his right foot and discovering he had stepped into a puddle of water. "This is not good."

A moment later, the dragon let off a terrifying roar. Not prepared to hang around and see if standing still would work a second time, William bolted for it. Out of the cavern he ran, splashing through puddles and half tripping over rocks. The dragon let off another terrifying roar and took chase. William ran as fast as he could, but it was no good. The dragon was closing in fast. If William could make it back to Sarah, maybe there was hope.

Sarah had heard the roaring of the dragon and knew William was in trouble. Quickly, she devised a plan and waited for just the right moment to implement it. In a matter of seconds, that moment had arrived.

"She's not doing anything," panicked William, the dragon now closer than ever. "She's locked up!"

Sarah hadn't locked up at all. She was taking careful aim at a gigantic stalactite.

"Get down!" she shouted to William.

Even though William didn't have a clue what she was doing, he did exactly what she ordered and dived for cover. Instantly, Sarah let off a powerful blast from his staff. The bolt of energy scorched through the air and slammed into the stalactite, blowing it to pieces and causing a cave-in just behind William. The dragon's furious charge had been halted.

"Quick, we've got to hurry," said Sarah, running to William and helping him up. "The cave-in won't hold the dragon for long."

With Sarah's aid, William dragged himself up and they ran out of the dragon's lair. As soon as they were free of the cave, Sarah turned around and fired a volley of powerful blasts at the cave's entrance, completely sealing the dragon inside.

Looking worse for wear, William smiled at Sarah.

"I couldn't have done it without you," he said, as Sarah handed back his staff.

"I know," she replied, "but that's what friends are for --"

Suddenly, the rubble in front of the dragon's entrance began to move.

"I think we'd better get out of here," said William, quickly stuffing the bottle of Scarlet into his pocket.

Sarah smiled. "Don't worry, we'll be out of here before you can say... Leviarnus!"

Instantaneously, they were floating in midair.

"Come on," said Sarah, "don't just hover there."

William was never that good at flying.

"I think I need a hand," he answered, wobbling in the air like a bowl of jelly.

Sarah glided over to him and grabbed him by the hand.

"I'll show you how it's done," she said confidently.

In a zip, Sarah had taken William over the edge of the cliff and had begun descending with him at a frighting speed. They were going so fast that William thought they weren't going to be able to pull out in time.

"We're going to hit the ground," he panicked, as the narrow path below filled his eyes. "Pull up, pull up!"

With the grace of a bird, Sarah pulled out of the vertical dive and landed them softly on their feet. She then waved her hands and cast the reverse spell.

"You'd put a rollercoaster to shame," remarked William, a little unsteady on his feet.

Sarah looked bewildered.

"What's a roller... coaster?"

William had completely forgotten that Sarah wouldn't have heard of such a thing.

"Oh, nothing," he answered. "Come on, we'd better hurry back to Eric. I'm sure he's starting to worry about us."

Without wasting another moment, they rushed off down the rocky path to where Eric would be waiting for them. Upon their arrival, they discovered Eric and the horses missing... something terrible had happened.

Chapter 13: The Master

"What happened to Eric and the horses?" asked Sarah anxiously.

"I don't know \-- hang on, what's that?"

William had seen a piece of rag lying on the ground. Quickly, he ran over and picked it up.

"What is it?" said Sarah, running over to him.

"It looks like a piece of Eric's robe," replied William, examining the rag closely.

"What are we going to do?" panicked Sarah, her eyes teary. "Something's taken Eric and we don't know where --"

William heard the distant sound of a lone horse galloping along the narrow track towards them.

"Quick," he said, grabbing Sarah by the arm, "we've got to hide."

After rushing behind a large boulder, they peered out and waited for the horse and rider to make their appearance.

"It could be Eric," said Sarah, sounding hopeful.

"Maybe," said William, "but we can't be sure."

As the sound came closer, the tension built. Who was it? Was it Eric or the evil creature that had taken him? William didn't know, but in a matter of seconds, he would.

"Look," shouted Sarah, "it's Thunder."

Together, Sarah and William ran out from behind the boulder and up to Thunder, who snorted loudly when he saw them.

"You don't know how happy we are to see you," said Sarah, stroking Thunder's side.

Thunder looked glad, too, and he nosed her in reply.

"It looks like Thunder must have escaped from whoever took Eric and the other horses," said Sarah.

"Yes," agreed William, and he looked up the path, "and by guessing where Thunder came from, they were taken into Evermist."

"What now? If we go after Eric, there mightn't be enough time left to get the cure to Nibbles."

William looked up at the sun and tried to work out how much time Nibbles had left before it was too late.

"Quick, climb up," he said abruptly, and he mounted Thunder. "I've got a plan."

After climbing up onto Thunder, Sarah held onto William tightly.

"What's the plan?" she asked, while William turned Thunder around.

"I'll explain later," he replied. "Right now, we've got to ride."

Before Sarah could say another word, they were off, galloping up the rocky path.

The mountain path was treacherous and William was forced to make many frightening dashes to avoid deadly landslides. After the difficult ride, they had arrived at the top of the mountain. They peered down into the still, misty land of Evermist.

"Look, in the distance," said Sarah, pointing, "a sorcerer's fortress."

William stared out along Sarah's finger and saw a tall stone tower, partially shrouded by fog. It looked like a truly evil place.

"Yes, I can see it," said William, "and I bet that's where Eric is, too."

Thunder snorted and hoofed the ground.

"I think Thunder's telling us you're right."

"Well, let's get going," said William. "There's no guessing what sort of danger Eric's in."

With urgency, they rode down the mountain track leading into Evermist. Once they had arrived at the base of the mountain, William was struck by the cold air that surrounded them. It seemed even colder than up in the mountains. The cold wasn't the only thing that caught William's attention. The trees did, too. They had no leaves and looked like claws sticking out of the ground, waiting to grab anyone who ventured too close.

"I don't like this place," said Sarah.

"Neither do I," replied William, "but if Eric's been taken to that tower, then we have to keep going."

Nervously, they rode into the deathly quiet forest, mist curling around Thunder's legs.

"Don't you feel like we're being watched?" asked Sarah, as they journeyed. "I'm positive someone... or something is out there in that mist."

William also felt they were being watched, but he didn't want to worry Sarah about it.

"It's just your nerves," he replied. "Nobody's out there."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," replied William. "You've got nothing to worry about."

When they arrived within walking distance of the tower, William pulled up Thunder and dismounted.

"Here," said William, taking the bottle of Scarlet out of his pocket and handing it to Sarah, "take this."

"What do you want me to do with it?" she asked, holding the bottle.

"I need you to get it back to Nibbles before it's too late," answered William. "You should have enough time to make it to Camelot. That was my plan."

Sarah looked infuriated.

"That's your plan?" she shouted. "For me to ride off, leaving you to take on who-knows-what and rescue Eric all by yourself."

"I know it's not the best plan, but it's the only one I could think of where both Eric and Nibbles stood a chance."

"I won't go," said Sarah, crossing her arms. "You need me."

"Of course I need you, but I have to go alone," said William. "I don't know how long it'll take to get Eric out of there, and what if we're both caught? Nobody will know where we are. At least if you go back to Camelot, you can get some help."

"I guess you're right," sighed Sarah, having realised the predicament they were in.

After slipping the bottle of Scarlet into her pocket, Sarah took hold of Thunder's reins.

"Be careful," she said. "I have a bad feeling that your arrival is expected."

"Don't worry," smiled William, "I'll be fine. Just get that potion to Nibbles, OK?"

"I will," answered Sarah, and she turned Thunder around and rode off into the mist, back towards the mountain.

William was all alone now. He knew Sarah's warning about his arrival being expected was true, but he tried to put it out of his mind and focus on his objective, rescuing Eric. Eric would certainly be locked up in the tower somewhere, and all he would need to do is find a key to free him. It sounded good in theory, but somehow, William knew it wasn't going to be that simple. Not coming up with anything better, William held his staff tightly and started off towards the menacing tower.

Upon arriving at the tower, William discovered it was surrounded by a bottomless pit. A stone bridge was the only way across.

"Remember, you're the Chosen One," murmured William, fear slowly building up in him as he walked across the bridge and approached the tower's huge wooden door. "You can handle anything."

The tower's door was completely unguarded and, unnervingly, left partially open. William thought this was very strange, but he convinced himself that maybe someone just forgot to close it and that maybe guards weren't needed in this type of neighbourhood. Whatever he thought, it didn't change the fact that it was the only way inside.

Without any other option, William slipped through the gap and into the tower. Inside, he found himself standing in a dark hall lit only by burning torches.

"Greetings, Chosen One," said a cold voice, echoing from the far side of the hall. "I've been expecting you."

Squinting into the shadows, William saw a robed figure sitting on an unattractive skull shaped chair.

"Who are you? And what have you done with Eric?" questioned William firmly, pointing his staff at the shadowy figure.

"Who am I?" replied the figure, laughing quietly. "I am... the Master."

The name Master didn't ring any bells for William.

"Now, tell me where Eric is."

The Master rose up from his chair and approached William, his face and body hidden away under a black hooded robe.

"Keep your distance," ordered William, "or I'll use my staff."

"Temper, temper," said the Master, stopping a few yards from William. "Threatening strangers with your staff isn't very nice, especially ones who are so closely tied with your past."

"What have you got to do with my past?" asked William suspiciously.

"Oh, didn't you know? I was the one who sent your ancestral father to your world."

William was dumfounded.

"My ancestral father?"

"Yes, he and the other fools on the High Wizard Council fought me," replied the Master.

Instantly, William remembered Merlin telling him about the battle.

"You're the evil warlock!" he blurted out.

"So, you have heard of me?"

"I've heard of the battle you talk about, but that was hundreds of years ago... how can you still be alive? And how do you know one of the wizards was my ancestral father?"

"It is only by drinking dark potions, potions which have taken as much as they have given, that I have survived for so long," answered the Master wretchedly. "As for your ancestral father, the scarf you wear so preciously around your neck was the same scarf he wore, a scarf enchanted to resist fire. That is how I know."

William now knew why his scarf didn't get burnt in the Fire Ring Race. It was enchanted.

"What did you mean the potions have taken as much as they have given?" questioned William.

"Maybe it is best I show you," replied the Master.

Before William's very eyes, the Master pulled back his tattered hood and showed his face. It was dry and badly decomposed. William felt sick to his stomach as the stink of rotting flesh filled his nostrils.

"What do you want from me?" asked William, covering his nose with one hand.

The Master grinned. "There is only one thing I require of you... your life."

William jumped back and took a threatening stance, pointing his staff at the Master's face.

"I have great powers," bluffed William. "Handover Eric and I'll leave peacefully, or else..."

"So brave to challenge me and seek the rescue of his friend, but so foolish, too," remarked the Master, sneering. "I know of your great power, power which fully grown might stop me from having my revenge on the wizards of the high council." He glared at William. "Maybe I could only defeat your ancestral father by sending him from this world, but you are different, not as skilled, still only a child. I will crush you."

"Watch it," warned William, "I might be a child, but I'm more skilled than you think!"

The Master stared at William with his soulless eyes.

"You are nothing compared to me," he replied. "First I will eliminate you and then complete my plan to destroy Camelot. With you removed, I will not even need the services of my spy."

"So, you're the one who sent the spy into Camelot to steal information. That means you arranged for the attacks on the towns."

"Very perceptive of you to put it all together," replied the Master, "but enough about that. It's time for me to bring out your friend."

The Master turned towards a spiral staircase in the corner of the hall and called out, "Bring down the boy!"

"So, you've changed your mind," remarked William. "You're going to let Eric and me go peacefully?"

"Fool, your friend is only being released from his cell to see you die."

"WHAT?"

"Once your elimination is witnessed, your friend will be sent free to tell the people of Camelot what has happened to their Chosen One. After they have learnt of your death, they will lose all hope. People without hope are easy to conquer."

"You're truly evil, you know that --?"

"William!" shouted Eric.

Immediately, William looked towards the staircase and saw a shackled Eric being led down by a small hunched over figure. At first, he couldn't see who was leading Eric, but after a second or two, he did. He couldn't believe his eyes. It was Grudly!

"Y-you're the spy?" said William, shocked.

"Yes," answered Grudly ashamedly.

"You can't be. The spy wasn't human," replied William. "He could jump from rooftops."

"You think just because Grudly takes the form of a human he is one?" questioned the Master, smirking.

"I, err..."

"Show him, Grudly," ordered the Master. "Show how feeble this little child's mind is."

After stepping away from Eric, Grudly pulled a large golden ring off his finger. William watched in amazement as Grudly's face and body began to change. His skin turned green. His ears and nose grew longer... he was changing into a goblin.

"I don't believe it," muttered Eric. "Grudly's a goblin."

William couldn't believe it, either, but when he thought back, it all made sense.

"I remember seeing you fiddling with that ring the first day I saw you," said William, watching Grudly refitting the ring onto his other hand, "and that night I was attacked in the town... it was that ring that my teeth bite into -- hang on, how come wearing the ring still makes you a goblin?"

"The ring only works if it is worn on the right hand," replied the Master, as Grudly submissively kept his head down.

"But why... why choose a goblin as a spy?" questioned Eric.

"Answer him, Grudly," commanded the Master.

Grudly kept his head down and answered, "We goblins possess hearing beyond any of your kind. I could hear all conversations which happened during supper in the castle." He sheepishly looked up at William. "Even quiet requests for water and whispers of plans to sneak out at night."

"That's how you knew I was going to be at the fountain that night," said William angrily, "you listened in on us."

"That is right," replied the Master. "Grudly knew you were going to be there. He may have failed in carrying out my orders, but that is not important now. You won't escape my grasp."

"Hey, you smelly goblin," shouted Eric furiously, "you were the one who poisoned the cakes all along, weren't you?"

"Yes," replied Grudly, looking remorseful.

"I don't get it?" remarked William to Grudly. "You had a perfect opportunity to poison King Arthur, but instead, you tried to poison me. Why?"

"Because I ordered him!" answered the Master, irritated by William's endless questions.

"So... you consider me more of a threat than the King himself?" questioned William.

"You a threat? Ha. You are nothing, a mere worm. I will annihilate you so completely that only ashes will remain."

Once again, the Master tried to make William feel hopeless, but William wasn't falling for it. He felt sure he possessed the power within him to defeat the Master, a power the Master was much more scared of than he made out.

"Yeah, yeah," replied William calmly. "Bring it on."

The Master looked furious.

"You will suffer a painful death for your insult, Chosen One," he said, before glancing at Grudly. "Secure the prisoner while I deal with this worm."

"Yes, my master," answered Grudly.

Obediently, Grudly scuttled over to Eric and put his bony arms around him.

"Get off me, you smelly thing," complained Eric, as Grudly dragged him over to the wall and locked him up.

While this was happening, William tried to stay calm and focus his mind on the most powerful spells he knew.

"Staff, come!" shouted the Master, and he looked over to his chair.

Out from the shadows came a twisted wooden staff with a huge black crystal on top. It flew through the air and into the Master's skeleton-like hand.

The Master looked back towards William and grinned.

"Time to die," he said, and he pointed his staff at William.

"We'll see about that," replied William, as they faced off.

The next moment, the Master unleashed a stream of fireballs at William. Spontaneously, William used an ice blast. In an explosion of water and steam, the fireballs were extinguished.

"Is that all you've got," teased William.

"That was a mere taste," replied the Master angrily, and he prepared to fire again.

With an expression of hatred on his face, the Master used his most powerful spell.

"Watch out," screamed Eric in terror, "he's using a Death Touch spell."

William watched with horror as an intense red wave of energy poured out from the Master's staff and glided towards him, twisting and turning like a serpent. William didn't know what to do. He didn't know any counter spells. Then, without him even being aware of what he was doing, William pointed his staff directly at the incoming spell. With an explosion of intense light, a blue wave of energy shot out of William's staff and collided with the Master's spell. For a moment, both spells disintegrated into each other, but that wasn't to last. William's spell began to push forward.

"It's impossible... I-I can't be defeated," muttered the Master, struggling to maintain his spell. "I-I can't be --"

Without any warning, the Master ceased his spell. Immediately, William's spell surged forward and tore through the tower's wall, blowing a large chunk of it away and allowing the sun's rays to stream in.

"My master," whimpered Grudly, as the tower shuddered violently, "what happened to my master?"

"He's dead," replied Eric.

"You lie! You lie!" shouted Grudly, and he ran off to where the Master was last standing, hoping to find him.

"We've got to get out of here," said Eric, as William ran over to him. "The whole tower's coming down."

"I need a key," said William, struggling with Eric's chains as stone boulders fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor.

"Down there," replied Eric, "Grudly accidentally dropped it down there."

William glanced down and saw the key next to Eric's foot. Quickly, he picked it up and unlocked Eric from the chains.

"Let's go," said Eric.

"What about Grudly? We can't leave him here," replied William. "He'll die."

"Forget him," answered Eric. "There isn't time."

Eric was right, there probably wasn't enough time for them to grab Grudly and make it out, but William couldn't just leave him there, sobbing on the floor.

"Here, take my staff and get out of here," said William. "I'll be right behind you."

"Just hurry up," replied Eric, before running out of the collapsing tower.

Frantically, William ran over to Grudly and tried to convince him to leave.

"You can't stay here," he said, kneeling down next to Grudly. "You have to leave."

Grudly looked up at William with tears in his eyes.

"You were always good to me," he said sadly. "You were even so kind to ask my name when we met." Grudly paused and wiped his nose. "That's why I tried to warn you by putting a message on your bedroom door. I wanted you to leave this world."

"You scratched that message into my bedroom door?"

"Yes," replied Grudly, "I thought if I scared you, you would return back to your world and never have to face my master. You would be safe, but you didn't leave. Why?"

"I couldn't leave even if I wanted to," answered William. "The Staff of Tarlos is missing its crystal."

Suddenly, Grudly stood up.

"My former master has the crystal," he said excitedly. "It's in his bedroom. I'll go get it and show you how good a goblin I can be."

"Stop!" shouted William, as Grudly ran off, dodging the falling stones. "There's not enough time."

It was no good, Grudly wasn't listening. William was left with no other option than to run from the tower before it was too late. Avoiding the collapsing roof, William ran from the hall and out of the tower. Outside, Eric was waiting from him on the other side of the stone bridge.

"Quick," he shouted, "the bridge is starting to collapse."

Without a second to lose, William made a life or death dash across the bridge.

"Come on," chanted Eric, as the bridge crumbled, "you can do it!"

Desperately, William kept running, but he couldn't make it, the bridge was falling away too fast. Just seconds before the whole bridge fell from beneath him, William dived for the far ledge and disappeared from Eric's view.

Suddenly, it dawned on Eric... he could've caught William in midair.

"W-what have I done?" he stuttered. "I-I forgot to use the L-L-Leviarnus spell."

Just then, over the sound of the crumbling tower, Eric heard a faint voice calling for help. Quickly, he ran to the bridge's edge and peered down.

"Give us a hand, will you?" said William, hanging from the bridge's edge by his fingers.

Eric swiftly lent down and, with all his might, pulled William to safety.

"I thought you were a goner," said Eric, as they made their way from the ledge. "Hey, what happened to Grudly? I didn't see him run out or anything."

"He was still in there when I came out," replied William sadly. "He was heading to the Master's bedroom to recover the missing crystal for the Staff of Tarlos."

"Oh... at least you made it out in one piece," said Eric, as they turned around and watched the tower plummet into the bottomless pit. "That's the important thing, right?"

William didn't answer. He stood silent, thinking about the cruel fate that had been dealt to Grudly with the last remains of the tower disappearing from sight.

"Come on," said Eric, handing William back his staff, "it's a long walk back to Camelot. We'd better make a start. We don't want to be in this place when it gets dark."

William sighed and put Grudly out of his mind.

"You're right. We'd better leave."

As they turned to head off, the sound of galloping horses came echoing through the mist surrounding them. Before they knew it, Mr Turner, Sarah and a group of heavily armed solders had pulled up in front of them.

"You're alive," screamed Sarah ecstatically, as she jumped off Thunder's back and came running up to them, quickly giving them both big warm hugs. "We saw the tower collapsing and thought you were in it."

Sarah's lightning dismount from Thunder was a stark contrast to the speed Mr Turner could dismount from his horse.

"A little help here," yelped Mr Turner, one of his feet stuck in his horse's stirrup.

Eric rolled his eyes at Sarah and William.

"He knows he's no good at riding. Why'd he come?"

"I thought that was pretty obvious," replied William.

"Yeah... I suppose," said Eric, looking a bit ashamed for questioning his father's intentions.

Without another word, Eric ran over to his helpless father to give him a hand, leaving Sarah and William alone.

"I have to know something," said William, a troubled look on his face.

"What is it?" said Sarah gently.

"Did... did Nibbles make it?"

Sarah smiled. "You've got nothing to worry about, he's doing fine. The potion worked a charm."

"That's fantastic," said William. "You don't know how much of a relief that is to me."

"Come on, you two," called out Mr Turner, after being helped back onto his horse. "The sooner we're back, the sooner I can get off this beast."

"Just out of curiosity," asked William, as he and Sarah headed back over to the horses, "how come Merlin and King Arthur didn't come with you? I thought nothing could've held them back."

"They wanted to," replied Sarah, "but the High Wizard Council voted they stay."

"And why was that?"

"Some of them said both King Arthur and Merlin were too significant to risk their lives rescuing children who aren't anything more than average."

"Well, it sounds like Oden's uncle, Zorloth, isn't the only wizard on the council who thinks I'm not that important to Camelot's future," remarked William, mounting Thunder.

"Ah, what do they know," said Eric, his horse next to William's, "I'd like to see any of them pull off what you did today."

"What did happen in that tower today?" asked Sarah.

William looked back at where the tower once stood.

"I'll tell you everything later," he answered. "Right now, I just want to get out of this place. It gives me the creeps."

"Here, here," agreed Eric.

With the mist swirling around them, they rode off, heading back towards the mountains and on into Camelot. Along the journey, William explained everything to Sarah and Mr Turner about what had happened.

"But how'd you know the counter spell to the Master's Death Touch spell? There's none known to anyone," asked Sarah, surprised.

"I don't know," replied William. "It just happened."

"Well, if that isn't proof enough for the High Wizard Council that you really are the Chosen One, then I don't know what is," remarked Mr Turner.

Upon arriving back in Camelot, Mrs Turner ran out from the town gates and pulled Eric from his horse.

"You had me sick with worry," she squawked, looking him over for any cuts or bruises. "Never ever do that again!"

Mrs Turner looked at Eric for a moment.

"Was this the way a mother should treat her child," she thought to herself, "to be angry at him with his safe return?"

Suddenly, with tears in her eyes, Mrs Turner grabbed Eric tightly and gave him endless hugs and kisses.

"I'm just happy you're back," she said, weeping lightly. "I don't know what I would've done if you were taken from me."

Eric's face turned a bright red.

"Please, Mom, not in front of the soldiers."

While Eric struggled to free himself from his mother's grasp, Mr Turner decided it was time to get off his horse.

"Just take it easy," he muttered to himself, "one leg down at a time."

"Do you need some help, Mr Turner?" asked William politely.

"No -- no, I'll be alright," he replied, looking down at his horse's stirrup. "I won't let this fangled foot thingy beat me twice."

Precariously, Mr Turner started to dismount. At the very last point of pulling his foot free of one of the stirrups, his horse moved forward. With a thud, Mr Turner crashed to the ground and landed squarely on his bottom.

"Blasted things just aren't meant to be ridden," he said, looking angrily at his horse. "Even an enchanted broomstick would be easier to ride than this crazy beast."

Mrs Turner let go of Eric and ran over to him.

"Stop talking rubbish," she said, helping him up. "Who's ever heard of a flying broomstick?"

"Some wizards say it's possible," replied Mr Turner timidly, nursing his sore backside.

"Well, they don't know what they're talking about, and that's that," she snapped.

While Mr and Mrs Turner squabbled, William turned towards Eric and Sarah.

"I'd better be off," he said to them. "The soldiers look like they're ready to go and I have to tell Merlin and King Arthur everything that happened today."

"Will we see you tomorrow?" asked Sarah.

"Yeah," said Eric eagerly, "you can't start practicing for next year's Fire Ring Race early enough."

"Don't worry," replied William, smiling, "you'll find me in the stables brushing down Thunder for practice as usual."

With a pull of the reins, William turned Thunder around and galloped off with the soldiers through the town gates and onward to the castle. As William rode, one thing kept bothering him.

"Did I really destroy the Master?" he wondered. "Or did he escape?"

If the Master had used a spell to get out of the way before he was hit, then William knew one thing for sure. He would surely meet him again ...

Words from the Author

Hi there, I'm the author of William Wright and the Dragon's Treasure. I'd be more than happy to write more stories staring William, but it really depends on how popular the book ends up. So, if you want more, make sure to leave a review on whatever website you found the book and recommend it to your friends.

As for who I am, I'm just a guy who decided to write a book between studies. I'm no New York best selling author with tons of publicity and big publishers backing them up. Just my imagination and a computer is all I've got.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my book and be sure to tell your friends about it.
