Only the Thunder Knows_East End Girls (14 page)

“King
Arthur!” William said, shocked but no longer doubting anything the old wizard
told him that might get him through this day alive. He could still remember the
stinky smell of whatever it was Merlin had coated the statue in that day. “But
the statue is made of stone, not flesh like the knight. How can a soul be put
into rock?”

“Have
you ever heard of a golem? A doppelganger? A soul can be reanimated into any
likeness of the original host. It will be King Arthur in every aspect other
than his flesh. He’ll be even more powerful this way…and practically indestructible!”

“Well,
whatever you’re going to do, best do it quick…look!”

Off
to the south, Morgana’s winged beast had taken to the air and was wildly circling
the cemetery blasting mouthfuls of flaming death thirty feet long. Its feast of
its master’s goons apparently over, the dragon was still hungry and on the hunt
for more. It wouldn’t take long before it zeroed in on Merlin and William and
moved in for the kill.

Merlin
set his staff aside, turned to the statue and started muttering in that same
strange language he’d used before, a sweat breaking out on his wrinkled brow as
he used his own energy to draw the Forever King’s soul away from Avalon. It
taxed the wizard incredibly, twice causing the old man to fall to his knees but
both times Merlin regained his feet and carried on. A low rumble shook the
nearby headstones and an emerald glow started leaking from the ends of the
Merlin’s trembling fingertips, seeping into the dark stone until the entire
statue was bathed in a magical green light.

And
then King Arthur opened his eyes.

William
watched helplessly as Merlin collapsed to the ground, exhausted from his efforts,
and raced over to help the old man back to his feet.

 “Are
you okay?”

“Don’t
worry. I’ll be fine,” Merlin said, his strained voice indicating anything but.
“Look…he rises!”

True
enough, impossible as it seemed when William looked back up at the twelve-foot-tall
statue, it was stretching its neck and flexing its left arm. With a
thunderously loud
CRACK
, the golem broke free from its pedestal base and
stepped down onto the damp grass.

“But
how…?” William started to say. “How can stone bend and move like—”

Merlin
dropped back down on one knee and pulled William down beside him. “On your
knees, man! And lower your eyes. Have you no respect? You’re in the presence of
the King, for God’s sake.”

William
felt a bit foolish kneeling in front of a stone statue but did as he was told.
He very nearly wet his pants when the towering warrior began to speak.

“Merlin?
Is that really you my friend?”

“Aye,
my King…it is I, your humble servant.”

“And
who are you, young man?”

When
William remained silent, Merlin nudged him hard, whispering, “Answer the King
when he speaks to you!”

“William
Hare umm…sire. I’m nobody really.”

“Your
soul is tainted, boy. Your heart and mind impure. You will have much to answer
for when your days are done.”

William
had no idea what to say to that so simply said, “Yes sir.”

“Where
am I, Merlin? Why have you summoned me from my place of peace? And what type of
armor is this? I feel…
strange
.”

“My
apologies, but I could only work with what I have. You’re in Edinburgh…in Calton
Cemetery. The important thing is I’ve finally found the carpenter’s cup, my
liege, but it has fallen into Morgana’s evil hands. We need your help to get it
back.”

“Morgana!”
Arthur shouted, his gravelly voice suddenly loud and angry. “The witch is
here
?”

“Yes,
and she’s conjured a hideous fire beast from the pit of Hell to destroy all that
we fought for, sire. I didn’t want to disturb you but I couldn’t think of
anything else. I need you, Arthur. Your people need you!”

“Then
they shall have me. You’ve done well, Merlin. I feel bigger…stronger than ever
before. Where are Morgana and this beast of hers?”

William
risked raising his head and meekly pointed a finger up into the air. King
Arthur and Merlin both followed his finger skyward just in time to see
Morgana’s dragon swoop by fifty feet over their heads, bank to its right and
ignite a wooden tool shed on the ground with one giant ball of its fiery
breath. Morgana was headed toward them as well – umbrella twirling in her right
hand, the Holy Grail held casually in her left – walking like she was out for a
pleasant morning stroll. The cold, hungry look of anticipation on her face told
a different story though.

There
was no more time to waste.

“Stand
aside, Merlin,” the stone king said, striding off into battle. “I’m going after
the beast. You keep an eye on the witch!”

Merlin
retrieved his long staff from the grass and the semi-transparent sphere at the
top end immediately lit up to a bright emerald green, pulsating with an
internal power in the magician’s hands. Merlin smiled and moved toward Morgana.
“With pleasure, sire!”

William
Hare just stayed where he was and kept his mouth shut, perfectly content to be
left out of whatever madness was about to happen…

*  
*   *

King
Arthur moved quickly into position, getting a better feel for his newer, larger
stone body with each powerful stride. He felt impossibly strong but he also
felt angry, the witch ultimately responsible for his death. There was no way he
could allow her or her minions from Hell to use the power of the Grail to wreak
havoc on an unsuspecting world. She needed to be stopped and she needed to be
stopped
now
. Once and for all.

Above
him, Morgana’s dragon caught sight of him running toward it and circled lower
to the ground, sweeping past the reanimated king close enough to see what it
was up against. The beast raced by less than six feet over Arthur’s head, its
reptilian eyes open wide, its huge nostrils flaring, probably not smelling any
of the normal smells associated with these human creatures. The beast flew
higher into the stormy sky, looking confused but not in the least bit bothered.

Not
what you were expecting, huh, big guy?
Arthur thought, smiling.

On
its second pass the massive dragon came in low, scaly belly scraping the grass
as it rocketed straight at Arthur, its mouth opening wide and preparing to
unleash its unholy inner fire. The king stood his ground, unflinching, as the
beast roared and spat out a thirty-foot-long inferno, the flames hitting him in
the chest and engulfing his entire body for at least five seconds. When the
dragon closed its fearsome jaws and banked skyward again it surely expected to
see its opponent on fire, burnt black like the last knight it had faced. Arthur
wasn’t going away quite so easily.

The
King of Camelot opened his eyes to find himself undamaged, the flying monster’s
fire having no effect on his stony body whatsoever. Well pleased, Arthur drew
his stone sword and prepared for the dragon’s next attack.

“My
turn, beast!” he shouted. “Come and get some of this!”

*  
*   *

When
Merlin approached the witch, she was laughing. Morgana set her parasol and the
Grail both down on the grass at her feet, quite enjoying herself.

“Isn’t
that cute?” she said. “You’ve brought to life a cute little stone soldier with
a cute little stone sword. He’s simply adorable! Hope all that rock doesn’t
give my dragon a sore stomach.”

Merlin
wasn’t sure how a twelve-foot-tall warrior could ever be described as “little” but
he let her snide remark slide. “Actually he’s not a soldier at all…and that
cute little sword happens to have a name you just might remember. It’s called
Excalibur!
Ring any bells in that pretty little head, witch?”

The
smile faded from Morgana’s lips. She looked back over at the stone man, perhaps
seeing him in a whole new light. “Excalibur? But that would mean…”

“All
hail the Forever King!” Merlin said, not being able to keep the satisfied grin
from showing on his face. Hopefully his long white beard would cover it. “We’re
taking the Grail back, sorceress. The Carpenter’s Cup was meant to represent
all that’s good in this world, not to be twisted and used in your sick little
plans. I can’t let you keep it.”

“You
can try and take it back, old man. You and Arthur both, but I’m the only one
walking off of this battlefield alive today. Your dead King can give you a
personal tour of Avalon shortly.”

“A
much better place than you’ll spend eternity, witch. I can assure you of that!”

Morgana
screamed in anger, hurling a blood-red energy sphere at the magician’s chest.
Merlin was nearly caught off guard but managed to get his staff raised just in
time, the powerful spell deflecting off the enchanted wood and fragmenting into
harmless fireworks above his head.

“That
the best you’ve got?” Merlin asked his opponent.

“No,”
Morgana said, her tone ice cold. “Not even close.”

The
witch bared her teeth and prepared for her next attack…

*  
*   *

 King
Arthur made the mistake of looking over at Merlin when the wizard had deflected
Morgana’s first strike. He watched the energy sphere explode into a million
twinkling lights and by the time he looked back to where the dragon had just
been flying his adversary was gone. Seconds later, the beast attacked at
lightning speed from behind, grabbing Arthur around the waist and dragging him
along the ground for a hundred feet before driving his body into the dirt and
biting down hard.

The
dragon’s bite would have easily sheared through flesh and bone and crushed most
types of armor, finishing this fight in a spray of blood, but the stone that
made up Arthur’s new body was made from a special type of mineral classified as
corundum, a high quartz material as hard as granite and only topped by diamond
as one of the hardest rocks on Earth. The beast’s bite produced nothing but a
series of tiny scratches across the King’s waist, chest, and back. The dragon
screamed in pain as four of its giant hand-sized teeth broke off on the stone
and it was forced into releasing its squirming prey to swallow a mouthful of
its own syrupy blood.

King
Arthur rolled free of the dragon’s bleeding mouth and thrust his stone sword deep
into the beast’s right eye. Excalibur punctured the thick protective lens and
Arthur was showered in a soup of viscous jelly as the eyeball completely
ruptured, emptying onto the ground. The dragon howled in agony and rage,
launching into the air and savagely clawing at some imagined opponent it could
take out its frustration on. Blinded in one eye but more dangerous than ever, the
fire-breathing beast banked left and circled the stone warrior on the ground,
stalking him, always keeping the man in view of his good eye. Even from the
ground Arthur could tell what the monster was thinking, its primitive brain
searching for his weaknesses, waiting patiently to strike again…

*  
*   *

Merlin
deflected yet another energy sphere, his strength starting to wane. The proximity
to the Grail was giving Morgana an endless source of power, and her strikes were
hitting the old wizard hard and fast, like he was standing directly in front of
the business end of a long range cannon. The sculptor knew he couldn’t keep the
sorceress’ blows at bay for much longer – not like this. He’d managed to launch
a few volleys of his own from his emerald scepter but for the most part
Morgana’s evil power had kept him constantly on the defensive.

I’ve
got to get her farther away from the Grail,
he thought, knowing she
wouldn’t be nearly as strong if he could lure her onto neutral ground.

With
no great plan in mind, Merlin turned and started to run. He play‐acted a slight
limp as he ran, leaning heavily on his wooden staff, hoping a false sign of
weakness would make the witch overconfident and sloppy. Obviously Morgana
wasn’t the only one here who could act, because his ruse worked. When Merlin
glanced over his shoulder he saw Morgana laughing at his painful gait, and saw
her start to jog after him. Forgotten for the time being, back on the grass, she
had left behind her umbrella and the Grail.

“Where
do you think
you’re
going?” Morgana shouted after him, easily closing
the distance between them. “There’s no rest for the wicked, old man! Not today!”

The
witch threw her hands skyward and drew power from the black storm clouds above.
The smell of burning oil filled the magically charged air and when Morgana
pointed her long finger from the cloud to Merlin’s back, a lightning bolt flashed
across the darkened sky shooting straight toward the retreating wizard. Merlin
dove for the ground just in time, the electric bolt missing his head by less
than a foot, singeing the hair on his bushy white eyebrows and very nearly
igniting the hair on the back of his head. The lightning bolt tore into the
cemetery grass twenty feet in front of where he landed, instantly creating a
deep crater in the earth, dirt exploding everywhere.