Knight Quest (Time Hunters, Book 2) (7 page)

Tom tugged at the cone in his hair. “What are you going to do? Walk up there and ask them the way to Egypt? Or set Cleo on them?”

Cleo hissed and showed Tom her claws.

“Calm down, action cat! I was only joking,” Tom said.

“Don't be silly,” Isis said. “Cleo is going to be our lookout.” Isis searched along the ground for a sharp stone. “Right, now watch this!” she said, holding up her slingshot, which she'd repaired. “The shoulder of the knight on the right. You see if I don't hit him dead on target.”

She fired the stone towards the knight. It whistled through the air and caught him on the shoulder.

“Ha!” Isis said.

The knight cried out in pain. “Ow! Did you just throw something at me?” he said to his companion.

The second dragon knight shook his head. “Why would I do that?” he asked.

“Here,” said Tom, quickly grabbing some pine branches and handing them to Isis and Al. “Camouflage.”

“Camou-what?” asked Al.

“Use these branches as a disguise so that we blend in,” explained Tom.

Isis fired another stone at the knight, this time hitting his left knee.

“Hey! Quit that!” said the injured knight.

“I
told
you, I didn't do anything!” said his friend.

As the two knights squabbled over the mysterious attack, Tom, Isis and Al darted out from behind their boulder. Holding the pine branches in front of them, they crept towards the cave and slipped inside. They made straight for the long, deep shadows at the back.

“It's very dark in here,” Al whispered.

Tom blinked and stared into the gloom. The air was damp and cold. Suddenly, he noticed a golden glow much further into the cave.

“Do you see what I see?” Tom said, nudging Isis.

“I certainly do,” she whispered.

“Cor, it's heavy,” Al said, holding up the shining sword for Tom to see. “But it's not half pretty.”

“It's brilliant,” Tom said. “Solid gold, I bet.”

As if under a spell, Isis carefully stroked the sparkling green amulet set into the base of the blade. “Yes, it is solid gold,” she said, sighing longingly. “I should know – I used to have plenty of it.”

Al swung the sword through the air. It made a satisfying swishing noise.

“I've never handled anything so grand before,” he said. “Look at the hilt on it.”

The carving on the hilt was impressive. Tom's heart fluttered and his mouth was suddenly dry with excitement.

“Should we try to get the amulet out of the sword now?” he whispered.

“Good idea,” Isis murmured. “But it'll be easier outside the cave where there's more light.”

“Come on, Al,” Tom called over. “Let's get back to the king with this.”

Just as they started to make their way back through the cave, they heard a frantic yowling coming from outside.

“It's Fluffpot!” cried Isis. “Cleo's warning us that someone's coming!”

Sure enough, hooves clattered by the cave's entrance. These were followed by the sounds of swords clashing together. Next, footsteps thundered through the cave – coming closer, closer, closer. The sound bounced off the stone walls like hammers on an anvil.

“Oh no!” Tom said. “Percival!”

It was too late to hide. Percival drew his dagger and pointed it at them.

“Hand over the sword or I shall cut your throats!” Percival demanded, his nasty voice echoing through the cave.

Tom gulped. He looked at the gleaming, golden sword. He couldn't let Percival take the sword away from Al. Without the amulet, he and Isis would be stuck in King Arthur's England forever. But he also didn't fancy dying!

Tom wracked his brains to remember the skills he had learned at Atillus's gladiator school in Ancient Rome. Hadn't he fought bravely against the undefeated hero in the arena?

I've got to distract him – to wrong-foot him somehow
, Tom thought.
Foot… feet… hmmm
.

He stared at Percival's fine boots – the ones he was so proud of. They were laced up to the knees, with tassels dangling from the front.
I know just the thing!
Tom thought.

“Look out!” Tom said, pointing at Percival's feet, “You're standing in a puddle!”

“My boots!” Percival yelped, looking down.

In that split second, Isis kicked the dagger out of Percival's hand.

Furious, Percival roared, “How dare you trick me!” He grabbed Tom and Isis by the scruffs of their necks and lifted them off the ground.

“Put those children down. Let's fight like men,” Al cried, brandishing the golden weapon.

“No! Not until you give me the sword!” hissed Percival.

With her legs kicking out uselessly like a puppet, Isis cried, “Let go of me, you big lump!” She grabbed a handful of Percival's long hair and pulled until a clump came away in her hand.

Percival growled from the pain, but didn't loosen his iron grip.

Tom rummaged frantically through the facts, figures and memories in his mind for a good idea that would free them. He suddenly remembered something Percival had said in Al's hut.

“Aargh! A giant spider!” he shouted.

“What? Where?” shrieked Percival.

“On your head!” said Tom.

Percival dropped Tom and Isis and clasped his hands to his head. “Ugh! Get it off me! I hate spiders!” Percival screamed and then dropped to the floor to retrieve his dagger. He turned on his heel and ran out of the cave.

“That was close,” Tom said. “Percival's the biggest wimp I've ever met!”

Al clambered over the rocky floor. “Some gentleman he is,” he scoffed. “Now let's go back to King Arthur.”

But before they could leave the cave, the ground rumbled and the rocks beneath their feet started to crack.

“Here we go again,” muttered Isis.

Tom watched open-mouthed as the crack in the ground travelled up through the rocky walls of the cave. In a shower of stones, Anubis's giant dog head appeared. The Egyptian god of the Underworld's red eyes shone angrily in the gloom.

“Oh no! You're joking. Not here!” Tom said.

Al fell to his knees and pressed the palms of his hands together. He stared at the pile of rocks, and with wide eyes began to pray.

“Dear Lord, I know I'm only a lowly pig-boy and not a fine nobleman, but please don't punish me for taking the sword,” he whimpered. “I wasn't stealing. Honest!” He flung the golden sword across the cave, as if it was hot to the touch.

Tom ran over to him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Don't worry, Al,” he said. “It's just a little earthquake. We will be fine.”

Al looked up at him with desperate eyes. “No! I'm being punished for being too proud! I'm not worthy of being a knight.” He started to pray loudly again. Then a small stone fell from the ceiling, bounced off his head and knocked him out cold.

Isis ran over to Al and shook him. “Are you OK? Wake up!”

“Leave the pig-boy alone! Pay attention to me!” Anubis boomed. A cloud of dust fell from the ceiling of the cave.

Tom glared up at the jackal-headed god. He was so annoyed at Anubis for ruining Al's efforts, and then hurting him, that he stamped his foot on the ground. “Look!” he said. “We've found the amulet – we just need to get it off the sword. And we'll do that as soon as we're out of the cave.”

Anubis laughed in a creepy way that made the hair on Tom's arms stand up. “You'll never get out of here!” he shouted.

Tom felt his heart sink to the bottom of his boots.

“I'm going to teach you two a lesson you'll never forget,” Anubis growled.

Suddenly, the whole cave began to shake violently. Rocks started to break free from the ceiling. They tumbled down the side of the cave.

“He's starting a rockslide!” Tom yelped.

“I hope you two like caves.” Anubis's voice boomed beneath the roar of the falling rocks. “You'll be stuck here forever now. Don't bother screaming – nobody will hear you. HA HA HA!”

Tom watched in despair as the roof of the cave collapsed in a deafening downpour of stone and dust, blocking the exit and burying the golden sword. He coughed and waved his hand in front of his face. It was completely dark.

“Oh no!” Tom groaned. “Looks like we're trapped!”

“Al!” shouted Tom, running over to his unconscious friend. “Can you hear me?”

Isis bent down and started slapping Al's cheeks. “Wake up!”

Al woke with a start. “Ow,” he said, looking dazed and rubbing his head. “I had a terrible dream. I was being punished for stealing King Arthur's golden sword.” He sat up and looked around the cave. “Oh no! It wasn't a dream.”

“Don't worry,” said Tom. “It was just a rockslide. But we're going to get out ofhere.”

“First we need to find the sword,” said Isis.

As Tom's eyes adjusted to the dark, he spied the sword's carved handle sticking out from under a big boulder. But the blade was trapped beneath the rock. Tom pushed and pushed, but the stone wouldn't budge.