The Dragon King (13 page)

“Morning, Numinae.” Artie and Kay
walked into the Royal Chamber, dressed and ready to go. Bran had laid out a breakfast of fresh fruit, hot coffee, cold Mountain Dew, and hard-boiled eggs at three places around the table.

“Sire. Miss.”

Kay plopped into her chair, while Artie sat next to Numinae. Artie looked to the far end of the room at the shimmering portal that was the King’s Gate. Soon enough, he’d be going through it again, this time with friends.

Kay pointed at the open book in front of Numinae. “Whatcha reading?”

“An obscure Leagonese text on what might guard the Grail. Most of it is in fairy verse, which is needlessly verbose. It’s funny—in person fairies are very direct; witness Shallot le Fey. But in writing, they dance around things in half measures and allusions.”

“You don’t have to worry about half measures anymore. Artie’s cooked up some kind of a plan!”

Numinae turned to Artie curiously. “Beyond getting the Grail, you mean?”

“Yeah, but we’re still doing that.” Artie poured a cup of coffee and began to peel the shell off a brown egg. “In fact, I was hoping you’d come with Kay and me.”

Numinae breathed in, making a sound like a breeze blowing through a pine forest. “I’d be honored, m’lord.”

“I’m glad. I was going to ask Thumb, Bedevere, and Bercilak to join us too.”

Numinae nodded his approval. “A good party for the mysteries surrounding the Grail. Bercilak is hungry for action.”

Kay chuckled. “It’ll be good to see wheat he can do, besides eat and drink like there’s no tomorrow. Pretty funny how an ‘empty knight’”—she made little air quotes with her fingers—“can be so darn hungry.”

They laughed. “And what about the others, sire?” Numinae asked.

“That’s where my plan comes in. It involves Dred and this Sword of David.”

“Ah. I was thinking about that last night too, sire.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Well . . . if we could somehow trick Merlin into drawing the Sword of David, it would weaken him without his knowing it. Not until he tries to make some magic, anyway.”

“And once he’s weakened, he might be vulnerable,” Artie said, seeming to finish Numinae’s thought. “That’s what I was thinking, too.”

“It would be risky, but if for some reason we could not best him in battle, it might be our only hope.”

“Like a fail-safe,” Kay said, snapping her fingers.

“That’s right, sis. But tell me, Numinae—in what corner of the Otherworld does this sword live?”

“Ah, that’s the thing, sire. None of them.”

Artie took a sip of coffee. “What do you mean?”

“The sword of David is on
your
side. In some place called Turkey.”

“Like the country?” Kay asked.

“Yes.”

Artie shrugged. “At least it won’t be guarded by a giant or witch there.”

“Quite, m’lord.”

“Do you know where in Turkey?” Kay asked.

“According to Master Thumb, someplace called Topkapi Palace, in the village of Istanbul.”

Kay couldn’t help but laugh. She’d done a unit on foreign cities in seventh grade that included Istanbul. “Oh, that’s not a village, Numinae. Well over
ten million
people live there.”

“By the trees! There is no place in the Otherworld like that.”

“No, there isn’t,” Artie said. “Dred will have to go there, obviously. I was going to ask Lance, Shallot, and Qwon to join him.”

Numinae nodded his approval. “And while they are there, we will seek the Grail.”

Exactly. And here’s how I think we can trick Merlin.” Artie smirked at his two conspirators, and they huddled close over the table. “Listen carefully, and don’t tell any—I mean
any
—of the others about this.”

Kay’s eyes went wide. “What is it, Art?”

“We have a traitor,” Artie said.

“A what, sire?”

“How do you know?” Kay breathed, sounding shocked.

“I saw it in a dream.”

“Seriously, Art?”

“Seriously. Trust me.”

“Who is it?” Kay asked.

“I can’t tell you. If I did, you might treat the traitor differently.”

“Understood. Very prudent, sire.”

Kay tilted her head at Numinae. “I’m assuming it’s not him, right?”

“No. It’s not.”

“And it’s not her either?” Numinae countered with a little smile.

“No, not Kay.”

“All right, so it’s
someone
,” Kay said. “I’ll try not to let the suspense kill me. But what’s this plan?”

“The traitor is going to help us.” Artie’s voice dropped to a bare whisper. The fire crackled in the hearth. There was no other sound. “Here’s how.”

After formulating their plan and going over it again and again, Artie, Kay, and Numinae called for the others to meet them in Tintagel’s courtyard.

It was a bright, cloudless day. The Otherworld sky was bluer than it was purple, and high above the castle walls two dragons turned in the air, occasionally diving playfully at each others’ tails or wings. Tiberius—majestic and motionless—roosted on top of the gable end of the main building, completely asleep.

The knights congregated around Kynder’s stone in the middle of the yard. Next to it was Morgaine’s stone. Thumb paced in a tight circle. Lance checked his quiver of arrows. Bedevere ran a cloth over the edge of his claymore. Shallot squatted, drawing pictures in the dirt with the tip of The Anguish. Erik was next to her, whispering something that made the fairy smile. Bercilak stood off to the side, whooshing his great battle-ax through the air. And Dred stood thoughtfully against the rock that held Morgaine, a hand resting on it.

With his sword and mussed hair and long legs, Dred looked pretty impressive. As Artie crossed the yard, he realized that he, too, must have appeared impressive from time to time, and this made him feel that much more kingly.

“Call Tiberius, please, Numinae,” Artie said as they walked out of the dragon’s shadow.

Without responding, Numinae pointed his face toward the sky and cooed. The green dragon’s rainbow eyes shot open, and his wings unfurled. He leaped off the roof and snaked to the ground, landing silently.

When they were all together Artie clapped his hands. “First things first—Lance, would you cross over and get Qwon and Pammy?”

“Now?”

“If you don’t mind.”

Lance stashed his bow next to Kynder. “Not at all. Any special instructions?”

Artie nodded. “Have them load their laptop with whatever they can find on a place in Istanbul called Topkapi Palace. Come back quick. We’ll wait for you.”

Lance gave Artie a funny look at the mention of Istanbul but took off at a jog and passed through the open crossover to the Kingfishers’ backyard.

Artie turned to Tiberius. “How many dragons so far?”

“Hmmmph. Three. The others’ll be here by nightfall. We’ll number seven.”

Kay’s face brightened. “That’s good! That’s great!”

“It
is
good,” Artie said. “When they arrive, have them gather on the castle walls, Tiberius. Tell them to be ready for battle at the drop of a hat.”

“Hmmph. Dragons’re always ready.”

“Excellent.” Artie spun to Erik. “I have a solo mission for you, Erik. It’s important, but I don’t think it will be very dangerous.”

“What is it?”

“Go to Sweden, find Sami, and bring him back. If he’s out hunting, wait for him. We’re going to need his strength when we confront Merlin, which will be sooner rather than later.”

Erik shoved Gram into its sheath. “On it, Art.”

“Good.” Artie used Excalibur to open a moongate to Sweden. “We won’t close this until you’re back. See you soon.”

Erik smiled at everyone, slapped a few hands, and disappeared.

A few minutes later Lance reappeared with Qwon and Pammy. Qwon gave Artie and Kay each a kiss on the cheek. Then she strutted over to Shallot and Dred and gave each of them a big hug.

Artie went about introducing Pammy to everyone she hadn’t met. It was hard for her to accept Numinae and the dragons, and she squeezed Artie’s hand
really
hard when Tiberius first spoke, but all in all she took it pretty well.

When they were finished, Artie knelt in the middle of the group. “Here’s the plan: Dred, Qwon, Lance, and Shallot—you’re going to Turkey, to a place called Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. Once you’re there you’ll have to find and retrieve the—”

“Sword of David,” Dred interrupted.

Artie nodded. “Bingo.”

Shallot whined.

“I know you don’t like our side,” Artie said, “but I need you there, Shallot. Think of it as, like, an honor. You’re the only fairy to go to our side in thousands of years! Not counting Tom, of course.”

“Thanks, lad.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Lance added, “Your scentlock may be all we need to deal with any guards, Shallot. And you’re a heck of a fighter. I’d love to have you there.”

Shallot grunted. “All right. I’ll go. But your side is strange to me. Too strange.”

“Man,” Kay said, “talk about the pot calling the kettle black. You have pink hair, Shallot. It grows that way!”

The group shared a much-needed giggle.

“All right,” Artie continued. “Obviously, be careful with the sword once you find it. Remember, only Dred is allowed to touch it, okay?”

They agreed.

“Now, while you’re doing that, me, Kay, Bedevere, Bercilak, Tom, and Numinae will go for the Grail.” Artie paused.

“And after we’re all back here, we visit Merlin.”

Qwon snapped her fingers. “Good. He’s up to no good, Artie.”

“Why? has something happened?”

Qwon stepped to the middle of the circle as Pammy said, “The day you left, there was a news report that a girl in Peoria nearly disappeared while playing her Xbox.”

“What do you mean, ‘nearly’?” Artie asked.

“Well, she did disappear, but then she came back. She didn’t know where she went, but she went
some
where.”

“Get out!” Kay said. “That sounds like when we flickered back and forth at Mont-Saint-Michel.”

Qwon jumped in. “Minutes after that delightful news item, we learned of a boy in Paris, France, who was playing a game on his computer when his screen flashed and then his keyboard melted, almost burning off his finger.”

Artie gulped. “What game were these kids playing?”

“
Otherworld.
”

Artie’s head fell forward. Pammy put a hand on his shoulder. “It gets worse.”

“How?”

“Last night,” Qwon said, “a boy in Fresno, California,
did
disappear from his bedroom. For good.”

“Where did he go?” Dred asked.

“No one knows,” Qwon answered.

“Merlin knows,” Thumb said darkly. “As sure as he used that game to contact you, Artie, he is using it to get to these children.”

There was a pause and then Qwon said, “Guys, since then
hundreds
of kids have gone missing while playing
Otherworld
. Hundreds.”

Artie was disgusted. Why would Merlin do this?

“Do you two have
any
good news?” Kay asked.

Pammy tilted her head to the side. “Actually, we do.”

Qwon opened the laptop. She clicked through some screens, and eventually a map of western Britain popped up. “Here’s a picture from a weather satellite taken a couple months ago.” It looked perfectly normal—it had been a clear day and they could see the patchwork farmland of the countryside. “Here’s one from yesterday.” It had also been a clear day, but the land below was blotted and blurred.

“I don’t understand. Merlin’s taking out the countryside?” Artie asked.

Qwon shook her head.

“He’s not taking it out—it’s still there. He’s erasing it,” Pammy explained. “Not literally, but from the minds of people.”

“Are you saying that as far as anyone is concerned, western Britain never existed?”

“That’s exactly what we’re saying, Artie,” Qwon answered. “There are
no
news reports from this part of the UK dating back three weeks. Not one. We cold-called over five hundred numbers in the UK. In London, officials had never even heard of Wales. When we started calling places
in
Wales, people were clueless. None could say where they lived or worked, and a lot could barely remember their last names. The closer we got to here”—Qwon zoomed in on a jagged strip of coast called St. David’s Head—“the more incoherent people became. They could barely speak. When we asked if there was anyone nearby that we
could
talk to, the only words any of them mumbled were—”

“Myrddin Emrys,” Artie interrupted. It was one of the names Excalibur had shared with him somewhere along the line. “Aka Merlin.”

Pammy pointed at Artie. “Yes!”

“That’s it, lads!” Thumb confirmed in a low voice. “I can’t believe I’d forgotten. . . . In the old days, Merlin would sometimes retreat to Wales. On the northern side of that headland there are several deep, fingerlike cuts into the cliffside. The sea gathers there. At the end of the third one, counting from the west, there is a small opening at low tide. In there was a cave.
His
cave.”

“The Bunker,” Artie said.

“Aye, lad.”

Artie rubbed his thighs and stood quickly. “All right. That’s where we’re going to throw down. We’ll try to surprise him. But God, I hope he isn’t hurting those children. . . .”

“Hmmmph,” Tiberius said, as if he knew the answer—but no one had the heart to ask if he did.

“Tiberius—when the time comes, will you and the dragons cross over to Wales for me?”

“Yes, lord kingling.”

Artie breathed a sigh of relief. “We’ll have that going for us at least.”

“And the Seven Swords!” Qwon pointed out.

“I will arrange for several packs of dire wolves from Sylvan,” Numinae said.

“I spoke with the black dragon, Snoll, and she can muster a flock of Fenlandian dragonflies,” Dred added.

Bedevere beamed. “And there’s my sabertooth!”

Kay whooped as Artie said, “That’s a pretty decent army, guys. Thanks. We’ve got a shot at beating Merlin fair and square. But we can’t underestimate him. And for that, we’ll have the Sword of David.”