The Seven Swords (3 page)

“Morgaine, Lordess of Fenland, made Artie. I know it sounds crazy. But King Arthur needed to return so he could get Excalibur and free me. And I needed to be freed so that Morgaine could try to kill me. She never could have reached me in the invisible tower. It was my prison, but it was also my refuge. Her plan went awry—she never intended for Artie to be stolen from her—but the end result is the same. I stand here before you a free wizard.”

“Whoa,” Kynder said, his hairs rising along his neck.

“I know. Now, this is what I need your help with. According to the Lady of the Lake, it's not just Morgaine who wants to kill me. Excalibur does too. I need you to find out
why
the sword wants me dead.”

Kynder pursed his lips. “Okay,” he said, feeling a little dazed. “But what should we tell Arthur?”

“We'll tell Artie that you're being sent to the Library to try to discover the identity of the person who wields the Peace Sword.”

“Got it,” Kynder said, clutching the pebble with purpose. Already he could feel the Otherworld's power pulsing through it.

This time, when his kids went to the Otherworld, Kynder Kingfisher would be going too.

4 - IN WHICH QWON HAS THE DISTINCT PLEASURE OF MEETING SHALLOT LE FEY

Once again Dred carried Qwon
up and down many stairs, and in and around many turns. The effect was disorienting; she had about zero idea of where she was being taken.

Eventually he stepped outside and walked the length of a long portico. Birds chittered and trilled. The air was still.

They stopped at the end of the portico, and Dred dropped Qwon onto the damp flagstone. He knelt and uncorked a small bottle and held it to her lips. She drank eagerly, knowing it would allow her to move. But before she could drink it all, Dred pulled the vial away. She could hold her head up, but couldn't move the rest of her body yet.

“You can talk, if you like,” Dred said matter-of-factly. His voice had a nasal quality it lacked before, like he was really, really stuffed up.

Qwon started to ask, “I can?” but all that came out was a weak “Ike?” Her body, still mostly paralyzed, wasn't quite ready to speak.

Talking was not what she wanted to do, though. What she wanted to do was scream. She wanted to snatch the sword from Dred's belt and show him a thing or two about how to use it. She wanted to see her kidnapper's face, but he was still wearing that stupid helmet. So annoying.

Dred studied this girl. He'd never seen one like her before. Her hair was thick and black and straight and cut like a boy's. Her dark, unwavering eyes were slightly slanted. Her face was flat and broad, and her cheeks were high and round.

He thought she was pretty, but he wasn't about to say so.

“Who're you? Where's'iss place?” Qwon's mouth was starting to feel better, and she was regaining the ability to form clear words.

“You heard. I'm Mordred. And you know where you are. Castel Deorc Wæters.”

Qwon shook her head, never allowing her gaze to shift from the narrow slit in Dred's faceplate.

For the first time, the oddness of the helmet registered with her. Its general shape was unremarkable, like an upside-down, handleless pot with a crease rising from the forehead. A section was cut out for Dred's face, but this was covered with the faceplate, which was shaped like a giant leaf. There were perforations over his mouth and nose, and a long slit for the eyes. Rising from the top of the helmet were a pair of crooked deer horns, one red, the other blue.

“I mean, where's th'castle?” Qwon asked.

“Oh, right,” Dred said, turning away. “The castle is in Fenland, and Fenland is in a place known simply as the Otherworld. The Otherworld is your side's dark reflection. Fairies live here, and dragons, and shadows—and bad people like me!” He whipped his head toward her, and her heart skipped a beat.

“Forget it,” Qwon said, frustrated that this Dred guy wasn't making any sense. “Just take me to my quarters,” she said, fully regaining her speech.

“As you wish,” he said. Dred stood and unlocked a super-thick yellow door that was covered with bands of dark metal and rivets and spikes. In there were her quarters. In there was this feral fairy Morgaine had mentioned.

Dred pushed open the door, but instead of tossing her in, he gave her the rest of the liquid. She drank it quickly as he said, “Well, I'll be seeing you, Qwon of Shadyside.” Then he stepped through the doorway, pulled the door shut, and threw the lock.

Wait. She was being left outside?

Energy coursed through Qwon's body from her shoulders to her toes as the liquid took effect. She moved her arms and shook out her legs. She cracked her neck. She put her hands on the ground and gingerly stood.

The portico ran around three sides of a square courtyard that was about fifty feet across. A high stone wall at the far end marked the fourth side. Beyond it, Qwon could just see the top of the dark-green glass tower. By the position of the sun, she guessed that this marked the southern end of the yard, and somewhere past that was the drawbridge. She hoped all of this information would prove helpful in eventually escaping.

The roof of the portico slanted down toward the inside of the courtyard, and it was covered with shards of broken glass jutting up at all angles. The pillars supporting it were also covered in jagged glass. No escaping that way.

There were several doors along the walkway under the portico. All were heavy-looking, each painted a different ridiculously bright color, and, Qwon presumed, locked from the inside. In the middle of the yard was a chest-high birdbath made from some kind of turquoise metal. Qwon stepped onto the grass. The ground was soft. The courtyard smelled good.

It smelled
remarkably
good. Like . . . like shavings of Ivory soap and fresh-cut grass and newly plucked honeysuckle all at once.

While she was enthralled by the smell, Qwon was knocked in the back of the head. She fell onto her hands and knees, and something whisked by her in a blur of pink and black, disappearing in the shadows.

“Who's there?” Qwon demanded of the blur.

A high-pitched giggle came from her right, and Qwon realized the source of the smell was there too. Still on the ground, she whipped her head around and saw the end of a wooden stick as it disappeared at the far end of the yard.
Aha!

Qwon sprang to her feet and followed her nose. Adrenaline fueled her movements. She looked desperately around for anything to fight with, but there was nothing.

She raced to the western side of the portico, but when she got there, the thing—which must have been this fairy—darted to the other side.

“Stop moving!” Qwon yelled.

The fairy answered by giggling again.

Just then a long pole came shooting out of a little window in Dred's yellow door. Qwon knew exactly what it was: a quarterstaff. Qwon ran for it, but the fairy somehow tripped her, and Qwon fell on her face, taking a mouthful of grass. As she was about to get up, the fairy bolted across the length of her body. The fairy's feet felt like little hooves on her back.

Qwon thrust her right arm forward and snagged the ankle of the lightning-quick sprite, causing it to fall face-first in the grass, too. The fairy squealed. And then—and then it
sprayed
Qwon, just like a skunk!

Only the smell was amazing.

Qwon's grip loosened as she was transported to a field of lavender and flowering sweet peas. A smile crawled across her face. Her eyes brightened.

The fairy wriggled free and churned toward the staff. Qwon came around and yelped, “No!” just as the fairy bent to pick it up. But before it could, it was plonked on the forehead with a stone that Dred had thrown from the little window. “Ouch!” the fairy barked.

Qwon got her first good look at the fairy. She was very thin and stood a little less than five feet tall. Her shoulders were only a foot across, and her legs were so long she hardly had a torso. Her arms were also disturbingly long, and she had pink hair drawn into an athletic ponytail that nearly reached the back of her knees. Her hair had three thick black streaks, one down the middle and two on either side above the ears, which added to the skunk effect. She was barefoot, but was otherwise dressed in plain cotton pants and a matching shirt.

The fairy bent to pick up the staff again, and this time a small fusillade of stones sailed from the window. She screeched and bolted away without looking back.

Qwon sprinted forward and slid feet first, scooping up the staff as she passed it. She threw her back against Dred's door and said through the opening, “Thanks.”

“Don't thank me yet,” her kidnapper replied wryly.

He was clearly enjoying this.

Jerk
, thought Qwon.

She slid left along the wall to the corner, turned, and continued moving until she reached the middle of the next wall, where there was another door. She tried it. Locked. Just as she'd suspected.

Qwon let the staff fall into the crook of her arm and quickly tore two small strips of fabric from the bottom of her T-shirt. She balled them up and stuffed one in each nostril. She had to do something to defend herself from the fairy's intoxicating scent. Then she stepped toward the clearing, but before she even reached the grass, the fairy came from nowhere and poked Qwon's back. She tumbled forward, her staff in front of her, and wheeled around.

The sprite was in a semicrouch, her stick held across her body. Her face was twisted into a gnarly grimace. She was small but powerful.

Her eyes were the color of tropical seas, and their pupils were as deep and limitless as the night sky. Something about the balance of her features, the clear hue of her skin, and her tiny, knowing smile made Qwon freeze.

She was almost achingly beautiful. How was Qwon going to strike this creature?

But then the fairy hissed like a cornered cat, and sprayed again.

Qwon's nose plugs didn't block the scent completely, but they helped. She lunged forward and twirled her staff, knocking the fairy in the shoulder. The fairy did not retreat. She hissed again—revealing a mouthful of pointy teeth that belied her beauty—and continued fighting with a flurry of jabs and swings. Qwon parried them all, mixing in attacks of her own.

They were too equally matched.

Finally each jumped back. Qwon could hear Dred's muted laughter, which she did not appreciate. She did not like this game.

Qwon looked the fairy squarely in the eyes and said, “My name is Qwon Onakea, and I've been kidnapped. Who are you and why are you here?”

The fairy cocked her head. She said something that Qwon had a hard time understanding because, like her smell and her beauty, her voice was borderline enchanting.

The fairy repeated herself, taking pains to suppress whatever it was that made her voice so enrapturing. “I am Shallot le Fey,” she said. “I was taken too, from my home in Leagon. I have been in this yard for a month, and until today have not seen a single person.”

Qwon nodded slowly and said, “Well, Shallot, I'm from Pennsylvania, and I think we're going to be prisoners here together. Wherever this place is.”

Qwon dropped her staff to her side. Shallot did the same.

Shallot took a few cautious steps and asked, “Are you also here because of the prophecy?”

Qwon frowned. “Prophecy?”

“From
The Fairy Book of Pretelling
. The one about the sword,” Shallot explained. “The one about Excalibur. The one about Arthur and Merlin Ambrosius.”

Qwon said weakly, “You mean the one about Artie Kingfisher?” As she said the words, she couldn't help but feel like they were the beginning of a bad joke.

Shallot stepped forward. She held out her hand palm down, in some unknown gesture of greeting, and said in her lovely voice, “Yes. The one about Artie Kingfisher.”

5 - HOW ERIK ERIKSSEN IS KIDNAPPED AND TAKEN TO THE OTHERWORLD

The morning after the Kingfishers
were told about the next phase of their adventures, Erik Erikssen showed up at their house complaining of a headache, saying, “I don't know why, but I just had to come over to your guys' house.”

Merlin hadn't given advance warning about the spell he used to call Erik, and to her revulsion, Kay was the one who answered the door—in her nightgown. Thankfully, Erik was so out of it that he didn't seem to notice. He pushed by Kay, made for the living room, and dropped onto the sofa. Before Kay could get a word out, Merlin floated into the room and asked Kay to fetch a glass of warm water. She did. Merlin poured some powder into it and stirred the mixture with a finger. Then he gave the glass to Erik and with a velvety tone said, “I suggest you drink this, my boy.”

Erik drank. No sooner had he handed the glass back to Merlin than he fell completely asleep.

“Knock him out to take him to the Otherworld,” Kay observed. “I like it.”

“Yes,” Merlin said. “Erik should see the Otherworld before he's told about it. He'll be more easily convinced that way, I think.”

Kay narrowed her eyes, nodded, and then bounded off to her room to get ready.

That morning the Kingfisher house buzzed with anticipation. Lance made sure his bow and arrows were in top shape. Kynder packed a large duffel bag with his Arthurian research and another with clothing. Bedevere sharpened his claymore and checked his armor. Kay packed the infinite backpack and made sure they had some warm clothes.

At eleven in the morning Artie was in his room looking over the stuff he'd laid out on his bed: Excalibur's empty scabbard, a pile of headlamps, and his trusty dagger, Carnwennan. He twirled Excalibur's pommel in his hand. And that was when it came to him!

He ran downstairs and found Merlin in the kitchen eating a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.

“Merlin! I've got it!”

Merlin swallowed hard and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “What's that?” he asked.

“I know how we can get Excalibur! And rescue Qwon at the same time!”

Merlin tilted his head and asked, “How's that, my boy?”

“We just go there!” Artie exclaimed, holding out the pommel.

Merlin put down his sandwich and looked at it seriously. “You know, I never had a P-B-and-J before breaking out of the tower. It's so simple, yet so scrumptious!”

“Merlin, did you hear me? It'd be like a special ops raid or whatever—drop in behind enemy lines, get what we need, and get out. It's perfect!”

Merlin gave Artie a forlorn look. “Yes, it sounds perfect. And it
is
true that the pommel can take you anywhere. But you first have to know where you're going, Artie, or at least have a very good mental picture of it. You can transport to the Library now, for instance, or your court-in-exile, or even Tiberius's hidden cave—but only because you know those places. Remember when you ordered Excalibur to take you to the Font a few weeks back?”

“Sure,” Artie said as dejection began to settle around him like a fog.

“Did it take you right to it?”

“No . . .”

“Right. Listen, my boy, even if you could get into the Castel, there's no guarantee you would be anywhere near Excalibur. What if you transported into a trap? What if you landed in Morgaine's bedroom? You could materialize inside a wall, or in midair over the moat! I'm sorry, Artie, but we can't risk it. However . . .”

Artie looked up eagerly. “Yes?”

“If we could
find out
where Excalibur is being kept, then your idea may be quite effective. What we need, then, is—”

“A spy!” Artie yelped.

“Precisely. But where to get one?” Merlin thought for a few moments and then snapped his fingers. “I've got it. Thumb and Tiberius were planning on meeting Lord Lot, the leader of the fairy kingdom of Leagon, to request the service of Shallot le Fey and her fairy blade, The Anguish. While they are there, they will also ask him for a spy. Fairies hate Morgaine and her minions, so Lot should be eager to help. Plus, Leagonese spies are the absolute best.”

“Great!” Artie said. “Sounds like a plan.” And before Merlin could say anything else, Artie bolted back to his room.

 

They were finally set.

Kynder, Merlin, Lance, Thumb, Bedevere, Artie, and Kay circled up in the game room, where all this craziness had started. Lance carried Erik, who was still fast asleep, over his shoulder like a wounded soldier.

Before going to the court-in-exile, they were stopping at the Library to drop off Kynder and Merlin. The wizard would help Kynder get set up so he could find out more about the identity of the person who wielded the Peace Sword (and also look into why Excalibur wanted Merlin iced—but that was a secret). Then Merlin would leave and go to a secret location he called The Bunker, which was where the wizard had learned much of his magic back in the day. He told them it contained no end of arcana and scrolls and ancient magical instruments—more even than what he had managed to gather in the fantastical basement of the Invisible Tower. It was from this location that Merlin would do his part to disrupt the lordess of Fenland.

Artie readied the pommel but before he could open the moongate, Merlin said, “Wait! I have some things to hand out.” Merlin rummaged through his magical bag and pulled out three flat objects, each the size of a thin magazine.

“Are those iPads?” Kay asked.

“They are! Jailbreaked too!” Merlin said proudly, and then he mused, “Fascinating contraptions. I've kept one for myself, of course.” He gave the others to Artie, Kynder, and Bedevere. “Since my escape, Mr. Thumb has been working on a port of the
Otherworld
game and several very special apps.”

“So, what, you want us to play
Otherworld
while we're in the Otherworld?” Kay asked. “Isn't that, like . . . redundant?”

Erik rattled out a loud snore. Lance shifted him on his shoulder.

“I don't expect you to play it, although I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to during your downtime,” Merlin said jovially. “But it's the apps that are important. There are atlases of both sides, and also an app with loads of information about each of the Seven Swords.”

“And,” Thumb added proudly, “I've modified the tablets to link up with the Otherworld's cellular network. So we'll be able to video-chat!”

Bedevere shook his head in wonderment. Kay said, “Far out.”

As they put them away, Thumb clapped and said, “Well, lads, what do you think? Master Artie, shall we?”

“Yeah, Tom, we shall.” Artie stepped into the middle of the circle. Kay took Kynder's hand and gave it a squeeze. She was glad he was coming with them this time, even if they did have to leave him at the Library. Kynder squeezed back. He was glad too.

Artie knelt and looked at his knights. Bedevere had donned his black suit of plate armor, minus the right arm. Lance sported his usual mix of commando and Robin Hood gear plus a thick down vest, his compound bow—decorated with American flags and screaming eagles—slung over his shoulder. Kynder was dressed like he was about to do some gardening, but since he was going to stay at the Library, that was just fine. Thumb was dressed casually in his little linen suit. Kay had on blue jeans and sneakers and a leather-and-ring-mail jerkin under a sweatshirt. Like Artie, she also wore one of the titanium-laced undershirts Merlin had given them over the summer. Artie was dressed almost exactly like his sister, plus he had his trusty buckler strapped to his left arm.

Artie closed his eyes. He held out the pommel and said quietly but forcefully, “
Lunae lumen.
” A moongate swung open and engulfed them, leaving the game room in Shadyside, Pennsylvania, completely empty.

 

After dropping Kynder and Merlin at the Library, the rest of the group moved on to the court-in-exile. Lance had spent so much time with Merlin and Thumb at the Invisible Tower back in Cincinnati that he took the wonders of the Otherworld in stride, dropping right into military grunt mode, ready for anything.

But Erik, who they woke with a packet of smelling salts, was another story.

All the weirdness left the newest knight in a state of shock.

First, there was Bercilak. As the Green Knight ambled up to the party with his arms held out for a hug, Erik's jaw dropped to the floor.

“My good knights! How I've missed you!” Bercilak said.

“Bercy!” Kay said, running to him. She embraced Bercilak and slapped him hard on the back, sending a loud sound reverberating through his bodiless suit of armor.

“My lord! Sir Kay! Bedevere! I've taken fine care of your feline. And Mr. Thumb! How is the old gnome? And we've added an archer, I see!” Lance gave Bercilak a deep nod. “And who's this? Another new knight, sire?”

Artie walked over to Erik, who was sitting down, and whispered, “Don't worry, you'll get used to it.”

“To what?” Erik gasped. “The no-head thing?”

“Yeah,” Artie confirmed. “And that he's a little, well, weird.”

“You can say that again,” Erik said.

Bercilak approached Erik and said, “Hallo! I am the Green Knight, the Empty Knight, Bercilak the Hollow! It is my esteemed pleasure to meet you, Sir . . .”

Erik stared up at this walking, talking suit of green armor and said, “Uh, Erik?”

“Uh-Erik! Fabulous! Tell me, are you related to Uh-Enmo? Or maybe Uh-Elring?”

“Uh, no?” Erik said.

“Uh-No? I've not met him.”

“No, Bercy,” Artie explained. “He's not related to any of those people. This is Erik. He's from our side, and this is his first time here, so go easy on him, all right?”

Bercilak took Erik's hand and shook it. “Of course! Sorry for the confusion, Erik the New.”

Erik looked at the empty space where Bercilak's eyes would have been and said, “No problem, I guess.”

“Good!” Bercilak dropped Erik's hand and spun around. “Now—where is Wilt Chamberlain? The dragon is out by the stable and wants to parley with him.”

“Dr-dragon?” Erik stammered.

Lance said quietly, “Yeah, pretty cool, right? I can't wait to meet one either.”

Cool
was not what Erik was thinking, since he had no desire to meet a dragon. None.

Artie answered Bercilak, “Merlin—Wilt Chamberlain—is at the Library. He's with Kynder.”

Bercilak tilted in a way that clearly meant, “Who's Kynder?”

“Kynder's our dad,” Kay explained.

“I can parley with the dragon,” Thumb said. “He and I need to shove off for Leagon soon anyway.”

Artie stepped forward. If he was really becoming a king, he'd better start acting like one. “And I can talk to him too, you know.”

“Of course, sire,” Thumb said, bowing slightly.

“Let's to him then, shall we?” Bercilak boomed.

Artie ushered a dazed Erik toward the door as the group followed the Green Knight to the stables, where sure enough there was a great green dragon sitting in the paddock.

Artie and Kay ran to Tiberius, eager to greet him. Thumb took his time. He was still peeved about having been frozen in Tiberius's rock breath on their last adventure. Lance was extremely impressed and let out a long whistle.

But Erik Erikssen, too shocked to deal, passed out again.

Bercilak caught him and eased him carefully to the ground. “I think this one is a little overwhelmed, sire!”

Kay gave Erik a sympathetic look and said, “Honestly? I think he took that pretty well. What do you think, Tiberius?”

“Hmmmmph,” the dragon replied.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Kay deadpanned.

“Boy-king,” Tiberius sang. “You're not armed. You should be armed.”

It was true. Artie had Excalibur's scabbard strapped to his back, and Carnwennan hung from his belt, but he did look a little light.

“The dragon is right, my lord!” Bercilak exclaimed. “Strange things are afoot these past days. You should be more ready than you are.”

“Care to help me pick out some new toys then, Bercilak?” Artie asked.

“Of course! Maybe we can find something for Erik the New too.”

Bercilak led Artie back in to peruse his weapon racks. Kay joined them while Lance stayed behind with Erik. Bedevere went into the stables and let out his saber-toothed tiger, which was very happy to see his old master. They cuddled for a while, and then the tiger and the dragon started playing. Erik momentarily came around, but when he saw Tiberius pinning a white saber-toothed tiger to the ground he promptly passed out again.

A few minutes later Artie, Kay, and Bercilak emerged from the court, with Artie toting some new items.

“Whatcha get from the treasure trove, dude?” Lance asked.

“What's the spear called again?” Artie asked Bercilak.

“Rhongomyniad.”

“Yeah, that,” Artie said to Lance. “I have to learn to say it really well, because after I throw it, I can call it by name and it will zip back to my hand!”

“Cool!” Lance exclaimed.

Bedevere pointed at a small, cutlass-shaped sword that hung opposite Carnwennan on Artie's belt. “Is that Flixith, sire?”

“Sure is,” Artie said.

“What can it do?” Lance asked.

“When he swings it around, it'll make him look like he's got four arms instead of two, which I guess is supposed to scare the cookies out of our enemies,” Artie explained.

“Good,” Thumb said seriously. “We have much work to do.”

Artie nodded in agreement and motioned for everyone to circle up near Tiberius. Lance carried Erik, who was coming back around again and moaning.

“Well, Tiberius? What's new in the Otherworld?” Artie asked.

Tiberius slowly blinked his magnificent, rainbow-colored eyes. “Hmmph,” the dragon said. “The wizard's play was ill-conceived. He shouldn't've gone to Fenland. It has unsettled things more'n necessary. The witch's agents are on the hunt. She's unhappy. If Lord Numinae were well, I'd be more at ease.”