The True Enemy Read online

  “I am aware,” she said. “They can fly now and cause more death and destruction.” She paused. “Look, I do not wish to go to war with man or with Morgan. I swear we will find a peaceful isle and make it our own. Away from your kind that walks on two legs.”

  “But, we can’t abandon our cause,” Fern protested.

  “I repeat...it is not my cause. Never was. Never will be. I do not care about humans and their silly battles. I do care not to let our species die!” Carana told Fern. She stroked his head gently. “I appreciate and admire your concern for these creatures but in our time Merlin would have tried to kill you or tame you as a weapon.” She laughed. “Even now Gwen uses you as a weapon.”

  “I do so by choice!” Fern said. “Gwen has only helped me. It was Morgan’s weird spell that transformed me into a bird!”

  Carana nodded. “Perhaps but it was not her intention, you were just caught in the spell’s drift. A spell that big and powerful is bound to drift. But I can break the enchantment. But you must come with me!”

  “There must be another way!” Fern said.

  Merlin walked towards Carana, “There is always another way, another option.”

  Carana grimaced, “Believe me I take no joy in taking you away from this quest.”

  Oh come on, you take a little joy,” Merlin said. “You always liked to win, Carana!”

  Carana grinned. “Okay, I take a small amount of joy. Mostly because I do not like seeing Fern aiding Merlin. He should be flying next to me!”

  “I won’t leave, Gwen or this world to the mercy of Morgan and or her mother!” Fern said.

  Carana turned towards the door. “Then my time here has been wasted. Our species is doomed.”

  “You don’t know that,” Fern said. “I will help Gwen defeat Morgan or her mother and then I will find you!” Fern insisted.

  Carana looked away. “You will risk your life and make enemies out of two powerful women. I can not see that ending well for you.” She looked at me. “What about you once and future queen?”

  I thought about the situation carefully. Sure we could use Fern’s help. The little guy packed a lot of firepower. But I couldn’t risk him getting hurt or killed and dooming the dragons to extinction. I leaned down to Fern.

  “Fern, Carana is right,” I told him.

  “NO, she is wrong,” Merlin said. “We need Fern!”

  I shook my head. “Perhaps but his kind need him more.” I looked at Fern. “Fern, you can’t risk it you must go with her.”

  A tear of flames formed in Fern’s eye. “But your quest!”

  “We will still succeed. Just as you must succeed in bringing more dragons to life!” I said. I turned to Carana. “More peaceful dragons!”

  “If man does not hunt us...we will not hunt them,” she touched her heart. “You have my word.”

  I gave Fern a kiss on the head. “You must go, my friend!” I told him. “We will meet again when Morgan and Kristi are defeated. I promise.”

  On those words, Fern and Carana walked through the magical door back to the woods. The door fizzled away.

  “I hope you did the right thing!” Merlin said.

  “I know she did!” Sebastian told him.

  I thought back to a time long ago. A conversation I overheard between Arthur and Merlin.

  “Merlin are you sure?”

  “Arthur there is no other way! I have tried to get the dragons to come to our side. But they refuse…”

  “Will they join our enemies? Do they wish to reign fire on Camelot?”

  Merlin did not answer for a moment. “I do not know. Dragons are unpredictable. Not even I can comprehend their actions. They are creatures of raw emotion.”

  Arthur heaved a heavy sigh. “Then we must destroy them!”

  Funny, how I had forgotten about that conversation until now.

  My Notes:

  I lost a friend today. Well, I guess I didn’t really lose him. Fern and I were still friends and comrades. But he would no longer be a daily part of my life. I would certainly miss him. Yet I know what I did was right. As powerful as Morgan and Kristi may be, I still had no right to keep Fern from the last of his kind. Carana was correct my battle was not her battle. Especially, if my battle meant the end of her kind. I could not chance that.

  I also had to consider the roles Arthur, Merlin and I played in the dragons’ plight. I really should have paid more attention to the fate of the dragons then. I took Arthur at his word (and Merlin’s) that the dragons were a threat to all. Perhaps, I should have spoken up after hearing that conversation between Arthur and Merlin? Perhaps if we tried talking with them instead of attacking them things might have been different for both of our kind? I will never know that now. But I do know that I made the right choice now.

  Chapter 10 - The Closing

  The next morning, I sat at the breakfast table with Mom and Dad. I munched on a piece of toast and said, “The contest closes today and it’s going to be close between us and the cheerleaders and fairies group…every donation is going to count.”

  “If that’s the case, then why haven’t you asked your dad and I to sign up?” Maude asked.

  “Say what?”

  “From what I understand of the rules, an individual can only give ten dollars but you have two individuals here who have not signed up,” Maude said.

  “Have you signed up?” Claude asked. “I read the rules and the age limit is older than 12 for some weird reason. And you and all your friends are older than 12, well except for Paulie.”

  “Oh, my!” I shouted. “You guys are brilliant!” I shot up from the table and hugged them both.

  “No,” Claude said, “we just read the tiny fine print.”

  I sent a mass text off to my knights:

  DUDES…SIGN UP YOURSELVES AND YOUR PARENTS

  We can win this!

  My phone dinged and dinged.

  ART> On it!

  MIKA>Great idea!

  BART>Done

  GAIL>Duh!

  PAULIE>I AM 2 YOUNG BUT GOT MY MOM

  SEBASTIAN>Man we should have thought of this sooner.

  LANCE>I AM COMING OVER

  I heard a knock on the back door. “Gwen, Gwen can I enter?” Lance called.

  “Of course!” I said.

  Lance rushed in. “I have some pleasant news.” He spotted the mound of bacon on the table. “I love pig strips!” he said licking his lips.

  Maude pointed to the pile of meat, “Be our guest!”

  “Yum!” Lance said.

  “Lance your news!” I coaxed.

  He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. “Yesterday my new mom took me to a town called New London.” He paused to eat more bacon. He looked up. “Do you have any milk? This bacon stuff is wondrous but it makes me thirsty.”

  “Of course!” Mom said.

  “A big glass if you do not mind!” Lance said with a perfect smile.

  “No of course not!” Mom said.

  “Lance the news!” I shouted.

  “Right. Like I said, my new mom took me to New London.” He grinned. “Ha! New Mom and New London. That is so icy!”

  “You mean cool!” Dad corrected.

  “Right,” Lance said. “You are so wise, Mr. Claude.”

  By now Merlin was starting to lose his temper. He raced across the table and grabbed Lance by the collar. “Spill it, boy!” he ordered.

  Lance looked down at Merlin. “I don’t want to spill my milk. It is delicious and spilling is wasteful. You, being a cat, should understand the value of milk.”

  “Tell us what you learned in New London!” Merlin shouted. He popped out his claws, “Or so help me I will scratch your eyes out.”

  “I thought that was only a saying?” Lance said.

  Merlin swung at Lance. I caught his paw. I eased the paw back to the table. “Lance focus.”

  “Right!” Lance said straightening up. “The people in New London, especially the ladies seem to love the idea of helping homeless p
ets.” He showed me a piece of paper covered with names. “They all were willing to donate!”

  I hugged him. It felt good. “Lance I think we are going to win this thing!”

  “I truly hope so!” Lance said.

  Driving to school with dad I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I felt good about our chances of winning this contest. I would finally get my chance to meet and evaluate Kristi Quick.

  Dad looked over at me. “I’m proud of you, honey.”

  “We don’t know if we won yet,” I said.

  “Actually I’m proud of the way you let Fern go. I know he was important to you as a friend and as a potential weapon,” Dad said.

  “I had to do what was best for him!” I said.

  “And that is why you will make a great queen someday,” the familiar voice of Kristi Quick said to me. I turned and she was sitting behind me in the car.

  “Kristi Quick? What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Dad looked over his shoulder. “Honey, there is nobody there.”

  “He can’t see me,” Kristi said.

  “You can’t see her,” I told dad.

  “No, of course I can’t,” I said.

  Kristi reached over and tapped me on the shoulder. “Girlfriend I am so proud of you. You passed all the tests I threw at you.”

  “Excuse me?” I said.

  “You fought off the monkeys…” Kristi said.

  “Those were sent by Celia,” I said.

  Kristi laughed. “No girlfriend, she just thought she did that,” Kristi pointed to her head. “I put the thought in her head. The girl is not that bright. That’s what happens when you spend centuries getting by on looks.”

  “Okay, then what other tests?” I asked.

  “You did such a noble thing letting the last of the dragons be together,” Kristi told me.

  “You know about that?”

  “Honey, I know about everything that goes on everywhere. At least anything that is meaningful. Like who is dating who. Who has more money than me. That sort of stuff.”

  “Ah, okay,” I said, weighing her words. I still couldn’t be certain if Kristi was as evil as her daughter claimed.

  “The way you handle Nimue and the other fairies was masterful. The way you took care of that rich brat and the nerds...that showed class. Cause spoiler alert you won the contest. I am so pleased. After all, you are one I wanted to meet in person. I wanted to look you over.”

  “Well, we are meeting now!” I insisted.

  “Silly girl I would never be seen in a car like this. Not to be insulting, but this car is dull and boring and plain. I am not Morgana. I am just projecting myself here. For kicks and first greets.”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “Don’t worry GF we will meet tomorrow night after my concert. I just bought a place in woods, very secluded and very plush. It even has a pool. I love pools.”

  “Wait, I thought we would meet you backstage,” I said.

  “Dear girl, the backstage thing was just in case you didn’t prove worthy. That’s where I would have greeted any other winning team. I don’t let just anyone into my pad!”

  She waved and faded away.

  Dad looked over at me. “Well?”

  “We won the contest,” I said.

  “Then congrats are in order. Right?” Dad said.

  I shrugged. “Truthfully, I’m not sure.”

  “What did Kristi have to say?”

  “That she was proud of me. I think she was sizing me up. Not sure if it was an opponent or an ally…”

  “If you had to guess?” Dad asked.

  I shrugged. “I think she thinks it could go either way.”

  “And your thoughts?” Dad asked me.

  “Truthfully, I don’t have any idea.”

  Dad dropped me off at school and I was greeted at the door by my knights. We all put together our pledge sheets and hurriedly delivered them to Coach and VP Locke who was acting as the official counter and judge for the contest. To make sure nobody cheated Coach would actually enter the last pledge sheets himself. We had exactly five minutes to get to his office and turn in our sheets. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem as the school wasn’t all that big.

  We rushed (without running) through the main hallway but we were blocked by none other than Tank Malone and ten members of the football team.

  Tank held out a huge hand. “Sorry guys, Celia says she will date me if I just hold you up for five minutes.”

  I looked at the other ten guys. “So what’s in it for you guys?”

  “Tank is happy, so we’re happy!” one of them said.

  “And he’s paying us ten bucks each!” another answered.

  Bart and Brett walked up to Tank. “Dude, we’re teammates,” Brett said.

  The flat-headed Tank nodded. “Agreed, but I’ve got a chance to date Celia by just standing in the way. I had to take it.”

  “Tank just get out of the way!” I said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Tank grinned. “I don’t think that’s possible. Even if you could you’d get in big trouble. Pretty sure you’d forfeit your contest.”

  Tank had a point. He was big...but not dumb.

  Art wearing his hall monitor sash walked up to Tank. “Tank, buddy lets talk this over man to man.” He paused, “You have to move or I as hall monitor will make you move and I’m not part of Gwen’s team.”

  Tank put a meaty hand on Art’s shoulder. Art grabbed his arm and spun and threw the big lug over his shoulder. Tank crashed to the floor. The other ten players looked on in amazement.

  Lance showed up behind Art. “Look, gentlemen, I do only go to this school for PE and I do not wish to fight you but if I have to I will and I promise you football has not prepared you for the beating I will give you.”

  The guys summed Lance up. Lance flexed his muscles.

  They murmured amongst themselves. “This guy is amazing at dodgeball!”

  “He could QB the football team…” another said.

  “The guy is ripped, but it’s still ten against one,” another said.

  “Guys, is it worth ten bucks to either beat up or get beaten up by one guy?” I said. “Even if you somehow win, you will be kicked off the team.”

  The ten football players walked away.

  Art and Lance both offered Tank a hand back to his feet. Tank took their hands and stood up. “Art bro, you got the moves. You really should join the team!” He looked at Lance. “And Dude I know we could use you. Is there a way you could go to this school full-time?”

  Lance put his arm around Tank. “Let us talk friend.”

  “Go!” Art told the rest of us. “Go and win this thing!”

  The Coach looked at his watch as we appeared his doorway. “Wow, you made it with an entire minute to spare. All the other teams have handed in their sheets.”

  I handed our sheet to the Coach. He looked them over. “Congrats,” he said. “You guys won but over fifty bucks.”

  Leaving the office we were confronted by Nina, Kat, and Celia.

  “You won fair and square,” Nina said. “We hope your meeting with Kristi is fruitful.”

  “Yeah good job,” Kat said.

  I had to say winning felt good.

  My Notes:

  We did it. We won. Now I would get my face-to-face meeting with Kristi. It was a true team effort. As always, Lance came through for me. And Art, once again, took one for the team. He was a bettered follower than a leader. I should have been angry with Celia, but she didn’t cheat. I also didn’t want to waste any energy on her. I had bigger fish to fry. Well at least to talk to.

  Chapter 11 - The Concert

  The Concert at the Camelot Center Concert hall was amazing. The place was packed and rocking. I swear the entire building swayed to the music with Kristi. Lance, Bart, Brett, Gail, Mika, Sebastian and I had front row seats. I sat front and center, flanked by Lance on one side and Sebastian on the other. It felt nice and secure.

  Kristi
sang nonstop for two hours, she had the crowd in her power. Bending, swaying, dancing to her will. Yes, this woman had power. I still couldn’t tell if she was using her power for good, not so good or evil.

  I sat there stunned when she dedicated a song to Gwen and her teammates.

  The song when like this:

  “We have the power to spare.

  Power to share…

  Power to care….

  Power is light!

  Power is right!

  Power is more than might!

  Power brings true sight!”

  Kristi played a guitar riff. Then sang the chorus. Her dancers fell to their knees.

  “Power power power!!

  Growing by the hour!!!

  I have it, others crave it…

  But it is mine alone…

  Power power power!!!

  Growing by the hour!!!!

  My power is supreme!!”

  Kristi jumped to the drums and did a drum solo. She shot back up grabbed the microphone, spun around and finished the song:

  “My power is a wonder to behold!

  None can stand in my way none are so bold!

  Show me you love now!

  Give me a bow!”

  The song stopped. She dropped the mic. The entire audience including myself bowed down. I took a deep breath. Those last two lines rang in my head: Show me your love now, give me a bow. I looked over and all my friends were still bowing. In fact, the entire audience was still bowing. I looked up at Kristi and she gave me a wink. She blew me a kiss. She mouthed to me, see that is how you use power.

  My Notes:

  Okay, Kristi does have the power.

  Chapter 11 - The Meet and Greet and Defeat?

  After the concert ended a tall man in a very long gold limo picked us up. The man silently drove us out into the country. The back of the limo was filled with everything and anything we could want.

  My knights seemed mesmerized by it all. Even Lance and Gail couldn’t get over how Kristi had all their favorite foods and drinks. They couldn’t stop talking about what an amazing concert it was.