Arthur Hood: the Heir of Robin and King

Chapter Sixteen

The boys hit the cobblestones with a whomp. And as they groaned, Arthur looked over his shoulder and saw the portal that they had just jumped through vanish with a shrinking gulp, the Deputy nowhere in sight.

'Arthur, are you okay?' croaked Little Johnny.

Getting to his feet, Arthur replied, 'I think so. What about you?'

'I think so too.'

After helping Little Johnny up, Arthur looked around and saw that the night had come with them to the village, a clock tower shooting up into the darkness nearby.

'Where do you think we are?' Little Johnny asked.

'I don't know,' Arthur replied, 'but let's get out of the open. Who knows what could be lurking around.' He then put King Arthur's crown into his backpack.

Meanwhile, Little Johnny grabbed his staff, which had escaped his grasp and had landed beside a sign that read, 'Welcome to the Hamlet of Huldalane.'

'Come on, let's go,' said Arthur, but the very moment they were about to dart off, the sound of flapping wings echoed from somewhere up in the night sky.

'They've already found us,' Little Johnny whispered in panic.

Glaring up, that's when Arthur suddenly saw the silhouette of a flying creature flash towards them.

'A fairy,' he yelled. He raised Pridwen, covering both him and Little Johnny, and prepared for impact.

But nothing came.

What Arthur thought was a fairy zipped over the boys' heads and landed on the sidewalk underneath the faint light of a streetlamp.

Looking over, Little Johnny burst out, 'That's not a fairy. That's a cat. And–and–and it has–are those wings?'

Arthur had to do a double take but his friend was right. 'Surely another of the Shadow's minions though. It must be. Cats don't have wings.'

Just then, the cat meowed, making the boys flinch, before it lay down, stretched its paws and started licking itself.

'I don't know,' said Little Johnny. 'It doesn't look like an evil being. But maybe that's what it wants us to think. Should we do something?'

'Like what?' asked Arthur. 'Capture it?'

'I was thinking maybe we should dispatch it.' Little Johnny raised his staff, preparing to step towards the winged feline, when a voice spoke.

'Don't you dare do anything to my cat,' it said angrily from above. 'Anyway, you probably wouldn't be able to get near it.'

Arthur snapped his gaze up once again and saw a figure standing on top of the clock tower. He then reached into his backpack and pulled out his piece of the Sword in the Stone, raising it. 'Don't come any closer.'

'Yeah, don't come any closer,' Little Johnny repeated and displayed his staff with a flaunting swish.

'Hey, wait a minute,' the figure erupted, 'how did you get that?'

'I snapped it off a tree,' growled Little Johnny. 'It's a really hard branch that can do a lot of damage so be warned.'

'Not what you're holding, but what the other boy's holding. Do you two have anything to do with my placement or something?'

Tightening his grip on the shard, Arthur replied, 'This is mine. And what is this placement you're talking about?'

'I was sent here. My name's Merlynna.'

Slowly, Arthur and Little Johnny glanced at one another as if they had been struck by lightning.

'Can you say your name again?' asked Arthur. He had to be sure.