Crown Quest: A Beatles Adventure

Chapter Five

    Shortly after hatching from his egg, George had wanted to explore the new world. While his parents weren't looking, he scampered from the house and began to explore the surrounding forest. While wandering, he came upon a cave.

    There's a hole! he thought with excitement, scurrying into it on all fours. After rounding some corners and sniffing every corner, he bumped into a man wearing black robes and glasses.

    "What is this?" the man said, turning around to look down at him. The man bent and studied him and then stumbled backward, gasping. "Your birthmark! It's — It's purple!" George pawed at the man, wanting some kind of attention and was quite happy when he picked him up and carried him deeper into the cave.

    After a while, they came to a stone table and he set George on it and strapped him down. George looked around with wide eyes as the ugliest people he'd ever seen surrounded him, gawking at him. They had leathery skin and wings.

    There was a chinking sound as Mark drew a dagger and came toward him.

    "What are you doing?" asked one of the hideous winged people.

    "Look at his mark!" the man cried in a hysterical way. "It's purple! He is special. These kinds aren't very common. We must sacrifice him and we'll get his power!" The dagger gleamed in a greedy way as it came toward George's throat. Realizing what kind of danger he was in, George began to struggle in his bondage, squeaking in terror.

    Just as the dagger grazed his throat, George felt something within him rise from the depths and escape through his mouth. The room lit brighter than the sun, blinding the man and the winged people momentarily, and George snapped the straps. He ran for his life.

    He bolted upright with a gasp, glancing around, expecting to see an evil man with a knife chasing him. Instead, he saw John, who was snoring and drooling.

    "Everybody up!" he screamed, scrambling to his feet. "I've just had an epiphany!"

    "Let me guess," Paul said, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. "The world is going to end in about a week if we don't hurry our butts to wherever Mark is hiding."

    George blinked. "No."

    "Well, then it's not important," Paul said, acting as if he was going to go back asleep.

    "I'm special!" George blurted.

    John let out a bark of laughter. "Whatever."

    "I just had a dream about meeting Mark when I was a baby," George explaining, desperately trying to get them to understand. "I wandered into his cult cave, I think, and it was him and some harpies. He tried to kill me so he could get my power."

    "Your lucky he didn't spend his life trying to track you down instead of just taking the crown," Paul said.

    "He knew that George's power wouldn't be as powerful as the king's crown," Ringo pointed out. "So he let it go."

    "What kind of power was it?" John asked. "I'm supposed to know what elements the birthmarks represent, but I kind of zoned out during Mimi's lecture."

    "I think," George said carefully, "it's light, because when he tried to kill me I shot light out of my mouth."

    "Huh," Ringo said.

    "Huh," John echoed, putting his hands on his hips.

    "Huh," Paul chimed in.

    "Would it be too much if I said 'huh' too?" George asked.