Crown Quest: A Beatles Adventure

Chapter Ten

Mark was wearing the most sinister grin George had ever seen. It made him feel nauseous just to look at the necromancer. There was a rock golem on either side of Mark, and they looked fairly amused to see George there, as if they had been expecting him.

"What kind of disguise is that?" Mark asked incredulously.

George's hand self-consciously went to his auburn wig. "Didn't fool you, huh?"

Mark's leer didn't leave his face as he shook his head. "How stupid do you think I am?"

George glanced around the cave. He needed to keep Mark talking until he got a better idea. All that mattered was that his parents were out of harm's way. He felt eerily at ease. He looked down at the explosive crown in his hands. He wondered what would happen if he threw it. Would the impact be enough to make it explode?

Before he could do anything irrational, George suddenly felt as if he was being pulled from consciousness. What was this? Some sort of trick that Mark was pulling? He fought it as long as he could until he found himself standing in a land of stark white. All around him was blankness. Before him stood his parents and Olivia.

"George!" Louise cried, running to him and throwing her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're all right!"

"What is this?" George asked, bewildered. "Am I . . . Am I dead?"

Harold chuckled. "Don't be silly. This is the dreamscape."

George raised an eyebrow.

"We don't have time to explain all this rubbish," Harold said, dismissively waving a hand. "We just came to tell you how to defeat Mark."

"You're quite familiar with your power now," Louise continued. "We have a solution." She handed George a book with a dragon on the cover.

He looked down at the page that showed a purple dragon enveloping something in a light cage. His heart started hammering with hope. It said that it would permanently trap an object in the cage.

"How?" was all George could get out.

"John had the book," Olivia said.

George studied the light spell for a little while longer before snapping the book shut, mouth forming into a thin, determined line.

"This is up to you, George," Harold said. "The kingdom is depending on you."

He nodded.

"We love you," Louise said, hugging him again. Harold clapped him on the shoulder, nodding in agreement.

After his parents stepped away, Olivia shyly came forward. They stared at each other for a few moments before she threw her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his mouth. Shock overwhelmed him, and the kiss was over before he knew it, Olivia pulling away.

"Good luck," she said.

"I, uh, um, thanks," he managed to get out.

Louise and Harold laughed. Olivia joined them, and the three of them began to fade from the dreamscape. After they had completely vanished from his sight, George felt himself being pulled back into Mark's cave. He found himself on the floor, clutching the explosive crown and the spell book.

Mark and the rock golems were standing over him curiously. "What happened?" Mark said, amusement flickering across his features.

"I had an epiphany," George growled, and slammed the crown on the head of the rock golem closest to him. As soon as it fell into place on the brow of the rock golem, it exploded. Rocks flew everywhere, and George threw his arms over his head to protect himself from them.

Mark gasped and stumbled backward. The other rock golem charged George, but he was already in his dragon form, almost too big for the cave room. His wings and tail were smashed against the rocky walls, but he didn't care. He threw a beam of light at the rock golem, splitting it into pieces.

Mark was in a state of shock. He attempted to summon up his monsters, but George pulled all the power he could out of himself and threw it all at Mark. The light obeyed George like he was its master, and it enveloped around Mark as the necromancer tried to escape. It seized him and held him where he was. A bellow escaped from Mark, and many more cries erupted through the cave. George realized that these mournful cries were Mark's monsters being wiped from existence as their master became worthless under the light cage.

George couldn't help but smirk as he changed back to his human form. He pulled Brian's crown from the pedestal and admired his handiwork with Mark's new prison.

Mark banged his fists on the cage, but to no avail.

"This is where you'll reside from now on," George said.

"I will come for you," Mark sneered. "I will get you."

George shook his head. "No, you won't. This cage is permanent. You will live here for eternity. Nothing can break it."

Mark let out another enraged bellow and started yelling at him, but George ignored him and strolled from the cave.