Pete McGee and the Master of Darkness (12 page)

‘Thou art truly here, Santora! I shall not let thee battle these weird, crazy trees alone!'

And with that Sir Pete McGee leapt into the fray, slicing branches, forcing them back. He was fighting purely on instinct, and it made him laugh with joy, the freedom of it, the feeling that it was him and not some routine that was controlling things. Branches whipped and grabbed at him. Leaves tried whipping and grabbing at him too, but only gently stroked his face. His body acted and reacted to everything that came at him, even though he could barely see a thing.

Eventually the two warriors pushed the branches back behind the path.

‘Retreat now, Pete McGee,' Santora roared, and Pete obeyed. The two ran to a spot safely out of reach of any branches, and they both sat on the ground, panting from the effort of the fight. Santora held out his hand and Pete shook it.

‘It is so great to see you again, Santora. You have a knack for being there when I need help. Why?'

‘It was good fortune, boy, nothing more. I was on my way to describe the state of the roads to the King. Potholes, Pete McGee, there are still potholes everywhere! But that is another matter. Suffice to say, I was walking past, I heard someone in trouble, and so I helped. I did not know the one in trouble was you, but it
is
good to see you again.'

‘Can you stay?' Pete asked. ‘We're going to save Mum and Marloynne. Can you stay and join us?'

Santora shook his head.

‘No, Pete McGee. You have a team. I am not required.'

Pete had been distracted by barely surviving the lethal trees, but at the mention of ‘team', his thoughts instantly swung back to his friends.

‘I don't know where they are. They might be in trouble. I have to go and find them.'

He jumped to his feet, but Santora held him back.

‘Do not rush off so wildly. They need your focus and strength, and you need a minute to recover. You must be at your best for your friends when you find them in this forest.'

‘I try to be my best,' Pete said. ‘But I've always done these quests alone, with help from people like you and Sir Loinsteak and Sir Mountable along the way. This one is so different. I feel like all I do is lead the others into danger. I feel like I'm responsible for everyone, that their lives are in my hands.'

‘And that is and should always be true,' Santora said firmly. ‘The lives of those you love
are
in your hands. You must do all you can to improve their quality of life. If you focus on the good of others, then you are on the right path. Never forget yourself though, Pete McGee. Don't make others happy at the expense of your own happiness. If that happens then you are doing it for the wrong reasons. You must be happy too.'

It was all a bit much for Pete to take in; he had almost been killed by man-eating trees only moments before.

‘It's hard though, Santora. It's really hard. Look at Molloy and Smithers. They're my two best friends, and all they do is fight with each other. They're unhappy, and it's making me unhappy … and frustrated.'

Santora nodded.

‘You cannot control how others react. But you can control how
you
behave. And now, I must meet with the King. I am glad we have been reunited. I hope I have been of some help.'

‘Well, you know, what with the whole saving my life and then giving me advice thing, yeah, I think that was pretty good,' Pete said, laughing. He held out his hand and, as usual, winced a little as Santora shook it.

‘Be strong, Pete McGee. You have greatness within you. Believe in yourself, be the
you
that every moment requires. And trust in those closest to you. They are risking all for you on this journey. They will not let you down. Go now. Find your friends and complete your quest. You will succeed. I believe in you.'

And with that Santora, Pete's very own little book of wisdom, turned and started to walk off. Unfortunately, he only took two steps before he fell into a pothole.

‘Are these things everywhere?' he cried, before clambering out again. As he did so, he called over his shoulder.

‘Your friends could use your help right now. The girls are fighting giant spiders and the boys are stuck in a never-ending loop. Take this, and shake it when the light dulls.'

The little light Pete had seen earlier suddenly flew towards him, landing at his feet. He bent and picked it up. It was a small, glowing rock, as smooth as anything Pete had ever held.

‘Thank you, Santora, and good bye.'

All he received in reply was a grunt, and Pete McGee was alone once more.

Does whatever a spider can

M
olloy and Smithers sat on the ground, dazed. They had been walking and walking, yet they always ended up in the same spot. The forest had even brightened up a little, making it more obvious that they were stuck in a loop. But they kept on walking, speeding up only to go nowhere at all.

Now they sat. They sat on the ground facing each other. And they let it all out.

‘Seriously, this all your fault. You and your weird talking,' Smithers began.

‘Oh, and it couldn't be all about you being a lion's mane,' Molloy replied.

‘I seriously don't even know what that means!'

‘It means I think you're mellow.'

‘Isn't that a good thing?'

‘Toe.'

‘SPEAK NORMALLY, YOU DOOFUS!'

Molloy jumped at the strength of Smithers' voice. He recovered his composure though. If this was to be a name-calling exercise, he was up for it. He wasn't too old for a bit of childishness. He smiled and pretended to be calm as he returned fire.‘Doofus? Not very creative, you rat-brained, chicken-lipped, alligator's breath. No wonder Pete likes me better.'

Smithers glared at Molloy.

‘There it is. You think Pete likes you better when it isn't even true. Okay. You want me to be creative? Oh, I'll be creative you unchin-snouted, mouldy-eyed, ear-wax-eating slug-kisser.'

Molloy turned away, pretending he was offended, but really it was to hide the slight smile that had formed. Slug-kisser. That was a good one. He was going to have to work for this.

‘Yeah? Well, mummy's boy, you are smellier than someone who was born on Planet Smelly, got named Lord Smells-a-lot, got hit with the smelly stick, and then took an overdose of smelly pills.'

Smithers glared at Molloy, again.

‘I was hoping that maybe we could both be friends with Pete, but there is no way that will happen, mainly because you are the stupidest person in the world who went to Stupid School, got an A+++ for stupidity, and then got put in a stupid-making machine turned up to full power.'

‘Well, I wouldn't even want to be friends with you, you bucket full of maggot-eating maggots with maggots for dessert.'

‘Nor I with you, you snot-covered foot-licking nits-in-your-hair roll of toilet paper!'

They were raising their voices now, but the quality of insult wasn't improving.

‘Stupid dumb-head bum-brain.'

‘Wee-head ear-wax-sniffer.'

‘Stinky-socks rub-it-on-your-face.'

And so it continued.

Ashlyn and Tahnee fought bravely, but the spiders were starting to take control. At first they had attacked the girls one by one in true martial arts movie fashion, but they had been easily repelled, many of them losing a leg or two or three in the process. Unfortunately for the girls, these spiders were smarter than the baddies in martial arts movies, and they started attacking in twos. Okay, so they weren't much smarter, but it was an improvement!

Fending off the spiders as they attacked together was harder, but still Ashlyn and Tahnee did it. Tahnee was amazing; all her hard training came together as she instinctively knew what to do and where to go. Ashlyn held her own, but she wasn't as fit or as strong as Tahnee, and she began to tire as the spiders got the genius idea to start attacking in threes.

Ashlyn swung her sword with as much power as she could, slicing through a spider's front legs, making him fall on his face. Her breath was coming in gasps as she tired, her arms burning with the effort she was putting in.

‘Just keep fighting,' Tahnee yelled, driving her sword into the spider Ashlyn had felled. ‘There may only be two of us, but we fight to see those we love again … I mean, you know, Molloy, not Pete because, well … KEEP FIGHTING! YEAH!'

With that, Tahnee attacked the spiders with renewed vigour, shaking her head at herself. That was twice she'd said something like that out loud. But maybe that was a sign. Maybe she really was falling in love with Pete. She smiled to herself. There was no maybe about it. She loved him. She always had.

Her thoughts distracted her; she was clipped from behind by a spider, knocking her to the ground. Ashlyn leapt to her defence, but the spiders roared, sensing an opportunity. They would strike now and soon they would have their prey in their webs.

Or so they thought.

A tiny light appeared at the outside of the clearing and then, with a flash of a magic, a dagger was drawn.

‘NO!' cried Sir Pete McGee, the brave knight. ‘These two shall not suffer at the hands of such ugly … spidery … enormous … things.'

The spiders turned, sensing a new foe, sensing magic, although two continued to close in on Ashlyn and Tahnee. Pete McGee stood tall, recovering from the embarrassment of not being able to think of a good spidery insult.

‘That is correct, bugs. I am here to join my fair maidens in defeating thee.'

The spiders hissed and groaned at being called bugs. It hadn't been intentional, but Pete had actually given the worst insult you could ever give a spider. Even the two spiders confronting Tahnee and Ashlyn turned towards Pete, and with a roar they charged.

‘Uh oh,' Pete said before facing the onslaught. His dagger flashed left and right and up and down, finding his enemies, slashing the spiders as fast as they attacked. He was in a good position, so they could only attack from his front. Suddenly, a spider struck a blow to Pete's side with its spiked leg. Pete's shoulder started aching; his side burned. Tahnee leapt to her feet with a battle cry. It took all of Pete's efforts to focus on the spiders.

When Ashlyn joined in, the spiders didn't know where to turn or who to fight. The three friends worked as a team. The spiders were in trouble. They knew it too. In an instant, four of them charged at Pete McGee. He was knocked off his feet and sent flying between two trees, landing just outside the circular path. He sat there, dazed, as the spiders moved towards him. Tahnee, unable to help as she fended off blows from a spider, screamed out for Pete to run, but the blow had stunned him. The spiders closed in.

‘Idiot-head toe-fungus.'

‘Moo-cow pig-donkey!'

Smithers and Molloy continued on.

The nearest spider sped up and lunged at Pete. In its blood lust, it had forgotten that they were only able to stay within the circle of grass. There was a magical force field keeping the spiders in place, not unlike the one that kept the Mantrils on the Plains of Obon. The spider was knocked back into the circle, leaving Pete McGee unharmed.