Despite General Graten’s and Charle’s attempts to coordinate things, the fight, when it happened, happened without anyone planning it.
On the whole, Catherine had been doing a much better job of keeping the goblins contained. They were certainly much less troublesome than they had been in the past. But ever since John had returned with Kolet and Aurora, the goblins had started harassing the mushrooms. They thought it was the oddest thing that there were now two human sized mushrooms in the castle, and they continually laughed at them or yelled at them as they passed. But even worse than that, goblins love the taste of mushrooms, and they began planning to attack and eat Kolet and Aurora. They were relatively sure they could get away with this. Catherine had given them commands not to harm the humans in the castle, but they didn’t think that this protection extended to mushrooms, and they wanted to try to eat the mushroom princess and her handmaiden.
They waited one afternoon until John left Kolet and Aurora alone briefly, and then they attacked.
John, who had only gone down the hall to get a drink of water, heard their screams and came running back. When he saw the gang of goblins attacking the two mushrooms, he immediately ran to help. John didn’t have any weapons on him, so he just started grabbing goblins and trying to throw them aside. But he made so much commotion that pretty soon Grace and Robert came running out of their rooms to see what was going on.
Grace realized the danger that John and the mushrooms were in, and she ran back into her room to get her bow and arrows. When she came back, she started taking aim. At first she shot only to wound the goblins, hoping to scare them away. But the goblins did not get scared away. In fact, the more the fight grew, the more noise it made, the more goblins started pouring into the hallway.
Robert had a sword with him, and he tried to use the flat end of the sword to knock the goblins away as he and Grace tried to make their way over to John to help him defend himself.
The commotion was attracting more and more people. General Graten was one of the first ones on the scene, and Charles was close behind him. “Well Charles, it looks like the fight has begun without our permission,” said General Graten.
“I guess it has,” said Charles.
“I’ll help out these children, you go alert the others,” said General Graten.
“Agreed,” said Charles, and he ran off.
Up until this time, Grace and Robert had still been trying their best not to seriously hurt any of the goblins. But General Graten had no such qualms about these kinds of things. He unsheathed his sword and strode right into the fight, swinging in every direction. He didn’t really kill any of the goblins, but he certainly slashed and cut them and sent them screaming.
It was then that the Minotaur arrived on the scene. General Graten eyed him. “I’ve been waiting for this,” he said.
The minotaur threw his head back and yelled. It was a deep bellowing sound. General Graten raised his sword in the air, and also yelled. Then the minotaur lowered his horns and charged at General Graten.
General Graten ran forward as if he would take the minotaur head on, but then when he neared the Minotaur he slipped into a slide, and slid under the minotaur. General Graten was smart enough not to try to attack the minotaur head on. As General Graten slid under the minotaur, he swung his sword and cut the minotaur’s legs.
The minotaur yelled with outrage, but although General Graten had cut his skin, General Graten had not managed to do any serious damage. The minotaur then lowered its horns again, and charged General Graten once more. General Graten raised his sword up, but the minotaur caught General Graten’s sword with its horns, and flicked its horns so that General Gratens sword went flying away.
“No you will fight me without any weapons,” bellowed the minotaur. “Just you against me.”
“Don’t those horns count as weapons?” asked General Graten.
“We minotaurs only fight with what we are born with,” said the minotaur, and he bared his mouth to show his sharp teeth.
“Come on then,” said General Graten, who swung his fist at the minotaur.
The minotaur lowered his horns and charged into Graten. Graten was hoisted up on one of the horns, and thrown against the wall.
“General, here!” called Jason, who had entered into the hallway, and threw a mace to General Graten. Jason then began to try to help John, Robert and Grace fight the Goblins with his sword.
The minotaur charged General Graten again, but General Graten swung his mace and hit the minotaur in the head, knocking the minotaur back. But the minotaur soon recovered and attacked again.
George and Rufus had entered by this time with shields and swords drawn. They initially advanced toward the minotaur to help General Graten, but the General growled, “Don’t be stupid. Help the others. I’ll keep the minotaur occupied.”
The minotaur bellowed and charged forward once again. And General Graten swung his mace and hit it once again, once again knocking it backwards.
Penelope and Helen showed up to the fight next. They were wearing full armor--helmet, breastplates, greaves, and they carried shields and spears. They charged forward with their spears.
Charles came back and re-entered the fight. General Graten turned his attention away from the Minotaur long enough to acknowledge Charles. “You’ve got everyone here,” he said.
“Just about,” said Charles.
Alfred now appeared with Charles. “Oh no!” said Alfred. “The fighting’s finally started, has it?”
“Too late to stop it now,” said General Graten, hitting the minotaur with his mace again.
“I must get Catherine,” said Alfred. “Maybe I can still talk some sense into her.”
“Good luck,” said Charles, and Alfred ran off.
There was a cry, and the Bugbear entered the battle. Charles took out his sword and charged at the Bugbear. The bugbear swung his hand and knocked Charles to the ground. His sword went flying.
“Hold on, Charles,” yelled Jason, who also rushed at the Bugbear. The Bugbear turned on Jason and growled. It attacked. Jason tried to fight it off, bugbear knocked his sword to the ground.
Helen saw the trouble that Jason was in, and threw her spear. It hit the bugbear in the back, and pierced its thick hide, but did not penetrate deep enough to kill the creature. Instead the creature roared, and charged towards her. Penelope came to Helen’s side, and threw her spear, which hit the bugbear in the chest. It faltered. It was George who dealt the killing blow with his sword. The Bugbear was dead.
Meanwhile, General Graten continued to battle the minotaur. The minotaur managed to knock General Graten’s mace out of his hand. Then the minotaur opened up his mouth and tried to bite General Graten, but General Graten hit the minotaur in the jaw as hard as he could with his fist. The minotaur had a huge frame, so the blow did not stun him as much as it would an ordinary man, but it did temporarily set him back. Then the minotaur hit General Graten with his hand and knocked him to the ground.
Charles picked up the mace that General Graten had dropped, and hit the minotaur with it. The minotaur next turned its wrath on Charles, and charged into him. The Minotaur slammed Charles against the wall. The whole castle seemed to shake, and some of the stones in the wall wobbled as if they would fall loose. Charles groaned, but mustered his energy to hit the minotaur back with the mace.
It was then that Catherine’s giant serpent creature entered into the fight. It barred its gigantic fangs, and attacked. George and Rufus attacked it with their swords, but it flicked its tail and knocked both of them to the ground. Then, it swung back and opened its mouth wide as if it was going to devour them. Helen and Penelope managed to pull George and Rufus free, and then they attacked the beast with their spears.
While this was going on, the minotaur was still battling Charles. Charles would hit the minotaur with his mace, the minotaur would bellow and hit back, and the fight kept continuing.
And while that was going on, the goblins continued to swarm, amassing in greater and greater numbers.
Grace had by this point given up on not using lethal force, and she aimed her arrows with deadly shot at the goblins. She killed several of them, but she was running out of arrows quickly.
John was still trying to protect Princess Kolet and Aurora from the goblins.
It was at this point that Amanda, Alicia, Thomas and Marcia showed up to join the feet. They all came in with various weapons--swords, spears, longstaffs. They fought back against the goblins ferociously.
Charles called out to Alicia. “Someone needs to protect the younger children!” he said. “Go and help them.”
“It’s okay,” said Alicia. “Sarah and Charlotte have locked Susan, Connor and Eric in a room.”
“Go with them where it’s safe,” Charles ordered.
“We can help,” said Alicia. “We’re princes and princesses of Castle Tauna. We’ve been trained to fight.”
Charles didn’t have time to argue as the minotaur charged into him again. Alicia used her longstaff to knock goblins down, and also occasionally she would thrust the longstaff at a goblin, hook his armor onto the staff, and then lift him up with the staff and throw him at the other goblins.
Amanda waded into the goblin horde with an iron mace, swinging and knocking goblins down left and right.
Thomas attacked the goblins with his sword and shield, while Marcia attacked the goblin horde with a spear.
Meanwhile, George, Rufus, Helen and Penelope were still fighting the serpent. It flailed widely about as they struck it with their swords and spears. It darted forwards and backwards, trying to bite them with its fangs. They weren’t quite sure whether it was poisonous or not. (Catherine had never actually told them.) But they took care not to get bitten nonetheless.
Eventually, Jason ran over with an axe, and managed to chop the head off of the serpent.
Now, the bugbear and the serpent were dead. But they had hardly made a dent in the goblin army. And the minotaur was still raging.
It was at this point that Alfred came running back. “Did you find Catherine?” asked General Graten.
“She won’t help us,” said Alfred. “I tried to talk to her, but she refuses to help.”
“That sounds like her,” said General Graten.
At that moment, Vivian came rushing in. “I’ve just heard what has happened,” she said.
“Can you help us?” asked General Graten.
“I can,” Vivian confirmed.
“Careful Vivian,” came a voice. Everyone looked. It was Catherine. Catherine had decided to join them after all. “What spell are you going to use?”
“I don’t know,” Vivian said. “I want to stop the goblins, so--.”
“Well, the easiest way to do that would be to use a kill spell,” said Catherine. “Of course, kill spells are black magic. But Midor’s not here, so you don’t have to worry about his usual tut-tutting about the whole affair.”
“You don’t have to use a kill spell,” said Penelope, who was joining her sister. “Just turn the goblins into little white mice.”
Catherine rolled her eyes as if this discussion was becoming boring. “If you like. But you’re wasting a perfect opportunity to learn some really interesting magic.”
“I’ll use the transformation spell,” said Vivian.
“Well, you don’t need my help for that one,” said Catherine. “But just be careful. The humans and the goblins are fighting amongst each other, so if you use a blanket spell, you’ll turn everyone into mice. You’ll need to target each goblin individually. Just point with your wand when you make the transformation. And make sure you don’t miss and point at the wrong one, or you’ll turn one of your own family into a mouse.”
“Catherine,” said Alfred, “You have to help her. Don’t let these monsters overwhelm your family.”
“I don’t have to do anything,” said Catherine.
“Catherine, I know there’s still good in you,” said Alfred.
While Alfred was arguing with Catherine, Vivian turned and started chanting spells, pointing her wand, and turning goblins into mice one by one. The goblins, although they were busy fighting the other humans, quickly realized what Vivian was doing, and started to charge her. Their numbers were too great for Vivian to get them all with her spells.
“Put up your forcefield, Vivian dear,” said Catherine.
Vivian did as Catherine advised. Of course, now that she was busy chanting the spell to keep her forcefield up, she couldn’t use any of her other spells, and she couldn’t help her family in the fight.
“Catherine, this is ridiculous,” said Alfred. “You could call off these goblins at any minute. Why are you allowing this fight to continue?”
“Because it's not me who started this fight,” said Catherine. “They’re the ones who keep trying to provoke a fight in my castle. Well, now they’ve got one. Let’s see if they can win it. If they can’t win it, then maybe they’ll learn their lesson. If they can win it, then I need to know because I’ll need to recruit some new bodyguards.”
But it was during the chaos of all this fighting that Benevois thought she saw her chance. She charged into Catherine, who never even saw her coming in all the chaos. Benevois slapped Catherine across the face. Before Catherine could react, Benevois’s hand was covering up her mouth. Without being able to utter anything, Catherine was unable to say spells. Catherine’s eyes flashed outrage, and she tried to push Benevois away. But Benevois pushed back, and kept her hand over Catherine’s mouth to prevent the utterance of a spell.
“Benevois, what are you doing?” shouted Alfred. “Let her go.”
Benevois, however, was too busy struggling with Catherine to respond.
While Alfred stood frozen, not really sure who to help, George and Rufus ran over to help their mother. “Quick,” said Benevois. “Now’s our chance. Gag her!”
They searched for something to use. Rufus tore a bit off of his shirt, and they stuffed it into Catherine’s mouth.
The goblins saw that Catherine was in trouble, and they started swarming over. But George, Rufus and Benevois all knew that whatever happens next, they could absolutely not let Catherine get free. There was no telling what she would do to them now that they had started the attack on her.
Helen and Penelope ran over to help their brothers and mother.
Vivian let drop her forcefield so that she could run over and join them. She started trying to turn as many goblins into mice as she could, while George , Rufus, Helen and Penelope fought off the others. Meanwhile, Catherine was still trying to free herself, so Benevois struggled with Catherine to keep the gag in her mouth.
Vivian wanted to tell her mother not to hurt Catherine, but she couldn’t afford to take the time to say the words. The goblins were threatening to overwhelm them, and so she needed to continually be turning as many into mice as she could.
“Don’t hurt her,” pleaded Alfred.
“Alfred, you need to help us,” said Benevois. “I know you love Catherine, but she can’t continue like this. She needs to be stopped.”
“I swore to protect her,” said Alfred.
“I don’t want to kill her, I just want to stop her,” said Benevois. “Help me hold her down. If she breaks free, then it’s either her or us.”
Alfred nodded, and knelt down. He gently tried to restrain Catherine. “Catherine, this is for your own good,” he said, as he tried to hold her down.
Meanwhile, the battle continued. Charles continued to fight the minotaur. General Graten, Jason, Robert, Grace, John, Amanda, Alicia, Marcia and Thomas all continued to fight the goblins at the other end of the hall. Everyone was getting tired.
Grace had run out of arrows a long time ago, so she was using a sword now.
Grace, Robert and John were still forming a protective circle around Kolet and Aurora.
It was at this point that George said to Vivian, “Do you still have the magic sword?”
“I do,” said Vivian.
“Run and get it,” said George. “Use your super speed.” Vivian ran off and got the sword, and came back with her super speed.
[This is a plot flaw. I forgot about the super speed and the magic sword at the beginning of this chapter. Probably need to re-write parts--although it is also conceivable that the battle started so suddenly that Vivian just reacted, and didn’t have her sword with her… Or, possibly have Vivian arrive to the battle late?]
Vivian came back with her sword. And then, using her super speed, she quickly cut through the goblin army. Vivian was reluctant to kill them, so at first she simply used her super speed to demonstrate what she could do. She ran through their ranks, taking weapons out of their hands, and throwing them to the ground.
But before Vivian could put the entire goblin army to flight, it was at this point that Catherine broke free.
Despite all the people who were trying to pin Catherine down, she managed to mouth a few words, and was able to move her fingers just enough to conjure a spell. And soon she summoned a burst of energy that flung Alfred, Benevois, George and the rest away from her.
Catherine quickly stood to her feet. “So,” she said angrily, “this is how you repay my moderation? Well, I will moderate no more. Alfred, you have betrayed me for the last time. Benevois, I was a fool to leave you alive after I got rid of your husband. George and Rufus, you children of vipers, I’ll burn you alive for this!”
Catherine began chanting spells and waving her hands.
“Aunt Catherine, no!” yelled Vivian. “No, you mustn’t hurt them!” Knowing that she needed to stop Catherine’s spells immediately, Vivian quickly chanted a spell of her own, and pointed it at Catherine. It knocked Catherine off of her feet.
“So, Vivian, it’s come to this,” said Catherine, as she stood up. “I knew one of these days you would have to choose your loyalty. But I thought I trained you better than this.”
“Catherine, I don’t want to fight you,” said Vivian. “Just leave my family alone.”
Catherine scoffed. “Your family attacked me,” she said. “You saw what happened.”
“I know. But whatever they did, I can’t let you hurt them.”
“Alright,” said Catherine. “So here we are. You against me. You have more raw power than I do, but I know more spells than you do. What do you think will happen, Vivian? Do you think you can beat me?”
“I don’t know,” said Vivian. “But I have to try.”
Catherine began chanting spells quickly and flinging them at Vivian. Vivian tried to shield herself by yelling counter-curses and putting up mini-force fields. it was clear Vivian was on the defensive.
While Vivian was fighting Catherine, George tried to rally the rest of the family. “Come on,” he said. “We have to help Vivian. While Catherine’s distracted by aiming spells at Vivian, we can attack.”
George ran in first with his sword drawn. The sword, of course, represented a mortal threat that Catherine could not ignore. It was not clear if George was going to use lethal force or not, but Catherine immediately turned to blast George with a spell. Catherine uttered a spell and started to wave her wand, but George cut the wand in half. And then, just at that moment, Catherine was hit by Vivian’s spell, and she fell to the ground.
Everyone ran around her. “Is she alright?” Alfred asked.
But before Vivian could answer, the minotaur, who saw what had happened to Catherine and was sworn to protect her, charged. George, who had his sword drawn, and had been trained as a prince of Castle Tauna to battle monsters, leaped up into the air, and then swung his sword down hard, cutting the minotaur across its chest. The beast was stung, but then George swung his sword again, and cut off the minotaur’s head.
“I could have done that,” General Graten grumbled. “If I had had a chance to fight that beast with a proper sword.”
There was, as always, little time to talk. The goblins were still amassing and still attacking.
“She’ll be okay,” Vivian managed to say to Alfred through all the chaos. “Catherine never taught me a kill spell. And even if she had, I would never have used it on my own aunt. It’s only a stun spell. But we have to get her restrained before she wakes up. Alfred, I know you love her, but it’s for her own good. Otherwise we would have to fight her.”
“I understand,” said Alfred. “It’s difficult to worry about restraining Catherine with those goblins running everywhere, though.”
“My magic sword and my super speed,” said Vivian to herself. “Now is the time.”
Vivian grabbed the magic sword that could cut through anything, and using her superspeed, she fought the goblins. Once the goblin army realized how ferocious she was in battle, they began to flee. The goblins didn’t leave castle Tauna, unfortunately (They were still waiting for orders from their leader, King Grinthal, who Catherine still had imprisoned in the glass bottle.) But they did turn and flee to various parts of the castle. Some of them fled to hide in the cellars, some of them hid under stairways, some of them hid in cupboards.
Once the area had been cleared of goblins, they set about trying up Catherine so that she was bound and gagged and couldn’t move. “I’m so sorry, Aunt Catherine,” Vivian said to her unconscious aunt. “There was no other way.”
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