Knightmare in Camelhot, Part 3

As Mona burst out of her house and onto the street, she saw Lily doing the same thing from next door.
  “Mona!” Lily exclaimed. “Was it real? Last night, did we really…?”
  “Yes, we did,” Mona confirmed, rushing over to meet Lily. “And it’s all thanks to this dream spirit, Freddy Krueger.”
  “But who is he?” Lily wondered. “Did you find out anything else last night?”
  “Yes, I found out all about him after you and Dottie woke up,” Mona nodded. “He’s a kind of vengeful spirit, like Candyman, except that Freddy Krueger was pure evil before he died as well as afterwards. I’m on my way to report to Treguard and Merlin, so why don’t you come too and…”
Mona was cut short by a loud exclamation from further down the street, which was accompanied by Dottie running up to join Mona and Lily.  
  “Did… did it really happen?” Dottie panted breathlessly. “Were we all having the same dream?”
  “We were,” Mona confirmed again. “At least, our unconscious states were all transported into Freddy Krueger’s dream world at the same time.”
  “This is mega-weird,” Dottie shuddered. “What are we going to do about it, Mona?”
  “We’re going to tell Treguard and Merlin all about our friend Freddy, and then stop him doing whatever it is he intends to do to Queen Flame and her unborn egg,” said Mona.

Treguard and Merlin listened gravely as Mona described her meeting with Freddy Krueger, and showed them the syringe which she had pulled out of the dream.
  “So, things are becoming clearer,” Merlin nodded. “This dream spirit has the power to control people’s dreams, exploit their fears, and create physical manifestations of anything they dream about.”
  “He even made my body’s desire for the monkshood solution real,” Mona reminded him. “One tiny seed of doubt about the safety of the stuff when I took it, and he’s made me become physically addicted to it!”
  “You know, Mona, you really should be careful with that stuff,” Treguard cautioned. “If taken too often or in too high a dosage, monkshood can act as a poison.”
  “Oh, great,” Mona sighed. “You didn’t tell me that before you made me inject it into my body, did you?”
  “But monkshood has absolutely no addictive properties – it’s not a drug,” Merlin stated quietly. “I don’t believe you’re really addicted to it, Mona – the power of the dream spirit is so intense that you believe you are, of course. But it’s not real, just like anything else from the world of dreams.”
  “The craving feels real enough to me,” Mona remarked dryly.
  “That’s because you still believe in Krueger’s ability to affect you, through your dreams, when you are awake,” Treguard attempted to explain. “But, like all magic, the basis of dreams is illusion – we think we see and feel things when we are asleep that are, in fact, not real and seem ridiculous in the cold light of day.”
  “But you haven’t seen what this guy can do,” Mona demurred. “He doesn’t only rely on what his victims believe – he can actually create real physical and mental…”
  “Not without his victims’ belief, he can’t,” Merlin interrupted quietly. “What you’ve just been saying proves that you do believe in Krueger’s powers, and therefore he can use them to affect you. The key to defeating him, I believe, is to defy his existence totally and unquestioningly.”
  “Your mind can make you believe virtually anything, and its main beliefs are the things it actually physically sees,” Treguard explained. “That’s why you believe that dreams are real while you’re actually having them, no matter if they contain impossible things that your logical mind dismisses out of hand once you wake up, and you can no longer see the dream images. Now your mind believes in Freddy Krueger because of what you’ve seen him do in your dreams. True enough, he seems to have certain powers, but I’m sure he can only use them if you allow him to do so.”
  “It makes sense, Mona,” Lily opined. “It seems to tally with everything we’ve ever learned about magic and illusion, and is there really any difference between those things and dreams?”
  “Do you remember how easy it was for Lily and me to overcome our fears last night, Mona, once you’d encouraged us to do it?” added Dottie. “When we took control, Freddy had no power over us. That really is the key to defeating him.”
  “Yes, I suppose that’s true,” Mona sighed. “The question is, do I believe that truth enough to be able to use it to overcome him?”
  “You’ll have to work on that, Mona,” said Merlin. “In the meantime, I suggest you three get to Camelhot straightaway and tell Flicker and Flame exactly what’s going on.”
  “Impress upon them that Krueger won’t be able to hurt them if they don’t believe he can,” Treguard advised. “Even though you’re having trouble with that, Mona, it might not be too late for Flame to deny him any power whatsoever, seeing as she hasn’t seen Krueger so far, or hadn’t when you checked in, at any rate.”
  “Okay, sure,” Mona agreed.
  “What I don’t understand is what Freddy hopes to achieve by any of this,” said Dottie. “I mean, what’s he hoping to make Flame dream, and why is he doing it in the first place?”
  “He implied to me that he had been hired to do the job,” said Mona. “Whatever evil force is trying to stop this egg being born, that’s who enticed him to do it. I think the only price he wants in return is to be able to work his nightmare magic on a fresh set of victims, namely us, and the Knights of the Square Table.”
  “As to what he’s hoping to make Flame dream…” Treguard added quietly. “Well, imagine if he managed to convince her, in her dream, that she had been mistaken about having an egg, and that she had never been pregnant in the first place. If she really believed her egg wasn’t there, she’d wake up and… well, it wouldn’t be.”

In Flicker and Flame’s bedroom, Flicker was sleeping peacefully on the four-poster bed. Flame had been awake for quite some time, and had asked Lady Tantrel to come and keep her company in order to stop her from dropping off.
  “Well, this is nice, isn’t it?” Lady Tantrel grinned bracingly, trying to sound lively. “Just us two girls having a chat together.”
  “Mmm, yeah,” Flame yawned sleepily, blinking her tired, aching eyes at her companion and trying to focus her watery gaze. “So, have you, er… seen any good performances recently at the village playhouse?”
  “No, not really,” Tantrel replied apologetically. “Still, I gather there is to be a performance next week about your father pulling Excaliburn from the Stone.”
  “Ah, no doubt the beginnings of these famous legends about Camelhot that are supposed to be told down through the ages,” Flame remarked interestedly. “I must go and see that.”
Flame yawned widely as she said this, and blinked blearily in an attempt to dispel her hazy vision.
  “It looks like you could do with some sleep, Your Majesty,” Tantrel ventured. “How long have you been awake now?”
  “About thirty-six hours,” Flame sighed. “But I don’t want to take the risk of falling asleep. If there really is an evil dream spirit waiting to try and harm my egg as soon as I drop off, I’d feel happier waiting until Mona the Vampire returns.”
  “But it’s silly to deprive yourself of sleep when you so obviously need it,” Tantrel opined. “It can’t be doing your egg any good, can it?”
  “Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that,” Flame considered. “I suppose it would be all right to have a quick nap, if you stay here and keep an eye on me.”
  “Of course I will,” Tantrel agreed readily.
  “If it looks like I’m having a nightmare, wake me up at once,” Flame instructed, as she lay back on her pillows and closed her eyes. “Still, I can’t see that there’s really any danger. After all, Flicker’s sleeping like a baby…”
Flame’s voice became fainter and fainter until she drifted off to sleep. Tantrel smiled in satisfaction, but her expression soon changed to one of surprise as the bedroom door burst open and Mona, Lily and Dottie tumbled into the room.
  “Don’t let her go to sleep!” Mona exclaimed urgently.
  “Oh, Mona,” Tantrel said, very taken aback. “I’m sorry, it’s too late – she’s just dropped off.”
  “No!” Mona cursed. “We’ve got to wake her up before she dreams that she’s not really pregnant!”
Mona shook Flame for all she was worth, but to no effect. Lily and Dottie joined in, while Tantrel shouted into her ear, but Flame would not wake up.
  “He’s already got to her!” Mona exclaimed. “We weren’t in time to tell her not to believe in him, so he’s been able to trap her in his nightmare world and now he can do whatever he likes to her!”
  “Hey, wait a minute, Mona,” said Lily. “If we can’t bring Flame back to us, perhaps we could go to her.”
  “What are you talking about, Lily?” Mona snapped.
  “Well, you remember how we were all in the same dream last night?” Lily attempted to explain. “We could be again. If we all go to sleep thinking about being in the same place as Flame and Freddy Krueger, then perhaps we would be, and we could sort the whole mess out!”
Mona studied Lily with an unreadable expression for a few moments, and then she spoke.
  “Brilliant!” Mona cried. “You’re a genius, Lily. Right, let’s all go to sleep.”
  “But I’m not tired,” Dottie objected. “There’s nothing more likely to keep you awake than trying too hard to get to sleep.”
Mona knew that this was true. As she considered the matter, everyone jumped slightly as Flicker sat up in bed with a terrific jolt. He had five fresh cuts across his face.
  “Thank God that’s over!” Flicker panted gratefully, wiping his sweating forehead. “I saw him – the dream spirit, I saw him! He attacked me!”
  “His knives can penetrate dragon scales!” Dottie exclaimed worriedly.
  “Of course they can, if Flicker believes they can,” Mona pointed out. “Flicker, you saw Freddy Krueger – did he say anything to you?”
  “Too right he did,” Flicker nodded vigorously. “He said that the seed of my loins was doomed, for he was about to carry out his evil purpose. Mona, we have to stop Flame from… oh no, she’s fallen asleep!”
  “We’re working on that,” Mona assured him. “What else did Freddy say?”
  “He said… he said the rest of us didn’t matter to him,” Flicker recalled. “He said he’s going to make Flame think she’s having a miscarriage, and then she really will!”
  “Of course!” Mona cried. “A miscarriage - why didn’t any of us think of that? We have to get into Flame’s dream right now, and I think we’ll need some superior help. Merlin!”
There was a terrific crash of thunder and a flash of lightning as Merlin appeared in the room. Flicker and Tantrel looked vaguely surprised, but Mona was all business.
  “I am here, Mona,” Merlin said serenely.
  “Yeah, I can see that,” Mona returned quickly. “Listen, we’re going to get into Flame’s dream by believing that we can, so could you put us all to sleep with some magic?”
Merlin surveyed the scene into which he had arrived, his eyes resting on Flame’s sleeping form.
  “Very well,” he agreed. “Do what you must, Mona. I will send you all on your way.”

Mona found herself standing in a graveyard, back in her human form. Flame was standing over a very small grave, weeping piteously. Her eyes widening in alarm, Mona rushed over to her.
  “Flame!” she exclaimed. “That grave! Who’s…”
  “There’s no one in there yet,” Flame blubbered. “But I know who it’s for. Look how small the hole is, and how ovular – it could only be for an unhatched egg. A dead unhatched egg.”
  “That’s what he wants you to think!” Mona cried urgently. “Flame, this dream spirit – Freddy Krueger, he’s called – he wants to make you believe you’re having a miscarriage, but it’s a lie! Your egg is fine, and almost ready to come out, with a healthy living baby dragon inside. But if you believe in what Krueger shows you, it’ll come true!”
  “But… but… you’re not real, Mona,” Flame sobbed. “You’re just a figment of my imagination. I’m just trying to convince myself that the awful truth is not the truth, but it is! I’m going to lose my egg!”
  “No, you’re not!” Mona shrilled desperately. “I’m not part of your dream – I’m really here, and I’m really trying to stop you from believing Freddy’s lies.”
  “What are you talking about?” Flame scoffed disbelievingly. “I’ve never seen this Freddy of yours, and I don’t believe he can control my dreams.”
  “Oh, well, that’s… good, I suppose,” Mona responded, quite taken aback at this news. “But he’s obviously around here somewhere; he brought you to this graveyard, and you’re believing the lies he’s showing you! You have to wake up, now, before…”
But Mona was cut short as several sharp lines of searing pain cut across her face and she was propelled backwards, landing several feet away. Freddy Krueger had materialised in front of Flame, his clawed hand still frozen in position from striking Mona.
  “Son of a bitch,” Mona muttered angrily, scrambling to her feet and assuming her vampire form, so that the cuts across her face disappeared.
  “Welcome, Queen Flame,” Freddy was saying, with a faint smile. “I am Fred Krueger, the… coordinator of this… place of rest. Will this plot be suitable for your dead child?”
  “Yes, it… should be fine,” Flame answered numbly, in a very small voice.
  “No!” Mona yelled, attempting a lunge at Freddy but, inexplicably, missing him completely. “I can’t persuade Flame on my own. I need the others – I need Flicker!”
As Mona spoke, there was a small popping sound beside her and Lily, Dottie, Flicker and Tantrel appeared, all looking rather bewildered.
  “Sorry,” Lily grinned apologetically. “We got a bit lost.”
  “Flicker!” Mona exclaimed. “Freddy’s just about to convince your wife that she’s had a miscarriage. You’ve got to get through to her!”
  “Right!” Flicker agreed, sprinting over to Flame. “Hey, Flame!”
  “Flicker?” Flame asked uncertainly. “Is that really you?”
  “Please, Your Majesty, we must continue with the arrangements,” Freddy snapped forcefully. “Perhaps we can discuss the exact nature of your baby’s death…”
  “Now why would an undertaker want to know that, huh?” Mona snarled viciously, landing on Freddy’s shoulders and wrapping her arms around his flayed head. “Unless he was an evil dream spirit trying to kill an unborn dragon!”
  “You cannot stop me, Mona the Vampire!” Freddy growled, slashing blindly at Mona with his serrated fingers. “Flame knows the truth now.”
  “It’s not the truth!” Mona yelled. “Lily, Dottie – help me restrain this guy!”
Lily immediately grabbed hold of Freddy’s ankles while Dottie rammed straight into his red and green striped front, knocking him over on to his back. While Freddy struggled to wrench the three girls off him, Flicker comforted Flame.
  “But it can’t really be you, Flicker, it just can’t be!” Flame whined piteously. “This is just a dream!”
  “Yes, it is a dream,” Flicker agreed. “But it’s not about you having a miscarriage. That man is the evil dream spirit Mona told us about – everything he’s said to you is a lie.”
  “But… but… I feel like I’m losing the baby,” Flame blubbered.
  “But you’re not!” Flicker cried desperately. “You have to believe you’re not, Flame! This is only a dream, remember – the baby is fine!”
  “Yes,” Flame muttered dreamily. “Yes, only a dream. The baby is… oh, but how can I be sure?”
Freddy Krueger coiled his way out of Mona, Lily and Dottie’s writhing attack.
  “You three are not strong enough to resist my power,” he snarled. “You, for example, Dottie – I know that your greatest fear is to be trapped forever in a confined space, just as you thought you would be not so long ago.”
  “Maybe so, but you can’t use it against me!” Dottie returned defiantly. “I know what you are, and I’m not falling for your tricks anymore!”
  “Enough of this talk!” Freddy proclaimed. “Just put a lid on it!”
As he spoke, a great pine coffin formed around Dottie, and the lid snapped shut with a loud bang. Dottie screamed and began to pummel frantically on the wood, but the coffin lurched over and fell into an open grave, where Dottie’s hammering continued, relentless but futile.
  “Now,” Freddy grinned evilly at Mona and Lily, “who’s next? Ah yes, the girl who doesn’t like bugs!”
Lily screamed shrilly as an alarming change began to overcome her. Her jaw widened and split into gnashing mandibles, her eyes popped outwards from her head like many-plated domes, and wings forced their way out of her shoulder blades.
  “No!” Lily cried in horror. “I’m… I’m… an insect!”
Mona launched herself forcibly at Freddy once again, but he disappeared from where he had been standing, reappearing a few metres away. This time he was surrounded by several syringes of monkshood solution, floating around his head in a circular parody of a halo.
  “You know you need this stuff, Mona,” Freddy crooned. “I’ve got a whole load of it here that should keep you busy for hours.”
  “I don’t need it and I don’t want it!” Mona snapped back.
  “You can feel the longing welling up inside you,” Freddy continued coaxingly. “Give in to it, Mona – you must have the wolfsbane, or you might become a werewolf once again!”
Mona felt the familiar sensation threatening to overcome her – for a few moments, all she wanted was to get to the syringes. Quelling the urge to inject herself with the purple solution, Mona flexed her fingers and sent her magic lightning to destroy all the floating syringes. The shattered glass fell all around Freddy, who looked surprised and annoyed.
  “The nightmare’s over, Freddy,” Mona growled ferally. “Now I’m coming for you!”
Mona diverted her lightning to attack Freddy, who began to roar and scream in rage. Momentarily, Lily ran over to join Mona, fully returned to human form.
  “I saw what you did, Mona, so I did it too!” she grinned. “You were right all along – he can’t hurt us if we don’t believe he can.”
  “That’s great, but we’ve still got to get rid of him somehow,” Mona pointed out. “I don’t think he can be destroyed completely, but we’ve got to delete his physical form at least, just like with Candyman!”
  “The lightning’s hurting him!” Lily realised, as she observed Krueger’s writhing throes. “Hey, you dragons! Get over here!”
Flicker and Tantrel left Flame’s side and rushed up to Mona and Lily. They could clearly see what was going on, and immediately added their flames to Mona’s assault on Freddy Krueger, who began to sizzle and smoke violently.
  “Force him into the open grave!” Lily suggested, dancing around the deep hole excitedly. “That’s sure to be enough to get rid of him!”
As Lily looked down into the grave, she remembered the coffin with Dottie inside it. There was no need to worry, however, as the wood of the lid splintered, and Dottie leapt up to join Lily.
  “You remembered not to believe in what was happening to you, then?” Lily asked casually.
  “Eventually,” Dottie returned dryly, rubbing her stinging knuckles tenderly.
Mona, Flicker and Tantrel forced Freddy to fall into the open grave in a terrific blazing inferno. He landed with a thud in the open coffin. Ceasing their fiery assault, Mona, Flicker and Tantrel peered into the grave, as did Lily and Dottie. Both Freddy and the coffin had completely disappeared.
  “We defied Freddy Krueger and destroyed his influence over all of us,” Mona beamed happily.
  “But what about Flame?” worried Tantrel.
Flicker went over to Flame, who was still crying a little. There remained, however, an encouragingly large lump in her belly.
  “Flame, are you all right?” Flicker asked worriedly. “How’s the egg?”
  “I… I’m not sure,” Flame sniffed. “I can feel that the baby’s still alive, but the egg doesn’t feel quite right. I think it’s… moved.”
  “That doesn’t sound good,” Mona frowned. “We all need to wake up right now and sort this out. Merlin! Hey, Merlin, get us out of here!”
There was a flash of lightning, everyone felt a terrific jolt, and then six pairs of eyes snapped open back in Flicker and Flame’s bedroom.

  “Merlin!” Mona exclaimed urgently. “We defeated Freddy Krueger, but… there might be… Flame says the baby feels…”
Mona was not quite sure how to explain the situation, but Merlin got the gist of what she was trying to say. He swept over to Flame and placed an appraising hand on her swollen belly.
  “How does it feel, Flame?” he asked urgently.
  “Weird,” Flame replied. “Different than before, like it’s… moved somehow. Did that evil dream spirit do this to me?”
  “We can’t possibly be sure about that,” Merlin replied. “What I am sure of, however, is that this egg is almost ready to be born, but I don’t think it can be delivered safely without help.”
  “Oh no!” cried Flicker. “What do we do?”
  “Don’t worry,” Merlin soothed the panicked dragons. “I foresaw this situation as a very real possibility, and have prepared for it. Treguard should, by now, be waiting for us in a place with all the tools and equipment we need.”
There was a tremendous flash of lightning, and Mona, Lily and Dottie found themselves standing in a hospital corridor. It was flooded with bright electric light, and there was a strong smell of disinfectant hanging in the air. Flame was lying on a hospital gurney, which Flicker and Merlin were pushing along the corridor. Treguard was bringing up the rear, wheeling a cart containing three bleeping monitors, and a drip on a long pole, all of which were attached to various parts of Flame’s body.
  “How do things look, Treguard?” asked Merlin urgently.
  “The baby’s SATs are only fifty-six percent, heart rate one hundred and fifteen over seventy,” Treguard reported, looking at the beeping, flashing monitors. “Respiratory effort is very low, with a GCS of four.”
  “Push another litre of saline and two CCs of sodium pentathol,” Merlin ordered. “We’re going to need an ECG and CBCs on the mother.”
  “Jeez, what’re they talking about?” wondered Dottie, as she, Mona and Lily ran down the corridor after the gurney. “Where are we?”
  “It looks like we’ve stepped straight into an episode of ER,” Mona remarked. “I hope Treguard and Merlin know what they’re doing.”
Flicker and Merlin crashed the trolley through a set of double doors and into a maternity room, where Treguard started hooking Flame up to some more monitors.
  “Flicker, what’s going on?” Flame panted worriedly. “What is this place?”
  “I… I’ve no idea,” Flicker confessed. “But we can trust these people, Flame – they’re here to bring our egg into the world safely.”
  “Hold my hand, Flicker!” Flame screeched urgently, which Flicker duly did.
  “She’s crowning!” Merlin suddenly exclaimed, sweeping back the collection of sheets that had been covering Flame’s lower half. “Treguard, we need some…”
  “Should I push the quartersine infusion and have the crash team on standby?” Treguard asked.
  “Er, well, I don’t know,” Merlin confessed. “I was going to say towels and hot water.”
  “What?” queried Mona. “You mean you don’t really know how to deliver this egg?”
  “Well, not really,” Merlin confessed. “You see, magic is my area of expertise and, although it can do almost anything, magic has no real power over life and death, and delivering this egg definitely falls into that category.”
  “I want to push!” Flame exclaimed, squeezing Flicker’s hand tightly.
  “No, don’t push,” Treguard told her firmly. “The egg doesn’t look quite right on the ultrasound. Surely the big bit should be at the top and the little bit should be at the bottom.”
  “Oh, very technical,” Mona sighed. “This is no good! We need a doctor!”
  “You called?”
Everyone turned around to the double doors of the ward, where a man was now standing. He was wearing a red cardigan, and Mona recognised him at once, although he was one of the last people she had ever expected to see again.
  “Dr. Maurice Nelson!”

Dr. Nelson swept into the ward in a calm and sedate manner, and began to examine Flame.
  “She’s crowning,” he remarked. “Let me see the ultrasound.”
  “Hey, wait a minute!” Mona objected. “I thought you were a psychiatrist!”
  “Ah, Mona,” smiled Dr. Nelson benevolently. “Always full of questions, aren’t you? Yes, psychiatry is my area of expertise, but I – like every other physiatrist – am a fully qualified and experienced medical doctor. Don’t worry; I’ve been sent to help.”
  “Who is this guy?” Lily hissed to Mona.
  “He’s the psychiatrist who helped me out when I was committed, that time I was being victimised by Pinhead and the coenobites, you remember?” Mona replied. “But only I could see him then.”
  “Well, we can all see him now,” Dottie noted. “And we can see what he’s doing. Yuck!”
Dr. Nelson was probing exploratorily with his right hand, while looking at the ultrasound on one of Treguard’s monitors.
  “The egg looks the wrong way up to me,” Treguard ventured.
  “Yes, you’re right, Lord Dunshelm,” Dr. Nelson nodded, withdrawing his hand. “The egg has turned. It’s supposed to come out with the thinner end first, as you might expect, but this one’s got itself twisted through one hundred and eighty degrees.”
  “What can we do, Doctor?” Flicker asked worriedly.
  “I’m going to have to turn the egg back around,” Dr. Nelson replied gravely. “You may feel some slight discomfort, Queen Flame, but if I don’t do it then the egg will not be born quickly enough for its own oxygen-generating cells to activate before your body stops providing it with oxygen from your bloodstream.”
  “And that’s bad, right?” Flicker queried numbly.
  “The baby would most likely suffocate inside the egg,” Dr. Nelson replied matter-of-factly. “Even if it didn’t, coming out with the wrong end first could lead to excessive haemorrhage and put the mother at extreme risk.”
  “Do it, then!” Flame yelled desperately, squeezing Flicker’s hand so tightly that tears came to his eyes. “Please don’t let my baby die, Doctor!”
  “It’ll be fine,” Dr. Nelson said reassuringly. “I’ll have this sorted out in no time. Just don’t push, okay?”
Treguard, Merlin, Mona, Lily and Dottie watched in fascination as Dr. Nelson rolled up the right sleeve of his cardigan and inserted his hand into Flame again, a look of extreme concentration registered on his face. For about a minute, Dr. Nelson fiddled about, occasionally adjusting his position slightly as he turned the egg into the right pose. After what seemed like an age, he withdrew his hand, which was now very messy indeed.
  “Yuck, gross!’ Dottie swooned.
  “It’s done,” Dr. Nelson announced calmly. “Now, push!”
Slowly but surely, a large white egg with golden speckles scattered all over it began to emerge from Flame’s body, under Dr. Nelson’s careful guidance. When Dottie saw what followed the egg, she keeled over on the floor.
  “It’s out!” Dr. Nelson exclaimed. “Pass me the clamp and scissors, someone!”
Merlin did this, and Dr. Nelson did something very quick and sharp. Treguard received the newborn egg in a large towel, and then he passed it to Flame.
  “Oh, Flicker,” Flame sobbed joyfully. “It’s beautiful.”
  “Our very own egg,” Flicker sighed happily. “Hello there, little fellow.”
  “Now, you two just keep that nice and warm and, on Easter Sunday, you’ll have a healthy baby dragon,” Dr. Nelson smiled. “Well, my work here is done.”
As Treguard, Merlin, Lily, Dottie, Flicker and Flame admired the egg, Dr. Nelson stepped back out into the corridor. Mona went after him.
  “Hey, wait!” she called. “Dr. Nelson!”
  “Yes, Mona?” Dr. Nelson asked casually, turning back to face her. “I can’t stay and chat, I’m afraid. I really must be getting back.”
  “Back where?” Mona asked.
  “Where I came from,” replied Dr. Nelson mysteriously.
  “But… but where is that?” Mona persisted. “Just who exactly are you, and who sent you here to help?”
  “I was sent by the same someone who sent me to you when you were in that hospital,” Dr. Nelson replied levelly. “That’s all I can tell you, I’m afraid.”
  “This someone… is it like a guardian angel, or something?” Mona persisted.
  “Oh, something like that, I suppose,” Dr. Nelson conceded, with a small smile.
  “So what are you, then? Are you an angel too?”
  “I’m a normal, everyday person, Mona. Or I was, a long time ago.”
Dr. Nelson continued to smile enigmatically as his red-cardigan-clad form began to blur and disappear.

Mona went back into the ward, where everyone was admiring the egg.
  “It really is beautiful,” said Dottie.
  “And think of what it means,” added Treguard. “Camelhot’s future is assured, as is the safe birth of my great niece or nephew.”
  “This calls for a celebration!” Merlin exclaimed, raising his wand.
There was a blinding flash, then Mona, Lily and Dottie found themselves standing in the middle of a large field just outside Camelhot. Flame was there on her gurney, still cooing over her egg with Flicker, while Treguard and Merlin were standing behind a wooden table on which there was an enormous multi-layered cake.
  “Who’s for cake?” Merlin grinned, brandishing a large knife as Treguard produced some paper plates. “There’s plenty to go around.”
  “We’ll have some!” came a deep cry from the direction of Camelhot, as all the Knights of the Square Table and Lady Tantrel came running to see Flicker, Flame and their egg.
  “I hope there’s enough for me,” said a stately voice from up above.
Looking upwards, Mona saw Smirkenorff landing in the field a little way away. He was carrying Motley with him, as well as William and Fay, who both looked rather bemused.
  “How did we get here?” William could be heard to grumble as Smirkenorff ushered him towards the cake. “I was watching Norwich City versus Wycombe Wanderers a moment ago!”
  “Stop your bellyaching, mate, and have some cake,” Motley snapped at him. “We’re all celebrating the fact that your baby isn’t in danger of snuffing it inside the womb, you know, which is more important than football, wouldn’t you say?”
  “Yes, well, I… of course,” William blustered embarrassedly.
  “Just keep your mouth shut and enjoy yourself, Will,” advised Fay. “Or better yet, keep it full of cake.”
Everyone took it in turns to admire the egg.
  “This is indeed a great day for Camelhot,” said Sir Galahot, as he smiled down at the golden-speckled artefact in Flame’s arms. “Any dragon that results from the union of King Flicker and Queen Flame is bound to be intelligent, loyal, honourable, just, chivalrous, and all the other things a Knight of the Square Table should be.”
  “Aye, I’m really looking forward to meeting the little nipper,” crooned Sir Burnevere.
  “So am I,” agreed Sir Hotbreath. “What about you, Sir Blaze?”
  “The prospect of becoming a step-uncle has made me forget all about my misbegotten jealousy,” Blaze simpered mincingly. “It’s absolutely beautiful!”
Fay was very happy to meet Flame, and she admired the egg eagerly.
  “You know, this is only the second dragon’s egg I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Fay smiled.
  “It’s more than I’d ever hoped to see,” William added dryly.
  “I am so very glad that the two of you had occasion to see my egg in the first place, and to rescue it,” Smirkenorff rumbled. “And now this egg has been rescued as well, thanks to Mona the Vampire and her allies.”
Everyone cheered and clapped.
  “Oh, great,” Lily smiled falsely. “This is so embarrassing. Do you think we could just slip off quietly when everyone’s getting their second slice of cake?”
  “Oh no, we must stay,” Dottie objected. “I want to see the egg again.”
  “Don’t worry, Lily,” Mona grinned. “Everyone will go back to their own dimensions eventually.”

Three hours later, only Treguard and Merlin remained, collecting up all the discarded paper plates.
  “Well, we really must be getting home now,” Mona said to them. “Thanks for the cake.”
  “Thanks for yet another successful mission,” Merlin returned with a smile. “Thanks to you, the two babies are to be born safely, and the universe will retain its delicate balance.”
  “We’ll have to wait nearly five months to see the babies, of course,” Treguard sighed, “but I’m sure it’ll all be worth it.”
  “And I’m sure there’ll be plenty of other stuff for us to do in the meantime,” said Mona.
  “Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Merlin agreed. “So you’d best return home and enjoy the break while you can, eh? It should be a lot easier without turning into a werewolf, Mona.”
  “Yeah, I expect so,” Mona smiled.

  “So, I guess we did quite well back there, huh?” ventured Dottie.
  “Well, we defeated the evil dream spirit that was threatening the lives of the unborn babies,” said Lily. “That was what we set out to do.”
  “And that apparently means that everything’s going to be all right until the babies are born on Easter Sunday,” added Mona. “Although I can’t imagine that the little bundles of joy won’t feature in some more of our adventures after that. After all, if they’re both so important to the well-being of the universe, some evil force is bound to try and get at them eventually, isn’t it?”
  “Oh, Mona, you’re such a pessimist,” Lily giggled teasingly. “There’s always something else waiting to challenge us, and we just have to meet it when it does.”
  “Hmm, I suppose so,” Mona smiled acceptingly. “I guess we should just be happy with a job well done, but there are still lots of unanswered questions.”
  “Yeah, like why can’t I get over my fear of confined spaces?” Dottie frowned. “That whole thing shouldn’t still be bothering me – they made me have counselling at the hospital and everything.”
  “There’s no quick fix for something like that,” Lily opined. “It’ll take a while to come to terms with it fully, for me as well as for you, but we will do it eventually.”
  “Anyway, I was referring more to questions like just who the hell is Dr. Maurice Nelson, and who sent him to help us?” Mona persisted. “And who was talking to me about how to defeat Freddy Krueger when I was dreaming? Was it just part of the dream, or was there someone in my bedroom, giving me advice from outside my dream?”
  “Speaking of Freddy Krueger, have we seen the last of him?” Dottie shuddered. “What’s to stop some other evil force from sending him to plague our dreams sometime?”
  “Well, nothing, I guess,” said Mona. “But at least we know how to deal with him now. However, there’s still plenty I don’t know that I’d like to know…”
  “Oh, you don’t want to worry about that stuff,” Lily told her. “You could go crazy trying to figure out the answers to questions like those. You’ve done a good job and everything’s okay. That’s enough, isn’t it?”
  “Yes,” Mona was forced to agree. “You’re right Lily. We’ve set the world to rights once again, and that’s enough… for now.”