Summer of the Sea Serpent is the third book of the Merlin Missions series. It was originally published as the 31st book of the combined Magic Tree House series. During this mission, Jack and Annie first meet Teddy's friend Kathleen who later helps them regularly on adventures.
Synopsis[]
Jack and Annie travel in their magic tree house to the land of the mystical selkies to seek a magical sword for Merlin.
Chapters[]
- Summer Solstice
- The Water Knight
- Cave of the Spider Queen
- Web Walk
- Barrh! Barrh!
- The Selkie
- Cove of the Stormy Coast
- Cloak of the Old Gray Ghost
- The Sword of Light
- The Ancient Question
- Sword and Rhyme
- The Isle of Avalon
Plot[]
The shell that took Jack and Annie to the coasts.
In the summer, Jack and Annie were soon going to the lake. Jack learned from the newspaper that it was the solstice, the longest day of the year. Suddenly, Annie saw a seagull despite them not being around their parts, she thought it was a sign from Merlin. Sure, it enough, inside the magic tree house, there was a blue seashell. It said they must journey to a land lost in mist and locate a sword of light before the summer solstice ends. Although they were worried about what the rhyme said, they went to a time before Camelot.
The tree house landed on a cliff near some coasts. Jack and Annie couldn’t see Merlin or Teddy, the tree they were in had no entrance this time. They went down to the water to look for some Water Knight. He appeared riding a horse with a fish’s tail and took the two to a cave covered by a web. After Jack throw a rock at it, they entered it, and got nervous when the cave started to flood. They also got scared by the appearance of the Spider Queen. However, the giant spider made a ladder of her webs so they can escape to safety to the stop.
Next, they had to find a selkie, but they didn’t know what that was. Suddenly, they saw two seals in the water. Annie swam towards them against Jack’s wishes, then he fell asleep. When he woke up, Teddy was there; he was watching them. He introduced them to Kathleen, a pretty girl who lived in the place with her nineteen sisters. She revealed that Morag, the Spider Queen, has many animal friends, but she’s never heard of the Water Knight. Teddy revealed that she was a selkie, but when Jack and Annie mentioned the Sword of Light, she said that whenever someone entered the cove beyond jellyfish cave, terrible winter storms appear. No selkie ever dared to go to the Cove of the Stormy Coast, but upon seeing Merlin’s seashell, Teddy agreed they have to go.
To avoid the jellyfish, Kathleen turned everyone into seals, she and Teddy were the ones Annie saw. They used a kind of skin and managed to swim to the coast. There were no winter storms, just a big fog, the Cloak of the Old Gray Ghost. After Kathleen and Teddy showed them where the sword is, Jack and Annie dived into the cove and retrieve it.
Suddenly, a giant green sea serpent appeared! It said that one must answer a question to be worthy of the Sword of Light (or be accused of stealing it). The question is telling the serpent what the purpose of the sword is. At first, Jack and Annie were too scared of the serpent to answer. However, they managed to correctly answer that the purpose is to only for good and peace, not harm. After Teddy and Kathleen came out, they said a rhyme to make a bridge of light leading to a sea cliff.
Teddy and Kathleen decided to go to her selkie home for supper. Once Jack and Annie climbed the bridge to the top, they met with Merlin! He explained that he sent them there on the summer solstice because it was when the power of the Ice Wizard of Winter were the weakest. He was the one who sent those storms, but today he could only send the Cloak of the Old Gray Ghost. Merlin explained that the Ice Wizard had stolen the Sword of Light, Excalibur (more powerful than the sword in the stone), long ago, but he couldn’t use it due to the Lady of the Lake’s spell. Still, he refused to part with, so he buried in the coast, and Merlin only heard of its whereabouts recently. He the used Excalibur to guide the sea serpent back home to Avalon, where he will take the sword to the isle.
Once Jack and Annie got back home, Jack realized that Merlin was the Water Knight due to him creating the same wave. They accidentally left their shoes on the beach, so they joked that they had to tell mom they left them there. However, a seabird delivered it to them, now they were ready to go to the lake.
Publication Note[]
This book was originally published as book #31 of the Magic Tree House Series. In 2017 the books where Merlin sets the mission were separated from the main series and given their own numbering system.
Trivia[]
- At the beginning, a passage from Alfred Lord Tennyson', Idylls of the King, is shown. King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, Wrought by the lonely Maiden of the Lake. Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps Upon the hidden bases of the hills. It tells of how the Lady of the Lake secretly crafted Excalibur then waited for King Arthur to claim it.