“Under bone and tooth of stone,” Prince Nathan said, reading the verse that was written on the back of Flindee’s paper airplane map. Chrysolis had finally found her way over the sea battle and brought them in for a landing behind Skull Rock Fortress and now the small band of rescuers were making their way through the jungle trees toward it.
“The first line is almost too easy, especially when we’ve got the map to go with it. The entrance to this secret tunnel is obviously around Skull Rock Fortress. In fact, I’m sure it’s under one of the rocks that look like the teeth of the skull near the bottom of the mountain.”
“That’s interestin’,” said Flindee, walking behind him and studying the paper over his shoulder. “I don’t get that at all. Q and I were discussing this the other day, and we’re pretty sure that the secret entrance is located in the cave of Gretchen the Ettin.”
“Gretchen the ettin?” said Vonkar with surprise. “How can that be? That foul fiend lives on the “Isle of Fumes” which lies in the Southern Pigmy Piranha Sea. My cousin, Valmer the Vagabond vanquished it last summer as a wedding present for Melaria, his bride.”
“Oh.” Said Flindee, scratching his head. “Well, maybe there’s another ettin that lives on this island. The way Q and I see it, it’s got to have somethin’ to do with an ettin.”
“What is an ettin and why does this have to have something to do with them?” Nathan asked.
“That’s simple.” Flindee beamed, happy that someone was actually asking him a question. “Ettin’s are these big ogre-like creatures with more than one head. Some have two heads and some have three, but I knew this minstrel once who claimed to have met one with six heads! He said it was pretty hard to talk to because every time one head would talk to him, the other heads jumped in rudely and then there was the issue of talking with it’s mouth full. Ettins do that a lot. Something about only two arms and so many mouths to feed. It keeps ‘em pretty busy. Could you imagine trying to…?”
“Flindee,” the prince interrupted. “What does that have to do with this verse?”
“Oh yeah.” The jester shrugged without skipping a beat and continued. “Well, they say that ettins have stones for bones. So I figure – that is, Q and I figure – that must be what the clues are talkin’ about. What else would have a tooth of stone, or a belching froth for that matter? I mean, I’m not sure what a froth is, but they sure belch plenty, what with all those heads constantly eating and…”
“But the map shows a big red 'X' right ON the picture of the Skull at the edge of the bay where we just were which is Skull Rock Fortress.” Nathan argued.
“You mean an ettin lives in Skull Rock?” said the clueless jester a bit excited at the idea.
“I don’t know, but don’t you think it makes more sense that the verse is referring to the stone teeth of the skull rock itself?” Nathan explained patiently.
“Not if there’s belching involved?” Flindee answered simply.
Nathan threw his hands up in despair and gave up trying to explain to the simple-minded dwarf, but he did make a mental note concerning ettins just in case. Truth to tell, he was a bit confused by the second line of the verse. What did “Beside the belching froth,” mean? He pondered this as they approached the backside of the mountain.
Vonkar did not participate in the conversation after his initial comments about his cousin, Valmer the Vagabond. The northern warrior had grown bored with all the talk, as he often did, and had moved ahead of them to scout for enemies. All of the fighting they could see from the air was out in the water or on the beaches of the island in front of Skull Rock, but Vonkar was not one to take chances on such matters. It was bad enough for the Viking that they were stumbling through dark, unfamiliar jungle on a strange island inhabited by pirates, but at the mention of ettins he could hardly contain his urge to climb up the nearest tree and holler a challenge to any foe within earshot!
The prince noticed Vonkar’s eagerness, and hoped that he would control himself. Nathan was quite sure an enemy would find them soon enough without the Viking drawing attention to them. Casting a quick glance over his shoulder, he was thankful to see Chrysolis pushing her way through the dense foliage behind them. Being so large, the poor dragon was struggling to keep up with the three dwarves. Nathan knew that dragons were more comfortable in the air than on the ground even under normal circumstances, but the nearness of the jungle trees and the lowness of their huge branches, made traipsing through the jungle nearly impossible for her. Never the less, Nathan was glad to have his dragon back. At least if Vonkar got them into trouble this time, Chrysolis was there to bail them out.
They traveled for what seemed like many hours until they had come around the small mountain with the face of a skull on the front of it, known as Skull Rock Fortress. They were at the edge of the jungle where the trees met the sands of the beach and so far they hadn’t run into any trouble. But now they could see pirates everywhere along the beach scurrying into and out of boats and working to launch more boulders out into the bay by bending palm trees back and releasing them like giant catapults. Fortunately, there was so much noise from the continuing battle that none of the pirates heard the crashing sound of trees and bushes being knocked over and crushed as Chrysolis came near. Just to be safe though, Prince Nathan motioned for her to stop as soon as they realized how close they were to trouble.
Of course, as the Prince feared, it was not the dragon that he had to worry about, but the Viking. Vonkar was gripping his axe firmly in his hands, ready to run at the enemy and not even trying to hide himself in the jungle foliage.
“Vonkar, get down.” Nathan warned. “We’ve got to find a way to get past all of this without fighting and they might see you.”
“What?” The bare-chested, warrior dwarf said indignantly. “There be only thirty or forty of them. ‘Tis nothing between we two! Why should we not engage the enemy?”
“We don’t have time to fight!” Nathan explained. “My sister could be in that cave right now! We’ve got to get to her as fast as possible, and once we start the fighting, more pirates will come. How can we look for a secret entrance when we’re in the middle of fighting?”
“I will fight while you and the little silly man search.”
“But what if I need your help inside the cave?” The prince countered. “And who’s going to kill the sea serpent if you don’t come along?”
This made the Viking pause.
“Then what do you suggest?” He said in confusion. “Vonkar the Vocal does not sneak about like a treacherous thief and there is no where to hide along the beach even if we wanted to.”
“We need a different kind of diversion.” Replied the prince.
“Oh, like me and Q could do a stand up comedy routine and keep ‘em laughing while you guys slipped by?” Offered Flindee eagerly.
“Somehow, I don’t think these guys would find you very funny under the circumstances, Flindee.” Nathan said. “I’m afraid you wouldn’t last long. What we need is a distraction that they can’t ignore or stop too soon.”
“Like me.” Vonkar repeated, still seeing that as the only solution.
“Yes, like you, but not you.” Clarified the prince.
“Who else can face this many enemies with any hope of survival besides a warrior from the fierce northern clan of Axtagrind?” Questioned Vonkar.
The princes answer was simple.
“Chrysolis, of course.”
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