What the Princess and Frangen could not have known at that terrifying moment was that the very trap they thought they had just escaped was actually the mechanism that had just dropped her brother and his two friends into the chamber behind her.
Prince Nathan, Vonkar, and Flindee shielded their eyes from the brilliance of the crystal. None of them moved they were so shocked by the sudden appearance of the Wizard. Panganiban’s long white beard trailed from his bald head nearly to the floor and his bushy eyebrows blanketed his eyes in shadow. He looked quite impressive as he stepped out of the darkness in his velvety black robe, trimmed in purple.
And Panganiban was not alone.
Standing at his side was the notorious Captain Claw, dressed in a rich, red captain’s coat with matching hat and yellow beard all in curls. Claw was missing one leg at the knee and in its place was a wooden pike. But the feature that gave him his name was the giant red crab claw that replaced his left hand. As they looked up at him, he grinned and snapped his pincers on the brim of his hat in salute. Three pirates flanked the captain and sneered at them.
Next to the captain of the Shabby Crab stood King Kugelbone, black armor glinting in the light of the crystal. Kugelbone wore a crown of silver upon a bushy bearded head full of hair that was nearly as red as his kingly tabard. He looked every bit the hot head that his subjects knew him to be.
Two of those subjects, his personal body guards, stood behind him. Both were giants compared to the average dwarf, in height and in bulk, and both were heavily armored and armed. Nathan was amazed at their impressive weapons. One had a hefty log fastened to his forearm that the prince doubted he could even lift with both arms.
The sight was daunting to say the least and Nathan knew they were outnumbered and no match for this group. And Vonkar, their only real fighter, wasn’t even holding his own weapon at the moment, thanks to their fall through the secret entrance… and thanks to Flindee and his obsession with his pineapple.
“Well, well now, what have we here?” Captain Claw asked with a confident guffaw. “You three sand rats wouldn’t be trying to follow us now, would ye?”
“Follow us?” King Kugelbone chimed in with disgust. “I thought we were following them through these tunnels!”
“No, your majesty,” Panganiban assured him. “These three just arrived through the same secret entrance that we did yesterday. The question is how did they know about it? Only Snagglefang, the Dragon, and I know of this entrance.”
“You mean to tell me that we’re back in the very chamber where we first arrived? This is absurd, wizard!” Kugelbone railed. “You promised me the Serpent’s Eye and all we’ve been doing is walking in circles through these caverns for hours with nothing to show for it!”
“Patience, your majesty,” Panganiban soothed. “I did not lead us astray as you think. The Dragon’s old lair has been deserted and the Eye moved. But the footprints we found back in the passages are following something bigger that I did not recognize at first: a sea serpent, I think. Whoever these footprints belong to will lead us to what we seek. I am certain of it. And when they have dealt with the beast, we will claim the prize. But first we must deal with these newcomers who stand between us and our reward.”
Vonkar suddenly bristled at the challenge, his initial shock gone. Flexing his muscles and growling as he spoke, he took a step forward. “And how do ye propose to deal with us, brigands? If it’s through force, ye’ll find that Vonkar the Vocal is a warrior not to be taken without great cost!”
“Vonkar, wait!” Nathan called to the Viking from behind. The prince was the furthest away from everyone else and nearest the large metal shoot through which they had fallen, but the wizard’s statement about a footprint trail in the tunnels and what they were following rang in his ears like church bells and he moved forward a pace or two as well.
“What did you say about footprints and a sea serpent?” he begged. “Which way did they go?”
At all of the threatening forward movement, King Kugelbones’ guards bristled as well and stepped to his side, mere paces from the Viking and the Jester. (Flindee, of course, was unconcerned by the whole confrontation, seeing it only as a welcomed distraction to Vonkar, and an opportunity to finally slice and peel his pineapple with the warrior’s axe.)
Panganiban lifted his hand to halt the two guards and addressed the prince. “I am quite certain that you would like to know which way our trail leads, but the prize is not for you, my young friend. We have come too far to lose it now, sea serpent or no.
“And I am equally certain that the two individuals we are tracking will be no match for the beast. Why one appears to be no more than a girl, judging by the thin, lightweight footprints. Right, Hagwig?”
Suddenly, out of the shadows to Nathan’s right, another figure crept. This one was also cloaked in black, but they were not the rich, velvety robes of the wizard. This individual was shrouded in musty rags with a conical, fluorescent seashell hat perched over her crooked nose and hiding her eyes. She was wrinkly and hunched and her voice cracked as she replied.
“Oh yes. I am sure of it, great lords. In fact, we are very close behind her now. Her footsteps resume beyond the sand and up this other tunnel. I even thought I may have heard her soft, sweet voice echoing from it just now. We must hurry!”
She clapped her crooked hands together gleefully as she cackled with excitement. Panganiban smiled smugly.
“And we shall, my dear Hagwig. We shall. But first we must make sure that they are not aided by our three newly arrived heroes. You see, it wouldn’t do at all to have them team up against the Guardian of the Eye and actually win. No. No. I’m afraid these must be stopped here. The Guardian will finish off the others and we will claim the power at last.”
“NO!” Nathan screamed.
He now realized how close he was to his sister and how close she was to danger and he had heard enough. Images from his dreams flooded his mind and the Prince of Amiera launched himself across the sand, but not at the men in front of him. Instead, he raced at the old woman and the tunnel behind her!
There was instant chaos!
Hearing the prince’s shout, Vonkar was already on the move, bellowing forth his own battle cry and lunging for his axe. Fortunately, he had no struggle with Flindee, for at that crucial moment, the Jester was so startled by the sudden shouts, he jumped straight up into the air, dropping Fo’egrin and back-flipping over the charging Viking. Of course as he leapt, he managed to keep control of Quattlebom and his several slices of pineapple, all of which he juggled in a perfect circle without missing a beat.
King Kugelbone’s two massive guards were the first to move on the other side, brandishing their weapons and moving to engage Vonkar. Captain Claw shouted for his pirates to stop the prince and Panganiban began to wave his staff in the air while reaching into his robes with his free hand.
But all of them were dropped to their knees by the sudden shifting of sand as the creaking of gears and the sound of moving machinery filled the air. The secret tunnel sand shoot was resetting exactly as Frangen had suspected it would! A large funnel was opening under the floor grating and the huge volume of sand that had poured into the room was now sinking through it and pouring out of the room to be sucked back up to the surface.
The sinking sand dragged at Panganiban’s robes and the wizard was pulled to the floor. Caught completely off guard, he dropped his staff and the light of its crystal went out. At that same moment the huge steel door in the wall closed, blocking the light from above and plunging them all into total darkness.
Prince Nathan was the least affected by the sudden shift, being nearest to the edge of the room and the most determined to leave it behind. Though he was somewhat slowed down, he had shoved past the cowering sea hag and nearly reached the tunnel entrance before the lights went out.
Nathan was not concerned with wizards, witches, pirates or black knights. Let them have their battles. All that the prince cared about at that moment; the only vision in his minds eye, was the single image of a scaled monster lunging for his sister and the thought that he might be just a heartbeat too late… again!
Into the giant tunnel he stumbled, running blindly ahead through the darkness, arms outstretched before him and calling his sister’s name. She did not answer.
Didn’t that witch just say she thought she heard her footsteps down this corridor? He wondered. What could have happened to her already?
His vision spurred him on to greater speed, heedless of the dangers that could lay right in front of him in the darkness! Fortunately the tunnel went on straight for perhaps a hundred feet before it began to turn and descend deeper underground. By then the armor he was wearing began to drag at him and he was forced to slow down and catch his breath. Finding the nearest tunnel wall, he began to feel his way along the passage completely alone now in the impenetrable darkness.
But before he had time to think too much about it and lose his courage, he began to see a light ahead. Down the tunnel and just around the winding corridor, he began to make out a flickering blue light on the walls that could only be sunlight filtering through water. His hope grew. Perhaps there was another entrance to these tunnels ahead, and he would find his sister there and they could both escape all of this madness. He decided at that moment that he had had quite enough adventure and was ready to return home.
Unfortunately, his hope was dashed as he rounded the corner to find, not a cave entrance, but another large cavern; this one with many stalactites and stalagmites and rock pillars. The shimmering blue sunlight he had seen in the tunnel filtered up out of a large pool of ocean water. In the center of the pool was a small, round island and what appeared to be several large boulders making a kind of stepping stone path from shore to shore.
Looking around the cavern, Nathan also began to notice other odd details. The cavern was divided into smaller areas, almost like the rooms of a giant’s house, and not all of them were naturally made by rock pillars. In some places it appeared that boulders and even some tree logs had been moved and set in place by something very large to create makeshift walls. And as he examined some of these rooms, he began to notice objects that looked to be almost like giant tools or household items.
One room in particular, looked for all the world like a kitchen of sorts. There was a large flat rock in the center of the room with various sized piles of dried seaweed around it, almost like a table surrounded by chairs. And in this same area, there was a shelf of rock about 10 feet from the floor with giant seashells, coral reef, and stone objects scattered on it. Nathan thought it looked curiously like a kitchen counter scattered with cooking utensils, especially since there was a large, water-filled pool carved into the top. Water was trickling into it from the wall and poured over the side in a small waterfall that ended on the floor and followed a small trench to the cavern pool.
Nathan cupped some in his hand and tasted it. It was spring water. He had forgotten how thirsty he was and took a moment to stick his face in it and drink deeply. But as he did so his uneasiness grew. This place was too nicely set up to be just another cavern. Something lived here and he needed to get out quick.
Where was his sister?
Moving to other chambers of the cavern, he noticed more evidence that something lived here and now some of them were disturbing: bones of sea animals and pieces of dwarven ships were placed around the cavern like decorations. After a few minutes, he finally noticed another cave that led out of this cavern near the back.
Nataleigh must have gone that way. There’s nowhere else to go. He reasoned and was just moving toward it when he heard a voice calling his name.
“Oh, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!” It was Flindee. “Boy you sure took off in a hurry. You missed all the action!”
The jester came bounding across the cavern from the main tunnel entrance smiling from ear to ear. “Of course, so did I, come to think of it. Someone turned out the lights and all you could hear was a bunch of grunts and groans and shouts.
“I’m sure Vonkar must have gotten in a few good licks with that axe of his though! Heh, heh. What’s he call that thing again? ‘Fogerty’? ‘For grins’? ‘Frogger’? I don’t know. Somethin’ like that? Of course, those other two fellas were bruisers too, so I don’t know who got who, but I could swear, by the time I found the tunnel and followed after you, I heard snorin’. That was kinda weird, huh? Probably Vonkar. I bet that big gorilla with the log on his arm clobbered him good and sent him to meet Mr. Sandman. Ha, ha! Get it, Mr. Sandman? All that sand in there… Aw, nevermind. At least no one else followed us, huh?”
As soon as the prince saw the jester, he started waving his arms and gesturing for him to quiet down, but Flindee was oblivious. He continued to ramble on as Nathan moved across the cavern to stop him.
“Hey! Look at this pool!” He shouted. “Boy does that look refreshing. And I can finally rinse off my pineapple chunks! I still got ‘em, you know. Ol’ Foggy the axe chopped ‘em all up for me real nice while you guys were all jabber jawin’ back there. And Mr. Vocal was too distracted by the big baddies to notice.”
Before Nathan could reach him, the jester hopped, skipped and jumped right out onto the boulders lying in the water. Perched on one with his feet planted between some spiked ridges in the rock, he dipped and began to wash his pineapple chunks next to a stream of giant bubbles plopping on the surface.
“Ew, this outta be good!” he quipped. “Have ya ever had salted pineapple before?”
Nathan reached the waters edge now and risked calling to the jester. “Flindee, get off of those rocks! I think something lives in this cavern and we still need to find my sister!”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.” He apologized, plopping his first chunk of pineapple into his mouth. “Mmm. Delicious. Ok, keep your tights tight and give me just another second.”
But they were out of time. At that moment, the rock on which Flindee stood began to move and the bubbles in the water turned to steam. And suddenly, Nathan realized what Flindee was standing on!
“Flindee, get off the rock, quick!” He shouted. “It’s not a rock!”
It was too late! In an instant, a giant, green-scaled serpent head lifted from the pool and looked up at the foolish dwarf clinging to its horned crest.
The prince’s heart nearly stopped as he watched the head rise into the air to tower twenty feet above him. This was it! This was the moment he was going to be devoured; swallowed whole by the horror that rose up before him straight out of his nightmares!
“Sshhhhhh!” The serpent hissed and Nathan stood frozen in place, waiting for it to strike. And then he realized that the hissing sound had a very feminine sound to it.
“Sshhhh.” It hissed again. “You’ll wake Papa, dearies. And he gets rather grumpy when he gets woke up. Believe me. We don’t want to do that. Best if he gets his rest.”
Nathan just stood there at the edge of the pool staring up at the serpent and blinking like an idiot. Did this giant, fearsome, sea monster just call him “dearie?” And did she say there were two of them?
Once again, the incorrigible jester jumped in as if nothing was strange about the situation at all, giving the prince a moment to switch his mental and emotional gears.
“Well, howdy, ma’am.” He greeted with an embarrassed chuckle. “I didn’t mean to jump on your head, there. I mean, who knew? Heh…heh. Um, can I offer you a salted pineapple chunk?”
He reached down to wave a tiny pineapple piece in front of the serpent’s giant eye.
“No. No.” She smiled and lowered her head so that Flindee could jump off. “I’m afraid I’m on a strict seafood diet. Don’t eat any of that surface growth, don’t you know. Besides, I should be offering you two little gentlemen something. You’re in my home after all. Unfortunately, I’m afraid I can’t do much without Papa-fish. We are attached, you know.”
She nodded toward the water beside her and Nathan and Flindee noticed that the other boulders were actually the long neck and head of another serpent head still sleeping right next to them. And then they realized that the island in the center of the pool was actually the serpent’s large body which was connected to both heads.
“You mean…” the prince stammered. “You mean that you’re the… the two headed sea serpent that guards the... the…? But you’re… nice.”
The serpent flicked her tongue and shook her head with amusement. “Well of course I’m nice. I’m a Mama serpent. Now aren’t you just the cutest thing with your little speech problem. Oh, I do wish I could get you some crawdad cookies. You’d love my secret recipe.”
Flindee liked that idea and began to get excited. “Can’t you just drag ol’ papa-fishhead over there to the kitchen? I’d love to have some cookies to go with my pineapple.”
“Oh no no. Papa would wake up for sure and when he gets woke up early he starts spewing all kinds of foulness. We don’t want that now.”
“But…” Nathan stuttered some more. He was still in total shock at this turn of events. “You mean both of your heads are attached to the same body, but one is a… g gi… fem… mother head and one is a… male… I mean, a father head? How can that be possible?”
“Well now, isn’t that the very definition of marriage, little man, the two become one? Really, what do you dwarves teach in your schools?”
“And you are the guardians of the Serpent’s Eye of Snagglefang that everyone has been talking about?”
“Snagglefang?” Mama blanched at that. “Why that pearl doesn’t belong to Snagglefang. Is that what he told you? Oh, he is such a troublemaker, that one. He steals it from his own family and then has the nerve to call it his own. Really. Someone needs to turn him over their knee, as you dwarves put it, and lay a flipper on his scaley hide. I don’t care if he was first born!”
She bent her head closer to them and whispered.
“My husband is the keeper of the family treasures, but that one is his favorite. Oh, he spends more time with that thing, polishing it and shining it up, than he spends with his family sometimes. I’d like to get rid of the dumb thing, personally. But I don’t know. He’d be SO upset if he lost it. Dragons do like their treasures you know, especially the males. I think it would take a command from the maker himself to get Papa to part with it now.”
“You mean you’re dragons?” the prince asked in sudden revelation.
“Why of course, love. Sea Dragons, that is.” Mama answered patiently. “When we became mates, the maker made us one, but that rascal, Snagglefang is our brother all right. He’s been trying to get the Eye back since we moved into this place and sent him packing as the master told us.”
“So my father told you to take the eye from Snagglefang?” Nathan asked. His interest and excitement were growing as the conversation continued. Maybe this quest wasn’t so hopeless after all. Maybe they could get the eye like Nataleigh hoped with no trouble at all.
Mama suddenly stopped and stared at the prince. “Your father? Did you say, your father? Why how could that be unless…”
Mama moved her big head right into Nathan’s face and perused him up and down, even sniffing him with her large, steam-filled nostrils.
“Well, I’ll be a sea-monkey’s uncle, you are the Prince! And the spitting image of your father, if I might say so, your majesty. Well, that changes everything! Perhaps I should wake Papa up after all…”
But at that moment, a bellow was heard from across the cavern and they all turned to see Vonkar, axe held high above his head, charging toward them.
“For me sacred honor and clan Axtagrind, have at thee ye foul serpent and leave the friends of Vonkar the Vocal in peace! We have come here to dispatch of thee, ye guardian of the Eye!”
Nathan’s eyes widened in fear and he began to shout to the Viking to stop, but Mama was faster. Startled and suddenly fearing for her life she shouted for her mate!
“Papa! Save us!”
There was a burst of steam from the water and suddenly the second head of the sea serpent burst out of the pool with a fierce roar. Flames shot to the ceiling and it fixed its eyes upon the intruders with a baleful glare!
Prince Nathan, Vonkar, and Flindee shielded their eyes from the brilliance of the crystal. None of them moved they were so shocked by the sudden appearance of the Wizard. Panganiban’s long white beard trailed from his bald head nearly to the floor and his bushy eyebrows blanketed his eyes in shadow. He looked quite impressive as he stepped out of the darkness in his velvety black robe, trimmed in purple.
And Panganiban was not alone.
Standing at his side was the notorious Captain Claw, dressed in a rich, red captain’s coat with matching hat and yellow beard all in curls. Claw was missing one leg at the knee and in its place was a wooden pike. But the feature that gave him his name was the giant red crab claw that replaced his left hand. As they looked up at him, he grinned and snapped his pincers on the brim of his hat in salute. Three pirates flanked the captain and sneered at them.
Next to the captain of the Shabby Crab stood King Kugelbone, black armor glinting in the light of the crystal. Kugelbone wore a crown of silver upon a bushy bearded head full of hair that was nearly as red as his kingly tabard. He looked every bit the hot head that his subjects knew him to be.
Two of those subjects, his personal body guards, stood behind him. Both were giants compared to the average dwarf, in height and in bulk, and both were heavily armored and armed. Nathan was amazed at their impressive weapons. One had a hefty log fastened to his forearm that the prince doubted he could even lift with both arms.
The sight was daunting to say the least and Nathan knew they were outnumbered and no match for this group. And Vonkar, their only real fighter, wasn’t even holding his own weapon at the moment, thanks to their fall through the secret entrance… and thanks to Flindee and his obsession with his pineapple.
“Well, well now, what have we here?” Captain Claw asked with a confident guffaw. “You three sand rats wouldn’t be trying to follow us now, would ye?”
“Follow us?” King Kugelbone chimed in with disgust. “I thought we were following them through these tunnels!”
“No, your majesty,” Panganiban assured him. “These three just arrived through the same secret entrance that we did yesterday. The question is how did they know about it? Only Snagglefang, the Dragon, and I know of this entrance.”
“You mean to tell me that we’re back in the very chamber where we first arrived? This is absurd, wizard!” Kugelbone railed. “You promised me the Serpent’s Eye and all we’ve been doing is walking in circles through these caverns for hours with nothing to show for it!”
“Patience, your majesty,” Panganiban soothed. “I did not lead us astray as you think. The Dragon’s old lair has been deserted and the Eye moved. But the footprints we found back in the passages are following something bigger that I did not recognize at first: a sea serpent, I think. Whoever these footprints belong to will lead us to what we seek. I am certain of it. And when they have dealt with the beast, we will claim the prize. But first we must deal with these newcomers who stand between us and our reward.”
Vonkar suddenly bristled at the challenge, his initial shock gone. Flexing his muscles and growling as he spoke, he took a step forward. “And how do ye propose to deal with us, brigands? If it’s through force, ye’ll find that Vonkar the Vocal is a warrior not to be taken without great cost!”
“Vonkar, wait!” Nathan called to the Viking from behind. The prince was the furthest away from everyone else and nearest the large metal shoot through which they had fallen, but the wizard’s statement about a footprint trail in the tunnels and what they were following rang in his ears like church bells and he moved forward a pace or two as well.
“What did you say about footprints and a sea serpent?” he begged. “Which way did they go?”
At all of the threatening forward movement, King Kugelbones’ guards bristled as well and stepped to his side, mere paces from the Viking and the Jester. (Flindee, of course, was unconcerned by the whole confrontation, seeing it only as a welcomed distraction to Vonkar, and an opportunity to finally slice and peel his pineapple with the warrior’s axe.)
Panganiban lifted his hand to halt the two guards and addressed the prince. “I am quite certain that you would like to know which way our trail leads, but the prize is not for you, my young friend. We have come too far to lose it now, sea serpent or no.
“And I am equally certain that the two individuals we are tracking will be no match for the beast. Why one appears to be no more than a girl, judging by the thin, lightweight footprints. Right, Hagwig?”
Suddenly, out of the shadows to Nathan’s right, another figure crept. This one was also cloaked in black, but they were not the rich, velvety robes of the wizard. This individual was shrouded in musty rags with a conical, fluorescent seashell hat perched over her crooked nose and hiding her eyes. She was wrinkly and hunched and her voice cracked as she replied.
“Oh yes. I am sure of it, great lords. In fact, we are very close behind her now. Her footsteps resume beyond the sand and up this other tunnel. I even thought I may have heard her soft, sweet voice echoing from it just now. We must hurry!”
She clapped her crooked hands together gleefully as she cackled with excitement. Panganiban smiled smugly.
“And we shall, my dear Hagwig. We shall. But first we must make sure that they are not aided by our three newly arrived heroes. You see, it wouldn’t do at all to have them team up against the Guardian of the Eye and actually win. No. No. I’m afraid these must be stopped here. The Guardian will finish off the others and we will claim the power at last.”
“NO!” Nathan screamed.
He now realized how close he was to his sister and how close she was to danger and he had heard enough. Images from his dreams flooded his mind and the Prince of Amiera launched himself across the sand, but not at the men in front of him. Instead, he raced at the old woman and the tunnel behind her!
There was instant chaos!
Hearing the prince’s shout, Vonkar was already on the move, bellowing forth his own battle cry and lunging for his axe. Fortunately, he had no struggle with Flindee, for at that crucial moment, the Jester was so startled by the sudden shouts, he jumped straight up into the air, dropping Fo’egrin and back-flipping over the charging Viking. Of course as he leapt, he managed to keep control of Quattlebom and his several slices of pineapple, all of which he juggled in a perfect circle without missing a beat.
King Kugelbone’s two massive guards were the first to move on the other side, brandishing their weapons and moving to engage Vonkar. Captain Claw shouted for his pirates to stop the prince and Panganiban began to wave his staff in the air while reaching into his robes with his free hand.
But all of them were dropped to their knees by the sudden shifting of sand as the creaking of gears and the sound of moving machinery filled the air. The secret tunnel sand shoot was resetting exactly as Frangen had suspected it would! A large funnel was opening under the floor grating and the huge volume of sand that had poured into the room was now sinking through it and pouring out of the room to be sucked back up to the surface.
The sinking sand dragged at Panganiban’s robes and the wizard was pulled to the floor. Caught completely off guard, he dropped his staff and the light of its crystal went out. At that same moment the huge steel door in the wall closed, blocking the light from above and plunging them all into total darkness.
Prince Nathan was the least affected by the sudden shift, being nearest to the edge of the room and the most determined to leave it behind. Though he was somewhat slowed down, he had shoved past the cowering sea hag and nearly reached the tunnel entrance before the lights went out.
Nathan was not concerned with wizards, witches, pirates or black knights. Let them have their battles. All that the prince cared about at that moment; the only vision in his minds eye, was the single image of a scaled monster lunging for his sister and the thought that he might be just a heartbeat too late… again!
Into the giant tunnel he stumbled, running blindly ahead through the darkness, arms outstretched before him and calling his sister’s name. She did not answer.
Didn’t that witch just say she thought she heard her footsteps down this corridor? He wondered. What could have happened to her already?
His vision spurred him on to greater speed, heedless of the dangers that could lay right in front of him in the darkness! Fortunately the tunnel went on straight for perhaps a hundred feet before it began to turn and descend deeper underground. By then the armor he was wearing began to drag at him and he was forced to slow down and catch his breath. Finding the nearest tunnel wall, he began to feel his way along the passage completely alone now in the impenetrable darkness.
But before he had time to think too much about it and lose his courage, he began to see a light ahead. Down the tunnel and just around the winding corridor, he began to make out a flickering blue light on the walls that could only be sunlight filtering through water. His hope grew. Perhaps there was another entrance to these tunnels ahead, and he would find his sister there and they could both escape all of this madness. He decided at that moment that he had had quite enough adventure and was ready to return home.
Unfortunately, his hope was dashed as he rounded the corner to find, not a cave entrance, but another large cavern; this one with many stalactites and stalagmites and rock pillars. The shimmering blue sunlight he had seen in the tunnel filtered up out of a large pool of ocean water. In the center of the pool was a small, round island and what appeared to be several large boulders making a kind of stepping stone path from shore to shore.
Looking around the cavern, Nathan also began to notice other odd details. The cavern was divided into smaller areas, almost like the rooms of a giant’s house, and not all of them were naturally made by rock pillars. In some places it appeared that boulders and even some tree logs had been moved and set in place by something very large to create makeshift walls. And as he examined some of these rooms, he began to notice objects that looked to be almost like giant tools or household items.
One room in particular, looked for all the world like a kitchen of sorts. There was a large flat rock in the center of the room with various sized piles of dried seaweed around it, almost like a table surrounded by chairs. And in this same area, there was a shelf of rock about 10 feet from the floor with giant seashells, coral reef, and stone objects scattered on it. Nathan thought it looked curiously like a kitchen counter scattered with cooking utensils, especially since there was a large, water-filled pool carved into the top. Water was trickling into it from the wall and poured over the side in a small waterfall that ended on the floor and followed a small trench to the cavern pool.
Nathan cupped some in his hand and tasted it. It was spring water. He had forgotten how thirsty he was and took a moment to stick his face in it and drink deeply. But as he did so his uneasiness grew. This place was too nicely set up to be just another cavern. Something lived here and he needed to get out quick.
Where was his sister?
Moving to other chambers of the cavern, he noticed more evidence that something lived here and now some of them were disturbing: bones of sea animals and pieces of dwarven ships were placed around the cavern like decorations. After a few minutes, he finally noticed another cave that led out of this cavern near the back.
Nataleigh must have gone that way. There’s nowhere else to go. He reasoned and was just moving toward it when he heard a voice calling his name.
“Oh, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!” It was Flindee. “Boy you sure took off in a hurry. You missed all the action!”
The jester came bounding across the cavern from the main tunnel entrance smiling from ear to ear. “Of course, so did I, come to think of it. Someone turned out the lights and all you could hear was a bunch of grunts and groans and shouts.
“I’m sure Vonkar must have gotten in a few good licks with that axe of his though! Heh, heh. What’s he call that thing again? ‘Fogerty’? ‘For grins’? ‘Frogger’? I don’t know. Somethin’ like that? Of course, those other two fellas were bruisers too, so I don’t know who got who, but I could swear, by the time I found the tunnel and followed after you, I heard snorin’. That was kinda weird, huh? Probably Vonkar. I bet that big gorilla with the log on his arm clobbered him good and sent him to meet Mr. Sandman. Ha, ha! Get it, Mr. Sandman? All that sand in there… Aw, nevermind. At least no one else followed us, huh?”
As soon as the prince saw the jester, he started waving his arms and gesturing for him to quiet down, but Flindee was oblivious. He continued to ramble on as Nathan moved across the cavern to stop him.
“Hey! Look at this pool!” He shouted. “Boy does that look refreshing. And I can finally rinse off my pineapple chunks! I still got ‘em, you know. Ol’ Foggy the axe chopped ‘em all up for me real nice while you guys were all jabber jawin’ back there. And Mr. Vocal was too distracted by the big baddies to notice.”
Before Nathan could reach him, the jester hopped, skipped and jumped right out onto the boulders lying in the water. Perched on one with his feet planted between some spiked ridges in the rock, he dipped and began to wash his pineapple chunks next to a stream of giant bubbles plopping on the surface.
“Ew, this outta be good!” he quipped. “Have ya ever had salted pineapple before?”
Nathan reached the waters edge now and risked calling to the jester. “Flindee, get off of those rocks! I think something lives in this cavern and we still need to find my sister!”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.” He apologized, plopping his first chunk of pineapple into his mouth. “Mmm. Delicious. Ok, keep your tights tight and give me just another second.”
But they were out of time. At that moment, the rock on which Flindee stood began to move and the bubbles in the water turned to steam. And suddenly, Nathan realized what Flindee was standing on!
“Flindee, get off the rock, quick!” He shouted. “It’s not a rock!”
It was too late! In an instant, a giant, green-scaled serpent head lifted from the pool and looked up at the foolish dwarf clinging to its horned crest.
The prince’s heart nearly stopped as he watched the head rise into the air to tower twenty feet above him. This was it! This was the moment he was going to be devoured; swallowed whole by the horror that rose up before him straight out of his nightmares!
“Sshhhhhh!” The serpent hissed and Nathan stood frozen in place, waiting for it to strike. And then he realized that the hissing sound had a very feminine sound to it.
“Sshhhh.” It hissed again. “You’ll wake Papa, dearies. And he gets rather grumpy when he gets woke up. Believe me. We don’t want to do that. Best if he gets his rest.”
Nathan just stood there at the edge of the pool staring up at the serpent and blinking like an idiot. Did this giant, fearsome, sea monster just call him “dearie?” And did she say there were two of them?
Once again, the incorrigible jester jumped in as if nothing was strange about the situation at all, giving the prince a moment to switch his mental and emotional gears.
“Well, howdy, ma’am.” He greeted with an embarrassed chuckle. “I didn’t mean to jump on your head, there. I mean, who knew? Heh…heh. Um, can I offer you a salted pineapple chunk?”
He reached down to wave a tiny pineapple piece in front of the serpent’s giant eye.
“No. No.” She smiled and lowered her head so that Flindee could jump off. “I’m afraid I’m on a strict seafood diet. Don’t eat any of that surface growth, don’t you know. Besides, I should be offering you two little gentlemen something. You’re in my home after all. Unfortunately, I’m afraid I can’t do much without Papa-fish. We are attached, you know.”
She nodded toward the water beside her and Nathan and Flindee noticed that the other boulders were actually the long neck and head of another serpent head still sleeping right next to them. And then they realized that the island in the center of the pool was actually the serpent’s large body which was connected to both heads.
“You mean…” the prince stammered. “You mean that you’re the… the two headed sea serpent that guards the... the…? But you’re… nice.”
The serpent flicked her tongue and shook her head with amusement. “Well of course I’m nice. I’m a Mama serpent. Now aren’t you just the cutest thing with your little speech problem. Oh, I do wish I could get you some crawdad cookies. You’d love my secret recipe.”
Flindee liked that idea and began to get excited. “Can’t you just drag ol’ papa-fishhead over there to the kitchen? I’d love to have some cookies to go with my pineapple.”
“Oh no no. Papa would wake up for sure and when he gets woke up early he starts spewing all kinds of foulness. We don’t want that now.”
“But…” Nathan stuttered some more. He was still in total shock at this turn of events. “You mean both of your heads are attached to the same body, but one is a… g gi… fem… mother head and one is a… male… I mean, a father head? How can that be possible?”
“Well now, isn’t that the very definition of marriage, little man, the two become one? Really, what do you dwarves teach in your schools?”
“And you are the guardians of the Serpent’s Eye of Snagglefang that everyone has been talking about?”
“Snagglefang?” Mama blanched at that. “Why that pearl doesn’t belong to Snagglefang. Is that what he told you? Oh, he is such a troublemaker, that one. He steals it from his own family and then has the nerve to call it his own. Really. Someone needs to turn him over their knee, as you dwarves put it, and lay a flipper on his scaley hide. I don’t care if he was first born!”
She bent her head closer to them and whispered.
“My husband is the keeper of the family treasures, but that one is his favorite. Oh, he spends more time with that thing, polishing it and shining it up, than he spends with his family sometimes. I’d like to get rid of the dumb thing, personally. But I don’t know. He’d be SO upset if he lost it. Dragons do like their treasures you know, especially the males. I think it would take a command from the maker himself to get Papa to part with it now.”
“You mean you’re dragons?” the prince asked in sudden revelation.
“Why of course, love. Sea Dragons, that is.” Mama answered patiently. “When we became mates, the maker made us one, but that rascal, Snagglefang is our brother all right. He’s been trying to get the Eye back since we moved into this place and sent him packing as the master told us.”
“So my father told you to take the eye from Snagglefang?” Nathan asked. His interest and excitement were growing as the conversation continued. Maybe this quest wasn’t so hopeless after all. Maybe they could get the eye like Nataleigh hoped with no trouble at all.
Mama suddenly stopped and stared at the prince. “Your father? Did you say, your father? Why how could that be unless…”
Mama moved her big head right into Nathan’s face and perused him up and down, even sniffing him with her large, steam-filled nostrils.
“Well, I’ll be a sea-monkey’s uncle, you are the Prince! And the spitting image of your father, if I might say so, your majesty. Well, that changes everything! Perhaps I should wake Papa up after all…”
But at that moment, a bellow was heard from across the cavern and they all turned to see Vonkar, axe held high above his head, charging toward them.
“For me sacred honor and clan Axtagrind, have at thee ye foul serpent and leave the friends of Vonkar the Vocal in peace! We have come here to dispatch of thee, ye guardian of the Eye!”
Nathan’s eyes widened in fear and he began to shout to the Viking to stop, but Mama was faster. Startled and suddenly fearing for her life she shouted for her mate!
“Papa! Save us!”
There was a burst of steam from the water and suddenly the second head of the sea serpent burst out of the pool with a fierce roar. Flames shot to the ceiling and it fixed its eyes upon the intruders with a baleful glare!
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