No one even paid attention to the dwarf inventor or the young sea serpent that had interrupted all the arguing. The foul aroma that rained upon all of them was like a physical blow to the stomach that made everyone gag, choke, and forget everything else except finding clean air to inhale. Heindel’s mixture also burned the eyes, making everyone grasp at their faces and drop what was in their hands as they scattered half-blind in all directions. Mama & Papa sea serpent leapt from the pool toward their kitchen cavern where papa, whose head was the closest to the stink-ball when it exploded against the ceiling, plunged his head into the waterfall sink and began to splash his eyes! Mama grabbed a seaweed rag from the counter and held it to her nose with her tail, gagging and calling for her babies through teary eyes.
Vonkar had also been struck hard by the explosion directly over his head. In fact the Viking had been showered with the stinkball’s contents and could not escape the odor that attacked his senses. Stumbling around half blind for a few seconds, the dwarf warrior finally dropped his axe and plunged into the very pool that the sea serpent had just fled to wash off the tiny eggs that clung to his skin and beard.
The Prince and Princess were just far enough away to escape being splattered, but close enough to get the full nauseous effect of the attack. Both of them fell to their knees, rubbing their stinging eyes furiously and struggling not to retch as they gasped for breath.
Even Flindee was affected, though from his perch on the far side of the cavern, he was spared the full force of the aroma. Never-the-less, the jester was quick to abandon his high and lofty “Announcer’s Booth” and skip toward an exit, holding his hat over his face. (Quattlebom was not so fortunate. The poor puppet coughed and sputtered and finally passed out from the smell.)
It was Frangen himself who pulled the prince and princess out of the blast zone. Wearing a special mask that Heindel had designed to protect the gun’s user, he ran out into the cavern and lifted each of the children under his burly arms. He was forced to practically drag them both from the cavern and back down the tunnel leading to the serpent nursery where Anna Monee was waiting. A moment later they were joined by Coralee who had finally come to find out what was going on and what had happened to the princess.
“Ewww! Anna Monee, I told you to bathe the dwarf, not let him wallow in more muck!” Coralee whined, holding her nose and looking at the bedraggled group! “What is going on here? How did the princess get all stinky too and who is this with her?”
Anna Monee opened her mouth to respond, but was struck with another wave of foul odor that was working its way up the passage. “He’s the pr…” was all she could manage before being interrupted by a fit of coughing.
“Oh, never mind!” Coralee chided with a grimace. “Let’s get back to the nursery and away from this awful stench!”
With that, she fled back down the tunnel, followed closely by Anna Monee, leaving Frangen once again to assist the prince and princess who were still struggling to breathe.
When they finally arrived at the sea serpent nursery cave, both brother and sister were finally beginning to recover, though Nataleigh still looked green in the face. They both plopped down at the small table in the center of the room as Coralee began to question everyone.
“Well, is someone going to tell me what’s going on? I turn my back for two seconds and everyone’s gone. And then, I find you again and everyone stinks like squid juice! And I still don’t know who THIS…” She stopped then, in mid-sentence, as the prince turned around to look at her and she realized he was no dwarf. Sitting before her was a handsome young man, taller than any dwarf and having a regal bearing that marked him as a son of the high king; the noble prince of Amiera!
Coralee squeeled and then feinted on the spot.
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