Trouble in the Land of Dwarves
Chapter 5
The New Danger
Maid Madelyn and the Jolly men
listened intently as Princess Nataleigh told
of what she had seen in her magic mirror at
Amiera Palace.
�My magic
mirror allows me to look at any place in
Darrowold that I know about.� She
explained. �And this morning, I decided to
look into Castle Dingle and see what the
black knights were doing.�
She
continued. �What I didn�t expect to see was
the wizard, Panganiban, alone on the roof of
the castle. He was looking up into the sky
as if waiting. Then I saw something flying
toward the castle from out over the ocean.
As it got closer, I could see that it was the
Sea Witch, Hagwig, on her broomstick.
She flew right up to the castle and landed
on a tower top in front of
Panganiban.�
Friar Tub
snorted as he took another bite of his
chicken leg. �Well that�s nothing unusual.
Those two wicked rascals are always
hatching up new schemes to defeat the
golden knights with their black
powers.�
�I know. I�ve
watched them try many times before and
they always fail.� Nataleigh agreed. �But
this time, they were more secretive than
usual and they spoke of something I�ve
never heard of before; something called the
Serpent�s Eye.�
Maid Madelyn
shivered. �Just saying it�s name, makes me
feel creepy, like hundreds of bugs are
crawling on me.�
�That�s how I
felt when I first heard them say it too. My
first impulse was to stop listening and get
away from that awful feeling. But I thought
it might be important so I leaned closer to
my mirror instead.�
Brumble
Wood spoke up. �I have heard of the
Serpent�s Eye, though I always thought it
was just a legend. It is said to be the key to
the Magic Castle of the North, though no
one knows exactly how it
works.�
Billy suddenly spoke
up. �The Magic Castle?! But according to
the ancient prophecy, whoever enters the
Magic Castle will have the power to change
Darrowold!�
Friar Tub
stopped eating and sat forward. �The
Magic Castle contains the ultimate power in
the universe! Whoever possessed the
Serpent�s Eye would have access to that
power! If that wicked wizard and his
watery witch have it then this is grave news
indeed!�
Nataleigh shook her
head. �No, no! They don�t have it yet. At
least, I don�t think so. I heard them talking
about going to get it.�
�We will
inform King Balderdash and stop them!
Did they say where it was?� Maid Madelyn
was on her feet ready to go that minute.
�They said something about an
underwater cavern below Skull-Rock
Island.� Nataleigh answered.
�Skull-Rock Island? How are they
going to get there? They have no ships or
flying machines.� This was Brumble
Wood�s question.
Again
Nataleigh told them what she had heard.
�Captain Claw has agreed to help them
because he wants the treasure that is hidden
beneath the island with the Serpent�s
Eye.�
�But I thought Skull-Rock
Island belonged to the Blackbeard Brothers
and their multi-colored pirate gang.� said
Tiny Bud. �They won�t let Captain Claw
just land on their island and take their
treasure. They�ll have to fight for
it!�
Nataleigh shrugged. �I
don�t know about that, but if King
Kugelbone�s black knights team up with
Captain Claw�s pirates, they might win.
Then they will get the treasure and the
Serpent�s Eye! That�s why I decided to
come down from my palace in the clouds
and warn the King.�
�It�s a
good thing you did, Princess.� Brumble
Wood stood. �This is a danger worse than
any we have ever faced on
Darrowold!�
Nataleigh
interrupted. �I think Hagwig told
Panganiban that the pirates would be there
this morning sometime.�
Brumble Wood looked worried. �That
does not give us much time. It will take us
half a day to reach Bouldergold Castle and
warn the King. By the time he gets his
knights together to stop them, the enemy
will be gone!�
Chapter 6
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