Trouble in the Land of Dwarves
Chapter 13
The Serpent's Eye
Nathan walked through darkness. He
wasn�t sure where he was but he was glad to
be out of his prison box. If only he could
find a wall or something that would give
him an idea of which way to go. He
guessed that he was still in Snagglefang�s
cave, but if so where were the walls? He
continued to reach through the darkness,
trying to find a way out. Then he heard a
girl crying from somewhere far ahead and
he realized by the sound, that he was not in
a cave. It sounded more like he was in a
field outside with no moon or stars to light
the sky.
The prince moved
toward her, hoping to get some answers and
maybe offer some help. There was
something familiar about her crying, but he
couldn�t think of who it could be. Soon the
crying stopped and he became aware of
another voice coming from the same
direction. The new voice was strong and
deep and seemed to be soothing the girl
quietly. It too sounded familiar, but not a
good kind of familiar. It was the kind of
familiar that made a person�s stomach sink
into their shoes.
He was getting
closer now and could make out shadowy
shapes not too far away in the moonlight
which had suddenly appeared. One shape
was quite large and huddled over a smaller
one. Nathan guessed that the smaller one
was the girl. She was sitting cross-legged
on the ground listening to the creepy voice
of the large thing. Nathan couldn�t quite
tell what it was because it seemed to be
standing in the darkest shadows of all, but
he was sure he knew the voice from
somewhere.
Suddenly there was a
bright green glow from the ground in front
of the girl and Nathan froze as he finally
recognized her!
�Nataleigh!� he
shouted, �get away from Snagglefang! He�s
evil!�
The dragon turned his face
from Nataleigh�s ear and smiled at the
prince wickedly.
�It�s too late,
boy!� he gloated. �Your sister wanted the
Serpent�s Eye and I have given it to her!
Now she is mine, heart and soul for no one
escapes the power of the eye once they have
touched it�s power!�
To
Nathan�s horror, he now realized that the
light on the ground came from a glowing
green ball of mist that sat in front of his
sister! She was staring into it with eyes
wide open, her hands holding each side of
it!
�You see, you failed to
save her and now she is trapped in the
darkness of disobedience.� Snagglefang
continued. �You children are such easy
prey when you leave the protection of your
father�s commandments. You might have
saved her, of course, if you would have
given yourself to me, but since you refused,
I decided to use her instead.�
Now
Nathan noticed the mist in the ball starting
to crawl up Nataleigh�s arms and realized
that it was pulling her inside! Soon she
would be gone!
�Get away from
her, you snake!� he screamed and ran
forward to pull Nataleigh off of the terrible
globe! The mist had moved all the way to
her body by now and she was beginning to
disappear! Nathan ran with everything he
had in him, hoping he could reach her in
time without the dragon stopping him!
To his surprise, Snagglefang
moved out of the way as he reached for his
sister! But it was too late! His arms passed
right through Nataleigh�s shadow and he
felt himself stumbling into the Serpent�s
Eye! Then there was nothing but green mist
all around as he felt himself falling!
Snagglefang�s triumphant laughter was the
last thing he heard as he fell...
down...
down...
down...!
Chapter 14
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