Robert and Pati were filled with surprising energy, considering they had both been dead only moments earlier. Both of them had seen the mystical old man and watched him vanish into the hazy waters. But neither dared speak of him to the other. Perhaps part of them believed that it had been a dream. But there was no escaping the reality of the pain of death they had experienced. For the rest of her life, Pati would shudder to remember the feeling of her oh too mortal body being crushed like a tin can into itself. Ribs snapped one by one like toothpicks until the only thing holding her together was the beast�s claw itself. She did not know how or why she survived. Even as they journeyed on slowly toward the elusive North, she found herself frequently putting her hands to her torso, just to be sure it was real.

As for Robert, he trudged on with all the silence of a mighty warrior. From time to time, Pati would catch him surreptitiously examining the areas where his battle wounds should have been. She would also catch the repeated look of wild-eyed wonder when all he found was the rough sandy color of his sun-stained skin. Unbelieving, he would rub the skin with his fingers, searching for some vague sign of a wound, but it was no use. There was not a scratch to be found on the two siblings.

The journey passed silently and in many ways uneventfully. The explanation for this is of course that the enormous crash of the pirate ship to the bottom of the sea awakened all the magical beings that inhabited the enchanted waters and sent them scurrying about to wreak havoc upon those who disturbed their slumber. But after that final battle and reuniting of brother and sister, the perturbed creatures began to be lulled back into their deep sleep by the warm tingling of the water. It almost seemed as if the enchanted crystal that Robert had used to penetrate the impenetrable door had also sent a delicious sleepy current throughout the entire sea, beckoning all magical creatures to settle down into the sand and dream away a year or so. In fact, if Robert and Pati had gotten the chance to speak with the old man (who Pati decided must be a wizard), they may have found that that was indeed what had happened. But since the wizard had disappeared along with all the creatures to which he was master, such an opportunity was lost.

Months passed until finally the weary travelers began to catch sight of a pale yellow light somewhere far above them. In a few days, the light began to take the shape of a lovely golden orb whose rays waved about and sparkled in the salty water. And still a few days later, the shore was so close that they could nearly feel the sun warming their aching bones. Finally, they surfaced. It was a joy insurmountable to once again feel rushing air on their faces. And setting foot on the sun-baked beach could not have been more glorious had the sand been made of gold.

It was only after the two companions had plopped down in the soft sand that they realized they were not where they intended to be at all. Instead of the vast northern lands filled with bustling cities and soldiers everywhere, they found themselves on what appeared to be a deserted island somewhere in the middle of the Shamrock Sea. There was not another piece of land in sight. Neither Robert nor Pati had to re-test the waters to know that the spell had already been broken. They would no longer be able to breathe underwater.

Utterly dismayed, Robert groaned at his miscalculation. He had long yearned to be back in his homeland. And now, so close to achieving his goal, he had no idea where he even was. To say that Pati shared the same amount of frustration as her brother would be untrue. Having stolen her way through countless cities and towns for years, she was tired of that dismal scenery and truly wished to return to her sweet Bickerish Woods. However, with every memory of that serene place came the remembrance that it existed no more. The soldiers had doubtless continued on with their plans to destroy the beautiful forest and replace it with one of the cities she so despised.

As always, Pati shrugged off the painful memories that had haunted her for so long and upon getting a good look around her, she found that the island was a lovely place, filled with greenery and exotic flowers. As she gazed into the sun setting on the horizon, she felt that after a good night�s sleep on land, her now sulking brother would be more optimistic and consider this adventure as good a one as any, as she did. So Pati set about gathering large banana leaves to use as blankets (for even one medium-sized tropical banana leaf would easily cover two or three average humans). Then the two settled in and blissfully fell asleep to the sound of the waves lapping up on the shore.

The next morning, Robert woke to a smell he never thought he would be able to appreciate: smoke. After months of living in depths where fire cannot be, that smoke smelled just as good as the food that was cooking. Sitting up groggily, his eyes took in the sight of Pati joyfully stoking a fire above which several fish were roasting. She had apparently spent the morning gathering not only wood for the fire, but also tropical fruits of every shape, color, and size. The meal spread before them was truly a spectacle and without a doubt mouth-watering.

After partaking in these island delicacies, Robert was indeed in fairer spirits and readily approved of Pati�s suggestion that they explore the island. So off they set, plunging toward the heart of the small island, with no inkling as to what they may encounter there.