CHAPTER 34
Sybylla
The mammoth creature rested on its coiled snake body, its small flippers suddenly growing into elongated arms with sharp claws. It was quite different from the other leviathans Ivy and Finn had seen before, with a more streamlined body and large, winglike gills of green and gold. Its head was sort of triangular, with long, almond-shaped yellow eyes. It opened its mouth, revealing gleaming teeth. This is it, Ivy thought. We’re dead.
Then, to her utter surprise, the creature began to speak.
“Why do you attack my children?”
Its voice had a strange, soft, almost feminine quality. Ivy and Finn stared, openmouthed. The creature made no move to attack, yet the Warriors could feel its menace, its danger, right through their armor into their skin.
“We meant—your children—no harm,” Ivy said in a trembling voice. She lowered her shield and nudged Finn to put away his sword. He did so, reluctantly. “We just needed a little water.”
“Why do you take my water?”
“To help our friends,” Ivy said. “And it’s not your water. Technically. It belongs to the mountain.”
“It belongs to me!” The creature’s voice rose to a high pitch. The yellow eyes flashed like lightning. Ivy gasped softly; Finn put one arm around her. “You took my water. You injure my children. Now you will never leave this place.” The creature ruffled its giant gills in a very threatening manner. Then it said, more softly, “Unless you help me.”
Ivy and Finn, who had been searching frantically for some kind of escape, glanced at each other.
“Help you?” Finn said cautiously.
“To free my children.”
“Free your children?” Ivy asked, speaking slowly, as if she didn’t understand.
“My children and I once roamed a wide, beautiful sea, filled with fishes, with mighty waves. But Ponéros caught us in his nets with promises of an even wider, more beautiful sea. Then he brought us to this place. A tiny pool under the mountain. My children are all crammed together, unable to play as they used to. They long to go back to the sea. But I cannot find the way.” The creature’s voice had become almost forlorn. “Ponéros says he will keep his promise, once this war is won. But I don’t believe him anymore. He is a liar.”
“That’s true,” said Ivy. She suddenly began to feel sorry for this creature. “What’s your name?” Finn nudged her, nervous. She ignored him.
“Sybylla,” said the creature.
“Sybylla,” repeated Ivy. The name sounded familiar. “Well, I’m sorry about what happened to you and your children. We can’t help you find your way to the sea. But with this little pot of water”—she pointed to the pot floating a few feet from her—“we will be able to destroy Ponéros’s fortress. Maybe then, you will be free again. And you can find your way home.”
“Don’t tell her that,” whispered Finn. “She’s probably a spy for Ponéros.”
“You humans think you will destroy Ponéros’s fortress?” Sybylla let out a strange, hissing laugh. “That is not possible. You are too small. Too young.”
“We’re Prince Warriors,” said Finn.
The name had a strange effect on Sybylla. She drew back, her eyes closing, as if she had been hit by a sudden gust of wind. “No, you are much too young and weak to be Prince Warriors,” she whispered.
“We are not,” said Ivy, drawing herself up to be as tall as she possibly could. “Let us take our pots of water and go, and we will prove it to you. Or, you can keep us here forever, and you will be here forever too. You and your children.”
Sybylla seemed to think about this for a long time. Then she slowly uncoiled her snake tail and slithered toward them. Ivy and Finn froze, pressing together slightly. Ivy’s heartbeat slowed to a dull thud; she could feel the giant creature’s rancid breath on her own skin. She still held the seed in her fist, ready to raise it if necessary. But she was afraid to make even the smallest move.
“Two children,” said the creature, her burning yellow eyes roving over them, “and two measly pots of water will bring down Ponéros?”
“Yes,” Ivy whispered, swallowing the lump in her throat. “They will. We will.”
Sybylla closed her eyes and drew back her head, cobra-like. Then she reached out with one graceful arm and plucked the pot from the water. She held it up a moment, examining it. Then she dropped it into Ivy’s hand.
“Thank you,” Ivy murmured, her fingers closing around the pot. “Thank you—Sybylla.”
Sybylla regarded Ivy a long moment and tilted her head ever so slightly, as if she were trying to understand something. Then she rose up, her body unfurling, and flung herself headfirst back into the pool again.
The water went still.