The Gods Awaken

'That's not what our mother said,' Gundaree replied.

'She never!' Gundara protested.

'Sure, she did,' Gundaree said. 'The last time we saw her she said Gundara was the stupidest-'

'Please, please, please!' Palimak broke in. 'I'm dying here, in case you've forgotten. And if I go, both of you go!'

'Little master has a good point,' Gundara said.

'I'll stop if you do,' Gundaree said.

'Truce?'

'Truce!'

When they were quiet, Palimak said, 'We were talking about getting me into the turtle and then making it float.'

'Two very good ideas, if I do say so myself,' Gundara said.

'The tide's going in,' Gundaree said. 'So that means we'd end up on dry land in no time.'

Hopes stirring, Palimak said, 'Let's get started, then. What do you want me to do?'

This was greeted by dead silence. Frustrated, Palimak said, 'Come on! We're wasting time!'

'There's nothing to start, Little Master,' Gundara said.

'But you both said they were good ideas,' Palimak pointed out.

'They are,' Gundara said. 'But they were only theories.'

'And, unfortunately, we can't actually do either one,' Gundaree said.

Palimak groaned. Some day the Favorites were going to be the death of him-literally.

'The best thing to do is keep swimming, Little Master,' Gundaree advised.

'Except maybe a bit faster, before the shark catches up to us,' Gundara put in.

'Shark!' Palimak exclaimed.

He stopped treading water, paddling about to look. He saw nothing but the empty Demon Moon-lit seas.

'There's two of them, actually,' Gundaree said.

'And a crocodile,' Gundara added. 'Don't forget that.'

'I didn't want to scare the Little Master,' Gundaree said. 'Two sharks seemed bad enough.'

'What should I do?' Palimak gasped, trying to hold back panic. 'I can't outswim any of them!'

'That's certainly true,' Gundaree admitted.

'We have such a smart Little Master,' Gundara said. 'Too bad he can't swim as fast as he thinks.'

'Even if he could,' Gundaree said, 'he'd never get away from the sea serpent.'

'Sea serpent!' Palimak cried. 'Where?'

'Oh, he's about thirty feet below us,' Gundara said.

'He's not sure yet if you're food,' Gundaree said. 'But he's starting to get the idea.'

Just then, off in the distance, Palimak saw a huge fin break the surface. It started to circle him-slowly, almost lazily. A moment later another popped up, circling in the opposite direction.

He couldn't see the crocodile, but he knew it'd remain so low on the surface that his first sight would be its jaws opening wide to take him.

As for the sea serpent, he'd never spot it. The thing would probably just wriggle up to grab him by the legs and pull him under.

Palimak had been in trouble many times before, but never had he been so thoroughly trapped. His panicky mind churned for inspiration but was continually interrupted by images of being eaten alive by one-or all-of the big sea carnivores closing in on him.

Meanwhile, the Favorites were conferring. Palimak was too frightened to make out what they were saying, but he supposed it was a discussion of the dubious merits of being trapped beneath the sea, with no possibility of a new master coming along to rescue them for several thousand years-if ever.

Finally, Gundara said, 'We have an idea.'

'Not another damned theory!' Palimak groaned, imagining the sea serpent examining his dangling legs with hungry interest.

'Oh, no,' Gundaree said. 'It's not a theory. This idea we can actually do something about.'

'Maybe,' Gundara cautioned.

'All right … maybe,' Gundaree grudgingly admitted.

'But it's worth a try, at least,' Gundara said.

'I suppose so,' Gundaree agreed. 'And if it doesn't work we could always try the other idea.'

'What other idea?' Palimak asked.

He felt as if he'd been cast into some other world, a surreal world. A world where his impending death could be discussed so casually. While less than fifty feet away the circling sharks were closing slowly in.

And although it might only have been his imagination, Palimak thought he could see the knobbed eyes of the sea crocodile poking up a few feet within the circles.

And the serpent-oh, damn the serpent! Let him eat the leftovers! Palimak suppressed an hysterical giggle.

'Never mind the other idea,' Gundara said.

'Absolutely!' Gundaree agreed. 'It'll only make you mad.'

'Fine, fine!' Palimak moaned. 'It's forgotten. Now, please do something! I wasn't born to be somebody's dinner.'

'That's not quite true, Little Master,' Gundara said.

'Yes,' Gundaree said. 'Don't you know that everybody is somebody's food?'

'Not necessarily right away, you understand,' Gundara said. 'But eventually. It's life's most important lesson, you know.'

'Our mother used to sing us the most wonderful lullaby that sums it all up,' Gundaree said. And he sang:

'Everybody's somebody's food.

Everybody's somebody's slaything.

And though it's very, very rude,

Everybody's somebody's food!'

Gundara wiped away a tear at the memory. 'Mother was such a marvelous teacher,' he said.

'Oh, gods!' Palimak groaned, seeing one of the sharks make a short dash toward him. 'Please, hurry and do something!'

Perhaps it was because they saw the shark make its dash, or perhaps it was only because they'd run out of things to say. Whatever the case, to Palimak's massive relief he sensed the comforting buzz of a powerful spell being cast.

He suffered one more moment of fear as suddenly there was a surge just beneath his feet-so strong it rocked him in the water. In reaction, Palimak's body spasmed and talons shot out from his fingers and his toes-ready to do futile battle.

There was another surge and a huge slime-covered body bumped against his, tossing him to the side.

The water boiled and he paddled furiously to keep afloat. Then an incredibly long and thick snakelike body burst from the water. It kept coming and coming like a wagon train all tied together.

He heard a wild howl of fear and caught a glimpse of the sea serpent's head as it leaped over him-fang- rimmed mouth so wide it could swallow a small boat whole.

Then several other bodies collided with his and he went under, pawing madly to regain the surface. The tunic water wings were ripped away. His talons lashed out in every direction in a desperate, instinctual, defensive effort.

The claws caught on something-he didn't know what-then ripped along dense flesh as the creature powered past him without pause.

A moment later he was on the surface, vomiting brine, too overcome to see what was happening.

'We did it, Little Master!' Gundara cried. 'We did it!'

Palimak steadied himself enough to see the sea serpent racing away. A wave hit him and he went under again. But when he resurfaced he had time to catch sight of the two sharks leaping high into the air as they pursued the serpent.

Then a strong eddy rocked him as the crocodile swam past, its muscular tail slashing through the water,