The Land of Legend
Mason Green

One day you are taking a quiet stroll through the woods, listening to the beautiful sounds of birds. Then, you notice something. There is a book lying next to a tree! You pick it up. Its title is The Land of Legend, by Carl Angus. The cover is decorated with many kinds of mythical creatures. There's a three-headed dog, a giant red dragon...
Back at home, you sit down to read the book. As soon as you start reading the first words, Once upon a time... you feel drowsy. Then you feel a strange feeling, like you're being sucked into the book! And then you fall unconscious. When you wake up, you are standing at a crossroads. A mysterious loud voice is speaking:

Then the voice stops. You can see four paths leading from where you are now. A small wooden sign marks each path.

You jump out of bed and run from the gargantuan Cyclops. You've never run so fast in your life. You are just about to give up hope when you see a strange brown horse with wings. "Climb on my back", he says.

You follow the sound of the moaning. Soon, you come to a beach. The vast, blue, foaming sea lies in front of you. Then you see what's making the sound. A seal, who looks exactly like the seals you've seen at the zoo, has his flipper caught in a bear trap! You free the seal from the trap, and he thanks you warmly. You are caught off guard by the talking seal.
"I wish to give you a reward for your kindness. I will show you the water kingdom. Come, climb on my back."

You follow the sound of the beautiful music. It leads you to a clearing in the woods where you see several Pixies dancing and playing flutes. "Your music is lovely", you say. One of them replies, "We are performing the Chimera Dance. The Chimera is a horrible monster that rules this entire forest. If we do not play this exact tune at the same time each day, he will make us all his dinner." Then he adds, "You are larger than us. Perhaps you could slay the Chimera. Will you help us?"

Suddenly, everything seems to fade away. Then, you are awake in bed. Could that all have been a dream?, you think. Then you look over at your bedside table. Now you realize that it wasn't a dream.
For there, lying on your bedside table, is an exact miniature of the Jewel of the Leprechauns to remember your heroic act by.
Congratulations! You have come to one of this book's few happy endings.

You could get injured pretty badly if you jumped off the carpet, so you stay on. Soon, the carpet's wild behavior subsides. Then it asks you where you would like to go. A talking AND flying carpet! This is starting to get really weird!

The foul smell coming from this cave repels you, so you don't go inside. Just as you are about to continue along the path, you hear a tiny voice say, "It's a good thing you didn't go inside there." You turn around and find an Elf. "There is a horrible monster who lives in that cave. Her name is Medusa."

It hatches into a baby dragon! The dragon is a beautiful green in color, and has wings that seem too soggy for flying. The dragon asks "Are you my mother?"
"No, I am not your mother", you say with a laugh. Just then, you hear loud, wheezy breathing from behind. Turning around, you find yourself face to face with the dragon's giant mother!

"OK, I will help you. So what do I have to do?" you ask. The Leprechaun replies, "First, you must defeat Cerberus, who is a giant, horrible three-headed dog that breathes fire. Use these", he says, handing you a sword and shield. "To kill Cerberus, you must cut off all three of his heads. Then, you must continue on to the Goblins' Chamber. Now, the hard part is over; say the password, and they will turn into ants."
"Password?"
"Yes. If a human says the password, 'Fish of the old potato', in the presence of a Goblin, he will turn into an ant. After you have turned all of the Goblins, including the Goblin King, into ants, then you must seize a golden jewel from behind the Goblin King's throne. Bring it back to me. Then I will tell you what to do next."
"OK. I'll do it."
The Leprechaun gives you a piece of parchment with directions written on it, so you won't get lost in the winding tunnels of the cave.
And so, you set off to find Cerberus.

You quickly climb on the horse's back and he flies at lightning speed away from the Cyclops. You don't know how long it takes, but soon the horse lands in a field far away. You are greeted by a strong-looking man. "My name is Bellerophon, and this is Pegasus, my flying horse." Then the horse speaks. "If you've had enough adventure for one day, then I can transport you home. But, if you would like to have more adventures, I'll take you to the Cave of the Goblins. I heard that the Leprechauns who live there are in some kind of trouble and need help. Perhaps you could help them."

You follow the trail to the north into a dark, gloomy forest. Scary-looking hollow trees on each side of the trail make you even more afraid. Finally, you feel relieved to come to a clearing. Inside the clearing is a bed. You feel sleepy. Maybe you should lay down to rest.

You set out for where the Chimera has his lair. Soon, you come to his cave. You can hear loud breathing from inside. As you stand outside the cave, you must decide how you will approach this.

"Please fly me home now", you say. As soon as you give the carpet your request, it starts to fly at lightning speed. You can hardly hang on to it without falling off! After a few minutes of this super-fast flying, the carpet finally slows down. Now you see where you are--you're flying just over your own neighborhood! Suddenly the carpet makes a dive for it and flies through an open window into your room. Then it falls to the floor, and you get off. The carpet then flies out the window toward its own home.
The next day in the National Enquirer, the cover story is "Local woman sees a UFO that looks like a Persian rug."

"I would like to have more adventures here in the Land of Legend. But where should I go?" you ask the carpet. It replies, "Well, you could visit the Leprechauns. I hear they're in some sort of trouble, and maybe you could help them. On the other hand, you could pay a visit to the Sphinx. So who would you like to meet?"

"Who, or what, are you?" you ask. In reply, an Elf jumps out from the bushes and says, "I am an Elf, as you can see. Now, the reason you shouldn't go inside that cave is that a horrible monster guards it. Her name is Medusa."

"Medusa", continues the Elf, "has serpents instead of hair and a face that turns anyone who looks at it to stone. It's a good thing you didn't go in there!" he says, pointing to the cave. Then you ask him what's further down the path. He says, "Well, that path leads directly to the Forest of the Sphinx."
You thank the Elf and set off down the path.

You hold up the baby dragon for the mother to see. The mother dragon looks at you, and you can tell she is not pleased. Will you be reduced to a pile of ashes?
You are just about to give up hope when the baby dragon saves you. He tells the mother that you weren't trying to kidnap him. When she hears this, the mother dragon's expression changes. Now she tells you, "I can tell you would like to return to your own home. So I shall fly you there. Get on my back", she says. You do as she says and soon, you, the mother dragon, and the baby dragon are soaring at lightning speed toward home.

You follow the Leprechaun's directions and manage to wind your way through the many narrow passageways of the cave. Finally you see Cerberus. But he's not what you expected him to be!
This creature is a dog with three heads, as the Leprechaun said. However, he is no bigger than a Great Dane! Also, he seems to have a pitiful expression in his eyes.
You think that perhaps Cerberus is not dangerous. On the other hand, appearances can be deceiving. Maybe he is mean and merciless.

"Take me to the Cave of the Goblins", you ask Bellerophon and Pegasus. Immediately, the winged horse asks you to get on his back. Just as Pegasus (and you) take off for the faraway cave, you wave goodbye to Bellerophon. Soon, Pegasus lands right next to a road. "Now, I must leave you. Follow the road in that direction and you will find the cave."

You follow the trail to the south into a desert. Soon the trail becomes nothing more than a track through the sand. Then you see what looks like water ahead. You run up to the "oasis", only to discover that it was just a mirage. Then you see another flash of light coming from your left.

"I would like to explore more", you tell the seal. He says "Very well. There are two things I think you would like to do. The first would be to visit the Island of the Sirens. These lovely creatures are half woman and half bird, and play enchantingly beautiful music. The other thing would be to visit Mac, the Sea-King, in his Palace-Beneath-The-Waves."

Just as you are thinking about how you want to lure the Chimera out of the cave, you have an idea. You fasten your shield to your sword with some rope you find lying on the ground. Now you have a tool which you can use as a shovel. It takes you the rest of the day to dig a pit which you think will be big enough for the Chimera to fit inside. Then you spot something. Nearby is a deer carcass, with vultures picking at it. You pick up a stick from the ground and start to bang it against your "shovel". Then you make the scariest face you can manage and try to roar like a monster as you run toward the carcass. With a loud screech, the vultures fly away. Now, without ever touching the deer carcass, you use your "shovel" to push it so it is just beyond the hole you dug. Now you find some more sticks and lay them across the hole.

You swallow from fear and enter the Chimera's lair. It is a dark, foul-smelling cave. Clutching your shield and sword, you steel yourself to face this horrible monster. Then you see him. He looks just like the Pixies' description--and he doesn't look too happy either. You raise your sword to cut off one of the heads, the head of a goat, but the Chimera is faster. He spews his deadly fire directly at you. Oh, no! If only you had remembered to hold your shield right in front of you, instead of just carrying it at your side, this story wouldn't have come so quickly to

This field seems suspicious, so you don't eat any of the flowers. Soon you almost trip over a squirrel standing in the middle of the path. "Watch it!" she says in a stern voice. If this squirrel can talk, you think, than maybe she can tell me something about that strange meadow. "So, do you know anything about those plants over there", you ask the squirrel. "Yes, I do. Never eat any of the lotus flowers in that meadow. They erase your memory so you don't remember your home, and thus want to stay there forever," she says.
That was a narrow escape! You leave the squirrel and continue on.

Perhaps Cerberus is not dangerous as the Leprechaun said he was. To test this theory, you say, "Hello." The three-headed dog monster seems surprised by what you said. Then he speaks in a mournful tone. You can hear the sadness in his voice.

You continue along the path, and soon you enter a beautiful forest. Songs of birds fill the air. You have not walked far when suddenly you stop with fear and surprise. For there is an enormous monster right before you.
The monster has the head of a woman. But her body is that of a lion. From her back, two wings, like those of a bird, sprout.
"Welcome. I am the Sphinx. You have trespassed on my forest. Now you shall pay the price--that is, unless you can pass my challenge."
"Ch-challenge?" you stutter.
"Here it is: you must solve my riddle."
Then the Sphinx seems to pause for a while. Finally, she gives you the riddle. "I am an animal. I walk on four legs when I am young. Then I walk on two legs. And as I grow old, I walk on three legs. You have two minutes to solve the riddle. If you give the wrong answer, or run out of time, you will pay the price. Two minutes, starting...Now!"

You then look around and see a large, leafy tree. You hack away at some of the branches with your sword, and soon many fresh green leaves are lying on the ground. You pick up the leaves and carry them over to your trap, laying them on the sticks, so that the pit will be entirely covered up.
Your plan was to make moaning noises from behind the deer carcass, so the Chimera would think that the deer was still alive, and close to death. And he would not breathe his fire at you, for that would make the deer unsuitable for eating. But when he comes close enough to the deer carcass, he will fall into your pit. Then you will devise a plan to finish him off.

You have not walked far when you enter a beautiful field blooming with lotus flowers. Then you notice several people sitting in the center of the field, eating the flowers with great enthusiasm. Well, you think, if those people are eating those plants with such gusto, it must taste really good. Then you remember you haven't had anything to eat for hours!

You follow the trail to the east into a beautiful, serene meadow. All seems peaceful. Then you notice an odd-looking nest, woven from vines, straw, and sticks, sitting right in the middle of the path. Inside the nest is a peculiar red egg.

"I would like to visit the Leprechauns", you ask the carpet. "Very well, I'll take you there", it answers. And soon the carpet is flying so fast you can hardly see where you're going. Finally, it slows down, and then lands. You are in a forest, and a trail runs through the forest right in front of you. "Just follow the trail to the left and you will find the Leprechauns' cave."
Suddenly the carpet is gone, and you figure you have no choice but to follow the directions it gave you.

Although Cerberus isn't very big, he could be dangerous anyway, so you raise your sword and shield to challange him. As soon as you do this, he shoots out three gigantic plumes of fire out of all three of his mouths, which quickly merge into one. Then, the fire strangely splits and forms a "window" around you, so you are not engulfed by the raging flames, but they surround you on three sides. Then the roaring flames die down.

Your plan worked! The Chimera is struggling to get out of the pit, but it is just too deep. Now you suddenly think to yourself, The Pixies told me to slay the Chimera. However, I'm sure he can't get out. Maybe I could just leave this place now and hope that the Chimera never escapes my trap.

You slowly back away from the cobra, which does not move, but just stares at you. Then you see something you didn't notice before. There is a golden flute lying on the ground! You suddenly have an idea.

Just then, the mother dragon suddenly slows down. "I've just detected that there is a thunderstorm happening right where your home is! We dragons do not like thunder, you know. Perhaps we could just circle around for a while, and then when the thunderstorm has passed, I could continue on."
"Sounds fine to me", you say.
But just then you hear a sound. FFFFT...FFFFT-FFFFT-FFFFT. Suddenly, the mother dragon yelps in pain as she suddenly hurtles toward the ground. You are falling too...
When you crash on the ground, you look at the baby dragon. He is the first to speak: "Is she dead?"
"I don't know", you say.

"An insect?", you guess uncertainly. "What? You say it is an insect!" the Sphinx exclaims in utter shock. "Why, you are a fool! Anybody knows that insects have six legs, not four or two or three! Why, you are not even worthy of the Land of Legend. Never have I met someone as foolish as you!"

"The answer to your riddle is a human being," you say uncertainly. "Of course", the Sphinx exclaims. Now her expression and tone of voice change from angry to friendly. "When you are a baby, you crawl on all fours. As an adult, you walk on two legs. But when you are old, you have to walk with a cane." The Sphinx pauses for a while. Then she speaks again.
"You see, I only allow the wisest of travelers to enter my domain. Fools have no place here. You have proven yourself worthy of this," she says. Suddenly, something forces your eyes shut. You cannot open them no matter how hard you try. Then, thirty seconds later, the grip is released. You open your eyes to see a music box in front of you. "This music box plays two tunes," explains the Sphinx. "That switch on the side of the box controls which tune. Now, whenever you are here in the Land of Legend, and want to go home, flip the switch so that the arrow points to the tiny picture of yourself, and then press the button to play the Tune of Home. Whenever you are in your own world and want to go to the Land of Legend, flip the switch so the arrow points to the tiny picture of me, then press the button to play the Tune of Legend. You are always welcome, both here in the Land of Legend, and in the Forest of the Sphinx."

Your sudden idea was that the answer to the riddle was a human being.
That couldn't be right, could it? you think. You spend the rest of the two minutes trying to think of another answer. Finally, you hear the loud voice of the Sphinx; "Time's up!" Then she exclaims, "Why, I thought you would be smart and wise. But I was wrong. You are not worthy to be here. Now you shall pay the price for trespassing on my forest."

You have not walked far along the path when you come to the mouth of a cave. You go inside the cave and find that it is lit by hundreds of strange blue seeds sitting in cages, hanging from the ceiling. You have not gone far when you bump into something. You look down to find a tiny Leprechaun. "At last! We've found a human!", he shouts joyfully.

"I would like to hear the music of the Sirens", you ask. The seal, with you on his back, glides on the surface of the water, much like a manta ray, at a speed that not even a car on a freeway can attain. Then you hear it. It is soft, very beautiful music, coming from an island just up ahead. You feel that if you can just reach the music, you will live in perfect bliss forever. You suddenly jump off the seal and start swimming fervently toward the music. Eventually, you reach the island, where you can see the Sirens. They are just like the seal described them. Two are singing, one is playing a flute, and another one is playing a violin. You start to sing with them and feel yourself drawn into perfect bliss. Now, not even hunger or thirst can make you leave this island.

Immediately, you begin to fall unconcious. When you wake up, you are in a dark, musty dungeon. You are handcuffed to a ball and chain. Although you cannot see the Sphinx, you can hear her say, "You will never escape."

"I used to be the King of the Desert", the monster says. "I roamed the desert from here to there, defending my domain against all foes. But one day, I saw a group of Goblins approaching, and, before I could stop them, they rubbed this crystal of some kind, and, immediately, I fell asleep. When I woke up, a really big goblin wearing a crown said to me, 'Cerberus, I have a good mind to kill you and use your fur for my robe! But, I am giving you an option. If you do not want to die immediately, I will use you as the Guardian of our Chamber. But don't try any funny stuff--just kill intruders when I order you to, and don't kill any of my people. If you try something funny, you're done for. Understand?' Well, you know which option I chose, and now, here I am. But don't worry. I'm on your side!"
"But the Leprechaun said you were a ferocious beast!", you reply.
"Then he is too cowardly to find out the truth. Alas, so many choose to be ignorant, instead of trying to find the truth.", replies Cerberus. Since he was once King of the Desert, he must be very wise.
"Well, tell me what I need to know!", you say.
"There will be time later to reveal all. Right now, all you need to do is what the Leprechaun told you to do."
"You know what the Leprechaun told me?"
"Yes, I can hear extraordinarily well. But there is no more time for conversation--you must continue on at once.
So, you leave Cerberus and continue on.

You look around and see that you have landed in a clearing in a forest. Suddenly, you turn to see a huge blue dragon stepping out of the thick foliage. "She is not dead. I am the Dragon Doctor, and I will take care of her. Now, let's see...Poison arrows! I need the antidote! Where is it...." Then the doctor explains that the Dragonhunters shot the mother dragon with their poison arrows. The Dragonhunters are a group of renegade elves who shoot dragons for sport. So that's what the FFFT-FFFFT noise was. Poison arrows. How terrible!, you think.
You are relieved to know that the mother dragon will live, but you are growing bored with the Dragon Doctor's medical routine, so you decide to leave and explore the Land of Legend more.

You stand your ground, not saying anything. Soon, Cerberus speaks, and you can hear a mournful tone in his voice.

You run away from the pit and run back toward the Pixies' clearing. When you reach the Pixies, you tell them about what you did to the Chimera. When you finish, one of them says, "That's good enough. One thing we know about the Chimera is that he is incredibly dumb; that monster is just as intelligent as a flea. He'll never get out. Now, we shall grant you any request you want."
Without hesitating, you say, "I would like to return home."
"As you wish", answers one of the Pixies.

You walk farther, and soon you come to a junction. From one path comes the sound of beautiful flute music, and from the other path there is no sound.

You lie down on the bed and go to sleep as soon as your head touches the pillow. You are woken up by a loud, booming voice. "Who dares to enter the Forest of the Cyclops?" he asks. You look up to see that the maker of the noise is a 40-foot-tall giant with only one eye in the middle of his forehead.

You keep silent. The goblins--there must be fifty of them, crowd around you. Before you can say "Mississippi", you are bound and gagged. The goblins carry you into a small, dark, airtight cage. You cry out for mercy, but you know there will be none. You look around at your enclosure. It's about as big as your bathroom at home--with enough air to last you two hours or so.

You walk back towards where the Leprechaun was. Then you notice those strange glowing blue seeds hanging in cages from the ceiling--there are so many of them! What are they? Finally, you come back to the spot in the cave where you met the Leprechaun. There, he and Cerberus are cheering. "Now, hand me the jewel", says the Leprechaun. You give it to him and he slaps it as hard as he can. Immediately, the seeds in the cages start to glow a brighter blue, and then explode, forcing you to close your eyes. When you wake up, they are no longer there; a Leprechaun stands where each of the blue seeds was!

You run away from the poisonous cobra as fast as you can, and it slithers after you. You keep running, knowing your life depends on it, but the cobra seems to be just as fast as you. You are running so fast you can't see where you're going, and you trip over a stick in the road and fall flat on your face. You try to get up, but before you can, the cobra lunges for you. With a loud hissing, the deadly and poisonous jaws clamp shut right above your left ankle.

You continue on, and soon you can hear wild noises which sound like someone is partying! Then you come to a room filled with Goblins laughing and making merry. Suddenly, one of them sees you and says, "Numah Trela! Numah Trela!" Then they rush at you. You think, Will the password really turn those goblins into ants? Or is that just a superstition between Cerberus and the Leprechauns?

You leave the Pixies and continue on the path. Soon, you are surrounded in inky blackness, which, just as soon as it appears, goes away. Now you look around and see that you are at a junction. One of the trails heads into a thick, dark forest. The other disappears into shallow, swampy water.

You choose the silent path and soon a foggy blackness surrounds you. You cannot see where you are going. Then, the fog clears, and you find your self at a junction.
Here, the trail forks to the north and to the south. The trail to the north is overgrown with thorns and poison ivy.

You start to play a tune on the flute, slowly moving it back and forth. The cobra seems mezmerized by the action. Then, after you have played for exactly thirty seconds, the cobra suddenly starts to change!
It gradually changes into a beautiful princess. She explains that a horrible Witch cast a spell on her which transformed her into a cobra, and the only way to break the spell was to use the golden flute!
Then, she says, "I'd better get back to my castle. It is under the sea so you can't go there. But here's a little present for you", she says, handing you a miniature statue made of pure gold.
You thank her and continue along the path.

You head into the woods. Suddenly you hear a hiss. Looking down, you see that there is a cobra in front of you. You are horrified.

Perhaps that bed is a trick of some kind. So you keep walking along the path. Soon, the forest grows livelier and less gloomy, and now you feel almost at peace. But where are you? Just then, you hear two sounds coming from different directions. One is a pitiful moaning sound, and the other is the music of flutes.

Oh, so you can't play a flute? But then, you feel a blast of powerful energy coming out of the flute. Now you somehow know how to play it. Somehow, it magically taught you how to play itself!
So, now that you know how to play a flute you should

You head into the swampy water. The mire oozes around your shoes, and you are afraid you will become stuck. You keep walking forward, when suddenly you hear a loud, terrifying roar. You look ahead and see that there is a horrible monster, completely covered in muck, walking directly toward you. You turn and run, forgetting that you can't run in muddy water. You trip and fall flat on your face in the swamp! The Swamp Thing gradually walks closer. You try to get up, but before you can, the Swamp Thing puts two long, slimy arms around you and starts to squeeze. For you, this is...

Inside there is a humongous, frightening-looking creature. He looks like the opposite of a mermaid: he has the head and upper body of a fish, with the lower body and legs of a human! And he's wearing a crown made of seaweed and coral. He introduces himself. "I am Mac, the King of the Sea. I know that you saved one of my subjects", pointing at the seal. "Since you were kind to one of my subjects, you were kind to me. Now, I will reward you." He pulls out one of his scales, which reflects all the colors of the rainbow. "Whenever you want to travel between the Kingdom Under the Sea and your own world, all you have to do is rub this scale. You will always be welcome in my world."

You keep walking along the path, and soon you come to the mouth of a cave. A foul stench drifts from the cave, and you hear a sound that is somewhat like snoring, and somewhat like hissing, coming from inside.

You take a closer look at the strange red egg. Then you hear a cracking sound. The egg is hatching! What will it hatch into?

You are puzzled by what the Leprechaun said. Then he explains. "The Leprechaun Kingdom is in danger of being wiped out by the Goblins. We need your help! If you will help us, then we will give you anything you desire."
"Well, what do you want me to do?"
"You must first defeat Cerberus, the guardian of the Goblins' Chamber, then you will defeat all the goblins and finally the Goblin King. You can do it. You are the only one who can help us."

The Cyclops reaches down and picks you up off the bed. He lifts you up to his mouth. "Hmm. I have never seen anything like you in these woods. I think you'll make a tasty morsel."

You keep walking along the dry, dusty path. Soon you grow thirsty and weary. It seems like miles until you finally come to a real oasis. This oasis is a small lake surrounded by palm trees. You walk over to the lake, and are just about to drink the water, when you hear a small voice say "Stop! Don't drink that water!"

You jump off the carpet. Luckily, you are not injured by the fall, for you fall into soft QUICKSAND! You begin to sink like crazy. You try to struggle against the pull of the quicksand, but that only makes you fall faster.
Soon it will be

You are so thirsty that you ignore the voice and start to drink from the cool, refreshing pool of water. But something is wrong. You look around, and see that the surrounding oasis is growing bigger. No, it isn't, you're getting smaller! Soon, you are only the size of a mouse. Then you look up and see a "giant" seagull, now forty times your size, swoop toward you. It picks you up in its beak, and it is

"Who, or what, are you?" you ask. The voice replies and says that it is the invisible guardian of the oasis. "That lake is cursed. Drink from it, and you shrink until you're the size of a mouse."
It's a good thing you didn't drink from the lake! Then the voice says, "I can tell that you are lost and don't know where to find your way home, so I will magically transport you home."
And so, you start to feel an odd sensation, like you're melting. Then, you are sitting in your room at home. You look up from the book. So, it was a magic book!, you think. Now I can return to the Land of Legend any time I want to!

You are just about to go inside the cave when you hear a tiny voice say "Stop! Don't go in there!"

You leave the Leprechaun and continue on into the dark, musty cave. The winding tunnels remind you of an endless maze. Suddenly, you see a huge monster that looks like a dog with three heads. The last things you see are flames coming out of one of his mouths, shooting toward you.
You've always liked to eat toast for breakfast. But this time you are the toast!

You don't know if you can trust the horse. So you keep running. Then you see a huge shadow right in front of you. You look back just in time to see the Cyclops' huge, stinky, and hairy foot come down on you.
Squish!

You climb onto the seal's back and he takes you underwater. You are thrilled to find that you now can extract oxygen directly from the water, as if you had gills.
The seal then tells you that you may now return home. But, if you want to see more of the Land of Legend, he will take you on a splendid tour of the Kingdom Under the Sea.

If you have had enough adventure, and you want to go home now, you can end the story here.

However

You ignore the funny noise and proceed into the awful-smelling cave. It is pitch-dark, and you cannot see a thing. Just then, you see a fire at the end of the cavern. Then you see who lit the fire. A monster who has the ugliest face you've ever seen and snakes instead of hair is staring directly at you. The sheer ugliness of her face turns you to stone, for real!
You do not live to hear Medusa (for that is the monster's name) cackle, "Another specimen for my stone-statue collection."

Hope you like rock music!

You are so scared by the mother dragon that you drop the baby dragon and run off in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, the mother dragon thought you were going to kidnap her baby! So she gets up on her hind legs and spews fire directly at you.
You are incinerated.
Too bad.

"No, I'd like to return home. I've had enough adventure for today."
"As you wish", says Pegasus. But instead of him flying you home, he and Bellerophon, and the surrounding forest, starts to fade away. Then you feel yourself losing conciousness. When you wake up, you are in your room at home. Everything was the same as before...
At least you think that until you look over at the spot where you were sitting when you started to read the book. The book has a huge red X drawn on its cover with a crayon! Then you open the book, and see that all of the pages are X-ed out as well. Then you see a note on the title page written in bright orange crayon...

You had your chance for adventure.
But you turned it down.

Then you realize that you will wonder for the rest of your days about the Cave of the Goblins and the adventures you might have had.

"I want to see the Sphinx", you ask the carpet. "I am at your service", it replies. Soon, the carpet starts flying so fast you cannot see where you're going. Finally, it slows down and lands. "The Sphinx's Forest is that way", it says, shooting out a plume of fire in one direction, which scorches the grass, forming an arrow. You look, dumbfounded at what you just saw. "Oh, I'm sorry. That's just my way of pointing, you see. I don't have any hands", explains the carpet. "Now, I must go." it says, and slowly rises up toward the sunny sky.

You know that insects have six legs, not two or four or three.
You try to think with all your might, because you know your life depends on
it. Suddenly you have an idea. For a second you think, This HAS to be the answer to the riddle!, but then you have to wonder. What if you're wrong?

You reach down and pick a bunch of lotus blossoms.
You bite into the root of one of the flowers. As soon as you swallow theroot, you feel a tingling sensation all over. Then...

You go over to the pit, and raise your sword at the writhing beast. He does not see you, for he is pushing his heads against the wall of the pit in hopes that he could push his body out. Quickly, you raise your sword, and aim it at the creature's tail. You bring it down with a Whack! It cuts off the tip of the Chimera's tail, but, as soon as you do this, the Chimera gives an earsplitting cry of pain. You are surprised and lose your balance, falling over the edge, down... down... down... into the pit with the Chimera.

You turn and run away from Cerberus as fast as you can. Strangely, he doesn't spew fire at you, but soon you are out of his range of fire anyway. Then, you hear a rumbling noise all around you. You look to see thousands of rocks and boulders spilling down a tunnel which branches off the main tunnel. This side tunnel's floor inclines upward as you go away from the main tunnel, and that's why the boulders are shooting straight toward you. Your running must have triggered a cave-in or something! The last word you ever say is a scream of terror: "Avalanche!!!"

"Fish of the old potato!!!!" you yell as loud as you can. As soon as you say the password, all the goblins start to shrink. In seconds they are but tiny black ants crawling on the cave floor and walls. So, now you know the password works! You continue on.
"Fish of the old potato. Fish of the old potato. Fish of the old potato", you say, as you continue on, turning ever more goblins into ants. Finally, you reach the Goblin King's Throne. He lunges at you, but before he can get you, you say the password, and soon the Goblin King himself is nothing but a small red ant crawling on the floor. You walk over to the throne and see that a large emerald is wedged in between the back of the throne and the wall. You pick up the emerald and soon you are on your way back to the Leprechaun.

"I would like to visit Mac, the Sea-King", you say. The seal, without a word, takes you underwater, and you descend deeper and deeper. Finally you come to a castle. Two poisonous lionfish* stand guarding the palace, brandishing their poisonous spines. Immediately, the seal says some sort of code: ODORI MOSTACCIOLI AMBROSIA NAMASTE.
The lionfish open the door to the castle, letting you and the seal in.

The Leprechaun explains. He says, "This emerald is called the Jewel of the Leprechauns. It is the source of our power. Without it we are helpless to defend ourselves. Four years ago, it was stolen by the Goblins. They used it to transform almost all of us into Trebcons, which are what those blue seeds were called. Only I remained, protected by a magical shark-tooth amulet. They captured Cerberus too", he says.
"Didn't you tell me Cerberus was horrible and dangerous?"
"That was because of a spell cast by the Goblin King. You see, he couldn't turn me into a Trebcon, so he cast a spell on me, so that I couldn't tell any human that Cerberus was really not dangerous. He thought that he could use me to scare away all humans who wanted to defeat him and rescue us."
Suddenly, another Leprechaun wearing a gold crown walks up to you. He says, "I am the King of the Leprechauns. You have rescued our kingdom, now I will repay you by sending you back to your own world. I'll also give you a little gift too."

You walk over to where you saw the second flash of light. To your surprise, it was coming from an expensive-looking Persian rug. Now you remember what the voice said--that you would find what you only thought existed in myths and legends. Could the rug be a flying carpet? You sit down on the rug. Just as you thought, it starts to rise into the air. All of a sudden, it shoots ahead, then, just as abruptly, flies backward. Then it starts to fly in one direction, then another. It darts around like crazy. You can't control it! Maybe it would be unsafe to stay on the carpet any longer.