Joshua and Hiccup felt their way through the soupy, gray fog. The foul smell of rotten eggs grew stronger, guiding them to their destination--the Swamp of Slime.
After a time, the fog separated, becoming misty tatters and shreds. Joshua and Hiccup found themselves at the very beginning of the Swamp of Slime. The shredded fog whirled all about them like angry, gray spirits. It seemed to have an evil life all of its own, reaching out with ghostly, swirly-like fingers for the two, small figures. That eerie whistling--as if it were the warning of impending doom--had grown much louder.
The dark, oily waters of the Swamp of Slime lapped sluggishly at the bleak shoreline, stirred by large, syrupy bubbles that rose to the surface from out of the depths. They exploded like overblown balloons, releasing their sulfurous stench, making the air barely breathable.
From its very edge and out-beyond--where they disappeared into dark, gray fog--the twisted shadows of long-dead trees, lifted their gnarled limbs. It was as if they had been wrenched from a dreadful nightmare. To Joshua's and Hiccup's fright-filled eyes, it appeared that those tortured limbs seemed to be searching, searching for victims.
Dull, green scum floated lifelessly on the surface of the murky water, disturbed now and then by bursting bubbles. It clung to the tangle of twisted roots that rose up from the deep to meet strands of dead, dangling vines.
"This is the spookiest place!" Joshua said to Hiccup with a shudder as he fought to keep his fear under control
"Very spooky." Hiccup agreed, nervously.
Something caught Joshua's eye. "Look!"
"At what?"
"Over there! It looks like a trail leading into the Swamp of Slime."
Joshua approached the narrow trail cautiously. It appeared to be a dense matting of rotten, brown weeds and twigs floating on the water. He stepped down upon it with one foot to see if it would hold his weight. The trail trembled when he pushed down with his foot. He pressed harder. The matted trail was soft and mushy but it held. Now, the real test would come if it held his entire weight.
Joshua glanced over to where Hiccup stood a short distance away and then turned his attention back to where the trail led into the Swamp of Slime. What if he fell through? What if there was quicksand beneath it? What if there were terrible creatures lurking beneath the murky water? What if--Joshua shuddered and tried to put those awful thoughts out of his mind. He knew he had to take the chance if he and Hiccup were to reach the Valley of Dead Clocks. Carefully, ever so carefully, he stepped out on the rotted matting that was the trail. It wobbled and shook but it held his weight.
"Come on Hiccup! I found a way into the Swamp of Slime!"
Hiccup just stood at the edge of the swamp, acting as if he did not hear Joshua call to him. He seemed to be listening intently to something. Was it the whistling? It was there, all around them. There was strangeness about Hiccup that Joshua had never seen before. Hiccup's eyes had stopped changing colors and had, instead, become cloudy. He appeared to be swaying to the beat of a rhythm that Joshua could not hear.
"She is calling me!" Hiccup suddenly cried out in the strangest voice. "I will be right there! Wait for me!" Then, with a great leap, he hopped past Joshua on to the trail. Before Joshua could recover his wits, Hiccup hopped on, into the Swamp of Slime and was soon out of sight.
"Come back! Come back!" Joshua shouted after Hiccup. There was no reply except for the whistling which became louder and more piercing, forcing him to hold his ears. Joshua had no choice but to follow the quaking trail into the Swamp of Slime with the hope that he might find Hiccup somewhere up ahead.
Gingerly, he placed one foot before the other and felt the matted trail tremble beneath him. A sense of foreboding grew within him with each, careful step that took him deeper and deeper into the forbidding swamp. He would stop and call out Hiccup's name and then strain his ears for a reply. There was none. The only sound that Joshua could hear was the eerie whistling. Despite his growing fear, Joshua pressed onward to the rapid rhythm of his pounding heart.
He was now ever so far into the gloomy Swamp of Slime. The shaky trail had become so narrow that Joshua had to place his heel before his toe in order to stay on it. Those terrible thoughts returned. What if he fell off that narrow matting into the dark, scum covered water? It was more than quick sand that worried him now. Joshua wondered at what might be living under that murky water. If he had looked behind him he would have had, at least, one answer.
The creature rose up, silently, from the depths and broke the surface with no more than a ripple. Green, dripping scum covered the top of its slippery head. Only one, unblinking, yellow eye was barely visible. The rest of it was still hidden beneath the water. It watched as the small human called out to Hiccup.
Joshua continued on into the Swamp of Slime, carefully placing heel before toe and hoping that the narrowing trail would not disappear all together. The swamp creature silently followed close behind with only the top of its head and hungry, yellow eye revealed above the water's surface.When Joshua would stop so would the eye; watching and never blinking.
"Help!"
That was Hiccup! Joshua recognized his little friend's voice even though it was very faint. It seemed to to be coming from some place far ahead and deeper into the swamp.
"I'm coming to help you!" Joshua shouted out as loud as he could. He moved as fast as he could along the narrowing trail, pushing through tangles of vines that hung down from the limbs of shadowy trees whose tops were hidden in a shroud of fog.
Hiccup's calls for help were growing louder. If only he would reach his little friend in time! At least the Wicked~Witch~Watch had not gotten Hiccup yet and turned him into glue. Joshua held his flashlight ready, just in case the Evil should appear.
It was then that Joshua saw a faint movement just ahead. Was that Hiccup? Joshua tried to hurry himself but it was slow going on this narrow, trembling trail. The yellow eye followed, silently, through the dark water, a short distance behind.
"Hiccup!"Joshua cried out when he came near enough to his little friend struggling on the trail, just ahead.
"Stop!" came Hiccup's frantic warning. "Do not take another step!"
Joshua stopped so suddenly that he lost his balance and might have fallen into the slimy water if he had not grabbed hold of a vine that dangled next to him.
"What's the matter?" Joshua called out over the short distance that separated him from where Hiccup appeared to be standing on the trail.
"It's a trap!" answered Hiccup, helplessly. "The trail ends just in front of you!"
"Are you sure?"
"Very, very sure! The trail appears to continue on. It is really sticky muck and I am stuck in it!"
"I am going to help you
"You cannot help me! If you try you will get stuck too. Turn back! Save yourself! The Evil One will be here to get me before long!"
"Not while I have my flashlight. There must be some way to get you out of that stuff?"
Joshua was still holding the dangling vine. It gave him an idea. He tied a large loop on the end and then, carefully backed up along the trail with the vine held tightly in both hands.
The watchful, yellow eye was now only a few feet from where Joshua stood. Now, the one-eyed swamp monster rose up from out of the murky water, revealing a huge, gaping mouth lined with rows of slime-stained fangs. Its massive body, shaped like a glistening, gray manta ray towered over Joshua who was, as yet, unaware of his great danger. With two, outstretched claws the swamp monster prepared to strike. Then--it lunged at Joshua.
"Watch out!" screamed Hiccup from where he stood stuck in the muck.
Joshua swung away on the vine just as those vicious jaws closed over the place he had been standing only a fraction of a second before. He was too busy concentrating on saving his little friend to notice or even realize the terrible danger from which he had just barely escaped. As he swung toward Hiccup, Joshua pushed both of his feet through the loop he had tied so that he was sitting within it. Now, he leaned over as far as he could, reaching out with one hand while he held tightly to the swinging vine with the other.
"Get ready!" shouted Joshua as he swung low over where Hiccup stood stuck in the muck.
Hiccup raised his cap and curled two ends into hooks so that Joshua had handholds.
"Oh dear! Oh dear! Do hurry!"urged Hiccup as he kept a fearful eye on the nearing swamp monster.
Joshua was over Hiccup and reached out with his free hand. He took hold of one of Hiccup's curled hooks. His grip slipped and he swung past his friend in a great arc. Now, he began to swing back again towards Hiccup, in the direction of the one-eyed swamp monster that waited in the water just beyond.
It was then that Joshua saw it for the first time.
"What's that?" he screamed in terror.
"A swamp monster! Don't miss me this time! Please!"
"Here I come!" cried out Joshua as he leaned over and took a firmer grip on the end of Hiccup's curled cap. This time his hand did not slip. Hiccup barely budged from where he stood stuck but he did stop Joshua from from swinging back toward the swamp monster.
"I am really stuck fast!" Hiccup cried out in despair. Joshua hung over him and tried pulling with all of his might.
"One hand won't do it! I'll have to use both!" Joshua curled his legs under himself giving himself a firmer hold of the looped vine. He then reached down and took hold of the two hooked ends of Hiccup's cap with both of his hands and pulled as hard as he could.
"I--I think that I am coming unstuck!" Hiccup exclaimed.
Joshua pulled harder.
"Try wiggling! It might help to free you!" Joshua shouted, frantically. He had glanced over his shoulder and saw the one-eyed swamp monster moving, slowly, towards them.
The sound was like that of a cork being pulled out of a bottle. Hiccup came unstuck and dangled from Joshua's hands, dripping, foul-smelling muck.
"I'm out of it! Hooray for you!" Then, he too saw the swamp monster moving towards them. "The monster is coming!"
Joshua was desperate. There was not a second to be wasted. He pulled Hiccup up to him.
"Hang on to my shoulders!"
Joshua began to climb up the vine with Hiccup on his back. Hand over hand, inch by inch he went, pulling himself and Hiccup up the vine. The swamp monster was almost upon them. Joshua had climbed to a height where he could look into the leering, yellow eye. He climbed faster!
The one-eyed monster lunged, just missing Joshua and Hiccup.
They climbed higher until Joshua was able to pull himself and Hiccup onto a thick, twisted branch from which the vine hung. Joshua put his head back against the tree trunk trying to catch his breath. Hiccup stared down at the one-eyed swamp monster, quaking from fright over their narrow escape. After time, the swamp monster seemed to realize it had lost its prey and sank beneath the murky water.
"I--I think we are safe now." said Joshua between taking deep gulps of air.
"Oh dear! Oh dear! I hope so. I really hope so." exclaimedHiccup, continuing to
quake.
"Why did you do it?" questioned Joshua.
"Do What?"
"Why did you hop off into the swamp without me?"
"I couldn't help myself." sighed Hiccup. "It was as if I was under a spell."
"A spell?"
"Definitely a spell. Now I really understand the first three stanzas of the rhyme." Hiccup began to repeat the rhyme:
"If you should go wandering
across the Sea of Time
Look up and down and all around
Beware the Swamp of Slime!
For there it lures all Seconds-Past
to catch them in its muck.
And once into that sticky mire,
they can never come unstuck!
And should they meet this dismal fate
there is nothing they can do.
The Wicked~Witch~Watch comes for them
and turns them into glue!"
"You mean that you were lured into the Swamp of Slime by a spell?"
"That is exactly what I mean. A spell cast by the Evil One."
"She would have turned you into glue!"
"She would have if you hadn't come and got me unstuck. Thank you. Thank you."
"Well, if you hadn't warned me about that swamp monster I would be in its
stomach instead of beings up here, safe in this tree. I thank you." replied Joshua, gratefully.
Hiccup blushed six different colors.
"Now that we each have agreed that we saved each other, what do we do now?
With that swamp monster down there, we can't climb down and go back."
"We're not going back." replied Joshua with renewed determination.
"We are not?"
"No."
"We can't stay here." protested Hiccup.
"No, we can't" Joshua agreed.
Hiccup appeared to be confused. "We are not going back and we cannot stay here. That means--That means--"
"That means we are going to cross the Swamp of Slime." said Joshua.
Hiccup's confusion turned to bewilderment.
"How do you propose we do that? Even if we were willing to take a chance with that swamp monster, there is no trail across."
Joshua had been busy looking about. Gnarled branches from great, dead trees met and twisted together.
"We don't need a trail. There's another way across the Swamp of Slime."
"Another way? Why we would need wings to cross this swamp."
"Or a bridge." Joshua answer, smiling mysteriously.
"Oh, a bridge would do just fine but we do not have a bridge."
"Oh, yes we do."
"We do?"
"Look how these branches meet one another. They will be our bridge across the Swamp of Slime. Joshua announced, triumphantly.
Hiccup studied the interwoven branches.
"Oh dear! I could never hop across them."
"Climb on my back. I'll carry you across piggy-back."
Then, ever so carefully, Joshua crept from one branch to another with Hiccup holding on with the curled ends of his cap. Slowly, they moved over the bridge of connecting limbs that stretched across the dark water far below. There were times when they thought they could see the awful shapes of many swamp monsters moving along with them, just below the water's slimy surface. They seemed to following along waiting for Joshua and Hiccup to slip and fall.
The day was half over when they reached the branches of a broken, rotted tree. They stopped to rest when the branch upon which they rested cracked and gave way beneath them. Down, down they fell. Joshua had just enough time to picture the one-eyed swamp monster in his mind before he and Hiccup landed upon soft, spongy ground.
"There's no water!" Joshua cried out with relief.
"And no swamp monsters! exclaimed Hiccup.
"We must be out of the Swamp of Slime." Joshua said, examining their surroundings. There were still many of the huge, dead trees about them. Except for the smell of rotten eggs and threads of fog, all signs of the swamp were gone.
"Listen!" whispered Hiccup in alarm.
"What do you hear?"
"It is what I don't hear."
"What don't you hear?"
"The whistling."
"The whistling?" whispered Joshua, nervously
"The whistling has stopped."
A deathly silence had descended upon this dark, dank, lifeless forest. Joshua could only hear his heart beating.
High above them, unseen among those twisted, tortured branches a figure dressed in the blackest-of-black flowing robes--made of fabric woven from threads of dead light--watched them through cruel, angry eyes.
"I have that feeling again!" whispered Hiccup with a great shudder of his cap and stem.
"The one you get when the Wicked~Witch~Watch is close by?"
"Oh dear! I am afraid so!"
Joshua reached for his flashlight. His back pocket was empty. The flashlight was not there.
"Oh no!"
"Oh no--what?"
"I--I lost it!"
"Lost--what?"
"My flashlight! It must have fallen out of my pocket back there in the swamp!"
"We are done for! All of us! You, me, every Second-Past, our dear Supreme Second Selector--not to mention all new forms of life on your side of time." moaned Hiccup.
"Isn't there something we can do?" Joshua was angry with himself and very frightened.
"There is no way we can fight the Evil One without your flashlight!"
"The black-robed specter began to float down through the twisted branches toward Joshua and Hiccup. The Wicked~Witch~Watch upon hearing that the flashlight was lost decided that now was the time to finish them off--forever!
"What is that sticking out of your side pocket?" questioned Hiccup.
"My flashlight! It's my flashlight! I must have put it in the wrong pocket!" Joshua
pulled it out of his pocket with a sigh of enormous relief.
The Wicked~Witch!~Watch was almost upon them when she saw the flashlight in Joshua's hand. She knew she had to reach him before he saw her and turned it on.
Joshua and Hiccup looked up at the same time as the foreboding, dark shadow fell over them. they were both so terrified that they could not move.
Now, the Evil One was almost close enough to snatch the flashlight from out of Joshua's hand!
"Turn it on!" screamed Hiccup!
Hiccup's frantic scream broke the spell of fear that gripped Joshua's fingers. His thumb fumbled at the button. Just as the Wicked~Witch~Watch's gray, bony fingers were about to grab the flashlight, a beam of piercing, white light shot out and bore a hole through the shoulder of the Evil One's black robe.
A piercing scream erupted from out of the darkness of the cowl which hid her face. The screaming continued as she turned about and fled into the dark limbo of twisted limbs and tattered fog.
Joshua and Hiccup clung together until the screams of the Evil One had faded away, leaving behind a deathly silence.
"Is--is the Wicked~Witch~Watch gone?" Hiccup managed to ask, not daring to look.
"I--I think she is." replied Joshua, shutting off his flashlight with trembling fingers. He held it ready just in case she should return.
"Yes, she is definitely gone." agreed Hiccup. "I can feel it."
"Whew! That was a close call." sighed Joshua with relief.
"I think we had better be moving on. The first day is half over and we have a long and dangerous way to go." urged Hiccup.
"Where do we go now?" Joshua asked.
"Well, according to the rhyme:
"But if by chance that swamp you cross,
new dangers there await.
The Cave of Darkness bars your way
and there'n seals your fate!"
"I--I guess we had better look for the Cave of Darkness." said Joshua, trying to keep down his fear.
"Oh dear! I wonder what new dangers are waiting for us?" Hiccup asked, not expecting an answer.
Cautiously, Joshua and Hiccup moved ahead through the sinisterly, silent forest. Soon, the trees began to thin out. Before long, they passed the last lifeless tree. There, rising up before them was a high cliff. It stretched, endlessly to their left an right, offering no way around it. At its base, directly before them, was the pitch black entrance to the Cave of Darkness.