5 Smoke and Mirrors

CHAPTER Five Smoke And Mirrors They dashed through the dark entrance and found themselves in a vast cavern. The red glow from a lava pool lit the high walls around them. "Phew! It smells burned in here," Neal whispered, creeping up behind Eric and Keeah. "Sort of like that brick oven pizza place back home." "Without the good pizza smell," Eric added. "Sparr is good at burning things," Khan said. "I hope to repay him for attacking my village." Julie shivered. "You know, most people don't go inside a volcano. I hope we can get out."

第五章烟雾与镜子他们冲进黑暗的入口，发现自己进入了一个巨大的洞穴。 熔岩池的红光照亮了他们周围的高墙。 “唷!这里有烧焦的味道，”尼尔低声说，爬到埃里克和基娅身后。 “有点像我们家的砖炉披萨店。” “没有美味的披萨味道，”埃里克补充道。 “斯帕尔擅长烧东西，”可汗说。 “我希望报复他袭击我的村庄。” 朱莉颤抖。“你知道，大多数人不会进入火山内部。 我希望我们能出去。”

"If we're careful, we will," Keeah said. "Now, first things first. Which way do we go?" The cavern around them was dark and smoky. But it was empty. In the flickering red light, they saw a rough path dug out of the rock. The path wound downward into the earth. Eric knew where it led. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew. It led to the center of the volcano. "We have to follow that path all the way down," he said. "I have a feeling that's where Sparr keeps the Eye. Down there." "How can you be sure?" Julie asked. "Because the center is probably the scariest place anybody can think of," Keeah replied. "And Sparr would want to make it as hard as possible for anyone to find the Eye." Max nodded. "And it will be harder, once he knows we are here." Eric wondered how long it would take Sparr to find them poking around his secret hiding place. And what he would do when he did. Khan sniffed. "Danger this way. Let's go on." They all started down the winding path. It led below the level they had entered on, passing boiling pools that hissed

“如果我们小心的话，我们会的，”基娅说。 “现在，重要的事情先说。我们该走哪条路？”他们周围的洞穴黑暗，烟雾缭绕。 但它是空的。在闪烁的红光下，他们看到岩石中挖出了一条崎岖的小路。 这条小路弯弯曲曲地通向地下。 埃里克知道这条路通向何方。他不确定自己是怎么知道的，但他知道。 它通向火山中心。 “我们必须一直沿着这条路走下去，”他说。 “我有一种感觉，那就是斯帕尔把圣眼放在那里的地方。 在那里。”“你怎么能肯定呢？”朱莉问。 “因为中心可能是任何人能想到的最可怕的地方，”Keeah回答。 “斯帕尔会想尽可能让任何人都找不到‘圣眼’。” 马克斯点点头。“一旦他知道我们在这里，事情就更难了。” 埃里克不知道斯帕尔要花多长时间才能发现他们在他的秘密藏身之处闲逛。 当他找到了他会怎么做。 汗闻了闻。“这边危险。 我们继续走吧。”他们都沿着蜿蜒的小路出发了。 这条路通向他们刚进入的那一层，经过咝咝作响的沸腾的水塘

and bubbled loudly. They were being as quiet as they could be. "The rock is getting hotter," Max said, crawling along the jagged walls of the path. "I wonder how we'll know when we reach the center." "That's where they keep the lava," Neal said. "Phew!" Julie sniffed. "What's that smell?" Neal looked down. "My sneakers are on fire! Yikes! Now I know where my dream came from!" He stamped his sneakers until the fire went out. "Oh, man, that really hurt!" "So do Ninns!" Eric hissed. "Quiet!" The kids crept down to still another level. The air was even hotter and smokier. It smelled worse. Keeah stopped. She held up her hand. "There's a cave up ahead," she whispered. "Something's moving. I saw a shadow—" Suddenly, a figure stepped out of the cave. "Guards, seize them!" a man said in a deep, snarly tone. The man was Lord Sparr! "Whoa!" Neal gasped. "Let's get out of here!" Everyone rushed back up the path, but Julie didn't move. She seemed frozen to the spot. "Guards, seize them!" the sorcerer repeated in the same deep tone as before.

大声地冒泡。他们尽量保持安静。 “岩石越来越热了。”马克斯一边说，一边沿着凹凸不平的小径爬着。 “我想知道我们怎么知道什么时候到达中心。” “那是他们保存熔岩的地方，”尼尔说。 “唷!”朱莉嗅。“那是什么味道？”尼尔低下头。 “我的运动鞋着火了！”呵!现在我知道我的梦是从哪里来的了！”他跺脚直到火熄灭。 “哦，天哪，真疼！”“Ninns也是！”Eric发出嘘嘘的声音。 “安静!”孩子们爬到另一层。 空气更热，烟雾更浓。 闻起来更糟。Keeah停了下来。 她举起手来。“前面有个山洞。”她小声说。 “移动的东西。我看见一个影子——”突然，一个人影从洞里走了出来。 “卫兵，抓住他们！”一个男人用低沉、刺耳的声音说。 这个人就是斯帕尔大人！“哇!”Neal气喘吁吁地说。 “我们离开这里吧！”大家都跑回小路上，但朱莉没有动。 她似乎僵在原地不动了。 “卫兵，抓住他们！”巫师用和刚才一样低沉的语调重复道。

Eric dashed back to her. "Julie, come on! Sparr's the bad guy! Do I have to drag you out?" "Wait a sec," Julie whispered. "Wait?" Eric cried. "For big greasy Ninns to come clomping over and grab us? Come on!" But Julie wouldn't budge. Seconds passed and there were no clomping footsteps. No greasy Ninn claws grabbing them. Instead, Sparr turned stiffly and walked back into the cave. He appeared to touch the cave wall, but didn't quite touch it. "See?" Julie murmured. "That's not him—" "We'll be caught, you two!" Max cried, scampering up behind them with the others. Julie laughed. "No, look. That isn't Sparr. I mean, it's not really Sparr. That is—I don't know what—special effects or something." The figure strode forward again, not even blinking. Neal cringed as it stared icily at them. "Guards, seize them!" Sparr repeated. "Ha!" Julie said. "I don't think so, Sparr." Then she leaned forward and slapped the sorcerer in the arm. Her hand went right through!

埃里克冲回她身边。“朱莉，别这样！”斯帕尔才是坏人！我一定要把你拖出来吗？”“等一下，”朱莉小声说。 “等?”埃里克喊道。“让那些油腻的大笨蛋过来抓我们？” 来吧!”但朱莉不肯让步。 几秒钟过去了，没有沉重的脚步声。 没有油腻的奶妈抓他们。 相反，斯帕尔僵硬地转过身，走回了山洞。 他似乎碰到了岩壁，但又没有完全碰到。 “看到了吗?”朱莉低声说道。“那不是他——”“我们会被抓住的，你们两个！”麦克斯喊道，和其他人一起跑到他们身后。 朱莉笑了。“不,看。那不是斯帕尔。 我是说，这不是真正的斯帕尔。 那是——我不知道是什么——特效什么的。” 那个身影又大步向前走，连眼都不眨。 当它冰冷地盯着他们时，尼尔畏缩了。 “卫兵，抓住他们！”Sparr重复。 “哈!”朱莉说。“我不这么认为，斯帕尔。” 然后她倾身向前，拍了拍巫师的胳膊。 她的手直接穿过去了！

"Whoa!" Neal whispered.

“哇!”Neal低声说。

"See what I mean?" Julie said. Keeah nodded. "Maybe Sparr created a double to take his place because the jewel burned him. Maybe the real Sparr is hurt." "Maybe it's done with mirrors," Eric said. "Weird," said Neal, peering around the figure. "He's Sparr, but he's fake." "Well, they aren't!" Max suddenly chirped. The spider troll pointed at two giant red-faced Ninn soldiers. They came clomping down the passage right toward them. "I thought I smelled something bad," Khan snorted, starting to run. The Ninns grunted and hissed. They pulled out big swords. "GET THEM!" yelled the Ninns.

“明白我的意思了吧？”朱莉说。 Keeah点点头。“也许斯帕尔创造了一个替身来代替他，因为宝石烧伤了他。 也许真正的斯帕受伤了。” “也许是用镜子做的，”埃里克说。 “真奇怪，”尼尔说，打量着那个人影。 “他是斯帕尔，但他是假的。” “嗯，他们不是！”麦克斯突然叫了起来。 蜘蛛巨魔指着两个红脸巨人宁人士兵。 他们噔噔噔地沿着通道朝他们走来。 “我觉得我闻到了不好的味道，”汗哼了一声，开始跑。 Ninns咕哝着，发出嘶嘶声。 他们拔出了大剑。 “抓住他们！”