8 Sparr’s Secret

CHAPTER Eight Sparse Secret? As the beast slurped from the pool, it began to change. Its dark, spiky hide shrank away. One by one, the sharp claws shriveled. Two became hands, two became feet. Pale, smooth skin formed over the head. The creature's arms and legs began to grow longer. Suddenly, the thing stood upright. Like a man. All that remained of the monster were two pointed fins growing behind the ears. Eric caught his breath. "Holy crow!" The man threw his powerful arms into the air. Deep, frightening laughter filled the cavern.

第八章稀疏的秘密？ 当那只野兽从水池里发出嘶嘶声时，它开始发生变化。 它那黑色的、带刺的皮缩了起来。 锋利的爪子一个接一个地萎缩。 两只变成手，两只变成脚。 白皙光滑的皮肤覆盖了头部。 这个生物的胳膊和腿开始变长。 突然，那东西站直了。 像个男人。这怪物只剩下耳朵后面长着两个尖尖的鳍。 埃里克屏住了呼吸。“神圣的乌鸦!”那人向空中挥舞着有力的双臂。 洞穴里充满了深沉而可怕的笑声。

The man was Lord Sparr! Without taking a breath, Eric and Keeah crept from the cave and ran quickly down the path. "I can't believe it!" Eric whispered. "Sparr's a monster! A creature! A creepy beast thing!" Keeah shivered. "Remember what Khan told us? The Eye of Dawn burned Sparr. Maybe it did worse things. Maybe it made him like this." "Yeah, and he drinks from the pool to make himself human again," Eric said. "Because if he doesn't, he changes back into this—thing! Maybe that's his secret! Just like in my dream!" Julie, Neal, Max, and Khan ran up to them. "Are you guys okay?" Julie asked. "You'll never believe what we saw!" Keeah said. "There was a—" But Keeah didn't get to finish. Lord Sparr stepped out of the shadows. "Ninns! I have found them!" the sorcerer said in a snarly tone. His eyes flashed at the kids. Neal laughed suddenly. "Oh, look. Mr. Special Effects is back! Guys, let me handle this." "Neal, no!" Eric began. Neal stuck his hands behind his ears and wiggled them as if they were fins. "Fake Sparr! Fake Sparr!"

这个人就是斯帕尔大人！埃里克和基娅一口气没喘气地从山洞里爬出来，沿着小路飞快地跑去。 “我简直不敢相信！”Eric低声说。 “斯巴是个怪物！”一个生物!一个可怕的野兽！”Keeah颤抖。 “还记得可汗告诉我们的话吗？” 黎明之眼烧死了斯帕尔。 也许它做了更糟糕的事情。 也许这让他变成了这样。” “是啊，他喝泳池里的水，让自己变回人类，”埃里克说。 “因为如果他不这样做，他就会变回这个东西！”也许这就是他的秘密！就像我在梦里一样！”朱莉、尼尔、马克斯和可汗跑向他们。 “你们还好吗？”朱莉问。 “你绝对不会相信我们看到了什么！”Keeah说。 “有一个——”但基娅没来得及说完。 斯帕尔大人从阴影中走出来。 “Ninns !我找到他们了！”巫师恶狠狠地说。 他的眼睛向孩子们闪烁着光芒。 尼尔突然笑了。“哦,看。 特效先生回来了！伙计们，让我来处理。” “Neal,没有!”埃里克开始。尼尔把手伸到耳朵后面，像鳍一样扭动着。 “假Sparr !假Sparr !”

Then he marched up to the sorcerer, stood right in front of him, and made a fist. "Now, I'm going to punch right through your bogus self!" "Neal, don't," Keeah said. "It's really—" Smack! Neal's fist stopped at Sparr's arm.

然后他大步走向巫师，站在他面前，握紧了拳头。 “现在，我要一拳打穿你虚伪的自我！”“尼尔，别这样，”基娅说。 “这真是——”啪！尼尔的拳头停在斯帕的手臂上。

Neal frowned. "It's supposed to go through." He turned to Julie. "It went through for you." "Neal…" Julie said. Neal punched Sparr again. Smack! "Oh, now I get it." Neal said quietly. "Ouch." "NINNS!" the sorcerer shouted at the top of his lungs. The passageway filled with red-faced warriors. The kids were surrounded. Keeah's eyes burned with anger. "We know your secret, Sparr. You're a monster!" "A creepy one!" said Eric. "Much creepier than you are now. Which is pretty creepy!" The sorcerer's lips curled into an evil snarl. His eyes darkened. His purple fins began to curl. "Now you can never leave!" he said. His muscled hand clamped down on Neal's shoulder. Neal screeched. "It's because I did hands behind the ears, isn't it? You didn't like that." "You leave my best friend alone!" Eric yelled. He jumped as hard as he could on Sparr's feet. "Ahhh!" The sorcerer released Neal. "I sniff an escape this way!" Khan yelled. The six friends shot away down the narrow passage. They were still going deeper into the volcano.

Neal皱起了眉头。“它应该能通过。” 他转向朱莉。“你成功了。” “尼尔……”朱莉说。尼尔又打了斯帕尔一拳。 打!“哦，现在我明白了。” 尼尔平静地说。“哎哟。” “呸！”巫师扯着嗓子喊道。 通道里挤满了面红耳赤的战士。 孩子们被包围了。姬娅气得眼睛发烫。 “我们知道你的秘密，斯帕尔。 你是个怪物！”“一个令人毛骨悚然的家伙！”埃里克说。 “比你现在可怕多了。 这非常令人毛骨悚然！”巫师的嘴唇卷成一团发出邪恶的咆哮。 他的眼睛暗了下来。他紫色的鳍开始卷曲。 “现在你再也不能离开了！”他说。 他那只肌肉发达的手紧紧抓住尼尔的肩膀。 Neal尖叫声。“那是因为我把手放在耳朵后面，是吗？” 你不喜欢那样。”“你离我最好的朋友远点！”埃里克喊道。 他用尽全力跳到斯帕尔的脚上。 “啊!”巫师释放了尼尔。 “我嗅到有人从这边逃跑！”汗喊道。 六个朋友沿着狭窄的通道飞奔而去。 他们还在往火山深处走。

Sparr leaped into the air after them. He flew like a bullet, swooping through the tunnels, screaming strange words. "Selam! Ala! Kwitt!" "Same to you!" Julie shouted back. Eric and Keeah were in the lead, threading through the curving passages. Suddenly, the passage split before them. Two tunnels lay ahead. Both were dark. "Left! Left!" Keeah cried. Eric flashed a look at his hands. He couldn't decide. Left? Left! He kept running toward the passages. He ran faster. "Hurry!" the princess shouted. Right? Left! Huh? This is so dumb! With all the smoke and darkness, he couldn't even see! Eric picked one dark passage, running into it as fast as he could. He wanted to get as far as possible from Sparr. He'd discovered his secret. But now sounds were swirling all around him. Hissing and bubbling. Clomping and stomping. Eric stole a quick look backward. It was dark. He couldn't see Keeah anywhere. He slowed to a stop. "Guys? Are you back there in the dark? Oh, man, please answer!" No answer. Eric swallowed hard. "Sp-Sparr? Please don't answer…."

斯帕尔也跟着跳了起来。 他像子弹一样飞来飞去，嗖嗖地穿过隧道，嘴里喊着奇怪的话。 “塞拉姆!阿拉巴马州!Kwitt !”“你也一样！”朱莉喊道。 埃里克和基娅在前面，穿过弯弯曲曲的通道。 突然，通道在他们面前裂开了。 前面有两条隧道。两家都很黑。 “左!离开!”Keeah哭了。 埃里克瞥了一眼自己的手。 他无法决定。离开了吗?离开了!他不停地向通道跑去。 他跑得更快了。“快！”公主喊道。 对吧?离开了!嗯?这太蠢了！在烟雾和黑暗中，他甚至什么也看不见！埃里克挑了一条黑暗的通道，以最快的速度跑了进去。 他想离斯帕尔越远越好。 他发现了自己的秘密。 但现在声音在他周围旋转。 嘶嘶声和冒泡声。跺脚和跺脚。 埃里克偷偷地向后瞥了一眼。 天很黑。他到处都看不到基娅。 他放慢速度停了下来。“男人? 你是在黑暗中吗？ 哦，伙计，请回答吧！”不回答。 埃里克使劲咽了口气。“Sp-Sparr ? 请不要回答....”