3 The Flying City of Ro

CHAPTER Three The Flying City of Ro Princess Keeah tore off her helmet. Her long blond hair tumbled to her shoulders. "I'm so glad to see you!" she said. "We were on our way to meet my father when Sparr attacked us. But why are you here?" Neal held up his claw. "The spell from last time sort of… came back." "Oh, my!" the princess gasped. "Plus," Eric added, "then we heard that Sparr plans to steal diamonds from a place called Ro!" Keeah glanced at the Lumpy leader.

第三章罗的飞城基娅公主扯掉了她的头盔。 她金色的长发披散到肩上。 “见到你真高兴！”她说。 “我们在去见我父亲的路上，斯帕尔袭击了我们。 可你为什么在这儿？”尼尔举起他的爪子。 “上次的咒语好像……又回来了。” “噢，天哪！”公主喘着气说。 “另外，”埃里克补充道，“我们听说斯帕尔计划从一个叫罗的地方偷钻石！”姬娅看了一眼大块头的头儿。

"We have no time to waste," Khan muttered. He pulled on the lever and they soared up into the pink clouds. "What's going on?" Julie asked. Keeah turned to her friends. "My father and I were supposed to meet Galen and Max at the city of Ro to find out where my mother is." Eric nodded. On one of their previous journeys, they had learned that Keeah's mother, Queen Relna, was not dead as everyone had thought. A witch had told them she was alive. "Where is this city of Ro?" Julie asked. "Everywhere!" Keeah answered. "Ro is a flying city. It flies constantly over all of Droon." "Cool!" Neal said, scratching his neck. "Very cool, as you say," Khan said. "And on any other day Sparr would not be able to attack it." "Why is today so important?" Eric asked. Khan pulled the purple ship higher. "Ro hides itself under a spell of invisibility." "Except," said Keeah, "that one day each year Ro becomes visible. It lands in the Kalahar Valley to collect diamonds. The magic jewels hold the power of invisibility." "Those are the diamonds Sparr is after," Julie said. Eric was drawn to the small ship's front windscreen, where a large white bird soared along with the purple ship.

“我们没有时间浪费了。”可汗喃喃地说。 他拉了拉操纵杆，他们飞上了粉红色的云层。 “发生什么事了？”朱莉问。 姬娅转向她的朋友们。 “我和我父亲本来要去罗市见盖伦和马克斯，看看我母亲在哪里。” Eric点点头。在他们之前的一次旅行中，他们了解到姬亚的母亲蕾尔娜女王并没有像大家想象的那样死去。 一个女巫告诉他们她还活着。 “罗的城在哪里？”朱莉问。 “无处不在!”Keeah回答。 “罗是一座会飞的城市。它不停地飞过整个德鲁恩。” “酷!”尼尔挠着脖子说。 “很酷，就像你说的，”汗说。 “在其他任何一天，斯帕尔都无法攻击它。” “为什么今天这么重要？”埃里克问。 可汗把紫色的船拉得更高。 “罗用隐形咒把自己藏起来。” “除了，”姬娅说，“每年都有一天罗会出现。 它降落在卡拉哈山谷收集钻石。 魔法珠宝有隐形的力量。” “这些就是斯帕尔想要的钻石，”朱莉说。 埃里克被小船的前挡风玻璃吸引住了，那里有一只白色的大鸟随着紫色的船一起飞翔。

"The white falcon!" he said. He remembered all the times he'd seen it before in Droon. Keeah smiled. "The falcon is always nearby, watching over what we do." Then she turned. "Neal, I'm sorry the spell came back," she said. "But you're in luck. The Guardians live in Ro. They are very old and very wise. They know more than anyone about, well, anything! They can help you." Khan sniffed. "But we must hurry. At midnight, Ro vanishes again. Once it does, it will be impossible to leave for a whole year!" The small winged craft shot over a range of snowy mountains and dipped to a desert plain. A few moments later, Khan landed on the outside of a ring of tall hills. "The Kalahar Valley is beyond these hills," Keeah said, stepping from the ship. "Come." As the sun lowered into afternoon, the small band crept through a narrow pass in the hills. "Oh, my gosh!" Julie exclaimed as they tramped out to a ledge on the other side. The valley below teemed with hundreds of Ninn warriors. They were armed with bows and arrows and swords. With them were dozens of winged lizards called groggles.

“白猎鹰！”他说。 他想起了以前在德鲁恩见过的所有情景。 Keeah笑了。“猎鹰一直在附近，注视着我们的一举一动。” 然后她转过身来。“尼尔，很抱歉咒语又回来了。”她说。 “但你很幸运。守护者住在罗。 他们很老，很聪明。 他们知道的比任何人都多，嗯，任何事情！他们可以帮助你。” 汗闻了闻。“但是我们必须快点。 午夜时分，罗又消失了。 一旦成功了，一整年都不可能离开！”那架带翼的小飞机飞过一系列雪山，降落在一片沙漠平原上。 几分钟后，可汗降落在一圈高山的外面。 “卡拉哈山谷就在这些山的那一边。”基娅说着，从船上走了下来。 “来了。”夕阳西下，这支小队伍悄悄穿过山间一条狭窄的隘口。 “哦，我的天哪！”当他们迈着沉重的步子走到另一边的礁石上时，朱莉惊叫道。 下面的山谷里挤满了成百上千的宁人战士。 他们带着弓箭和剑。 和他们在一起的还有几十只长着翅膀的蜥蜴，叫做格鲁。

Suddenly, a great cry rose up from the red warriors. They looked skyward to see Sparr's silver airship circling the valley. But that was nothing compared to what happened next. On the far side of the valley, the drifting pink clouds slowly parted. Over the hills came a giant city. It looked as if it had been uprooted from the earth. Slowly, it floated downward into the center of the valley. "Ro!" Keeah whispered excitedly. "I hope my father made it there safely. And Galen and Max, too." "It's awesome," Eric exclaimed, looking up. The city was built on an enormous floating disk that seemed to stretch for miles across. Strangely shaped towers spiraled to the sky. Bridges soared from one side of the city to the other. Domes of green, pink, and blue topped buildings of every shape and size. And the lights! The whole city gleamed and sparkled as if every inch of it were lit! "Ro is a city of peace, ruled over by the wisest of people, the Guardians," Khan said. "But now Sparr is waiting for it," Keeah said with a shiver.

突然，红袍战士们发出了一声惊叫。 他们向天空望去，看到斯帕尔的银色飞艇在山谷中盘旋。 但与接下来发生的事情相比，这根本不算什么。 在山谷的另一边，飘动的粉红色云彩慢慢地散开了。 山那边是一座巨大的城市。 它看起来好像被连根拔起似的。 慢慢地，它向下飘到了山谷的中心。 “罗!”姬娅兴奋地小声说。 “我希望我父亲平安到达那里。 还有盖伦和马克斯。”“太棒了，”埃里克抬起头喊道。 这座城市建在一个巨大的漂浮圆盘上，似乎绵延数英里。 奇形怪状的塔呈螺旋形直插云霄。 桥梁从城市的一边耸立到另一边。 绿色、粉色和蓝色的圆顶建筑覆盖着各种形状和大小的建筑物。 还有灯光！整个城市闪闪发光，仿佛每一寸土地都被照亮了！“罗是一座和平之城，由最聪明的人——守护者统治，”可汗说。 “可现在斯帕尔正在等着它呢。”基厄打了个寒颤说。

The city finally rumbled to the ground, nestling into the valley as if it had always been there. As soon as it landed, a white ray of light shot from the city to the valley floor. "They are drilling for the diamonds," Khan whispered. A moment later, millions of tiny glittering rocks flowed back through the light to the city. "They're drilling with light," said Neal. "How can we get in?" Eric asked. "There's an army of Ninns between us and the city." The Lumpy king sniffed suddenly. The kids remembered that Lumpies were expert sniffers. "We're in luck," the purple king said. "I smell a flock of wild groggles roosting nearby. And the Ninns don't know about them." "Groggles?" Neal muttered. "Those flying lizards eat bugs like me. Anyone have a Plan B?" "But Khan's a groggle whisperer!" Keeah said. "A what?" asked Eric. "I talk softly to them," Khan said with a chuckle. "And the groggles listen. The wild ones who live in the mountains are actually quite nice." The five friends crept slowly up to a flock of groggles nesting on the edge of the valley.

这座城市终于轰隆隆地倒在地上，依偎在山谷里，仿佛它一直就在那里。 飞机一着陆，一道白光就从城市射向谷底。 “他们在钻钻石。”可汗低声说。 片刻之后，数以百万计的闪闪发光的小岩石穿过灯光流回城市。 “他们在用光钻孔，”尼尔说。 “我们怎么进去？”埃里克问。 “在我们和城市之间有一支Ninns军队。” 矮胖的国王突然抽了抽鼻子。 孩子们记得，肿块是专家嗅探器。 “我们很幸运，”紫袍国王说。 “我闻到附近有一群野鹅在栖息。 精灵们不知道他们。” “Groggles ?”Neal嘟囔着。 “那些会飞的蜥蜴吃像我这样的虫子。 有人有备用计划吗？”“可可汗会咕哝！”Keeah说。 “什么？”埃里克问。“我对他们说话很温柔，”汗轻声笑着说。 格勒格勒听着。住在山里的野生动物其实很好。” 五个朋友慢慢地爬到一群在山谷边缘筑巢的沼泽怪面前。