Chapter 21

chapter twenty-one A few frantic minutes later, Quint and Dirk are peering through the meal truck's serving window, watching and waiting. The rain pounds the roof above them, sounding like war drums.

疯狂的几分钟后，昆特和德克透过餐车的服务窗口往外看，边看边等。 雨水敲打着他们头顶上的屋顶，听起来像战鼓。

Suddenly, the atmosphere changes—the air turns frigid. "I think it's here," Quint whispers, a shiver running down his spine. The Drakkor has no wings, it can't fly—but it arrives with shocking suddenness. "There," Dirk says, gulping as he points. "The Welcome to Fleeghaven sign." At the edge of town, rain pours off the towering, arching sign. The Drakkor looms just beyond it—a shadow, shimmering behind a waterfall. And then the monster steps forward. Every beam and board in Fleeghaven rattles. The street splits, stone erupts, and the sign falls. It's a straight shot from the meal truck to the edge of town, giving Quint and Dirk a clear view of the Drakkor. And they're not loving what they're seeing "It's definitely bigger," Dirk observes. Quint nods. It's nearly doubled in size since they battled it at the Possum Palace. Its scales are as thick as the Quint-designed armor Skaelka now wears.

突然间，大气发生了变化——空气变得寒冷。 “我想它就在这儿。”昆特小声说，一阵寒颤顺着他的脊背流下来。 德拉科没有翅膀，它不会飞——但它的到来令人震惊。 “在那儿，”德克说，一边指着一边咽着气。 “欢迎来到弗利格港的标志。” 在城镇的边缘，雨水从高耸的拱形标志上倾泻而下。 德拉科河就在它的后面——一个影子，在瀑布后面闪闪发光。 然后怪物走上前来。 弗利格港的每一根横梁和木板都在嘎嘎作响。 街道裂开了，石头裂开了，招牌掉了下来。 从餐车直接到城镇边缘，昆特和德克可以清楚地看到德拉科。 而且他们并不喜欢他们所看到的，“它肯定更大，”德克说。 五胞胎点点头。自从他们在负鼠宫战斗以来，它的体积几乎翻了一番。 它的鳞片和斯卡卡现在穿的昆特设计的盔甲一样厚。

He's back and better than ever, Terror comes to town. He thirsts for blood and needle buzz. The Drakkor displays an eerie, otherworldly intelligence as it scans the town rain pounds, its scaly head and rolls down over its eyes-but the Drakkor never blinks. It simply searches. Unlike previous assaults. There are no fleeing monsterfolk. Quint whispers. It may suspect the trap. Then let's quench its thirst before it gets a chance to think too hard. Dirk says he flicks the taps on the truck's fountain soda machine—and Neat-O Buzz gushes out. Soon, a thick river of syrupy juice is draining through a hole in the truck's floor. Outside, the neon orange liquid mixes

他回来了，比以往任何时候都好，恐怖来到了小镇。 他渴望血和针的嗡嗡声。 当它扫描着雨点下的城镇时，它那长满鳞片的脑袋和滚落在眼睛上的身子显示出一种怪异的、超凡脱俗的智慧——但它从不眨眼。 它只是搜索。不像以前的袭击。 没有逃跑的怪物。 五胞胎低声说。它可能会怀疑这是陷阱。 那就让我们在它有机会认真思考之前给它解渴吧。 德克说，他轻轻拧开卡车自动售货机的水龙头，就会有Neat-O Buzz喷涌而出。 很快，一股粘稠的果汁从卡车地板上的一个洞里流出来。 外面，霓虹橙色液体混合在一起

with the rainwater, creating a rainbow-colored pool, like radioactive sherbet. The Drakkor sniffs at the air, head lifting and lowering, and then, suddenly, it snaps straight ahead: eyes locked on the meal truck. "That got its attention," Dirk says. The Drakkor could reach the truck with a single ferocious pounce, but instead, it starts a slow, stalking prowl through the town, like a lion on the hunt. Its eyes are constantly looking and searching—scanning every porch, roof, and window for signs of hidden monsterfolk. It sees nothing. "Quint, you got enough power?" Dirk asks. Quint looks down at the dynamite-style plunger at his feet. It looks like something out of an old Road Runner cartoon—and that's not inspiring much confidence: Wile E. Coyote was the one with the dynamite and the detonators... and Wile E. Coyote was the one who lost at the end of each episode. Attached to the plunger is a long stretch of electrical wire that leads to the cane's detached battery pack and then snakes out through the rear of the truck. "Yep," Quint says, eyeing the battery lights. "Enough to power the trap, and then some."

雨水形成了一个彩虹色的水池，就像放射性的果子露。 Drakkor嗅了嗅空气，抬起头，又低下头，然后，突然，它直直地朝前一拍：眼睛盯着餐车。 “这引起了它的注意，”德克说。 德拉科狼可以用一次凶猛的扑向卡车，但它却开始缓慢地在城镇里徘徊，就像一头狩猎的狮子。 它的眼睛不停地寻找和搜索——扫描每一个门廊、屋顶和窗户，寻找隐藏的怪物的迹象。 它什么也看不见。“昆特，你有足够的力量吗？”德克问道。 昆特低头看着脚下的炸药式柱塞。 它看起来就像一个老的《路跑者》卡通里的东西——这并没有激发多少信心： 土狼是那个带炸药和雷管的人… 而在每一集的结尾，失败的是狼怀尔。 连接在柱塞上的是一根长长的电线，它通向手杖上分离的电池组，然后从卡车的后部蜿蜒而出。 “是的，”昆特说，眼睛盯着电池灯。 “足够给陷阱提供能量，然后更多。”

"Good," Dirk says, ducking behind the counter. "Because it's here." "Huh?" Quint says, then his eyes pop. "Oh!" At that moment, the Drakkor reaches the meal truck. It sniffs twice, then hisses—a sound that indicates something like amusement. The town is nothing but eerie quiet as the hidden monsterfolk watch the Drakkor begin to drink, anxiously waiting for what's to come. "Here goes..." Quint whispers. His hand is raised, about to crash down on the plunger, when suddenly—

“很好，”德克说着，躲到柜台后面。 “因为它就在这里。”“嗯?”昆特说，然后他的眼睛鼓了起来。 “噢!”在那一刻，Drakkor到达了餐车。 它嗅了两下，然后发出嘶嘶声——这是一种表示娱乐的声音。 当隐藏的怪物们看着Drakkor开始喝酒，焦急地等待着即将到来的事情时，这个小镇除了可怕的安静之外什么都没有。 “这里是……”五胞胎低声说。 他的手举起来，正要撞在活塞上，突然——

pizza pizza. It's good for you. My fault. My fault. Ignore me. How do I put this thing on science? The Drakkor's head jerks to the side, focusing on the potion shop. "Freaking Galamelon," Dirk snarls. The Drakkor's eyes flash, alerted to the ambush. The monster growls and pulls back, just as— "Now, Quint!" Dirk exclaims. "Take the plunge!" "Plunge being taken!" Quint cries. His open palm slams down, and the trap is sprung—

比萨比萨。这对你有好处。 我的错。我的错。忽略我。 我要怎么把这事和科学联系起来？ 德拉科的头猛地扭向一边，盯着药剂店。 “该死的加隆！”德克咆哮道。 德拉科的眼睛一闪，警觉到有埋伏。 怪物咆哮着后退，就像——“喂，昆特！”德克声称。 “大胆尝试吧！”“我要跳水了！”五胞胎哭。 他张开的手掌砰地一声，陷阱就跳了起来