Chapter 22

chapter twenty-two the moment she's been waiting for Skaelka's axe crunches through the Drakkor's cracked scale and slams into the glowing purple wound. An earsplitting mix of pain, anger, and surprise bursts from the Drakkor. Frigid cold erupts from the monster's freshly slashed side, turning Skaelka's blade to ice. The Drakkor sways, its collossal legs wobbling, going weak, until, at long last— SLAM!

第二十二章她一直在等待斯卡卡的斧头劈劈啪啪地穿过德拉库龟裂的鳞片，猛击在闪闪发光的紫色伤口上。 一阵震耳欲聋的痛苦、愤怒和惊讶从德拉科爆发出来。 冰冷的寒气从怪物刚被砍伤的一侧喷出，把斯卡卡的剑变成了冰。 德拉科摇晃着，它那巨大的腿摇晃着，变得越来越虚弱，直到，终于——砰！

The Drakkor belly flops onto the ground, showering the gathering monsterfolk with rainwater and Neat-O Buzz. The axe's frozen handle snaps in two, and Skaelka tumbles off the monster, splashing down alongside it. "Yes..." Skaelka says softly, after a deep breath. "She always keeps her promises." There is a long, quiet moment, and then—

德拉科的肚子扑通一声落在地上，雨水和嗡嗡声向聚集在一起的怪物们倾泻而下。 冰封的斧柄啪的一声断成两截，斯卡卡从怪物身上摔了下来，溅起水花落在它旁边。 “是的……”斯卡卡深吸了一口气，轻声说。 “她总是信守诺言。” 有很长一段安静的时间，然后

the queen in armor has done it, and it only took her two tries twice. The wizard and the warrior are victorious.

穿盔甲的女王做到了，而且她只试了两次。 巫师和战士胜利了。

Quint stands, taking in the triumphant scene. We did it, he thinks. And I never even had to do any conjuring. Although he's not sure if that thought leaves him relieved or disappointed. "We make quite the team, don't we?" Galamelon says, striding over. "The Wizard, the Warrior, and the Used Carapace Salesman!" "Uh, friendos?" Kimmy says, her voice cracking. "The Drakkor is, um, doing stuff." Everyone turns. The Drakkor's tail is thudding against the ground. A layer of skin is shed, causing scales to slip from its body and splash into the pool of Neat-O Buzz. Quint gasps as he realizes. "The Neat-O Buzz! I think it's... healing it. Reviving it. The Drakkor is changing, again." A sound emanates from the Drakkor—a pained, screeching whine. "AIIEE!" Kimmy cries out, grabbing her ears and pulling them tight against her head. "The Drakkor's pain... It's excruciating..." "Well, yeah," Dirk says. "Skaelka just axed it." "No.. .not that..." she manages. "This is different... I don't wanna... But I gotta..." Kimmy kneels, peering into the Drakkor's heavy- lidded eyes. Her pupils spin, going vacant, and horror fills her. She realizes she didn't truly comprehend

昆特站起来，欣赏着胜利的场面。 我们做到了，他想。我甚至都不用变什么魔法。 尽管他不确定这个想法会让他感到宽慰还是失望。 “我们真是个好搭档，不是吗？”加隆说着，大步走了过来。 “巫师、勇士和卖旧甲壳的！”“呃,friendos ?”吉米说，她的声音嘶哑。 “Drakkor，嗯，在做一些事情。” 每个人都把。德拉科的尾巴砰砰地撞在地上。 一层皮肤脱落，导致鳞片从它的身体上滑落，溅到Neat-O Buzz的池子里。 昆特喘着气意识到。 “零嗡嗡！”我认为…… 治疗它。恢复它。德拉科又在改变了。” 一个声音从德拉科传来——一种痛苦的、尖锐的哀鸣。 “AIIEE !”吉米大叫，抓住她的耳朵，把它们紧紧地贴在她的头上。 “德拉科的痛苦……这是痛苦的……” “嗯，是的，”德克说。“Skaelka刚刚砍掉了它。” “不…。不是……”她勉强地说。 “这是不同的……我不想… 但是我必须……”吉米跪了下来，凝视着龙哥沉重的眼皮。 她的瞳孔旋转，变得茫然，恐惧充满了她。 她意识到自己并没有真正理解

what she saw in the Pizza Theater, frozen in brain- poking mode with the Drakkor. And she suddenly cries out, images exploding from her brain, projected into the air... At last, Kimmy pulls out of the monster's mindscape. "The Drakkor..." she rasps, gasping for breath. "It wasn't at that strange fortress because it wanted to be. Something hurt it there. Tortured it. Experimented on it." Skaelka shifts uncomfortably, tapping the broken axe-handle against her head. The Drakkor's claws scrape the ground, pawing at the pool of soda.

她在披萨剧院看到的，和德拉科在戳脑模式下凝固。 她突然大叫起来，画面从她的大脑中爆炸，投射到空中…… 最后，吉米走出了怪物的思维空间。 “德拉科……”她急促地说，喘着粗气。 “它不是在那个奇怪的堡垒里，因为它想要。 有什么东西伤到它了。折磨它。 对它进行了实验。”斯卡卡不安地挪动了一下，用断了的斧柄敲打着她的头。 Drakkor的爪子刮着地面，用爪子抓着苏打水。

"Guys..." Quint says uneasily. "Did we do the entirely wrong thing, here?" I thought the dragwarwas using the needle buzz to get extra evil, but what if that's wrong? What if the needle buzz is the one thing that soothes its pain like an ice cube? When you burn your tongue real bad? And that's why it kept coming here. It just wanted to, youknow, stop hurting. Good thing you didn't slay it in its sleep, huh? I didn't want to slay it in its sleep. Wait, so the Drakkor is nice?" Galamelon asks. "AHA! I always knew it was a good egg. That's why I didn't slay it when you first hired me to. I just couldn't go through with it... I'm no monster. Unlike you guys... Geez." Dirk ignores Galamelon. "I don't think the Drakkor's nice. There were a lot of bones in that Possum Palace. It's no kitten. More like... a grizzly or a great white. But it didn't deserve what happened to it at that fortress... all that was done to it there." "And all that we did to it," Quint says quietly.

“男人……”昆特不安地说。 “我们是不是做错了什么事？”我以为拖龙是在利用针的嗡嗡声来获得额外的邪恶，但如果那是错的呢？ 如果针头的嗡嗡声是唯一能像冰块一样缓解疼痛的东西呢？ 当你的舌头严重烧伤的时候？ 这就是为什么它一直来这里。 它只是想，你知道，停止伤害。 还好你没在它睡觉的时候杀了它？ 我不想在它睡觉的时候杀了它。 等等，所以德拉科很好？”Galamelon问道。 “啊哈!我一直都知道这是个好鸡蛋。 所以你刚雇我的时候我没有杀了它。 我就是做不下去…… 我不是怪物。不像你们…… 天啊。”德克不理睬加隆。 “我不认为德拉科很好。 负鼠宫殿里有很多骨头。 它不是小猫。更像是…… 灰熊或大白鲨。 但它不应该在堡垒里遭受这样的遭遇…… 这一切都是在那里完成的。” “还有我们对它所做的一切，”昆特平静地说。