The Brothers Lionheart

But he didn’t reply. He just lay there staring straight up at the sky, thinking about something, I could see. Finally he said:

"If it’s true that Katla slept her ancient sleep in Katla Cavern, then how did she get out when she awoke? The copper gate was already there then. Tengil has always used Katla Cavern as his prison.”

“While Katla was sleeping inside?” I said.

“Yes, while Katla was sleeping inside,” said Jonathan. “Without anyone’s knowing about it.”

I shivered. I couldn’t imagine anything worse; think of sitting imprisoned in Katla Cavern and seeing a dragon come crawling along just like that!

But Jonathan had other thoughts in his head.

“She must have come out another way,” he said. “And I must find that way even if it takes a year.”

We couldn’t stay any longer because Jonathan was so restless. We were heading for Katla Cavern, which was only a short walk across the mountain. We could already see the river far below us and Nangiyala over on the other side. Oh, how I longed to be there.

“Look, Jonathan,” I said. “I can see the willow where we bathed. There, on the other side of the river.”

But Jonathan made a sign for me to be quiet, afraid that someone might hear us because we were so close now. This was where Katla Mountain ended in a perpendicular cliff, and in the mountainside below us was the copper gate into Katla Cavern, Jonathan said, although we couldn’t see it from up there.

But we could see the soldiers on guard, three Tengilmen; I only had to see their black helmets for my heart to begin thumping.

We had wriggled on our stomachs right to the edge of the precipice, to be able to look down at them; if only they had looked up they would have seen us. But they could not have been more useless as guards, for they did not look in any direction, but just sat there playing dice, not bothering about anything else. No enemy could penetrate beyond the copper gate, so why should they keep watch?

Just then, we saw the gate swing open down there, and someone came out of the cave---another Tengilman.