The room sat in stunned silence. This story was not turning out how they had expected. Certainly, there had dark places in the previous tales - points where the heroes were in danger. But every time, as befits the heroes in a great epic, they had nimbly slipped through the clutches of Death much as an eel glides through a net. But now, with half of the heroes imprisoned in the villain's dungeons and the remainder scattered and wounded, it looked as if Death would have a full net this time. This could not be the end of the tale and the epic. There just had to be more to come. Hadn't there?

The children of Kinja also noticed the tack for the worse that this tale had taken. While they did have some concern for the fate of their favorite characters, the children were primarily angry at the storyteller for ruining their enjoyment of the stories.

"How come Yamalla's in jail? What happened to Braata?"
"You're lying! Nothing can harm Srgt. Triangle! He's only faking being unconscious."
"Armondo's not really running away. He's only resting so he can come back and smite all the bad guys with his magic, right?"
"Kalaban'll be cutting through those bars any minute, you'll see."
"Why'd the other Korb bite Krick? Was he a bad bug?"
"You're wrong! Lori will just teleport them out of the dungeon like she did with the children."
"I know, I know! Selkie will summon a big ol' watery fist and smack all the pirates around and rip the doors off and then destroy the city and find the treasure and save the world!"

The old bard couldn't help but be taken aback the show of support from the children of the island. It would appear they had been paying more attention than she had guessed. Perhaps they aren't missing the true message after all. However, they were a bit too worked up to be healthy or to sit quietly and let her finish the tale at its own pace. She'd have to put some extra wind in the sails if she was to have any hope of regaining their interest - or finishing in time. In what had become a very familiar and practiced gesture, the storyteller lifts her hands and motions for the children to calm down and listen to her once more.

"Patience, please, younglings! I'm sure the heroes of my tale are heartened to hear your shouts of support for them and your certainty of their escape. Since you are so excited - as well as smart enough to have seen over the horizon of my tale - I will tell you where this story is going, after I remind you where it has been."

"Our heroes were indeed shocked to find Yamalla as a fellow prisoner. They had thought him safe on the Reef Runner. Certainly, any attack could not succeed as long as Braata was by his side. But, even the clever Yamalla could be tricked, especially by those that know the ways of lizard men and sha'ir. Recall that there was a ship of Island Lizards in the harbor. It was through the actions of these traitorous reptiles that the captain was taken hostage. They did not have the honor to directly confront him, no. Instead, they attacked his love and his weakness - his ship. In the effort to prevent the vessel from being sunk, he had to send Braata away for a magic spell. While she was gone, he was taken hostage. Upon her return, it was very easy to force her into a genie bottle by threatening her master."

"I am sorry to say, dear ones, that the brave and powerful Srgt. Triangle is indeed hurt. The sleep brought on by his injuries is all too true. Recall that he boldly strode into the heart of the pirates' fortress. When our heroes were betrayed at dinner by the lying villains, it was Triangle that leapt to the front lines of battle and did single- handedly fight and defeat a score of pirates. But ultimately, he was brought down by the treachery and magic of the vicious Captain Hilaa. He was defeated his fellow lizard man because Triangle didn't want to believe that the man he once called 'hero' could have fallen so far or so quickly. It was heartbreak more than cuts and burns that felled the Srgt."

"As for Armondo, he too was in the very heart of the villains' power. Remember that he stood side-by-side with Srgt. Triangle and directed spell and steel at any who dared to come close. And at the end, it is true that he ran away. But he did not run to abandon his friends, no. Instead he fled because for all he knew, he was the last member of the crew of the Reef Runner still awake and free. It is very often better to run away and get reinforcements than it is to stay and be cut down with everyone else. Armondo hid, not because he was a coward and afraid for his very life, but because he needed time to regain his mystic strength and thus be able to return stronger than before so that he might rescue his companions."

"The swashbuckler, Kalaban, was mostly fortunate in that he helped the imprisoned children to escape. This heroic effort allowed him to remain undetected and uninjured while the rest of the crew were captured. However, his cleverness worked against him this time. When his friends were placed in the cells, he ended up being sealed in the dark, dank, and pestilence-ridden crypts beneath the fortress. This is because in an effort to save the children, he closed off the secret escape route - and his only path out of the crypts. Although Kalaban is working feverishly to reopen the portal to the dungeons, it is going slowly. And all the recent activity has awakened something - something that used to lie in the eternal sleep of death. Even now, it approaches him..."

"Krick was not in dungeons because he was a bad bug, but rather because he is a good one. From my tales you have seen that he is very much like the Korb that visit us today. I suspect that he was the very first of these Enlightened Ones that sail the Twenty Seas. At the time, he thought was being honored to go on a hunt with an elder of his race. But then, he found out what prey it was they were to be hunting - people. From his time on the Reef Runner Krick knew this to be an evil deed, so he naturally refused to participate. It was with this bold stand that the other Korb showed his true colors as one of the pirates. As with the Srgt., Krick was brought down by being betrayed rather than sheer force of combat. Because this elder had turned to evil, he was able to poison Krick and paralyze him where he stood. Once helpless, he was easily captured and placed in the dungeons with his friends."

"Lori was one of two crew members who were fully free and uninjured. She was one of those who helped to free the children that the pirates were holding hostage in the dungeons of the fortress - the dungeons that now held her friends captive. She could not sneak back into the fortress the way she lead the children out for Kalaban had heroically sealed the passage behind them. Another way had to be found. While she was strong in the ways of magic, her true strength lay in her knowledge of people. For although she had sensed much fear in the subjugated citizen's of Serpent's Coil, she also felt that there were a few who still remembered how - and wanted - to fight. Before any rescue could be attempted, Lori would have to find these daring few and gather them to her side. It is with this help - and that brought by the last of Lori's friends - that she would be able to affect a rescue."

"The last of the Reef Runner's crew - and the only other still free - was Selkie. Although young, she was still quite powerful as an ecomancer. She would be able to combine this magic with Lori's and together be able to free her friends. However, Selkie would not seek help amongst the townspeople. Instead, she went to look where she was most at home - the seas. Although the land of Serpent's Coil was under the tyranny of the pirates, the waters were not. It was among the reefs that surrounded the island that Selkie would find hidden allies to help her in her plight. It would be these allies that would prove to finally tip the balance in the favor of our heroes."

"For yes, my friends, the heroes of my songs do indeed escape this trap as they have all the others. For certain, it took much longer to escape this one than the others, but escape they do. However, they had to accomplish two escapes this day. The first, and by far the easiest, was to get out of the dungeons of Serpent's Coil. But that was only half the battle. For I will now let you know, as our heroes did not, that as soon as the Reef Runner sailed into the town's harbor, Admiral Kriton knew of their arrival and had immediately turned his immense fleet around and was sailing with all possible speed and magic towards his home port. Thoughts of revenge added wings to his sails.

"This was the second escape they had to engineer. To somehow escape from the harbor of the town, and then evade the enraged pirate commander and his ships. But despite their best efforts, they could not escape this fleet alone. Instead, they ended up receiving help from a very unexpected source. But we shall save that for a surprise until we actually get to that point in my story."

"Sit back and listen now to my words as I sing of the voyages of the Reef Runner and her crew..."