“Step on it!” Arslan urged. “We need to get rid of the beastly creature now.”
“How?” Anna whispered, upset and perplexed.
“Find the animal in the legend,” Arslan said. “I hope it can help.”
“Listen! He’s talking!” Tony exclaimed.
“Who?” The girls asked in one voice.
A low grunt rang, and the worm appeared right in front of them, its whiskers slashing in the
air. It let out another deafening grunt and the sucker opened wildly, with a piercing light beaming
inside it, as if there was an exit in its mouth.
“Come! I’ll lead you to your desire.” Its roar was ghastly but its offer was tempting to some.
Tony, with desire so fervently burning in his glittering wolfish green eyes, was listening to
it intently. He took a few steps forward but was blocked by Anna, who grabbed his arm in an
attempt to pull him from lethal temptation. But Tony shoved her hand off him.
“Don’t believe it, Tony!” Anna shouted. “This is merely a set-up!”
Tony stared at Anna, with greed radiating from his eyes.
“I really want to get rich,” Tony spat out the words which sent chills down everybody’s spine.
“I am inheriting the huge legacy—”
“Tony, listen to me!” Anna pleaded but Tony would not and could not listen. Avarice emerged
from his soul and clouded his conscience.
“Tuslaarai! Ta nadad tuslahgui yu! Guij baina!” Arslan yelled.
Anna reckoned she was speaking some Mongolian incantation but nothing happened. She
watched Tony getting nearer to the worm, as if he was being drawn by a magnet of fame and fortune.
“Tony, Tony, NO!” Anna could feel the immense gravitational force from the worm’s sucker.
“I’m going to get famous and rich!” Tony said airily while his eyes glinted, taking a few steps
nearer to his death unknowingly.
The worm widened its mouth further and Tony was swallowed in an instant. The force was so
powerful that the ground was shaking madly like it had run amok. Anna dazed with horror as the
worm wriggled towards the girls.
“Now it’s your turn to see what you desire,” the worm growled and slashed its whiskers at them.
A shadow flashed in front of Anna, standing between them and the worm. The blindly white
shadow gradually turned dimmer and she was awed by what she saw.
“It’s him!” Arslan yelled in anticipation, “the legendary animal - the irves!”
The snow leopard bared its teeth and its turquoise eyes were shimmering like blue aurora. The
worm receded but grunted with annoyance. The leopard hissed and showed its razor claws. The
worm retreated into another chamber in a wisp of smoke.
Anna and Arslan stayed still, watching the mystical creature trotting towards them. Its
glowing silvery fur was bright and soothing, comforting the girls’ startled souls.
“You must be very brave to get into here so far,” the snow leopard spoke in an air of
noble assertiveness.
“Who…who are you?” Anna stammered.
“If you don’t know, you won’t be able to find me,” it replied.
“You are a snow leopard,” Arslan gasped. “I’ve never seen one.”
“Right, I am the Irves,” it chuckled reassuringly, “I sense trouble.”
Anna knelt down and pleaded it to save her sister. But Irves shook its head and led them to
a mirror.
