“Of course it’s not made of sand,” said Jay.

The wind blew across the dunes, howling like a coyote. But underneath its screech was another sound: a deep, slithering hum.

“There!” said Jay, pointing to a wrinkle in the sand. “It’s moving.” The wrinkle headed toward them, and the four of them jumped away as it passed directly underneath their feet.

“Maybe your talisman is made of sand,” said Mal.

“It’s not made of sand,” repeated Jay, exasperated now.

“That’s all I see here,” said Mal, refusing to let go of the joke.

“Weren’t you listening? Oh, wait, I forgot, you weren’t because you were too busy running after Mad Maddy and getting yourself thrown off a bridge,” said Jay. “Yen Sid said it was a Golden Cobra.”

He watched the movement in the sand as it slithered away—hold on…slithered? Before he could explain to his friends, Jay ran after the wriggling line. There was only one thing it could be, and when the line popped out of the dunes, he saw the Golden Cobra rear its ugly head.

The snake hissed, showing its forked tongue. It was the same golden color as the apple Evie had picked earlier.

“I think he’s found his talisman,” said Carlos as they ran to keep up with Jay, who was chasing the snake.

Jay was fast, but the snake was faster. It slithered across the sand, its golden scales shimmering in the light, while Jay kept stumbling and sinking in the dunes. Jay might be the best runner on the tourney field, but the desert definitely wasn’t the ideal location for chasing an evil creature.

The cobra crested a ridge and Jay tried to follow, but when he reached the top, the snake was nowhere to be found.

“Great, it’s gone,” said Mal, who, along with Evie and Carlos, had been stumbling along after Jay. “What does the map say?”

“It says the Golden Cobra has a cave,” said Carlos. “We could check that out, but it doesn’t really say where it is.”

“Some map,” said Mal, crossing her arms across her chest.

They scanned the desert landscape, looking for any sign of the cobra, but it seemed to have disappeared completely. The heat wasn’t helping either, and when the wind picked up, it blew sand at them, clouding their vision and biting their skin like little flies.

“We shouldn’t have left for the Catacombs before the maps were done,” said Mal, crumpling the piece of paper in frustration.

“We didn’t have a choice,” said Carlos. “And remember, we’ve got to find the talismans before our parents do.”

“My parent is a lizard trapped in a glass-covered pedestal,” said Mal.

“Maybe,” said Carlos. “Or your parent is a purple dragon that’s been plaguing Camelot.”

“Guys, stop fighting, it’s not helping with my poison headache,” said Evie as she massaged her temples.

Mal and Carlos apologized, and the four of them continued to look for any sign of the elusive cobra.

“One good thing about that toxic tree,” said Evie. “At least it stayed still.”

“There!” Jay yelped. “I see it! I think that’s a cave!” He pointed to what looked like a pile of stones in between two dunes in the distance. He ran down the ridge, his friends following behind.

They stood in front of the rocks, which were stacked together tightly. But a small gap between two of the larger ones looked like it could be an opening into a cavern.

“Wonderful, a cave within a cave,” said Evie.

“I didn’t create this world,” said Jay. “You guys coming?”

“Hold on, we need to be careful,” said Mal. “Evie was almost poisoned back at the tree and who knows what that snake will do.”

“Fine,” said Jay.

“Let’s go in, but we all stay together,” said Mal. “Agreed?”

The others nodded, and they entered the cave. Jay was in the lead, his boots sliding on the sandy floor. He pulled the flashlight out of his pocket and hit the switch, but nothing happened. He tapped it again, and it glowed faintly, illuminating the path before them. A few minutes later, they heard that odd howling noise they’d heard when they first entered the desert.

“Do you think the cobra can make that noise?” Evie whispered.

“I don’t know, but I don’t really want to find out,” Carlos whispered back.

“It’s called the Haunted Desert,” said Mal. “What do you think it is?”

“Ghosts don’t scare me,” Jay said as they kept walking into the darkness with only the sputtering flashlight to light their way. “Hauntings aren’t a big deal.”

“Oh yeah, what would you know about that?” asked Carlos, trying to get his torchlight zapp to work, but his phone was dead. There had been no time to charge it back on the Isle of the Lost.

“A ghost might try to scare you by rattling his chains or slamming a door shut, but there’s nothing to be afraid of. They’re basically made of air,” said Jay, still following the faint sound of rattling.

“Why do I get the feeling,” said Carlos, “that someone is trying to convince himself of something?”

“Because someone is totally scared but won’t admit it,” said Mal, sneaking behind Jay and yelling in his ear. “Boo!”

Jay jumped. “Okay, so I might be little freaked out. But it takes a real man to admit his fears.”

“Oh, really,” said Mal with a laugh. “It seems to me that just a moment ago you were telling us that ghosts were nothing to worry about.”

“So what? Ghosts are the worst, okay? I just wish we could leave this cave already,” Jay said.

The howling grew even louder. Carlos plugged his ears and Evie did the same. “Maybe the ghost is deaf?” Mal said. “Why else would it be shrieking at the top of its lungs?”

Jay sighed. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.” He started to walk faster, but stopped when they reached a sharp corner where the passage was a bit wider. The wind whistled through it, howling and screeching.

“So it’s not a ghost after all,” said Jay. “It’s just the wind flying around these corners. I guess it’s like a big flute that plays a note each time the wind blows through.”