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object. One sailor I knew told me of an amazing sight he once witnessed. While fishing far from land, he saw a great whale breach from the water. And riding the whale, wrapped around it in a life-strangling grip, was an enormous squid, as large as the whale itself. It was clear to this man that these creatures were fighting to the death, and that the squid would most likely be the victor. But the creatures soon sank beneath the waves, and he never saw them again.”
    Corwin sat up with interest. “This creature wasn’t as big as a whale. It’s only a bit longer than I am tall. But there were marks upon it like wounds from a battle!”
    â€œThere you are, then,” Henwyneb said, smiling. “Perhaps it was a young giant squid. One mystery solved.” He sat down again with a heavy sigh. “Now, on to the next. The scarlet serpent you saw coiling out of the sea . . . Sailors whose eyes have been dazed by the ripples of water and the dance of sunlight on the sea have oft thought that floating logs or shadows upon the swells were mighty sea serpents.”
    â€œIt chased me down and would have killed me, if the sun hadn’t struck it!” Corwin said. “Believe me, it was no illusion.”
    â€œWell, then.” Henwyneb scratched his head in thought. “I once met a fellow from the Far North, a Saxon, who told me of the kraken. This is a monster that lives in the sea and is the cause of maelstroms that drag ships down to their doom. The creature is said to float upon the sea like a woven mat, enticing men to land upon it as though it were an island. It is said to have arms like serpents—perhaps this is what you saw.”
    â€œThis creature grew eyes and a mouth,” said Corwin. “It wasn’t just an arm that almost ate me.”
    â€œHmmm. The Northmen also speak of the World Serpent, which dwells at the bottom of the ocean. It was the deadly foe of their thunder god, Thor, but it was said only to rise when the destruction of the world was imminent. I truly hope it was not this that you saw.”
    Corwin sighed. “All these stories don’t help me much. I need to know how to kill it or avoid it if it attacks me again.”
    â€œBut you already know this,” said Henwyneb. “The thing was destroyed by sunlight, you say.”
    Corwin shook his head. “Somehow, I don’t think it was really destroyed.” The new mind that spoke within his thoughts only confirmed his feeling that the kraken, or whatever it was, would rise again when the sun set.
    â€œThen you must avoid the sea and the dark, ’tis clear,” said Henwyneb.
    â€œI wish it were that simple,” Corwin said. What possible life could I live, avoiding men during the day and a monster at night?
    â€œSurely there is some other occupation you could try than gathering seashells by the seashore?”
    â€œWhat about the mark on my hand?” Corwin said, changing the subject before Henwyneb could pry further into his circumstances.
    â€œLet me see it.” The old man stood and shuffled over. He took Corwin’s right hand in both of his and traced the raised mark on Corwin’s palm with his fingers. “You’re right. . . . it’s very like the shape of the sun.”
    â€œDo you know what would make a mark like that?”
    Henwyneb paused. “No. But do you know much about the Druids?”
    â€œDruids!” Corwin nearly laughed. “They don’t tell anyone their secrets. What would those scholars and wizards have to do with me?”
    â€œI only ask because they are said to worship the sun and base their sciences on teachings older than those of the Romans.” Henwyneb stood very still for a moment, then walked to the papered window. “You say you see things with new wisdom?”
    â€œNot with new wisdom,” Corwin answered, “but with new eyes and senses. It’s as if—as if there is