Sir Pants and Sir Reddy hammered. They hammered, hammered, hammered, and hammered some more. They were making good progress on the gift for Nella.
Then a basilisk swooped in and carried away the gift.
"Oh, no!" shouted Sir Pants. "There goes my gift! That very dangerous basilisk took it away!"
Sir Reddy said, "Strap on your sword. Make sure you've got your helmet and shield. We will chase the basilisk and get your gift back."
"I always have my helmet, shield, and sword," said Sir Pants, insulted. "I am always ready. But aren't you scared of the basilisk?"
"No," said Sir Reddy. "This is what knights do. They chase and fight. And guard things. And give things to nice magicians. We will find the basilisk."
Sir Pants and Sir Reddy ran off after the basilisk. Unfortunately, they did not have horses to ride. But they ran very fast.
They encountered a minotaur.
The minotaur said, "Stop! You may not go past me!"
"We have to go chase a basilisk," explained Sir Pants.
"I am not going to let you," said the minotaur.
"Then let's fight," said Sir Reddy.
"Okay," said the minotaur. "If you can beat me in a fight, I will let you pass to keep chasing the basilisk."
Sir Reddy hit the minotaur over the head with his sword. The minotaur was very dizzy and fell down.
"Okay," he said, "you can go."
Sir Reddy and Sir Pants ran after the basilisk.
Then a chimera ran up to them. It roared and hissed and bleated at them with its lion, serpent, and goat heads.
"You cannot go past me!" said the chimera with a roar, hiss, and bleat.
"We have to go catch that basilisk who carried away my gift for Nella the magician," said Sir Pants.
"No!" thundered the chimera.
"Oh, just fight already, Sir Pants," said Sir Reddy.
They fought. The chimera let them pass.
They could not really see the basilisk anymore, but they knew which direction it had gone. They kept running.
Then they saw a cyclops. He looked scary. Sir Pants got ready to fight so they could pass by the cyclops. He drew his sword. The cyclops raised his hands in the air.
"Hold on," said the cyclops. "Please don't fight me. I just wanted to know if you wanted some stew. I made some in my deep, dark cave and there is too much for me to eat all by myself."
Sir Reddy and Sir Pants were very hungry.
"Okay," they said.
They went to the cyclops's deep, dark cave and sat down on the ground in front of a huge fireplace to eat some stew. The bowls of stew the cyclops gave them were enormous. So were the spoons. Sir Reddy and Sir Pants ended up eating chunks out of the stew with their bare hands. Then they tilted the heavy bowls to drink all the broth.
"Ha ha!" said the cyclops. "I put something in the stew to make you drowsy, so I could tie you up and keep you as prisoners!"
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Sir Reddy. "What was it you put in the stew?"
"It was Galloping Mint," said the cyclops.
"Oh, right," said Sir Pants in a cheerful voice. "I love that stuff in the mornings. Are you sure that was supposed to make us drowsy? It usually wakes me up!"
"All us knights drink that stuff for tea when we camp out during sieges," said Sir Reddy. "I feel quite energetic. Let's go catch that basilisk!"
"Hmmm," said the disgruntled cyclops as Sir Pants and Sir Reddy ran away.
A sphinx caught up with them.
"Whatcha doing?" she asked.
"Trying to catch that basilisk who took my gift," said Sir Pants.
"I know of a faster way to catch it," said the sphinx. "I can fly. You could ride on my back. I'll catch that basilisk in an instant."
"Sounds great," said Sir Reddy.
"Wait, what if it's a trap, like the one the cyclops set for us?" asked Sir Pants.
"Don't worry," said Sir Reddy. "The cyclops's trap didn't even work."
"Oh yeah," said Sir Pants.
They got on the sphinx's back. She flew strong and fast. They could soon see the basilisk in the distance again.
"What do you want me to do to that basilisk once we catch it?" asked the sphinx. "Shall I tear it to little pieces?"
"Um...." Sir Pants thought about her offer.
"No, I don't think so," said Sir Reddy. "That would be not nice."
They saw a hydra down below.
"Oh, that's my best friend the hydra," said the sphinx. "I'm going to stop and say hi."
"No!" said Sir Pants. "We have to catch the basilisk!"
But the sphinx was already landing on the ground. She and the hydra had a lot to talk about. The hydra especially had a lot to say out of its nine mouths.
Sir Pants and Sir Reddy decided to run after the basilisk again while they could still see it. After a while, they heard a loud panting behind them. It was the hydra. The hydra was running with them.
"I want to eat the basilisk," said the hydra, "when you find it."
At that point, they caught up with the basilisk. It was facing off to a very large, green Western dragon. The dragon breathed fire at the basilisk. The basilisk stared at the dragon. The dragon started to whimper.
Then the hydra jumped in between them, and the dragon stopped whimpering. It flew away, breathing a little smoke out its nostrils just to prove that it still could.
"I want to eat you," the hydra said to the basilisk.
Sir Pants noticed that his gift for the magician was lying on the ground between the basilisk's clawed feet.
The basilisk hissed and stared at the hydra meaningfully. The hydra shrugged.
"Doesn't hurt me," said the hydra. "I've got nine heads to share the sting."
The basilisk grunted in disgust and turned away. It left the gift that Sir Pants and Sir Reddy had been hammering for the magician. Sir Pants ran up and retrieved it.
"Let's go home quick, while we can," he said to Sir Reddy.
Sir Reddy nodded eagerly.
They started home. Eventually, they met a harpy. The harpy offered to fly them home so they could get back quicker. They were a little suspicious, but when a chupacabra walked up and offered good references for the harpy, they agreed to ride her back home.
As they flew, they saw a leviathan in some dark waters below. Later, they saw a gorgon hanging out by an open fire with the legendary cerberus, who was barking quite loudly. The gorgon laughed. At some point, a red-colored Western dragon passed them.
"Hello," it said to them.
"Hello," they said back.
"Sir Pants, maybe some other time we can come back and meet the rest of these creatures," said Sir Reddy.
"Agreed," said Sir Pants.
They went home and went to sleep.
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