The Sphinx of Albion Wood. . .

The construction of the new Guard tower in Albion Wood was well underway when the Sphinx first appeared. The workers were in the middle of chopping down several trees and burning the area around them to make space for the tower when there was a loud crashing noise followed by a fluttering of wings, and with a roar, the Sphinx came bounding out of the forest on her lion legs.

"What are you fools doing here?" said the Sphinx with the voice of a loud human.

"Er..." said the foreman, "we were trying to clear away this forest."

"Indeed," said the Sphinx, "and what gives you the right to do such a thing?"

"Well," said the foreman, "the king ordered it. And generally when the king orders something, it's acceptable."

"Fool," said the Sphinx, and she leaped on one of the men and devoured him.

"Well. . . Perhaps, the king would let us stop working for the day," said the foreman.

"I should hope so," said the Sphinx wiping her mouth with her paw. "I suggest you take a message back to your king. Tell him he, or someone acting on his behalf, must solve my riddle:"

What beast can fly higher then my wings?
What beast is stronger then my body?
What beast is more lovely then my face?
What beast is utterly harmless?"

The foreman thought about that, "Er. . .Am I to understand that all four lines are talking about the same animal?"

"Of course, you idiot! Now go!"

* * *

Well, word of the Sphinx's challenge spread all through the land. The king himself was not very good at riddles, so he put the challenge to his three children, two boys and a girl. The girl, Esmerelda, was the least interested.

"Honestly Father," she said, "going out into icky places like forests and answering riddles from disgusting monsters is not something I'm going to do." And she went back to looking at herself in the mirror and combing her long golden hair.

The king's younger son, Brion, was a little more receptive. "I might be able to find the answer, Father, but I'm going to have to some research in the castle library first."

The older son, Varian, laughed at this. "Both of my siblings are such fools. Father, you must feel extremely lucky to have me. I believe I can solve this riddle rather easily. The answer is a dragon, of course."

Brion frowned. "I suppose that answer might make sense for the first two lines, but I'm not so sure about the next two--"

But he didn't have time to finish, because Varian had already rushed out of the castle on his horse to Albion Wood.

* * *

When Varian got to the Sphinx's nest in Albion wood, she was sharpening her claws, "What do you want?"

"I have come to answer your riddle," said Varian.

"I can't wait to hear this," said the Sphinx.

What beast can fly higher then my wings?
What beast is stronger then my body?
What beast is more lovely then my face?
What beast is utterly harmless?"

"The answer," said Varian, "is a dragon."

"Hmmph!" said the Sphinx. "Maybe before I devour you for giving a wrong answer, I'll give you a chance to prove that your answer is correct."

Varian frowned. "I'm not sure how I can prove it--" but he didn't get a chance to finish, because at that moment, he felt his body changing, his neck grew longer, his skin changed a light green color, and his entire body seemed to grow. "Oh my goodness!" he said as the wings sprouted out of his back. "I'm changing into a dragon!"

"Quite right," said the Sphinx. "Now, then, can you fly higher then me?"

"I believe so," said Varian and he began beating his wings back and forth until he was in the sky. "I know so," he said triumphantly flying high into the atmosphere.

But then, he looked down and saw that the Spinx was just beneath him pawing at his toe. "I'm still higher then you," he said with less confidence then he had before.

"Hmph!" said the Sphinx. "But are you as strong as me?" And she used her paw to grab the dragon by the toe and wrestle it out of the sky, so that it landed with a crash in the middle of the woods.

It took Varian a moment to get himself righted, but when he did, he saw the Sphinx charging at him from above. Remembering that he was a dragon, he breathed out a long cone of fire which seemed to push the Sphinx out of the sky and onto the ground.

Seizing his opportunity, he jumped onto the Sphinx and pinned her to the ground with his claw. "I am stronger then you," he said triumphantly.

"Hmph!" said the Sphinx although her pride definitely seemed wounded now. "I suppose you think your face more lovely then mine, too?"

At this, Varian smiled a bit more sheepishly. The truth is that dragons are rather vain about their appearance, (more so then Sphinxes anyway) even if the average person might not find them attractive.

"I will not argue that point with you," said the Sphinx. "There is no need. Look at all of the damage you've caused. How can you say that you are utterly harmless?"

Varian hadn't thought of that. As he gazed round at the burnt forest, the fallen trees, and the Sphinx, he had to admit that there was nothing harmless about a dragon.

"Fool!" said the Sphinx, and she changed him back into a human. "You're not worth devouring."

* * *

Brion was hard at work studying in the library, when he was startled to see his sister, Esmerelda, appear.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Can you even read?"

"Very funny," said Esmerelda. "You know, Varian didn't solve the riddle. Do you think we can?"

"Well," said Brion getting serious, "I have an idea. Actually, I might have a few ideas." He showed Esmerelda a few sketches he had drawn. "I think that might solve the first two lines of the riddle, and maybe it solves the last line, but I'm not so sure about the third."

Esmerelda was astonished. "Do you really think these things would work?"

"Possibly, but I'm still not sure about the rest of the riddle."

Esmerelda smiled. It made Brion think that his sister's smile was actually kind of nice to look at. "I think we can solve the riddle together, " she said.

Brion wasn't so sure, but he agreed to go to Albion Wood the next day.

* * *

The next day, Esmerelda and Brion arrived in Albion wood at the Sphinx's nest.

Seeing the Sphinx, Brion felt a little too nervous too talk, but Esmerelda was not one to let anything stop her from talking. "We're here to solve your riddle," she said.

"Here we go again," said the Sphinx. "Very well:"

What beast can fly higher then my wings?
What beast is stronger then my body?
What beast is more lovely then my face?
What beast is utterly harmless?"

Esmerelda looked at Brion. "Time to start explaining," she said. "And relax." She decided to give her brother a hug, which she had not done in quite some time.

"Well," said Brion. "I have here a plan which I have drawn up for a device called an airplane."

"Airplane?"

"Yes, I don't know how much you know about applied thermodynamics."

"Applied thermodynamics?"

"Yes, but I think if you study the plans, you'll find that a properly constructed airplane would make it possible for a human being to fly considerably higher then your wings."

The Sphinx was incredulous. "I've never heard such nonsense in my life."

"Right," Brion went on. "I also have plans for another invention here. Are you familiar with gunpowder?"

"Gunpowder?"

"Yes, it's pretty powerful stuff, and I believe that if properly designed, it could be used to create a weapon called a gun, which would make it easy for a human to dispatch a lion or any other creature with your body."

"That'll do," said the Sphinx getting angry. "And what do you make of the last two lines of my riddle?"

"Allow me," said Esmerelda. "Sphinx, the answer to the third line of your riddle is basically simple. Anyone who looks at your face and then looks at my face will agree that humans are much better to look at then you. I mean, seriously, do Sphinxes ever use mirrors? You're pretty hideous."

"Never mind that," said the Sphinx. "Would you actually like to prove that you could fly higher then me or be stronger then me."

"Not at all," said Esmerelda, "because we don't have an airplane or a gun, and in all likelihood will never have them. That's another thing about humans. We're too lazy to build things like that, so we're utterly harmless ."

The Sphinx seemed to fly into a rage and jump into the air. Then, she seemed to crash someplace far away.

* * *

When Esmerelda and Brion returned to the castle, everyone was happy to see them, and happier to hear that the Sphinx would not be bothering them anymore. Even Varian was happy to see his two siblings come home safely.

"That was not a bad solution to the riddle," he said in an unconvincing voice.

"I'll bet you're jealous you didn't think of it," Esmerelda mocked.

"Maybe a little," admitted Varian. "Still, I wonder. . .You two are humans, right?"

"Last time I checked," said Brion.

"Well," Varian went on. "Since, you succeeded in beating the Sphinx, wouldn't that mean that humans are not 'utterly harmless'? "

Neither Brion nor Esmerelda felt like trying to answer that.