Prologue
Vile cobra. Heartless one.
You think your foul work is at last done.
You think your deadly foe
Will never again cause you woe.
But beware Queen Nagasta and King Karistan.
If one mongoose cannot beat you, maybe two can.
They're off to find Kalindo's Magical Herb,
A feat that will surely be quite superb.
This is the story of how Rikki-tikki and Avíá-tía fought the great war against the Cobra Queen and King. They were helped by Chuchundra, Tacróc the wise old crow, Chua, Darzee and his wife, Rikki's family, Bahaxur the lion, Shujaa the lioness, Rutukas the bloodhound, and several others, though Rikki and Avíá did most of the real fighting. They fought the fearsome vipers and braved the dreaded Dark Forest. They helped fight against Kíkatili and Apakarmi, the wicked King and Queen of the Lions. They outwitted the evil Dark Mongooses. They conquered the dangerous pythons and skirted the mountains of ash and liquid fire. They saved a village from evil lions and rescued a home from kraits. They managed to cross the very swiftly moving Great River. They made their way through the fearsome realm of the Giant Spiders and fought against the dread Tarantula Emperor. They went to the land of Kalindo, seeking a magical herb that could, for one bite, cure snake venom. And they came back and faced off with the dreadful Nagasta, the daughter of the wicked Nag and Nagaina, and her evil husband Karistan, in the bungalow in Segowlee.
Avíá never thought she'd do great and noble deeds. Indeed she thought she would be a normal mongoose who lived a regular life, but fate had something else in mind. On that fateful day when she met Rikki, her life was changed forever, as was his. Gone were his days of solo work. That day, they fell in love. As the enemy forces grew stronger, they counted on their love to see them through and their love grew ever stronger.