“Oh no. Is she . . . how is she?”
“She was hit by a bolt of something and was knocked off the bridge. I don’t think the injury is serious. If you hadn’t sent me back, she would have fallen to her death. How’s Tee?”
“Breathing. But Jax’x . . . she’s bleeding a lot. Can you do something for her?”
“Egg, all I know is to apply pressure to the wound.”
“Serenity’s doing that.” Egg exhaled. “Any idea where Bl’azzz is? And the two Absolutes?”
“No. But Jagged Peak is on the bridge screaming. I’ll go check on him. Maybe he knows something. She flew off. She landed by the wounded man and was relieved to find that he only had two broken arms. When he heard that Bree had caught his lover, he calmed down. He was then able to answer a few questions.
Bree left him there and flew back to Egg. “How is he? What did he say?” By the look on her face, Egg braced for more bad news. “Tell me.”
“He said Bl’azzz was hit by a bolt of energy. She fell into the rift.”
For a moment, Egg couldn’t breathe. She forced herself back into control. “The two Absolutes?” They were still the enemy.
“Xara appeared out of nowhere and sent them into Jay’gar’s cell. They’re gone.”
“Good news for a change. Listen, stay here with these two. I’m going to go look for Bl’azzz.”
“Oh, Egg . . . this has been a disaster.”
“For us. For the people of Spell ‘Bound, we did good.” She kissed her sister on the cheek then launched herself into the night sky. She then dove straight down . . . her heart beating much too fast, and way too loud.
*****
“This is Her Majesty’s Ship Kat’Alynnia. Do you read?”
“Well?”
“Still no answer, Your Highness.”
“Try again.”
It soon became obvious there would be no reply. “Any ships in orbit?”
“Yes, Sir. It’s the Gracie. There are no life signs aboard.”
“Scan the surface. See if you can pick up the life signs of a dragon. That would be Bl’azzz and we would know where they are.” Since everyone else was humanoid, hers would be the only one that they could easily identify.
The officer did as he was asked. “Sorry, Sir. There are no life signs for a dragon.”
Ben’Edikk swallowed hard. In his gut he knew something terrible had happened. “I believe there is only one populated city. Find a suitable landing site and take us down.”
“Sir, we do not have any intelligence about the forces we might encounter.”
“Take us down, Captain. Inform the other ships to maintain a high orbit. If they do not hear from us within twenty hours, they are to return to Aerianna. I want the Queen to send an armed armada. Understood?”
“Yes sir.”
Thirty minutes later the populace of Amber Heart gazed in wonder as an alien spaceship landed in the open space about a half mile from the Crypt.
“Prepare an away team. I want a dozen medical personnel, as well as a half dozen armed guards. Have them meet me in the auxiliary bay.”
“Sir, I cannot allow the crowned Prince of Aerianna to walk into a potentially dangerous situation. I will go first.”
“Captain, the love of my life – and the heroine of Aerianna – is out there. You do not have enough men on board to stop me. Have I made my self abundantly clear?”
“Sir.”
*****
Serenity had seen the ship land. She called BreeZee on her communicator. “I think it’s the blue footed booby. Go find him. We need doctors RIGHT NOW.”
“Understood. How is she?”
“I . . . I don’t know why she’s still alive. There’s blood everywhere.”
“Hang on. I’ll get help.”
******
A contingent of medical personnel found Serenity and Jax’x. The wounded girl was teleported directly to sick bay.
Another contingent found Tee’ka, Flash and Peak. They, too, were taken to the ship.
Ben’Edikk had been with this group. As soon as they were taken care of, he turned to BreeZee. “Where is she?”
“Bene, she’s okay. She went to find Bl’azzz.”
He could have screamed for joy but that would be un-princely. Instead, he said, “I am relieved, as you might expect. As for Bl’azzz . . . we scanned for her life signs but found none. I am terribly sorry.”
Bree fought a losing battle against her tears. The Prince grabbed her and hugged her close. “She was creating a diversion,” the winged girl managed to say. “She was hit by an energy pulse and fell into the rift. Egg went to find her.” Saying the words out loud was too much and she burst into tears yet again.
Ben’Edikk wanted to leave and find – and console – Egg. But it would have been unseemly to just rush off. He forced himself to stay for a few moments with the weeping girl held to his chest.
*****
The rift was very deep and very dark. The walls were encrusted with protruding rocks and small ledges barely wide enough to grab hold of.
As Egg made her way down into the abyss, the tears she promised herself she would not shed refused to listen. She cried from the bottom of her heart. How she loved her sisters. It simply wasn’t going to be possible to continue the sisterhood if one of them died. The guilt would overwhelm her.
She continued to spiral down using the only sense that worked in this darkness – her hearing. Against all measure of common sense, she called out “Bl’azzz, it’s me. Hey, Bl’azzz can you hear me?”
No reply.
She continued her descent . . . deeper and deeper into the void. “Hey, Hot Lips, you there?” Then, “Bl’azzz, say something will you.” Her voice echoed off the rocks until it faded into silence.
Then she saw something like a light. She headed for it as fast as ‘inhumanly’ possible. She began to yell “BL’AZZZ.”
Another flash of light.
It was the dragon holding on to an outcropping of rock with the tips of her talons. She was literally breathing fire.
“Bl’azzz,” and Egg reached her sister and hovered there. “Stupid question – are you okay?”
“Sorry, sister.”
“Sorry? I don’t understand? Are you hurt?”
“Egg, I can’t hold on much longer. I . . . I really wanted to say goodbye so I’ve been hanging here like forever. But, it hurts too much. I have to let go.”
“Don’t you dare. I’ll help you.”
“Not even Flying Girl can carry a big old dragon like me. Egg . . .”
“Don’t you dare say anything stupid.”
“I have to go now. I love you so much. And the others. Tell them, will you?”
“NO. You tell them yourself. Come on, let me help you.”
“I have to go now,” she repeated. “Hey, tell Soo she’s married to a creep. That’ll make her laugh.”
“Stop it. I order you to stop talking like that.”
“Bye, Egg,” and the dragon lost her grip and fell backward into the darkness.
Epilogue 3 – Knight in Shining Armor
Egg was onboard the Kat’Alynnia moving from one sick bay to another.
Her first stop was to see Jax’x. “How is she?”
Serenity was sitting next to the bed holding the unconscious girl’s hand. “They think she’ll live.”
“What happened down there?”
“It was my fault. She and I could have just left the ship but I decided to be a hero. I pulled a weapon and Xara knocked it out of my hand. I went to get it back but Jax’x beat me to it. She tried to save my life. After all the grief I gave her, she tried to save my life. The thing went off and . . . well, here we are.”
“Jax’x wasn’t about to let any of us die for her cause. Regardless of the relationship between your two, you’re part of the sisterhood that came to help.”
“For a smart person, I can be incredibly stupid. If she doesn’t make it . . .” but she didn’t finish. If she utt
ered another word she would begin to cry.
Egg changed the subject. “Did you hear about Jay’gar and Po?”
“No.”
“Apparently after spending time in that prison cell he decided he was madly in love with Po. When she,” and Egg pointed at the girl in the bed, “wakes up, I’ll have to tell her.”
“No, I’ll do it.”
“Serenity, broken hearts are a lot harder to fix than a physical wound.”
“I know that all too well.” She was referring to the loss of her mother.
“Of course you do. Sorry.”
“Egg”.
“Yes?”
“I want to ask her to become a sister. Is that okay?”
“Yeah. That would be terrific.”
*****
Next up was Tee’ka. There wasn’t anything to be done for a concussion other than waiting for it to heal on its own. In the case of the former hostess, she was just a bit more looney that she normally was.
“How do feel?” asked Egg.
“With my hands, silly. Or is that a trick question?”
“No, no. I meant since you were injured, are you feeling any better?”
“Better than what?”
Egg couldn’t think of a response. She bent over and kissed the girl on the cheek. “You did great down there. I’m very proud of you.”
“I bonked my head.”
“Yeah, I know. Does it hurt?”
“What?”
“Your head?”
“What about it?”
Egg smiled. “Get some rest. I’ll be by later.”
“Did we win?”
“Yes we did. The bad guys are gone.”
“Egg?”
“Yes?”
“Will you take me clothes shopping?”
“I’ll buy you whatever you want.”
*****
She even paid a visit to Jagged Peak and Lightning Flash.
“How are the arms?”
“They will heal.”
“How about you, Flash? You okay?”
“I owe my life to BreeZee. I tried to thank her but she wouldn’t hear of it. I wanted you to know how grateful I am. Unfortunately, without the Gift, we can’t remove the Torcs around the necks of your friends.”
“Not to worry. They’ve disappeared. Remember, it was the machine that supplied the power.”
“How is the Librarian?”
“They think she’ll live.”
“I’m glad. Will she be going with you?”
“We hope so. She’ll make a great Hameggattic Sister.”
“Please give her this,” and he nodded at Flash who handed Egg the Amber Heart pendant that he had once dangled in front of Xara.
“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to have it. Thank you. Anyway, I presume that you two are very disappointed in how this all ended?”
“It obviously didn’t go as we had planned.”
“No. No more Gift. Everyone is now equal. You’ll all have to work together.”
“I understand that Po and Jay’gar will be left in charge?”
“For a very short time. The experts from Aerianna will help you and your people rebuild the city’s infrastructure and government. Then there will be a vote to see who will sit on the council to draft a constitution. When it’s complete, everyone will vote on that. It’s all up to you guys to figure out what you want. The Queen’s people are just here to help.”
“For that we thank you.”
“A word of advice . . . don’t dwell on what might have been. Accept the situation and try to make a contribution.”
“Again, thank you. You could have punished us and you didn’t.”
“You actually didn’t get a chance to do anything wrong.”
“Will we see you again? You and your sisters?”
“Probably not.”
*****
Her next stop was to see Benny. She waited outside his office while the guard announced her presence. The Prince himself came to the door.
“Please come in.”
She smiled in acknowledgement but said nothing.
“How are your people?”
“So far, so good. Your medical staff performed miracles. Please express my gratitude.”
“I will pass on your thanks. And may I extend my congratulations to you and your sisters. You have written yet another glorious chapter in the history of the Hameggattic Sisterhood.”
“I guess. Maybe later when everyone’s healed I’ll feel more glorious. Right now I’m just mentally exhausted.”
“Considering the complexity of the challenge, I certainly understand.”
Tired as she was, Egg took that the wrong way – as if she hadn’t been up to the task. “Is that a criticism?”
“Good grief, no. Setting aside my feelings for you for a moment, if we were a warring people, I would not hesitate to name you General of my armies and Admiral of my fleet.” Egg tried to interrupt with an apology but the Prince stopped her. “In addition, if you had the time, I would add Primary Adjutant of the Diplomatic Corp. You are simply the most remarkable being I have ever met.”
She smiled. “On Earth, the title would be Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.”
“I truly have no idea what that means.”
“It means that I apologize. You have been beyond wonderful. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Compared to you, I have done nothing.”
“Benny.”
“Yes?”
“How did you know?” It was the one thing that he did do that made her eternally grateful.
He understood what she was referring to. “Merely a lucky guess,” which it most certainly wasn’t.
“You saved her life.”
“She is a loyal subject and a heroine of Aerianna. I could do no less.”
Egg didn’t respond in words. Instead she went up to the young man and kissed the heck out of him. It was a kiss of gratitude . . . but sometimes one emotion can get confused with another.
“I do love you, Gracie,” he managed to say when their lips parted.
“And I . . .” but she didn’t finish because she wasn’t sure how she felt. However, she definitely did feel something as evidenced by the flush on her cheeks. She had never kissed anyone with so much passion before – not that there were many other opportunities. So, since it was so darn pleasant, she just kissed him again.
When they finally broke apart, the Prince asked, “Can we talk?”
“Later, okay? I need to go to the recovery room.”
“Of course. Will you have dinner with me tonight?”
“I’d like that.” To her surprise, she wasn’t just being polite – she really meant it.
*****
Earlier that Evening
When Ben’Edikk had heard that Bl’azzz had fallen into the rift and that Egg went looking for her, he disengaged from BreeZee and hurried back to his ship.
“Scan that chasm for a dragon’s life signs. They may be very weak.”
The technician did as he was asked. “I have her sir. She’s seems to be falling.”
“Beam her directly to sick bay. Have the medical staff alerted. We have a Hameggattic Sister to save.”
“Yes sir.”
Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood
The final chapters are about to be written. It has been a great ride – 29 books and three quarters of a million words.
However, all stories must end. Look for the last series**
Ever After
** Author’s note: I reserve the ‘right to write’ more books. Just saying.
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Box Set #5: Nemesis: [The 4 book 5th adventure of Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood] Page 39