Connor knew if he were to help at all, he’d have to come up with a plan double quick.
‘Who are you?’ Kia asked hotly, almost spitting her words out. ‘What do you want with us?’
‘Ah, my dear, so impatient – but no, you’re right of course, how rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Sheena and I have been personally chosen by Definastine to represent him and all that he stands for, including his quest to find the Starstone,’ she smirked. ‘Only I don’t think I want to play his little game any longer. I want what I deserve. Finders keepers after all.’
‘Now why doesn’t that surprise me, you… bog trotter,’ Kia murmured.
‘What!’ Sheena snapped her lips tightly together. Her cruel smile disappeared in an instant.
‘Where I come from we call a creature that dwells all day in the mud eating nothing but slimy insects – a bog trotter,’ Kia’s voice sounded from everywhere at once. Connor had to stop himself from laughing when he saw the redness on Sheena’s face. ‘Someone like you!’
Connor bit his tongue to control himself. He hoped Kia knew what she was doing. She was playing with fire at the moment and he didn’t want to see her fingers get burnt. He grew worried. Kia had no chance fighting Sheena alone. But she wasn’t alone. Tookar was somewhere. But where exactly Connor didn’t know.
‘Anyway my dear, I’ve had enough amusement with you, you must die now!’ said Sheena peevishly. She raised her hands into the air, screamed hysterically and shook her head till it looked as if it would fall off her body. Lightning crackled from her fingertips spilling into the room until a silvery spider web was revealed. Her head turned in every direction. Whatever she had hoped to see wasn’t there.
Connor felt the voltage rip through his body only to discover it was nothing but his own adrenaline. The lightning was loud and ferocious like a hungry lion ready to pounce on its prey. He quivered feebly, becoming quickly annoyed at his own weakness.
Sheena ignored Connor, much to his relief. ‘Where are you?’ she hissed, almost spitting, but received no reply. She grunted indignantly and snapped her fingers. Slowly the web of light came back towards her and formed itself into a big ball of blinding light.
‘Daya Pickaro!’ she uttered.
Slowly the ball of light began changing its shape, twisting and contorting into a hideous monster made entirely from light. It grew four times the size of Obi, with fangs and a mouth that would swallow a human in the blink of an eye.
‘I want you to find the invisible girl,’ she ordered. ‘She’s round here somewhere. Sniff her out!’
The beast roared in acknowledgement and began searching the room. Its thick long tail narrowly missed whipping Connor and his friends as it passed them. For something made entirely from light it moved heavily, with every step vibrating up through Connor’s legs, making him quiver. Shuffling on two massive legs, it swung its arms with amazing grace for a beast that size. But Connor knew without a doubt that if the beast were to slam its fist down hard on him, he’d disappear into the ground. Equipped with huge claws and massive fangs, it wasn’t a beast to pick a fight with.
After a thorough search and failing to find the girl, the beast returned to its master.
‘Well?’ Sheena snarled. ‘She’s here somewhere. I know it!’
The beast roared and shook its head adamantly.
‘Aaaahhh!’ Sheena snapped her fingers and the beast disappeared immediately.
Much to her annoyance Kia spoke close to her. ‘So, he couldn’t find me? And I’m not leaving without my friends.’
‘Oh, but I think you’ll find you will and very easily,’ smiled Sheena slyly, reminding Connor of a cat ready to eat its prey after it has finished playing with it. Her long index finger, appearing much longer due to her extended black fingernail, pointed to Obi. ‘Give yourself up or I’ll kill this ugly giant.’
‘No!’ Kia shouted.
‘You sound worried, my dear,’ Sheena smirked.
‘Should I be?’ Kia replied as calmly as she could. ‘Perhaps we could come to another agreement.’
‘Certainly, my dear, just give yourself up and I’ll let your friends live,’ she began quietly, but with a steadily increasing tone she began screaming madly. ‘For when I have the Starstone, I shall dominate the entire Universe and mind control the star-spirits everywhere so they succumb to me. Ha-Ha!’
Sheena straightened her posture once more and smoothed down her hair.
‘Never!’ Kia suddenly appeared in mid-air and flew towards Sheena, who was busily yawning. Sheena raised two hands up at Kia as she flew through the air. Black smoke shot out at her and sent her reeling backward on to the far wall, where she fell on to the ground and lay unconscious.
Connor’s heart jumped – was Kia going to be all right? He wanted to go to his friend but his feet refused to move. He could feel himself sweating. Something was going to have to be done before someone else got hurt – but what? And where was Tookar?
It was at that darkest moment when the comforting voice of the Starstone communicated directly to him. In Connor’s mind he was shown a scene with words explaining what he must do.
Take her tiara and crush the black stone. This will release her from Definastine’s grasp. Help set her free. If you break the stone, all power will be broken. I can help you but your thought is the deed.
Connor studied her tiara. The black stone was the size of a pea in the very centre of it. His thought was the deed. How was he going to plan this? What must he do? Was Sheena under Definastine’s power, acting out his will? Why did she want to work against him now? More questions confused him as he thought of the best plan of action. He couldn’t think straight. He breathed in deeply and tried to relax.
Ignoring Obi, Sheena turned her attention back to Connor.
‘Well, my little darling, come closer to me,’ she purred beckoning Connor with her hand. ‘Come, let me study you.’
Connor moved closer to her. He could see her black painted lips and a floating beaded necklace levitating an inch above her shoulders.
Gracefully landing on the ground she stepped closer. This was his chance. As she moved close to him, Connor decided to take her tiara, just pull it free from her hair before she could react.
One… two… three… his hand moved quickly towards her head but to his surprise two tentacles reached out from two of the pearls in her necklace and held him firmly in their grasp.
‘Ahh!’ he cried out in pain as they tightened their grip around him.
‘What!’ Sheena screeched. ‘How did you do that? How could you resist me?’
Connor imagined her tiara floating off her head and exploding in the air. His hands could do nothing but to his surprise, it happened exactly as he imagined it. While she was preoccupied with Connor, she failed to notice the tiara rise up from her head.
When she noticed Connor staring upward with his jaw hanging loosely, she looked up too.
‘No!’ she screamed. ‘No!’
She flew into the air trying to grasp it but it flew faster than she could fly. Kia had suddenly woken up, reached out and caught it, holding it tightly in her hands.
‘Looking for something?’ she managed to say with a smile.
As she held the tiara, to everyone’s surprise the black stone exploded into fragments so small they became invisible to the human eye.
‘NO!’ Sheena screamed, falling to the floor. ‘NOOO!’
Obi and Bromie slumped to the ground the same time as Sheena fell, groaning and clutching their heads. They were released from the spell and very confused. Slowly they stood scratching their heads, desperately trying to figure out what had happened.
Connor rushed over to Kia and hugged her tight.
‘We did it!’ he grinned. ‘We destroyed her.’
But to his surprise Kia closed her eyes and transformed into Tookar.
‘Get off me,’ he grinned. ‘I really fooled you, didn’t I? It was me all along.’
Connor opened hi
s mouth wide in astonishment. ‘Where’s Kia then?’
‘When Sheena was busy talking to you, I hid Kia safely behind the spaceship. Then I went back and pretended to be her. That beast couldn’t find me because he was told to find an invisible girl and I had transformed myself into an invisible man. He went right past me.’
They rushed behind the spaceship and saw Kia stretching and yawning. Her body was covered in bruises but apart from that she seemed okay.
‘Where am I?’ she asked rubbing her bruises. ‘What happened to me? I can’t remember a thing.’
Connor grinned and hugged her. ‘I’ll tell you later. I think it would be a good idea if we got you out of here.’
‘My ship!’ she cried turning around to see her ship. ‘I’ve found my ship. Or did it find me?’
‘What’s being going on?’ Obi asked, drunkenly.
‘Sheena wooed you,’ Tookar grinned. ‘She fluttered her eyelids and you started drooling.’
‘I didn’t!’
‘You did!’ Tookar replied. ‘You need serious training when you go back to the AAA. You need to be taught not to fall in love so easily, especially with one as evil as her.’
Tookar turned and looked down to where Sheena lay unconscious.
‘What happened to her?’ Bromie asked. ‘Is she dead?’
‘I don’t think so. I destroyed the black stone in her tiara,’ Connor explained. ‘It was controlling her.’
‘How did you know that?’ said Obi, wrinkling his head in puzzlement.
‘The Starstone told me,’ Connor replied, looking somewhat embarrassed. Hearing voices inside your head wasn’t really a good way to prove your sanity.
‘Huh?’ quizzed Tookar.
‘Well, I heard a voice inside my head. It was as clear as hearing you speak. It told me Definastine was controlling Sheena and if I should destroy the stone, she would be released from his power.’
Everyone began talking and chatting about their own experiences, explaining to Kia about the lost children and rescuing them. There was so much to be said in the little time they had. Kia was keen to leave and go back home. After a few minutes comparing stories, their conversations stopped abruptly when a golden light began to shine in the room.
‘What’s that?’ Kia whispered, stepping back.
Everyone shrugged and watched in awe as the light lifted Sheena up into the air. She appeared to be resting in invisible hands as she turned gently in mid-air. Still unconscious she moved peacefully, like a swan on a lake. To everyone’s amazement she began to change.
Her black hair was gradually replaced with golden locks. Her face filled out and radiated warmth. Her eyes opened wide, revealing golden pupils, and her lips became as bright as oranges. Her black gown sparkled with golden stars, eventually spreading until all the blackness had disappeared. She was lowered to the ground once more and collapsed on her knees. With her back hunched over her legs she didn’t want to look up. She was utterly distraught and depleted. She held her face in her hands and began sobbing sorrowfully.
Kia looked the most surprised of all. She stepped forward slowly. Tookar tried to stop her but Kia shrugged him off. ‘You poor thing,’ she murmured, lowering herself to the floor so she was sitting next to her. ‘You must be feeling terrible.’
She placed her arms around the woman and sat close to her, comforting her as best as she could. Eventually Sheena looked up at everyone with tears flowing freely from her eyes.
‘I’ve been rescued from a terrible fate. How can I ever thank you all enough, especially when I almost killed you. Definastine has killed my people. He slaughtered my friends and family. I am alone now.’
‘No, you’re not,’ Kia announced, fluttering her wings gently.
‘Yes I am, dear child. I watched my entire race explode years ago – right in front of my eyes.’
‘You’re a Tria, aren’t you?’ Kia asked.
‘Yes… but how… how did you know?’ Sheena wiped her tears from her eyes and looked directly at Kia.
‘There’s a Tria on our planet called the High Priestess Serena Iona,’ Kia explained. ‘She thought she was alone too.’
Sheena’s face lit up. ‘I know her well. But how could she have survived? I watched helplessly as Definastine destroyed our planet.’
‘She survived because she was travelling at the time,’ Kia told her. ‘She’s made a life on our planet now but unfortunately she has become very ill.’
Sheena’s face clouded over. ‘It’s because of me. When one of us turns away from the light it upsets the natural energy we all share. Serena Iona must have been under tremendous stress because of me.’
‘She knew you existed,’ Kia explained. ‘Well, not you exactly. But she knew another Tria must have survived for her to feel so ill. I came here looking for you – and my ship of course.’
‘When Definastine tried to control me at first he found he couldn’t, for some reason he found me very powerful. Now I can see why. Since he thought I was the only one, it would have been easier to dominate me. But because Serena Iona was still alive she was subconsciously helping me fight against him. But he proved too strong and soon I found myself under his control. Poor Serena Iona was fighting against the darkness I found myself in. She has been sick and unwell because of me. I can’t wait to see her again. She’ll be all right now.’
‘So what now?’ asked Connor.
‘It’s time to go home!’ Kia smiled at Sheena. ‘And you’re coming with me.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The Family Pet
Together they pushed the Hyas Transporter to the surface of Dramian. Tookar had managed to get the lift working once more by shape-shifting into a bird and flying up to where the rock dwellers had sabotaged the lever. Once the obstruction was removed the lift was working again, making their job a lot easier.
The cool outside air on their cheeks was a welcome relief. Connor removed his handkerchief and breathed in deeply. Sheena came over to speak to him.
‘Do you know how strong you are?’
Connor gave her a nervous look and shrugged.
‘You were able to resist my power. Not many people can do that. Do you realise your powers are stronger than Definastine’s will ever be? It gladdens me to know the Starstone is in safe hands. Definastine will have a battle on his hands trying to defeat you. But I don’t think you realise the true extent of your gift, you must learn to control your powers and use them wisely.’
‘He sure will,’ Kia grinned, walking towards them. ‘You’re a hero, Connor.’
‘I only wish there were something I could do for you, for saving my life and delivering me from the cruel grip of Definastine. I was weak and Definastine eventually controlled me but not any more. When I see Selina Iona again, the two of us will fight him together.’
Bromie approached the small group. Connor sensed he was preoccupied with something.
‘It’s time to move out,’ he said.
‘Are you all right?’ Connor asked quietly, following Kia and Sheena to their spaceship.
Bromie placed his hand on his shoulder. ‘Yes, I’m fine.’
‘I know something’s wrong,’ said Connor
‘I’ll explain to you later. Let’s say our goodbyes first.’
They walked over to the rest of the group who were already saying their farewells.
‘How far away do you have to travel, Kia?’ Obi was asking her.
‘Through several different galaxies. Don’t worry, I know all the dimensional gateways to make it back safe. My ship has a map of all the galaxies. My brother and parents will be so anxious about me. I can’t wait to see them again. Thanks for your help. My family owe you a great deal.’
‘Does it frighten you travelling about by yourself?’ Connor asked, positively sure it would scare him silly.
‘No!’ she laughed, flicking back her head of multicoloured hair. ‘I’ve been space travelling throughout this universe all my life. It’ll be fun to have Sheena as a compa
nion to go home with me, the journey can be a little long and boring when you’re on your own.’
‘How old are you?’ Connor queried.
‘That’s a very rude question to ask a lady,’ Sheena smiled.
‘Oh, I didn’t mean to be rude!’ Connor blurted out. Everyone laughed.
‘If you must know, I’m several hundred years old according to your time but that’s still very young on my planet,’ she said smiling.
‘You’re having me on! Really?’ Connor was amazed.
‘No!’ she answered him. ‘It was a joke. I’m a few thousand years old really.’
‘What?’ he gasped. She didn’t look any older than he did.
‘You look good for your age,’ Obi replied.
‘Why, thank you,’ she grinned. ‘Anyway, we must move on. We’re sitting ducks for Definastine if we delay any longer – you’d better leave too,’ Kia warned everyone. ‘Thank you all for everything you’ve done for me. I will never forget you.’
Kia hugged everyone affectionately, including Connor.
‘I’m going to miss you. I only wish my brother could have had the chance to get to know you. Don’t forget to carry that flower around with you. You never know, it might save your life one day.’
Kia placed her hand on her ship and a door magically appeared. ‘No one can open it apart from me, not even Sheena,’ she grinned. ‘Bye everyone, I’m going to miss you!’
She entered her oval-shaped spaceship, which looked oddly like a bullet. Sheena followed her, waving her long arms delicately.
‘Good luck!’ Connor shouted as the door sealed shut behind them. At that moment something felt missing inside. He was losing a friend he’d probably never see again. It wasn’t as if she was moving house to another part of England, after all.
With a quiet hum the silver spaceship rose up from the surface of Dramian, turned around and zoomed off into space. It didn’t have any spectacular lights as it blended with the night sky, disappearing from view.
‘Where did they go?’ Connor gasped, searching the skies.
‘Back home, my boy – back home,’ Tookar smiled and slapped him on his back. ‘Which is where we’re now heading.’
Connor Clover and the Lost Children (Book 1) Page 26