by S. E. Smith
“I saw Leo’s tracks. He was chasing something across the sand. There were some strange tracks in the sand near the edge of the forest. It looked like worm tracks but with lots of legs, and they kept disappearing. I think they went under the sand. If it is worms, they made Bio and Symba nervous. They kept pawing at the sand and hopping around,” Bálint shared.
“Momma and Aunt Tina are going to be upset if Leo gets eaten,” Roam groaned from where he was sitting behind Jabir on Precious.
“Do we have to go that way?” Phoenix asked, circling around on Harvey.
She and her sister, Spring, rode on Harvey, their parents’ symbiot, who was in the shape of a large dog with floppy ears.
“Yes, we’s got to goes that way,” Morah stated, touching her heels to Crash’s sides and moving forward.
“When did she get so bossy?” Spring asked with surprise, watching Morah ride ahead.
“I don’t know, but she’s almost as bossy as Zohar,” Bálint observed with a grin.
Zohar shot his cousin a scowl. “Leaders are supposed to be bossy,” he declared with a lift of his chin.
“I thoughts only mommies were bossy. That’s what my daddy said. I’m gonna have to tell him that Mommy really is the leader, then,” Roam said with a confused expression.
Spring and Phoenix looked at each other and giggled. Zohar shook his head. He decided being the leader was a lot harder work than it looked like when his dad did it.
“Let’s go before we lose Morah, too,” Zohar said, urging Goldie to move on down the trail.
Leo shook the sand off of his paw and growled. He looked around at the rippling granules, and his small, black rounded ears moved like a radar dish searching for a signal. His dark brown eyes lit up when he saw the movement under the sand.
He’d been chasing, catching, and releasing the worms for the past hour. They were fun because they popped up out of the sand. He’d caught ten of them so far. He just had to be careful because they had a mouth with lots of little teeth. They couldn’t bite him through his thick fur, but they were hard to shake off.
“Grrr!” he growled, crouching down until his butt was in the air and his tail flicked back and forth.
He was about to pounce when he saw another movement out of the corner of his eye. He raised his head and blinked. These were different creatures. They looked like Morah’s dolls only they were dressed like his daddy and the other warriors.
His eyes widened when one of the worms suddenly popped up out of the sand and grabbed a wing on the skimmer that a tall warrior was riding. The force of the worm’s attack knocked the warrior off of the small machine. Leo heard shouts of warning at the same time as the sand began to move near the tall warrior.
With a powerful leap, Leo landed close to the man at the exact moment the worm appeared. With a flick of his paw, he sent the worm flying. Crouching down on the sand, he cupped the little doll-like warrior between his paws and loudly hissed at the worm.
His eyes widened in pain when he felt a sharp prick on his right paw. Shifting back to his two-legged form, he started crying.
“Ouchy! That hurts!” Leo sniffed, sucking on his finger and glaring down at the toy warrior. “I’s protectings you from the worms. Why’s you wants to hurts me?”
The warrior looked up at him in shock. The man glanced at the sword in his hand before he returned it to his scabbard. With a formal bow, he introduced himself before he straightened.
“Please accept my sincere apologies, young warrior. My name is Jett. Who might you be?” Jett asked.
Leo looked warily at the man. Bending down until he was eye level with him, he sniffed him. The toy warrior didn’t smell like Morah’s toys.
“I’s Leo. I’s a prince causes my daddy’s a prince. Are you reals?” Leo asked.
Jett chuckled. “Yes, I am very real. Where is your father?” Jett asked, searching around the sand dunes.
“I don’t knows. Daddy’s lost. I’s the one that mostly does that. I likes lookings for things,” Leo explained.
“Your Majesty, the sand worms,” another warrior gently reminded Jett.
“I’s Leo. I’s a cat-shifter,” Leo said with a sharp-toothed grin that had the warrior backing his winged skimmer away from him. “Are you’s real too?”
“This is Santil. We were on patrol when we saw your tail and came to investigate,” Jett explained.
“I’s playing with the worms. They’s fun to catch,” Leo replied with a grin. “Do you wants me to shows you how to catches them?”
Jett chuckled. “No, I think I will leave the catching of the sand worms to you. We were about to return to Sandora. Perhaps we could be of assistance in finding your father,” he offered.
“I’s hungry. Do you has anys food? The worms don’t tastes good,” Leo said with a sigh as his stomach growled. “I’s starving.”
“I hope he doesn’t think we are food,” Santil muttered.
Leo giggled and looked at Santil. “Does you tastes good?” he asked.
Jett chuckled. “He tastes very good,” he said with a wink.
Santil’s mouth dropped open, and he shot Jett a panicked look. Leo giggled. Shaking his head, he sat back up.
“That’s means you don’t tastes very good. My mommy always says it tastes good and winks at my daddy when somethings tastes bad. I’s not going to eats you,” Leo announced.
“Thank the Goddess for that,” Santil muttered.
“If you follow us, young Prince Leo, we will guide you to the Kingdom of the Sand People,” Jett replied with a bow.
Leo watched as Jett returned to his winged skimmer and climbed onto it. Delight filled his eyes when he saw it rise above the sands and turn. This was much more fun than playing with sand worms he decided as he shifted back into his tiger form and took off after the flying toy warriors.
Chapter Eight
I think we’ve lost them,” Paul said, drawing in deep, calming breaths and shaking his head in bewilderment. “Would one of you please tell me what in the hell is going on?”
“Those... were Tasiers,” Mandra said, leaning his head against the stem of a mushroom.
“I know they were Tasiers, but I thought Tasiers were about this big,” Paul growled, holding his hands in a circle the size of a large piece of fruit. “In case I was the only one having a delusional episode, those… creatures were considerably larger than they should be, correct?”
“They were definitely not like any Tasiers I’ve ever seen before, but they sure did smell like them,” Trelon said, rubbing his stomach. “I’m hungry.”
Viper shot Trelon an exasperated glance. “Now you sound just like Leo,” he said as he slid down to the ground, groaning. “I think the women were right, no more tales—ever!”
Paul watched as Ha’ven turned from where he was keeping a wary look-out behind them. Ha’ven frowned when he started counting heads. Turning all the way around, Ha’ven searched the group.
“Where is Vox… and Kelan?” Ha’ven asked.
“And the twin dragons,” Zoran added with a soft curse. “Spread out, we need to find them.”
“Goddess, I hope they weren’t eaten,” Creon groaned, rising from where he was sitting on a small blue and yellow mushroom.
“I don’t think spreading out is such a good idea,” Viper muttered, slowly rising to his feet.
“Why not…?” Zoran started to ask before his voice faded.
They slowly raised their hands when male and female warriors moved out from behind the mushrooms to surround them. Each of their long staffs was tipped with glowing, pointed red gems, and was held at the ready. Paul was surprised by the color of their skin and the curved shape of their ears that ended in a point at the tips.
“Well, I can honestly say I think I know where we are now,” Mandra replied.
Looking up, Paul noticed more warriors riding dozens of bat-like creatures.
“Leprechauns?” he breathed in disbelief.
“I told you they were real,”
Mandra muttered under his breath.
Paul clamped his mouth shut when the warriors simultaneously pointed their staffs at the group. Now that he had an up close and personal look at the gems, he recognized them as the same ones they had used to defeat Raffvin. He quickly realized that he and the others were in trouble—yet, at the same time, he couldn’t help but admire the warriors’ successfully stealthy approach.
A tall, slender woman stepped forward. She eyed each of them with a suspicious expression before she addressed them.
“You will come with us. Do not try to resist,” the woman ordered.
Paul kept a wary eye on the warriors surrounding them as they motioned for the men to fall into formation and move out. He moved his gaze over the warriors flying overhead again.
As the men followed the line of warriors further down the path, Paul reached up and traced his hand under the gills of a mushroom. The smooth, silky texture ran across his hand.
I don’t know if we’ve ended up on the other side of the rainbow or in one of Jonathan Swift’s islands of little people, he thought in disbelief.
It suddenly dawned on him that if they were in the latter, then they had shrunk! A shiver of unease ran through him at the possibility. There was no logical or scientific explanation for what was happening.
The only thing that gave him some peace of mind was the knowledge that the symbiots were with the kids. He knew that Crash and Princess Buttercup would do everything in their considerable power to protect Morah. He only wished that he was there for his daughter. He could only imagine how scared she and the other children had to be.
Chapter Nine
You’s a bad worm. Bad, bad, bad worm! You don’t tries to eats my symbiot,” Morah snapped, thumping the worm on the head with her small star-tipped wand. “Jabir, tells them all to goes home before I has Crash stomp on them!”
Jabir carefully pulled the sand worm free from where it was hanging onto the symbiot’s rabbit tail. He held the worm firmly in his hand and shook his head. Looking up at Morah, he gave her an apologetic smile.
“I don’t know how to speak sand worm. Hopefully, they will know enough to leaves us alone,” he said, placing the sand worm on the ground and watching it quickly disappear beneath the soft granules.
“Bálint, has you and Roam found Leo yets?” Morah asked, turning on her golden saddle.
“We found his tracks. He went that way. I think he is following something else because I don’t see any more places where he was playing with the sand worms,” Bálint stated.
“Is that the same way the clover tells us to go?” Zohar asked, pulling Goldie up beside Morah.
Morah nodded. “Yes, it glows that ways,” she said.
“Can you make it glow toward some food? I’m so hungry,” Jabir said with a sigh, climbing up onto Precious.
“I’m hungry, too,” Alice said, rubbing her belly.
“So am I,” Phoenix added.
Morah bit her lip. “I don’t thinks it takes us to food." She looked at Zohar. “Can you finds us some food?” Morah asked.
Zohar sighed. He was hungry, too. Looking at the barren landscape ahead of them, he didn’t see anywhere they might find food—unless they were willing to eat sand worms. He eyed the other children who were looking to him for guidance. He frowned when he realized that Leo was not the only one missing.
“Where’s Spring and Hope?” he asked.
Phoenix grinned and pointed at the sand to their left. Zohar turned in his seat. The sounds of giggles ran through the group of children, momentarily distracting them from their hungry bellies. Less than ten feet from the group, Zohar could see the ground moving. A long line of sand worms was popping up into the air before landing with soft thumps back on the warm sand. They frantically began digging in an attempt to avoid being caught by the tiny, emerald green dragon who was following a wave of sand and trying to pounce on the poor worms.
Zohar turned to look at Alice. “She wanted to go with Spring,” Alice replied with a grin.
He turned his attention to Morah when her stomach loudly growled. She gave him a sad look and rubbed her tummy again. Holding the clover close to her chest with her other hand, she released a long, mournful sigh.
“I wishes we had some yummy things to eat,” she said.
Zohar’s eyes widened when the four-leaf clover began to glow more intensely. Morah gasped and cried in delight when the clover began to rise in the air. He watched as it swirled above their heads and blinked in surprise when a large canopy suddenly materialized. Under the canopy’s shade, a long table—laden with assorted food and drinks—appeared with benches on each side.
The roof of the canopy looked just like the clover—green with four heart-shaped leaves. The stem threaded through a hole in the table.
Zohar’s mouth dropped open when he saw all the yummy food. He whipped his head from side to side as the other dragonlings rushed to the table.
“Spring! Hope! Food!” Phoenix cried out.
Hope’s dragon rose up on her hind legs and sniffed the air. Her tail thumped against the sand several times. A second later, Spring’s head poked up out of the sand. She sneezed before her eyes widened in delight upon seeing the canopy and what was beneath its shelter. Wiggling up out of the sand, she and Hope excitedly bounced past Zohar. Shaking his head in wonder, he slid off of Goldie and patted the symbiot.
“I think I’m going to like this adventure after all,” he said with a grin.
Goldie sneezed and followed him to the canopy. None of the children noticed the small, golden sand worm watching them with delight. Shimmering in the sun, the sand worm dissolved into glittering specks of gold which rose up into the air.
Arilla soared across the sands. The symbiots would protect the children while she paid a visit to the Keeper of the Stories. After all, if wishes were to come true, even a Goddess needed a little help sometimes.
Chapter Ten
Calo gave Cree a lopsided grin and shrugged. If Cree could have reached his brother, he would have smacked him upside the head.
“This isn’t funny,” Cree growled.
Calo chuckled. “It is from where I’m standing,” he replied.
Cree growled again and struggled to pull the lower half of his body out of the mushroom he had landed on and then began sinking into. The more he struggled, the more he sank into the soft fiber of the fungus. He really hoped that the mushrooms in this bizarre world weren’t man-eaters.
“Will you help me get out of this?” Cree finally asked, resting his arms on the cap of the mushroom.
“Hold on,” Calo replied, chuckling again at his brother’s predicament.
“You know, you should be worried about our daughter,” Cree reminded Calo. “She is all alone in a strange world and completely defenseless.”
Cree watched the amusement on his brother’s face fade. Calo gave him a brief nod before he shifted into his dragon. Cree followed his twin as he flew above the mushroom.
A flash of concern swept through him when Calo started to land next to him. He opened his mouth to warn his brother that he wasn’t sure if the entire cap was soft, or just the small, bright blue spots on top which he had landed on. His unspoken question was answered the moment Calo landed and his feet began to sink into the soft exterior.
Calo lifted off again, hovering for a moment. Cree followed his brother’s gaze and saw the long branch on the ground. Within seconds, Calo had swooped down, grabbed the long stick between his claws, and hovered above Cree with the stick extended toward him.
Wrapping both hands around the end, he nodded, and Calo pumped his powerful wings.
Relief flooded Cree when he began to emerge from the soft fungus. He looked down when he his feet finally broke free. He grinned and looked up to let Calo know they were clear.
His eyes widened when he saw a pair of beady green eyes perched atop the stick staring at him. Startled, he released the end of the stick and fell. The sound of his dragon laughing was so loud insi
de his head that he barely heard his own grunt when he hit the ground and rolled.
He did hear Calo’s muttered curse. Lying on his back, he saw the beady-eyed stick fall from his brother’s grasp and raised his arms to protect his face. It didn’t land. Cree peered through his arms and was surprised to see that a thin pair of wings had appeared along the slender branch. The stick-creature darted away from the brothers and was quickly lost within the forest of mushrooms.
Calo landed on the soft soil beside him and shifted back into his two-legged form. Slowly rising to his feet, he shot his brother a fierce glare of warning before he bent down to wipe off the white mushroom residue from his clothing.
“You should have seen…,” Calo began before he clamped his mouth closed when he noticed Cree glowering at him again.
“Not… a… word,” Cree warned, pointing at his brother.
The amusement on Calo’s face grew until his brother practically snorted from his struggles to keep it contained. Despite his best efforts, Cree’s lips twitched. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath.
“Let’s find the others before anything else unusual happens,” he muttered, turning toward the trail.
“I don’t like this world,” Vox growled, turning in a circle. “It makes my hair stand up.”
Kelan chuckled and dumped the water out of his boot. He looked over at Vox. The Sarafin King’s hair was plastered to his head thanks to their jump into the wide stream to escape two Tasiers that were following them.
“You look like a drowned cat,” Kelan commented, pulling his boot on before taking the other one off and emptying it too.
Kelan chuckled again when Vox bared his teeth at him. He distractedly listened as Vox muttered under his breath about how every time his family came to visit, there was some kind of catastrophe. First, it was Easter eggs, then it was almost getting eaten by ghost wolves in the haunted forest, then his hair caught on fire, and his son was almost blown up in a volcano, followed by booby-traps in a haunted house, getting knocked out while dressed as a giant rabbit, an unexpected trip to Earth through a portal, and now this!