by B. C. Harris
A few minutes ago, my mother finished saying good night to me. What my mother didn’t realize was that I’m dressed in my jeans and a T-shirt underneath my bed sheets. On my night table once again is my mother’s emerald necklace. When I asked her for it tonight she placed it on my night table and left my room without saying another word. It’s almost as if she knows something unusual is taking place but she’s powerless to stop it, or perhaps doesn’t want anything to do with it.
As I think about the weird experience I encountered last night, I’m certain that I fell asleep on the planet Tamor, yet I woke up this morning in my bed. Maybe there’s some sort of time lapse between the two worlds. Perhaps, when I left my bedroom, it was as though I had never gone away. Otherwise, how can I explain that my mother had not noticed at some point that my bed was empty? Unless of course my mother knew what had happened but chose to ignore it. Or perhaps the whole thing was a dream
I note that it’s now 10:27 p.m.
I try to relax. I block out all thoughts about my day at school. Even Drew.
I take the emerald from my night table and fasten the gold chain around my neck. Holding the emerald in my hand, I begin to think about returning back to Tamor.
After exactly sixteen minutes of focusing on the beautiful jewel, I find myself admitting that last night must have been a dream as nothing is now happening. Too tired to take off my shoes or clothes, I close my eyes and begin to drift asleep, although every once in awhile my eyes jerk open to take another look at the emerald.
I’m not sure how much time has elapsed when I hear a loud humming noise. At first, it sounds like the soft purr of an engine. It begins to grow in intensity. I look up to see a huge mass of fish-like creatures flying above me. I’m no longer in my bedroom. As they come closer, I realize they look like bright yellow flying fish.
“Just a part of my family,” a gruff voice laughs.
I recognize the voice. “Radwin, is that you? Am I really back in your world? Are all those yellow things really a part of your family?”
“You mean all those doadlings? Absolutely,” the deep voice says, even though I can’t see where it’s coming from. There are too many of those waving blue bushes around me.
“I have hundreds of brothers and sisters. By now, they have heard about my injury so they’re visiting to see how I am doing.”
I recall the horrible incident from the previous evening when Radwin was attacked by a flying creature, that sethaurus animal or whatever it was called.
“Radwin, where are you? Are you feeling better?”
“I’m over here.”
“I can’t see you.”
“Look a little harder. I’m in the arms of some morphradels.”
I look in the direction where I think the voice is coming from. I see him. Radwin is resting in the arms of several morphradels as though he’s a baby in his mother’s arms.
I don’t know if Radwin understands what happened to me this morning. One minute I was in this strange new world and the next I was waking up in my bed back home. I remember a brilliant green light flowing around me from my emerald.
Most important to me right now, I want to ask Radwin about the writing I found in the book in my basement.
Looking intently at Radwin, I begin, “In an old book in the basement of my house, I found a drawing and a word that someone wrote in the book. I think the drawing is an emerald like the one I borrowed from my mother.”
I hold the emerald in my hand so that Radwin can better see what I’m talking about.
The look on his face suggests more than mild interest although he doesn’t say anything.
I fish in my pocket for my drawing of the picture and the mysterious word that I copied from the book. Underneath the picture and the strange word, I have printed the letters that I think I have been able to identify.
The moment I’m holding it in front of me, Radwin stretches his one good head to look at my scrap of paper.
“The letters of the word in my book were faded but I have written down what I think they are,” I say as Radwin focuses on what I have written. “I added spaces for the letters that I couldn’t read. I’ve done my best to draw the picture of the thing that was beside the word although I’m almost certain that it’s an emerald.”
“Yes, yes,” he mumbles in his gruff voice, “that certainly looks like an emerald. And the word, well it looks like you’ve got four letters of what might be a six letter word.”
“Yes, I think it’s probably a six letter word,” I confirm, “but what is the word? Can you help me? I think this is something that is very important.”
Radwin pauses for a few seconds as he gazes at the letters I have written on the paper. He begins to state them aloud, “Blank, h, i, blank, t, and either an i or e.”
“Do you have any idea what the word is?”
Radwin looks like he’s deep in thought. Slowly a look of excitement grows across his face as though he has made a great discovery.
“Could it possibly be?” Radwin says with astonishment. “Could it possibly be?” he repeats again.
“Could it possibly be what?” I say with growing curiosity. “What does the word say?”
Slowly and carefully, Radwin beings to read the letters once again, filling in the missing spaces, “s, h, i, n, t, i. Shinti.”
An unusual stillness suddenly descends. The hundreds of yellow doadlings flying above us abruptly stop making any noise.
“What’s Shinti?” I whisper as though I’m afraid to break the silence.
The air is filled with a murmuring as the morphradels start to say the word Shinti over and over again with awe.
“Shinti?” I say once again. “What is Shinti?”
Radwin stares at me in amazement.
“What is it? Have I done something wrong?”
The yellow doadling begins, “There is a legend that exists on Tamor about a group of people who came here many years ago from a distant planet. The legend states that a very powerful magical emerald brought these people to Tamor to start a new civilization.
“What does this have to do with the word in my book?” I eagerly ask.
I notice that the hundreds of doadlings hovering above us are moving closer.
“This ancient civilization,” says Radwin, “was called Shinti.”
“I must go there,” I say.
Radwin looks at me in disbelief. “The problem is that nobody has ever found the lost world of Shinti.”
“How did this word end up in one of my books?” I wonder aloud. “What happened to this ancient civilization?”
Even the morphradels are leaning closer to us.
“The story I have heard many times tells of a small group of people fleeing from another planet. After they arrived on Tamor, they used a powerful emerald to create a fabulous empire.”
I touch the emerald dangling from my neck.
“According to the legend that I am familiar with about Shinti, there was a rebellion there about a thousand years ago. After the rebellion, the fabulous world of Shinti vanished. No one knows whether Shinti was once really here on Tamor, or whether this is a story from someone’s imagination.”
Radwin pauses thoughtfully before continuing. The hundreds of doadlings suspended in the sky all appear to be waiting for him to continue.
Before he starts again, the earth below me shifts sending me flying to the ground. As the earth continues to shake, I frantically wonder what is happening. My first thought is that I’m caught in an earthquake. I gasp in horror as I struggle back to my feet.
With a collective scream, the doadlings begin to scatter.
A loud thumping noise emerges behind me. I turn to see what appears to be a large red turtle lumbering quickly across the plain in my direction.
“Quick, you must hide,” Radwin says.
“From what?” I reply. “That’s just a big turtle.”
“No, that’s a pazu. It is a very dangerous animal. Lie down on the ground and roll under
some morphradels. The pazu won’t see you if you hide there.”
The tone of Radwin’s voice frightens me.
“What are you talking about? It’s just a turtle, isn’t it?” No sooner have these words left my mouth when I realize it’s a turtle that’s as big as a truck. Its head looks more like a ferocious crocodile than a cute turtle. Its mammoth teeth are glistening in the sun.
As the pazu rapidly races towards us, I think it’s looking directly at me. I drop to the ground and roll under the waving arms of a morphradel.
A ferocious cry from the massive creature erupts.
I close my eyes and hold my breath. The rushing beast is almost on top of us.
Without warning, there’s a violent scream above me. I peek upwards. In between the hundreds of bright yellow doadlings who are fleeing in every direction is a large black shape.
It looks like a huge black prehistoric reptile flying in the sky. Instantly I remember a much smaller version of this frightening creature from last night. It’s a sethaurus. Although the huge animal has some similarities to a dinosaur, it’s really more like a bird with wide powerful wings and a long scaly tail. Its head resembles that of a Tyrannosaurus Rex although it is longer and broader. It has rows of long sharp teeth ready to tear apart its prey. Absolutely horrified, I crawl further under the arms of the morphradels.
Terrifying screams fill the air. I think that the two enormous creatures are about to kill me.
Even the morphradels seem to be frightened. Although my eyes are almost shut in horror, I catch a glimpse of the diving sethaurus. Its razor-sharp teeth are open wide ready to rip me apart. At the last second when I think my life might be over, there’s a huge collision.
The giant sethaurus attacks the pazu instead of me. The ground shakes as the two ferocious beasts strike each other with incredible fury. Their terrible cries are deafening.
I’m in shock as I watch the vicious jaws of the pazu rip into the side of the sethaurus. The sethaurus abruptly jerks upwards and tries to fly away.
The tenacious pazu won’t let go. It rips its sharp claws into the side of the sethaurus preventing it from being able to escape.
A piercing scream from the sethaurus terrifies me. I feel the ground trembling beneath me from the violence of the fight.
With a mighty flap of its wings, the sethaurus manages to change its position. Its horrendous teeth attack the other creature; the horrible noise of their assault on the beast’s hard shell echoing everywhere.
The pazu shrieks in anger as the sethaurus uses it wings to knock the giant animal backwards.
Utilizing its powerful hind paws, the pazu swings around on its shell, almost like a spinning top, as its crocodile-like head flashes outwards from its shell sinking its strong jaws into the side of the sethaurus once again.
“Emily,” Radwin whispers firmly through the swirling dust, “now would be a good time for you to get away from here.”
“Are you crazy? What if they attack me?”
The sethaurus is twisting its jaw in an attempt to grab the pazu’s head. Before the sharp jaws find their target, the pazu once again retreats into its hard shell.
The sethaurus pulls itself away from its foe and rises into the air. It begins to circle as though it is preparing for another attack. Although the pazu with its thick shell had appeared to be unbeatable, there is now a large jagged tear in the side of its shell. I know that if the sethaurus is able to sink its knife-like teeth into this hole, the battle will end quickly.
“When the sethaurus attacks again, you must leave,” Radwin says again in earnest. “The pazu is wounded. The fight will not last much longer. Once the pazu is defeated, the sethaurus will stay here for days while it eats its prey. The sethaurus is sure to see you during this time. If you don’t escape now, you might never get another chance.
“What if either of the beasts see me? I could never fight against such huge creatures,” I protest. “Besides, I’m not even sure where I am, so I don’t know which direction I should go.”
“Get away from here,” Radwin replies. “There will be others who will help to guide you.”
“Others? What do you mean?”
“You have to trust me. Have I let you down before?”
“No. Well, I don’t think so. But you did lose a head, and I sure don’t want to lose mine.”
“And you won’t. As soon as the fight begins again, start walking away from here.”
“What if they see me?” I repeat once again.
Suddenly there’s a horrific scream as the sethaurus dives.
Wild shrieks of anger surround me as the combatants resume their ferocious fight.
“Start walking and don’t look back. You won’t be noticed. Go!”
I drag myself back to my feet. The morphradels rise a little higher to hide me.
“Whatever you do, don’t look back,” Radwin warns again. “Keep your eyes focused on where you are going.”
“I don’t know where I’m going,” I frantically say. “I have no idea where I can hide. Why can’t I stay here?”
“Other people will hear your thoughts. Place yourself in their hands.”
“What other people? I don’t see anyone else around here that can help me.”
“Even though you can’t see anyone, believe me, there are others around us. They understand your fears and are ready to help you. Using sensergy, they will hear your cries for help.”
“How can I believe in something that I can’t see?” I ask, as I start to anxiously crawl away from the violent battle that is stirring up so much dust that it’s beginning to blot out the sky.
“When you believe, that will be the moment others help you the most,” Radwin replies.
“But…”
“Enough buts. Go!”
I’m completely confused. I don’t know what to do.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the sethaurus.
“Safety,” I mutter to myself. “I’ve got to find a safer place.”
Turning away from the ferocious battle, I attempt to look through the blanket of dirt and dust to find which direction I should go.
“This way,” a kind voice says to me.
As I can’t see anyone, I’m not sure who is talking to me.
“Radwin, is that you?” But I know that it isn’t.
“Who are you?” I say.
There’s no response.
I keep walking at a fast pace. I hear the continuing battle behind me. I don’t want to attract the wild creatures to me so I decide not to say anything.
I realize that the roar of the battle has stopped. I feel a wretched twinge in my stomach. What has happened? Even though I was warned not to look back, the temptation is too great. I take a quick look over my shoulder.
The sethaurus is hovering over the pazu who appears to be gravely wounded. It’s as though the sethaurus is waiting for its victim to die.
In that moment as I stare at the sethaurus, it looks up, its angry eyes catching a glimpse of me. As its eyes lock onto mine, I know that I’m in serious trouble.
Panic grips me as I stumble to the ground in an attempt to run faster.
From the noise of the flapping wings behind me, I know that the sethaurus is now coming after me.
- 7 -
THE SWIBBLES
I roll over and spring back to my feet. I start to run. Although I’m not very athletic, I’m sprinting for my life. A quick glance around me tells me that there’s no way I’m going to reach any form of protection before the sethaurus attacks me.
In a matter of seconds, there’s a loud piercing scream above me. Looking up, I see the sunlight bouncing off the knife-like talons of the menacing creature as it circles above me.
Fear grips me. I’m too frightened to run anymore. I fall down and tuck myself into a ball awaiting the imminent attack.
As I shake in terror, I hear the flap from the powerful wings of the sethaurus getting closer. I close my eyes and pray for help. As the dust begins to
swirl around me from the force of the mighty creature’s wings, I wrap my hands and arms over my head and bury my face into the ground.
At the moment when I think I’m going to be attacked, there’s an unbelievable explosion beside me. The huge pazu came of nowhere to intercept the sethaurus. Although the pazu is wounded, it evidently still has a little flight left in it.
The enormous creatures tumble to the earth a few steps away from me. I’m caught in the middle of their violent fight. If either of the huge animals falls on me, I’ll be crushed.
I’m paralyzed with fear and confusion. I don’t know what to do next.
Even though a cloud of dirt surrounds me, I see the pazu digging its powerful front claws into the side of the sethaurus. The sethaurus twists its body and flaps its strong wings as it attempts to free itself from the tight grip, but the pazu holds on for its life. The great weight of the huge pazu keeps the sethaurus from flying away.
I hear the snapping of the powerful jaws from the sethaurus as it tries to reach the hole that it had torn before in one side of the armor-like shell of the pazu.
After a prolonged twisting and turning of the raging animals, the sethaurus manages to use its huge wings to provide enough power to flip the pazu onto it back, even though the pazu’s claws are still gripping its ferocious enemy.
I start to roll away from the bloodthirsty battle, but the dust and horrible noise confuse me and prevent me from knowing which way to go.
“Help me, help me,” I cry, although my voice isn’t much more than a desperate whisper lost in the furious fight around me.
The sethaurus has the massive pazu pinned on its back. The incensed creatures are both so close to me that I could reach out and touch either of them.
The sethaurus’s terrifying jaws are ripping away the underneath part of the pazu’s shell. It’s only a matter of minutes before the driving fangs of the sethaurus reach some vital organ to kill is adversary. Then the fight will be over and I will be the next delicacy for the seething beast.