*****
They gathered around a large table and listened to the Minister’s review of the planet Zynn-Zaz’zia and its people. It was both exciting and dull. The excitement came from the description of the strange inhabitants they were going to meet. The boring came from all the tedious details they were given about the planet.
But their lives and the lives of the others depended on them knowing as much as they could . . . so they did their best to give the minister their full attention.
“We discovered one advanced race on the planet but they appear to have split into two distinct groups. They are human in appearance but have large wings that allow them to soar like gliders . . .”
That was greeted with a bunch of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhhs’.
The minister tried unsuccessfully not to smile at the girls. When they quieted down, she continued, “We have been unable to discern any noticeable difference between the two groups other than their names. One group calls themselves the Wind’dancers and the other calls themselves the Nauti, which is spelled N-A-U-T-I and not N-A-U-G-H-T-Y. I am sorry to say we have very little additional information about these two subcultures.
The only other fact that we have been able to learn is that they use a species of a gigantic tree for their habitats. Some of these trees have large crystalline like structures that sit at the very top. We don’t know their function.”
“So these flying people live in nests like birds?” asked Bl’azzz.
“No. The trunk above the top of the branches is hollow. They live inside.”
“That is unusual,” said Aeri’elle.
“More than unusual . . . it is unique. These trees apparently are very important to them – probably critical to their continuing survival. All in all, it may very well be that they did not evolve naturally.”
“What are you suggesting?” asked the Princess.
“That perhaps there is an unknown force at work on this planet.”
“Maybe the trees also offer protection from some form of animal or insect,” offered the college-educated Aeri’elle.
“That is a very interesting theory. Living in a tree could help to keep out carnivores, snakes and, if I may be less than scientific, other creepy crawly critters.” The minister was just teasing the girls and it worked.
“SNAKES?” cried K’ssss.
“Great. Just great. Can’t anyone live in a normal house with dogs and cats and canaries?” This was from Sylvia who just absolutely hated spiders and anything else that could creep, crawl or slither (except sea serpents).
“What’s a canary?” asked Soo’.
“I could do without cats,” added Bl’azzz remembering the ever-obnoxious J’azzz-min.
“I do wish we had dogs on Aerianna,” commented Megg.
“What’s a dog?” asked someone.
“I once had a pet eel . . . but I accidentally ate it. My mom was really mad.” Yeah, that was K’ssss.
“Enough,” interrupted the Queen. “Please . . . pay attention to the Minister.”
All seven girls mumbled an apology.
Egg took the lead to get everyone refocused on the issue at hand. “Okay . . . let me make sure I understand. There are flying people on this planet. Some of them are called Wind’dancers and the other are called the Nauti. But we don’t know if they’re different in any way. Both kind live in weird trees.”
“Correct.” replied the minister. “There are also sea serpents but they appear to be semi-sentient.”
“Which means what?”
“They are not yet self- aware,” answered Aeri’elle.
“Still don’t get it?” The other girls nodded their agreement.
“If I may,” said the Minister. “They may have intelligence . . . but not necessarily the ability to reason.” The girls still looked befuddled so the Minister tried to simplify the concept. “If you were to tell them to go to school, they could probably find the building but they could never be taught concepts like math or science.”
“Ha,” said Sylvia with a grin, “sounds a lot like Egg” and despite the Queen’s admonition, the girls broke into laughter. Even Rose’Alynnia was forced to smile.
When the merriment died down, Soo’ said, “So far neither the bird people nor the not-so-clever fish folk sound dangerous.”
“I am afraid you are correct.”
“Please explain,” asked the Princess.
“Our scouting party found that neither the Wind’dancers nor Nauti were particularly warlike or aggressive. So we feel reasonably sure that neither of them kidnapped our people.
“So would the Wind’dancers and Nauties help us?” asked Sylvia.
“Excellent question. Unfortunately I cannot answer it.”
Then M’egg-Alynnia asked the most relevant question “So who did my father and his delegation go visit? Who invited them?”
“One of our scouting party was separated from the rest. When he returned a few days later, he bore a note from an individual who calls himself Sui’bom, the Supreme. The scout described him as an impressive individual and the obvious leader of the Nauti. We pressed for more details but for some reason our man was unable to recall anything else of significance.”
“But if they are not war-like, why would they take my father prisoner?”
“We do not know for sure. It may be that this a faction within the larger tribe that is trying to gain power over the others. Perhaps they are using our people to achieve their own personal goals.”
The girls all looked at the minister then at each other. Nothing was said for perhaps fifteen or twenty seconds until Dazzle broke the silence. “Sisters,” said the Queen, “your first destination on Zynn-Zaz’zia will be an island that is centrally located to the population centers but seems uninhabited. It will give you the opportunity to establish a base camp and to perform your own reconnaissance.”
“But before you go . . .,” added the Minister, “our scientists have developed a few interesting gizmos and gadgets that might help you. So, please . . . if I could have your attention once again?”
*****
After the presentation, Dazzle held a farewell dinner for the Sisterhood. At M’egg-Alynnia’s suggestion, only earth food was served. The dragons and serpents had the same reaction to the odd-looking fare.
“What is that?”
“And that?”
“And that?”
“Yuk.”
The Princess cleared her throat to get her sisters’ attention. When they looked at her, she used her eyes to indicate that her mother was right there.
Aeri’elle was first to apologize, “Oops, sorry, Your Majesty.”
Dazzle laughed at their reaction. “You are one of the bravest women I know. Yet the sight of such food causes you to quake with fear.”
“But . . . but . . . it looks awful,” said Bl’azzz pointing at one of the dishes. “It looks like an infected wound on the back of a featherless Flit’grable (that was a type of flying creature found in the highest mountains).
“Oh . . . that’s gross,” said Egg.
“It is actually quite delicious,” said the Princess taking a slice of the pizza. “It is very much like Eye-Pye (dragon’s version of pizza). See these round red objects . . . that is called pepperoni. And these red flakes are called red pepper. They make the taste very, very zesty. Try it Bl’azzz. I promise you will enjoy it.”
The F’yre Dragon loved her food hot and spicy . . . so she reluctantly took a bite. Everyone watched her closely to see how she would react.
“WELL . . .,” said Soo’ impatiently.
“Is she going to die?” asked K’ssss.
“Maybe.”
Bl’azzz ate the entire slice before passing judgment. “Not bad. Could be a little hotter . . . but otherwise it’s pretty tasty.”
“Liar,” teased Aeri’elle. But since the other dragon had been brave enough to try something, she figured she might as well too. “What is that thing?”
“It’s calle
d a hot dog,” answered Sylvia.
“Didn’t you say dogs were pets? Are you people barbarians?”
And so it went for the next hour . . . the dragons and serpents making fun of every dish; but in the end, they found something to like.
Soo’ loved the fish sticks.
Aeri’elle couldn’t get enough of the french fries.
Bl’azzz ate the whole pizza.
And K’ssss . . . well, she ended up mixing the sauerkraut with pickles and mustard and ate the whole goopy mess. When they asked her why, she said the sauerkraut looked like kelp, the pickles like sea cucumbers and the mustard like pureed eel. She had three helpings.
*****
After dinner all the girls headed for their own rooms; only Egg and Sylvia would be bunking together.
“I will show you to your room,” the Queen told the girls.
“Mother, I can do that.”
“Thank you, Daughter, but I wish to speak to Egg. Have a good night,” and she kissed the Princess. They stood there waiting for M’egg to disappear down the hall before Dazzle asked, “Have you formulated a plan?”
“No, not really. Obviously, we’ll go check out the island first as you suggested. Then I guess we’ll just play it by ear.”
“I do not need to tell you that it would be wise if you were to dream about this.” Dazzle had taught her friend to open her mind when she dreamt because it allowed the universe to talk to her. And those dreams had been the key to the Sisterhood’s success in their Quest against Mobius.
“I’ve been trying. But I usually get my best dreams when I’m here . . . on Aerianna.”
“Then, I will wish you both a very good night.” With that, the Queen opened the door to their bedroom, hugged each girl then walked away.
*****
“What do you think?”
“About what?”
“About the mission, silly.”
They were sitting on the bed getting ready to turn in for the night. Egg looked at her friend and said “You first.”
“Well, we’re older and more mature. We have already faced monsters and evil villains and won. This time we’ve got some cool gizmos from the scientists. So, I guess I’d say I’m feeling pretty good about our chances.”
“Dazzle said just because we beat Mobius, we shouldn’t be over-confident.”
“Really?” answered Sylvia somewhat disappointed in the Queen’s words. “What else did she say?”
“That if we can’t save them, we shouldn’t risk our lives for no reason. It’s better to be alive and free . . . then we can always go back and try again.”
That advice was like the proverbial wet blanket . . . Sylvia’s upbeat mood turned very sour, very quickly. “Geez . . . now I’m worried.”
“Yeah, me too.”
They sat there, each lost in her own thoughts. Finally, Egg said, “Let’s get some sleep.”
“Sure. Sweet dreams.”
“I hope so.”
*****
“Syl . . . wake up.”
The other girl yawned deeply, rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Morning”.
“Syl . . . I had a dream about the Myst Tree!”
“Really? What did it tell you?”
Egg described her dream then they both got dressed and went to find the others. It took an agonizingly long thirty minutes to get everyone assembled. Dazzle was the last to enter.
“What is the trouble, my sisters?”
“I had a dream . . . about the Tree.”
As they all knew, the Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl was actually a representative of the Old Ones, the alien race that created Aerianna. The Tree could communicate by means of telepathy. It also controlled enormous power.
Then the Princess stunned everyone when she said, “I did also.”
“What?” squawked Bl’azzz?
“Oh my gosh.”
“Is this significant?” asked the Princess who only knew of the Tree through history books and Egg’s diary.
“Up until this morning, the only person to ever be visited by the Tree in their dreams was Egg. And now my daughter, you have also been so honored.”
The girls were more than a little impressed . . . and just a teensy bit jealous.
“Well . . . what did it say?” demanded Aeri’elle impatiently.
“Egg . . . you go first,” said Sylvia.
“The message sounded like one of his riddles. He said ‘the problem is in the here and now, the terrible consequences are in the future and the solution is in the past.”
“That sounds like the Tree,” observed Soo’.
“Any idea what it means?”
“Sorry, Bl’azzz, I don’t.”
“Why does he talk in riddles?” asked the Princess.
“What can you expect from a talking tree?” answered Sylvia.
“The fact that it is willing to give us any advice, regardless of how it is phrased, is a tribute to all of us,” interjected the Queen. She then turned to M’egg-Alynnia. “My daughter . . . tell us of your dream.”
All eyes turned to the Princess who didn’t look happy. “As you have mentioned before, his words are truly strange — ‘For the Sisterhood, this will be about time. One of you will not return; two more will realize, reluctantly, that the time for change has come. Accept what must be without regret’.”
This was greeted with shocked silence.
“I sure as heck don’t like the sound of that,” said Soo’.
“Nor do I,” said the Queen who had the double worry of not only losing a Sister . . . but a sister who might also be her daughter.
They all nodded in agreement except the silly serpent. “Was that a sad message?” she asked not understanding any of it.
“Yes, K’ssss. It is very sad,” answered M’egg-Alynnia.
“But why did the Tree talk to both of you? It wasn’t like it was a very long message that Egg might not remember,” asked Bl’azzz.
Aeri’elle thought she had an answer. “Ummm . . . maybe the Tree was . . . ummm . . .” she was having a hard time saying what she thought. “Oh, never mind.”
“Please, my sister . . . finish,” encouraged the Queen.
The dragon took a deep breath and said, “Maybe the Tree was trying to tell us that if anything happened to Egg, then the Princess would be our next leader.”
“What are you saying . . . that Egg is the one who won’t return? That she might die?” Soo’ was furious at the suggestion.
Aeri’elle just shrugged in embarrassment.
“Not necessarily.”
Everyone turned to look at the Princess.
“Please explain,” said her mother.
“Perhaps it only means that Egg will be hurt or captured and we will be without her leadership for awhile.”
That was a little better . . . but not much.
“Maybe it has nothing to do with Egg,” said Sylvia.
“Do you have another interpretation, Feminion?”
“Maybe we’re supposed to split the sisterhood into two groups – one to talk to the Nauti and the other to talk to the Wind’dancers. Maybe M’egg is supposed to lead one of them.”
Now that was a much better explanation . . . sort of.
“But why the Princess? She doesn’t have our experience,” asked Aeri’elle, who always believed she should be in charge.
They all started talking at once until Egg yelled, “STOP.”
When she got their attention, she continued, “I told you guys that I had a feeling she should come with us. Now we kind of know why. Besides . . . what’s more important is that one of us doesn’t return.”
That horrible thought just hung there in the silence . . .
Chapter 3 – Getting to Know You
They stood there quietly not sure what to do next. The Queen broke the silence and said to her sisters, “Losing even one of you is a price I am not willing to pay . . . not even to save my husband. This mission is hereby cancelled.”
That announcement
was greeted with a chorus of no’s.
“Your Majesty . . .,” said Aeri’elle, looking proud and tall, “I will not sit idly by while my father is being held prisoner. As one of the heroes of Aerianna (a term the Queen had coined to honor the sisterhood after the Quest), I insist that I be allowed to go.”
“My dad needs me, so I have to go to. Pretty please,” said K’ssss sounding like a little girl asking her mother for ice cream.
It was obvious they all felt the same way. So Egg spoke for the group and said, “Dazzle, like Aeri’elle said before, this is personal. Even if it were only Sassi needing our help, we’d still want to do this. But three of our dads are also in trouble. We all claim the right to go.”
Before the Queen could respond, Sylvia addressed her royal friend. “Dazzle, it’s unfair to you to have to send your daughter. Then you’re risking two people plus the sisterhood and that’s too much. So M’egg should stay home.”
“Absolutely not,” said an indignant Princess looking and sounding a lot like her old self.
“Sisters . . .,” Everyone turned back to the Queen. When she had their attention, she continued, “Sylvia, you are truly an excellent Feminion. You expressed my thoughts as if you had read my mind.” She looked from face to face with great love before she continued, “This is the most difficult decision I have had to make since becoming Queen. My heart tells me to send you to Zynn-Zaz’zia while my mind counsels me to do the opposite.”
K’ssss wasn’t following the conversation all that closely. She was actually thinking about something that was said earlier. “Ummm . . . excuse me.”
“Yes, my sweet sister?” Dazzle was glad for the interruption.
“Maybe the person who doesn’t come back doesn’t want to.”
At first, no one had any idea what the girl was talking about. Naturally, Soo’ had to ask, “What the heck are you talking about, you babbling bundle of blubber?”
“Oh my gosh . . . maybe she’s right.”
“About what?”
“The Myst Tree didn’t say someone was going to die. It said that one of us wouldn’t return. K’ssss could be right . . . maybe one of us chooses to stay on Zynn-Zaz’zia.”
Box Set #2: Zynn-Zaz'Zia: [The 4 book 2nd Adventure of Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood] Page 13