Everyone looked relieved at this possibility, even if it wasn’t necessarily true.
“K’ssss, I thank you. Your suggestion is as reasonable as any. More importantly, it shows us that we cannot know what the Tree truly meant.”
“H’sssss.”
“Nice going, you clever crustaceous creature.”
“I have reconsidered my decision. The mission will continue . . . and my daughter will accompany you.” The girls cheered. Their mood had brightened noticeably since K’ssss had spoken.
“M’egg-Alynnia, I will insist on one condition.”
“Yes, Mother?”
“You must carry my sword. Besides, your outfit is incomplete without it.” She was referring to the sword she had dubbed “Dazzle.” It had been a symbol of hope to the people of Aerianna for a thousand years.
*****
They said their goodbyes, gathered their equipment and supplies and stepped through the space portal and onto Zynn-Zaz’zia. And the sight that greeted them was stunning . . .
“Wow.”
“Interesting.”
“How exciting.”
After a moment, Bl’azzz said, “Shhhh….listen.”
They all went quiet and listened as they were instructed.
“I don’t hear anything,” Egg finally said.
“Exactly. No sound of insects, or animals or birds or wind. No signs of life. Nothing.”
“What were you expecting . . . the welcome wagon or a parade?” kidded Soo.
Ignoring her sister’s sarcastic comment, Bl’azzz said “It kind of looks like we stepped into a picture . . . doesn’t it?”
M’egg-Alynnia smiled in appreciation at that description. “What a wonderful way to describe it.”
“That’s something I would have expected Aeri’elle to say.” Sylvia was referring to the fact that the proud dragon had the most education of any of them.
“Hey, no need to be insulting,” teased Bl’azzz.
“Ha. That’s the best compliment you’ll ever receive,” chided the other dragon.
“I’ve never been in a picture before,” observed the silly serpent. “Do you think it’s okay with the person who painted it?”
“It’s not really a painting, K’ssss,” explained Egg. “It just looks like it.”
“Oh. Can we visit a painting with an ocean next?”
Everyone giggled. “You are one nutty numbing nincompoop.” Soo’ just couldn’t help herself.
“Are you people always like this?” asked M’egg-Alynnia who was very impressed (and maybe just a tad envious) with the easy camaraderie of the girls.
“When we first started the quest, we hardly knew each other. But since then, we’ve been through so much. Everyone was willing to sacrifice her life for the others. That tends to make you very close,” said Egg,
“And joking around was the easiest way to relieve the tension,” added Sylvia. “The Seven Lands were nasty.”
“On the other hand, Bl’azzz and Soo’ are natural comediennes”.
“Hey, thanks . . . I think.”
“I think the smart one was being a smart-alec,” added Soo’ mischievously.
“Aeri’elle . . . am I funny?”
“Dearest K’ssss . . . you are without a doubt the funniest girl I have ever met.”
“H’sssss.”
All this jibber jabbering reminded Sylvia of something. “By the way, M’egg, the other thing we did was to tell a story about ourselves. One of these nights, it’ll be your turn.”
“Oh . . . how very disappointing.”
“It’s not so bad,” said Bl’azzz. “I’m sure you can think of something interesting that’s happened to you.”
Soo rolled her eyes. “Gimme a break . . . she’s a princess after all.”
“You misunderstand. I am not sorry about telling a story. I am only disappointed that I can tell just one.”
They all looked at her to see if she was serious. “Just joking,” she said with a coy grin.
Never having heard the Princess crack a joke, the four girls from Aerianna were speechless. Then Egg gave M’egg a high five while Sylvia explained the strange Earth custom.
“It’ll never catch on back home,” said Aeri’elle who picked up her foot to show its four sharp talons. That got all the girls to giggling.
*****
But the time for silliness was over.
“Okay, first things first,” said Egg. “Let’s find a good spot to set up our camp. Then we’ll take a look at the map the minister gave us and scout around.”
“Since there are no trees, why don’t we head for that mountain?” suggested Sylvia. “We might get lucky and find a cave or at least a place that will hide our tents.”
“Who are we hiding from?” asked K’ssss.
“Mobius,” teased Soo’.
“WHAT? Nooooo.”
“She’s just kidding you. Big bad Mo is still sailing leisurely between the stars.” (After Mobius was defeated by Egg and the Sisterhood, he and his nasty cohort Bl’udd were exiled in a space ship that would take a hundred years to reach its destination).
“K’ssss, we don’t want whoever kidnapped your dad and the others to find us,” Sylvia explained.
“Oh,” said the serpent. Then she added, “I knew that . . . I just forgot.”
“Aeri’elle,” said Egg, “can you fly M’egg over to the mountain so she can look for a cave or at least a good place to set up camp?” She purposely addressed the question to the dragon and not the princess.
M’egg-Alynnia wasn’t sure how to react. On one hand, she was being told what to do without being asked. On the other hand, Egg was entrusting her with this task. She decided the positive outweighed the negative.
“Sure. Did you want me to stay and help her?”
“No. Come back and help with the supplies. K’ssss and Soo’ will take me and Syl across this lake, while you and Bl’azzz fly alongside. M’egg, we’ll meet you on the other side.”
“But how will I find you? It is a rather large expanse of area.”
Soo answered first. “We all have communications crystals.”
“Oh,” said a slightly embarrassed Princess. “Of course.”
So Aeri’elle flew the Princess and returned about ten minutes later.
“Did she say anything?” asked Bl’azzz.
“Surprisingly, she was very excited about being entrusted with finding a campsite. I would have bet anything that she would have been frosted at Egg.”
“At me?” Egg replied feigning ignorance. “What did I do?”
Soo shook her head. “You are priceless. No wonder Mobius didn’t stand a chance against you.”
“Aw shucks, weren’t nothing,” and they all giggled, eeked and h’ssssed.
After loading everything and everybody, they made their way across the reddish-orange colored lake. When they got to the other side, they unloaded everything and Egg called the Princess. “Hey, did you find a place?”
“I believe I did. If you look up and to your right, you will see me waving. Come take a look.”
The girls looked where they were supposed to and off in the distance about fifty feet up the mountain they saw the Princess. “Syl, you come with me. The rest of you stay with the supplies.”
“Why don’t we all go?” asked Aeri’elle.
“Because the Princess got it wrong and I don’t want to embarrass her in front of everyone.”
Bl’azzz didn’t understand. Actually, none of them did. “What did she get wrong?”
Strangely enough, it was K’ssss that understood. “I can’t climb a mountain. Sorry, Egg.”
“Oh. You seemingly senseless sea worm, you figured it out. Nice going.”
“H’sssss.”
“So what did you have in mind if not the cave she found?” Sylvia asked Egg.
“Think back . . . you know the answer. You saw it too.”
It took her Feminion a few seconds then the light came on. “Ohhhhh, the c
urrent. You wouldn’t expect that in a lake . . . unless there was a stream or river feeding it. And that’s probably coming from the mountain.”
“Yeah. Hopefully, it’s an underground stream that we can use. Soo, take that genius friend of yours and scout around. See if you can find it.”
“Let’s go K’ssss. We’ve got work to do.”
“I can’t go.”
“Why not?”
“Egg said to take genius”. Then after a second, she asked, “I don’t even know who that is? Is she nice?”
“Good grief. Just come with me, you wonky wonderful worm”. And with that, they both dove into the lake and disappeared.
“Egg, you knew she was going to mess up, didn’t you?” asked Aeri’elle.
“Well, to be fair, she’s new at this. She went looking for a safe place to camp . . . but she wasn’t thinking about who was going to use it. Let’s give her a break. She’s trying really hard.”
The dragon’s response was totally unexpected. She went up to Egg and hugged her with giant wings. “To think that I once thought I should have been in charge of the Quest. What a mistake that would have been.”
“You would have done great.”
“Liar.”
“Come on Egg,” said Sylvia “before our Princess has a cow.”
They climbed up to the other girl with great difficulty. When they came into sight, M’egg yelled, “Over here.”
The girls hurried to see what she had discovered. “Good job,” said Egg eyeing the mouth of the cave. The Princess beamed with satisfaction until the other girl said, “But it won’t work.”
“Why not? It is large enough for all of us.” To her credit, M’egg was only confused and not angry.
“It is . . . but how would K’ssss and Soo get up here?”
“Oh. I had not thought of that.”
“It’s okay. You’ll get the hang of this sisterhood thing.”
“My mother would never have made that mistake,” she said dejectedly.
Sylvia put her hand on the other girl’s shoulder. “M’egg . . . don’t try to be your mom. Just be yourself.”
M’egg’s eyes were a teensy bit moist. “You two . . . you seven . . . are just so amazing. If I cannot be like my mother, then I will most certainly try to be like you.”
Egg gave her newest sister a hug. “Come on. K’ssss and Soo are looking for a sea cave that we may be able to use.”
“Sea cave?”
Sylvia explained about the current on the lake.
“I do not wish to be tedious, so this will be the very last time I say this . . . the Hameggattic Sisters are truly remarkable.”
“Don’t be silly,” teased Egg, “you’re not being tedious. Feel free to compliment us all you want. And if you can, try to use words like incredibly pretty, cute as a button or . . .”
“Or obnoxious as J’azzz-min,” added Sylvia with a smirk.
“Hey . . . I resemble that remark.”
M’egg-Alynnia shook her head and giggled in a very un-royal way.
*****
They found what they were hoping to find. But the water coming from the cave was a much darker red than the lake. However, other than the unusual color, it didn’t seem to be dangerous.
They tested the depth and it wasn’t very deep. So Aeri’elle and Bl’azzz would walk alongside while the two serpents carried the three human girls. M’egg got on Soo while Egg and Sylvia jumped on K’ssss.
As they were about to enter the mouth of the cave, the Princess said, “I will go first.”
“Why you?” asked Aeri’elle.
But it was Sylvia who answered, “She doesn’t want to put Egg in danger in case there’s something nasty in there.”
“Oh” said the other girls in unison. And their opinion of M’egg-Alynnia went up a few notches.
“Thanks, M’egg . . . but we’ll go together.”
“Egg, let’s take out a few of those light sticks (they were kind of like flashlights). If that cave goes way back into the rocks, it’ll be darker than dark in there.”
“Good thinking, Syl.”
“Okay . . . let’s do this and Egg led her merry band of rescuers into the cave. They drifted (or walked) slowly holding their lights out in front of them. Unfortunately, the streambed was strewn with rocks, which made progress very difficult for the serpents whose bellies were exposed to the sharp objects.
“Ouch.”
“You okay?” asked Bl’azzz. She and Soo’ had become very close during the Quest.
“Just a big bad belly bruise . . . I’ll be fine.”
“Would it not be wise for you and K’ssss to remain here while the rest of us explore the cave?” M’egg-Alynnia was trying to do what she thought Egg would do to protect her sisters . . . but the results were not what she had expected.
“Forget that, Meggy,” hissed Soo’.
“Why should they stay behind?” demanded Aeri’elle.
“That’s Egg’s call . . . not yours,” squawked Bl’azzz.
Truth was that all the girls (at least the ones from Aerianna) were expecting the Princess to show her true colors sooner or later. And they had no intention of letting her get away with it.
M’egg was taken aback by the anger she had caused. “I . . . I . . . well, I was just trying . . . I am sorry, really. I was just trying to show Soo’ the same kindness that . . . that . . .” but she didn’t finish. Instead, she said, “Please forgive me.”
The three girls fell into an embarrassed silence. Sylvia was about to say something but Egg grabbed her arm to stop her. When Syl looked at her friend, Egg just shook her head no.
The silence ticked on for a few more seconds until Aeri’elle spoke up. “I misunderstood your intent, your Majesty (some habits are hard to break). Please forgive my rudeness.”
“Yeah . . . me too. Sorry,” added Soo’.
“My bad,” said Bl’azzz.
“Sisters . . .,” answered M’egg-Alynnia, “I know you still have reservations about me and that is perfectly understandable. But I assure you I am not the same person you had grown to hate. I have taken the Hameggattic oath, and I intend to be as good a Sister as is possible. If I make mistakes, they will be unintentional; and I would hope you will correct me. How else will I learn?”
“M’egg . . . if I treat you rudely again, feel free to haul off and whack me.”
“That goes for all of us. And, Meggy . . . thanks for looking out for me and my stupidly sensitive stomach.”
The princess felt her eyes moisten yet again (something that she hardly ever experienced in days gone by). She hadn’t expected to be so devastated by her sisters’ rejection nor so elated by their acceptance. ‘How very odd’ she thought to herself. But she filed away her feelings so that she might examine them later when she had more time. Instead, she said, “You are quite welcome.”
“Then if you’re okay, Soo’, we should keep going.”
“I’m good to go, Egg.”
So they continued deeper and deeper into the cave. And the deeper they went the colder it got. Neither the dragons nor serpents noticed the change . . . but all three humans did.
“Brrrrr . . .”
“Isn’t that the sound a cat makes?” teased Bl’azzz.
“No, you ninny,” replied Sylvia, “they purrrrr”.
“Oh.”
“That is the sound we humans make when we are cold,” explained the Princess unnecessarily. She hadn’t realized the dragon was just fooling around.
Pretending as if she didn’t know that, Bl’azzz replied, “No wonder you people have to wear clothes . . . you’ve got thin skin.”
“I’d kill for skin like that,” moaned the green-scaly Soo’.
Aeri’elle who was now in front stopped suddenly and said, “Shhhh.”
“What’s wrong”?
“Listen . . . do you hear that. It sounds like hissing and gurgling.”
They all fell silent and sure enough, they heard what Sylvia described a
s “a pot of boiling stew that bubbled over onto the stove.”
“Probably isn’t stew,” said Soo’ somewhat wistfully. Like all serpents, she always had an appetite.
“What do you think, Egg?” asked Aeri’elle. “Should we go on?”
“We’re going to need this cave at least for a day or two. I think we ought to find out what else is in here.”
So they continued along, listening intently for any change in the strange noise that was echoing up from somewhere down in the blackness. As they made their way slowly, the tension was beginning to build. At one point Soo’ scraped her belly hard on a jagged rock and groaned so loudly that Bl’azzz burped and the gas ignited into a whoosh of flame. That caused everyone else to scream.
After a moment they realized there wasn’t any imminent danger and quieted down. Soo’ said to her friend, “Don’t do that again, you frazzled fiery freakazoid.”
“Sorry.” And all the girls giggled except the Princess who was staring intently into the dark gloom.
“Turn off your light sticks.”
“Why, M’egg?”
“I believe the walls are beginning to glow red.”
So they did as they were asked . . . and the Princess was right.
“I've got a bad feeling about this,” said a disembodied voice.
But the educated Aeri’elle was able to figure out what was going on. “I think I know what that sound is . . .”
“Yeah? What?” asked Egg?
“Lava.”
“That can’t be good . . .”
“At least it is not so cold,” observed the Princess.
“Actually, it’s kind of warm,” said Sylvia who never noticed the change in temperature.
“More than warm . . . it’s hot,” answered her friend.
“So let’s turn back. Now we know what’s here, and it’s not alive.”
“I, for one, would like to at least take a quick peek. I have never seen lava.”
“That’s probably a bad idea.”
“I’d like to see it, too,” said Egg. “If anyone wants to stay here . . . that’s okay.”
“Like that’s going to happen,” intoned Soo.
“One for all and all for one,” said Sylvia quoting from the Three Musketeers.
Box Set #2: Zynn-Zaz'Zia: [The 4 book 2nd Adventure of Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood] Page 14