It was beautiful. The hills were an emerald green and the water a deep blue. But as idyllic as it looked, it could be dangerous. As long as you stayed on the Wind’dancer side there was no problem. But once you passed half way across the water, the winds picked up. And as you approached the other side - the one you weren’t supposed to be on – the winds became so fierce and dangerous that it discouraged anyone from doing what they weren’t supposed to do in the first place.
Bree sailed up and down the waterway looking for the two missing lovers but to no avail. With no other ideas, she decided to do what she knew she wasn’t supposed to do. Maybe her friends did the unthinkable and decided to visit the forbidden Isle. So, she sailed up to a couple of thousand feet, then she executed the same maneuver that the kids used at the Tea Kettle. She tucked in her wings and dove down at great speed all the while smiling. Her mind said to herself, “Who are you and what have you done with BreeZee?” Here she was going a million miles an hour and headed into the unknown without a care in the world. Wow.
As she approached the ground, she extended her wings and pulled up, then into the wind protecting the Isle.
It was so violent, so painful that she screamed.
Luckily for her, a moment later she blacked out.
*****
Zazzi
“There are two clans on Zynn-Zaz’zia though originally there were three. One group called themselves the Wind-Talkers. They were the thinkers, the philosophers. They had their heads in the clouds in more ways than one.” Zazzi h’ssssed at his own little joke. Since no one joined in, he continued.
“The second clan was the Sky-Dancers. These were the artists, the poets, writers . . . individuals of that ilk.”
“The last group was the Air-Nautics. These were the engineers and builders. Over time, they shortened their name to Nautics then, eventually, to Nauti.”
“It was Zynnia’s plan that the three clans would someday inter-marry and become one. The new, combined clan would then have the unique qualities of the three individual groups.”
“The Wind-Talkers did eventually inter-marry with the Sky-Dancers. This new clan was named Wind’dancers. However, the Nauti have shown no inclination to give up their individuality and, to this day, remain aloof.”
“So would either group want to invite our friends here?” asked Egg.
“I do not know for certain. However, it seems highly unlikely.”
“But you do know what happened to them?” asked M’egg.
“I will come to that . . . but please be patient. I must finish my tale.” He waited to see if anyone would object. Since no one did, he continued.
“Wind’dancers and Nauti live in the Sun-Seeker Trees. These were created by Zynnia specifically for her people. Besides providing shelter, they also serve one other critical function. In each village, one of the trees will have a WingStone. This looks like a flower but is actually a crystal with unique properties.”
He stopped to see if everyone was following. Each girl looked engaged except K’ssss, who looked perplexed. He didn’t want to embarrass her so he resumed his story.
“Each person must take the Rite of Ascension . . . a flight into a storm of great power. If they survive, they may go to the WingStone. The static electricity in their wings will activate the crystals and their wings will turn from grey to some beautiful color. If they fail the Rite, or don’t take it, their wings will eventually wilt and they will be taken to me. That rarely happens but when it does, it is incredibly sad.”
“That sounds cruel,” said Aeri’elle who was offended by the whole concept.
“It is Zynnia’s belief that each individual must make a contribution to society. She feels very strongly that to do that, the first thing you must do is to face and conquer your own fears. If you pass the Rite, it changes you forever.”
“Still seems cruel.”
“If you’re finished, can we get back to our friends?” said Egg.
“Of course. They arrived then they disappeared.”
“WHAT?”
“We knew that they arrived via some portal. Then almost immediately they were gone.”
“Gone where?”
“I do not know.”
“Well, fiddlesticks, that’s not very helpful,” complained Sylvia.
“There is something you are not telling us,” interjected the Princess. All eyes turned toward M’egg.
“Only because I have not finished.”
“Oh my gosh . . . finish, already,” whined Egg.
“About a month ago, an object fell from the sky. That is when things began to go wrong. Whoever arrived has brought evil to this world.”
“Who is it?”
“See for yourself," and, as if on command, the Circle of Life descended and hovered in front of the girls. Slowly the blue red color began to swirl.
As it slowed down an image began to form. It was fuzzy at first then it came into shocking focus.
“Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh.”
“It just can’t be.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“It’s just not possible.”
“What a nasty nauseating nightmare.”
“He’s mean.”
“What is wrong? Who is that person?” asked the Princess alarmed by the reaction of the others.
“It’s him,” answered Egg.
“Him who?”
“It’s Mobius.”
Book 3
Spirit
Book 3 of Zynn-Zaz’zia
An Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood novel
© Copyright, 2014, by Robert Iannone,
All Rights Reserved.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Ship of Fools
Chapter 2 – Evil Genius
Chapter 3 – BreeZee
Chapter 4 – Plan B from Outer Space
Chapter 5 – Loony Tunes
Chapter 6 – Girl Stuff
Chapter 7 – Bedtime Stories
Chapter 8 – Into the Fire
Chapter 9 – Fire Storm
Chapter 10 – Thought Weaver
Chapter 1 - Ship of Fools
One Month Ago –
A few miles from the Nauti village
Howl and his wife, Gale, were enjoying a beautiful evening. As head of the village, it was always difficult to find any time to be alone. But once in a long while, life would go quiet and the couple would sneak off to their favorite ‘happy place’ – an isolated little elbow of land that stuck out into the Endless Sea. There they would sit, hand in hand, and watch the gentle motion of the waves as they made their lazy journey to shore. If the moon wasn’t out and the sea hid itself under a blanket of impenetrable black, the couple would turn their gaze to the heavens and watch the stars.
Occasionally, if they were lucky, they might see a meteor or two as the intergalactic rocks burned up in the atmosphere. Tonight, they were very lucky. It was an all-out meteor shower – a very rare sight.
As they admired the cosmic show, they tried to count the streaks of light.
“There are too many; I lost count,” giggled Gale.
“Here, use my fingers and toes,” teased her husband.
“You are such a Winged Nut.”
“I was just trying to be helpful.”
“If you really want to be helpful . . . you can tell me how much you love me.”
“Well, darn it all. Now I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because you asked. I was just about to give you my top ten reasons for being madly in love . . . but now you ruined the moment. I may never forgive you.” He tried not to smile, but failed.
“Oh no you don’t. You’re not going to get out of it that easy. I . . .,” but she didn’t finish. Above her husband’s head was a sight she had never seen. “Howl, look” and she pointed skyward.
The Nauti turned and did as he was told . . . and his mouth dropped open.
They stared in silence as the ball of fire fell from the s
ky. It seemed to be coming directly at them and, as it grew larger and drew closer, Howl grabbed his wife’s arm and they both caught the gentle sea breeze and sailed above the height of the trees.
*****
THUMP, THUMP, BANG, SMACK, CLANG, WHOMP, BOING . . .
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“SILENCE, you sniveling coward. It is only a meteor storm.”
The spaceship reverberated like a gong being struck with a sledgehammer. Worse, it was being knocked off course.
“But . . . but . . . that can’t be good? Can it?”
“Of course it is not good . . . you fool.”
“What should we do?” asked the panic-stricken dragon.
“I think you should go outside and play,” mocked the evil ex-king. “I, on the other hand, will strap myself into the command chair and brace for impact.”
Bl’udd didn’t have to be told twice. He made a mad dash for his chair . . . one especially designed for a dragon . . . and did as his companion was doing.
They had some control of the ship . . . but not much. The good people of Aerianna didn’t want their former tyrant to deviate from the course they had set for him . . . a hundred-year journey to his home world of Kallous.
The meteor storm had knocked them into the deadly clutches of the gravity of the planet they happened to be passing. That planet was Zynn-Zaz’zia.
“I will try to set us down in that body of water, which will give us a better chance of survival than that mountain-covered land mass.”
The spaceship entered the planet’s atmosphere and started to glow white hot from friction. To anyone on the ground, it looked like a streaking snowball of fire.
As the ship gained speed, Mobius started to lose control. “We are not going to make it,” he told his companion in a voice that was irritatingly calm.
Bl’udd was never brave; he was more the bully type. When faced with true danger, he did the only thing he could. He fainted.
Mobius looked over at the passed-out form of the big red dragon and rolled his eyes in disgust. In the background, the words from an Earth song could be heard ever so faintly over the roar of the ship screaming through the sky . . . ” We can, we can, do it, do it, do it.” But the evil man no longer heard the obnoxious singing voices.
As a parting gift to the soon-to-be exiled tyrant, the Hameggattic Sisters recorded all the songs of Egg’s favorite earth band, Fandango Sally. However, unlike the girls in the band, the sisters all had really, really awful voices. If you ever heard a serpent or dragon sing, you would know what I mean.
K’ssss’ dad installed the recording in the spaceship. He fixed it so it would play continuously . . . over and over and over and over . . . for the entire one-hundred-year journey. It was totally against the girls’ nature to do something that was so spiteful, mean and downright cruel. But for their favorite villain, they were willing to make an exception.
Mobius turned his attention back to the matter at hand. With the sea speeding up to meet the ship, he was able to lift the nose of the craft just enough to slow it down so that he and Bl’udd wouldn’t be splattered all over the waves they were about to smash into.
And with a thunderous roar, they hit the water and skipped like a stone until the spaceship came to a jolting stop. Except for the hissing of steam where the water met the very hot skin of the ship and the whimpering of Bl’udd as he regained consciousness, there was dead silence.
As the craft came to its abrupt and jarring stop, Mobius and his companion just sat there, trying to regain their senses. Both were afraid to move . . . neither sure if they were dead or alive. Mobius wiggled his fingers to make certain they were still working. Satisfied that he had indeed survived the crash, he unbuckled his seat belt, stood up and started to laugh.
It was an ugly sound.
Unfortunately, it was also the sound of triumph. He was free of this prison. And, with the help of his imbecilic cohort, he now had a new world to conquer.
Ah, life was once again worth living.
Bl’udd was the first to actually speak. “Listen,” he said.
“To what?” growled the never pleasant evil one.
“The music . . . that hideous, obnoxious music. It’s stopped. It’s stopped.” Bl’udd was beside himself . . . happier than he had been in years. As far as he was concerned, it was worth crashing the spacecraft to finally be rid of that incessant noise.
As his mind finally registered the blissful silence, even the cranky Mobius cracked a brief smile. It vanished almost immediately as he thought of the people who had done this to him . . . that cursed Sisterhood. “If I ever get my hands on those seven nasty girls, I will make them pay dearly for their little prank.”
“That’s not very likely . . . is it?”
Mobius looked at his companion . . . with equal parts of contempt and amusement. “Never say never. Now, get off that seat, go outside, and survey the surrounding area. We are close to land so try not to be seen by any of the inhabitants . . . if there are any.”
“Not to worry”.
“There is nothing that you do that does not cause me worry. Now go.”
So the very large dragon opened the hatch and clawed his way up and out to stand on the top of the ship. It was more difficult than normal because the waves were causing it to bob like a cork.
Nevertheless, he stood up and, feeling fresh air on his face for the first time in many years, he roared with pleasure.
Then, with a shock, he realized he wasn’t alone. Not a hundred feet away was a small strip of land and hovering in the trees were two bird-like people who were screaming in utter fear at the sight of a dragon from outer space.
“Uh-oh” he said to himself . . . Mobius wasn’t going to be happy about this.
*****
“Well?” demanded the evil one when the dragon returned.
“This place is definitely inhabited.”
“Did they see you?”
The word ‘yes’ had hardly left his lips when Mobius began to snarl his displeasure. “Before you lose your temper . . . we’re lucky they did.”
“What in the galactic void does that mean?”
“It means that when they saw me, they screamed with fear. I guess they never saw a dragon before.”
“Really. How very interesting.” The possibilities were already swirling in his evil mind. “What did they look like?”
“There were only two – one male, one female. They were human but with wings.”
“Interesting. Did they fly away?”
“Don’t think so. They were just hovering above the trees.”
“Well, let’s not keep the good folks waiting. It’s time they met their new king.”
The dragon rolled his eyes. “And what happens if they already have one?”
“Then you, my large fearsome friend, will pay him a visit and convince the dear fellow, that for the sake of his health, he should retire. But all in good time. For now, we shall make a grand entrance.”
“And how exactly do we do that?”
“You are a F’yre Dragon (all red dragons on Aerianna were F’yre Dragons). With me on your back and you breathing impressively large tongues of flame, I’m sure that these folks will be sufficiently impressed.”
“Whatever.”
“And I will tell you only once . . . Do Not Talk unless I ask you to.”
“You really are a nasty, nasty man.” Sometimes even the not-so-bright Bl’udd was sorry he hitched his fortunes to Mobius.
“Thank you. I do try.”
*****
Present day on Zynn-Zaz’zia
“But how can Mobius be here?” asked a confused M’egg-Alynnia of her companions. She had never seen them so upset.
Egg looked up from the Circle of Life with its display of the wicked face of her archenemy. “I have no idea,” she mumbled.
“You obviously know this man,” said Zazzi.
“Oh yeah. We know him.”
“Is he the one
you fought on Aerianna?”
“Yup.”
“But he’s supposed to be stuck in a spaceship for a hundred years,” added a shocked and shaken Sylvia.
“There’s only two possible ways this could have happened . . .” Everyone turned to look at Aeri’elle. “Either he was able to get control of the ship or there was a malfunction and he crashed landed here.”
“My dad told me that I would never, ever see that mean man ever again. He said the spaceship had no . . . ummm . . . steery thingy so it had to go where my dad pointed it.” K’ssss’ dad, Tink’rrr, was a scientist and inventor who helped design the spaceship. He, of course, was also part of the delegation captured by Mobius.
“Steery thingy?” asked Bl’azzz.
Zazzi was very protective of K’ssss and immediately came to her rescue. “I believe she means it had no controls that Mobius could use to alter the ship’s course.” He looked at K’ssss who smiled and nodded yes.
“Then he must have crashed,” concluded Aeri’elle.
“Just our luck. I don’t know anything about spaceships, but you would think that if you smashed it into something as big as Zynn-Zaz’zia it would turn you into a blob of red jelly.”
“Nice going, you daffy, ding-headed dragon. Now I’ll never eat jellyfish soup again,” kidded Soo’.
“Zazzi . . . what do you think?” asked Sylvia.
“As you surmised, his ship was probably pushed off course by a recent meteor shower. Some of my people (he meant the sea serpents) saw a large ball of flame crash into the Endless Sea not far from the Nauti village.”
At that moment, the Circle descended again and hovered by the Caretaker. He nodded then addressed the girls. “There was a second occupant of the craft. A particularly large, very red creature that I now know is a dragon.”
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