*****
Egg zipped up and over the terrain looking for the fog covered forest of dead trees. She eventually found a little valley almost completely lost in a blanket of grey. If there were dead trees or a bridge, she couldn’t tell. However, in the center was a glowing hole floating in mid-air. It reminded her a lot of the space portal that brought them to Zynn-Zaz’zia. Maybe they had to pass through it to get to the bridge.
She landed about twenty feet in front of the thing just to be safe. From this distance, not only did it still look weird, but it gave her goose bumps. That was never a good sign. Picking up a pebble, she tossed it into the black nothingness but it simply disappeared without any fanfare.
“Okay,” she said to herself for courage. “Let’s take a peak.” She tiptoed forward as if that would somehow protect her. When she got within arm’s length, she took out a light stick, took a deep breath and forced herself to step up, and peer into, the black void.
“Ooooooooooo”.
The rest of her famous three-word statement was lost as she was sucked into that rip in the fabric of time. A moment later, the hole simply winked out of existence. In a blink of an eye, Flying Girl was gone. The only thing that remained was her light stick.
*****
“It has been almost a half hour. She is in trouble.”
“Egg . . . in trouble? That’s not much of a stretch,” said a very worried Sylvia to Meggy.
“If I look into her future, I’ll be able to see the path she’s following. But, if I do, it could be many hours before I can lead us across the Hour Bridge.”
Though technically there wasn’t a second-in-command, everyone automatically deferred to the Princess. “Let us delay that decision for the moment. BreeZee, please take me along the route that Egg appeared to follow. Sylvia, you and Spirit must continue on foot as best you can. I will use the communications crystal to describe landmarks that might help guide your travels.”
“If you see the Hour Bridge, absolutely do not try to cross without my aid. We could lose both of you in the River of Time.”
“Sound advice that I have every intention of taking. However, if we do find it, I will stay behind while BreeZee returns to fetch you two. Then once we are together, we will formulate our next steps.”
“And if you can’t find the bridge or Egg?”
“Then, Sylvia, we shall return and allow Spirit to search the future for our Sister. Are we in agreement?”
They were.
“Are you sufficiently rested?” Megg asked the Wind’dancer. That might seem like a small thing, but it was a sign of personal growth in the Princess. In days gone by, she would have cared less for Bree’s well-being. But that Megg was slowly fading from memory.
“I’m fine.” She extended her hand and the other girl took it.
“Good luck,” Sylvia yelled as they took to the air.
“And to you,” came the reply.
As the two disappeared from sight, Spirit asked, “Do most of the plans of the Sisterhood usually go awry?”
“Absolutely. It’s like a rule . . . create plan A, have plan A go horribly wrong, create plan B. Repeat as necessary.”
“You seven don’t even realize how amazing you are. Facing a mortal enemy and dangers beyond knowing, and you never lose your courage or sense of humor. If it goes badly, you simply try something else. I don’t know how I’ll ever live up to the standards you’ve set.”
“Excuse me. But you’re standing right next to me doing what I’m doing. If I’m being a hero, so are you.”
“Thank you. However, the one big difference is that I have yet to come face-to-face with danger. I’m not at all certain how heroic I will be.”
“Me thinks you’ll find out real soon. Honestly, I know you’ll make us proud.”
Spirit squeezed the other girls hand in appreciation of the vote of confidence. “Shall we take a stroll?”
“Let’s.”
*****
Being sucked through the tunnel (or whatever it might be) was definitely disorienting and just a tad nerve-racking . . . but she couldn’t help herself. She giggled. “This is what a bug must feel like when you vacuum it up,” she thought.
A heartbeat later, she was thrown out of the black void, through a gateway of sorts and down a small ramp.
“Ouch and ouch” she groaned as she tumbled to a stop. She sat there stunned by the unexpected thrill-ride and its sudden end . . . but she wasn’t seriously hurt. She had a bump and a scratch. However, it never dawned on her that her flying suit, designed to protect her, didn’t.
She looked around trying to figure out exactly where she might be. It was a large room, dark except for an eerie violet glow. And it was very, very quiet. The walls were made of stone and were completely bare except for a couple of dozen paintings of the same person . . .
She assumed it was Reven. The girl was young, pretty, and a tad exotic with her violet-tinged skin. If she was a construct of time – whatever that meant – she didn’t look it. And she didn’t appear to be loony tunes like the Myst Tree had said.
Of course, the fact that she had so many portraits of herself might indicate that she wasn’t quite normal. But hey, we all have our quirks.
Something caught her eye and she looked up. “Oh my gosh”.
It was a giant spiral clock face that seemed to go on forever. Well, one thing was for certain, she was definitely in the Time Castle. She needed to get out before Reven saw her. But naturally, as that thought formed in her mind, guess who appeared?
“Rats.” It was obviously the same person as in the portraits.
Egg’s first reflex was to fly away . . . maybe back through the black hole that brought her here. But she couldn’t. Try as she might, the suit wouldn’t respond. She even tried jumping up with her arms outstretched like superman. She reached the lofty height of about eighteen inches (that was as high as she could jump) and landed flat-footed with a silly splat sound. She felt embarrassed but that was quickly replaced with panic.
“What manner of creature are you?” asked the ghost in a very soft voice. It was strangely soothing and comforting, and Flying Girl felt herself relax.
“I’m a girl . . . a human girl from the planet earth.”
“That has no meaning. Why are you in my castle? Trespassing.”
“Sorry about that. I accidently fell into a black hole and it spat me out here.”
“That has no meaning. Has Zynnia sent you?”
Careful. This could get a little sticky. “As a matter of fact, she did.”
“Do you wish to travel in time? To the past, I presume.”
“No. Not really. Um, Zynnia asked me to check on you to make sure you were doing okay. And you are. So, I’ll just go back and let her know. She’s going to be thrilled.”
“That has no meaning.”
Egg was beginning to get goose bumps again and that was a vivid reminder of how dangerous this situation was. Flying Girl could be extremely brave; but without her flying powers, little old Eloise was feeling vulnerable. “Oh, sure it does. You see Zynnia was afraid that . . . well, because you’re a construct . . . forget that. What I mean is that it’s been so long since Zynnia visited you that she was concerned. Worried, really. It’s probably pretty tough being all alone . . . so I was just flying by and I thought ‘what the heck – might as well drop in and see how Zynnia’s favorite . . . um . . . time thing was getting along.” Realizing she was just babbling, she added, “Anyway, I think I’ll stop talking now. So what about you? Read any good books lately?”
“Your thoughts are incoherent. I believe you need a time out to contemplate and to rethink. Zynnia would wish it.”
“No. No, really. I’m definitely sure she said to check on you and then go straight back. No dawdling . . . her exact words. Don’t dawdle. So, if you’d just point me to the nearest exit, I’ll leave you alone.”
“You are illogical. Flawed. You do the unthinkable – you waste time.”
“Yeah,
I tend to babble when I get very nervous. Grammy said I should work on that. As to flaws, ha. Take a good look at my skin . . . yuck. I think I’m getting my first pimple.”
Unfortunately she wasn’t about to joke her way out of this. Two ghostly Revens appeared out of thin air.
They each took an arm and flew her straight up into the spiral clock ceiling. “Hey, let me go. Come on you guys.”
They reached their destination – a door marked by an X. It opened of its own accord and the Revens tossed her in. Little did she know that, in this place, time stood still. It was really and truly a time out.
She landed in the middle of a swirly web of something – lit up in shades of (what else) violet.
“OH MY GOSH”.
She looked around trying to spot the door . . . but if it was there, it wasn’t visible. She tried to stand but couldn’t; tried crawling – but no luck. She even tried to fly again – and failed.
As a last resort, she pressed her communications crystal. “Syl . . . Meggy”.
She counted to ten and tried again. And again. And again. And again.
Then just to make a terrible situation turn nightmarishly horrible, the violet glow slowly faded away leaving only dark . . .
…not just your every night ‘go-to-bed-and-turn-out-the-light dark’
…but a blackness that was as thick as tar
…and so heavy that it made it difficult to breathe
…and so dense that it consumed all sound
…and it was so oppressive, so unnatural
…that you wanted to scream.
It was the Chamber of Now.
In here, time stood still.
In here, you would never age.
In here, you were a prisoner of Time, itself.
In here, there were no tomorrows, no yesterdays, no past, and no future
In here, there was nothing…nothing but this moment…a moment that would last for an eternity.
Chapter 6 – Time Castle
Somewhere near the Nauti Village
“Hey, you big jerks, I want to go with her,” demanded Soo. Bl’azzz was being taken in one direction while she was dragged in a different one.
The Nauti didn’t answer. Under Mobius’ control, they were basically oblivious to anything that could distract them from the task he assigned.
“Big bird . . . burp and burn, burp and burn.”
“I can’t,” the dragon yelled as she slowly disappeared over a hill. “I ate so many vegetables, I have a stomach ache.”
“Good grief.”
*****
High up above the scattered clouds, Aeri’elle surveyed the ground below. With the help of specially designed, dragon-friendly binoculars (courtesy of the Minister of Science), she was able to spot her two sisters. She watched for a minute to see what was happening. The Nauti were taking them in opposite directions which was actually good news. Egg didn’t want Soo rescued; she wanted the serpent to be imprisoned with the other captives.
But Bl’azzz was a different story. Two dragons attempting to free the hostages were at least twice as good as having only one. So Aeri’elle would watch, hidden from view, and wait for an opportune moment to swoop in.
*****
On Top of the Tallest Mountain
“There,” and Meggy pointed to a patch of grey. BreeZee flew over and landed.
What they saw was a little disturbing . . .
. . . and soon became very disturbing. The Princess walked over to a glowing object and picked it up . . .
“It is Egg’s light stick.” She examined it for damage — something that might indicate that her sister was attacked. Apparently it had just been dropped.
They both looked around but there was nothing except dead trees and gray fog. “Walk a short distance in that direction,” instructed Megg, “and I will do the same this way. Stay in visual contact at all times.”
“Okay.” BreeZee started to turn then stopped. “Shouldn’t we be yelling her name?”
“That may invite whatever force that captured our sister to take us. It is best we just explore quietly and look for signs that might indicate the direction she took.”
“Got it.”
After a minute or two, it was obvious there was nothing to see other than what they originally had hoped to find in the first place . . .
“Megg . . .,”said the Wind’dancer in a soft voice. “Megg . . . and she waved her arms.
The other girl finally noticed and hurried over. “Is it Egg?”
“No . . . look,” and she pointed past a group of leafless, lifeless trees.
“The Hour Bridge I presume.”
“What is that swirly red liquid? That can’t be the River of Time, can it?”
“I do not know.” Out of curiosity, she found a pebble at her feet and tossed it into the stuff. It disappeared without causing a ripple. “How disappointing. I was hoping . . .,” but she didn’t finish. “I believe a heartfelt Oh My Gosh is in order.” She extended her hand to her companion.
“Is that the pebble?”
“Apparently the River washed it a few seconds into the future. How utterly fascinating.”
“How utterly horrifying.”
Megg smiled. “That, too.”
“Do you think Egg tried to cross?”
“Not even our dear sister would do something that impulsive. No, either someone guarding this bridge took her prisoner or somehow she found another means to gain entrance into the castle. In either case, we need to hurry. She most certainly is in danger. Can you find your way back to the others?”
“Yes.”
“Then, please do so. If you cannot take both at once, bring Spirit first.”
As BreeZee flew off, Megg called Sylvia to explain what they had found.
“We’ll keep a look-out for Bree.” She paused then asked, “Egg’s in deep doo-doo isn’t she?”
“Sorry, deep what?”
“Um . . . that’s earth slang for trouble.”
“Then the answer is yes, she is in very deep doo-doo.”
Syl couldn’t help smiling. “Megg, I wouldn’t recommend using that expression in front of your mom. It’s most definitely not Princess-like.”
“I see. But it does describe Egg’s probable predicament, does it not?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Then I shall use the term . . . but only amongst my Sisters.”
*****
The four girls stood quietly at the foot of the Hour Bridge. Spirit, eyes glowing red, was deep in a trance-like state as she examined the threads of the future. Without expending a superhuman effort, the Thought Weaver could only follow the path of one individual. In this case, by unanimous consent, it was Megg.
The seconds ticked by, then the minutes. Finally, Spirit’s eyes returned to their normal black color. “Interesting.”
“What is?” asked Sylvia.
“The path across will be no problem. The pattern was clear – left, two rights, two lefts, one right . . . then it repeats.”
“Why is that interesting?”
“It is not. After we cross, the Princess – and the rest of us – will meet Reven.”
“That is not interesting; that is problematical,” stated Megg.
“Not at all. This Reven will be a friend.”
“This Reven?”
“Yes. I could sense many Revens, each identical to the others except in age.”
Sylvia came quickly to the right conclusion. “So that’s what the Tree meant when he said ‘she has herself to keep her company’.”
“Well deduced,” complimented the Princess. “But why will this one be amenable to our friendship?” She was looking at the Thought Weaver as she asked the question.
“Sorry, I can’t answer that. However, I can tell you that this Reven is old. Very old.”
“Well, then. If we have a potential ally on the other end, we should not keep her waiting. Ladies, shall we?”
“Right behind you, Meggy.”
*****
Zazzi’s Cavern
“That’s the last of us.”
“I never quite realized how many you were.”
“On behalf of the entire village, I thank you again for extending us such hospitality and the use of your home. It’s beautiful, by the way.”
“Thank you. You may stay as long as it is necessary.”
“That’s very kind.” The man looked uncomfortable and the serpent soon understood why. “Um . . . Zazzi, we have a situation.”
“A situation?”
“The day the WingStone was destroyed we had an Ascension storm. Two of our children took it.” He stopped and the expression on his face was all too obvious to read.
“They failed?”
Zephyr forced himself not to tear up. “It was a boy and a girl. The boy was having trouble so the young lady tried to help him. He panicked and caused both of them to crash. She risked her life for her friend . . . and now she has to pay with her own.” He wiped at his eyes. “Excuse me, I shouldn’t . . .,” but he couldn’t even finish the apology.
Thankfully, it had been many, many years since a Wind’dancer was unsuccessful in completing the Rite. Now, as if to make up for it, two children had failed. Zazzi was as horrified as his new friend.
“Where are the children?”
“Their parents have been hiding them . . . trying to protect them from – I’m sorry, from you.”
“May I share a secret with you?”
Startled by the question, the clan leader nodded yes.
“Up until recently, I simply followed Zynnia’s wishes and . . . re-assimilated anyone who failed to Ascend. I found it difficult, and profoundly sad, but I am but a servant following orders. However, since the Sisterhood arrived on Zynn-Zaz’zia, I have fallen in love. Her name is K’ssss and I wish to marry her.”
Zephyr smiled warmly. “I congratulate you. But what does this have to do with the two kids?”
Box Set #2: Zynn-Zaz'Zia: [The 4 book 2nd Adventure of Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood] Page 32