“Fuck, Cobra, things are splattering all over the upper halls,” a warrior bellowed then raced by with numerous blotches on his black shield and covered in holly.
“The halls?” Tempest puzzled. “Oh crap. The word deck would have only one meaning to a five-year-old Zargonnii boy. My son is apparently chucking or decking the halls.”
“He has mixed up Christmas with Halloween,” Cobra grouched. “Damn it, there he is again and we just killed him off.” A nightmare was striding toward them.
“Oh dear. That’s Krampus. He’s the naughty police at Christmas,” Zabbie said, then zapped him away.
A warrior bellowed. “We’re being invaded.”
An ugly green hairy man turned in a slow motion scowling at everyone. The warrior strode over and took a swipe at it with talon claws.
“Scrooge-like aren’t we?” the green man-thing asked with a cackle that raised hairs as his body slid apart.
Zabbie was floored. She waved a hand and the green Grinch was gone.
“There’s a fucking talking snowman,” Cobra shouted. “Why the hell is it singing and dancing like a crazed fool? What the hell is on its head?”
The snowman wore a T-shirt hat.
“No doubt Dranos is confused about what a ‘top’ hat is.” Zabbie zapped that too.
Tempest gasped and strode to a log fire and reached to grab down erotic stockings from the mantel. Her mortification was apparent. Some were innocuous but others were definitely inappropriate to be seen out of a bedroom.
“Dranos,” she scolded. “What’s the meaning of these?”
“Well, I searched minds for stockings but got confused. Everyone seems to have a different idea.” He leaned in close and whispered, “Some are kinda disturbing.”
A number of women went red and scurried away, some hiding behind the side of their hands.
Tempest blinked hard and pointed as three shadow men tiptoed around the room. She offered a huge sigh.
“Dranos the word is stocking, not stalking. Get rid of them.”
“Oh. So only the stuff females wear then? Those things slinking around are kinda creepy. The shadows didn’t seem like any kinda holiday I’d want,” Dranos said. “But things keep appearing and not going away. I’m trying, Mother. Honest.”
“Try harder,” Braylon demanded. “Zell, can’t you make him stop? This is so embarrassing.”
“He can’t any more than I can,” Zabbie said. “Dranos’s mind is focused on too much too fast. His thoughts are everywhere. In too many countries and traditions. When we are born, we’re born into a culture of set traditions. Oh, we knew others exist but we practice our own in our own way. Dranos is seeing every culture at once. How do you explain all things Christmas to anyone, let alone a little boy?”
There was a sharp scream, and Zabbie watched as a huge bed slipped under four girls, a heavy duvet placed over them, trapping them as their arms tried to flail. Bouncing fruit appeared as they warded them off. Zell was quick to interfere. He was able to bring the bed to the ground where warriors grabbed the girls into their arms, wrestling with the duvet and being smacked with fruit.
“That’s not what nestled means, Dranos. Cease with the sugar plum bombs,” Tempest yelled.
“Tempest can’t you get your son under control?” Cobra boomed. “What the fuck? What are those hairy beasts? Crazy cows?”
“It’s all right, father, they’re reindeer. Look see the one with the glowing nose? He’s the most important,” Lisa, Cobra’s adopted daughter said. “It’s been so long I’d almost forgotten Christmas. But look at the feet. They don’t have hoofs they have furry paws. Paws?”
“It’s from a song. Dranos is confused. It’s reindeer pause, not paws,” Zabbie said and sighed with a hand held to her forehead. “Darn the English language anyway. I hope there isn’t anything with a rose or we’ll see flying roses that rose.”
“This is amazing, the lights,” Craig who was also Cobra’s adopted son said. He stood almost as tall as Cobra, shielded. A grown man now. “Look. It’s ultra violet light. How is that possible we’re seeing this?”
“Reindeer are the only mammals that can see ultra violet light,” Zabbie said with awe. “Dranos is actually seeing what reindeer see and helping us see also. That’s incredible.”
Snow was covering the ground on one area in the hall, gathering at human and warrior feet. A bubble surrounded them and Zabbie pressed a hand to her mouth as the people within began to slide sideways. Almost upside down, the bubble slid back and the snow began to fall softly down on the ones inside.
“A snow globe,” a woman said. She stood with her eyes filling with tears. “It was the last gift I ever gave to my daughter before she died on Earth. She was four and had leukemia. She died right before the Tonans came. It was a snow globe of a Christmas cabin. A place we always hoped to visit.” The woman sobbed when a small decorated cabin appeared inside the massive globe. She squeezed Tempest’s hand in gratitude, oblivious to the ever-increasing chaos.
The hall filled with Castian and Tonan warriors who scooped up their female children to shield them. All Castian and Tonan shields were up hiding their mates as well, some of whom were laughing. Zabbie knew the Earth women were sympathizing with Tempest, but the warriors thought they were looking at crazy town. She couldn’t blame them. Dranos’s interpretations were somewhat disturbing.
“You know,” Zabbie drawled as cats appeared in Santa hats meowing a Christmas song. “Titus is right, there are some things you can’t un-see.”
More images were coming to life. Snowmen were rolling together and sliding around the room. Overhead went black until a huge shining star was seen. Zell had morphed into battle mode making him larger and more powerful. That alone gave Zabbie cause for concern. Her son was zapping away the images at a fast pace but Dranos was in overload. The entire room was filling rapidly while warriors battled the mixed interpretations of all of Christmas. Zabbie knelt and spun a wide-eyed Dranos into her arms. He was terrified. Poor little baby.
“Read my mind,” she demanded. She guided him into her thoughts while blocking out the other images. It was difficult. He was growing stronger. She filled with sympathy at the jumbled pictures that formed in his thoughts. Her misgiving about a Christmas holiday grew.
Slowly things began to vanish until only a soft snow was falling. Another Krampus exploded before reaching Dranos. A wildly jiggling Santa disappeared. The smell of corn was gone and dancing cookies crumbled. The ceiling went back to normal and the star disappeared. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Cobra dropped his shield and ran a hand over his face. He gazed at Tempest grimly as Zabbie rose.
“I’m sorry, Tempest, but until your son gets his powers under control he needs to stay away from our planet.”
“You’re banning me?” Dranos asked, eyes wide, filled with sorrow and surprise. “Nobody got hurt. You always said I was welcome.”
“Dranos,” Cobra began gentling his tone, “We have no idea what you can do. I’m not banning you, not really. We’ll wait a little while before a next visit to make certain you have everything under control and then you can come for a short stay to see how things go.”
“You never made Zell stay away.” There was a sob caught in Dranos’s throat.
Zabbie heard Cobra sigh as he knelt down to place a hand onto Dranos’s shoulder. Cobra wasn’t a cruel warrior. It took a lot to unnerve him. Zabbie didn’t blame Cobra, but banning Dranos hurt the boy’s heart, and his face was an open book of anguish. The warrior tried to explain further.
“When Zell was smaller he had more, more…”
“More sense,” Braylon shouted. “Now we all need a nap.”
There were nods of agreement. Zabbie could see many sympathized with Dranos, but a few younger children were crying and clinging to their fathers, fathers who were decidedly scowling. Dranos gazed about and no doubt saw some hostility. He was only a little boy. A little male with huge powers he had no control over. Frightened and now rejecte
d, his face went pale with two brilliant patches of red high on his cheeks.
Dranos began to sob as one by one the warriors stalked off. “There isn’t magic at Christmas, at least not here, just meanness. You’re all mean. Christmas can’t be mean if so many think about it. I don’t like it here anymore.”
The boy covered his face and suddenly was gone. Tempest screamed. Zell spun in a circle. Braylon who had been smirking went pale.
“Where’s my little brother?” he screeched.
Tempest took Zabbie’s hands. “He’s never done that. I didn’t know he could do that. I don’t think he did either. Oh my God do you think he went to find the Angano? Do you think he can sense them now that his powers have increased?”
“No,” Zabbie soothed but she was scared as well. “He’s upset. He’ll go to his father.”
“Cobra,” Tempest cried. “He’s only a little boy.”
Cobra was awash with shame. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t handle that well. I should have spoken with you and Cy first. I never thought for a moment he would disappear.”
“I’ll go see if he went to Uncle Cy,” Zell vanished and was followed by Ryker who had Braylon’s hand. They retuned as fast. “He isn’t there. Father is forming a search party. Cy wants you home, Auntie Tempest.”
“We’ll get our ships out there. This is all my fault. I swear, Tempest, we’ll find him. Everyone needs to look.” Cobra and his warriors sprang into action. The hostility was replaced with guilt and worry for a five-year-old child.
“We have to find him,” Tempest said wringing her hands.
Zabbie concentrated as hard as she could. She reached for Zell’s hand. She could feel her son searching the universe as was she.
“He’s blocked us,” Zabbie said, filled with amazed disbelief. “No wait, there’s something, a flicker.” Zabbie squeezed her eyes tight then shuddered. “Oh my God, he went to Earth.”
“Where, what continent? Earth is dead,” Tempest cried out.
Zabbie sighed. “He’s looking for the magic of Christmas. He’s hurt and confused. He thinks he can make things right. He thinks everyone hates him. Damn, he blocked me again.” But not before Zabbie was shaken with his unveiled emotional turmoil.
“We have to find him,” Tempest said. “Who knows what is on the planet.”
“Zell, take Brave and Braylon home,” Zabbie said.
The children shouted no. They wanted to help.
“I’m a warrior and he’s my little brother. This is my fault too,” Braylon said. “I don’t know why I get so angry with him.”
“It’s your Tonan shield,” Ryker said.
“But it’s always so mean. Then conflicted, then downright pissed,” Braylon raged.
“You battle not only the shield but teen emotions,” Tempest said. “One is bad enough. Together they’re a whole kind of new special. We’re all at fault.”
“This blame game will have to wait.” Zabbie took Tempest by the hand and clutched Brave to her.
With a blink from Zabbie they stood together with all three teen boys gazing over a vast wasteland. Tempest let out a small whimper. Zabbie almost did the same. Their home planet, what was left of it, was a dismal gray. Off in the distance, rolling dark black waters slithered up a desolate shoreline. The water gave off a noxious odor. The beach was vacant of everything except dirty frothy bubbles that rolled in then rolled out, lifeless. Zabbie thought it gave new meaning to a ‘body’ of water. Surprisingly there wasn’t much in the way of debris.
“Other aliens have been here,” Zell said. “Scavengers. I can sense their essence patterns left behind.”
So could Zabbie. She could see walking images of creatures that had been there recently. Ghostly apparitions floated in different places, vanishing, reappearing. The images popped back and forth when it appeared obvious they thought they discovered something of importance. What Zabbie thought contributed to these phenomena was when their emotions spiked. The pattern was clearer and lasted longer.
“Ugly suckers,” Zell said.
Zabbie agreed and she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. These creatures walked both upright and on all fours. Their blue eyes glowed. Their bodies might have been light pink, definitely covered in a fine sheen of fur in many places. It was hard to believe such creatures would understand space flight let alone have the means to create it. But, there they were. Zabbie hoped they stayed away.
“Hyenas of the universe so it would seem,” Zabbie said.
“This place is creepy,” Brave said.
Zell went to her and stayed by her side. Zabbie smiled in spite of the situation. The culture shock to the children was intense. All they had ever known was safety. They witnessed the beauty of their planet in so many different forms. There were dangers they scoffed at. This was endless nothing. Their mothers were from Earth. How could they have come from nothing?
“How could you live here?” Ryker asked as he turned in disbelieving circles, his face a mask of astonishment. “I was told Earth was dead, but this is so much more.”
“It wasn’t always like this,” Braylon said. “Because of my shield I can see a bit of Earth’s past when the Tonans first came. Humans were fine at the time. The planet had a few storms, a few more than usual but not enough to create a terrifying environment. The Tonans knew the humans wouldn’t leave unless they were motivated to do so. Plus they needed to find a way to justify getting females and children off first. A human would call it chivalry. They put a name to a human collective. So they created the super storms and played on family weakness. Families were separated, men thinking they were noble saving their loved ones. It could have been worse.”
“How could it have been worse?” Ryker asked.
Zabbie was surprised by the sadness on Braylon’s face. “The Tonans could have come here and killed the males in front of the females and stolen them,” Braylon said. “They could have killed the male children and grabbed the females of all ages. They didn’t need to use a ruse, but there were Tonans like Grey who objected and made a sound case that cruelty wasn’t the way, though what they did was bad enough. I think near the end of Earth the warriors did acts of violence. I don’t like this part of having a Tonan shield. Their anger is joined with their cruelty. Sometimes I wonder if my shield hates me because I’m human. Maybe since it can’t destroy me it makes me cruel to Dranos. I don’t want to be. I try not to be.”
Zabbie was surprised at the insight. Braylon could be right. The shield could be the cause of his jealousy. Now that he knew what was driving his anger maybe the teen could put a stop to it. Zabbie couldn’t imagine being thirteen and having to battle within on so many occasions. She knew there would come a day when either Braylon would have to follow his shield, or his shield would have to follow Braylon. The only other option was for Braylon to denounce his shield. In doing so he would denounce Grey, and in his way he had loved the Tonan.
They turned their thoughts to the planet. Where there should be signs of old buildings, rubble, there was nothing. A light mist hung in the musty air. A ghost planet with nothing to show that it had once been a home to billions. A nothing planet when once it had been vast. Zabbie was saddened her child would never know the beauty Earth once was.
“Even the concrete is gone,” Tempest said. “Do you suppose class field trips from out in the universe came and each student took a piece? Does a pyramid sit in some alien idea of a town square? The Statue of Liberty? There is nothing here. Except my little lost son.”
“Do you think it’s like this everywhere?” Brave asked. “My mother grew up here. She tells me stories sometimes. Only the nice things. Daddy built me a swing and teeter totter. She missed having a pool, but we all know it really isn’t something we should invite so close to home. When I gaze into my backyard I never pictured this Earth. Daddy tells me how brave my mother is and how they met. She saved his life. I get to see her friends sometimes. She tells me about Amini a shifter cat on another planet that was her best friend for a lo
ng time, and I get to see Lano every once in a while. Mother and Father’s first encounter was less than stellar and mom says somewhat stinky. She giggles when she says that and daddy burps. To this day, he won’t eat nuts.”
“Zell go get your father and Cy. Tell Citun what’s transpired,” Zabbie said.
Zell sent her a direct stare and gazed at Brave. Zabbie smiled and nudged him, she could take care of the curious girl. Zell disappeared. Ryker moved closer to Brave. Ryker should have taken a male warrior mate at the age of twelve. The warriors were taught to fight back to back and had a special bond. But Zabbie knew the fates had chosen Zell even though he was Zargonnii. The boys were inseparable. Ryker’s natural need to protect Zell’s future mate was instinct. Though in the case of a Zargonnii mate if one died their mate didn’t. Castians and their mates died within seconds of one another.
“Can you sense him? Or sense where he might be?” Tempest asked. “What if he’s scared and can’t go home on his own?”
Zabbie closed her eyes. “Yes I can sense him, but he’s on the move and Earth is a large planet. He could be in what’s left of Africa for all we know. Tempest, he doesn’t seem afraid.”
“Can you guess as to where we are?” Tempest asked.
“Sorry. This could be California or Florida or somewhere in Canada. There are no landmarks. There’s nothing. Not even dead foliage to give us a hint. It looks like a field after it’s been harvested, or a forest burned to gray ash raped of everything.”
“My mother came from this place?” Brave asked. “Truly, this is Earth?”
Zabbie held her tighter. “We all did. This, sadly, is part of your heritage and yours, Ryker. Do you remember anything of Earth Braylon? Something not from your shield?”
“Vague images of a ride of sorts mom called tilt ’n hurl.” He gazed at his mother, he was already two inches taller than her. “A fair?” Tempest nodded.
“What if whatever has taken things from here is still on the planet?” Brave said.
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