Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel]

by Robert Iannone

  “Do you really think so?”

  “Absolutely. Don’t you agree?” she asked the other girls.

  “It’s perfect,” said Egg.

  “That’s a great color on you,” added Sylvia.

  “It looks like you got tangled up in seaweed,” said Soo’ teasingly.

  “I’ll buy you one when we finish the quest,” offered Aeri’elle.

  They all looked at Bl’azzz . . . from habit. But the F’yre Dragon just cried.

  “K’ssss, when I present you with your medal of valor, will you promise to wear the scarf?”

  K’ssss looked at the Princess as if she was about to faint. “Could I?”

  “I insist.”

  “Then I think you should keep this one. It’s my gift to you for letting me ride on your back.”

  “Ohhh, thank you. And I promise I’ll never ever lose it. Never.”

  Before anyone could say anything else, J’azzz-min popped out of the fire.

  “Hi, girlies. Hey sea snake . . . love your scarf.”

  “Do you really?”

  “Get real.”

  “What do you want now?” asked an annoyed Egg.

  “Just thought I mention something. You know that big shadowy guy . . . he’s still not happy that Aeri’elle ate his ugly little pet.”

  “I didn’t know it was somebody’s pet. Tell him I apologize.”

  “You can tell him yourself. He’ll be here in a few minutes.”

  “WHAT!”

  “What is he exactly?” asked a frightened Sylvia.

  “A muck’raker.”

  “A what?”

  “Read my lips . . . m u c k ‘r a k e r. He rakes the muck at the bottom of the swamp.”

  “Why?’

  “It’s his punishment.”

  “For what.”

  “Not sure. I think it’s kinda like the souls in the Dead Trees.”

  “Sisters, gather your belongings and let us leave.”

  “One last thing . . . he can control the trees.” But before she could be asked to explain what that meant . . . she melted into nothingness.

  Chapter 10 – Itsy Bitsy Spider

  The girls looked nervously at the trees. What seemed normal a minute ago now appeared frightening. And for the first time they noticed how every one of them had thick vines that dangled down like so many venomous snakes.

  “Don’t get close to those vines,” Egg warned her sisters. They now looked menacing and they gave the girl a bad feeling.

  Rushing to pack everything, they were finished in no time at all.

  “Sea Sisters . . . into the water. Everyone else, please get on. Quickly.”

  They all climbed on but then K’ssss yelled, “My scarf . . . it fell off.”

  “I’ll get it,” said Aeri’elle and she jumped off and raced over to where the scarf had fallen. She picked it up and started back. But before she could take two steps, one of the vines dropped down and ensnared her.

  “Oh my gosh,” screamed Egg. “Syl . . . we have to help Aeri’elle.”

  As the dragon fought to free herself, she became more and more entangled. And then the vine started to lift her into the air.

  Just to make a bad situation worse, Sassi yelled, “HERE HE COMES.” She pointed to the creepy Muck’raker, but he was incredibly hard to see because he blended in so well with the forest shadows.

  “Continue to watch his progress,” commanded Dazzle. “Egg . . . free your sister, but do it swiftly.” Now that bit of advice wasn’t really necessary.

  Egg reached the trapped dragon and pulled frantically at the attacking vines. But they were incredibly strong and she couldn’t even budge one strand.

  “Hurry, Egg . . . it’s squeezing me so hard I can hardly breathe.”

  “SYL”.

  “I’m here and I brought the knife and an ax.” She handed the knife to her friend and they both started cutting and hacking at the vine. It took a lot of work, but they finally cut the vine around Aeri’elle’s chest so she could breathe more easily.

  “Oh, thanks,” said the dragon as she took a deep breath.

  “EGGGGGG . . . he’s here. Behind you.” And the two girls and trapped dragon turned to see the large, creepy creature standing there glaring at them.

  He pointed a finger at the vines holding Aeri’elle and they began to lift the dragon high into the air. Then another vine wrapped itself around the girl’s stomach and started to squeeze. Aeri’elle screamed at the pain.

  “STOP THAT,” yelled Egg. The Muck’raker didn’t even look at her.

  Using the magic from her ring, she ran up to the thing and made herself as large as it was. She grabbed at his finger hoping that would stop the vine from squishing her sister . . . but all he did was reach out, pick her up with one hand and toss her into the water.

  Sylvia ran to her friend since there was nothing she could do for her dragon sister by herself.

  “Are you okay?” she asked as she helped Egg out of the swamp.

  “I almost got a mouth full of water.” She wiped her face dry then added unnecessarily, “Boy is he strong.”

  “Come on . . . we gotta go back and save Aeri’elle.”

  But as they turned, they heard the dragon give one more scream . . . and then she exploded.

  *****

  They were back on the swamp, drifting along with the current. Everyone was quiet except for the soft sobbing coming from Bl’azzz.

  “That was kind of disgusting,” Egg finally said.

  “What’s he going to do with it anyway?” wondered Soo’.

  “I don’t even want to know.” She couldn’t help herself from giggling.

  “It’s not funny,” said Aeri’elle.

  “It wasn’t then . . . but it is now,” corrected Sylvia.

  “I wish Bl’azzz could have seen it. She’d never let you live it down.”

  “Do you suffer any ill effects?” asked a concerned Princess.

  “No, your Majesty. Well . . . other than embarrassment.” That got everyone to giggling (except the sad Bl’azzz).

  All the Muck’raker had wanted was his pet back. So he had trapped Aeri’elle in the vines which then squeezed her stomach until she threw-up the little creature. It came flying out of her mouth and at first, the girls thought she had exploded. It took a minute before they realized what had happened.

  Once the Muck’raker had his pet, he had the vines release the dragon and she thudded to the ground . . . uninjured, except for her pride. He took the animal, turned around and disappeared back into the shadows of the swamp.

  “Was it still alive, you think?”

  No one had an answer . . . but they shuddered at the thought.

  *****

  They traveled uneventfully for the rest of the day. As dusk approached, they found another little cove with dry land and decided it was as good a place to set up camp for the night.

  After unloading their supplies, some of the girls went for firewood while the others set up the tents.

  “Let’s keep the tents as far from those horrible vines as we can.”

  “They’re called snaggle-cord vines.” Everyone ignored the cat that had just shimmied down from one.

  “What . . . not even a hello? I’m like your best friend in the whole world and this is the greeting I get?”

  “Unless you have something important to tell us . . . go away.”

  “Syl . . . can I call you Syl . . . how’s about if I take a sip of the water and me and you do the old switcharoo?”

  Sylvia’s eyes flew wide in horror until she realized J’azzz-min was just kidding. “I’d rather do that with the Muck’raker.”

  “You want me to call him over?”

  “Enough, J’azzz-min. Why have you come?”

  “Do I have to have a reason? Maybe I just like the company.”

  Dazzle just glared at the cat.

  “Alright, already. I was just trying to make nice. Anywho . . . you girlies have made really great time.
With a little luck you’ll be out of the swamp before dark tomorrow.”

  “But . . .”

  “Does there have to be a ‘but’?” Everyone continued to stare at her. “Well, just by coincidence there is one . . .” The cat grinned evilly. “Anybody afraid of spiders?”

  “Oh, that’s just great,” said Sylvia in total exasperation. “What a surprise . . . I hate spiders.”

  “Awwwwww, that’s too bad.”

  “Explain.”

  Instead, J’azzz recited a poem . . . “The itsy bitsy spider fell from a tree, it landed on a little girl who tried to run and flee. But he caught her in his web because the spider was too fast, now the little girl doesn’t have very long to last.”

  The girls stared in absolute horror and revulsion.

  “I thought you could only tell us about one challenge?” Egg managed to say. “It’s just a nursery rhyme my mommy used to tell me.”

  “My mommy tells me nursery rhymes too.”

  “Did you ever hear the one about the fat sea serpent . . .”

  “Enough,” commanded Dazzle and they all fell silent. ‘What else can you tell us about spiders?”

  “There’s only one thing they hate.”

  “And that is?”

  “That is the one thing you lost.” The cat tipped her hat, shimmied back up the vine and disappeared.

  “Why must everything be a riddle?” asked a frustrated Sassi.

  “It’s in the rules,” came a voice out of nowhere.

  *****

  After dinner, they sat in the glow of the campfire chatting quietly. When the small talk finally died away, Aeri’elle said, “It’s my turn.” By now, everyone knew what that meant . . . she wanted to share a story with her sisters.

  “First, I want to thank Egg and Sylvia for risking their lives to save me. You are both very brave and I really do think of you as sisters. The same goes for all of you. I am very proud to be part of this quest. No matter what happens, I will have no regrets that I joined the Hameggattic Sisterhood.”

  “We feel the same way about you . . . now,” said Soo’ mischievously.

  “Now?”

  “Yeah. You were pretty stuck up at first.”

  The dragon was about to be offended until she realized that what Soo’ had said was true. “I’m sorry for my behavior earlier. But I have learned much from all of you.”

  “That is the nature of a sisterhood . . . an opportunity to share experiences and emotions. To learn, to trust, to teach, to laugh . . . all of that and more. I, too, feel privileged to be part of this.” Compliments seem to mean so much more when they come from a Princess.

  “Tell us your story, Aeri’elle” encouraged Sassi.

  “My great grandmother was a lady in waiting for F’Aerianne, the rainbow dragon who was our queen until Mobius came to rule.

  As the Princess well knows, our Queen was an amazing dragon. She was so beautiful . . . no other dragon had ever been born with her coloring. And she was wise and kind. King M’earth was very shrewd to allow her to continue to rule after he had won the Crystal Egg. All of her people adored her.

  When she disappeared, my people were outraged. Many formed a secret society to fight Mobius and to return F’Aerianne to her throne. My grandmother was one of the leaders.

  Unfortunately . . . to my great shame . . . her son and my father chose not to help. He was very comfortable with the wealth he had accumulated over the years and did not wish to do anything that might cause him to lose it.

  That is why I started the HAMNEGG debating club.

  That is why I joined the sisterhood.

  That is why I am on this Quest.

  MY father is not a coward . . . just a fool. He believes wealth is more important than honor.

  I am not brave . . . but I have honor.”

  It was obviously very painful for the proud Aeri’elle to share such a story. And the girls were very grateful for being entrusted with it.

  “You do your grandmother and your Queen proud. But you are wrong . . . you have shown great bravery. And be not ashamed of your father. His motives may not be so shallow as wealth and comfort. Perhaps he was trying to protect his family from the vengeful Mobius. Perhaps he had to sacrifice his honor to save you.”

  That comment totally startled the young dragon. “Could it be true?” she said hopefully.

  “Most certainly it could. In time you shall find out.”

  Aeri’elle turned her head and stared into the fire, lost in the Princess’ words. She breathed deeply and felt a great burden being lifted from her heart.

  *****

  In the morning, they sat around the fire, eating breakfast and discussing spiders and the something they had lost.

  Soo’ expressed everyone’s feelings. “I don’t trust that cat.”

  “Anything specific or just in general?’

  “The itsy bitsy thing.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean if there are spiders in this place, they aren’t going to be itsy-bitsy ones. They’re going to be . . . what’s the opposite of itsy bitsy?”

  “Biggety-wiggety,” suggested K’ssss.

  “Yeah . . . Biggety-wiggety.”

  The girls all shuddered at the thought. Nobody likes spiders . . . big or small.

  “So what’s the thing that we lost?” asked Sylvia who was frustrated trying to figure out that riddle.

  “Did you not dream on this last night?” Dazzle asked Egg.

  “I tried. But the only dream I can remember was about Bl’azzz and how she burnt J’azzz-min’s hat.” That got all the girls to laughing.

  “I wish she was Bl’azzz again,” said K’ssss. Seeing the F’yre Dragon this way was hard on everyone . . . but especially on the sensitive, silly serpent.

  “We all do, K’ssss. We all do.”

  After that they fell silent . . . each thinking her own thoughts.

  “We should leave. The quicker we are through this land, the better.” Most suggestions from Dazzle were considered royal commands. In fact, only Egg ever challenged the Princess.

  So they did what they always did . . . packed up their stuff, loaded it and themselves on the backs of the two serpents and set out for the next tall moss covered tree.

  *****

  The morning passed without incident . . . which made them very, very nervous. Why would Mobius let them off this easily? Of course, the answer was he had no intention of making it this easy.

  The trouble came when they had to stop for lunch. They were hoping it would be their last stop in the Swamp. If J’azzz-min had been telling the truth, they should be very near the end.

  They made camp as usual and the three human girls started to set up the tents to protect them from the hot sun, while the serpents rested from all the swimming they had done. Aeri’elle decided to take Bl’azzz to look for firewood.

  “Are you sure you want to take her?” asked Soo’. She was as much concerned for Aeri’elle’s safety as for Bl’azzz’s. If something went wrong, it would be very hard to help the sad dragon while trying to defend herself.

  “It’ll be fine. Maybe a little walk will do her some good. What do you think Bl’azzz . . . would you like to go with me?

  ”It’s such a sad place,” was all she said then burst into tears.

  Aeri’elle put a wing around her sister and led her off into the woods.

  The other five girls watched as the two dragons disappeared then they continued with their chores . . . or their naps. The minutes ticked by and the only sounds were those of the insects buzzing and frogs (or whatever they were) croaking. It almost seemed normal.

  Soo’, who had fallen fast asleep, woke up with a start. “I know what we lost,” she said. But she didn’t get a chance to finish her thought.

  The dragon’s scream caused the birds in the trees to take flight with nerve rattling screeching. The girls immediately dropped whatever they had in their hands, grabbed the ax and the knife and ran to the aid of their sis
ters. The two serpents were close behind.

  They followed the sound and came to the edge of the little island they were on. And there between two large trees was the biggest spider web they had ever seen. And in the middle was Bl’azzz . . . stuck fast to the sticky snare.

  Aeri’elle was off to one side . . . her back to her sisters. When she heard them approach, she turned around and yelled, “Save her . . .,” obviously referring to the other dragon. Then she returned to whatever she was doing. Her wings were flapping furiously and her beak was snapping at something. She started to back up . . . but fell over a log. And there behind her was the Itsy-bitsy spider…

  . . . only it was about ten feet tall.

  “OH MY GOSH!”

  “Yuck…”

  “I’m going to skin that stupid cat.”

  Sassi had nothing to say; instead, she ran towards Aeri’elle and helped her to her feet. The spider came towards them . . . one giant leg at a time.

  Egg ran up and threw the ax as hard as she could . . . but it just bounced off the big, bug-eyed thing. Sylvia’s knife did the same.

  But the Spider was distracted long enough for the other two girls to escape.

  Meanwhile Soo’ and K’ssss were frantically trying to find some way to free their trapped sister . . . but with no luck.

  Then the spider, bored with chasing the others, turned and crawled onto its web . . .

  It went straight to the helpless Bl’azzz, opening its mouth to reveal giant size fangs. The spider was about to enjoy a delicious meal . . . of F’yre Dragon.

  “NOOOOOO,” screamed Soo’.

  Then she did something completely unexpected . . . she dove into the waters of Switch Swamp.

  And the last thing she heard before she disappeared under the muddy water was her dear friend Bl’azzz shriek as the spider’s mouth started to close on her leg.

  Book 11

  Goodnight Girlies

  Book 11

  Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

  © Copyright, 2016, by Robert Iannone

  All Rights Reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 – Home Bittersweet Home