“HEY . . . you squish-happy squeeze-me snake, don’t do that.”
“You’re not very nice.”
“Come on, you’re hurting me. Geez, I was just kidding.”
K’ssss gave one more squeeze for good measure then let go. As she moved back to be with the other girls, Sassi gave her a big smile.
“Tell us of the Crystal Forest.”
J’azzz made a show of fixing her hat before she answered, “Don’t get so dazzled by its incredible beauty that you forget how dangerous it is.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll see. Just ignore the colors and watch out for the D’ing Bats. And there’s a few other thingy’s and what-cha-ma-call-its to keep you on your toes; or in the case of the sea worm . . . on your belly.”
“Don’t make fun of her,” said Sassi menacingly.
“Did I insult her? Oh my . . . please ex-squeeze me.”
“You have given us no new information. Tell us more of the Bats.”
“I’d love to chat . . . you know how chatty cats can be. But sorry to say . . . my lips are sealed.” She moved her paw over her mouth and it actually zippered shut. It was kind of freaky.
“I have warned you not . . .,” but Dazzle stopped when the cat vanished.
“That was strange . . . even for her,” said Sylvia.
“Remember, she has always been under the control of Mobius. We must assume that he will no longer give us any useful information.”
“Do you think she’s gone for good?”
“Perhaps.”
“Dazzle . . . come to think of it, how come she can see you? You said AyBee could only do that because he was once your father.”
“I have given that much thought and have come to the only conclusion possible.” She paused and the girls waited with great curiosity. “I believe J’azzz-min is really Kat’Alynnia.”
“Cat-a-who?”
“Kat’Alynnia . . . my mother.”
“WHAT,” screamed Egg involuntarily?
“We will speak of this later.” Dazzle started to walk to the front of the boat obviously wanting to be alone. But she never made it.
The blood red sea had turned to blue, green, and gold and it was beginning to spin as it fell through a hole in the world . . . dragging the boat with it.
As the boat slipped over the edge, they screamed as loudly as they could. But the noise of the water was thunderous and completely drowned out all other sound. Then the world turned completely and utterly black as they fell deeper and deeper and deeper into the bottomless hole.
*****
The girls must have all fainted because the next thing they knew, they were lying on the ground looking up at an awesome explosion of bright, beautiful colors. Apparently, they had fallen into the Crystal Forest . . .
“Oh my gosh!”
“Wow!”
“It’s pretty.”
“I couldn’t even paint something this spectacular.”
“It is breathtaking. But remember what J’azzz-min said . . . ignore the beauty and be vigilant of the dangers.”
They all fell silent and just stared at the brilliant kaleidoscope of colors that surrounded them. Never in their young lives could they have imagined anything so stunning.
It was Sylvia who finally brought them back to reality. “Now what?” she asked.
“Maybe we should try calling J’azzz . . . you know who . . . just to find out which path to take.” So Egg yelled, “Hey, CAT,” as loud as she could.
Nothing happened.
Then Dazzle said, “Kat’Alynnia. Show yourself.” And sure enough, the cat appeared.
“Hello, daughter.”
“Why did you not tell me who you were?”
“I don’t make the rules.”
“Then why are you doing it now?”
“I didn’t reveal myself . . . you figured it out yourself. You were always so smart.”
The four girls listened to this conversation with enormous interest. Of all the strange things that had happened to them on this quest, this might have been the strangest.
“It has been a very long time. Are you not glad to see me?”
“Actually, it’s been about a day since I last saw you.”
“I am talking about the last time we met before I . . .,” she didn’t finish.
“Before you went to Earth. Yes, that’s what I meant.”
For the girls, hearing the cat sound so normal was a little weird.
“I do not understand? It has been a thousand years.”
“For you . . . but not for me.”
“Mother!” said an exasperated daughter. “Please, just explain.”
“When I was transformed into . . . this, time stopped for me. I have not aged.”
“Is that true of Father?”
“I would assume so.”
“And Ss’ong?”
“Yes. And before you ask . . . I assume it’s the same for Z’kkk.”
And without realizing it, Dazzle’ face lit up with a million dollar smile (assuming you can use an Earth term for someone from Aerianna).
The girls weren’t sure why she was doing it, but they smiled right along with the Princess.
“Dazzle,” said Egg quietly, afraid she might ruin the moment for her friend, “what’s going on?’
The Princess just stood there, lost in thought, hugging herself.
J’azzz-min explained for her daughter. “She’s happy because her fiancée has not aged in the last thousand years. If she can find some way to make him a person again . . . they would be the same age as when this all first happened.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s terrific.”
Dazzle finally snapped out of her daydream. “Mother, will you help us?”
“Trust nothing . . . for everything is dangerous. And as for the path you must follow . . . there is only one. I can do no more for you, child. I would wish you luck, but my daughter never needed it. No dare could ever stop her.”
“Before you go, may I ask one favor?”
“What?”
“May I have your hat?”
“Geez, not the hat. Oh . . . alright.”
*****
“Why did you ask for her hat?” Egg was twirling it in her hand. Naturally, she had to hold it for the Princess.
“When the Quest is over, and we have won, I will present it to Bl’azzz as she requested.” For some reason, that made the four girls feel good.
“Can she wear it when she gets her medal?” asked K’ssss who was planning on wearing the scarf that Sassi had given her.
“That would be most appropriate,” said Dazzle with a warm smile.
“Dazzle . . . you said you would tell us about your mom. And, I almost forgot, AyBee, I mean your dad, called you Rose . . . just like Storm did. You still haven’t told us why.”
“I will, but now is not the time. We should not dally. This is a dangerous land . . . I can actually feel it.”
Coming from Dazzle, that was saying a lot. “Which way do you think we should go?”
“Let us find the one path that Kat’Alynnia spoke of.”
So they all started to look around . . . but if there was a path, it wasn’t obvious. Everything was simply a riot of colors.
“Egg, what do you think?”
“I don’t know Syl. It would be a lot easier if my flying suit worked and I could see from up high.”
“Maybe we could climb a tree,” suggested Sassi without much enthusiasm.
“I don’t think I could climb a tree. So maybe Egg should just fly home.”
The girls turned to look at the silly serpent.
“Why would I do that?” asked Egg with a trace of irritation.
“So you can see everything.” She said it as if it was obvious . . . which of course it wasn’t.
“Your Sister wants you to fly as if you were returning home. The suit will work as long as you head away from the Crystal Mountain.”
The girls turned back to
look at their Sea Sister with admiration. “What a great idea. I should have thought of that. Nice going, K’ssss.”
“H’sssss.”
So Egg jumped skyward facing what she guessed was the direction of home . . . and went airborne. She soared above the trees, looked around and landed.
“Got it,” she told the girls. “It’s like a . . . ummm . . . this.” Not able to describe it, she simply pointed to what was almost under their feet. It was a path made of streaky patches of colors . . . blues, reds, yellows, greens and the rest of the rainbow. From up high, it was obvious; when you were standing on it, not so much.
“Okay, then . . . let’s follow the Yellow Brick Road.”
Sylvia took a moment to explain the reference. When she finished, they held each other’s arms and started to skip and sing, “We’re off to see the Wizard, the horrible Wizard named Mo . . .” They had to hum the rest of the song because they couldn’t think of anything that rhymed.
Dazzle would have liked to see the girls act a bit less frivolous. After all, they were still in grave danger. But with the loss of Aeri’elle so fresh in their minds, they needed a few minutes to just be kids.
The path they were traveling seemed suspiciously easy. And as Kat’Alynnia said . . . trust nothing. And sure enough, she had been right.
It was about an hour into their travels when the girls walked around a bend in the road and came to a screeching halt.
“Oh my gosh.”
Egg was reacting to what was a bizarre sight. The majestic trees and flowers had given way to a field of spiky icicles made of glass or crystal. They were about six to ten feet tall and like everything else in this land, there was every imaginable color. They were both beautiful and terrifying.
They stood there gawking at the strange spectacle.
“Most unusual”.
“What do you think it is?”
“I don’t know, Sassi. But it’s probably something we’re not going to like.” Egg walked up to the nearest spike and banged on it lightly. It vibrated . . . making a sound like a tuning fork, which slowly died away. That spike had been pink, so she tried the same thing to each of the different colors. They, too, vibrated and gave off their own unique sound.
“That’s kinda cool,” she said as she walked back to the other girls.
“It’s like a giant xylophone,” observed Sylvia.
“Did you notice that there was something odd about the notes they gave off?” asked Sassi. Egg and Syl shook their heads ‘no’.
“How come I didn’t hear anything?” asked a puzzled and disappointed sea serpent.
“Oh, now I know what it was.” answered Sassi. “They only gave off high pitched notes. I remember reading some place that serpents can’t hear those sounds.”
“But why are they here?” asked Sylvia.
“We must assume that they pose a threat to us.”
“Well . . . we have to follow the path, and it goes right through these icicle things. So we don’t have any choice.”
“Proceed cautiously . . . but quickly.”
They started out slowly, but when nothing happened, they began to walk as fast as K’ssss could slither. And after a few minutes, they were deep inside the sea of spikes.
The trail continued to be an easy one to walk . . . until they came to a place where one of the spikes had fallen down and shattered across the path. Since K’ssss couldn’t slide over these pieces without cutting herself, the three human girls bent down, picked up the broken glass and tossed them off to the side.
As it always seems too happened, when Egg picked up the very last shard of glass, she cut her finger.
“Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww,” she screamed, more from the surprise than from the pain.
“You okay?” asked Syl.
“Yeah,” said her friend sucking on the small point of blood on her thumb.
Then they heard it.
Apparently triggered by the sound of Egg screaming, one of the spikes had begun to vibrate and give off a very irritating sound.
Then the spike next to it began to vibrate and it, too, gave off a sound.
Then the next spike did the same thing.
And the next . . . and the next . . . and the next . . .
In less than a minute, hundreds and hundreds of spikes were vibrating . . . each giving off its own distinctive, annoying high-pitched note.
The riot of sound became louder and louder.
It became so loud, it began to hurt.
“Oops” said Egg holding her hands over her ears.
“My head feels like it’s about to explode,” cried Sylvia.
“Me, too,” added Sassi.
Chapter 5 – Good Night K’ssss
The three human girls were on their knees with their hands clasped to their ears . . . but it didn’t help. The vibrating spikes were making brain-scrambling sounds like a dentist’s drill plus the horrible screeching of fingernails scratching on a blackboard. The noise came from every direction . . . getting louder and louder with each passing second. It hurt so bad that the girls could hardly move.
“Eggggg,” moaned Sylvia. “I think I’m about to faint.”
“K’ssss, you must help your sisters.”
“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh” was the best the sea sister could think to say to the Princess.
Sassi told her sister what to do. “K’ssss, we’ll get on your back. You have to get us out of here as fast as you can.”
Just then, Sylvia let out a small gasp and fell to the ground. She had fainted.
“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,” whimpered K’ssss again.
“Sassi, help me with Syl.”
The girls struggled but were finally able to hoist the unconscious Sylvia onto the serpent’s back. Sassi, who was in slightly better condition, then helped Egg. With her last strength, she too climbed up.
“Go, Sister. As fast as you can,” encouraged Dazzle.
In water, a serpent can travel almost as fast as a dragon can fly. On land . . . especially carrying three girls . . . they can just barely manage the speed of a fast walk. But K’ssss, with single-minded determination to save her sisters, set out at a pace that should have been impossible.
After fifteen minutes Egg, too, had fainted. Sassi was doing her best to keep the other two girls from falling off the serpent’s back. “Hurry, K’ssss, I can’t hold on much longer.”
The thought that she might fail her friends gave K’ssss the strength to increase her speed. And in a short while, she could see the end of Spike Forest.
But as she made her final dash . . . she came to another spike that had fallen across the road. Shards of crystal lay everywhere.
“K’ssss, be careful. Those crystal pieces will cut you.”
“Sassi says I have to hurry.”
“Don’t injure yourself because of us.”
But the serpent wasn’t paying attention. She kept up her speed and when she got to the broken crystals, she just plowed right through them. With her goal in sight, she managed another incredible burst of speed . . . then collapsed from exhaustion.
*****
K’ssss . . . K’ssss, are you okay?” Egg and the others were bending over their sister with worried looks creasing their faces.
“See if she’ll drink a little water,” suggested Sylvia.
Sassi found a water bottle and held it to her friend’s lips, “Come on, K’ssss, drink a little.” But the sea serpent didn’t drink a little . . . she drank the whole bottle, and then a second one.
When she finished, she looked at her friends and asked, “Is the noise in your head gone?”
“Yes, you big sea saint . . . you saved our lives again.”
She smiled with pride, but then turned very serious. “But I don’t want another medal. Could you give it to Soo’ instead?” she asked the Princess.
“Everyone will receive a medal, my dear Sister, including Soo’nami.”
“Oh, good. It wouldn’t be right if I got two and she didn’t get any.”<
br />
The three girls gave their slightly oversized serpent sister a big hug. ‘Strange,’ thought Egg, ‘who would have ever guessed how important K’ssss would be to the Quest? So far she’d definitely would win the most valuable player award.’ Then Egg made a promise to herself to update her diary which she hadn’t found the time to do. There had been so many sad and wonderful moments like this one . . . and it would be terrible to forget any of it.
But she was jarred back to reality when Sassi spotted the blood and screamed, “K’ssss, you’re hurt.”
Dazzle and the other girls looked to where Sassi was pointing. There, stuck into the serpent’s lower side, was a large piece of crystal with blood trickling from the gash.
“Does it hurt?” asked Dazzle.
But K’ssss didn’t answer.
“Sister?”
The serpent just stared at the Princess.
A concerned Sassi asked, “K’ssss, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
But her answer wasn’t what they were expecting. “I don’t want to go home,” she whispered.
No one else was thinking about that . . . until K’ssss mentioned it. The girls looked from one to another . . . then to Dazzle. But the Princess said nothing.
“Please don’t send me home. I promise I won’t hurt myself again. Pretty please”. She began to sob. ‘I’ll do better next time.”
“K’ssss . . . you saved the lives of your sisters. You ignored the danger to yourself and in so doing incurred your injury. You are brave and loyal beyond words. Nothing you have done has brought you shame. We are all very, very proud to have you as a Sister and a friend.”
Not really understanding all the praise the Princess was trying to give her, the serpent repeated the only thing that mattered to her, “Please don’t send me home.”
All four girls were now looking at Dazzle and holding their breath.
“We will not send you home, dear one.” Upon hearing the words, the girls cheered and hugged each other.
“However, we must remove the shard and bandage the wound. You must be brave one more time for it may hurt.”
Sassi gave her friend a reassuring hug.
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 65