“If it hurts and I cry . . . it’s just an accident and I didn’t really mean to do it. Is that okay?”
“Of course it’s okay,” answered Egg before Dazzle could say anything. “And if you want to scream . . . that’s okay too.”
“I think I should pull it out,” volunteered Sassi.
“No . . . I’m the leader, I should do it.” Egg was very squeamish about such things but she felt it was her responsibility.
“I once pulled a huge splinter out of my Cousin Sarah’s hand. So I probably should do it,” suggested Sylvia.
“Syl, I have to do it.”
“Egg . . . K’ssss and I have grown very close. I’ll do it.”
“H’sssss.”
The three humans turned to the injured serpent to see why she was laughing.
“I thought I was supposed to do it.” And there by her side was the shard of crystal that she had pulled out by herself.
The wound, unfortunately, didn’t look very good. It was deep and it was bleeding. “Sassi and Sylvia, find something with which to bandage your Sister. Egg . . . I would speak with you.”
So the Princess and Egg walked a little distance from the others.
“Why aren’t you sending K’ssss home?” Egg was sure that was going to be what Dazzle wanted to talk about.
“I would if I could.”
“Why can’t you?”
“She is severely injured. There are no rivers for her to travel on and she would never make it on land. But most importantly, we do not know how to get back from here. Remember, we fell through a hole in the sea.”
“Don’t ask me to just leave her here? I won’t do that.”
“Being a leader, my dear Sister, is very difficult. Sometimes you must make choices that you greatly dislike to ensure that as many of your group survive and the quest for which you have all sacrificed so much succeeds.”
“No.”
Dazzle continued to look into Egg’s eyes. “As you wish.”
They rejoined the others to inspect the bandage the girls had fashioned.
“You have done well . . . the bleeding has stopped. K’ssss, are you in pain?”
“Oh, no, your Majesty. Sassi and Sylvia were very careful not to hurt me.”
The girls smiled knowing that their silly friend had misunderstood the question. “The Princess wants to know if your wound hurts?” explained Sassi.
“Oh. Ummm . . . just a teensy, weensy little.”
“Can you travel without further injury or pain?”
The serpent didn’t answer . . . afraid that the Princess was asking a trick question.
“K’ssss, when you move, does the wound hurt more?” asked Sylvia helpfully.
“Just a teensy, weensy little.” That seemed to her to be a safe answer.
“Let us proceed slowly until we find a suitable place to make camp. Perhaps some rest will help the wound heal.” No one believed that. “And K’ssss, if you need to rest along the way, do not hesitate to speak.”
“Oh, I’m not tired now.”
“She meant that if your wound hurts you, we can stop for a little bit.”
The serpent just nodded.
So they set off at a very slow pace and the girls kept a very close watch on their injured sister. But she seemed to be doing okay. Apparently, the beautiful scenery was helping.
The path meandered here and there through the spectacular scenery and eventually led them to a clearing at the top of a little hill. They looked down into a valley and were again amazed at the colorful beauty of this land . . .
“It’s so pretty,” sighed the silly serpent.
“Yes it is. How are you feeling?”
“Maybe if it’s not too much trouble we could rest here for just a little bit?”
Sassi turned to Egg for approval. “Sure, this is as good a place as any.”
But it wasn’t.
*****
They set about to make camp; breaking out the cooking gear and food. They didn’t need the tents because the canopy of colorful trees kept out the worst of the sun. Besides, it was a beautiful day . . . weather-wise at least.
Sassi began to prepare a meal while Egg and Sylvia changed the bandage on K’ssss’ wound. It was still bleeding.
“How does that feel?” asked Sylvia.
K’ssss looked around to see where the Princess was. Since she wasn’t close, the serpent whispered, “It hurts just a teensy, weensy little.”
“Oh, K’ssss, I’m so sorry you hurt yourself trying to save us.” Egg gave her a big squeeze.
“Did I really do good?” she asked hopefully. The serpent could never believe that she was important to the Sisterhood.
“You did great. In fact, I voted you MVP of the team.” That got Sylvia to smiling.
“Oh, thank you; I always wanted to be an emveepee.” Then she laughed “H’sssss.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“I don’t really know what an emveepee is.”
Sylvia’s smile turned to a laugh and Egg joined in.
“I said something stupid, didn’t I?”
“No, it’s my fault for not explaining. MVP stands for Most Valuable Player. On earth, the most important person on the team becomes the MVP. And on our team . . . it’s you.”
“Really? You’re not saying that just because I hurt myself?”
“She’s saying that because it’s true. You have been unbelievable.”
“What are you girls talking about?” asked Sassi as she walked over with plates of food. So Egg explained about the MVP award.
“She has my vote. I wish the other three were here . . . you’d get their votes too. They would be just as proud of you as we are.”
Instead of being happy about the compliments, K’ssss could only think about her missing friends. “I miss Soo’. And I miss Bl’azzz and Aeri’elle.” She said it with such sadness.
“Yeah, me too.”
“And me,” added Sylvia.
“I hope they’re alright.”
“Why don’t you try calling them with your communications crystals?” suggested the Princess who had just returned to the group.
It was a great idea and Egg immediately tried . . . but with no luck.
Then one by one the other three tried . . . with the same results.
“It was worth a try anyway,” said a disappointed Sassi.
The girls just stood there looking terribly forlorn. Dazzle suggested, “Sassi, take Egg and Sylvia over to the fire and finish your meal. K’ssss and I will join you after I inspect her wound.”
So the three girls went over to the fire, found a comfortable place to sit and began to eat.
“K’ssss, are you in much pain?”
“Oh, no your majesty; it only hurts a teensy . . .” but she didn’t finish.
“You have been exceptionally brave and your family will be very, very proud of all that you have accomplished.” K’ssss didn’t respond, so Dazzle continued, “My sweet sister, I would send you home if I could. I know your injury hurts a great deal more than you have told us. And you have not complained . . . not even a teensy, weensy little.”
“H’sssss.” The not so bright young girl understood the Princess’ humor.
“There is one last task for you to do . . . and it will be the most difficult.”
“I’m so sorry . . . ,” cried the serpent without explaining why she was sorry.
But Dazzle knew that K’ssss was telling her that she couldn’t go on . . . which was exactly what the Princess was going to tell her. “I understand, my dear friend. For you, the journey is over; it is time to rest. You have done more than was expected. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Before she could continue, the world chose that moment to go crazy.
“OH MY GOSH,” screamed Egg.
The sun had just reached the highest point in the sky and as the sunlight struck the crystal trees, it began to give off a storm of color . . .
That was weird e
nough . . . but then it got ever weirder. The light began to spin so fast that it made you dizzy to look at it . . .
“What the heck is going on?” yelled Sylvia.
Unfortunately, the answer appeared out of the center of the color storm . . .
It was a D’ing Bat.
With the unwitting help of his spy, Mobius had found the girls and sent the demon creature to do his evil bidding.
“Gather your supplies . . . quickly,” commanded Dazzle.
They did as they were told but when Egg tried to load some of them on K’ssss’ back, the serpent stopped her.
“I’m so sorry, Egg.”
“Don’t be sorry. We’ll carry them for you.”
“No.” She looked to Dazzle.
“Your sister will not be coming with us.”
“NOOOOOO. I told you I wasn’t going to leave her. Come on, K’ssss, you’re coming with us.”
“I’m so sorry, Egg.”
“Don’t listen to her. We can take care of you. Come on, we have to go now before that thing attacks us.”
“I’m so sorry, Egg.” This time she started to cry.
“Sassi . . . Sassi . . . tell her she has to come with us.”
“K’ssss, you have to come with us. We can’t leave you.”
“I’m so sorry, Sassi. I can’t.”
“Yes you can. We’ll help you. We’ll carry you if you can’t make it on your own.” Now she was crying.
“It hurts too much. I’m so sorry I let you down. I was trying real hard . . . but I guess I’m just not smart enough.”
“DON”T YOU DARE SAY THAT,” screamed a desperate Egg. “It has nothing to do with being smart. You hurt yourself saving my life . . . and Syl’s and Sassi’s. We’re not leaving you.”
“You must.”
“NO. NO. NO.”
“Egg . . . your sister cannot journey any further. For her, the Quest is over.”
“Then it’s over for all of us. We’re not leaving her.”
But at that moment, the D’ing Bat chose to attack. It swooped down screeching a horrible high pitched sound, its ugly beak opened – ready to bite.
“Look out,” yelled Sylvia.
The girls ducked just in time.
“What should we do?” asked Sassi.
Egg didn’t have a clue. So, when all else fails . . . just run. “Let’s get out of here. Maybe we can find some place to hide from it.”
Before they could move, the D’ing Bat attacked again.
And as it got close, K’ssss used all of her remaining strength to leap up.
She almost grabbed it in her mouth. Almost.
Instead, the D’ing Bat swerved at the last moment, turned and bit the serpent. Having accomplished what it wanted, it screeched then flew off.
“K’SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS,” screamed Sassi.
They all ran over to the serpent who was just lying there.
“H’sssss”.
Just for a moment, they thought she was alright. “Why are you laughing?”
“I just earned another medal, didn’t I?”
“Yes.” But Egg couldn’t say anything else. She and her two other sisters began to cry uncontrollably.
“I feel a little funny.”
And to their horror, the silly serpent began to change shape right in front of their eyes. She was turning into a D’ing Bat.
Incredibly, it only took a minute . . .
“K’ssss, K’ssss,” but she couldn’t answer . . . she was no longer a serpent.
She stretched her new wings as if she was trying them on for size. Then with her bird-like head, she looked around as if seeing the world for the very first time. Finally, she gazed at each girl as if she recognized her . . . but couldn’t quite remember from where. Screeching softly, she flapped her wings, took to the air and began to fly away.
As the girls looked up at their transformed sister, the precious green scarf that Sassi had given her friend, the one she so loved and absolutely refused to take off . . . floated down to earth like a feather.
Sassi caught it and screamed, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.”
. . . and without ever having said goodbye;
. . . or giving her one last hug.
K’ssss was gone.
Chapter 6 – The Spy Who Loved Us
They stood there stunned into silence.
Losing the other three girls had been bad . . . but this was horrible beyond words.
After a few seconds, they sat down and started to sob. Four of their sisters were gone . . . and one would never, ever be what she once was.
They felt heartbroken from the loss.
They felt despair now that any hope of completing the Quest had just flown away.
They felt guilty that they were unharmed while their Sisters were suffering.
They felt embarrassment . . . believing that young girls could conquer a world.
But mostly . . . they felt intense anger.
Anger at Mobius for having done these things.
Anger at themselves for having let that evil man get the better of them.
Anger at the thought that they couldn’t accomplish what they had set out to do.
Dazzle felt their pain but said nothing. Sometimes crying can be a good thing. It lets out the frustration that you’re feeling inside. And it can let out the demons that are trying to stop you from continuing . . . from taking back control.
So they cried . . .
and cried . . .
and cried.
*****
They kept one eye on the sky . . . looking for a color storm that would mean another attack by the D’ing Bats. But as it turned out there was no need and their journey continued without incident.
When they had first entered the Crystal Forest, they were skipping along . . . arm-in-arm . . . and singing a silly song. Now they walked hand-in-hand; in silence, except for the occasional sniffle.
Dazzle knew what a terrible price her friends were paying to help her and the rest of Aerianna free themselves of Mobius. She also understood that it was harder on these three than on the four that were gone. And it was again time to do something or the Quest would surely end in failure.
“Egg.”
“Yes, Dazzle?” responded the young girl in a very quiet voice.
“Who do you most admire?”
“What?”
“Of all the people you have ever met . . . who do you most admire?”
The girl didn’t really want to think about that; she was more interested in thinking about K’ssss and her other sisters. “Ummm . . . I don’t know.”
“I know your heart is heavy with the loss of our sweet sister, but I am asking as a friend. Will you not answer?”
Not wanting to be rude to the Princess, Egg gave the question some thought. “Well . . . I guess it would be my Grammy.”
“Why?”
Now that required a little more thought. “Ummm . . . lots of reasons. She’s beautiful, and smart, and she loves me, and she teaches me stuff, and she can do just about anything.”
“What would she do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“If she was leading our Quest, what would she do now that we have lost four of our sisters?”
Egg actually smiled. “She would say that anybody can give up but only those with determination and strength of character would go on. They would rise to the challenge.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that when we have set a goal, we should do everything in our power to reach it . . . even when it gets really hard. Otherwise, we’re not being true to ourselves.”
“Do you agree with her?”
Without hesitation, Egg replied “Oh, absolutely. Grammy says giving up is almost always the easiest thing to do. Only the best of the best can dig deep inside themselves and find the courage to go on.”
“Do you wish to give up the Quest?”
Egg surprised herself when she said, “No way.”
“And, you, Sylvia . . . and Sassi . . . do you wish to give up?”
“If Egg goes on . . . I go on.”
“I would never ever leave my sisters,” added Sassi.
“I am glad. It has been most difficult, and there is still much danger. But when we succeed, a whole world will have been saved. Is that not a worthy goal?”
The girls all smiled and nodded yes. And just for a little while, their courage and determination had been restored.
“Do you want to know who I admire the most?” asked Sylvia.
“Tell us, please,” answered the Princess.
“It’s Egg.”
“Really?” said Flying Girl in surprise.
“You are the most amazing person I ever met. No offense, Dazzle, but you’re not exactly a person.”
“That is true,” she replied with a most un-grown-up giggle.
“Why me?” asked Egg with great curiosity and not a little pride.
“Because you’re nine years old and you came to this planet and recruited two dragons, two sea serpents and a girl with greenish skin. And you stand up to monsters and evil kings. And you always know what to do. And you’re my best friend and I would follow you to the ends of the earth.” She paused to catch her breath. “Well, even further than that . . . even to a galaxy far, far away.”
Egg reached out and gave her friend a big hug. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Besides, we’re Ham and Egg and nothing in this world can separate us.”
“Yeah . . . don’t mess with my sister, mister,” answered Egg quoting part of a song by Fandango Sally.
“Sassi, who do you most admire?” asked Dazzle.
“All of my sisters have been amazing. And you, Princess, have been an inspiration to so many of us on Aerianna. But, it is my parents that I most admire.”
“I have met your parents and they are indeed very special.”
“What did your mom and dad do . . . you know, when they weren’t fighting Mobius?”
“Well, my dad . . . my dad, ummm . . . he, ummm . . . he . . .” but the girl didn’t finish. She seemed like she was trying hard to remember something.
“Sassi . . . you okay?” asked Egg. But the other girl kept staring off into the distance.
“Sassi?” Now it was Dazzle’s turn to be concerned.
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 66