“No . . . but let’s just get this over with.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
*****
They started to run down the path, but it was so steep that they kept slipping and falling. At one point, Sylvia ripped her poncho. It was a small rip and she didn’t notice.
“We have to slow down.”
“Okay . . . but just a little,” answered Egg.
They soon rounded a bend and came to a small field of plants with spiky white thorns.
“Watch out you don’t get stuck.”
“I’m watching, believe me.”
They were a few feet into the flowers when the plants did something that plants don’t usually do . . . they opened their mouths.
“Oh my gosh . . . they have teeth.”
“Let me go first. I have the knife.”
So Sylvia passed Egg, took out the long knife and started to hack a path through the vicious plants. Even so, one of them managed to reach out and bite at Egg. Luckily, it only caught her pant leg.
“You think they’re poisonous?” She was afraid to touch it to pull it off.
“Does it matter?”
“I guess not.” Still worried, she used the blade of her axe and gave it a whack. The flower went flying.
“That wasn’t so bad,” called Sylvia as they made it past the last of the freaky things.
“So you say.” Egg glanced back to reassure herself that they were clear of the danger. When she did, every flower opened its mouth in her direction. She shivered and turned away.
Then things got out of hand. They encountered one challenge after another . . . each one more weird than the one before.
If you don’t like snakes . . . and Sylvia didn’t . . . then you are just going to hate the ones with two heads. And that’s just what was dangling from the overhanging branches of the trees that lined the path.
They dodged left and right and left and left and right trying to avoid running underneath the four-eyed things. Even so, one of them fell from the tree and landed right in front of the girls.
Without thinking, Egg took her ax and smacked it over the head. But even when she was facing such danger, she couldn’t bring herself to use the blade and hurt the demon thing. She used the wooden handle and knocked it out of the way.
“You’re too nice.”
“It’s one of my many faults.”
They thought they were in the clear when another snake popped out from behind a rock. This one had only one head . . . but it also had two arms.
“On the count of three. One, two, three.” And the girls each threw one of the large pebbles they had in their pockets. Both hit the snake in the head and it slithered off.
“Hope he has a headache tomorrow.”
“It serves him right. Besides, no respectable snake should have arms. Sheesh.”
The next nasty were blades of grass. Naturally, they weren’t ordinary blades of grass. These were more like saw blades…
They were spinning around make a high-pitched sound just like the table saw that Egg’s dad had in the garage. It was frightening.
“What do you think?” said Sylvia as they stopped to ponder a solution.
“Ummm . . . let’s use the tents and threw them over these things. Maybe if they can’t see us, they won’t spin.”
“Okay, why not.”
They took out the two tents they still had left and tossed one over the grass blades . . . and they stopped their whining sound. The girls walked gingerly onto the piece of canvas ready to jump off. But, the plan worked.
So they threw the next one down, walked on to it and picked up the first one. And before long, they were past the problem.
“What’s next?”
“I would say that,” Sylvia pointed to a weird something…
“I give up . . . what is it?”
“Betcha it’s looking for a meal . . . namely us.”
“How about one of Sassi’s sandwiches instead? I still have one in my pack.”
“Give it a try.”
So Egg threw the thing the food and sure enough, it caught it and swallowed it whole. But it was still hungry.
“It thinks that was an appetizer.”
“How about something a little harder to chew?”
“Such as?”
“My second pair of tennis shoes.”
“Just Do It,” said Egg quoting a famous TV advertisement.
Sylvia tied the two shoes together and threw them. The creature caught the shoes but when it tried to eat them . . . they got stuck.
“Oh, the poor thing” said Egg in mock sincerity.
“My mom always said to watch what you eat.”
They continued running down the path as fast as they could, but came to a screeching halt when they reached a shallow pond.
“Kinda looks like the Swamp.”
“Syl . . . this is the last one. Look.”
Sylvia looked up and sure enough, there was nothing on the other side of the pond but open land leading to the Crystal Mountain.
“Hard to believe, huh.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, let’s get past this water and we’re home free. Well, not really home.”
“No . . . but a lot closer than we were this morning.”
So they stepped into the pond and made their way across. It wasn’t deep, but the bottom was muddy so they had to go slow.
“Oh, that reminds me. I can’t believe I forgot,” said Sylvia.
“What?”
“Remember when the Tree said ‘all that was will be again’ or something like that?”
“Yeah.”
“I thing I know what he meant. Egg, I think it means that . . .,” but she didn’t finish the sentence. Instead, she yelled, “OWWWWWW.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Something bit me.” Sylvia reached back and put her hand over the rip in her poncho.
“Let me see.” Egg pulled her friend’s hand away, and there on her neck was . . .
Without hesitating, Egg picked it up and squished it into bug jam.
“I got it.”
“What was it?”
“Some yellow thing . . . I don’t know.”
“Was it the Tick?”
That sent a chill down Egg’s spine. “Probably not. Come on, we’re almost across.
They hurried their pace, reached the far bank, and sat down.
“Whew, we did it. We really did it.”
“Egg, I feel funny.”
“You’re just tired and scared. You’ll be okay.”
But Sylvia had been bitten by the dreaded Tack-Toed Tick. There was nothing that could prevent what was about to happen.
She began to fade away . . . looking more and more like the ghostly image of Dazzle with each passing second.
“Egg . . . you’re my best friend in the whole world . . . in the whole universe. Thank you for making me your Feminion.”
“Syl . . . we’re almost there. Don’t do this (as if the girl had a choice). Just hang on for a little longer. Please.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t.” Sylvia took off her ring and handed it to Egg. “Maybe with this you’ll remember me.”
“I’ll never forget you . . . 'cause you’re not going anywhere.”
“Bye Egg . . . I love you.”
And Sylvia Hampton . . . known to her best friend as Ham . . . faded away. In less than a few heartbeats, she had simply ceased to exist.
Egg continued to stare at the shimmering light that had once been her dearest friend until it was completely gone. Then she looked at the ring in her hand wondering where it had come from.
Turning to the very, very faint image of Dazzle, she asked, “Did you give me this ring?”
“No . . . Sylvia did.”
“Who?”
But Dazzle didn’t answer . . . she couldn’t. The suit was almost out of energy. Her image faded, as did the sound of her voice.
Egg stood up and looked around, foolishly hopin
g against hope to see one of her friends. But, of course, there was no one else.
No Dazzle.
No Bl’azzz.
No Soo’.
No Aeri’elle.
No K’ssss.
No Sassi.
There were no more Hameggattic Sisters.
Except for the Crystal Mountain towering before her, she was alone.
Book 12
All That Was
Book 12
Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood
© Copyright, 2016, by Robert Iannone
All Rights Reserved.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – The Crystal Mountain
Chapter 2 – Fl’eyes and Other Pests
Chapter 3 – Tree-Mendous Gift
Chapter 4 – Grammy the Great
Chapter 5 – Seven Silly Sisters
Chapter 6 – Dream Till You Scream
Chapter 7 – Mo Gotta Go
Chapter 8 – A Passing Storm
Chapter 9 – Leaping Lizards
Chapter 10 – Lucky to Be Lucky
Chapter 11 – Return of the Warrior Princess
Chapter 12 – The Home Coming
Chapter 13 – Eloise
Epilogue
Chapter 1 – The Crystal Mountain
She slipped the ring on her finger and admired it for a moment. To her surprise, she realized it was the one she had made at camp. But try as she might, she couldn’t remember taking it on the Quest. Oh well, it wasn’t important.
What was important was to get to the Crystal Mountain and recover the glass coffin that contained Dazzle’s body. But how the heck was she going to do that by herself?
“Dazzle?”
She waited . . . but there was no reply.
“Dazzle, can you hear me?”
But the Warrior Princess couldn’t answer. She had warned Egg that the flying suit was almost out of power. She had used most of its energy to save her sister who had been trapped in the Never ’Glade. And without power, Dazzle was unable to communicate with her young friend.
Egg began to worry . . . really worry. After all she and her five sisters had been through, it would be just terrible if it came to nothing. This was the place they had worked so hard to reach. She couldn’t let them down. Not now.
“What would Grammy do?” she asked herself.
“Hey,” she said out loud (sometimes it’s good to hear the sound of a person’s voice . . . even if it is your own.) “Now that I’m out of the Never ’Glade, maybe I can fly and use my other powers.” When she and the Sisterhood had entered the seven lands leading to the Crystal Mountain, Egg had lost the use of the suit, the ring and the bracelet. For whatever reason, her necklace still worked which allowed her to speak to the others and to understand what they were saying.
The thought that she might be able to fly again brought a smile to her face. How she missed being Flying Girl. So she leapt skyward . . . and began to fly.
“Oh my gosh,” she yelled in excitement and pure joy.
But that was immediately followed by, “OWWWW.”
She quickly landed and held her head, which felt as if it had been bonked with an oversized mallet. A second or two later, the pain went away just as quickly as it had come. “What the heck was that?”
She shook her head gently to see what would happen. When nothing did, she shook it harder. Still nothing. “Maybe I’m just tired.” So she leapt again . . . but this time the pain almost made her fall down.
“Well, fiddlesticks,” she said in disgust.
She didn’t know what was causing the pain so decided it was best just to walk . . . at least for now. She thought she should get as close to the Crystal Mountain as she could before it got dark. The sun was already beginning to set and as it settled behind the tall structure, the sight was simply dazzling.
An hour later, she made camp on the edge of the lake that surrounded the Mountain. Not knowing what dangers lay in store for her, she set up her tent between some boulders. They were large enough to hide her from any prying eyes.
She made herself some dinner from leftover odds and ends in her backpack. There was almost nothing left . . . she would need to find more food pretty soon. But that was a tomorrow problem. Right now she was exhausted and in need of sleep. She was also hoping for a good dream . . . one that would tell her what to do next.
As she usually did, Egg fell asleep quickly . . . and she got her wish.
She got not one, but three dreams (though the first one wasn’t really a dream . . . it only seemed that way).
“Egg”.
“Hmmm?”
“Egg”.
“Yeah?”
“It is I.”
“Dazzle?”
“Yes,” said a whispered voice in her mind.
“Oh my gosh. I thought I had lost you. Are you okay?”
“Listen carefully. You must not use your Flying Girl powers. The energy in the suit is too low. You could injure yourself. Do you understand?”
“Oh . . . so it was you who was giving me those headaches.”
“Yes. And you must find Storm. Only he can recharge the suit.”
“Okay.”
“I must go. There is so little power left . . . I may not be able to speak to you again. Good luck, my sister.” And the tiny voice was gone.
The second dream was a replay of one she had already. In it, she was sitting on the back of a dragon and they were flying over the Crystal Mountain.
But there was something else. Her sleeping mind concentrated on the image trying to remember what it was. Oh yeah . . . there was a boy with her.
That was weird.
Then there was a snippet of conversation. The voice was Dazzle’s . . . “And Egg, promise me that you will not flirt with my Z’kkk. You have your own man.”
The third dream she had was really and truly strange . . .
There were two giant snowmen . . .
. . . and they were made from yellow snow (yuk)
. . . and she and Zeke were throwing snowballs at the one on the left.
And then they lassoed the one on the right. It was one really, really weird dream . . . even for Egg.
*****
She woke up early — just as the sun was rising over the mountains. It was a beautiful day, and for a brief moment, she forgot where she was . . . and smiled.
Then she saw the Crystal Mountain and reality came crashing back. “Oh my gosh.” That kind of said it all. She was where she wanted to be but . . .
. . . with no one to help her now that all five of her sisters were gone
. . . and with no plan
. . . and with her food running out.
She made herself breakfast as best she could — all the while thinking about her problem. Then her dreams came back to her and in a flash of understanding, she knew what she had to do.
The first thing she did was to pack her gear and make her way across the water surrounding the Mountain. For once, her luck held and she found a shallow place to cross.
She walked around the huge structure hoping to find an entrance. And again . . . luck was with her when she saw a small opening about three feet square. She found a tree branch and stuck it in the ground to mark the spot.
So far, so good.
Then she superstitiously crossed her fingers and touched her communicator crystal that Sassi had affixed to a piece of jewelry shaped like a fried egg . . .
It hadn’t work inside the seven lands . . . but hopefully now that she was past the last one, it would work just like her flying suit had.
“Bl’azzz, can you hear me?”
She waited for a reply . . . then tried again.
“Hey, Bl’azzz, can you hear me? It’s Egg.”
The seconds ticked by and her heart began to beat faster. If this didn’t work, she’d be in trouble.
“Egg? Egg, is that you?”
“Oh, Bl’azzz. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.” The girl was so excited to hear her sister’s v
oice that she couldn’t think straight. “Oh my gosh.”
“Same to you,” replied the sarcastic dragon with real affection. “Where are you? Are you okay? How’s everybody?”
“Bl’azzz . . . they’re gone.”
“Who’s gone?”
“All of them. I’m alone.”
The communicator went silent for a full minute. “What happened?”
“Oh, Bl’azzz, it was horrible. Aeri’elle tried to save me and that monster AyBee squeezed her and . . . well, you know. She lost her courage and flew home. Then K’ssss was bitten by a D’ing Bat and Sassi was lost in the Maze of Forever.” Retelling the stories made Egg start to cry all over again.
At the mention of each name, Bl’azzz let out a little ‘oh’.
When Egg finished with her sad tale, the dragon asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s the Princess taking it?”
“She’s gone, too.”
“WHAT?”
Egg explained about the suit’s power.
“So she’s okay otherwise. Right?”
“Sure. She says that as long as the suit is okay, she’ll be okay.”
“Well, I guess that’s something.”
There was silence again until Bl’azzz asked, “So, it was all for nothing, wasn’t it?” There was such sadness in her voice.
“What do you mean? That’s absolutely not true. I’m standing here right in front of the Crystal Mountain.”
“You are?” asked an amazed dragon. “You really did it?”
“NO,” said Egg emphatically. “We did it. All of us.”
“Thanks for saying that.”
“But I need your help.”
“What can I do?”
“First, tell me how your leg is? And how is Soo’?”
“Soo’s doing pretty well. She just swims around all day crying. But other than that, she’s fine.”
“And you?”
There was a slight hesitation and Egg knew that what her friend was about to say wouldn’t be true. “Oh, I’m doing fine. The pain’s almost gone.”
“Liar.” She said it with love.
“Maybe a little. But I can still help. What do you need?”
“I need Storm.”
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 71