Jerry lay flat on his stomach. “Tahmi, give me your hand.”
“Take Teri,” she cried, straining under the weight of her sister. “Take her.”
Jerry cupped his foot into a crevice and leaned further over the side of the slope. He struggled to reach the princess. “You need to help me out a little bit,” he said. Rock pierced his stomach.
“It’s too painful,” Teri said, struggling to reach the boy. “Jerry, help me.”
“Why can’t you just fly?” Tahmi asked. She squeezed her fingers around the rock until they bled. “I can’t hold on much longer. My arm’s falling asleep and my fingers are raw.”
“I can’t normally fly.” Teri sobbed, reaching for Jerry’s hand. They were inches apart. “Grab me!”
“FLY!”
“I CAN’T!”
“Yes, you can! I saw you!”
Tears streamed down Tahmi’s face. She could feel her fingers slipping. “Where’s Sandy?”
Jerry glanced behind them.
Sandy struggled, deep in mud. Her back satchel was wrapped around a rotted tree, trapping her in the deep mud puddle. She thrashed about, trying to free herself. The more she struggled the deeper she sank and the tighter the satchel became.
“Jerry!” Tahmi screamed.
He bent over, grabbing her wrist. Her fingers were swollen and bloody. His heart pounded and he couldn’t breathe.
Tears streamed down her face. Jerry glanced over her shoulder. A sick feeling settled in his stomach.
“Help her, Jerry.” Tahmi sobbed.
He strained his neck. Teri’s arms were wrapped around Tahmi’s waist. “Crawl up,” Jerry shouted. “If I let go of Tahmi, you’ll both fall.”
Teri swallowed, glancing down at the long drop below. She couldn’t allow the future queen of her world, her beloved world, to die. There’d be no more hope. “Tahmi.”
“Teri?”
“Remember who you are.” Teri took a deep breath. “And remember me.”
Teri’s fingers loosened their grip.
“No!” Tahmi screamed, “No, don’t do it! Teri, no!”
Jerry’s eyes watered, his one arm straining to reach the raven princess. “Teri, please!”
“TERI!”
Tahmi felt the rumbling in her stomach again. Blood and mucus leaked from her mouth. Another translucent thing came from within her. It cracked in the center and something dark wiggled about inside. What was in it?
It rolled down the slope and disappeared into the emptiness below.
“Please,” Teri cried hard now. “Tell my mom that even though she is annoying I do love her, okay?”
“Stop it.” Tahmi’s eyes burned. “Hold on. We’ll make it together.”
“Tahmi, save our people, they need you—not me.”
“Yes, they do need you! I need you!”
“I’m sorry.” Teri’s fingers spread.
“NOOO!”
The raven princess dropped, faster than ever before. Her gut climbed into her stomach and then her throat. She could see the ground now. Barren trees and sharps rocks awaited her.
She closed her eyes. “Goodbye, Tahmi.”
LOSS
“I dropped her.”
Jerry blinked. Tears still came. He was supposed to be a man—not a blubbering baby crying over a snotty princess that spent most of her days belittling him. He should be happy. Instead, he was angry.
Teri.
She was gone.
Tahmi struggled, holding Jerry as tight as she could. “I killed my sister.”
Jerry tugged, dragging her up onto the rock. He said nothing—just held her close letting his beating heart answer the young princess.
“Jerry.” Tahmi wept, wiping the blood that seeped from her mouth onto her shirt. “What have I done?”
“We need to pull ourselves together,” Jerry whispered, taking deep breaths. “We have to—”
“Help Sandy, now,” Tahmi answered, glancing over his shoulder. The Arabian horse was now barely visible in the deep mud.
SHADOWS
Sandy thrashed about, mud flying. Her satchel tightened more and more. Stop it. Calm down. She couldn’t.
The mud around her darkened; bubbles permeated the surface. Shadows inched closer.
Something was in the mud.
A big something...
And it was coming towards her.
A long, arched shape surfaced. It quickly disappeared creating waves of mud.
Sandy jerked further away as mud splashed into her hind legs.
The shadows under the mud crept closer.
“Sandy!” Jerry shouted. He leaned over the dead tree with a switchblade. “Stop moving.”
Her eyes grew larger and larger. “Hurry,” she whinnied, lowering her head. The shadows moved faster.
Closer…
Jerry struggled, rubbing the dull blade of his knife on the leather satchel strap. Droplets of sweat dripped down his temple. His heart pumped. “This is a nightmare.”
“There’s something in the water!” Tahmi shouted. She picked up a small rock and tossed it.
She threw another and another.
The mud splashed about, a long snakelike animal sliced through the mud, racing towards Tahmi.
Sandy neighed.
The creature stopped.
She whinnied, kicking mud with her hooves.
“What are you doing?” Jerry asked. “I can’t get you free if you move.”
“Tahmi is who you should protect.”
“Stop moving.”
“Run, Tahmi!” Sandy sunk even further into the guck. Only her head and neck was visible now. Jerry’s skin itched and he felt his heart beat throughout his skin. It was in his hands, his knees and even his neck.
Tahmi bent over and grabbed more small rocks. She threw one as hard as she could, hitting the monster. Waves of mud rippled the surface. A shrill scream came from underneath.
“Stop it!” Sandy ordered, gagging on mud. Her body was submersed. Jerry moved his hand back and forth, rubbing the blade along the strap as fast as he could. His muscles burned and he’d barely made a dent in it.
The creature turned about, ignoring the rocks. There was something more important to him—only a few yards away—deep in his pool. His shadow disappeared and the surface rippled in all directions.
Tahmi ran. She jumped over rocks, cutting her feet on splintered wood. She stumbled but continued on. She wasn’t going to be responsible for two deaths. “Hold on, Sandy, I’m coming.”
Jerry switched hands, pressing the blade as firmly as he could onto the leather. There wasn’t any more movement on the surface and Sandy wasn’t struggling any longer. Was he too late?
“Get out of my way!” Tahmi commanded, jumping through the air. She grabbed a hold of the leather strap and swung from it, kicking her feet. Jerry dropped his switchblade and wrapped his hands around the partially shredded leather. His body hung from the strap along with Tahmi’s. Their bodies swayed. “Jerk around more,” Tahmi said, jumping into the mud.
She disappeared.
Jerry wriggled about violently. What had just happened? Where had she gone?”
Tahmi felt around on Sandy’s side. She wasn’t breathing. The creature’s metallic skin rubbed Tahmi’s back. She felt around, searching for the buckle or release on the satchel’s strap.
The branch above snapped, sending Jerry and the satchel into the muddy pool. He landed on Sandy’s back and patted her. “Let’s go, wake up.”
Sandy’s wings were caked with mud. She wasn’t breathing or moving. Where was Tahmi? Where was the creature? Had it killed Tahmi? Sandy? Was it coming for him next? Jerry’s eyes surveyed the still surface. What was he supposed to do?
Sandy’s body jerked sideways. Bubbles popped, spluttering mud onto his face. Tahmi appeared with the leather strap over her shoulder. She gagged, choking, struggling for air. “Help me, I’m not Teri,” she cried, losing steam.
Jerry jumped down, tugging on the sat
chel, pulling as hard as he could. The snakelike creature poked his head out. He rose five feet above them. His beady eyes narrowed on Jerry. His mouth opened wide exposing thousands of sharp teeth. They looked like spikes, running all the way down his throat and into his stomach.
“Why is it after me?” Jerry scrambled, pulling Sandy farther through the mud. Tahmi struggled unable to move the gigantic horse. Why couldn’t she be more like her sisters? They were strong and held special powers and if they were here right now then Sandy wouldn’t be submersed in thick mud and Jerry wouldn’t be about to get eaten by a living shredder machine.
The shredder arched its back, aiming his mouth at Jerry.
The boy slipped, falling in the mud.
Tahmi screamed, closing her eyes.
TRAPPED
Diane soared through the air. When she and Teri were more than thirty feet apart, they could no longer fly. She couldn’t stop herself from falling and it was infuriating. Was she going to drop to her death?
“Help me!” Diane screamed, smacking into a tree. Her fingers gripped its bark. She shook her head, letting black hair fall all around her. Tears brimmed in her eyes. “My dress! It’s ripped!”
Clanking noises echoed in her ears.
Diane looked up. A noise she’d never heard buzzed in her ears like static. What were those things?
She blinked, letting go of the tree. Diane fell backwards, landing in a prickly bush. “What’s going on?” She winced with pain, struggling to remove herself from the thorns. They pierced her skin and wrapped around her limbs like chains. “Let go!”
Diane jerked herself away, tripping over a stone. She waved her arms in the air.
She swallowed.
Her heart beat furiously.
Was she going to die?
Diane glanced down.
She teetered on the edge of a tor hundreds of feet above ground. Gigantic creatures with glowing green eyes clung to the edge of the rock mass, climbing higher and higher towards her. What were they?
The static in her ears grew louder. She turned and gasped.
More creatures with wings buzzed, flapping faster than humanly possible towards her.
Diane ducked as one dived towards her. She stumbled backwards, falling down the side of the knoll. Her body rubbed against pointed rocks, cutting her flesh. “My life was so simple before those two nuisances showed up!” She clung to the rocks, muscles trembling.
Below, hundreds of “black ones” clanked their feet as they climbed higher and higher. Wasps hovered above pointing their bottoms at the princess. They threatened, swarming her. She tucked her head inside a crevice in the stones. Tears poured down her cheeks. Why had she ever left the castle? Hadn’t Father told her to stay out of sight? Father had said that the world outside the Muddy Palace was dangerous and filled with heartless ones. Everyone and everything was ugly, too! How could all those creatures live with themselves? Maybe they did not possess mirrors. She’d never own one if she were that atrocious looking. She could now see why Princess Teri looked so homely. This disgusting place forced dirt upon you. It ripped your clothes and brought you face to face with death and monsters; evil monsters.
The black creatures were only a few feet from her now.
Something long and brittle brushed against her leg. She jumped, letting her fingers slip. Diane slid farther down, crashing into several bugs. Some fell below like discarded clothes in the wind.
“Get away from me!” Diane screamed. She jumped sideways, flying through the air. Her body crashed into a small ledge. She held on, buckled against the rocks with her feet dangling.
The wasps buzzed, pelting her in the bottom with their armored heads. She cried out, struggling to pull herself up out of danger. Black bugs leaped, attaching themselves to the same gorge.
Diane looked up into angry green eyes.
“Go away, you disgusting creature!”
Finally, a furious wasp aimed his pointer at Diane’s neck.
THE SHREDDER
Tahmi screamed. The shredder, with its many rows of sharp teeth, arched its back and made a noise much like the war pigs. His mouth oozed and his beady eyes stuck to Jerry. If Jerry moved to the left, the shredder swayed to the left, too.
“Sandy.” Jerry punched the Arabian horse in her side. “Wake up, now, please.” He tugged on her shredded leather satchel.
“Over here you big bully.” Tahmi splashed mud, kicking her feet.
The shredder’s face, now inches from Jerry’s, turned.
Tahmi froze.
A noise gurgled from inside the creature’s throat. “Fix Gadaie.”
“You can talk?” Tahmi shook her head.
“Fix Gadaie.”
“Let my friends go.”
“You run away.”
“I didn’t run away.”
“Free friends. Tahmi run. Gadaie die.”
“Why does everyone think that I have any power to save them?”
“Fix Gadaie.”
With those last words, the shredder opened its mouth wide and swallowed Jerry whole.
Tahmi stood in the muddy pool. The water around her and Sandy lay still.
The shredder was gone.
And so was Jerry.
INVISIBLE
Tahmi stood over Sandy. Her fists pounded the Arabian horse. “Wake up!” Mud splashed around them. “Please, Sandy, not you, too.”
Tears poured down her cheeks. Teri and Jerry flashed before her each time she closed her eyes. She thought of Sandy—possibly dead—never knowing that Trusty was her husband. What a way to die. What if someone loved her as much as Trusty? Wouldn’t she want to know? “You can’t die.” Tahmi buried her face in the horse’s fur. “Please, wake up.”
Bubbles exploded on the muddy surface.
“Tahmi!” Alina, the first star she’d ever met, flew above her. Alina’s leathery wings flapped, showing traces of pinks and greens. “What’s happened?”
“Everyone’s dead!” Tahmi cried, beating Sandy again. “Sandy too.”
“Princess Teri?” Alina gasped.
“Teri, Jerry and now Sandy.” Tahmi couldn’t stand. She tried but, her knees trembled, forcing her down on her bottom. She sunk halfway in the mud. “And, it’s all my fault, too.”
“Sandy is breathing—look!” Alina’s wings glowed, brightening the pool of guck. “The ‘black ones’ will help us.”
Tahmi watched several gigantic rollie pollies appear underneath the bubbling mud. They surrounded Sandy, acting as a living raft. “Sandy!” They surfaced and shook off the guck, climbing out onto the bank.
“They’ll carry your friend,” Alina said. “Talk to them Tahmi. Don’t you remember their language?”
“I don’t speak bug!” Tahmi shouted. She tugged on her hair, digging her fingernails into her arm. “I want to go home. I hate this place. Everyone is dead cause of me. Before I got here everything was fine. Why’d they bring me back? Now, that evil Mary person is trying to break free, people are dying again and you want me to speak bug.”
“I only,” Alina sighed. “Never mind, sorry for upsetting you. What happened to the others?”
“Teri fell to her death and Jerry was eaten by this long shredder creature.”
“What did this shredder look like?”
“I don’t know, scary?” Tahmi crawled out of the guck, lying flat on her back. “The monster was long like a snake but at least thirty feet and when he opened his mouth all I saw was rows and rows of sharp teeth.”
“That was a muddler. He’s taking Jerry to his lair,” Alina told her. “We must hurry.”
“Jerry’s dead,” Tahmi said. “Those teeth—encompassed him.”
“His teeth retract. Muddlers don’t eat meat. But they aren’t very nice. They follow the commands of the evil Quella.”
“They? Quella? Another bad guy? What is it with this place? How many of those things are there?”
“Hundreds.” Alina sat on Tahmi’s shoulder.
“Hundreds
? You’ve got to be kidding!”
“I’m not.”
“This is insane. The whole world is nuts—I’ve gone mad.”
“Tahmi, why did this muddler not kill you?”
“He said I needed to save Gadaie.”
Alina touched Tahmi’s nose with her tiny hand. “He’s holding Jerry hostage. I know where to find him. Let’s hurry.”
“What about Sandy?”
“Wake her up.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” Tahmi’s lip quivered. “Why do you always assume I can do things?”
“Because, I know you can.”
“How?”
“Don’t you remember me?”
Tahmi’s eyes rested on the star. She searched Alina’s eyes. “Sorry, I don’t remember. I was a baby when I left this world.”
“Yes, this is true.” Alina pointed at Sandy. “Try anyway.”
Tahmi knelt over the horse, placing her hands around Sandy’s neck. She hugged her tight so that her beating heart touched the Arabian’s fur. “Please wake up.”
The horse’s body jolted, jerking forward.
“I can’t breathe.” Sandy chortled. “Why do I feel like a rock has fallen on me?”
“Sandy!” Tahmi shouted. “You’re alive!”
“My head is pounding. I need to get up. Where’s Jerry?”
“We’re going after him now,” Tahmi whispered.
“He’s hurt?” Sandy struggled to stand. She rolled sideways, snorting. “I need to help my boy!”
“Calm yourself!” Tahmi shoved her down. “Rest, Alina and I will take care of it. Trust me.”
Sandy took deep breaths. The tiny princess brushed her hands along her neck. It calmed her, somehow. “If anything happens to my little boy I just don’t know if I could ever live—”
Tahmi shoved back the tears threatening to spill. What about Teri? Could the horse survive the knowledge that the child she guarded her whole life was really keeping her hostage? Would Sandy be okay if she found the truth first before learning of Teri’s fate?
“Sandy.” She hugged the horse. “I need you to do me a favor.”
“What would you like?”
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