Coda thought for a moment, bringing up a scary image of his parents looking for them all over Cornell Forest, yelling their names, and wondering if they were lost or dead. “Well, Mom and Dad would be panicked and worried if we didn't go home right away."
Nova bowed her head to them again. "You don't have to worry. A day in Ohm Totem is only a few moments where you're from. I won't let you miss the open portal, though. You still have many moments until it closes." With that, Nova jumped down from the large boulder, landing as softly as a cat jumping only a foot or two to the ground.
“Whoa!” said Coda. “Did you see that?”
“And she doesn't even have wings,” replied Zoey.
Nova focused her gaze onto the two children. The air around her body burst with sparkles of white light. Instantly, Coda felt his and his sister's body loosen up. They both were lifted from the boulder by the mysterious force. They descended slowly, being gently placed on the ground beside Nova.
Without a second to spare or even a moment to gather themselves, Nova dashed down the mossy path, back in the direction they came from. She called over her shoulder, "Follow me or miss the portal!"
Zoey flapped her wings, pushed off with her small legs, and flew at an incredible speed toward Nova. Coda reared back and dashed as fast as he could, quickly closing in on them. As he ran, he noticed that the green shrubs lining the path were whizzing on by as if he was running at a hundred miles per hour. Is this how fast a panther can run?
When he caught up to Nova, Zoey was just above her, flapping her wings with all of her heart. She beamed absolute joy because of her newly discovered ability and she was determined to keep up with the fast pace of Nova.
"Chev!” yelled Nova as they narrowed in on the Snow Tree.
Within seconds Chev arrived at the Snow Tree.
He grinned, "Hello everyone!"
Nova stopped her run as abruptly and as skillfully as she had started, and looked to Chev. "Will you take them back to the portal?"
"Of course I will. Now..." he said, getting down as low as he could, "jump on! We have a portal to catch!"
Chapter 8
Zoey studied the gray elephant. Her wings were still new to her and the thought of landing on something round, such as the curve of Chev's gray back, didn't appeal to her. What if she landed incorrectly and fell off? She imagined that if she did, she'd simply flap her wings and fly up and then onto his back again. She dismissed the thought, noticing that his trunk was lying perfectly still on the ground. That's the way to go, she thought.
Chev's orange forehead crystal glowed brightly and his big, blue eyes seemed to shine at her in amusement. So, instead of jumping in the air and flapping her wings, she simply walked up Chev's trunk, walked over his crystal, down between his large floppy ears, and onto his back.
Zoey turned around and faced the back of Chev's head, then sat a little way from the base of Chev's neck. She looked over at her brother. He decided to copy the same route, but did so with all the steadiness of a bear balancing on a slippery wire. One leg would fly out in one direction, keeping him from falling, and then, once that leg landed back onto Chev's trunk, another leg would flail to the other side. Coda did this all the way up, making Zoey laugh out loud.
“Ow!” said Chev. “That's my eye you're putting your paw into.”
“Oh,” replied Coda, “sorry.”
“It's okay,” responded Chev. He waited for a minute for Coda to get settled on his back. “Are we ready?”
Zoey was excited to get back to her parents. Enthusiastically, she replied, “Yep!”
Chev stood up and trotted toward the portal. One foot pounded onto the ground and then another, bouncing Zoey and Coda up and down.
Nova's voice boomed behind them, “I hope to see you again.”
The kids looked back. Coda waved a paw goodbye and Zoey waved a wing. Nova nodded solemnly.
Zoey felt bad for leaving, but why? Nova was nice and helpful for sure, but Zoey had a home in another land. This is Ohm Totem, not the Cornell Forest where she came from.
“Zoey?”
Zoey saw Coda staring at her, deep in thought.
“Yeah? What is it?”
“I don't know. The Snow Tree said we had a mission. I sort of think we should at least see what the mission is.”
Zoey was shocked. “Don't you want to be with mom and dad?”
“Yeah…but, Nova said time is different here or something like that.” Coda’s tail lashed back and forth, indicating that he was nervous. Zoey shared his nervousness. “I think,” said Coda hesitantly, “that we should stay.”
“Stay here?” asked Chev as he itched the top of his head with the tip of his trunk. “Okay,” he responded, and stopped smartly. He turned around and walked back in the direction of the Snow Tree. Nova was still there.
Nova's eyes widened, as if surprised by their unexpected reappearance. She looked curiously toward the children.
“No, turn around. I want to go home,” ordered Zoey. A picture of her parents scolding her for being out too late had flashed into her mind. “Please, please, please take us to the portal, or whatever it's called.”
She didn't want to be in trouble. She was tired of being in trouble. She was always in trouble for the way she talked, in trouble for never eating breakfast, in trouble for sleeping in her clothes, and now she might be in trouble if she didn't come home in time for dinner.
“Will do,” Chev said agreeably, turning and pointing his trunk at the line of dense trees straight ahead. “We're off again!” he announced.
The sun, dazzling lower in the west, sprayed the trees ahead with its light, welcoming those entering the vast forest. Zoey bounced up and down again from Chev's fast strides, staring at the terrain as it passed by. A breeze whispered in Zoey's ear saying, “Close your eyes.”
Zoey startled. “Huh?”
“Are you alright back there?” Chev called back to Zoey.
“Did you hear that?” asked Zoey, as she sat back down on Chev's thick elephant hide.
“Nope, didn't hear a thing,” replied Chev.
Zoey turned to Coda. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“I heard, 'close your eyes'.”
Coda shook his head. Then his panther face grinned broadly. “Let's just stay the night here. Just one night.” He looked excited, as if staying the night would be a fun adventure.
“Stay the night?” repeated Chev. “Okay.” He was only a few feet from entering the large forest, but he turned around and headed back toward Nova and the Snow Tree.
“Coda! We'll miss the portal if we stay the night!”
Coda laughed, doing his best to get under his sister's skin. “Who cares?” he said with delight.
Zoey could tell that he really wanted to stay in Ohm Totem for a while. She looked back at the fleeting tree line blanketed by low-lying shrubs and ferns. She saw that the mossy path led straight to the shrubs and through them, parting the trees slightly as it continued.
If I just flew off of this elephant's back and followed the path, then I could make it to the portal by myself and I wouldn't get in trouble.
Doing just that, she leaped off Chev's back, flapping her wings against the air. She was determined not to get into trouble.
She'd already been in the forest for several moments by the time she realized that she was flying. Pine needles showered her face and wings, making her drop below the lowest branches to avoid them. The ground consisted of brown soil, low-lying brush, and some scattered pine and green scaly cedar needles. She landed next to the base of a skinny maple tree and looked around. She didn't know where she was.
Uh oh! Zoey was off the path and it was nowhere in sight. Where is it?
She hopped as fast as she could to what she thought was south, hoping to run into the path. Passing next to a mushroom growing near an old fallen tree branch, she stopped abruptly, amazed at the sight before her. She was standing in the middle of thousands of mushrooms.
They were everywhere, and of all different varieties. Red ones, brown ones, polka-dotted ones, orange ones, and even purple ones.
Something made her look up, away from the mushrooms. She could feel someone or something watching her. An eerie feeling crept down her spine, all the way to her tail feathers. Then it penetrated her like a sharp knife digging deep in her belly, paralyzing and pumping her full of fear. She'd felt this before. But when?
The Komodo dragon!
Shaking her thoughts loose, she scanned the forest, seeing rows of trees that seemed to go on for miles. She turned around and took small baby steps, making sure to be quiet. She didn't want to disturb who or whatever it was that had bothered her.
“Welcome to our land, young lady,” said a low-pitched, malicious voice directly behind her.
Jumping and turning a full 180 degrees in the air by flapping her wings, she could see him staring at her. It was the Komodo dragon. His angry red eyes penetrated her soul, making her recoil. She looked away.
A red-hot burning sensation suddenly surrounded her.
“What do you think of this place?” he asked.
Zoey pushed against her fear. “It's kind of weird here,” she replied uncertainly. The burning sensation deepened. Her stomach felt like someone was scraping it with a fork. A moment later the sensation passed. Was the sensation from the Komodo dragon?
The Komodo dragon hissed, showing sharp teeth and a forked tongue behind his green, scaly mouth. “Don't you like this land?” His tongue slid out of his mouth like a snake, splattering saliva onto the ground.
Zoey shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her feet. “I don't know,” she mumbled, “I just got here.”
“I see,” he retorted.
Regardless of the heat surrounding her, Zoey abruptly felt ice grip her spine, making her head snap up to stare directly at the Komodo dragon, as if he had willed her to do so. Between his eyes was a lifeless, black crystal.
The creature glared at her, completely still amongst the mushrooms that surrounded him. His head slowly lowered, revealing his crystal more clearly, showing his small, unflinching black pupils as well.
“I've asked you this before, young lady. What's your name?”
Zoey was stunned. She remembered the part in her dream where he did ask for her name, but that was just a dream. Wasn't it? No! It had to be real! Her beak, however, would not move to form her name. She knew she shouldn't tell him, but didn't know why. Again, the breeze blew across her body, whispering, “Close your eyes.”
“Don't!” yelled the Komodo dragon with a ferocity she hadn’t felt before. She winced as the circle of heat around her body rose in temperature. Abruptly, his tone became soft as a pillow, simultaneously lowering the temperature around her. “If you know what's good for you, then don't close your eyes.”
His angry expression sharply changed to a soothing calmness that made Zoey feel somewhat at peace.
“I'm sorry I frightened you,” he continued, still speaking more gently. “I only want to help you along your way. Sometimes I get a little pushy. Old age, I guess.” A crooked smile showed his many sharp teeth.
“It's okay,” replied Zoey, shifting her eyes to the ground. She felt composed now, suddenly and strangely, but she also had a nagging feeling there was something wrong about her feeling okay.
“The lies are endless in the Sihu Tribe. Be cautious and aware of that. That's why I must point you in the right direction, away from Sihu's evil.”
He pointed due north with his front right leg, portraying green, scaly reptile skin wrapped tightly around strong muscles.
“Isn't that where the Fog thing is?” asked Zoey.
“Yes,” the dragon said, looking away in sorrow. “The Sihu Tribe punishes us for not following their rules. They banish us to live behind the fog forever, making us live in misery and turmoil.”
Zoey shook her head. “Everyone here seems nice, though. They wouldn't do that.”
The heat around her picked up. For a moment, she thought her feathers might catch on fire. She drew back. Her insides felt like they were being clawed, scraped, and eaten with sharp teeth. Then again, a moment later everything ceased and she felt better. How strange, thought Zoey. A second ago I hated this Komodo dragon for creating the pain in my stomach, and in the next moment I feel grateful to him for taking it away.
“You have a lot to learn,” said the Komodo dragon. “Trust me. I wouldn't have risked my life to come here if what I told you wasn't true.” He glanced to his left and right, to be sure no one else was around. Then he whispered, “The Great Spirit sent me to tell you a secret shared only amongst the most courageous and wise. It's something you, and only you, can fulfill. It's your only way back home. And,” he said with a loud hiss, “it'sss part of your missssion.”
Zoey’s eyes opened wide in astonishment. “How did you know I had a mission?” She was becoming suspicious. The only ones who knew about her mission were Nova and the Snow Tree. Was the Komodo dragon spying on her, or reading her mind? I've got to get home. This is creepy.
The Komodo dragon's eyes narrowed and a pleased smile peeled back his skinny, reptile lips, “Isn't that what they told you?”
Zoey nodded.
“Then,” he asserted, “you can't go the way you came. The portal to your home can only be opened once you fulfill your mission. Once you fulfill the Windstorm Prophecy.”
Zoey was baffled by this new information. “The Windstorm Prophecy?”
“Yes, yes, yes. The Windstorm Prophecy.” He recited: “The prophecy says, 'Two children from a forgotten land, lost to the Island of Ohm Totem, one being of the night walkers and the other being of the sacred heart, will purify the energies, bring to us the old ways, and deliver us from the evil clutches of the Sihu Tribe, continuing the everlasting Shiver.'”
“Gibberish and untruths,” scolded a familiar voice behind Zoey. She turned, relieved to see Nova standing just a few yards away. Nova closed her eyes and the heat around Zoey's body vanished. How did Nova take the heat away?
Nova opened her eyes. “You've changed the prophecy, Crepus Dim.”
“I speak...” Crepus Dim paused, looking at Zoey and bowing his head to her, “I speak only the truth, my friend.”
The sound of a small twig breaking behind Zoey startled her. There was Coda, walking toward her. His panther body was shiny black like the night. He stepped smoothly, easing over fallen branches, slinking through the bushes without disturbing a leaf. He did look like a night walker, just as Crepus mentioned in the prophecy—if it was real.
Nova took a step closer. Her eyes were glued to Crepus. “This is a prophecy that came to the Sihu tribe and evil isn't a term we use here. It doesn't serve us.”
Crepus hissed, “Evil serves you quite well, Nova.”
“It doesn't.” Nova sat on her hind legs, curling her tail around her front paws. “And I was the one who interpreted the Windstorm Prophecy shortly after you created the Fog.”
She looked up at the canopy of trees. “It says, 'Two children from a forgotten land, ancestors of the Island of Ohm Totem, one being of the night walkers and the other of the sacred heart, will purify the energies, bring back the old ways, and unite the PureLights once again, putting an end to the coming Shiver'.” She eyed Crepus. “The Shiver is almost amongst us, Crepus. The prophecy is accurate and the Shiver won't last.”
“I wouldn't be too sure of that,” Crepus snorted.
Nova lifted her head and raised herself to her full height. In a calm voice she appealed, “Find your heart, Crepus.”
Zoey felt anger consume Crepus again and fear stung her heart. She didn't move. She couldn't move. She looked at Nova slowly advancing on Crepus. Nova mouthed again, “Find the heart within.” Her eyes were like stone, unmoving from Crepus, and her violet crystals glowed brightly.
Crepus stomped and a smoky gas crept out of the soil and started to surround his body.
He cackled, glaring at Zoey, who backed away, bumping right into
her brother.
With a curl of his mouth, Crepus whistled. It sounded like a high-pitched flute, but ten times as loud.
Zoey and Coda fell to the ground, paws and wings pressed over their ears trying to block the horrid, deafening noise. The soft grass and ground cover shook, and then as quickly as it came, the whistling stopped, leaving only a ringing in Zoey's ears.
Zoey stood up. Needles and soil sprinkled from her feathers. She stared at where Crepus was only moments before, but he was nowhere to be seen. He had disappeared. Charred grass and singed mushrooms only remained. Nova sedately faced the now scorched earth next to her paws. “It's fine now. He won't be coming back.”
A screech filled the air, not as loud as Crepus's strange whistle sound, but nearly so. Nova's eyes widened and she looked skyward, past the thick tree cover. Nova yelled, “Get them to the portal!” and sprang off toward the meadow.
Zoey looked at Coda. He was alarmed. That was the same screech that woke him yesterday morning. He wanted to say something, but was cut off by Chev's large gray elephant trunk grasping his body and lifting him onto his back. “Hey, you two!” said Chev, “to the portal we go.”
Zoey jumped up and spread her wings, flapping them hard and fast to get onto Chev's back as quickly as she could. Something was going dreadfully wrong here and she wanted to get out, and get out now.
“What's going on?” she asked Chev, landing on his back.
Coda interjected before Chev could respond. “Look up!”
Zoey looked up and saw a shadow cast across the sky. At first it looked like a cloud, but then she realized that clouds didn’t move like that. Thousands of birds covered the sky like a heavy blanket. They flew chaotically from the north, perhaps from where Crepus lived. Chev broke into a run. The scenery of cedars and pines quickly became darker and darker, until everything became covered in pale dusk.
“Whoa!” yelled Coda, pointing with his tail. “Look at that!”
The PureLights of Ohm Totem Page 8
