Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel]

by Robert Iannone

  “Did you want to talk?”

  “We already talked about Sassi.” Egg and the other two had discussed the best way to save their sister from the Maze of Forever. They never actually came to a decision. Egg said she would decide when the time was right.

  “I know. But you didn’t tell me about Zeke.”

  “I didn’t?” said Egg in fake surprise. “I must have forgotten.”

  “Ha. If Bl’azzz didn’t mention it . . . you never would have.”

  “What a horrid thing to say. You’re my best-est friend in the entire universe.”

  “Oh hush . . . I not buying that little miss innocent routine.”

  “Well . . . there’s nothing to tell. Really?”

  “Come on . . . spill it. Every last detail.”

  “Syl . . . I gotta go to sleep. Sassi’s depending on me.”

  “All right . . . but only if you promise to tell me later and answer one question right now.”

  “Okay, I promise. What’s the question?”

  “After you took him back . . . did you give him a thank you kiss?”

  “SYLVIA,” screamed her friend as she blushed. “I would never . . .”

  “Eggggg.”

  “I would never . . . kiss and tell. Now go away.”

  *****

  She was back in the Maze of Forever, with Sylvia, Sassi and Dazzle. They were a few steps ahead of a hideous monster that was looking to have them for dinner . . . as the main course. Sassi had just planted some of their food in front of the wrong chute hoping the creature would go over there. The other girls went to hide close to the chute that they wanted to take.

  . . . and by the time the creature appeared, they were all safely hidden behind the boulder. As it approached, it sniffed trying to identify the scent that hung in the air. Realizing it was food, it lumbered over to the meat that Sassi had planted.

  It picked up the first piece and ate it. Enjoying the taste, it then advanced to the one that was just on the edge of the chute and bent down to get the yummy morsel.

  “I’m going to knock it down the slide,” whispered Sassi.

  “No. Do not approach it.”

  But it was too late. Sassi started to run from her hiding place straight at the creature. At the last second Egg lunged forward, grabbed the girl, and dragged her down.

  The creature turned at the sound. “MORE FOOD,” it said happily.

  “Sisters, down the other chute now,” commanded Dazzle.

  So all three ran for their lives and jumped into the swirling slide. Sylvia went first, followed by Sassi and Egg. As they slid faster and faster they came to a fork in the slide and Egg screamed go left. Sylvia did . . . but as Sassi approached the same spot, Egg reached forward and knocked her down the right path and out of sight.

  Dazzle was shocked by what she had seen. “Egg, why did you do that?”

  “Trust me . . . it’s the way home.”

  They continued their descent until they saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel and the Princess yelled, “Brace your selves.” The girls flew out of the chute and into the Never ’Glade.

  *****

  Egg woke up at first light and ran downstairs. To her surprise, she saw Sylvia and Bl’azzz . . . but no Sassi.

  “Is she here?”

  “No. We’ve been up all night. We didn’t know when she would come.”

  “Are you sure you dreamed of her?”

  “Of course I am.”

  “What exactly did you dream?” asked her Feminion.

  “That we all went down the chute together. But then I dreamt there was a fork in it and we took the one on the left. But I knocked Sassi down the one on the right . . . and it’s supposed to take her here.”

  “How long do you think we should wait till you try another dream?”

  “Are you sure you can?” asked Bl’azzz.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t know where she is now . . . if she’s still in the Maze. Who knows where you might have sent her.”

  Egg turned white at the thought that she might have messed up big time. Not only for Sassi’s sake, but also for the others. They couldn’t come back until Sassi did.

  They looked at each other not knowing what to do next. But the silence was broken by Sylvia. “What the heck is that?” She pointed to a shimmering spot about ten feet off the ground.

  “Do you think it’s Mobius?” asked Bl’azzz in panic.

  They didn’t have an answer . . . so they just stood there and stared. The spot got brighter and bigger. Then, when it was about the size of a door, a light burst through followed by an “OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”

  It was Sassi . . . and she went flying through the air and luckily landed in the pool with a gigantic splash. She sunk to the bottom but kicked off and came to the surface sputtering and spitting water.

  She cleared her eyes and looked around. It took her a moment to realize where she was and to identify the three smiling faces staring at her.

  “Do you always make such a splash when you enter a room?” teased Bl’azzz.

  “Look at your hair . . . it’s such a mess” said Sylvia in mock seriousness.

  “I don’t know,” disagreed Egg, “I think she looks pretty darn good.”

  *****

  Saving K’ssss was going to be more difficult. The four girls had spent the whole next day discussing the possibilities. They finally decided on a complex plan . . . hoping that the Myst Tree would go along with it. It called for the three girls to get the silly serpent out of harm’s way then use Aeri’elle to bring her home from the Crystal Forest. Since they hadn’t saved the dragon yet . . . Egg would have to have a three-part dream.

  *****

  “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 crystal that had fallen across the road and shattered into sharp shards.

  “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.

  “K’ssss . . . STOP. NOW” yelled Sassi.

  The serpent came to a screeching halt. Sassi jumped down from her back, cleared the path of crystal shards then climbed back up. “Okay . . . now go as fast as you can.”

  *****

  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 someplace to hide from it.”

  Before they could move, the D’ing Bat attacked again.

  And as it got close, K’ssss gathered all of her remaining strength to leap up.

  But she didn’t have to. Egg and Sylvia had found some pebbles and threw them with all their might at the scary bat. They whacked it so hard it flew right into a tree and fell to the ground . . . stunned into unconsciousness.

  They finished packing their stuff and were ready to get out of that place. But Egg turned to the Serpent and said, “K’ssss, I need you to do me a gigantic favor.”

  “Sure, Egg.”

  “I need you to go back the way we came and find Aeri’elle. Then I want the two of you to fly to the Sisterhood.”

  “But I don’t want to leave you . . . or the Quest. Please.” She was about to cry.

  “K’ssss, you have to trust me. If you do this . . . Soo’ and Bl’azzz will get better.”

  “Oh, really? That would be so wonderful. But what about Aeri’elle? I thought she flew home?”

 
“No . . . she’s flying here.”

  “H’sssss. I don’t understand. Sorry.”

  “I promise I’ll explain everything later. But I really, really need you to do this for me . . . and for them. Please.”

  “Okay. You can count on me . . . even if I don’t really know what you’re talking about.”

  *****

  “EGG,” screamed Aeri’elle. But the warning came too late . . . the arms were about to grab the girl. The dragon did the only thing she could think of . . . she ran and flung herself into AyBee and began to scratch at his eyes with her very sharp talons.

  The creature screamed in pain and without thinking, all eight of its tentacles began to encircle his attacker. But the other girls were ready. They leaped forward and snatched their dragon sister away from the monster just before he squeezed all courage from her.

  Back on the boat, Egg pulled Aeri’elle aside. “Thanks for saving me back there.”

  “You would have done the same for me. Actually you did. You guys were fast. He almost squeezed me.”

  “We were just lucky. Anyway, I need you to do something for me.”

  “Anything . . . you know that.”

  “I need you stay here for a couple of hours. Up ahead there’s a hole in the sea that we’re going to fall into. It’s the way to the Crystal Forest. I want you to follow us and you’ll see a path. Walk down it until you find K’ssss . . . then fly her to the sisterhood.

  “What are you talking about? How do you know this stuff?”

  “I’ll explain everything when you get back.”

  “But I want to stay here . . . on the Quest.”

  “Aeri’elle . . . when you get back to the sisterhood, I’ll be waiting.”

  “What?”

  “Trust me . . . please.”

  The proud dragon thought long and hard. “Okay, Egg. I do trust you.”

  “Thank you. You won’t believe it . . . but you’re going to help save Soo’ and Bl’azzz by doing this. Oh, and K’ssss too.”

  “Really? Well . . . I guess it’s worth it then. What about the Quest?”

  “You’ll be there when we face Mobius . . . I promise.” She gave her sister a hug and watched as she flew skyward.

  *****

  They flew in from the high entrance made just for dragons. “Well . . . you said you would be here waiting for us. I can’t believe it.”

  “H’sssss.”

  “Why are you laughing, you slinking slippery snake?”

  “Because we’re all here. Isn’t it nice?”

  “Very, very nice K’ssss. Very, very nice.”

  *****

  To save Bl’azzz from the spider and Soo’ from the Swamp, Egg just dreamt that she had told Aeri’elle not to look for firewood. They would eat a cold lunch.

  The next morning, Soo’ was her old self, while Bl’azzz was back to being sad. But at least her leg was all better.

  That following night Egg dreamt that Bl’azzz had reached her Booyah in time and started to play a happy song. Then all the P’xxxies flew off leaving the F’yre Dragon untouched.

  In the morning, Egg was the last to join the other six girls. It was their laughter and giggling that had awakened her.

  “What’s going on?” she yelled from the top of the stairs.

  “We’re having a party for you,” said Sylvia.

  “Aren’t you supposed to wait for the guest of honor?”

  “We didn’t want to wake you . . .”

  “Sylvia said you were probably still dreaming . . .”

  “About Zeke.”

  “H’sssss.”

  Chapter 6 – Dream Till You Scream

  Somewhere in the floating city of Q’umulus . . .

  “They have taken the Princess’ body. I want it back and I want those seven children in chains. Now! Do you understand?” demanded Mobius.

  “Yes, my King,” answered the Green F’aeri.

  “As you command,” replied K’aos.

  “And get that worthless B’ludd to help you.” Mobius was fuming mad . . . and perhaps a little worried. How could seven young girls get through to the Crystal Mountain and recover the Princess’ glass coffin. It just wasn’t possible. Yet . . . they had done it.

  *****

  They giggled all morning. And they ooh-ed and ah-ed as each sister recounted bits and pieces of their journey through the seven lands. Even though Egg had dreamt different endings . . . they still remembered what had really happened. But what had seemed incredibly sad . . . now seemed extremely funny.

  “So Sassi runs out to push the monster down the chute but he moves out of the way . . . and she goes sailing through the air like Flying Girl.”

  “And I’ll never forget her last words as she disappeared . . .,” added Sylvia.

  “Ohhhhhhhhh,” said the two girls in perfect harmony.

  “H’sssss. H’sssss.”

  “What about Bl’azzz after she got bit by the P’xxxies . . .,” began Soo’. And everyone answered at the same time, “So sad, it’s so sad.”

  “The best was when Egg got scratched by the serpent and tried to swim . . . on the sand,” teased Aeri’elle.

  But Sassi said, “I have to disagree. The best was when she saw you and screamed ‘Run for your lives, there’s an ugly monster chasing me.”

  “How about this silly slithering super-worm . . . she saved us from the devil dunes . . .”

  “. . . and the spike forest,” Egg reminded them.

  “. . . and the D’ing Bat,” added Sylvia.

  “I loved it when Bl’azzz got her burp back and burned that big hairy spider.”

  “Thanks to Soo’.”

  “I loved the part where Sassi gave me this,” said K’ssss as she proudly modeled her green scarf.

  “What about that nasty cat . . . what a piece of work.” Soo’ started to laugh at the memory but stopped when no one else joined in. “What?” she asked in confusion.

  “J’azzz-min turned out to be Queen Kat’Alynnia,” explained Egg.

  “NOOOOOO. No way, no how. Really?’

  “Really. Guess who AyBee was?”

  “Not the King?”

  “Yup.”

  “Oh my gosh . . . if I do say so.”

  And so it went all morning, seven silly sisters enjoying their success.

  *****

  By the time lunch was finished, they had spent all their nervous energy and were now ready to get serious again about the Quest. Dazzle’s body in the next room was an all too vivid reminder of what they were here for.

  Aeri’elle was the first to bring up the subject. “So, Egg, what do we do now?”

  “It’s pretty obvious . . . we have to wait for Egg to get her Flying Suit back so we can take the Princess to the Myst Tree,” answered Soo’.

  Sassi added, “I don’t like the idea of just sitting here for the next two weeks.”

  “I’m with you. It’ll be boring. No offense,” said the F’yre Dragon.

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know what Sassi’s talking about. Mobius is probably pretty upset with us right now for taking the body. You just gotta know he’s out looking for it . . . and for us,” added Sylvia.

  That last thought hadn’t occurred to Egg. But Sylvia and Sassi were probably right . . . the longer they sat around, the sooner Mobius would find them. But Egg didn’t say anything . . . she was lost in thought.

  “Hey, earth girl,” teased Soo’.

  “She means you,” added Sylvia as she tapped her friend on the shoulder.

  “Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking.”

  “About?” asked Bl’azzz.

  “Sassi and Syl are right. The longer we just sit here, the better chance Mobius will find us. It would be great if we had the flying suit recharged and Dazzle here to help us . . . but we don’t. So, we need a plan.”

  No one could disagree with that bit of logic. They waited for Egg to tell them what the plan was. But, of course, they should have known
what she was about to say.

  “I’ll dream about it tonight . . . I hope.”

  “So what do we do for the rest of the day?” asked Aeri’elle.

  “I know. Let’s play Marco Polo,” suggested Sylvia.

  Bl’azzz scrunched her dragon face. “What the heck is that?”

  “It’s a game. Everybody gets in the pool and one person closes her eyes. When she says Marco, everyone else has to say Polo. Then she has to tag one of them . . . but she can only follow the sound of their voice.”

  “I love you Sylvia . . . but that’s about as dumb a game as I ever heard.”

  “What do you think, K’ssss?”

  “H’sssss. It sounds funny.”

  “Count me out.”

  “Hey, Soo’ . . . do you know what Bl’azzz told me?”

  “Eggggg . . . . don’t you dare say anything.”

  “What?” asked Soo’.

  “She said that water was for fish.”

  “Really? She said that? Hmmmm.”

  “Soo’, I was just teasing. In fact, I never said it. Who are you going to believe; me or some weirdo from another planet?”

  “Let me think . . . Flying Girl or Frying Dragon?”

  “Hey, that’s what I said.”

  “K’ssss, I need your help.” So the two serpents slithered over to Bl’azzz and pushed her in the pool before she could flap her wings.

  “H’sssss.”

  The F’yre Dragon squawked to get rid of a mouth full of water. “Nice. Really nice. After I saved you from the spider. After my ancestors saved you from the bad guys. After . . .”

  But before she could continue to rant and rave, the other six girls jumped into the pool splashing Bl’azzz with as much water as they could.

  The dragon flapped her wings and splashed back.

  When the splashing and yelling finally stopped, Sylvia asked, “Who’s going to be it first?”

  “Oh my gosh . . .,” teased Bl’azzz, “. . . let me think. Who should it be?”

  So they blindfolded Egg, spun her around, and moved away.

  “Marco.”

  “Polo. Polo. Polo. Polo. Polo. H’sssss.”

  *****

  “Come in.”

  “Hi.”

  “Hey, Syl.”

  “Before you go to sleep, I just wanted to mention a few things.”

  “You mean things you want me to dream about, don’t you.”