“Get out of here Amberlyn. If they see you they’ll think you broke the treaty and let those monsters come over to your side,” Tahmi whispered, pushing the octaloon’s head away. “Go home.”
“I’m not afraid. I’m young, but so are you.”
“I know you’re brave. But you need to think of your mom and your friends. They’ll lose their homes to evil monsters. You don’t want that do you?”
“I’ll convince the hammerloons! I brought reinforcement.”
“Reinforcement?”
“Yes, me, you idiot.”
Tahmi looked to the side of her. Idris swam alongside. Her long tail had small fins and when she moved her tail she looked like a preying dragon. The starfish on top of her head wriggled around as if it had a mind of its own. Somehow Idris knew Tahmi was staring.
“It’s a decoy,” she said. “When we were many and filled the rivers and lakes of Gadaie, my kind would hide from others so that we wouldn’t be disturbed. We’ve never really cared for company.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Child.” Idris sat on the side of the raft. “Does it look like I have peace and quiet anymore? Carnevole and I are the only ones left of our kind. We have to hide inside a rotting mushroom just for some quiet time. This is like a prison.”
“Can’t you have babies?”
“We have offspring hidden in the mushroom but they will not hatch, for some reason.”
“I’m really sorry, Idris.”
“Never you mind my problems,” she snapped. “We’ve bigger issues at hand.”
“Like?”
“Like muddlers.” She leaned in close. Tahmi recoiled, her heart pounding. When Idris was close, bad things always happened. “They’re not as evil as they appear.”
“You’re one to talk!”
“Enough.” The steel wrapped her body around Tahmi. Rolls screamed and Ziv smacked his tiny hands against her leathery skin. “Stop, you glowing nuisance!”
“Hands off my friend!” He bit her tail fin. She jumped, threatening to flick him.
“Don’t,” Tahmi cried. “He’s little; you’ll kill him.”
“Make him leave.”
“Let the future queen go.”
Idris laughed. She loosened her grip and disappeared inside the water. “Muddlers are Quella’s offspring.”
“What? How?”
“Yes, I know. Gruesome, aren’t they?”
“How is that possible?”
“Well, before the war, they were small and would grow into sparklers. But, in that mud they’ve morphed into horribly ugly creatures. Muddlers were once called Sparvae and they’re just children.”
“Why are they over in the mud?”
“In general, a muddler won’t bother you. Maybe play with you if you let them but if their mother tells them to do something—they obey. If we let them over here she will force them to destroy anyone in their way. She’s quite evil.”
“We’ve met.”
“Yes, Amberlyn told me all about your brave act.”
“What brave act?”
“…The one where you tried to drown Quella in order to stop her from destroying what’s left of our water source.”
“I couldn’t do it.”
“Good.” Idris climbed back onto the raft. “Mary could. That’s where you’ll have the advantage over her. The day you can kill will be the day Mary gets all her powers back and you’ll have to battle her.”
“I won’t battle anyone.”
“We’ll see.” She brushed Tahmi’s cheek with her long arm-like fin. “Just put yourself in the muddlers’ position, and in Quella’s as well.”
“Idris.” Tahmi’s eyes misted. “Do you think my friend is still alive?”
“Don’t get emotional with me.” She dropped back into the water. “Once this transaction is over—our peace alignment is finished.”
“You’d try to kill me if we met again?”
“Try? I don’t have to try.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Possibly; it always depends.”
“What if you could have your lakes and rivers back? Would you be this way still?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll do my best to at least listen to you first before making a decision.”
“Why’re you helping me right now?”
“Because Quella broke the treaty and you helped stop her. Besides, the hammerloons won’t want to let them ruin their fresh water anyhow.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’d watch out.”
“Why?”
“Yue is coming. She hates Gadaenites—even half breeds.”
“Who’s Yue?”
The female hammerloon dived towards her. Yue’s hammer head dipped—aiming for the edge of the raft. She could see the male hammerloon’s sharkfin cut across the water like a knife. She sucked in her breath.
Yue smashed the corner of the raft. Broken pieces littered the water. Rolls and Tahmi sunk. Ziv buzzed around the hammerloon’s head distracting her.
Tahmi opened her eyes. The male hammerloon had human arms. They were outstretched and aiming for her. She kicked furiously. Idris’ tail brushed against her thigh. She grabbed a hold of it.
The steel lifted her out of the water.
The male hammerloon cut around them and headed for Rolls.
“Stop him!” Tahmi screamed.
“Whatever for?”
“Because Rolls is my friend.”
“He isn’t my friend.”
Tahmi struggled. Her eyes widened. Amberlyn, whom she’d thought had finally gone home—spread her tentacles. She grabbed the hammerloon around his torso. His hands were to his sides and he whipped his tail violently. Water splashed and disturbed the surface.
Yue noticed.
“Amberlyn!” Tahmi screamed. “What are you doing? Go home! Please!”
The female hammerloon dived.
“The other one is coming after you!”
“Serves her right.” Idris rolled her eyes. “I haven’t all day.”
“She’s just a little girl,” Tahmi pleaded. “Idris, come on, do the right thing. You know what it’s like to not have kids—imagine what her mom will feel like when she realizes her daughter was killed by a hammerloon.”
Idris dropped Tahmi into the water. She kicked furiously and grabbed a piece of driftwood.
“I must do everything around here lately,” Idris said.
Ziv sat on Tahmi’s shoulder. “What’s happening?”
“Idris is going to help Amberlyn.”
“Oh, I don’t trust that steel. I’d rather be with Carnevole than her. She’s what my people call a rock.”
“A rock?”
“Yeah, someone who looks like a star and who claims they can glow but ends up being as bright as a rock.”
“Well.” Tahmi craned her neck. “I can’t see anything.”
“Idris is calming the female one down. They’re swimming in circles.”
“You can see them, Ziv?”
“Yes, Amberlyn looks tired but she won’t let go. I’m impressed. She’s so small compared to other octaloons I saw.”
“I can’t believe it. They need their water source back; it’s not fair. Idris isn’t really bad she’s just miserable. Have you ever seen an animal caged? They’re a little mad.”
“I don’t know what a cage is.”
“This is a cage. They used to have access to all the muddy rivers and lakes.”
“Why would they want—”
“It wasn’t mud before.”
“Oh, interesting.”
“What’s happening now, Ziv?”
“Idris is blocking the male hammerloon from harming Amberlyn. She looks scared and she just inked.”
Tahmi laughed.
“That’s not funny.”
“It kinda is.”
“What if that were you?”
“It’s been me before many times since coming to this place.”
“Okay, Ziv, what’s happening now?”
He didn’t have to answer.
The two hammerloons surfaced. They cut through the water quickly. Yue narrowed her eyes and the male turned his hammerhead sideways and stared at her with one of his hammer eyes. “I’m Jace and this is Yue,” he said. “Are you really the one?”
“The one what?”
“The future queen.”
Tahmi froze. Normally she’d say no but would that prove futile to her mission? “That’s what everyone says.”
Jace inched closer. He used caution. “Idris says you stopped Quella from destroying her habitat. Is this true?”
“I tried to stop her. But I couldn’t kill her.”
“You weren’t strong enough? I thought—”
“Okay, I didn’t want to kill her. Is that better?”
“Why not?”
“Why would I want to?”
Jace thought for a second. “…Because she’s evil.”
“No,” Tahmi said. “Quella is a product of her circumstances. Were you always a violent border patrol hammerloon crea—err, person?”
“Hammerloons were majestic and peacekeeping souls.”
“But not now; right?”
Jace nodded. “I see your point. Yue and I will talk to the others and allow you safe passage across the border. But once you’ve crossed, you’re on your own.”
DONNA
Donna sat on Tahmi’s bed. She wiped the tears from her eyes. She really should go outside and be with her husband and friends. If talking to the reporters would be of any help at all—yes, she should go.
She took the stairs slowly. Her hands lay heavily on the broken banister. What was Tahmi doing? The girl wasn’t at all like her little sister Maya. Before last week, Tahmi thought logically and never made up fantasy stories. She laughed at her dreams with talking cats and owls. Maya would tell such stories and genuinely believe them.
Outside, a dark shadow shifted. “Who’s there?” Donna’s voice shook. Was it the old man again? “I see you. Come into the light.”
Large eyes blinked.
“What in the world?”
THE BORDER
Tahmi crawled over the rotten border. Yue hoisted her over with her steel head. The metal was cold against her and she shivered.
“Yue, you need to live in a colder climate.”
“Yes,” Yue said. “Those Mountains across the way were once topped with glaziers and that was where we called home. This hot water makes childbirth impossible. I’m almost past my prime now.”
“I’m sorry,” Tahmi whispered, touching the hammerloon’s hammer. “Maybe one day you’ll get your home back.”
“Doubtful.” Yue disappeared. The surface grew still and there wasn’t an octaloon, steel or hammerloon in sight.
Ziv and Rolls glanced at each other. “We’re about to enter the Muddlers’ Lair.” Ziv glowed, “I’m nervous.”
“You mean all the other things we’ve gone through today weren’t nerve racking?” Tahmi surveyed the lair. It had once been a gorgeous lake filled with waterfalls and probably rainbows too. But, now it was only a huge pool of mud with nothing but dead trees and nearly invisible rocks. Green skin disappeared under the surface. Dead branches shifted—some sank.
Rolls groaned, leading the way. He spun, jumping from stone to stone. Up ahead there was a large cave. That was where Idris said they should go.
Muddlers retreated. Mud shifted with their movements. Why weren’t they trying to attack? Tahmi’s heart stopped. Was something worse than the muddlers coming?
Rolls thought the same thing. He leaped cautiously. They were nearly to the lair now. What would the muddlers do? Or what else was lurking about?
“Why are they running away?” Ziv trembled. “What’s out there?”
“Im not sure.” Tahmi rested her hand on Rolls. “Whatever it is it’s made Rolls nervous.”
“We should turn back.”
“And leave Jerry? I don’t think so!”
“But—”
“If you want to go home you can. I won’t stop you.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just really scared.”
“Why don’t you and Rolls head back? You’ve done plenty for me already.”
“There’s this old horror story the elder stars tell us when we’re young.”
“What’s it about, Ziv?”
“Monsters.”
“What kind of monsters?”
“Green beasts with sharp teeth and do you know what their favorite snack is?”
“What?”
“Stars! They eat stars who venture past the air caves.”
“Oh, Ziv.” Tahmi covered him in her hands. “Please, just go home. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
“What do you think Lorcan will do to me?”
“Nothing,” Tahmi cooed. “I won’t let him touch you.”
“But he swallowed Jerry whole!”
“Stop it.” She shook. “You’re gonna be okay.” Rolls leaned against her leg. “You too, Rolls. We just need to hurry up and make it to the lair before whatever has the muddlers spooked appears.”
Rolls took off, bouncing like a beach ball. He smacked into stone after stone. Tahmi followed with Ziv hiding in her blonde strands. She cringed whenever he slipped and tugged on her hair.
Finally, they were just a few feet away from Lorcan’s lair. Tahmi watched as he poked his head out. He exposed sharp fangs. A bright light lit the cave. Tahmi’s heart pounded. There was something worse than a muddler.
Quella.
She shouted in a foreign tongue.
“No!” A muddler cried.
Tahmi recoiled, leaning against Rolls. Several green bodies slithered round them. Ziv’s light burned her skin and he trembled fiercely. “They’re going to eat me!”
“Stop it, Ziv. No one’s gonna eat you.”
Quella repeated her words.
“No!” Another muddler begged. “I don’t want to.”
“Please.”
Quella’s voice grew angry, “NOW!” She screamed. The mud vibrated and four muddlers groaned. Their tails whipped about sending mud in all directions. Tahmi and Rolls were covered in splatters.
“What’s happening?” Ziv closed his small eyes. “What’s happening?”
Rolls hid in between Tahmi’s legs. She bent over, covering both her friends with her own body. “Everything’s gonna be all right.” Her voice shook. Ziv’s heart pounded. They were dead. He just knew it.
Tahmi glanced up. Four large muddlers rose above them about ten feet. Their rows and rows of teeth ran down their throats.
“Are you gonna eat us?” Ziv wept, scrambling deeper in Tahmi’s hair. “I don’t want to be muddler food! My mother will be very upset.”
Two muddlers recoiled.
Quella screamed.
They came back, angrier than before.
“What are we gonna do?”
Tahmi stood and pointed her fists. “We’re gonna fight.”
“This will be a very short battle,” Ziv said, peeking through strands of her hair. The muddlers’ massive faces swayed as if they were in some sort of trance.
A shadow loomed above them. Tahmi looked up. Was that a bird? An enormous one? Something dropped from the sky. Was it—it couldn’t be!
Tahmi wept, falling to her knees. “Teri?”
A girl with long black hair—just like Teri’s—landed on top of a muddler. Her pink dress ripped but this didn’t faze her. “This is for scaring my little sister!” The girl pounded the muddler in the face. He squealed like a dying rabbit and squirmed out of her arms.
Quella shouted commands. The frightened muddler ignored her and as he slithered away he bellowed like a child who’d stuck his finger in an electrical outlet. “Get back here!” She commanded.
“Nooo,” he wept, disappearing.
“Teri!” Tahmi clapped. She watche
d as the princess pounded one muddler after another. “I didn’t realize you were so strong!” Muddlers flew through the sky as if they weighed nothing.
“Stupid girl,” she snarled. “I’m Diane—not Teri.”
Tahmi covered her face in her hands. Her heart fell right out and floated away in the mud. (At least that’s what she thought). She felt horrible! (For her thoughts) Tahmi was disappointed when she found out it was Diane instead. She’d much rather have her sister Teri instead.
THE WARRIOR
Teri wasn’t dead.
She would be in just a few moments once her body smacked into the ground below. Her little sister Tahmi would have to step up to the plate now and be a hero. Could that little human girl do what needed to be done? Most likely, no. Had she sacrificed herself for nothing? Her heart pounded as she dropped quickly in the sky. Why’d she let go of her sister’s hand? Maybe she’d finally learned to be self-sacrificing. That was something—wasn’t it?
Teri closed her eyes, bracing herself for the end.
A rumbling noise forced her to look up. A dark shadow sliced through the sky. It screeched, snatching the princess in its gigantic talons.
Teri screamed, oil seeping from her fingers. She struggled, unable to move. This was not the way she planned to die. Would she become some monster’s supper? Or worse yet, its young’s dinner? Her life had been so easy and simple before Tahmi! Why was this happening to her? Was it because she was selfish? Teri couldn’t help it. That was the curse of the Gadaenites. She looked up at a black feathered chest. An armored beak poked her in the back.
Tears poured down her cheeks. It was going to take a sample out of her. She could just picture its razor-sharp beak stabbing her like a knife. This one is tender. Yum. Teri shook away her fears. She had to focus. What was she going to do to get herself out of this jam?
The beast dropped Teri on top of a mountain. There was soft, fresh grass and tiny purple flowers covering the ground. She looked over and spotted cobwebs and a battered sign. It had the words Danger, Do Not Enter etched into the splittered wood.
Teri wasn’t interested in the flowers, grass or even the warning sign. Maybe this was the creature’s home. She recoiled, crawling away from the large feathered beast. She hid behind a boulder. Her arms and legs trembled. How was someone as powerful as her so frightened? There was something about the animal that she couldn’t quite understand. Fear. Why?
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