Saturday: 06-29-2030: We step out into a creepy forest, the trees glowing with a green, sickly light, their branches and leaves twisting at odd corners and strange angles. “Right. Now where’s my daughter?” Not knowing where to look, I open the Book and ask, “Where are our loved ones?” “Look to Queen’s Hill where millions of spirits wait to be released from their prison.” Hîvānë-my’naa becomes agitated with the lack of a direct response and she prods, “What’s that got to do with my daughter, you gilded know-it-all?!” Offended, the Book then displayed the text “That’s rich coming from a royal freezy-pop who couldn’t protect her in the first place!” Sensing an argument brewing, I tell the Book to stop trying to antagonize the Queen. “Maybe we should look there.” “What if they’ve already escaped the mountain? In which case, we’d be wasting time and risking capture, and then, we’d need someone to come rescue us, if at all possible.” “He’s right. This is the planet where our parents went after they abandoned me and the twins as eggs. They cannot know that I’m here, so we cannot be taken prisoner under any circumstance.” “I wish there was someone who knew what was going on with my brother.”
美雷 is seated with her parents around their table as the restaurant is closed, eating dinner when she sees an unnaturally pale man that Kyle warned her about approaching their property. “Who’s that, dear?” “Don’t know. Must be someone wanting to know when we open again.” “Or could be some crazy drunk wanting trouble!” “I need to call Kyle’s grandmother. He said she’ll make him go away.” “How so, 美雷?” “Oh, no!” “What’s wrong, 爸爸?” “So many voices!” “Call the police!” “Then the police will need rescuing, too!” “How?” “Just trust me, 妈妈!”
TJ takes Billy into his amulet and becomes invisible, but not before they store the rest of the food in the room in there to give to the others when they’re free and tying up the bedding into a rope which they dangle out the window, leaving it to hang along the height of the tower. And not a moment too soon, as a mere thirty seconds afterwards, the Shadow Queen returns to the room, and seeing the modified bedding hanging out the window, assumes that Billy had already escaped, and darts off out the window and into the air, an invisible TJ gently hanging on to her veil of darkness. Once they are away from Queen’s Hill and over the woods, he lets go of her nebulous form and in free fall, takes his animal form, becoming visible again as he hits the ground, rolling around in pain from hunger and what must have been a fall of several hundred feet. He gets back on his paws and tries to determine where the shipyard is when a small vessel passes overhead and lands in a depression in the hills several miles away. He thus begins heading in that direction, hoping to stow away on a ship, hoping to find someone, anyone, who could help him, Billy, and the women to get back to their families. He becomes invisible again, hoping that that will keep him from being spotted by hobgoblins as he trots through the sickly glowing trees towards the shipyard.
In the space within his amulet, Billy, Dagmar, and Orinda-nari fill up on the food stash from the tower, still with plenty of that food left over. The 53 eggs are close to hatching, Dagmar can sense. “I hope we can get them back to their home world before they hatch.” They are surrounded by tropical jungle plants and the eggs are piled up in the center of their gathering.
“Where is the Crawford woman, 美雷?! You said she was coming, didn’t you?” “She is coming, 妈妈.” Suddenly, the chaos is interrupted by the arrival of Ida Crawford, bearing the Wanderer’s Mask and carrying her book, and she drives off her rogue son, sending him fleeing, and the voices taunting 龙先生 fade from his mind. Mrs. Crawford enters, having placed a protective spell over the property made of the sigils H’tan, T’lil, and X’deq sealed by a circle. “He shouldn’t bother you or your family again.” “What is he?” “Tainted Gold. Someone from the Golden bloodline who has turned to evil.” “Is that why the General Store is shut?” “Yes. We have not yet been able to successfully exorcise the premises.” “These are indeed interesting times, Mrs. Crawford. Strange things are happening and are about to happen that haven’t happened for many ages.”
We are walking in this unnatural forest when Oonagh spots someone crouched by a boulder. “Who’s that?” “Is it an enemy?” Oonagh approaches them and brings them to us. “You must be the Silver Guardian which Green Cheetah told me of. I am from Vädi.” “Your name?” “No time. Your brother, your young neighbor, the Queen of Ijen, the Princess of Iâ, and the 53 Tewir eggs are heading towards the shipyard. Go to him, Princess. Bring him back here. In the meantime, make a hole in the slope of Queen’s Hill for the young Shadow children to escape and avoid corruption.” “Who are you really?” “Someone who wants to help free and to be free. I must go before she finds me.” “Before who finds you?” The Vädish woman walks off into the trees. “Fly to the shipyard, Princess, and find the Cheetah and his cargo.” She disappears from our sight. “How does she know so much, for a thrall?” “No idea. See you all in a bit.” Oonagh takes flight towards the hills, going with all speed towards our treasures. “I’ll go to Queen’s Hill and make a hole for them to escape. Stay here and wait for Oo to come back with TJ and the others.” I fly off towards the highest mountain with the highest tower which the Vädish woman referred to, using the power of the stones within me to become invisible to enemies. As I pass through the air, I see dark beings streaking through the air and between the mountain towers, darkness trailing behind each one. It is so cold this high up above the ground and the wind is biting and bitter, but I eventually reach the base of the tower atop Queen’s Hill. Setting down on the icy surface, I start focusing my power and the power of the nine stones on making cracks in the mountain top that percolate slowly through the rocks until they hit the other side into the vast hollow cavern where the eggs reside. Eventually, tiny amounts of steam begin to leech through the cracks from within the mountain, which must be a dormant volcano. The cracks are so many but I made them so slowly and gently that from the outside, the mountain looks unchanged, and the same goes for inside the cave.
Oonagh turned herself invisible as well when she took flight after TJ to avoid enemy eyes, and she, too, encountered dark spirits streaking through the air past her, wondering if they can see through her invisibility shroud, wondering if she is about to be captured and turned to darkness like hers and the twins’ parents and grandparents.
“What does freeing these spirits have to do with rescuing my daughter?” In response to Hîvānë-my’naa’s question, the Book replies, “They are the latest Shadow children to be produced by the Dark Queen in the last ten years. They are not born evil, but are corrupted by their mother during an unspeakable ritual one week after birth. By letting them escape, we are weakening her forces greatly,” reads Ignus from the Book. “The fewer spirits she can turn to her service, the fewer people she can terrorize and enslave.” “Meaning less children like Your Majesty’s daughter will be abducted.” “So, by helping them escape, we’re protecting others like my Orinda-nari?” “Yes, Your Majesty.” “It will also provide distraction to help us escape. Her forces should be tied up with damage control.” “I just hope that Oonagh can find your son and those he carries before they are captured.”
Sunday: 06-30-2030: In his cheetah form, TJ reaches the edge of the shipyard and despite his fatigue, he presses on towards a large vessel, as though a single chunk of black quartz, like the dark towers, sitting idle on the pad. “Oh, Lindsay! Where are you?!”
I hear TJ’s voice calling out. “TJ! We’re here! On this planet! We’ve come to get you and take you and Billy and the rest of them home! Tell Orinda-nari that her mother Hîvānë-my’naa is here with us!”
He nearly reaches what must be an access hatch when he is taken up into the air and brought back into the cover of the green forest by Oonagh. “What are you?!” “Shh!” She reveals herself to him. “Who are you?! I was about to stow away to find a way home for me and the others!” “I have come, with Ælura Fulmena, Arctica Vulpa, Ignus Volarus, and Queen Hîvānë-my’naa of Iâ. My name is Oonagh of House Rhianh, heir to the throne of Tewira. We have come for you and 53” “53 Tewir eggs?” “You know where they are?” “I have them with me, along with Billy Crawford, my neighbor on Earth, Queen Dagmar of Ijen, and Princess Orinda-nari of Iâ.” “Then I shall carry you back to where your parents and the Queen are waiting.” Oonagh picks him up in her arms and takes flight back towards Arctic Fox, Ignus, and the Queen of Iâ.
Feeling that the cracks in Queen’s Hill that I have made are now deep enough to compromise the structural integrity of the mountainside once the eggs hatch, I take off back towards where I left Mom, Dad, and Hîvānë-mynaa. Then, I am found by three bright beings of light. “What are you?” “We are the ones who helped your brother and his friends to escape the Alvearium where we and our millions of siblings reside. We three hatched early at the suggestion of the one in eternal distress so that we may help in whatever way we can, so that we may all uproot the dark tree from this world, just as it was uprooted from its first home ages ago. The distressed one, yes. She has taken so many risks. If the dark Queen learns, she will be greatly punished. All will be punished. That is why all of us must flee to the stars where she cannot touch us.” “What are your names?” “Our names are not important, Silver Guardian. Only the actions we undertake on this day.” “It’s not long now. Not long before the mountain falls apart and then we are free at last.”
I land back where I left the adults. Hîvānë-mynaa approaches. “Well?” “I have greatly compromised the structural integrity of the mountain, so when they hatch, they’ll be free. All of them.” “Look!” We look up and see Oonagh carrying an exhausted TJ in her arms. She lands before Mom and Dad, who run and scoop him up. “My baby!” “Wake up! We’re here with Lindsay. We came to take you back home.” “Mom?” He opens his eyes. “Wait.” He releases Dagmar, Billy, and Orinda-nari from his amulet. “Orinda-nari!” Hîvānë-mynaa embraces her daughter tightly. “I thought I’d never be able to return to you and Father.” Dad brings out Surt’s spear and hands it to Dagmar. “Your son and husband send their love, as do all the people of Ijen.” “Thank you, sir.” TJ turns to me and runs into my arms. “You came for me, Lindsay. I promise I’ll never be annoying again.” “Heh. Like that’ll last five minutes.” “Oh, and I have food with me from the tower that we brought since you all must be hungry from your traveling. It’s been almost two weeks since you must have run off.” “I know. Lyral’s going to have my tush when we get home.” “Does anyone want something to eat?” “FOOLS!” “Is that her?! Is that the Shadow Queen?!” “THIEVES!!! Where are you hiding! Damn that traitor, I’ll make her pay!” We take up defensive positions, with Dagmar raising up her Ijeni spear, Hîvānë-mynaa knocking an arrow, Oonagh draws her sword from its scabbard, holding it in her right hand, and forming a small fireball in her left. TJ turns himself, Orinda-nari, and Billy invisible and crouches beneath a bush. “Show yourself, little Crawford. I won’t hurt you. I’ll just take you somewhere where no one will ever find you again!” Not taking kindly to the threat, Hîvānë-mynaa fires one of her frozen arrows at the dark cloud of malice, provoking her into attacking her first, upon which Dagmar immediately thrusts the spear into the Shadow Queen’s form. She then releases a surge of blue flames from her spots, along the length of the spear, and into the enemy’s veil of darkness, setting her alight as though caught in the blue fires of Ijen, making her voice rip the air apart with a terrible shriek as she burns. “I should have kept you in the tower until you starved, you blue-spotted nuisance!” She sends Dagmar and her spear flying near where TJ and the others are hiding. “Where is that boy?! Give him back to me!” “You will never touch my neighbors again!” I smite the Dark Queen with my lightning. “You would dare come into my domain to steal what is mine?!” The winds churn with the force of our wills, making the sickly trees crack and creak, glowing branches flying through the air. Then, the black ship, which TJ would have stowed away on had Oo not found him first, takes off from the shipyard, flying defiantly overhead, slightly disorienting the Darkness. “NO! Give them back to me! Those are my royal hostages!” The ship flies up and out of sight, with several Shadows trailing desperately behind, trying but ultimately failing to prevent it from escaping to wherever it’s bound. Hîvānë-mynaa fires another icy arrow at the Darkness and Oo charges at her, sword lit with light and fire, setting the enemy on fire again. “We’ll see how strong you are, Reverend Mother Sídhe, when I send you to join your parents in my service, for they didn’t last nearly as long when they were put through my ritual!” “You are no Queen!” Then, a rumbling, deep and piercing as the voices of the Stars, shakes the ground, and in the distance, Queen’s Hill erupts, not with ash and fire, but with sheer white light, illuminating the region, turning night into day. The Shadows in the air who were chasing after the runaway ship were blinded, disoriented greatly, and forced to retreat. The tower atop Queen’s Hill, including her throne and Billy’s chamber, was destroyed, having been blown sky high by the force of the spirits surging their way out through the cracks I made in the rock. All at once, the hatchling spirits flee the Alvearium and go up and away from this dark world and into the sublime embrace of the Stars and their fiery light, punching a large hole in the clouds as they go, revealing starlight. “NO! You horrible, cheating, interfering monsters! Robbing us of our children! That swan girl! She’ll suffer for all eternity for this outrage!” I bring out the Nine stones and the 18 statuettes. “Don’t!” “Ancestors! Destroy this vile fortress! Release all prisoners! Protect the newly hatched children of the light from the ritual that would corrupt them!” The light of the Nine stones fills the mountains, sending many hobgoblins into a frenzy of panic and confusion, and finally, unable to stand the light, the Shadow Queen retreats back to some dark part of the mountains, defeated and frustrated with it all. The towers upon the mountains crumble from the quake. The light fades, leaving me very tired. “Shouldn’t we be getting some people home, now?” “Sure. Why not?”
I stand back up and summon the Book and Bridge to take us back to Ijen. We step back out onto the sulphurous fields of yellow rocks and pools of cerulean water. After being weakened from her fiery spear move on the Shadow Queen, Dagmar jumps into one of the hot pools to restore her strength and health. “Tell all of Ijen that the Queen has returned. Bring them here. The Queen must rest.” We go ahead to the castle and wake up Surt and Sigurđ and bring them to the pool where the Queen is healing. “Is that my Dagmar?!” “Mama!” “Sigurđ! Surt! My boy!” Dagmar climbs out of the water, her body clean, her black hair glistening, and her blue spots glowing like the sacred flames of Ijen. Overjoyed, the men bring her back home to the castle where she is welcomed back by her family and her people. “We should maintain communication between our peoples as thanks for your efforts in rescuing our Queen, wife, and mother from the Nightmare Hills.” “And you’ll stop drinking during the day, Father.” Sigurđ bows his head in gratitude to me, as do Dagmar, Surt, and the rest of the Ijeni in the castle. After accepting the insistence of the King that I regularly visit them, we leave next for the frozen realm of Iâ, where Hîvānë-my’naa and Orinda-nari are welcomed back similarly to Dagmar and the Princess’ health returns as she returned to the cold of her homeworld. We bid them goodbye, and we go back to Xalexxa where we present the Golden Nest to Empress Xalixandra upon which she restores it to its place, where it immediately begins restoring the ocean’s oxygen levels, finally allowing the planet’s elders and children to return to sea. Xana and Hanix thank us for keeping our promise, with Hanix overjoyed that he could swim freely again with his family. We say farewell to the merfolk of Xalexxa and again go to Tewira. We land at the entrance to the forest castle, with the King himself waiting for us. “You have recovered the eggs, Silver Guardian?” “All 53 of them, Your Majesty.” Orin approaches TJ in puzzlement. “You must be Ælura’s brother Verdis.” “Yes, Your Majesty. I have the eggs with me.” “Then good, because I have over 100 parents gathered in the great hall waiting to be reunited with their children.” We enter the great hall where indeed over 100 Tewir are gathered. “Where are our eggs?!” TJ releases the 53 eggs from his amulet to the relief of the parents, who then begin the arduous process of determining which eggs are theirs, though they are all eventually able to identify their children and return home where they hatch, and according to the others, have not appeared to have suffered any ill effects from being in the Nightmare Hills for three months. Oo is hailed as a hero by her people, with her grandfather telling her afterwards that she will be visited by the Reverend Mothers. “You didn’t see them, did you? While you were there?” “No. They likely didn’t even know I was there.” “Oo!” “Bán! Dubh!” The twins dive down through the fly-through and Oo flies up to embrace them. We spend the evening being honored by the Tewir with a lavish dinner before we go to bed. I go to sleep in Oonagh’s bed, dreaming of home.
Previous Episode: Thirsty Sands.
Next Episode: Toward Enlightenment.
