IMAGINATIA: BEYOND THE DREAMS
Imaginatia: Beyond The Dreams
(AKA: Imaginatia: The Dream Frontier Book II)
Michael Koza
Published by Michael Koza at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 Michael Koza
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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Chapter 1: The Dream Window
“Hey! Look!” pointed Lisa, looking up at the wide, expansive mountain range in front of them, after turning to spit out some water and thank Xerania for pulling her free. “It’s it’s the Faerie Tale Mountains.”
“D didn’t that vanish in the Void?” panted Jason, falling by Lisa’s side.
“It did,” puzzled King Dova, imperceptibly shaking his head. “I do remember that. But, how could it still be here?”
“Don’t question it,” whistled Horseile, pointing back at the Void. “Just run! The Void’s still moving this way!” she yelled, running past them.
“Run!” guided King Dova, pushing Lisa and Bearica forward as he briefly took a look back. “Run towards your right. We can cross the mountains via the Rhymeless Ravine. It should be just south from here!”
“And then what do we do?” asked Lisa, turning to look back, watching the fabled realm of Mythica vanish in the Void. “Our last chance was to use those Portals. So, how are we going to save Imaginatia, now?!”
“No oooo!” cried Lisa, sitting up in her bed, her eyes popping open. Still breathing heavily, Lisa looked all around her. “Whew!” she whispered, sitting on the edge of her bed. “It was just a nightmare.”
Closing her eyes for a second after she had cast a momentary glance at her digital alarm clock, Lisa stretched out her arms, yawning. But, then, she stopped in a second in the middle of her second stretch.
“Wait a minute,” pondered Lisa, opening her eyes again, looking around, completely bewildered. “How can my bedroom be bright as day? It’s only 5:18am!” she cried out, glancing at her alarm clock again to make sure of the time.
Before she could even consider the causes of this bizarre phenomenon, an even brighter light, seeping around her closed bedroom door leading into the hallway, distracted her.
“M mom? D dad?” called Lisa, starting to get a little bit apprehensive, even though curiosity caused her to get out of her bed and walk over to her closed bedroom door. “I is that you?” she asked, reaching out to grab the door knob. She had barely touched the door knob when it began to glow a bright golden yellow.
“What in the world ...?!” she exclaimed, just as the door suddenly flew open, just as a brief, but powerful gust of wind tossed her backwards.
Landing safely and softly on her bed, Lisa nimbly jumped up and spun herself around so that she could see the hallway outside her bedroom through the open door. Instead of seeing the familiar lithograph of a sunrise at a seashore, hanging on the opposite wall in the hallway, she saw familiar friends standing in front of a familiar drawbridge, waving to her, smiling, and calling out their “hello’s”.
“It’s it’s Castle Septceria!” exclaimed Lisa, deftly leaping off her bed, dancing over to the doorway. “Solaide! King Dova!” she laughed, reaching up to them with both hands. “It’s so good to see both of you!” she laughed, stepping through the doorway.
“It’s my pleasure to see you, Lisa,” nodded Solaide, reaching out to hug her.
“Good to see you again, Lisa!” smiled King Dova, stepping around Solaide to hug her, too. “Welcome back to Imaginatia!”
Just then, Lisa subconsciously looked down. She had just remembered that prior to stepping through the dimensional doorway, she was wearing her lacy golden yellow nightgown. To her surprise, it had changed! For she was now appropriately dressed in her favorite yellow dress: the same one she was wearing on her previous visit to Imaginatia.
“Whew!” whispered Lisa, looking up and smiling again at her friends just as they had stopped hugging her and took a step back. “Thank you, Solaide, your majesty. I’m so glad to be here again ....”
Unexpectedly, a bright light flashed in front of them as they heard a familiar but distorted voice.
“Imaginatia! Big trouble!” moaned the voice, just as the distortion cleared revealing an image of Michael asleep in his bed in his bedroom amidst a torturous nightmare. “The Void! We’re doomed!”
“It’s Michael!” cried Lisa, instantly recognizing his image. “Poor dear. He’s having a nightmare!”
“Yes, it is him,” nodded King Dova, watching Michael’s image thrash around, literally kicking his bedsheets off his bed. “And that’s some nightmare he’s having!”
“Please be quiet both of you!” hushed Solaide, waving his hands at the others. “He said something about a ‘Void’.”
“Yes, he did say something about some ‘Void’,” nodded King Dova, carefully watching Michael continue to thrash around. “But, so what? What’s so important about this this ‘Void’ thing, any way?” he finished, just as Lisa and Solaide turned to look at him.
“The ‘Void’,” began Solaide, just as Lisa turned her head away and started to walk closer to the image of Michael. “Is something I had a dream about about something horrible. Something that will threaten all with non existence. That is according to my dreams.”
“Yes, he did say something about a ‘Void’,” frowned Lisa, stepping through the image and into Michael’s bedroom. “Probably the same nightmare I just had,” she finished to herself, stepping to Michael’s bedside, proceeding to gently shake Michael awake.
“Come on, Michael!” she whispered, ignoring the fact that her yellow dress had changed back to her lacy golden yellow nightgown. “It’s just a bad dream. Wake up, Michael,” prodded Lisa, shaking him harder. “Wake up!”
“Jason! Lisa!” moaned Michael, beginning to stir. “Lisa! It’s you! You’re safe!” he cried out, opening his eyes and looking at her smiling face.
“It’s all right,” soothed Lisa, placing her hands on his shoulders. “It was only a bad dream. Come on and get out of bed. You, Jason, and I, are wanted in Imaginatia.”
“Imaginatia? Now?” asked Michael, allowing Lisa to pull him up out of his bed. “Can’t we go in the morning?” he yawned, glancing back at his warm, comfortable bed.
“No, you can’t, Michael. At least not now,” frowned Lisa, taking a brief look back at him, as she continued to and easily pulled him back toward what looked like Castle Septceria’s drawbridge where King Dova and Solaide were busily talking to each other about the ‘Void’. “Imaginatia is in trouble. And- I’m afraid that we’re the only ones who can help them.”
Michael gulped. “B but, why does it have to be me I mean us? Can’t some other kids save Imaginatia this time?”
“Sorry, Michael,” frowned Lisa, immediately grabbing his arm again after he managed to wrench himself free. “We don’t have time to waste, Michael! Let’s go!”
“Hey, Lisa,” began Michael, just noticing that she was in her lacy golden yellow nightgown, managing to pull himself free a second time. “Wait a minute, please,” he continued on, looking down at himself and seeing his blue and white Ernest H. Shepard’s classically drawn Winnie The Pooh’s pajamas, just to make sure that he was still dressed for bed. “Can I at least get dressed?” he waved at himself, momentarily losing his balance as she grabbed him again and impatiently yanked him towards the image’s doorway to Imaginatia. “I would like to get dressed first, Lisa.”
“Don’t bother about that, Michael,” announced Lisa, authoritatively, letting him go as she stepped up on to the drawbridge by King Dova’s and Solaide’s side. “When we go through the dimensional doorway, our sleepware will change into our ...” she continued on, stopping by King Dova’s and Solaide’s side and turning around to look back at Michael and his open mouthed, bug eyed face of surprise. “... Daytime clothes. The same things we were wearing the last time we were here!” she finished, gesturing to her yellow dress in a prancing energetic manner.
It was true! Looking down, Michael found himself wearing his dark blue jeans, faded sky blue T shirt, and his dirty old pair of white sneakers.
“It’s so good to see you again, Michael,” chimed Solaide, stepping forward, his discussion with King Dova about their apparently shared nightmarish dreams and non-existence forgotten for the moment. “Welcome back to Imaginatia! Welcome back!”
“Huh?” jumped Michael, looking at Solaide. “Oh, ah,” he mumbled, meekly smiling. “Hi Solaide. Hi, your majesty.”
“Good to see you again, Michael!” laughed King Dova, clapping his hands on Michael’s shoulders. “Glad you’re here. We could use your help!”
“Help?” whispered Michael, looking at King Dova’s kind face.
“Yes, Michael, help,” nodded Solaide, taking a half step closer to them and dropping a hand on each of their shoulders. “And, the sooner we find out what’s happening in Hellis ....”
“Hellis?” interrupted Lisa, turning to anxiously look south. “Hellis? What’s going on in Hellis, Solaide?”
“Hellis is missing, Lisa,” answered King Dova, turning to look south, too. “It’s completely gone!”
“Gone? Gone?! What do you mean it’s gone, your majesty?” asked Lisa, turning back around to face him.
“Yes, Lisa, gone,” exclaimed King Dova, becoming agitated. “Sileide told us what she saw, and is rounding up the others in case we need their help, too. While she was doing that, me and Solaide decided it would be best if we just went down there ourselves to investigate when we saw that image of you appear in front of us.”
“Hellis... is... gone...?” mused Michael, as the others turned to look at him. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Under any other circumstances, yes,” answered Solaide, sounding irritatingly calm. “But, we don’t know why it disappeared. Sileide never offered any theories of her own even though she should since she saw it all happen in front of her. Still, unless, we can find the answers soon....”
“But, what if we don’t find the answers?” asked somebody from behind them.
“Then, Hellis’ disappearance could eventually destroy Imaginatia, Jason,” answered Solaide, turning around to face him. “Which is why we need to go to Hellis, right now, and investigate what’s going on.”
“Go to... Hellis?!” stuttered Michael, balking at that insane idea, his mouth hanging open. “Do we have to? Do we really have to?”
“Yes, Michael, we have to,” nodded Solaide, pointing south. “Hopefully, we’ll find that all our fears are unfounded.”
“Yeah, unfounded,” mumbled Michael, barely loud enough for anybody to hear him. “Hopefully.”
Chapter 2: A New Adventure Begins
“It’s gone all right!” yelled Lisa, pushing her hair aside while trying to be heard over the howling wind.
“Now what do we do?!” cried Michael, staring at the dark blackness that encased the area where Hellis once stood, curiously, but cautiously, taking a step forward
“I don’t know!” yelled Solaide, his eyes riveted to the blackness. “But, unless we can find out what that blackness really is; we’re doomed!!”
“Wouldn’t that be the ‘Void’ that everybody’s been dreaming of?” asked Jason, also drawn forward by curiosity.
“Who really knows?” frowned Lisa, reaching up again to restrain her wildly dancing hair and keep it off her face. “I certainly don’t. In all of my dreams ah, nightmares I never did see this ‘Void’ thing or even that before,” she finished, pointing at the blackness that lay some thirty yards away.
“True. That’s true. That could be the ‘Void’, Jason,” agreed King Dova, turning to his right, just as Jason stopped by his side for a moment and they both looked at each other. “But, we don’t really know that for sure, do we? Oh, ah, Jason,” finished King Dova, reaching out and pulling Jason back, “just as a measure of caution, I think we should keep our distance from it.”
“Good advice, your majesty,” nodded Lisa, running forward for a few yards and helping King Dova drag Michael back to the others. “Making contact with it could be dangerous, Michael,” she answered, after looking at the confused look on his face. “We should stay away from it until we can be sure that it is safe to touch ah, touch whatever that is,” she finished, looking up and gesturing at it with a wave of her hand.
“Agreed, Lisa, your majesty,” concurred Jason, taking a brief look back at the darkness, before starting to turn back to the others. “I think we should leave before ....”
Jason didn’t finish his sentence, for at that moment, the ground started to shake violently.
“Imaginatia quake!” wailed Michael, falling hard to the ground.
“Watch out!” yelled Lisa, falling on top of King Dova.
“I don’t like this!” moaned Jason, holding his head in his hands, trying to keep both his head and his thoughts steady. “I have an eerie feeling that something bad is going to happen next.”
“I have that same feeling,” shook Michael, looking towards the blackness engulfed Hellis, just as the shaking had stopped, just ten seconds after it had started. “And and, it’s becoming true,” he cried out, pointing at the menacing darkness that started to move. “Look! Look! The blackness is coming this way! It’s coming this way! It’s coming this way!”
“W what?!” yelled Solaide, looking up, his head still whirling from the after effects of the Imaginatia quake.
“The blackness is coming this way!” yelled Michael again, stumbling to his feet, as the ground beneath him started to crumble and fall apart.
“And it’s coming fast!” yelled Jason, helping King Dova to his feet while barely managing to stay on his own feet.
“But but where will we go?!” cried Michael, who had turned to look northward. “The ground behind us is falling apart!”
“Then then run this way!” yelled Lisa, looking around for a moment before moving and pointing east. “Run! Run! This way! This way!”
Trailing the others, Solaide watched the ground around him crumble and fall away as if it fell into some hidden abyss. Hampered by the crumbling ground and the wind that threatened to blow him into the onrushing blackness, Solaide tripped and fell. Clawing away at the ground, Solaide attempted to crawl away from the approaching nightmare.
“Hurry, Solaide! Hurry!” yelled King Dova, pointing behind him, just as they had successfully reached more stable ground and had turned around to dreadfully watch Solaide slip closer to the abyss and blackness that seemed eager to consume him in doom. “The blackness is almost upon you!”
“Solaide!!” screamed Lisa, watching the wind sweep him up away into the sky, as tears quickly formed around her eyes. Unable to bear the loss of her friend, Lisa turned and buried her head in King Dova’s shoulders. “No! Solaide!”
Saddened by their imminent loss, the others bowed their heads and began to turn away, tears flowing freely from everybody’s eyes. But suddenly, a joyful cry drowned out the howling wind.
It was from Solaide! As his body glowed a bright golden yellow a stark contrast to the dark blackness behind him Solaide flew through the air towards King Dova and the others.
“I I don’t believe it!!” cheered Michael, trying to wipe his tears away, while pointing at Solaide. “Look! Look! Solaide is safe!”
“W what? How is that possible?” gasped King Dova, shocked and surprised more from what he thought he saw on the ground some distance behind where Solaide had floated before them. “You’re safe! And and Lisa ...” he finished, becoming even more confused when he saw Lisa ran past him towards Solaide. “Hmmm,” he wondered to himself, scratching his head in confusion, watching Lisa run half the distance between herself and Solaide. “How is that possible? But, I definitely saw Lisa just moments before in that last glow of yellow light on the ground disappeared ...”
“Solaide!” laughed Lisa, looking up as more tears rolled down her face. “You’re safe! Thank God, you’re safe!”
“Yes, I’m safe, Lisa,” nodded Solaide, just as he dropped safely to the ground a few feet away from her, just as the others, except King Dova, rushed to his side. “I I guess you can’t get rid of me that way,” he grinned, as Lisa jumped into his arms, burying her face deep into his shoulders.
“Huhhh!” blurted Lisa, half laughing and half crying in relief. “And I hope we don’t, not ever!” she sniffled, looking up at his face.
Reaching up, Solaide wiped away her tears. “Hopefully, no one will be lost in that blackness. But, if we don’t start moving ....”
“Agreed!” interrupted King Dova, hearing Solaide’s comment after finally deciding that what he saw was merely an illusion of wishful thinking, owing in part to his tears? “Let’s get out of here before it gets worse,” he waved to the others, gesturing to them to move on. “We got to get out of here before that blackness moves again especially towards us.”
“Yeah,” nodded Jason, looking at the blackness, that now stood stationary for now, just a mere dozen yards away from them. “We were fortunate that the blackness stopped short of us. But, next time, we might not be so lucky.”
“But, there may not be a next time!” frowned Michael, shaking his head, turning away, since he and the others never saw what King Dova had seen on the ground behind Solaide, because their attention was focused on him.
“That’s why we should return to Castle Septceria, immediately, and discuss this with the others that Sileide is gathering,” commented King Dova, pointing northwards even though right now he was pointing at the blackness in front of him. “I’m sure with all our friends thinking about this, we might come up with an answer to that blackness,” he continued on, still pointing at the blackness just north of them. “Besides, I’m finding it hard to think clearly with all this noise.”
“Me too,” confirmed Jason, losing his balance just as the ground that he was walking over dropped a few inches.
“Jason!” cried Michael, stumbling over to help him to his feet, despite barely managing to stay on his own feet. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Michael,” nodded Jason, looking up. “But, watch your step. It’s very unstable here,” he finished, restating the clearly obvious.
Just at that moment, the ground shook violently again. Even Jason, who was already on the ground, wasn’t able to stay in one place.
“Oh no!” yelped Lisa, closing her eyes and bracing herself, protecting her head with her arms, as she was first pitched headlong into Solaide, before being rocked back, rear end first, into King Dova. “Not again!!”
“I just hope ...” frowned Solaide, stumbling to his feet, just as the shaking abruptly ended just a few seconds later.
“Solaide?” asked Lisa, turning to look at him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“The blackness is moving again! Run! Run!” screamed Solaide, jumping up so fast and unexpectedly that he accidentally knocked Lisa down in a tumbling roll toward the blackness.
Lisa turned around to look after she came to a rolling stop, her eyes bulging out in horror. The blackness leaping over the short distance between them stood like a monster ready to pounce on her.
“Ahh hhh hhh!!” she screamed, covering her head with her arms as if this futile act would protect her.
Within the stroke of a heartbeat, King Dova and Jason, quickly realizing that Lisa was in trouble, stumblingly dashed back to her side and barely managed to pull Lisa safely away just as the blackness submerged the place where Lisa was standing with nothingness.
“Lisa!” yelled Jason, inches away from her ears. “Are you crazy? Why didn’t you run?!”
“Huh? Wha ?” shook Lisa, shaking more from horror and shock than the fact that King Dova, Jason, and Michael, were shaking her, trying to snap her out of her terror induced paralysis. “The the blackness! The blackness!” she muttered, barely turning to look at Jason, hugging him hard, just as Michael had stopped shaking her.
“I I’m glad that the blackness didn’t get you, Lisa!” finished Solaide, sighing, relieved that she was safe.
“Yes, she’s safe. But look at the blackness,” nodded King Dova, pointing north, momentarily watching the blackness move on. “It continues to move northwards.”
“If Michael Michael hadn’t noticed you weren’t ....” trembled Jason, his voice trailing off.
“No more me!” whispered Lisa, nodding. “Just the sight of that blackness ....” she mentally shivered, wiping away her hair that her sweat had plastered to her forehead.
“I know how you feel,” shivered Solaide, shaking his head, stepping forward and gently patting her shoulder. “Just looking at that blackness at any distance is frightening!”
“This isn’t the time nor the place to succumb to our fears,” interrupted King Dova, pointing northwards again. “We must quickly return to Castle Septceria and warn everybody about this blackness!”
“Yes! Let’s hurry!” nodded Solaide, starting to walk north by northeast, turning to gesture at the others, relieved that this part of the ground was remarkably stable. “I’m getting a sickening feeling that we’ll be facing a nightmarish adventure ahead of us!”
“Yeah,” whispered Michael, running ahead of the others, hoping to get as far away from the blackness as possible, as well as trying to avoid looking at it since it now occupied the entire western sky. “And I’ve got a funny feeling that the time I spent in Darkos’ dungeons would look heavenly in comparison!”
Chapter 3: The Nightmare Begins
“Oh, no!” cried Jason, pointing at the blackness that stood just west of the hill they now occupied. “Castle Septceria!” he cried, falling to his knees in desperation and exhaustion. “It’s it’s gone!”
“Doesn’t seem to be any hope left for Imaginatia, is there?” asked Lisa rhetorically, trying to remain optimistic despite the fact that the blackness darkened all of the western, the eastern, and all of the southern skies.
“B but, but,” stammered Michael, turning to look down at Jason for a second before turning to Lisa. “There is some hope for Imaginatia and us isn’t there?”
“There is always room for hope, Michael,” frowned King Dova, dropping his right arm upon his shoulders, sighing mournfully heavily. “Always. But, I really don’t know what we can do, now,” he continued on, gesturing all around them with his left hand. “Especially since we don’t know what that blackness thing ah, we really do need to know what it is ....”
“Or what caused it,” interrupted Michael, shaking his head, dropping by Jason’s side.
That was a question that couldn’t be easily answered. In fact, even the thoughtful Solaide was stunned silent. They had a question that needed to be answered but, how?
“How can this be happening to us?” thought Solaide, absentmindedly scratching his chin, as he slowly walked southwards, away from the others, studying the blackness that loomed all around them. “What supernatural forces are destroying Imaginatia? Is the fabric of our dimension that fragile?”
“I want to go home, now!” whispered Michael, blearily looking up into the sky, his eyes partially blinded now by tears. “I don’t like what’s happening here!! I want to go home!”
“Me too,” whispered Jason, though unheard by Michael as he continued to cry about Imaginatia’s and their own dire situation. “I want to go home! I want us to be safe at least if Reality’s in danger too I want to be with my mom and dad!”
“I want my daddy! I want my mommy!” wailed Michael, continuing to complain, his voice now clearly heard by everybody in the deafening silence of the others. “I really want to go home!”
“I don’t know what the others are thinking of,” thought Lisa, stopping to look up the hill after she, too, like Solaide, had left the others. “But, I feel completely helpless,” she continued on in her musings, silently watching the others suffer in their own private Hell. “Unlike the last time we were here, I don’t know what we should ...”
Lost in their own private thoughts, no one noticed that a mysterious golden light began to form around Solaide. Just at that moment when the light was considerably bright and noticeable, Lisa had decided that she wanted to talk with Solaide about her powers that she supposedly had in Imaginatia.
“I hope that Solaide has some idea of how I can help save Imaginatia. Somehow, in some way, he must know he has to know!” she finished, turning to her right and starting to walk south for she had seen him walk away from the others just a mere second or two before she started to walk away herself. And when Lisa turned in that direction to look for him, she joyfully cried out as her despair started to give way to hope.
“Look! Look!” cried Lisa, pointing at Solaide, running over to his side while jumping up and down with delight. “Something’s happening to Solaide! Something’s happening to Solaide!”
Startled by Lisa’s excited proclamation, the others stumbled over each other as they turned to look at him.
“Huh?” coughed Michael, tripping over Jason. “W What’s happening?!”
“Hey, Lisa,” coughed Jason, spinning around to face her. “Why did you scare us like that? Ahhhh, so, what’s happening to Solaide?” he pointed, becoming bug-eyed as his mouth hung open.
“Something’s happening... to me?” asked Solaide, carefully looking himself over. “I don’t see ...” he trailed, watching the ancient scrolls glowing with a golden light of its own floating free from his satchel. “The ancient scrolls!” he whispered, backing away from it while the golden cord, that bounded the ancient scrolls, began to unravel. “This could be what we’ve been hoping for!”
In a brilliant flash of white light, the ancient scrolls expanded to a size several thousands times normal. While the ancient scrolls revealed a blank page, Solaide and the others heard beautiful music as it began to pulse in a rainbow of happy bright colors.
“That’s pretty!” laughed Michael, pointing at the ancient scrolls, enjoying the music that surrounded him. “It sounds like a million angels singing!”
“Yes, it does!” agreed Jason, nodding. “And just when we’re in our darkest hour, a light beckons us forward with renewed hope and faith in ourselves!”
“Just in time, too!” confessed Lisa, smiling, as she and Solaide rushed up the hill to rejoin the others and to have a better view of the ancient scrolls’ page that was clearly visible only from the hilltop. “I was beginning to think that we wouldn’t ever succeed!”
“Look!” pointed Solaide, taking a half step in front of the others. “Something else is happening!”
As they watched, tiny pinpoints of brilliant white light began to dance across the blank page, just as the music reached a booming crescendo. Just seconds after those pinpoints of light had appeared, smaller, multi colored points of light began to appear forming words on the scroll’s blank page.
“Look!” pointed King Dova, stepping closer. “Words are appearing on the page!” he cried, reading the words out loud while the others read them silently.
A Journey begins with a single step
A single step through time
Be warned that Journey shall be perilous
In mind, body, and soul
Only the truly strong shall survive...
A powerful weapon has created a rift
Damaging the dimensional gateway
A Void true dimensional non existence threatens all
Know that the weapon also can restore
Use it carefully; for it’s very powerful
Only that ancient weapon shall save all
Do call for the ancients at Mythica
Their knowledge and power shall restore all
Both Imaginatia and Reality
It is your only hope
“A perilous Journey!” sighed Michael, looking away, his shoulders slumping lower than his shoes. “I don’t think I’m ready for any Journey....”
“Journey through... time?” exclaimed Lisa, speaking at the same time as Jason and Michael. “Just how are we suppose to travel through time?!”
Shaking his head, Jason frowned as he pointed at the ancient scrolls. “Even if we could travel through time ...” trailed Jason, turning to Solaide. “Where in time do we look?”
“I believe instinctively speaking, Jason we already know that,” began Solaide, sounding downhearted. “The real problem is finding out what weapon the ancient scrolls were referring to.”
“And use it without harming ourselves!” added King Dova, moving to Solaide’s side. “All our knowledge of the ancients now is what we can remember ....”
“But, how are we going to find this weapon of the ancients if we don’t know what to look for?” frowned Bearica, just as she, Sileide, and the others, arrived on the hilltop and had a chance to read the scrolls’ page and listen to what the others were talking about.
“It could take years to search all of the ancient realms!” commented Rheinas, shaking her head.
“And years to search time itself!” complained Horseile, turning bug eyed as she grabbed Solaide’s arm.
“Ancient weapon,” mused Sileide, deftly maneuvering around the others as they vocally and physically thrashed wildly about around her. “So, is that what caused all this?” she asked rhetorically, as she stopped by King Dova’s side. “And, traveling through time is the only way to resolve this catastrophe?”
“We don’t have time for that, Rheinas, Horseile!!” yelled Gorillos, throwing his arms up in exasperation. “The Void will have swept through all of Imaginatia by then!” he finished, reading the scroll’s second verse and interpreting it correctly. “Or, maybe we do have time if we can figure out how to travel through time, itself!”
Whispering and grumbling, the others vocalized their agreement with Gorillos’ sentiments.
“So, now what do we do?” asked Felino, stepping around the others, who were just continuing to vocally amble and mope around. “More than half of our homeland has already been destroyed by the Void!” he waved, gesturing to himself and Kittia.
“That, and the chaos that has taken hold of all our remaining people!” finished Kittia, trailing Felino as he made a path through the others to King Dova’s and Solaide’s sides.
“The same thing’s happening to our people, too!” exclaimed Elseire, turning to look at Elsoar while changing to an even darker shade of black.
“Please, everybody! Settle down! Settle down!” yelled King Dova, waving his hands over his head. “We must discuss this calmly and reasonably or fear will conquer our hearts and we’ll become non existent. Please, settle down! Settle down, now!”
“Yes, please settle down!” boomed Solaide, quickly resorting to his limited magic to amplify his voice so that he would be heard by everybody on the hilltop. “Please settle down everybody! We need your attention if we’re going to calmly and reasonably figure a way out of this ....”
“Yes, definitely, calmly and reasonably,” frowned Sileide, looking up and around them at the darkening sky, while Solaide continued to get everybody to settle down. “We must find a way to stop the Void!”
“Then, let’s go, now to Mythica!” yelled Ostrica, briefly looking at the Void for a second after everybody had settled down now. “We can’t waste any more time!”
“Yes,” muttered Gorillos, “we must find that weapon or else ....” Just at that moment, he thought of something. Although he turned to King Dova, his question was really directed at everybody. “What about the Mythcalian Sword?” he asked, continuing to look at King Dova before finally turning to look at the others. “Did anybody get it before Castle Septceria disappeared?”
Everybody sadly shook their heads. The Mythcalian Sword, which was in Castle Septceria’s throne room, was the one ancient weapon they should have had but didn’t. Gorillos’ hopeful look disappeared as he stared at the faces of his friends.
“You mean no one managed to get the Sword at all?”
“N no,” choked Terriki, shaking her head. “We just didn’t know it would be so important....”
“How were we to know it was so important?” whispered Kittia, dropping her head slightly before looking around at the others. “The ancient scrolls its message to us was just too late.”
“Nor did we have the time to get it,” whispered Bearica, barely loud enough for anybody to hear her, as she spoke at the same time as the others.
“Well, your majesty,” sighed Gorillos, looking down after he had turned back to look at King Dova. “Let’s hope it wasn’t the key to the Void....”
“Otherwise, we’re in trouble!” cried Jason, turning from Gorillos and glancing at Solaide. “The scrolls didn’t say that we could use any weapon just the one that created the Void!”
“Assuming the weapon we need is the Mythcalian Sword,” began Lisa, trying to sound hopeful, watching the ancient scrolls as it finished shrinking back to its normal size and had drifted back into Solaide’s open hand. “But, I’m sure we can find a suitable alternative.”
“Well, that may be possible!” interrupted King Dova, gesturing northwards. “But, we won’t know that until we get there. Let’s go and hope for the best!”
Chapter 4: Frayed Nerves
“How much further north do we have to go?” complained Michael, stopping at the top of a hill after they traveled north for several hours. “It seems like the Void has completely wiped out the western sky!”
“Yes, it has. But, we must continue northwards,” nodded King Dova, pointing off into the distance. “We have to get around it somehow.”
“But, if we continue on on this path,” frowned Sileide, pointing ahead towards a dark, cloudy area. “We’ll enter Nightmare Valley!”
“Nightmare ....” yelped Michael, spinning to Sileide, fear starting to grow in his eyes.
“No, not there!” whispered Bearica, who was at that time standing to the right of Sileide, speaking at the same time as Lisa. “Definitely not there! Not Nightmare Valley!” she shivered, already starting to dread and extremely dislike that small part of herself that had any fears.
“What’s Nightmare Valley?” asked Lisa, staring at the dark clouds hovering above a barely perceptible valley.
“Nightmare Valley,” began Solaide, sitting down on a small rocky outcropping as the others arrived on the hilltop. “Is an unexplored area of Imaginatia. Only the horrors of bad dreams and fears can be found there.”
“We’d have to be crazy to go through Nightmare Valley!” shivered Horseile. “It has been said that those foolish enough to enter there are forever doomed to live their worst fears and nightmares.”
“And, unless you can convince yourself that it’s only a horrible dream,” added Rhinos, glancing at those dark clouds before continuing on. “You’re going to wind up as one of those miserable shadows that haunt that accursed valley.”
“Doomed by your fears, forever!” echoed Terriki, trying to swallow her fears back down after being stuck in her throat. “With no chance of escaping Nightmare Valley!”
“So,” concluded Jason, turning to look at the dark clouds after hearing Imaginatia’s denizens complain about and fear it. “No one would intentionally go there. Right?”
“You got that right, Jason,” nodded Gorillos, playfully slapping him hard on the back, causing him to tumble forward and fall to the ground. “But, I’m sure we can find a way around ....”
But suddenly, another Imaginatia quake began. With the exception of Jason, who was still lying on the ground where it cracked and fell away into some quake formed abyss, the others were tossed down the opposite side of the hill. Reaching out, Jason managed to grab at some exposed tree roots as he fell down the abyss. Wrapping his legs around one of the tree roots, Jason slid to a stop as his downward inertia began to whip him towards the abyss’ wall.
“Owwww!” he screamed, trying to maintain his grip on the slippery root as he kicked his feet outwards, trying to prepare himself to absorb the next impact with the abyss’ wall with his legs. “Help Owwwww! me!” he screamed out loud, reaching up with his right hand, trying to maintain his position as he continued a slow slide downwards.
Still proceeding with a climbing motion, Jason managed to make great progress of staying where he was on the slippery tree root. After he was no longer being smashed into the wall, Jason concentrated his efforts on climbing out of the abyss.
“Now to get out of ....” breathed Jason, looking up during a brief lull in the debris fall raining down all around him. “Oh, no!” he howled, watching a large boulder tumble free. “There’s no way I can avoid getting hit ....”
Fortunately, that falling boulder supported the tree root that Jason clung to. And as both the boulder and the tree root began to fall, Jason felt himself dropping out of the way.
“Whew!” gasped Jason, rubbing the sweat off his forehead. “That was close! And, oh ....” he wailed, as his tree root snapped free, hurling him down the abyss. “No ooo ooo!”
Just managing to reach the edge of the abyss, Lisa, Michael, and the others, sadly watched Jason fall to certain doom.
“Jason!” cried Lisa, instinctively reaching down to him, almost falling down the abyss herself as the others held her back. “Jason!”
“Poor Jason,” whispered Michael, turning away. “I will miss him. He was always a good friend!”
“Yes, he was,” frowned Solaide, shaking his head, starting to pull the others away from the abyss’ edge. “The saddest moment in life is when we lose a good friend or loved ....”
“Not if I can do anything about it!” cried somebody, her voice coming from somewhere up behind them, just as a blur of gray and mostly several shades of brown zoomed by overhead, creating a strong rush of wind that knocked everybody backwards onto their rear ends. “Hold on, my dear!” she cried out loud, as several of her friends beneath her managed to identify her despite her flying faster than they could readily see. “I’m coming!”
“Wha Who?” stuttered Rheinas, looking up.
“Hey!” complained Rhinos, as he nearly fell down the abyss. “Wh watch where you’re flying, Valkyra!” he cried out loud, shaking his fist in the air as he was the first to recognize her voice.
“Look!” laughed Felino, safely pointing towards the edge of the abyss since he was one of the few who was half way down the hilltop and still trailing the others. “It’s Valkyra! It’s Valkyra!”
“Valkyra to the rescue!” yelled Valkyra, pausing a moment long enough to nod at the others before zooming down the abyss, aiming straight for Jason.
“Just take it easy!” she laughed, arching closer in a dance that showcased her flying ability. “I got you!” she exulted, deftly curving upwards as the howling wind whistling in Jason’s ears stopped.
“W what? W who?” blurted Jason, opening his eyes, surprised to hear a strange but friendly voice.
“Now, my dear,” continued Valkyra, fluttering up the abyss in a much slower, happy and carefree manner. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Valkyra. To which human do I have the pleasure of addressing?”
“My my name is Jason, Jason Anderson,” he smiled, somewhat breathlessly, looking up for a moment before turning to look at her.
“Pleased to meet you, Jason,” nodded Valkyra, just as she and Jason flew over the edge of the abyss. “I’m happy to know you.”
“Ah, me me too,” breathed Jason, still panting heavily, still quite recovering from that fall into the abyss. “Ah th thank you, V Valkyra!”
“You’re welcome, Jason,” smiled Valkyra, flying above the others and setting down on an empty spot, while Lisa and Michael ran to where Valkyra was landing.
Just as they landed, Jason was about to formally introduce Valkyra to Michael and Lisa, when Solaide interrupted.
“We don’t have time for pleasantries, now, Jason,” he began, looking left and right along the edges of the abyss. “It’ll take a lot of time to find a way around this abyss!”
“Indeed,” sighed King Dova, turning away. “And under the current circumstances, we may have to go through Nightmare Valley!”
In unison, everybody turned to him. “Why?” they asked, in bug eyed disbelief.
“We won’t be able to survive in Nightmare Valley!” protested Sileide, frantically pointing at it. “It would be foolish to go through there!”
“Do we have to?” complained Elseire, turning a grayish black. “I don’t want to become a permanent resident there!”
“Nor see those horrible nightmares!” echoed Ostrica, mirroring Elseire’s feelings.
Ignoring their protestations, King Dova shook his head, now even more resolutely sure of his decision. “Because of the abyss,” he explained, turning to the bravest and the strongest of the others who were listening. “We don’t have time to go around it; we must take the shortest and dangerous path through Nightmare Valley!”
“Just how much time would we lose if we went around it?” asked Jason, shaking his head and pointing at the dark clouds.
“A lot,” answered Solaide, after a moment’s thought. “We’d have to return to where Castle Septceria was, before heading northeast.”
“Then, we must go through Nightmare Valley!” finished Lisa, frowning as she nodded. “We don’t have a choice, do we, your majesty?”
“No, we don’t,” agreed Jason, clapping a hand on Lisa’s shoulders. “That’s probably what the ancient scrolls meant when it stated that our ‘Journey shall be perilous in mind, body, and soul’.”
“But, how are we going to get there?” asked Michael, pointing at the huge abyss. “If we can’t get around this abyss, we’re doomed anyway!”
“Michael’s right!” frowned Sileide, shaking her head. “It’s too wide and too deep for us to cross it.”
“Then,” frowned King Dova, shaking his head and pointing east. “We have to go east, until we find a place where we can cross it.”
Unfortunately, as they moved alongside the southern side of the abyss, heading east, the ground became more rockier and more steeper.
“This ground’s too steep!” cried Jason, a few hours later, slipping on some loose rocks, losing his balance for a moment, somehow managing to stay on his feet.
“Too steep,” moaned Michael, nearly sliding off the edge of the abyss. “It’s definitely getting too steep!”
“I have to agree, your majesty,” nodded Sileide, grabbing Michael as he slipped and fell down again. “It’s getting too dangerous to continue on!”
King Dova stopped and turned around to face the others. He saw them nod their heads in vocal agreement with Sileide.
“Too dangerous, your majesty!” called Felino, managing to pull Kittia safely away from the edge. “Even for us.”
“We have no choice but to turn back!” frowned Lisa, turning to look back. “And choose a different course.”
“Let’s go that way!” pointed King Dova, gesturing to a clearly visible rocky pathway that led upwards and away from the abyss. “It’s rather steep, but I think we can climb up to the top of that rocky outcropping and up to safer ground.”
“Yes, I think we could go that way, your majesty,” responded Valkyra, returning to the others after scouting the terrain ahead of them for the past several hours. “If we went that way which is one of the ways I’ve been investigating despite a lot of climbing, I think we could safely get around Nightmare Valley and on to level ground.”
“Then, we would save a lot of time of not having to return to Castle Septceria in order to go around this abyss?”
“Yes, your majesty,” nodded Valkyra, gently flapping her wings as a way to help keep her balance on this considerably sloping ground. “But, as I said before: we would still be doing a lot of climbing before we got to level ground ....”
“Yes, yes, of course,” waved King Dova, turning to the others as he somewhat callously ignored her warning. “Come on, all of you!” he called out loud, gesturing up the rocky pathway. “That’s the way to go! That way!”
“Yes,” nodded Solaide, watching Felino and Kittia literally run up the pathway, quickly disappearing around a bend. “But, please, everybody! Watch your step! Take your time!”
“Yes, please do!” groaned Lisa, after Rhinos started to run after Felino and Kittia only to lose his balance and slid into her. “Watch out, Rhinos! Watch out!”
“Sorry, Lisa!” frowned Rhinos, rolling away from her before standing up. “When Felino and Kittia ran up the pathway, they made it look like it was very easy to traverse!”
“Blunderer!” whispered Bearica, shaking her head.
“Staggerer!” whispered Horseile, rolling her eyes as she looked away from Rhinos.
“Stumblerer!” laughed Terriki, as she, Horseile, and Bearica, quietly but quite obviously laughed at Rhinos amongst themselves.
“Yes, Rhinos!” mocked Rheinas, slapping his back as she ignored their laughing contempt of Rhinos. “But, unlike them, you’re not small, lightweight, and nimble. You can’t pretend to be like somebody else you must learn to be you!”
“Clumsy moron!” laughed Terriki, clapping her hands over her mouth, trying not to laugh, as they all turned to watch King Dova reprimand Rhinos.
“Yes, clumsy,” agreed Lisa, after hearing Terriki’s comment, still rubbing her legs where Rhinos crashed into her. “They have certain abilities that you don’t have, and you have certain abilities that they don’t have. Try not to confuse yourself on what you can do, and what they can do, because, they’re different.”
“Yes, Rhinos, dear,” nodded Valkyra, trying to sound as if it wasn’t a big issue to get upset over. “You must try to be more careful, dear.”
“All right! All right! I’m sorry!” yelled Rhinos, tossing his hands into the air, becoming edgy. “I’ll try to be more careful!”
“Settle down, Rhinos!” reprimanded King Dova, frowning, displeased over his attitude over this little incident. “We don’t have time to deal with this! We can settle any problems after our Journey is finished! Is that understood?!”
Without looking back, Rhinos merely grunted. “Yes, your majesty,” he growled in a low voice. “I understand.”
“Good,” nodded Solaide, watching King Dova walk climb past by him and continue up the pathway, still visibly angry. “I hope this matter is considered settled. We don’t need any more distractions, Rhinos! And.... Wow!” thought Solaide, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’ve never seen him this angry before. With the fate of Reality and Imaginatia in jeopardy ....”
“Come on, Solaide! Come on!” called King Dova, looking back down the pathway at him. “We don’t have time to waste! Quit thinking and start climbing!”
Shocked, there was nothing Solaide could do except to stare at him.
“And stop looking at me like that!” scolded King Dova, turning around. “Move it, Solaide! Move it!!”
Shaking his head, Solaide tried to clear his mind. “I I’m sure it’s just the distressing situation of our current problem. I’m sure he’ll be all right once Imaginatia’s safe.” Looking up, Solaide watched King Dova disappear around the bend before starting to move. “I hope!”
Chapter 5: Lost Hope?
When Solaide finally reached the “top” of this rocky pathway, he found the others lying down on the relatively, considerably, level ground, begging King Dova to stop harassing them.
“... I don’t care what you say!” screamed King Dova, his voice booming off the surrounding rocky walls. “But, we’re moving on! Get up! Get up, now! Do as I say!”
The others shook their heads while Solaide moved behind King Dova.
“No way! I’m tired!” cried Ostrica defiantly, barely flinching when King Dova thrust his face closer to hers. “And I’m sure the others are tired, too!”
“That’s not an excuse!” yelled King Dova, grabbing Bearica and dragging her to her feet, while the others moaned and groaned their agreement with Ostrica. “Would you rather be non existent, instead?!”
“Leave her alone, your majesty!” interrupted Sileide, placing her hand on his. “She’s tired! As we all are!” she said, gently, gesturing towards the others. “Can’t you see that?”
King Dova stopped yelling long enough to look deeply into Bearica’s tired and frightened eyes. His only response was to let her go. Falling back to the ground, Bearica crawled a few feet away from him before dropping to the ground, completely exhausted.
“See, your majesty!” cried Rheinas, pointing at Bearica. “We’re just too tired to continue on!”
“Yes, your majesty!” nodded Solaide, dropping his left hand on his right shoulder. “What’s the point of trying to save Imaginatia, if we’re just too tired to move?” he asked, gesturing to those who had totally ignored them and had fallen asleep. “I think we should stay here for the night and continue on in the morning.”
“Oh! Very well, then,” grumbled King Dova, after a second had passed by and he had scanned the faces of those who were still awake and watching him closely. “It’s getting too dark to continue on, anyway. But, at first light tomorrow,” he growled on, shaking his fist in front of Solaide’s face. “We move on. Understand?!”
Nodding, Solaide slowly backed away. “Understood, your majesty.”
“Morning!” sang Lisa, as usual, awaking before the morning sun had a chance of rising half way above the eastern horizon. Stretching her arms over her head and taking a deep breath, Lisa jumped to her feet and looked around. “I guess I’m not the only one who’s awake this early in the morning....” noticed Lisa, attracted by some voices and movement along the fringes of the sleeping encampment.
“... And I’m sorry for the way I was acting yesterday,” finished King Dova.
“You don’t have to apologize, your majesty,” soothed Solaide, dropping his hand on his shoulder. “I would feel the same way about our situation if I were you.”
“You have every right to try to push the others to try and save themselves from the Void ....” added Sileide, speaking immediately after Solaide finished talking, after seeing King Dova still shame faced and apologetic.
“Yes, yes, yes, I know that,” interrupted King Dova, still looking down, before finally looking up now at their consoling and understanding faces. “B but, you don’t bear the burden of being the leader. I am responsible for their safety as well as yours and mine,” he continued on, pointing at Solaide and Sileide before gesturing to himself with a shrug and a sigh. “If the Void ....”
“But, you can’t assume responsibility for that, your majesty!” cried Lisa, walking closer to them. “No one can! It can never be your fault!”
“Lisa!” startled Solaide, nearly falling off the rock he had just recently sat down upon. “Y you surprised me!”
“Lisa,” nodded Sileide, turning to her, now even though she had seen her approached them during their conversation. “Good dawning of the day to you.”
“Morning, Sileide,” greeted Lisa, acknowledging her and noting that she was the only one who noticed her and surreptitiously nodded to her before she reached them.
“What are you doing up so early this morning, Lisa?” asked King Dova, recovering quickly, standing up and speaking at the same time as Solaide and Sileide. “I presumed that everybody would still be sleeping.”
“So, you decided to have a private conference with Solaide and Sileide, right?” asked Lisa, sitting down on the same rock that Solaide had occupied moments ago, which he had proffered to her. “I heard what you were talking about and Sileide and Solaide’s right,” nodded Lisa, nodding her thanks to Solaide for the rock, before gesturing to him. “You mustn’t take it so personally, your majesty, if Imaginatia does become non existent. It’s not your fault, you know!”
“It would be, Lisa, if I felt like I failed to lead my people wisely,” began King Dova, sitting on a vacant rock that was one feet away from Lisa’s rock, while Solaide and Sileide shook their heads and voicelessly mouthed their words of protestations.
“Even when you start belittling them for ‘failures’ that can’t be prevented?” asked Lisa, sliding closer to King Dova, while Solaide and Sileide merely stood where they were.
King Dova hesitated before nodding sadly. “Their ‘failures’ are mine, too, Lisa,” he began, looking down for a moment as if ashamed about the prospects that he might fail them. “That’s merely an unfortunate trait of a good leader we take the ‘failures’ of others as our own.”
“Does that include ‘successes’ as well?” asked Lisa, gently placing her hand on his arm.
“No, never!” frowned King Dova, looking up and feebly smiling. “A good leader never takes credit for someone else’s achievements.”
“Well,” began Lisa, winking at Sileide and Solaide before turning to face Dova again. “You’ve managed to lead us this far without any problems. This is one success that you have to take all the credit.”
“Lisa’s right, your majesty,” nodded Solaide, kneeling by Dova’s side. “You earned this one.”
“Quite agree with that fact, your majesty,” smiled Sileide, patting him gently on the back, while speaking nearly at the same time as Solaide. “Lisa’s right. You’ve led us to this point in a most regal and calm demeanor I would at least be on the verge of insanity and ....”
King Dova’s smile grew larger while they spoke such comforting and uplifting comments until he finally burst out with a little laugh. “Yes, yes, yes,” he laughed, standing up now, nodding appreciatorily to each one in turn. “You’re right, Lisa. Sileide. Solaide. I do feel better now. Thank you. Thank you all for being a good friend.”
“You’re welcome, your majesty,” smiled Lisa, curtsying. “After all, that’s what friends are for!”
“I am honored by your thanks, your majesty,” nodded Sileide, speaking immediately after Lisa had finished. “It has always been a pleasure to serve as your assistant advisor since you had always accepted our advice with passion and wisdom.”
“Same here, your majesty,” agreed Solaide, smiling greatly now that King Dova was no longer so disillusioned. “Same here.”
Still smiling, King Dova turned to look at the high rocky mountain walls that surrounded them. And, as the still early morning sunlight reflected off those high mountains, his smile dissolved into a frown.
“There’s only one way we can go,” he said, spinning around to the south to point up the mountain, where a low ridge created some sort of path up and around the mountain opposite from the pathway where they had entered this little plateau the night before. “Besides going back the way we came from,” he finished, turning to look back that way with a slightly more emphasis in his frown.
“Agreed,” nodded Solaide, looking up the mountain. “Not much of a choice, is it?”
“Nor what seems to be a good choice either,” agreed Lisa, noting now just how steep that pathway really was.
“But, yet,” chimed Sileide, raising her voice so that they heard her. “Any time we come to what appears to be a dead end, it is far better to have a choice any choice than none at all.”
“No, not really a good choice, but, as Sileide said, at least we have one,” agreed Lisa, turning to look at her friends, sighing at the pathetic nature of this choice. “And, it seems that we’ll be doing a lot of climbing today.”
Sighing himself, Solaide turned to look at the others. “Let’s wake up the others and get going,” he finished, moving towards the closest sleeping group.
“Yes, let’s get going,” agreed Sileide, gesturing to Lisa to follow her to the group on the opposite side of their encampment. “If we want to avoid wasting time and save Imaginatia ....”
“... And Reality, too,” nodded Lisa, quickly following after Sileide, stopping after a few yards to turn back and look at King Dova. “Your majesty, how about helping Solaide to wake up the others here, while Sileide and I wake up the others on the far side of our encampment?”
“Yes, I will do that, Lisa. It is time we moved on,” nodded King Dova, looking up the mountain pathway. “And besides that, I have to apologize to the others for my rude behavior yesterday.”
Despite all his fears that the others might not accept his apologies, King Dova found that after a good night’s sleep, everybody was willing to forget about last night’s incident.
“You don’t have to apologize to us, your majesty,” laughed Rhinos, clapping his hands on his shoulders. “We know what you were going through.”
“Precisely what some of us had concluded secretly when we talked about it last night,” agreed Felino, nodding and gesturing to Bearica, Terriki, Ostrica, and Kittia. “We know, now, that you do care about our prospective fates, your majesty ....”
“Yeah, your majesty,” laughed Bearica, interrupting Felino, quickly giving King Dova a hug. “If we’re not willing to forgive a friend’s mistakes, then who will? And besides that, we were just as wrong as you were. How could we blame you when we didn’t have the right to accuse you?”
“Our fault, too,” echoed Ostrica.
“No mistake, your majesty. We know you care about us and we shouldn’t complain about that ” agreed Kittia, pausing a moment as she stretched and yawned. “Especially if we become tired and frustrated like last night.”
“Yes, your majesty,” nodded Terriki, speaking up after she had finished stifling a yawn herself. “When people become frustrated and exhausted, people become irritable as well. We’ll just need to remember to take more rest breaks.” Looking up the mountain for a second, Terriki turned back to the others. “And, I think we’re going ....”
“Oh, no!” cried Michael, instantly falling down as another brief, but intense, Imaginatia quake rattled through them.
“Imaginatia quake! Not another one! Blasted quakes are making me feel sick! Stupid quakes!” echoed the others, as they all fell down hard to the ground or wound up falling on top of somebody else.
“Stupid quakes, I wish they would s stop!” screamed Ostrica, her eyes bugging out just as she saw Rhinos suddenly teetering over her fallen body, breathing a small sigh of relief when Rhinos, fortunately, just barely fell down by her side instead.
“Oh, my head,” moaned Jason, stumbling to his feet after the shaking stopped. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that. Not even in earthquake prone California do we experience that many.”