Saving Sakhmet: Part Four

by princess_zelda38

I had a feeling that Sloth was not quite done with us. How right I was. We walked into the Desert and saw that all was chaos. Sloth's army was turning innocent Desert dwellers into mutants and buildings were worn and broken.

Bryte was standing, when she dashed out to try and save an Aisha who was in the path of a Grundo Commander's gun.

Before we could even react, Scarab had dashed out and knocked the Acara and Aisha out of harm's way, but he hadn't moved quite fast enough, the gun's ray had hit him.

"Scarab!" yelled Bryte. She rushed to his side and held him in her arms, as his Desert features slowly became those of a mutant. Turning to me, she wiped away her tears, picked up her staff and shouted an ancient Desert war cry.

"Eeeeeeeeeeyaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" The staff glowed and sand swirled around the Grundo Commander. With a thump, the commander fell to the ground.

Bryte_Fyre ran over to where we were clustered around Scarab and held his hand.

He looked at Bryte and said, "I'm sorry I couldn't help more."

"No, you did fine, Scarab. Just fine."

"My princess, here!" The Lost Desert Aisha she had just saved handed her a Lost Desert Kacheek Morphing Potion. With shaking hands, she poured it over Scarab's head and watched as he changed. Scarab gave her a long hug.

"Now might be a good time to go. I don't see any guards," said Ari.

We all dashed towards the direction of Sakhmet, but I pointed out it was dark, so we decided to spend the night at the nearby oasis. Bryte made us all beds out of the sand, and Tide kept first watch.

I saw Tide stand up in the middle of his watch. He went to the oasis pool, touched the water, and turned into Sloth! Sloth turned to my direction, so I pretended to be asleep. He then touched the water again and the real Tide came out, struggling. I couldn't stand it any longer, so I ran and snatched Tide out from under Sloth's nose.

Sloth cursed and disappeared, but he had left his staff! I picked it up and crawled back into my bed, holding a very shaky Tide in my arms.

The next morning Tide and I explained what had happened. So, we all agreed that we would have to learn how to use the staff better before we could take on Sloth.

"Let's go to Sutek's Scrolls," said Hiteru. "Maybe they have scrolls that could explain how to use it."

"Agreed," said Bryte. I noticed as we walked to the shop that Bryte_Fyre was holding Scarab's hand, and I began to smile.

"We need something to explain how to use the Staff of Pyrimidaria," Bryte explained.

"I have just the thing for you, princess." The Nimmo handed her an Advanced Curses, Scrolls of Light, and Eye-Sha.

"Thank you," said Bryte.

"I think we should go back to the oasis and try those spells out, huh Bryte?" asked Scarab.

"Yes. Sloth would no expect us to go back there so soon," I agreed.

The Desert sand was hot, so I brought out some sandals I'd gotten at the Marketplace and we all put them on.

At the (slightly) cooler oasis, we sat under a palm tree and read and practiced until the next day.

As we approached what was left of Sakhmet, I had an increasingly bad feeling, as if something were not right. When we reached the gates, a swirl of purple smoke, and then the Dark Faerie appeared.

"You think I'd let you get off with ruining my plushie that easily? I'm not letting you in."

"If we do something for you, will you let us pass?" asked Bryte quietly.

"If you get me a necklace made of pieces of the hearts of all the eight lands, then I will let you pass." Bryte didn't trust the Dark Faerie completely, and neither did Scarab.

"We must make it a deal in front of the Faerie Queen," Scarab said. The Faerie looked annoyed, but said, "Deal."

And there we were, in front of the Faerie Queen.

We made the deal then and their. When the Dark Faerie had left, I went to the PetPet stall and asked the shopkeeper what is a heart of a world.

"Well, they are crystals hidden inside true and righteous people and pets (usually leaders of the world). They are needed to keep the world in balance. You can, however, chip a small piece of without hurting world or holder."

"Thank you," said Hiteru.

"Very much," added Tide.

Then the shopkeeper took us to the food shop and bought us a big Faerie Fantastic Faerienana Split. What a generous person!

"Well, what about the Faerie Queen? She's right here, and she probably holds the Heart of Faerieland," said Aristothonea.

"You're right, Ari," said Hiteru.

"Yeah, let's go!" shouted Tide.

So we went to the palace and said we needed to talk to the Faerie Queen again. A lame Faerie Korbat was the guard.

"Let me help you," said Scarab and Bryte together. They helped the Korbat onto her feet. Hiteru was there to support her along with Tide, and I caught her by the wings.

"You may pass. Thank you."

"Yes, you may have a chip of my heart, for I know your quest is noble." The Faerie Queen then drew a piece of skin back from her palm, revealing a small, pink crystal. She chipped off a small piece, and gave it to Scarab, who put it in a small bag.

"Do not worry, the Dark Faerie cannot use the necklace, I know she only wants it for her collection," the Faerie Queen said, smiling.

We walked out and waved to the Korbat guards. Bryte looked at us and sighed. "If only we'd walked."

The End