Refugees

  Chapter 30

  Trees - Brina

  There was so much to be done in preparing for my trip that the next few days just flew by. My whole family helped me with all of my packing, although only I could make some of the decisions about what to bring and what to leave behind. Whatever was left behind, I might never see again, but I also didn’t want to pack too heavily. Whatever I packed would be loaded into bags or barrels and onto the pulley system along which it would travel to the boat dock. There was only so much room on the boat, so we had each been told to limit what we brought. After the boat, I had no picture of where I was going or what I would need.

  I did not want to part with the collection of small carved wooden animals that Papa had made for me. There was a magpie, an owl, a bat, a squirrel, a possum, a boar, a hare, a deer, and lots of songbirds. He had even made a lion. I put all these in a silk bag and tied it with a string, knowing I would treasure the contents forever.

  Papa came into the room where I was crouched on the floor with my bag. I held up the bag toward him. “In this bag are my most prized possessions, next to Eej, that is,” I said with a grin.

  “What is in it?” Papa asked.

  “The wooden animals you carved for me,” I exclaimed.

  Papa smiled. “I’m so glad you like them. I have some other treasures for you to put in that bag.”

  I was suddenly intrigued. Had he made me another carving? I wondered. I waited with anticipation.

  Papa held out a strange looking object that was about the length of one of my fingers, made of a beautiful blue stone, with engravings on its curved sides and a string threaded through the center of it. Since it was stone and not wood, I knew that my Papa probably had not made it.

  “What is it?’ I asked, curious but disappointed that it was not another carved animal.

  “It is a Glider heirloom, which has been passed down for many generations. When you were a baby, Baskrod instructed me to give it to you after the new star appears, before you set off on your journey to Tzoladia. I have kept it for you all these years.”

  I took the cylindrical stone in my hand and turned it around and around. “It looks like a necklace,” I said and started to put it around my neck.

  Papa stopped me. ‘I think for now you should not display this. It seems best to keep it hidden until you meet up with Baskrod. He will explain to you about the boy whose back is covered in scales layered like a pinecone that you must find in Tzoladia.”

  “A boy with a back like a pinecone? Papa, your words sound like riddles.”

  I had always been good at solving riddles and learning languages. Papa sometimes made up riddles for me to guess.

  “But this is not a riddle. According to Baskrod, once you arrive in Tzoladia, it is important for you to find a boy named Moshoi. He is unlike any boy that you have ever met, since he grows scales on his back and on his chin. I believe the boy should be carrying a seal very much like this one.”

  The description of the boy made him sound like a monster. Confused but curious, I studied the blue cylinder in my hand. It had carvings all around it, a hole on each end, and a smaller hole along the side.

  “But what is this for?” I asked, holding it up toward Papa.

  “Baskrod called it a Titilanzur Seal,” Papa said. “I believe it is one of the three seals from the star prophecy.”

  “Titilanzur seal…” I repeated thoughtfully. I had memorized the prophecy of the new star at a very young age, and repeated it for Baskrod often over the years. Three seals guard the land where the hidden treasure lies. Now here was a riddle. I was intrigued.

  “But in the prophecy there are three seals. So who has the third one?”

  “A boy with webbed feet like a duck.”

  “You’re not serious. Papa, are you teasing me?”

  “I know it sounds unbelievable, but I am quite serious, Brina. Those are the directions that Baskrod gave to me when he gave me the seal. I believe it is best to keep the seal a secret, until you can discuss it with Baskrod.”

  “I will,” I assured him as I untied the bag of treasures and tucked the seal inside. I suddenly realized Papa had his other hand behind his back, which made me very excited, because it meant it might be a present from Papa.

  “What’s in your other hand?” I said, playfully tugging at his arm.

  He put his other hand behind his back, and brought out the arm that I had tugged on, just like he did when I was a little girl, and showed me the open palm. I knew the game well, so I tugged on his other arm. Finally, I tried to walk around behind him to look, which caused him to laugh and he finally presented the treasure to me.

  It was the most wonderful creature I had ever seen. It had scales on the back of its head and back like a pinecone. Instead of glides, it had large open wings like those of an owl, a spiked ridge that ran from its head down along its spine to the end of its long tail, and its back feet were webbed like those of a duck. I turned it over in my hands and laughed with delight. I did not have to ask what it was. I knew it was one of the singing winged creatures that flew among the stars in the song of the beginning. It was a dragon.

  “Oh Papa,” I exclaimed. “It’s wonderful!” And I threw my arms around his neck, “Thank you!”