“Her minions looks like those things Jade and I’s make,” Amber commented with a frown.
“You’s make minions?” Roam asked with delight. “Are theys cool?”
“Yes, really cool! Theys goes around likes this,” Amber and Jade replied together, making weird faces and holding their mouths open while waving their hands in the air. “But, theys good symbiots. Theys don’t steal babies.”
“No, we plays with them all the times,” Amber said. “Well, before Symba eats them ups.”
“Can you makes more?” Zohar asked suddenly with a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Of course,” the twins said in unison. “Why?”
“’Cause if the Queen thinks she’s going to get our baby cousins, then we’s are going to be ready,” Zohar stated.
“But… How?” Bálint asked with a frown.
“We’s need an army of minions of our own,” Zohar replied. “This is what we’s are goings to do.”
The small group gathered around Zohar as he laid the illustration down on the floor, and listened as he outlined what they were going to do to stop the Queen from stealing the babies. Tiny heads nodded up and down in agreement, no one but Phoenix saw the two shadowy golden figures hovering in the corner listening avidly to the kids planning their battle against the evil Queen.
9
Arilla followed her sister below the palace. She felt a moment of misgiving for disobeying Aikaterina’s instructions to behave, but she pushed it away. She and Arosa weren’t necessarily ‘misbehaving’ – they were visiting the younglings in the hope of learning and understanding more about the species.
“Did you hear them? They are growing so fast!” Arilla commented the moment they rematerialized in the castle.
“Yes, and so brave. This is different from the other structures that the human has built,” Arosa reflected, looking at the large white columns and the ceiling. With a wave of her hand, the ceiling changed, becoming a window to the vast universe far beyond. "That is much better.”
“Remember what Aikaterina said before she left,” Arilla reminded her sister.
“What harm could there be in seeing the beauty of the worlds beyond this one?” Arosa asked, glancing up at the ceiling again. “Come, let us explore.”
“Aikaterina says that each time we touch other lives we could inadvertently change the course of their history and potentially those of others that we may not even be aware of,” Arilla said as she followed her sister.
“We would not be here if not for them,” Arosa pointed out with a wave of one slender golden hand. “Besides, Aikaterina is too busy to worry about what we are doing here.”
“I fear for her, Arosa,” Arilla said, gliding into a room that was filled with books.
Startled, Arosa looked at her sister. “Why do you fear for her? She is an ancient, one of the most powerful of our species.”
Arilla ran a delicate finger along the spines, puzzled as to why the books were not real. She thought about her sister’s response. It was true that Aikaterina was one of the most powerful of their species, an ancient, born during the creation of the cosmos. She and her sister were very young by comparison to Aikaterina, just a few million years old. They had barely traveled the galaxies through the vast dimensions of infinite space.
Their species were wanderers – travelers among the vastness of space and time. Their purpose was to learn, to spread life among the stars, and to observe, but not interfere. They were made up of the energy that helped create the stars and planets. But, as long lived and powerful as they were, even their energy could be drained. Aikaterina never talked much about how she had come to be on Valdier, saying only that the very essence of the world had saved her from certain death.
They did not fear death, it was a part of the cycle of the universe. No, it was the curiosity from knowing there was still so much to learn that kept their essences from fading to dust. That was what kept their species alive. They were powerful enough to erase an entire star system with a swipe of their hand, but to do so would be to upset the cosmic balance they were sworn to keep. They were there to study and to share life, not take it.
Never in their existence had that power been altered – until the one named Raffvin Reykill discovered a way to alter the positive energy that gave life to them and the symbiots. He had changed that power into something dark and dangerous.
Arilla felt a shimmer of unease rush through her when she remembered the death of another of their kind. Raffvin’s dark energy had attacked and destroyed the beautiful living entity. A strange sensation filled Arilla at the memory. The more time that she and Arosa spent near the Valdier palace, the more powerful those sensations became – almost like they were….
“Arosa,” Arilla called out in a soft, reflective voice as she turned to look into a mirrored surface.
“Yes, sister,” Arosa replied.
“Do you think it is possible for us to have feelings?” Arilla asked, studying her face.
“Feelings?” Arosa repeated. “Yes. I feel my energy warm when I am around the younglings and their parents. The energy rises and falls like the waves along the shores of the Hive. If those are feelings, then, yes, I believe we are capable of having them. Why do you ask?”
Arilla lifted a shimmering hand and gently touched her cheek. She pulled it away and studied the moisture on the tip. She turned and gazed back at her sister.
“Look?” She whispered, holding out a slender arm. “What is this?”
Arosa glided over and stared at the drop of moisture glittering on the tip of Arilla’s finger. She reached out and touched the drop, watching as it disappeared. She gazed back at Arilla with a tilt of her head.
“What were you thinking of?” Arosa asked.
“Of our sister that died,” Arilla admitted. “A great heaviness filled me, as if my energy was being pulled away, and then this appeared.”
“It is a tear,” Arosa murmured, reaching out to touch her sister’s still damp cheek. She stroked it with her thumb. “I can feel the heaviness in you. I believe the human female’s call it – sadness.”
“Is it like when the little ones cry when they are hurt?” Arilla asked in confusion.
“No,” Arosa replied with a shake of her head. “It is when the pain is in here.”
Arosa gently laid her hand against Arilla’s still chest. “It is when their heart hurts,” she explained.
“But, we do not have a heart,” Arilla murmured with a confused glance down at Arosa’s hand. “How can that be?”
“I do not know,” Arosa admitted. “But, the more time we spend with this species, the more I feel a change deep within me. My energy rises higher than ever before at times, seeking to expand outward.”
“Yes,” Arilla agreed in awe. “Their power is like that of the Curizan unleashed.”
“But, also with the strength captured in the heart of the Sarafin,” Arosa agreed.
“Do you think Aikaterina has ever felt this?” Arilla asked in a hesitant voice. “Do you think she knows what it is like to feel?”
Arosa hugged her sister. “Yes, it is part of who we are – our capacity to learn, to grow, and to explore as we grow older.” She pulled back and glanced around. “Come, let us do all of that now. I am curious about what the young ones will do.”
Arilla watched as her sister turned and continued to explore. For a moment, she glanced down at the slender fingers of her left hand. They had taken this form more frequently since the humans arrived. They found the shape to be very pleasing and knew that the young ones were unafraid of this physical form.
“Arilla?” Arosa called to her.
“Feelings,” Arilla murmured in amazement before she shook her head and smiled.
10
“Symba! Don’t eats them,” Jade complained to the huge golden symbiot lying on the floor near the replicator. “You’s eating all ours minions.”
“How’s we supposed to makes an army if you’s eating all our warriors?
” Amber added, pushing another small section of gold into the replicator. “You’s can eats them after we saves the babies.”
Symba snorted and drew a long, silky tongue over his sharp teeth. Amber just scowled at the huge golden symbiot that had changed from a massive bear into the shape of a large bird of prey. She leaned over and tugged one of the squirming deformed figures out from under his left talon.
“You’s not helping,” she snapped before carefully placing the figure into the small bucket and quickly covering the top so that it couldn’t escape. “How many mores do you thinks we gots to make?”
“Zohar said we’s gots to have all the buckets full,” Jade said, glancing at the door leading down to their parent’s bedroom. “We’s have to hurry. I’s hear Mommy.”
“Cans we use her new cloner insteads? It worked on our robot,” Amber asked, taking another handful of the creatures when Jade pulled them out.
“No,” Jade said with a shake of her head. “I’s already tried. It don’t work rights. Good, Symba!”
Amber smiled when Symba gingerly picked up one of the deranged creatures and carefully placed it in one of the empty buckets. She placed her handful of the creatures in with it and covered the top.
“I’s better hide these,” Amber whispered when she heard the sound of her mom giggling.
“We’s gots time,” Jade said with confidence. “Daddy is making Mommy giggles. That means they’s doing yucky stuff likes kissing.”
“Yew!” Amber replied with a wiggle of her nose.
“This is the last ones. Symba won’t give us no more,” Jade added with a quick glare at the symbiot, who just snorted in response.
“We’s don’t have very much,” Amber said, looking at the half dozen tiny pails that they had gathered from their room. “Do you thinks this will be’s enough?
“Yes,” Jade nodded. “’Cause we’s going to be there and so will our symbiots, isn’t that right, Symba? You’s going to help us beats the Queen, aren’t you?”
Symba snorted again and paused with his mouth half open, one of the tiny demented symbiots on his tongue. He carefully placed it in the pail that Amber held out and nodded in resignation, eyeing the strange creature with regret. Amber patted his head.
“You’s a good symbiot,” Amber cooed softly. “Just likes our baby symbiots.”
Symba turned his head to look for the two smaller symbiots belonging to Amber and Jade and found them passed out, their feet in the air and their small golden tongues hanging out of the side of their mouths. After a full night of keeping up with the twins, even something made of pure energy needed to recharge for a few minutes.
“All dones,” Jade whispered, climbing down off the chair and pushing it back across the floor to the bar. “We’ll ask Mommy if we can goes to the playground with her later today.”
“But, how are we goings to hide all the buckets?” Amber asked.
“Symba cans take them and hides them in the graveyard,” Jade said with a toss of her head.
“Okay,” Amber agreed with a nod of her own. “Takes them now before Mommy and Daddy comes out. Jade, I’s getting sleepy. We’s been workings all night,” she added with a wide yawn.
“Me’s, too,” Jade admitted with a yawn as well. “Symba, you’s takes the buckets. Don’t eats any of our minions or lets them get away.”
Symba rose from the floor and shook. Turning his head, he shimmered and a moment later the two smaller symbiots that had been sleeping were beside him. They shimmered in response and shifted into larger baskets. One by one, the twins and Symba placed the buckets into the large baskets. Once they were done, Symba picked them up and padded out of the kitchen.
“Let’s go night-night,” Jade whispered with another yawn and rubbed her eyes.
Amber nodded and together, they hurried back to their bedroom. They climbed up onto the large bed and within minutes were sprawled out, sound asleep. Neither heard the door to their room open or the whispered voices of their parents.
“Can you believe they are still asleep?” Trelon whispered in amazement. “It’s a miracle!”
Cara chuckled. “It’s still early,” she responded in a low voice. “I was going to take them down to the cavern, but I guess I can do some work here first,” she started to say before she released a low moan. “Trelon….”
“I can think of something a little more exciting than work,” Trelon hinted in a suggestive voice while he ran his hands over her hips and pulled her back against him so he could press a kiss to her neck.
“Mm, I’m up for round two. Do I get to be on top this time?” Cara asked in a flirtatious tone, turning in his arms and walking her fingers up his chest. “By the way, I’ve been reviewing some of your PVC tapes again. There was this one fantasy of yours that I’ve been dying to see if I can make come true,” she whispered, running her tongue along his earlobe before whispering what she planned to do in his ear.
Trelon’s eyes widened and his body grew rock hard. Deep down, he could feel his dragon tremble and groan in anticipation. He drew in a deep, shuddering breath and glanced over to where Amber and Jade were sound asleep, their soft snores reassuring him that they wouldn’t be up any time soon.
“Goddess, Cara, I am the luckiest warrior alive,” he muttered in a desire laden tone.
“Come on, you lucky warrior, I’m about to totally blow your mind,” Cara promised, as she twisted around, grabbed his hand, and pulled him back toward their bedroom.
Trelon glanced upward for a moment before he followed his slender mate and grinned. “Thank you, Goddess, for small miracles,” he said with an appreciative laugh when Cara glanced over her shoulder and wiggled her nose at him. “And for giving me such an amazingly sexy and creative mate.”
11
“What do you think the kids are up to?” Trisha asked, watching the small group huddled around one of the gravestones.
“What makes you think they are up to anything?” Ariel asked with a surprised look.
“Because… they look just like we did when you found a new animal you wanted to sneak into the house or the numerous times we tried to hide me there,” Trisha replied dryly.
“The boys are still that way,” Morian chuckled as she watched the group of children animatedly talking to each other. “I can’t tell you how many times they plotted and planned, thinking I had no clue that they were about to get into mischief.”
“Right now, it looks like they are plotting again,” Ariel replied with a nod toward the men as they were bearing down on Paul and Morah.
“Oh my, not again,” Morian observed with a sigh. “I swear your dad is going to take every one of those boys out into the forest again.”
Trisha and Ariel chuckled. They watched while Morian took off down the stairs and across the bridge where Paul and their young daughter were playing. Morah had climbed one of the small trees that Cara had designed for the kids to climb and play on. At the top was a treehouse. Morah was peeking out of one of the windows. Unfortunately, her older brothers had noticed her up in the tree.
“What’s going on?” Melina asked, walking down the stairs to stand next to Trisha and Ariel.
“The guys are having another big brother meltdown,” Trisha replied with an amused shrug.
Melina smiled. “Cree and Calo do that all the time with Hope. If she sneezes, they go crazy,” she laughed. “You should have seen them the first time she had a stomach ache and threw up. They were both in panic mode.”
“Well, the guys are living in it right now and Morah isn’t even theirs!” Trisha said in exasperation when she saw the men surround the tree. “For crying out loud, Kelan isn’t even that overly protective of Bálint – at least not anymore!”
“Creon was that way about the girls,” Carmen said, walking up from behind them.
“How did you keep him from going crazy like the others?” Ariel asked curiously.
Carmen shrugged. “You have to remember Creon is the youngest. He remembers what it was like t
o have all of his big brothers hovering over him. That and I swore I’d help Paul kick his ass if he tried to intervene,” she added with a grin.
“What did he say to that?” Melina asked in surprise.
Carmen’s eyes glittered with mirth. “Only if I promised,” she replied with a wicked smile.
“Oh!” Melina exclaimed with a blush.
“Melina! Hope is leaking again!” Cree’s frantic voice called from the top of the stairs.
Melina released a sigh and shook her head. “Cree, I told you that she doesn’t leak. It is called drooling,” she started to say before she grimaced.
“No, I’m sure this is called leaking,” Calo stated, looking as green in the face as the watery poop running down Hope’s legs and covering Cree’s hands.
“Uh… Yes, I think this time it does qualify as leaking,” Melina replied with a wiggle of her nose. “The joys of teething.”
“Good luck,” Ariel called out with a sympathetic smile to Melina.
*.*.*
Zohar glanced over the array of bouncing buckets. He bit his lip as he watched Amber and Jade move from one to the next, opening the top and whispering to the creatures inside. They were running out of time. Tomorrow was the great festival.
“What’s the matters, Zohar?” Roam asked.
Zohar looked at the young Sarafin. The faint spots along his forehead and running down his neck were growing slightly darker. His curious, bright blue eyes were a startlingly difference compared to the gold eyes of the Valdier. Only Phoenix had eyes that were different. Instead of gold like the rest of them, her eyes changed colors with her moods.
“I talk to my’s daddy last night,” Zohar admitted.
“Oh, I justs wrestled with mines. I likes wrestling. My Mommy keeps telling my Daddy that we’re gonna gets hurt and that he better not makes me cry or break nothings or she’s going to wrestles, too. Every times she says that, Daddy grins and they starts kissing and hugging and making weird noises. I thinks that why I gots baby sisters now,” Roam said with a wrinkle of his nose in disgust. “I’s never going to kisses a girl. Girls is yucky.”