| Unexpected Visit
Drushii had been with us for a few months now, inquisitive
and strangely quiet. It was weird; I had prepared myself for another hyperactive,
talkative bundle of fluff, not a quiet Kougra more partial to her own company
than others.
Lae seemed slightly disappointed by the new
arrival; despite her constant grumbling about Jero, she preferred him loud than
quiet. Jero was more obvious, trying desperately to get Drushii to play. When
that failed ("What part of no did you not hear?" Drushii growled,) Jero took
to his second favourite hobby- calling Lae orange jelly.
Meanwhile, I was faced with a worse problem.
The Lost Desert Faerie, who infrequently 'checked up on me,' had visited last
night with an unnerving vision…
***
It was midnight when I suddenly awoke from a vivid nightmare; a familiar one
at that. At first, I was not aware of anything other than my rapid breathing
and the beating of my heart. And then I saw her. The Lost Desert Faerie had
not changed from her last visit. I had been wondering when she would next visit
me - her last visit had been almost 6 months ago.
Her hair was still a sandy blonde and her eyes
were still as blue as I last remembered. Unlike her usual expression of calmness,
her expression resembled someone that had just been told to give up living in
Neopia and move to Mars.
"Long time no see," I grinned. "I mean, how
are you? You never write, you never answer my calls…"
"I am not here on pleasantries," the Faerie
replied though her eyes sparkled with what I knew to be laughter. "I am here
because I fear for Jeronik."
"Ah yes, straight to the point, as per usual,"
I commented, trying to hide the fear that gripped my heart. 'Fear' and 'Jeronik'
in the same sentence was never good. "So, er - what's the problem?" I asked,
wincing at the nervous edge to my tone.
"In my dreams, I saw Mr Brown," the Faerie said.
"He knows of your lie, Sari and my greatest fear is true - he has realised what
the jewel really is. He had found out how to extract the Jewel Sari, and he
has planned to steal Jeronik. You cannot prevent it."
I had been feeling increasingly worried throughout
her words, but my pride swelled at her last words.
"Says who?" I replied indignantly. "We beat
him once, surely we can stop him from breaking and entering! And why did you
come here just to tell me I'd see Jero disappear? I mean, what a stupid reason
to visit. COULDN'T YOU JUST STOP BY FOR BISCUITS OR SOMETHING?" I finished with
a yell, panting slightly from my outbreak, and not entirely surprised, usually
I could control my temper for slightly longer than that.
"He will strike when you least expect Sari,"
the Faerie showed no visible emotion resulting from my outburst. "I cannot do
more to help, other than warn you. I am, afterall, a Faerie. We are banned from
interfering with events we cannot control. I cannot stop Mr Brown Sari, I can
only warn you of how he will react."
"It's not enough," I said quietly, my eyes on
a family picture taken a few weeks previous. It had been my idea to get a family
portrait of us, but it had gone slightly wrong. It was taken in my backyard;
Jero and Drushii were hovering just above Laeyan and myself. At the moment it
was taken, Jero had knocked into Lae, sending her sprawling forward, much to
our amusement. Lae's face in the picture was priceless - a mixture of horror
and annoyance whilst Drushii, Jero and myself were all laughing at her.
"I am sorry Sari," the Faerie said. "But I can
warn you of something - you must be prepared to give up everything to save Jeronik."
"What's that supposed to…" I began, but it was
fruitless - the Faerie had disappeared, leaving me feeling worse than I ever
had in my life. Sometimes, I honestly wonder why I get out of bed…
***
And so it was almost the end of the day, and yet the fear of the unknown was
as strong as ever. It was hard, how could I prevent Jero being kidnapped? I
couldn't watch him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
"Sari?" Lae cut into my depressing trail of
thoughts, a concerned look on her pale orange face.
"What?" I asked.
"Jero's bored - can we go outside for a bit?"
she asked.
"Only in the garden," I replied absently. "And
I don't want you three out there too long, it's getting quite cold at night.
Last thing I need is you two with bad colds."
I watched in mild amusement as Lae rushed off
to grab Jero and Drushii. I had the feeling it was a little more of Lae and
Jero's idea than Drushii's, but it was funny to watch as Jero and Lae dragged
Drushii outside. Yawning slightly, I decided to follow them outside. 'Maybe
we could play catch,' I thought. I pulled on a jacket out of habit more than
the night outside, despite my warning; the night wasn't too cold.
"Lae?" I called, walking outside. Immediately,
I was aware of something behind me. I turned round, and screamed. Usually, I'm
not a screaming person. But usually, there isn't a 7ft man with thicker Arm
muscles than my legs.
I then noticed he was holding something large
and heavy looking. Then something hit me, and my vision zoomed into tunnel vision
before blacking completely. My legs collapsed beneath me as I hit the floor.
Then all conscious thought failed as I fainted.
***
I was lying on grass. I guess that's not the most practical piece of information
my brain could have told me, but it would do. The grass was dry, I could smell
it. Not that that helped anymore than the last piece of information did. I opened
one eye, alarmed when the world took a sharp tilt. OK, so opening eyes wasn't
as clever.
Slowly, I rose to my elbows, then opened an
eye again. I almost wished I hadn't - the world took an alarming nosedive. Wincing,
I tried to ignore the nausea and got to my feet, unsteady.
"Lae?" I croaked, wincing at the pounding of
my head. "Jero? Drushii?"
"Sari?" a weak voice asked, which I immediately
recognised as Lae.
On unsteady legs, I staggered to where Lae and
Drushii were. Lae was unsteadily getting to her feet whilst Drushii remained
motionless.
"Sari?" Lae asked in a shaky tone. "Sari… what
happened?"
I couldn't help it; I just pulled Lae into my
arms, a tear trickling down my face. "They've got him Lae. They've got Jero."
To be continued…
Author's Note: Neomails will be stuck on a pedestal and worshipped by Chia
gods for a while before being replied to.
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