As the Wocky seemed none the worse for her adventure, she was allowed to get
up the next day and Wimborne took her along when he went to meet some friends.
"Hey, what happened to you?" Lew (dark_wolf_night), a dark blue Lupe, asked
seeing Seapaws' head.
"She was attacked by--" Wimborne began, but didn't finish. The Wocky's eyes
were glowing again with a pale green light.
"The desert? I must go to the desert?" she asked in a strange voice.
Lew looked alarmed. "I've never seen anything like this before, and I've been
around," he said. "Why d'you want to go to the desert, Sea?" he asked gently.
Seapaws looked at him, brown eyes twinkling. "I don't!" she said, puzzled.
Wimborne put a paw on her forehead. "Are you feeling OK?"
The Wocky frowned. "I feel weird. It's like there are memories in my head that
aren't mine. I can remember sand and heat, and...."
At that moment a stranger appeared. It was a desert Aisha mounted on an Apis.
Wimborne stared at the strange pair, then gave a friendly salute. "Hello there!
I'm Wimborne, and this is my adopted daughter Seapaws."
"A Lupe adopting a Wocky, interesting!" The Aisha began scribbling in a notebook.
"My name is Calande, and my pet is called Kamila. I'm traveling, finding out
about other species of NeoPets."
Wimborne scratched his head. "Madam, it looks like you come from the Lost Desert,
and you're obviously learned. Do you know anything about a Mummy's Curse?"
Calande dismounted and walked over. "Why do you ask?"
So Wimborne told her the full story.
"Interesting," said Calande again.
"But can you help?" Wimborne asked.
"Maybe. Usually a Mummy's Curse just means bad luck, accidents and so on. But
Seapaws is remembering a past life, which suggests the mummy wants her to avenge
his untimely exit from Neopia."
"But I destroyed him... oh, you mean, erm, first time around?" Wimborne frowned.
"I guess if you become a haunting spirit you must have had a not too good of
an exit from this place. But how on Neopia are we going to avenge something
that happened thousands of years ago?"
Calande got back on her Apis. "That I don't know. I must go now. Amazing, such
concern for another species...."
Wimborne and Lew looked at each other helplessly.
***
"Don't panic, Wimmy, I live here. I know every corner, and nothing's gonna
attack Lew." The two Lupes were making their way to the Brain Tree, deep within
the Haunted Woods. Wimborne wasn't all that convinced by Lew's speech, but he
perked up his ears and grinned bravely.
The immense tree seemed to be looking at them out of the holes in its trunk,
from which a red light shone. "You have a question, mortals?" it boomed, the
great brain pulsing in its crown.
"Yes, I need to know the identity of the mummy that attacked my daughter, and
who destroyed him," Wimborne piped up.
"The mummy was formerly a king of Sakhmet, Coltzan I. All the members of the
Coltzan line met unhappy ends," the tree told them, sighing mightily. "But to
find out who destroyed him and where, you must go to the Esophagor."
"Ah, nuts. I hate that thing," muttered Lew.
"Nevertheless, go you must!" roared the tree, which had good hearing, and it
snatched at the Lupes with a crooked branch. Wimborne and Lew fled for dear
life.
"Foooooood."
"Yeah, yeah," Wimborne sighed. "What can we get you this time?"
The Esophagor stirred stickily and looked at him. "I want a gummy rat (grape),
some Grundo stix and a spooky donut," it said grumpily. "I'm soooo hungryyyyy!!!!"
The Lupes raced off to do as it asked, knowing Seapaws' life was at stake.
"Ha! I knew Gasher had buried his Halloween candy in the garden!" Wimborne said
triumphantly as he returned with the food. "He's going to be furious!"
The Esophagor sucked in the food greedily, slobbering and gulping.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah! That will do for now. Well then: Coltzan I died in the Lost
City, in the year 2480 BN." Its blubbery mouth closed, and the Lupes knew it
would tell them no more.
"Great," Wimborne sulked. "That really helped."
Lew looked thoughtful. "Maybe we should take Sea to the desert," he suggested.
"We might learn more at Sakhmet."
Wimborne shuddered. "Man, I thought I'd seen the last of that place! Just thinking
about it makes me thirsty."
"You want Seapaws to get better, right?"
Wimborne didn't bother answering.
To be continued... |