Chapter Seventy-One: Restoration
Five minutes later…
"There you are!" Toria exclaimed, when she saw an exhausted Tayla lying in Shalila's arms. Veal looked at Tayla with worry in her lavender eyes. Both were now hovering in the air near Shalila, Tayla, and Dedron.
"Toria! Veal! What are you two doing here?" Shalila asked. "It is dangerous enough out here, especially, with Frieza's Top Elite officers crawling about-"
"They are not crawling about, Superior Gran, Aunt Shalila," Toria told her firmly. "They have invaded the Calmagian royal castle, and we must hurry as soon as we can. But first, we must bring all those who have been turned into diamond statues back to life."
"How can that be done?" Shalila inquired, as she stroked the tangled, dusty mass that was Tayla's hair.
"I need Tayla for that, Aunt Shalila," Toria told her. "I will have to donate some of my ki to her, however, for she has drained all of her ki and almost all of her life force. Life force manipulation is a useful, but dangerous skill, and Tayla is not in complete mastery of it yet. If she had fired another powerful ki blast, she could have perished. I must build up some of her life force and ki until she can recover."
And with that, Toria flew closer to the tired Tayla lying in her grandmother's arms. Toria murmured an incantation in Ancient Astorian tongue, and a small blue ki ball the size of a marble floated out of the tip of her thumb. The tiny ki packet glided from Toria's thumb and absorbed itself into Tayla's fatigued body, sinking into her heart. Within seconds, some of Tayla's strength began to return to her, as Toria released another tiny blue ki ball from her thumb, and that ki cell also sank into Tayla's heart. Tayla arose from her grandmother's arms, sitting up fully. She stretched her aching muscles, which were slowly healing, thanks to Toria's ki donation.
Her stomach growled; she sure was hungry, and the only thing she had eaten since the war had begun were two croissants that she had taken from a wrecked abandoned vendor's cart. But she would have to think about food later.
Toria took Tayla's hand and guided her out of Shalila's arms. "Tayla, do you remember what I taught you about reversing that evil Gemstarian woman's spell?"
"Yes," Tayla said softly, "I do."
"Good. Everyone come with me, please," Toria commanded.
Within an hour, they found the gem bodies of Arlon, Lukan and Riccan.
Dirkan, Shalila, Rojal, Petalia, Dedron, Bendros, Veal, and Toria had followed Tayla to where Tayla's uncles and nephew had been turned into diamond statues by Diamonique. Tayla was thankful that Diamonique would never bother any of them again; Diamonique had been a cruel young woman who had received her just reward.
To their astonishment, they saw a ragged, injured Calmagian boy who was kneeling and clinging wearily to the diamond statue of Arlon, and Rojal and Dedron gasped when they realized that it was Ridikar.
"Ridikar, you survived?" Rojal asked.
"Of course, I did!" Ridikar declared angrily.
(When Vegeta and Journa had defeated Rojal and Dedron, they had cuffed the Astorian princes and had taken them prisoner. They had not considered Ridikar worthy of their time, so they had left the Calmagian royal heir to die. Ridikar had managed to struggle to his feet after Vegeta and Journa had taken Rojal and Dedron away, and he had hidden in the woods near the diamond statues until he could catch his breath.)
Ridikar once again struggled to his feet and grinned weakly when he saw Tayla. "Tayla, you survived! Wonderful! I thought that I would never see you again!" Ridikar suddenly gained a burst of renewed strength, as he scuttled over to Tayla. Before Tayla or anyone could prevent him, Ridikar seized Tayla in his arms and kissed her boldly on her lips. Tayla promptly shoved him away, extremely embarrassed, and Ridikar almost fell to the ground. Dedron snickered at Tayla, but surprisingly Rojal punched him in his ribs.
"Enough, Dedron," Rojal told him, and Dedron sulked (something that the ungrateful prince had been doing since Tayla had saved him from Vegeta).
Ridikar's humiliation was complete when Tayla angrily scrubbed at her lips.
"I said that I didn't want to marry you!" she declared. "I'm glad that you weren't killed, but that doesn't mean that I want you back."
"C'mon, Tayla, don't be ridiculous," Ridikar panted, hiding his annoyance. "I fought a war for you, and I want to put the past behind us. Can't you give me another chance?"
"No! I don't have to time to deal with you, Ridikar; I have work to do."
"Tayla, please…"
"I said no! Now you must excuse me, for there are people to bring back to life!"
"Tayla…"
"She said no, boy, now deal with it and shut up!" Dirkan growled at him.
Ridikar grew silent immediately, seeing the deadly glint in the Namek warrior's obsidian eyes.
Tayla asked Toria, "Will this spell work on everyone that has been turned into a diamond statue, or will it only work on Arlon, Lukan, and Riccan?"
"There are two versions of the spell: one that will work on those present, and another stronger one that will reverse the magic on everyone. The drawback to the stronger spell is that it will drain all of your ki and most of your life force, and you don't have much of those left."
"I have to try, Aunt Toria," Tayla told her bravely. "Do I have enough ki in me to try the larger spell?"
"Yes, but it will take what ki that you do have left, and you will need to rest for a full day afterwards." Toria stood behind Tayla and made her stand on one foot.
"Tayla, if you wish, I can cast the larger spell," Toria told her.
"You said that practice makes perfect," Tayla argued.
"Very well, I will let you try, but we must hurry for we only have a few hours left," Toria told her.
Tayla stood on both feet again, but then she stood on one foot once more. She closed her eyes and a silvery aura formed around her. She twirled on one toe, and then a toe on the other foot, and she danced slowly around the statues in dance steps resembling a ballerina's. Her steps were light and graceful, some of them resembling ballet positions such as tendus and plies, and some of the steps and dances resembled those used in waltzes.
"What in Kami's name is she doing? This isn't a ball!" Dedron declared.
"Quiet!" Petalia snapped at her brother, and Dedron stared at her. It had been the first time that Petalia had ever snapped at him or scolded him.
"Shhh…" Toria admonished both Cletos Chloe siblings.
"What sort of magic involves dancing?" Ridikar wanted to know.
"Shush," Bendros told him.
Finally, after about ten minutes, Tayla began to recite a chant in Ancient Astorian:
"Statui av diaman bu frigidar aud crysta nonen muri.
Gami figurias melti backen inta skinni aud blud,
Aud brea appearen whery wus noni.
Inst av bing frigidar, bu asu caldar asu suni."
Translated in Standard, these words meant:
"Statues of diamond be cold and sparkling no more.
Gem figurines melt back into flesh and blood,
And breath appear where was none.
Instead of being cold as stars, be as warm as sun."
The silvery glow from Tayla's body left her, and the silver-gray glow transformed into a mist, a mist that spread quickly throughout the city of Magan and its outskirts. As the silver mist left her body, Tayla fainted into unconscious, as if she were in a deep sleep. Everyone cried in horror at this, but Toria told all of them to remain calm.
"It's her body's way of healing itself; she must be allowed to sleep, and she will be unable to be roused from her deep sleep for many hours. She will be all right, when she awakens, and she should have most of her strength, ki, and life force back when she does," Toria assured them. Shalila hurried over to Tayla and scooped the child up into her arms, holding her close, as she slept.
While Tayla was in her deep sleep, miraculous occurrences were happening all over the city…
…A flock of fluorescent pink birds with bright red beaks were resting on three crystal gem statues of three muscular men. Two birds that were mates had built a nest on the head of the largest man, a huge burly male with gigantic muscles. The mother bird was preparing to lay her eggs in the nest on the man's head when suddenly, the statue came to life, and the nest fell off of his head. He let out a yell, and the entire flock of bright pink birds flew away into the sky.
Bajal Chloe looked up in a dazed shock, seeing the flock of fluorescent birds fly off into the sky. He was surprised to find nesting material of weeds and tree branches tangled in his hair. He swiftly brushed them out of his dark hair, and he heard his first cousin, Lektron Chloe grumbling about bird feces on his arms.
"Ugh! Nasty birds!" Lektron groaned, as he rubbed his soiled arm against a lamppost and gagged. "A million places that they could use the bathroom at, and they decide to use my arm instead! Yuck!"
Raakon Chloe, Bajal's brother, was looking around frantically. "Where did Dodoria go?" he asked.
"That's what I'd like to know," Lektron told him. "Hey, that cold-hearted, blue-haired beauty has disappeared as well." He then began to tremble. "Last time that I remember, that woman turned you into a diamond sculpture. How did you come back to life? We thought that we lost you for good!"
"I saw you get turned into a diamond statue as well, Lek," Bajal told him. "I must have been turned into one myself, for the last thing that I remember was that Diamonique woman aiming her laser at me as well. I can't recall anything after that. What about you two?"
Lektron and Raakon couldn't remember anything from the time that they had been turned into diamonds either. Finally, Raakon asked, "Is everyone okay?"
"I think so," Bajal moaned, double-checking himself to make sure that the birds hadn't used him as a toilet. Raakon couldn't help, but examine himself as well.
Raakon suddenly felt a burst of panic, a horrible feeling that someone he loved was in danger. "Hey, guys, we have to get back to the castle!" he cried frantically, his face full of worry.
"What's wrong, Raakon?" Lektron asked.
"Something's happened to Natala; I can feel it, I can sense she's in trouble," he said anxiously.
"Let's go then!" Bajal told his brother. "From the look of things around here-" he and the other men took notice of the now quiet, deserted city and the sleeping Saibamen in the streets-"we won't be able to do much here today. Let's head back and see if everyone is okay!"
"Good," Raakon told him. "I want to check on Natala and our children to see if they're safe. I have a bad feeling that my wife is in danger."
"And I better check on Rina," Bajal told him. "And Alora; I hope that I can sense where she's at."
"I hope that Gracie and the kids are doing okay," Lektron added. He was more worried about Gracina and Riccan, who were out fighting in this war.
And with speed faster than any Calmagian rocket missile, all three Astorian princes leapt off of the ground and flew off into the darkening sky. Nightfall was coming fast…
…"What happened to my bakery?" a plump, elderly Calmagian baker who also owned this particular bakery exclaimed in horror. His bakery mostly sold donuts and pastries, and he was eager to find out how much damage had been done to his business. He had a turkey neck and a long, gray beard with brownish-gray hair both in the beard and on top. He wandered into the wrecked bakery, and he scurried straight to his donut vat, where to his shock, he saw a large, longhaired male dressed in warrior garb sleeping in the chocolate donut batter that the baker had been preparing yesterday just before he had been turned into a diamond statue.
"Sweet Ankor! What is this in my donut batter-a huge man with long hair and a tail? This has been some day! And now all of my batter is ruined, ruined! You, you pig, out of my batter at once!"
The longhaired warrior did not stir; he was in such a deep sleep that he did not even feel it when the baker threw a stale roll at him, hitting him in his head.
"First that blue-haired woman, and now this! The king really should place more restrictions on who can come to this planet," the baker grumbled, as he grabbed a broom and began to sweep his floor…
…"Wow, what a neat crater!" exclaimed a little golden-haired boy with green eyes who had just been a diamond statue a few weeks ago. His two brothers, younger than him, had red hair with blue eyes, and all of them had been playing a Calmagian version of tag (whoever was "it" tagged the others, but he or she had to put handcuffs on them) in the wilderness behind Magan when Diamonique had approached them and turned them into diamond statues.
"Lookie! There's a girl with a furry tail lying facedown in the crater too! Neato! I've never seen a girl with a tail before!" the youngest boy shouted.
"Is she Astorian?" the middle child asked.
"No, dumbo," the oldest boy scoffed. "Everyone knows that Astorians don't have tails."
"I wish I was an Astorian," the youngest boy said wistfully. "Astorians can fly!"
"Do you think that she's dead?" the middle boy asked.
"There's one way to find out!" the oldest boy (he was nine years old) declared. He threw a huge rock at the girl's back, but the girl didn't stir. The girl with the furry brown tail and short, bright red hair didn't move a muscle.
"She didn't move, so she's dead," the oldest boy said a bit gleefully.
"She could be asleep," the youngest boy declared.
"Nah," the middle boy told him. "That rock would have woken her up."
"Hey," the oldest boy told his brothers. "We've never seen a dead body before. I wonder how long it would keep." All three boys were going through a stage where they found anything dead to be wickedly fascinating, much to their parents' horror. Their father had a cooler below their guesthouse where the boys had been keeping dead animals to study them (they all wanted to be scientists someday).
"I'd bet it'd keep for a long time," the second oldest boy responded. "Let's take her home and put her in Father's cooler."
"Great idea!" the youngest child hooted. The oldest agreed, and all three boys slid down into the crater on their bottoms to where the "dead" girl lay.
The oldest boy poked her with a stick hard, just to make sure that she was really dead, and that was a mistake. The girl with the tail suddenly awoke and seized his ankle, and all three boys screamed. The second oldest boy threw a small boulder at the girl's head, and she passed out again, but the boys weren't taking their chances. The oldest boy freed himself from the girl's grasp, and all three boys hurried quickly out of the crater, far away from the scary "dead girl with a tail" who had mysteriously "come back to life"…
…"What in the hell happened?" General Norbrook wanted to know. Filcor Sedemeyer was just as confused as he was. Both men had the misfortune of having been turned into diamond statues themselves, and Filcor exclaimed in horror when he remembered how a self-destructing little green fiend had suddenly killed Prince Amitar, the future ruler of Calmag. Then as he and General Norbrook (who had wisely ordered a retreat back to the castle) had been fleeing from their army tank, which Diamonique had wrecked with a ki blast, Diamonique had fired ki blasts at them and turned them into diamond statues. Diamonique had quickly left, and Dodoria and Bhodie had fired ki blasts at many of the soldiers and CRP officers attacking them, successfully killing most of General Norbrook's troops. Norbrook only had one quarter of his army still alive; most of them either Dodoria or Bhodie had killed, or the Saibamen had killed.
"Prince Amitar is dead," Filcor told Norbrook mournfully. Both men took a few moments of silence to pray for Amitar's soul. When they were done, Norbrook whispered, "His poor children! And our poor king and queen! How am I to explain this to them? How am I to tell Prince Amitar's five children that their father, such a good, brave man, perished horribly? How will Prince Ridikar and his brothers, Prince Julien and Prince Naykiar handle this news? And what about their poor sisters, Princess Rosyn, Princess Meyline, and Princess Caline? Prince Ridikar is only sixteen, and now he will be in charge of all of his siblings! Such a responsibility now for a young prince, let alone one who will rule Calmag someday if he lives. Prince Amitar has gone to join his beloved Princess Shydine now." Shydine had been Amitar's wife.
"Well, I will take care of Princess Caline; her father promised her to me before he died, and I am sure that Prince Ridikar will honor his father's promise. I have wanted Caline for myself ever since she was nine years old," Filcor confessed, not a bit ashamed for desiring a child in the same way that one would desire a woman. After a Calmagian girl turned eight years old, her parents would start preparing her for marriage, and it was normal for men many decades old to start considering her as bride material. Calmagian men did not see any shame in wanting to bed and marry girls between the ages of eight and fourteen.
"Hmm…" Norbrook said quietly. "I have heard that your fiancée has become good friends with the Astorian people. In fact, before this war started, I heard that Princess Gracina Chloe and her husband, Prince Lektron Chloe wanted to take her home with them to Astoria."
"That will never happen!" Filcor declared vociferously. "Caline is mine! I met Princess Gracina and Prince Lektron Chloe just before we learned of Alberm's treachery against Calmag, and Princess Gracina was gracious and kind, but the most headstrong woman that I ever met. She ordered her husband around several times, and he actually did her bidding! He seems to treat her as his equal, and that is a mistake for any man to do. He probably has his hands full with that woman, poor fellow! I will never allow that to happen between Caline and myself. Her father told me that Caline was extremely difficult as well as badly behaved. She would not sleep with her husband unless he forced her. Alberm did not manage her very well, I'm afraid, so it will be up to me to train her properly. She will not cry and whine when I want to bed her the way that I heard that she did with Alberm. I will manage her and make her into the proper, submissive wife that I know that she could be. It will be fun to train her, and I am sure that she could please a man properly, even if she is reluctant. Ah, I can hardly wait to train her little body and taste and sample her sweet flesh!" Filcor drooled at the thought of bedding his future bride.
Norbrook said nothing; he was not entirely sure that Filcor was any better a husband for Princess Caline that Alberm Dunlop of Rendor had been, but Prince Amitar's choice of husbands for his daughter was none of his concern. Norbrook couldn't say anything to Filcor about marrying a child, for he himself had married his wife, Sayri, when Sayri had been thirteen and he had been thirty. That had been thirty years ago, and one of Norbrook's sons had married Princess Rosyn, Prince Amitar's eldest child and Princess Caline's sister. Filcor continued to rant while Norbrook was thinking about his own family.
"I wonder if she can bear me a child within a year," Filcor said excitedly. "I am so thankful that the pregnancy tests showed that Caline was not carrying Alberm's child; there would have been no way that I would have agreed to raise another man's child. Yes, once I get Caline trained and tamed, she will make the proper Calmagian wife; she can still be redeemed."
"I have heard, Sedemeyer, that Princess Caline has refused to marry you, and the Astorians backed her up," Norbrook told him casually. "I'm sorry to say this, but the girl seems to be no more happier about marrying you than she did marrying Dunlop."
"She has no choice, and she knows that!" Filcor cried out indignantly. "The marriage contract for her has been signed; it was signed by both her father and I before he died, and she must honor it unless her brother, Prince Ridikar decides to nullify the contract. He has the power to do that, but I doubt that he would do so. He thinks like his father, and like his father, he believes in a good marriage contract being honored. He will see that Caline marries me. And Caline is not going to fight me and run away from me the same way that she did with Alberm; she will obey me and be mine…" Filcor's voice trailed off.
Filcor was thinking lustful thoughts about the little Calmagian princess when Lieutenant Balboun showed up, hobbling on one good foot. Balboun was saddened because a Saibaman had killed Daukin when Daukin had saved Balboun's life by shoving him out of the way of the exploding monster. The monster's explosion had taken Daukin's life instead of Balboun's.
"Balboun!" Norbrook shouted. "You're alive! There are such things as miracles after all! Did any of your soldiers survive on that cruiser survive?"
Balboun hung his head down in sorrow. "I am the only survivor, General. Private Daukin was with me, but he gave up his life to save mine. I am sorry that it happened that way; it is hard for me to keep from crying, sir. Daukin was killed when he saved me from an exploding green monster; I am sure that you and Sedemeyer have seen those nasty things. Now for some mysterious reason, they are all asleep, but just to be on the safe side, sir, I took a laser gun from a dead soldier and blasted away as many of those nasty things as I could. I found a few men with laser guns, CRP and army alike, and they are out now, sir, killing as many of those green bastards as possible."
"Good job, Balboun," Norbrook said quietly. "I am sorry for the deaths of Daukin and the others; I knew most of them, and they were all good soldiers, good men. Daukin will be remembered for his heroics in saving your life; I will see to that personally. Now, Lieutenant, gather as many men as you can and have them eradicate any of those filthy green pigs that were exploding and killing people. All of them are to be killed, understand?"
"Yes, General, sir."
"Sedemeyer, you go with him and help him."
"Yes, General, sir. Will you inform me if you hear anything about Princess Caline?"
"I will, Sedemeyer, now go." Norbrook pulled out his laser gun, and he himself began to search the destroyed city for any green creatures…
Five minutes later…
"There you are!" Toria exclaimed, when she saw an exhausted Tayla lying in Shalila's arms. Veal looked at Tayla with worry in her lavender eyes. Both were now hovering in the air near Shalila, Tayla, and Dedron.
"Toria! Veal! What are you two doing here?" Shalila asked. "It is dangerous enough out here, especially, with Frieza's Top Elite officers crawling about-"
"They are not crawling about, Superior Gran, Aunt Shalila," Toria told her firmly. "They have invaded the Calmagian royal castle, and we must hurry as soon as we can. But first, we must bring all those who have been turned into diamond statues back to life."
"How can that be done?" Shalila inquired, as she stroked the tangled, dusty mass that was Tayla's hair.
"I need Tayla for that, Aunt Shalila," Toria told her. "I will have to donate some of my ki to her, however, for she has drained all of her ki and almost all of her life force. Life force manipulation is a useful, but dangerous skill, and Tayla is not in complete mastery of it yet. If she had fired another powerful ki blast, she could have perished. I must build up some of her life force and ki until she can recover."
And with that, Toria flew closer to the tired Tayla lying in her grandmother's arms. Toria murmured an incantation in Ancient Astorian tongue, and a small blue ki ball the size of a marble floated out of the tip of her thumb. The tiny ki packet glided from Toria's thumb and absorbed itself into Tayla's fatigued body, sinking into her heart. Within seconds, some of Tayla's strength began to return to her, as Toria released another tiny blue ki ball from her thumb, and that ki cell also sank into Tayla's heart. Tayla arose from her grandmother's arms, sitting up fully. She stretched her aching muscles, which were slowly healing, thanks to Toria's ki donation.
Her stomach growled; she sure was hungry, and the only thing she had eaten since the war had begun were two croissants that she had taken from a wrecked abandoned vendor's cart. But she would have to think about food later.
Toria took Tayla's hand and guided her out of Shalila's arms. "Tayla, do you remember what I taught you about reversing that evil Gemstarian woman's spell?"
"Yes," Tayla said softly, "I do."
"Good. Everyone come with me, please," Toria commanded.
Within an hour, they found the gem bodies of Arlon, Lukan and Riccan.
Dirkan, Shalila, Rojal, Petalia, Dedron, Bendros, Veal, and Toria had followed Tayla to where Tayla's uncles and nephew had been turned into diamond statues by Diamonique. Tayla was thankful that Diamonique would never bother any of them again; Diamonique had been a cruel young woman who had received her just reward.
To their astonishment, they saw a ragged, injured Calmagian boy who was kneeling and clinging wearily to the diamond statue of Arlon, and Rojal and Dedron gasped when they realized that it was Ridikar.
"Ridikar, you survived?" Rojal asked.
"Of course, I did!" Ridikar declared angrily.
(When Vegeta and Journa had defeated Rojal and Dedron, they had cuffed the Astorian princes and had taken them prisoner. They had not considered Ridikar worthy of their time, so they had left the Calmagian royal heir to die. Ridikar had managed to struggle to his feet after Vegeta and Journa had taken Rojal and Dedron away, and he had hidden in the woods near the diamond statues until he could catch his breath.)
Ridikar once again struggled to his feet and grinned weakly when he saw Tayla. "Tayla, you survived! Wonderful! I thought that I would never see you again!" Ridikar suddenly gained a burst of renewed strength, as he scuttled over to Tayla. Before Tayla or anyone could prevent him, Ridikar seized Tayla in his arms and kissed her boldly on her lips. Tayla promptly shoved him away, extremely embarrassed, and Ridikar almost fell to the ground. Dedron snickered at Tayla, but surprisingly Rojal punched him in his ribs.
"Enough, Dedron," Rojal told him, and Dedron sulked (something that the ungrateful prince had been doing since Tayla had saved him from Vegeta).
Ridikar's humiliation was complete when Tayla angrily scrubbed at her lips.
"I said that I didn't want to marry you!" she declared. "I'm glad that you weren't killed, but that doesn't mean that I want you back."
"C'mon, Tayla, don't be ridiculous," Ridikar panted, hiding his annoyance. "I fought a war for you, and I want to put the past behind us. Can't you give me another chance?"
"No! I don't have to time to deal with you, Ridikar; I have work to do."
"Tayla, please…"
"I said no! Now you must excuse me, for there are people to bring back to life!"
"Tayla…"
"She said no, boy, now deal with it and shut up!" Dirkan growled at him.
Ridikar grew silent immediately, seeing the deadly glint in the Namek warrior's obsidian eyes.
Tayla asked Toria, "Will this spell work on everyone that has been turned into a diamond statue, or will it only work on Arlon, Lukan, and Riccan?"
"There are two versions of the spell: one that will work on those present, and another stronger one that will reverse the magic on everyone. The drawback to the stronger spell is that it will drain all of your ki and most of your life force, and you don't have much of those left."
"I have to try, Aunt Toria," Tayla told her bravely. "Do I have enough ki in me to try the larger spell?"
"Yes, but it will take what ki that you do have left, and you will need to rest for a full day afterwards." Toria stood behind Tayla and made her stand on one foot.
"Tayla, if you wish, I can cast the larger spell," Toria told her.
"You said that practice makes perfect," Tayla argued.
"Very well, I will let you try, but we must hurry for we only have a few hours left," Toria told her.
Tayla stood on both feet again, but then she stood on one foot once more. She closed her eyes and a silvery aura formed around her. She twirled on one toe, and then a toe on the other foot, and she danced slowly around the statues in dance steps resembling a ballerina's. Her steps were light and graceful, some of them resembling ballet positions such as tendus and plies, and some of the steps and dances resembled those used in waltzes.
"What in Kami's name is she doing? This isn't a ball!" Dedron declared.
"Quiet!" Petalia snapped at her brother, and Dedron stared at her. It had been the first time that Petalia had ever snapped at him or scolded him.
"Shhh…" Toria admonished both Cletos Chloe siblings.
"What sort of magic involves dancing?" Ridikar wanted to know.
"Shush," Bendros told him.
Finally, after about ten minutes, Tayla began to recite a chant in Ancient Astorian:
"Statui av diaman bu frigidar aud crysta nonen muri.
Gami figurias melti backen inta skinni aud blud,
Aud brea appearen whery wus noni.
Inst av bing frigidar, bu asu caldar asu suni."
Translated in Standard, these words meant:
"Statues of diamond be cold and sparkling no more.
Gem figurines melt back into flesh and blood,
And breath appear where was none.
Instead of being cold as stars, be as warm as sun."
The silvery glow from Tayla's body left her, and the silver-gray glow transformed into a mist, a mist that spread quickly throughout the city of Magan and its outskirts. As the silver mist left her body, Tayla fainted into unconscious, as if she were in a deep sleep. Everyone cried in horror at this, but Toria told all of them to remain calm.
"It's her body's way of healing itself; she must be allowed to sleep, and she will be unable to be roused from her deep sleep for many hours. She will be all right, when she awakens, and she should have most of her strength, ki, and life force back when she does," Toria assured them. Shalila hurried over to Tayla and scooped the child up into her arms, holding her close, as she slept.
While Tayla was in her deep sleep, miraculous occurrences were happening all over the city…
…A flock of fluorescent pink birds with bright red beaks were resting on three crystal gem statues of three muscular men. Two birds that were mates had built a nest on the head of the largest man, a huge burly male with gigantic muscles. The mother bird was preparing to lay her eggs in the nest on the man's head when suddenly, the statue came to life, and the nest fell off of his head. He let out a yell, and the entire flock of bright pink birds flew away into the sky.
Bajal Chloe looked up in a dazed shock, seeing the flock of fluorescent birds fly off into the sky. He was surprised to find nesting material of weeds and tree branches tangled in his hair. He swiftly brushed them out of his dark hair, and he heard his first cousin, Lektron Chloe grumbling about bird feces on his arms.
"Ugh! Nasty birds!" Lektron groaned, as he rubbed his soiled arm against a lamppost and gagged. "A million places that they could use the bathroom at, and they decide to use my arm instead! Yuck!"
Raakon Chloe, Bajal's brother, was looking around frantically. "Where did Dodoria go?" he asked.
"That's what I'd like to know," Lektron told him. "Hey, that cold-hearted, blue-haired beauty has disappeared as well." He then began to tremble. "Last time that I remember, that woman turned you into a diamond sculpture. How did you come back to life? We thought that we lost you for good!"
"I saw you get turned into a diamond statue as well, Lek," Bajal told him. "I must have been turned into one myself, for the last thing that I remember was that Diamonique woman aiming her laser at me as well. I can't recall anything after that. What about you two?"
Lektron and Raakon couldn't remember anything from the time that they had been turned into diamonds either. Finally, Raakon asked, "Is everyone okay?"
"I think so," Bajal moaned, double-checking himself to make sure that the birds hadn't used him as a toilet. Raakon couldn't help, but examine himself as well.
Raakon suddenly felt a burst of panic, a horrible feeling that someone he loved was in danger. "Hey, guys, we have to get back to the castle!" he cried frantically, his face full of worry.
"What's wrong, Raakon?" Lektron asked.
"Something's happened to Natala; I can feel it, I can sense she's in trouble," he said anxiously.
"Let's go then!" Bajal told his brother. "From the look of things around here-" he and the other men took notice of the now quiet, deserted city and the sleeping Saibamen in the streets-"we won't be able to do much here today. Let's head back and see if everyone is okay!"
"Good," Raakon told him. "I want to check on Natala and our children to see if they're safe. I have a bad feeling that my wife is in danger."
"And I better check on Rina," Bajal told him. "And Alora; I hope that I can sense where she's at."
"I hope that Gracie and the kids are doing okay," Lektron added. He was more worried about Gracina and Riccan, who were out fighting in this war.
And with speed faster than any Calmagian rocket missile, all three Astorian princes leapt off of the ground and flew off into the darkening sky. Nightfall was coming fast…
…"What happened to my bakery?" a plump, elderly Calmagian baker who also owned this particular bakery exclaimed in horror. His bakery mostly sold donuts and pastries, and he was eager to find out how much damage had been done to his business. He had a turkey neck and a long, gray beard with brownish-gray hair both in the beard and on top. He wandered into the wrecked bakery, and he scurried straight to his donut vat, where to his shock, he saw a large, longhaired male dressed in warrior garb sleeping in the chocolate donut batter that the baker had been preparing yesterday just before he had been turned into a diamond statue.
"Sweet Ankor! What is this in my donut batter-a huge man with long hair and a tail? This has been some day! And now all of my batter is ruined, ruined! You, you pig, out of my batter at once!"
The longhaired warrior did not stir; he was in such a deep sleep that he did not even feel it when the baker threw a stale roll at him, hitting him in his head.
"First that blue-haired woman, and now this! The king really should place more restrictions on who can come to this planet," the baker grumbled, as he grabbed a broom and began to sweep his floor…
…"Wow, what a neat crater!" exclaimed a little golden-haired boy with green eyes who had just been a diamond statue a few weeks ago. His two brothers, younger than him, had red hair with blue eyes, and all of them had been playing a Calmagian version of tag (whoever was "it" tagged the others, but he or she had to put handcuffs on them) in the wilderness behind Magan when Diamonique had approached them and turned them into diamond statues.
"Lookie! There's a girl with a furry tail lying facedown in the crater too! Neato! I've never seen a girl with a tail before!" the youngest boy shouted.
"Is she Astorian?" the middle child asked.
"No, dumbo," the oldest boy scoffed. "Everyone knows that Astorians don't have tails."
"I wish I was an Astorian," the youngest boy said wistfully. "Astorians can fly!"
"Do you think that she's dead?" the middle boy asked.
"There's one way to find out!" the oldest boy (he was nine years old) declared. He threw a huge rock at the girl's back, but the girl didn't stir. The girl with the furry brown tail and short, bright red hair didn't move a muscle.
"She didn't move, so she's dead," the oldest boy said a bit gleefully.
"She could be asleep," the youngest boy declared.
"Nah," the middle boy told him. "That rock would have woken her up."
"Hey," the oldest boy told his brothers. "We've never seen a dead body before. I wonder how long it would keep." All three boys were going through a stage where they found anything dead to be wickedly fascinating, much to their parents' horror. Their father had a cooler below their guesthouse where the boys had been keeping dead animals to study them (they all wanted to be scientists someday).
"I'd bet it'd keep for a long time," the second oldest boy responded. "Let's take her home and put her in Father's cooler."
"Great idea!" the youngest child hooted. The oldest agreed, and all three boys slid down into the crater on their bottoms to where the "dead" girl lay.
The oldest boy poked her with a stick hard, just to make sure that she was really dead, and that was a mistake. The girl with the tail suddenly awoke and seized his ankle, and all three boys screamed. The second oldest boy threw a small boulder at the girl's head, and she passed out again, but the boys weren't taking their chances. The oldest boy freed himself from the girl's grasp, and all three boys hurried quickly out of the crater, far away from the scary "dead girl with a tail" who had mysteriously "come back to life"…
…"What in the hell happened?" General Norbrook wanted to know. Filcor Sedemeyer was just as confused as he was. Both men had the misfortune of having been turned into diamond statues themselves, and Filcor exclaimed in horror when he remembered how a self-destructing little green fiend had suddenly killed Prince Amitar, the future ruler of Calmag. Then as he and General Norbrook (who had wisely ordered a retreat back to the castle) had been fleeing from their army tank, which Diamonique had wrecked with a ki blast, Diamonique had fired ki blasts at them and turned them into diamond statues. Diamonique had quickly left, and Dodoria and Bhodie had fired ki blasts at many of the soldiers and CRP officers attacking them, successfully killing most of General Norbrook's troops. Norbrook only had one quarter of his army still alive; most of them either Dodoria or Bhodie had killed, or the Saibamen had killed.
"Prince Amitar is dead," Filcor told Norbrook mournfully. Both men took a few moments of silence to pray for Amitar's soul. When they were done, Norbrook whispered, "His poor children! And our poor king and queen! How am I to explain this to them? How am I to tell Prince Amitar's five children that their father, such a good, brave man, perished horribly? How will Prince Ridikar and his brothers, Prince Julien and Prince Naykiar handle this news? And what about their poor sisters, Princess Rosyn, Princess Meyline, and Princess Caline? Prince Ridikar is only sixteen, and now he will be in charge of all of his siblings! Such a responsibility now for a young prince, let alone one who will rule Calmag someday if he lives. Prince Amitar has gone to join his beloved Princess Shydine now." Shydine had been Amitar's wife.
"Well, I will take care of Princess Caline; her father promised her to me before he died, and I am sure that Prince Ridikar will honor his father's promise. I have wanted Caline for myself ever since she was nine years old," Filcor confessed, not a bit ashamed for desiring a child in the same way that one would desire a woman. After a Calmagian girl turned eight years old, her parents would start preparing her for marriage, and it was normal for men many decades old to start considering her as bride material. Calmagian men did not see any shame in wanting to bed and marry girls between the ages of eight and fourteen.
"Hmm…" Norbrook said quietly. "I have heard that your fiancée has become good friends with the Astorian people. In fact, before this war started, I heard that Princess Gracina Chloe and her husband, Prince Lektron Chloe wanted to take her home with them to Astoria."
"That will never happen!" Filcor declared vociferously. "Caline is mine! I met Princess Gracina and Prince Lektron Chloe just before we learned of Alberm's treachery against Calmag, and Princess Gracina was gracious and kind, but the most headstrong woman that I ever met. She ordered her husband around several times, and he actually did her bidding! He seems to treat her as his equal, and that is a mistake for any man to do. He probably has his hands full with that woman, poor fellow! I will never allow that to happen between Caline and myself. Her father told me that Caline was extremely difficult as well as badly behaved. She would not sleep with her husband unless he forced her. Alberm did not manage her very well, I'm afraid, so it will be up to me to train her properly. She will not cry and whine when I want to bed her the way that I heard that she did with Alberm. I will manage her and make her into the proper, submissive wife that I know that she could be. It will be fun to train her, and I am sure that she could please a man properly, even if she is reluctant. Ah, I can hardly wait to train her little body and taste and sample her sweet flesh!" Filcor drooled at the thought of bedding his future bride.
Norbrook said nothing; he was not entirely sure that Filcor was any better a husband for Princess Caline that Alberm Dunlop of Rendor had been, but Prince Amitar's choice of husbands for his daughter was none of his concern. Norbrook couldn't say anything to Filcor about marrying a child, for he himself had married his wife, Sayri, when Sayri had been thirteen and he had been thirty. That had been thirty years ago, and one of Norbrook's sons had married Princess Rosyn, Prince Amitar's eldest child and Princess Caline's sister. Filcor continued to rant while Norbrook was thinking about his own family.
"I wonder if she can bear me a child within a year," Filcor said excitedly. "I am so thankful that the pregnancy tests showed that Caline was not carrying Alberm's child; there would have been no way that I would have agreed to raise another man's child. Yes, once I get Caline trained and tamed, she will make the proper Calmagian wife; she can still be redeemed."
"I have heard, Sedemeyer, that Princess Caline has refused to marry you, and the Astorians backed her up," Norbrook told him casually. "I'm sorry to say this, but the girl seems to be no more happier about marrying you than she did marrying Dunlop."
"She has no choice, and she knows that!" Filcor cried out indignantly. "The marriage contract for her has been signed; it was signed by both her father and I before he died, and she must honor it unless her brother, Prince Ridikar decides to nullify the contract. He has the power to do that, but I doubt that he would do so. He thinks like his father, and like his father, he believes in a good marriage contract being honored. He will see that Caline marries me. And Caline is not going to fight me and run away from me the same way that she did with Alberm; she will obey me and be mine…" Filcor's voice trailed off.
Filcor was thinking lustful thoughts about the little Calmagian princess when Lieutenant Balboun showed up, hobbling on one good foot. Balboun was saddened because a Saibaman had killed Daukin when Daukin had saved Balboun's life by shoving him out of the way of the exploding monster. The monster's explosion had taken Daukin's life instead of Balboun's.
"Balboun!" Norbrook shouted. "You're alive! There are such things as miracles after all! Did any of your soldiers survive on that cruiser survive?"
Balboun hung his head down in sorrow. "I am the only survivor, General. Private Daukin was with me, but he gave up his life to save mine. I am sorry that it happened that way; it is hard for me to keep from crying, sir. Daukin was killed when he saved me from an exploding green monster; I am sure that you and Sedemeyer have seen those nasty things. Now for some mysterious reason, they are all asleep, but just to be on the safe side, sir, I took a laser gun from a dead soldier and blasted away as many of those nasty things as I could. I found a few men with laser guns, CRP and army alike, and they are out now, sir, killing as many of those green bastards as possible."
"Good job, Balboun," Norbrook said quietly. "I am sorry for the deaths of Daukin and the others; I knew most of them, and they were all good soldiers, good men. Daukin will be remembered for his heroics in saving your life; I will see to that personally. Now, Lieutenant, gather as many men as you can and have them eradicate any of those filthy green pigs that were exploding and killing people. All of them are to be killed, understand?"
"Yes, General, sir."
"Sedemeyer, you go with him and help him."
"Yes, General, sir. Will you inform me if you hear anything about Princess Caline?"
"I will, Sedemeyer, now go." Norbrook pulled out his laser gun, and he himself began to search the destroyed city for any green creatures…
