(The Beginning…) By Starry

It was a cold, dark, damp day in Albia. The skies were thick with a silvery gray mist that dressed everything in thick shrouds, and so Albia, for the moment, was a vast expanse of ghostly-looking trees, bushes, and buildings. 

Even in the Shee City things were quiet and still. Most of the Shee were locked up in their laboratories, working on their latest projects, while their tame Norns looked on in simple curiosity. Everything was quiet, save for the occasional rumble of thunder in the distance, far away over the distant West Ocean.

Suddenly the eerie quiet was broken by a savage growl and a scream. Shee scientists, irritated by the interruption in their work, popped their heads out of their laboratories to see what the disturbance was, only to see a glimpse of something large and green streaking down the hallway, in pursuit of something rather small and brown. They didn't recognize either as being particularly important at the moment, and baffled they turned to go back to their work, when suddenly they heard another cry - this time, one they recognized.

"Gilda! Come back! Leave the twins alone! Please, Gilda! Leave them alone! Ailee, Aden, come back!"

The Shee scientists all sighed and shook their heads as Bruin, one of their rather scatter-brained colleagues who was known for unintentionally causing trouble with his experiments, ran by in pursuit of the two, or rather three, blurs of color, gasping out his story as he did so.

"It's Gilda, the Mother Grendel I've been working on! She's gotten out! And my two young Norn twins, Ailee and Aden, were on the floor playing, and when they saw Gilda, they just took off, and I'm dreadfully afraid of what will happen to them if Gilda gets a hold of them…" 

At hearing this the Shee scientists looked at each other and ran in pursuit of Bruin. It wasn't that they cared about the Norn twins - they were just silly baby Norns anyway, and not that important - but they knew that Gilda was not just an average Grendel. She had been genetically created to be able to reproduce on her own, and if she escaped into the world, there could be no end to the number of offspring she could produce, and if there were no Shee to keep them under control, all chaos would erupt…

The scientists chased frantically after Bruin, Gilda, and the two infant Norns, and they were in such a hurry that they didn't realize that Bruin had stopped. They all plowed into him, and when they finally regained their composure and stood up, they saw Bruin standing there, his head in his hands, sobbing in a very undignified and un-Sheeish manner. And in front of him stood the open door to the outside, which happened to be very near a deep and dense forest.

"They're gone," Bruin sobbed, "They're gone." 

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES...... by Topegy45

Now Ailee and Aden are being chased through the forest with Gilda close be hind. Ailee, being the clumsy one, trips and falls over a branch but Aden keeps running. She cries "EM FOO HEEELLLLLLPPP." She pauses not knowing what she just said. Aden turns with a quick jolt and runs back to Ailee but its too late the mother Grendel has caught up to them. She laughs hysterically, "HAHAHAHAHurg," but stops suddenly for she sees something white and mysterious off in the distance. Afraid (which is not very common for a Grendel) and not knowing what to do she runs off into the dark. The white figure comes closer and closer. Aden and Ailee become very frightened as the figure becomes more clearer. But this is not what's going through Ailee's mind. She is still wondering what had came out of her mouth back there. She didn't know what she said or what it meant. It just blurted out in the fear at the moment. Now the figure is much more clearer than before. And its not a Grendel but an Ettin. An Ettin with cute red eyes and a nice smooth white coat of fur. Of course at the time the two young Norns did not know what it was but to them it seemed like a peaceful creature, neutering and kind. It spoke to them "My name is Samuel. What is yours?" The two young ones stared at the creature then at each other and then back to the Ettin. "Don't you understand me?" said Samuel. "Bibble?" asked Aden. Samuel stood there and thought "Bibble, BibbleBibbleBibble? Oh I know!" exclaimed Samuel. "You're Norns, too young to speak English. Well I guess you could come with me and I'll teach you." Aden and Ailee just sit there while the Ettin walks off. "Well are you coming? Come On." They both get up and walk off into the distance with the Ettin........

Section 3 - BettyAS

Gilda watched quietly as the small brown creatures were led away. She wanted to follow them, but she wasn’t sure about the white one. It didn’t look like a Shee but it did make sounds like one.

Gilda was very lonely and wanted to be with others. The Shee had kept her alone for most of her life. A few times she had seen others that looked like the reflection she saw when she looked at the shiny wall. They didn’t notice her however. They never even looked at her; they just ran off to do whatever the Shee told them to do. When the Shee named Bruin had failed to lock her door properly she went out looking for someone that would notice her. She had been so excited when she had seen the small creatures.

“Me hungwy” Gilda croaked in her gravely voice. While she might not speak as well as the Shee or the white creature she was not stupid. She knew that no one would bring her food unless she went back to the laboratory, and she was not about to do that. Her hunger was becoming more acute. Ever since her belly had started to grow she had needed more and more food.

“Me hungwy!” she exclaimed more insistently as she wandered further into the woods. The small brown creatures were forgotten as she tried to decide what she was going to eat. 

Chapter 4 - Pattycake4554

Gilda looked around, chewing on a leave from a nearby tree branch. She noticed a round object hanging and reached for it. Tentatively, she bit down. "Urg...mmmmmmm" she grunted as the sweet apple juice spilled down her throat. She quickly ate another and another. Feeling revitalized with her stomach full, she headed off in the direction of the Ettin's smell, which seemed to have a calming effect on her.

The two little Norns looked around in awe. They had no idea where they were. The small strange looking creature who had led them from the forest, away from the frightening green thing, had pushed them into a large silver and black thing and into this room, closing the door. They saw and ran for the cheese hunks on the floor, delighting on the "food" Bruin had given them in the Lab. Suddenly there was a loud noise, lights began to flash. They heard a voice (sounding like Bruin) "Eat", "Get" "Drop" "Crowded". They were compelled to repeat the sounds, and amazed that they knew what the words meant! They knew they were "norns", they knew they were "afraid" of the "grendel" that an "ettin" had led them here. Above all, they knew it was important that they "Eat Food".

Meanwhile, back at the Lab, Bruin fretted that his Shee superiors would find out what he had done. He had implanted a homing device into all three of the escaped creatures. He activated it now and realized that the Ettins had taken the Norns aboard the Shee spaceship, which was being loaded for their imminent journey away from the World of Albia. The selected Norn eggs had been implanted, the fish eggs, plants, animals had all been loaded. Almost all was ready.

The Grendel homing device showed she was just now entering the ship as well! No Grendels aboard was the plan. This could mean his life as punishment. His superiors must never find out the Grendel had gotten onto the ship. Bruin knew what he had to do...he furtively glanced around, and seeing no one near the control room, he entered. He was thankful his best friend, Civet, had shown him the panel. He reached for the buttons and switches. The roar was deafening. The Shee came running to the control room but Bruin had padlocked the door...The Spaceship began to lift off its launching pad.

Chapter 5 - vegie_2000

"Aden come ettin" said Aden walking over to the ettin's side.

"Oh .... I hate the way those young norns talk" sighed the ettin, "come on, I'm going to teach you some PROPER English!" The two creatures sat down as the ettin explained to the little norn all kinds of complicated words - by the end Aden knew most of the words of the English language. 

That was when Bruin came running up,"Oh thank the Shee you've got her, Percy!" he said to the ettin,"I was so worried! You haven't seen a young grendel around, have you?"

"No I haven't, Bruin - but the child has!" replied Percy pointing to Aden.

"Don't be stupid - she doesn't know a single word of...." began Briun.

"YES I DO!!!!!!" interrupted Aden.

"Oh my life..." Said Bruin, but then clutched his throat at the thought of the fact that he had nearly lost his."Aden, sweetie - you haven't seen a grendel around here, have you?"

"Yes I have, actually - but don't hurt her! She doesn't mean any harm!!!!!"

Bruin knew that Gilda would not have hung around. He decided that he could se where she was on his homing device later. He told Percy everything that had happened with the grendel.

"Oh, I see....So that would explain why my homing device shows that there are five Grendels on board the ship..." replied Percy.

"W-What do you mean?!" stammered Bruin,"Gilda's down here..."  That's when he broke off, and bit his lip. He thought for a moment. Gilda must have laid some eggs on the ship! But the worst thing was, the deep secret of the experiment. Any babies that Gilda or any of Gilda's family to come would have, would be ten times meaner than their mother. Bruin thought in horror, of the spaceship, somewhere in space.....

Chapter 6 - The_Creature_Master

CHAPTER SEVEN - by Starry

Chapter 8 by Topegy45

Chapter 9 - Pattycake4554

Chapter 10 - The_Creature_Master

“No!” Greg shouted, weak from all the fighting. He extended his arm in hope of emitting another blast of sonic waves, but he was too tired. He focused all his will on emitting a blast, but he was too weak. Then, as a last resort, he used his howl. His throat changed it’s shape and…

“SSSSKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEEE-YAAAAAHHHHHH!!” Greg screamed. The sound was so high pitched it shocked the Grendels. He saw their ears bleeding. Some of them even lay dead on the ground. Good thing he adjusted the volume and pitch in such a way that it only affected Grendels. He saw that Quaz had somehow managed to escape from his deafening howl and was now escaping into the Jungle Terrarium. He used his powers to form a teleporter which opened up and sucked all Grendels into it and teleported them to the Jungle Terrarium. He himself vanished in a ball of light, only to reappear in the Jungle Terrarium. Quaz came bursting in, panting.

“Noo!! How did you arrive here so fast!?” he screamed in sheer shock. He slowly backed away from Greg.

“The Norns have never proved a danger to us. Why attack them?” Greg asked him, coming closer all the time.

“Because we hate them!!” Quaz replied, reaching the edge of the piranha pool.

“But why? That’s what I want to know.”

“We don’t know why! It’s just because!! The sight of one makes me want to kill them!!” Quaz realized that he had reached the end of the Terrarium. In a frantic movement meant to jump up and cling onto the platform above him, he accidentally kicked the switch used to open the trapdoor to the piranha pool. “NOOOO!!” he screamed as he was eaten by the hungry piranhas.


“Greg! You okay?” Kimberly asked him worriedly. After all, she didn’t want him to die. He was to save them if something bad happened.

“Yeah. I’m okay. Just a little drained. I need rest,” he replied.
“Come here, Greg. We need to recharge your power reserves,” Ken told him.

“Okay…” Greg said as he stumbled to where Ken was.

Ken attached a few wires to Greg and turned a machine on. A soft whirring noise came from it.

“We need to find away to make your power reserves full every time. We can’t afford you to be fighting when your power reserves are empty,” he told him.

“Okay. I’ll continue working on the Gene Splicer as soon as I’m recharged,” Greg said while fell asleep.

“What do you think happened to the Grendels?” Kimberly asked Ken.

“I don’t know. But I heard a really loud howl just now,” he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Oh. That means that the howl I added works then,” Kimberly told him. “Hey! There’s a Grendel sneaking towards the Splicer!”

“Where! Hey! You’re right! John, Mark, Ben! Try to stop him!”

“Yes, captain,” they said simultaneously and rushed off.

Suddenly, the wires and cables attached to Greg detached themselves and Greg woke up. “I feel much better now,” Greg said, grinning.

“Greg! There’s a Grendel sneaking towards the Gene Splicer! Get him away from it! It isn’t finished and is prone to explode without warning!”

“On my way!” Greg said and flew there. “Rudos! It’s you again!”

“Right. And it’s you again. You’re starting to irritate me. I heard about this machine and I’m going to splice myself with this Rocklouse here,” Rudos stepped into the Splicer and turned it on.

“Wait!!” Greg yelled but he was too late. The Splicer began to whirr and the pipes broke. Steam and smoke emerged from it. Greg quickly set up two cosmic shields. One around the Splicer and one around himself. And then the Splicer exploded.

“Greg!” Kimberly and Ken yelled.
 

Chapter 11 - vegie_2000

Chapter 12 by BettyAS

Ailee shifted slightly in her arms.  The little norn was sleeping very deeply, Gilda had tried to wake her several times.  Her fur was damp with sweat and she felt very warm.   A chill ran through Gilda as she clumsily caressed the Norns cheek  Knowing she could do nothing else she proceeded to the lab.

Uncharacteristically the door to the lab was ajar.  It was quiet inside but everything looked strange.  Equipment had been left everywhere, papers hastily dropped onto countertops.  Bruin had always put everything away carefully before he left the lab, Gilda had expected that the others would do the same.  She sniffed the air again but found no recent scent of Shee as she hurried towards Bruin's lab.

***

Aiden was very quiet as he rode on Bruin's back.  Percy was leading the way, looking carefully at the ground and plants around him.  Aiden was also becoming very worried.  Something was not right and he could not understand what.  A part of him seemed to be weakening.  It was a part of him that always felt strongest when he was with Ailee.  He missed his sister and was worried about her.  The Grendel Gilda had never hurt him and he was not afraid of her, but he still knew there was something dangerous about her.

Suddenly Aiden felt very weak.

"Ailee, there is something wrong with Ailee."

"Can you not sense her anymore Aiden?" Bruin said worriedly.

Suddenly realizing that that part of him that was dwindling was Ailee, Aden shouted "Yes I can, but I think she is dying!"

Chapter 13 by Starry

Chapter 14 - Pattycake4554

Kim giggled, "We are here on Albia, Dorek! There was a small problem on the ship, the Splicer exploded! We were able to set the ship in orbit around Albia and used the Shuttle stored at the rear airlock to return to Albia with our injured patient. We were certainly glad the Ettins are so competent at loading all the machinery. How are you?"

Hurriedly, Dorek replied, "No time to socialize now, Kim. Something incredible is happening! I know you and Ken will want to join in this. But I can't talk about it over the transmitter. Can we meet at our secret place near the Hanging Bridge in one cycle?"

"OK, Dorek, I can tell this is very important to you. I'll bring Ken. See you then. And maybe, you can return with us to the mothership. There are some problems I know you can help us with, and I don't mean just the Splicer" and with that, Kim signed off.

"All set, Bryant. Let's go" Dorek said. Bryant handed Dorek a bottle, "Here, Dorek, eat potion with me. It will keep us strong and healthy for our mission. Perhaps we will find Bruin on the way." They emptied the bottles and headed for the door.

Chapter 15 - The_Creature_Master

Chapter 16  BettyAS

Struggling to sit up Ailee looked for her brother.  The lab is quiet and dark but she can barely hear a soft breathing from across the room.  She laid back down and sighed softly.  She knows it is Aden and he is sleeping.  Her eyes closed slowly as she drifted back to sleep.

*****

Bruin paced nervously in the office next to his lab.  Had the floor been made of a softer material he would have worn a path into it by now.  His normally calm life has been shattered, and all because he had been in a hurry and forgotten to lock a door.   Part of him searches for someone else to blame.  The signal that a message had arrived from Bryant distracted him.  Bruin didn't know why Bryant had favored him so much; perhaps it was because Bryant and Bruin's father had been such good friends.   Ever since Bruin's father had died Bryant seemed to always be there when Bruin had needed him.  When Bryant had invited him to participate in his secret project, Bruin had been elated.  But now Bruin was frightened.  Bruin had created the grendel that Bryant had wanted, but had made some changes.  The thought of dealing with such a dangerous creature scared him so he had genetically engineered Gilda to be sweet, most of the time.  Her aggressive side was triggered chemically, and he had always done so before Bryant came to visit.  He had also implanted her with hundreds of prefertilized eggs.  Gilda did not need to mate, she would produce new eggs on her own.  Those offspring unfortunately would not share her sweet side.

The young norns were another matter.  Bryant knew nothing about them.  They had been hatched from a single egg.  Brother and sister, but in many ways one.   The twins were telepathic with each other, able to share's what the other knew, felt and learned.  He had also tried to make them telekinetic so they could pass smell objects from one to the other solely with the power of their minds.  What Bruin had seen in the forest, however, had far exceeded his wildest dreams.  The twins seemed to also be able to transport each other.  The great flash of white light frightened him.  He had no idea now what kind of power they wielded.   He looked through the fogged glass at the sleeping norns in the lab.  They looked so innocent, but were so dangerous.  The irony was that the danger was not them, but what Bryant would do when he found out.

*****

Percy sat outside the lab humming softly as he looked at the stars.  He was supposed to warn Bruin if any Shee showed up, but he doubted he would have to worry about that.  The lights off in the distance showed that his fellow Ettins were busy. 

Poor foolish Bruin.  He probably though he was responsible for genetically engineering the twins and the Grendel.  After all, Percy was just his assistant, useful for menial tasks and little more.  Bruin would never guess that Percy had made modifications to his equations and the settings of the genetic splicer, or that he had rigged the lock to Gilda's cage so it would no longer securely lock.  The grin that appeared on Percy's face was almost sinister.  Things were going so well, the Shee were in total disarray.  The early launch of the ship was an unexpected bonus.   Soon the Shee would have to recognize the Ettins for what they really were.

Chapter 17 – vegie_2000

The ettins made their way through the jungle. Samuel trailed along behind. What was he doing? Two ettins, Lupin and Fudge, carried the grendel trap, while Percy led the way. Suddenly, the group stopped in the middle of the path. Percy sniffed the air.

“Grendels! Right ahead! Quickly! Get the trap ready on the path – I will go on ahead and make sure these are the right grendels we are looking for – do not set the trap yet unless I come back and say so!”

Lupin and Fudge did as they were told, and Percy ran off ahead, just at the side of the path. A few seconds later, he was back.

“Right! They are the grendels! Set the trap and hide!” He ordered.

The ettins quickly hid, and the pack of evil grendels soon came marching along, straight into the trap.

“GARRR! GRUN! GRASN!” They shouted, angrily, but when they saw the ettins, they rocked about in the cage, desperate to escape.

Percy had the leashes with him. He called the other ettins over to help him. One by one, the cage door was lifted, and a grendel was leashed and given to an ettin. By coincidence, there were as many grendels as there were ettins. Percy knew that there would be more…

Samuel sighed and glanced down at his grendel. She was shaking and pulling – Samuel stroked her, but then looked closely - to his relief, he realised that the grendel was Gilda…

The ettins carried on along the path, and it wasn’t long before they reached the Shee labs…
 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Starry

Chapter 19 - The_Creature_Master

He got up and quickly ran out of the Temple.

“Where to first? Where to first?” he said anxiously and decided on entering the Central Temple first.

He rushed through the narrow passageways, turning on his night vision as he ran. He saw Bryant up ahead and rushed to him.

“Nooo!” he cried.

“Greg! H-help m-me!” Bryant whispered. He was freezing, being so near to the storage device must have started freezing him.

Greg wondered why the sub-zero temperature wasn’t freezing him.

“It must be my cybernetic body,” he thought to himself as he aimed his hand at the storage device and the controls next to them and blasted it with a searing white light. He suddenly remembered that Bryant was nearby and created a cosmic shield around him to protect him from the explosion. But in doing so, he didn’t have enough time to create one over himself. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was being blasted off his feet and thrown through the air to land on the large jewel on the stone staff which the four statues were holding in their hands.

Bryant’s body temperature began to rise again and his body thawed out since the main storage device was destroyed. He figured that all the others must have been destroyed also since there was a control panel beside the device in this Temple. He rushed out of the Temple to meet Kimberly, Ken and Dorek. All of them had heard the explosion and rushed outside as soon as they weren’t so frozen that they couldn’t even move.

Their eyes widened shock as they saw Greg lying atop the blue jewel, unconscious. But what really scared them was the blue light emanating from his body and the jewel.

They climbed up the statue and brought Greg back down to the ground.

“Greg! Greg, are you okay?” Ken asked anxiously. He looked up at Bryant and Dorek. “Why is his body glowing?”

“I don’t know! How I came to know about this place was all from books!” Bryant replied.

Suddenly, a dark blue mist began to seep out of Greg’s open mouth, enveloping him. The four scrambled away from his body, both frightened and curious as to what was happening. A faint white light was then seen through the blue mist, and Kimberly edged closer as the blue mist began to disperse.

“Greg, are you okay? Come on, Greg! Wake up!” Kimberly said, shaking him.

Greg’s eyes opened with white light shining from them. It was as it his eyes were a torch.

“Greg! What’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay? Why are your eyes shining like this?” Ken asked.

“I… I don’t know… My brain feels… Weird…” Greg replied, clutching at his head. His eyes then began to glow more brightly as his head emitted a blue light. Then, the white light coming from his eyes turned to blue and finally disappeared.

“I feel as it… I know more things…” Greg told them. He looked up. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, we’re okay. Thanks for saving us back there,” Bryant said as he patted Greg on the back. “But I think we’re now faced with another problem…”

Bryant turned his head as the others followed where his eyes were looking at.

“Oh, no…” Ken said, worried. “Greg, teleport us out of here, now! The waves are beginning to come down again! The wind is dying down! If we don’t hurry, we’ll drown!”

“S-something’s wrong! I can’t teleport!” Greg said as his left hand faded a bit and then reappeared. “Whatever happened to me when I was surrounded by that blue light must have corrupted my teleportation signal generator!” he told the others worriedly.

“Well, then. I guess that leaves Option Number Two,” Bryant said.

“And that is…?”

“RUN!”

They started running, but, seeing as the waves were closing down fast, Greg knew that there wasn’t enough time. He stopped as his head glowed again.

“Greg! What are you doing!? Come on!” Kimberly yelled.

Greg looked up and his eyes shone blue again.

“Force of wind, bring us there, carry us on your mighty bear. Let us escape these crashing waves, and then rest in those deep dark caves.”

As soon as he said that, the wind seemed to change direction and scoop Kimberly, Ken, Bryant, Dorek and Greg up. They then sped towards the shore and the caves to the right of it. They were moving so fast that everything passed in a blur. As they arrived, the wind died down and the five dropped to the ground.

“What in the world happened? Greg, did you say that?” Bryant asked.

“I… I don’t know! I was just running when I felt more knowledge being put into my mind. I don’t know how I knew those words or whatever, I just blurted them out the instant they magically appeared in my mind!” Greg told him.

“I see…” Bryant said. “If I remember correctly, the books said that whoever found the key to the door leading to improved mental prowess and strength, the city would close again… Never to open again for another millennium. The waves would come crashing down without any warning. When you fell onto the jewel, the impact must have shocked it and it was activated! That’s how you knew those incantations!” he said excitedly.

“Wow! Greg! What could be better for you?” Kimberly said. “First you get made into a part cyborg, and now you know magic! You may even be psychic! Awesome!”

Greg gleamed excitedly.

“You sure are one lucky Grendel, Greg,” Ken said, smiling.

“Now, let’s go back to the Shee Labs. We have to find Bruin,” Dorek told them.

“Yeah!” Kimberly said. “And while we’re there, I want to fix your teleportation signal generator!”

Chapter 20 - BettyAS

"Percy?" he said as he turned towards the sound.  "Percy, what's going on?  Why are you looking at me like that?"

"We've come for the twins"

"We?"  Bruin stood and looked down on the Ettin. "What do you mean we?  Have the Shee returned?  Percy, you're not making any sense."

"We as in the Ettins" Percy said slowly.  "The twins are going with us,   They are going to help us overthrow the Shee"

"Over throw the . . ."  said Bruin as he went pale.   ""No, Percy, you can't!  What have we ever done to harm you?   We always took good care of you!"

"That's right, you took care of us.  Treated us like children, not letting us live the lives we wanted to lead.  Was I ever given any choice about being your 'assistant'?  Did you ever treat me as an equal?  The twins are mine.  I created them not you. 

"Edwin, come get him."

The door opened and another Ettin came into the room.  Bruin did not recognize him, but he had often found that all Ettins looked the same anyway.  The Ettin came over and tied Bruin's hands in front of him and led him outside the lab.  A few moments later Percy joined them, carrying Aileen with Aden trailing along behind.

Chapter 21 by Topegy45

Chapter 22 by PattyCake4554

"The scientists Ken and Kimberly are present here with me. And with them they have Greg, the Grendel Cyborg with many powers. They may be able to aid us in the battle while we figure out something else to do to either protect our Shee population or escape. The mothership remains in orbit around Albia. If we can delay the attack of the Ettins for a while we may be able to use the shuttles to transport some of the Shee, if not all, to the mothership."

"Hmmm, it is a start," Stylineh waved at the Captain, "You handle the battle. Get them on it." The Captain bent low at the waist, "As you decree, Oh Mighty Shee Council". He turned and ran to the door to find his help.

Another Council Member sat pensively thinking. He lifted his head and his eyes were sparkling. Mirekehn had gotten them out of many complex situations with his brilliant schemes during his tenure on the Council. "Council Leader, I have an idea."

"You may speak, Mirekehn", the Leader spoke hopefully.

"On the Mothership are many Ettins, family members who were on board when the ship was launched. We can use them as hostages against the Ettins who are attacking. They will certainly not want to see their families killed."

"This is true, Council Leader," Bryant spoke quickly, "some of what the Ettins are so angered about is the loss of their family members! We may be able to negotiate exchanges of Ettins aboard the ship for Shee here on Albia. Let me speak with Kimberly. One of the powers of the Cyborg Grendel Greg is a great and powerful voice. We may be able to have him make our wishes known to the Ettin leader, Percy."

"Percy!" shouted Stylineh. He lowered his voice, as the other Shee did not know of all this.
"I was warned of him in a dream. It came to me that he had the Garfund."

"Go ahead, Bryant. Do what is necessary. We, here, will prepare the lists of which Shee will leave Albia when all is prepared."

"As you command, O Council Leader", Bryant turned and ran from the room.

His mind was swirling. "We must also find a way to rescue Aiden and Ailee and Bruin, too." The Shee did not even know about them yet. "And we must figure out a way to get back to the Mothership before the Shee can take it over and leave Albian space forever! We will never be able to grow another mothership without the Shee scientists or the Ettins to help us!" His heart was pounding as he went in search of Dorek to help him find Ken or Kimberly. "I am getting much too old for all this running!" he thought to himself as he increased his speed.
 
 

Chapter 23 by vegie_2000

Chapter 24 by Starry718

Chapter 25 by Topegy45

Chapter 26 by The_Creature_Master

“Let me go!” Percy screamed. “Ettins! Help me!”

“You’re Eyagonaii!” one of them shouted. “Give Percy back to us!”

“No, I’m not! You fools! What proof do you have?”

“We have the seal of the Prophets,” Samuel declared and help up a small golden amulet which had a face which resembled the Shee, Norns, Ettins and Grendels.

“Argh! No!” Percy cried and shielded his eyes from the amulet.

“See? That’s our proof! Fellow Ettins, hold him tight! We will exorcise the evil Eyagonaii!”

“Hold him down!” one of the Ettins said in agreement as all the other Ettins rushed towards Percy and pinned him down to the ground.

“Percy, we are Ailee and Aden. Listen to us and relax. We will help you break Eyagonaii’s control,” the two Norns said to Percy’s mind.

“Well, make it quick!” he said to them privately in their minds.

Greg, power regained, reached for Percy. He raised his hand into the air, inches away from Percy’s face, and slowly pulled it away. Percy’s body paled, and it was as if Greg was levitating him. The exorcism had begun.

Meanwhile, in Percy’s mind, he was fighting Eyagonaii.

“Get out of my mind and body!” he cried, and delivered a mental punch to Eyagonaii while he was busy resisting Greg.

“Power of the Prophets, we call upon you. Help us, please do. Help us free Percy from Eyagonaii, if not he will make us die. Help us exorcise this evil soul, and send him where he was meant to go.”

At that moment, Percy’s chest jerked up and a white cloud was suddenly expelled from his eyes and mouth. It slowly formed into the shape of an Ettin, and a voice rang in everyone’s heads.

“Nooooo!! You have not seen the last of me! I shall and will return! You will all die!” and with that, the white cloud disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

Percy tried to stand up, but immediately collapsed on the ground.

“I… Am so glad to be free! He has taken over my body for so long that I can’t stand up right!” he said cheerfully. He looked at Samuel and walked up to him. “Thanks, Samuel. If you hadn’t warned the Shee Eyagonaii still would have been in my body and the Ettins would have taken over Albia.”

“Don’t mention it,” Samuel said and shook Percy’s paw.

“Now we have to see Stylineh,” Bryant shouted over the cries of joy. “On to the Shee Council!”
***

“I see…” Stylineh said and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You say that Eyagonaii took control of Percy and planned to destroy us?”

“Yes, Stylineh,” Bryant said, “and now, thanks to Greg, Aden and Ailee, Eyagonaii is now gone.”

“Good. You are all dismissed.”

At that, everyone went back.

Chapter 27 - a special story (for Easter) by BettyAS

* * * * * * * * * *

 Long ago in the sub-albian city there lived an Ettin named Etheria. Etheria was a very adventures young ettin and she often found her self in strange places and even dangerous circumstances. This day Etheria had been wandering with no goal in mind and found herself near the hot area. When Etheria was a child her parents had always told her not to go there, and being a very well behaved young Ettin she never had. But Etheria was no longer a child and now reasoned that since someone had once been there, or how would they know it was dangerous, it was all right for an adult Ettin to go there.

Etheria wandered along until she saw a strange object suspended from the ceiling. What had attracted her attention was the egg that sat below it. Etheria had never seen an egg like this. It was so many colors that she could not count them all, and some of them even sparkled. Etheria looked at it closely but could not recognize what kind of egg it was. It wasn’t very large so she decided to pick it up and take it home.

After placing the egg carefully on the floor of her house Etheria ran of to get her friends. Used to Etheria bringing home all manner of junk, they were not very enthusiastic. They were, however, good and supportive friends so they came along. The silence showed how taken they were with the egg’s beauty.

“What kind of egg is it?” Asked Jordan

“I’ve never seen so many colors.” Whispered Bethany. “ And they even seem to move!”

Etheria looked closely at the egg and the colors were moving. They seemed to swirl about slowly with no discernable pattern. Etheria blinked, then looked again. The colors were still now, but not in the same positions as when she first found the egg.

“I think I’d better go now”, said someone behind her.

“Um, yes. Me too.”

Shortly Etheria was alone. She decided to sit and watch the egg all night, but eventually fell asleep on the floor.

When she woke the next morning she discovered the egg in pieces on the floor. Each piece was round and a different color. Etheria picked one up and sniffed at it. For some unknown reason she the decided to taste it. The shell was soft and fruity. She tried another of a different color and it tasted of a different fruit. Etheria continued to eat them, finding each piece more delicious than the next. She ate almost half of the pieces before she finally stopped.

“I wonder what was in the egg” Etheria said to the empty house. Realizing that she would never be happy until she found out she walked out of the house. There in her garden she could see something by the predawn light. It seemed to have long ears and moved in short bounds. Quickly it grabbed a carrot and looked at her. Etheria would have sworn she saw a smile before it disappeared into the ground.

Etheria never saw another egg like that one again although she searched frequently for one. Carrots continued to disappear from the garden and once a year, if she got up before the dawn, she saw the creature in her garden. On those days she also found more colored bits of shell, as did all the other Ettins that lived near her.

Samuel looked at the norn twins and thinking them asleep started to leave the house.

“Samuel” said Aileen in a tiny voice. “Have you ever seen the colored shell?”

“Yes” responded Samuel with a smile. “They still appear once a year in the carrot patch.”

“And when is that?” said Aiden.

“Tomorrow” replied Samuel. “That is why I chose that story to tell you tonight. Now go to sleep, then maybe you will wake up early enough to catch a glimpse of the creature.”
 

Chapter 28 by PattyCake4554

Chapter 29 – vegie_2000