Forest Guardians Chronicles: A Matter of Humanity by Beth Roose (smart ebook reader TXT) 📗

a queen. With her ultimate goal being to take all the resources of the park for herself, she may try to deceive us.”

Princess Celia, looking wary at Zonga’s response, asked, “Do the drones ever break away from the community?”

“Never,” Zonga said with alert eyes, “only to trick and deceive their prey to make their attack as severe as possible, intentionally leaving no survivors.”

Cleg’s tribesmen let out a giant roar again as they stood shaking their large, hairy fists in anger. Zonga sternly asked all to sit, including Cleg and the princess, so his Pukwudgie tribesmen could demonstrate how they shape-shift into hornet queens. In addition, he could point out what traits to look for in order to indicate a shape-shifter from the real deal.

Zonga said, pointing to the legs of his shape-shifted tribesmen, “If you look closely, the legs phase in and out of focus, almost appearing blurry. You can get a glimpse of their real legs and feet the longer they are in shape-shift mode. The more time they are expending energy, the faster they lose their ability to hold the form of the creature they have shifted into. So, it would be especially important that the plan moves swiftly and completely in order for our kind to hold their disguise.” After the demonstration, Zonga commanded his tribesmen to de-shift back to their Pukwudgie forms.

At that point, Princess Celia got up and walked over to Zonga, saying, “Thank you for the information, Zonga. I appreciate your demonstration and details on what to look for on shape-shifting and the beginning of de-shifting.” She turned on her heels, aiming her body towards Cleg. “Your plan is well thought out, and I feel it will be effective.” She then looked into the dark eyes of each member in the Hairy Man Tribe. Her stern voice carried through the vast sky, “No one can afford to fail their assignment in this plan, or the tribe and the park will be in jeopardy.”

Princess Celia noticed that Bev looked upset again. She walked toward Bev with her arm extended, holding the sparkly ball of light which began to glow a noticeably light purple, radiating pink, white, and yellow sparkles. As the princess reached Bev, the light moved from the princess’s hand to the empty space over Bev’s head. The light filtered down, washing over her entire body, and the sparkles became brighter than the purple light. Then, in a flash, it was gone.

Bev sat up straight and exclaimed, “Let’s do this!” Her whole demeanor had changed in a millisecond, and everyone could see she was now ready and confident with her part of the plan. The tribe stood up again with an even louder and more excited roar!

The entire Hairy Man Tribe, including Cleg, chanted, “We can do this! We will protect the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Grissom Farm!”

Zonga strode over to Bev and informed her that she would have two of his Pukwudgie tribesmen shape-shifted into cows to keep watch over her and make sure she was safe. She was relieved for that and thanked him graciously for his protection. Both of them strode over to Cleg and the princess to confirm that the plan would begin an hour after sunrise on the Grissom Farm. Bev nodded confidently saying, “I will be ready.”

3

The Plan

It was determined that Bitty and Ja’al would spend the night on the Grissom Farm with Bev. When they arrived at the farm, Bitty and her mom decided that they would stay on the porch to listen and keep watch. Bev smiled warmly and gently shut the door, feeling safe and ready for some much-needed rest. She knew the next day would be very hectic with everyone performing their part in the plan against the Hornet Queen.

Bev laid in her bed and rehearsed the plan in her mind several times to make sure that she knew what she was to do in the morning. She felt a twinge of nervousness about succeeding in her part of the plan, but she remembered the reassurances that she received from everyone earlier in the day. She thought to herself, They have faith in me, and I will not let them down!

As she lay in the stillness of the night, she heard the gibberish sounds of Bitty and her mom talking. It gave her comfort knowing that they would be watching over the area and would be alert to any noises out of the ordinary. After a few more moments, Bev finally drifted off into a much-needed, restful splendor.

Two hours before Bev was to make the circles in the cornfield, Bitty and Ja’al awakened her with two soft whoops. She nodded gently, acknowledging that the day was starting and that she had a lot to do to set the plan of defeating the Hornet Queen into forward motion. She slipped on her shoes and shuffled behind Bitty and Ja’al, making her way into the kitchen to have a cup of coffee before beginning the task of building torches.

As Bev sipped her coffee, Bitty and Ja’al stepped outside onto the front porch and began speaking in gibberish while they prepared the torches. When Bev joined them outside, she saw two cows standing uncomfortably still at the bottom of the steps. She knew they were the two Pukwudgie tribesmen who had shape-shifted into cows for disguise. She already felt safer with them nearby.

As Bev stepped off the porch, the Pukwudgie’s shape-shifted back to their natural forms; and at that moment, she heard something coming around the corner. She was worried that it might be the Hornet Queen and her minion drones; but when she whipped around to see what it was, she saw Princess Celia riding a light beam to the ground. Relief filled Bev the moment she saw the princess.

As she approached, the princess greeted the ladies, saying, “Good morning, and wishing success to all today with blessings to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the forest creatures that reside within it.” Everyone