Marietta clung to the high branches of the laam tree. The round, red fruits were just a centimeter away from her fingertips. She reached with her whole body, but still she could not reach them. As she gave a sigh the branch, that her bottom foot was on, cracked, then broke off. She could not hold on to the tree anymore. Her fingers clutched a branch, but it broke off with her hand still tightly around it. She fell to the soft moss with a light thud. Marietta lay there for an instant until she could get a hold of herself. She then sat up carefully and checked to make sure that no bones were broken. She was fine except for a few bruises here and there. Her long, beautifully colored talban, which she was wearing loosely over her shoulders, was ripped, up the sleeve. Marietta was terribly upset. She would have to make another talban for herself. Maybe her mother would let her use the silky, red print that went so nicely with her straight black hair. Marietta got up, brushed herself off and started home.
When she took the first step she realized that both of her slippers had ripped when she fell off the branch. She knew, since she had been told ever since she could talk, that she was not allowed to go on the crystal path without her protective slippers. It was said that you would be burned up and die if you didn't have them on, although Marietta couldn't remember hearing of anyone who had ever met that fate since her people were so careful. The thought of not being able to get back to her home was terrifying. She knew the horrible things that could happen to her out of the enclosed environment of her home. If only she had brought Pentra. She would have been able to ride him over the crystal pathway without any trouble because unicorns do not need slippers to protect their feet; their hooves were protection enough. She may never even see Pentra again.
Marietta turned around to face the great shining stellar far above. She could see that the larger part of the stellar was getting very yellow. She knew that if she were not home by the time the stellar turned completely yellow she would not be safe. When the stellar turns deep yellow the wild beasts come out of hiding. There are the fearless blue and green, fire-breathing dragons, pure white hentars with a wing span of ten meters, always screeching loudly and the lentries huge, red bodies leaping and clawing with their reptile tails whipping everything behind them, and all the other terrors of the yellow stellar.
Marietta shivered from the thought and took a long look around her for a safe place to hide. She could see none so she walked on the soft, springy moss looking for some safe shelter. As she was walking she glanced at the stellar to see how much time she had; none! The stellar was pure yellow and shining brightly!
She felt the presence of something. Slowly she turned to see, ten meters from her, a sleeping griffin. She was horrified and shocked for a few minutes. When she snapped out of it she carefully and very quietly slipped away from the sleeping beast. As she turned to make sure she was far enough away a hentar leaped out from a nearby tree with a piercing screech that rang through the forest for kilometers and came back in an echo. Marietta gave her own scream, covered her head with her arms and ran blindly for a nearby hole. The hentar's left wing came down and slapped her right across the head with a whopping sound. She fell and tripped over a root, her ankle twisted and started throbbing. Marietta grabbed her ankle and started crawling towards the hole. She reached it just in time to avoid another attack by the hentar.
Safe in the hole, Marietta ripped off part of her sleeve and wrapped it tightly around her ankle. She then took another part off of her sleeve and tied it around her hair to keep loose strands out of her eyes. After taking care of this, Marietta took a long breath of air and closed her eyes. She had only rested for a second when, from above, she heard a scratching noise. A streak of panic went through her body. A lentrie was digging down towards her. His claws were getting terribly close to her. She scrunched up smaller and tried to avoid the sharp claws. The lentrie, not getting close enough to Marietta, became discouraged and backed off. Marietta, feeling it was safe, dragged herself out of the hole and limped to a nearby tree and leaned against it. She knew that she really was not safe there and must find a good place to hide until the stellar started turning colors. She figured all she had to do was to stay alive until the stellar changed colors when the beasts would go back into hiding. Then she would have to find the conterlad plant that slippers are made of. She would have to get on the crystal pathway and send a signal home, which was easy once you're on the crystal pathway.
She now heard the trees around her rustling. She turned around quickly only to glare into a griffins angry eyes. His sharp claws came down near her back. The tree she was leaning on split and fell to the ground. Marietta let out a gasp and ran trying to think where the special conterlad plant would be. She had heard that they were grown as bulbs deep under the most springy, soft, green moss you could find. Marietta tried to watch the ground as she ran, looking for the special moss. Luckily her eyes were on the ground so she saw the large root, but was unable to avoid it, when she landed her foot twisted and she winced in pain. She knew it was the end for her. The griffin would be upon her any second now. She looked back but there was no griffin. He must have given up the chase. Marietta started to get up, the ground beneath her felt very soft. She looked at the moss; it was greener than any green she'd ever seen. She felt the moss with her hand and it was velvety smooth. This was exactly what she was looking for.
Voraciously she began digging hard and fast with every last ounce of her strength. The lovely moss was thick, not extremely thick but thicker than most moss she'd seen. Marietta kept digging she dug until she thought her fingernails were going to fall out because of all the dirt in them. Then she dug some more, when she finally reached a bulb she took just a second to heave a small sigh, and then began very carefully, so as not to hurt the plant, to dig it out. She was almost ecstatic with joy. She held it very carefully. It seemed as though her only purpose ever in life was to find this plant and get back on the crystal path. She had found the plant, now all she needed was to make the special slippers, then get to the crystal pathway. Making the slippers would not be difficult. She'd made them many times before. She quickly formed the slippers in her dirt covered hands and was about to put them on her feet when a hentar gave a loud screech and flew past her, whipping his wings over her head.
Marietta quickly shoved the finished slippers under her talban and began running towards the crystal path. Nothing would stop her now. She had the slippers all ready now and would just need to make it to the crystal path. The stellar, she could tell was just about to change colors. Nothing and no one would stop her now. for another attack. Marietta screamed and dropped the slipper that wasn't on her foot, but she could not stop to pick it up. She knew she would have to do without that slipper. Marietta felt sure she would make it. The crystal pathway was just twenty meters from her. She could feel it, she could almost touch it! Her heart pounded against her chest, but Marietta disregarded it. She could think of just one thing.
As she ran she tried to fit the slippers on her feet. She had the left one on when the hentar came downFifteen meters to go.
Faster." she thought. "I must go faster."
She was now just five meters away. Marietta was overwhelmed with joy, too overwhelmed in fact to hear the hentar coming down for another attack. One swipe of his wing was all that he needed. Forty-five minutes later the search party found Marietta's body ripped up by the hentar. There was blood everywhere. Her entire body was destroyed. Except for her hands, which were lying on the crystal path.
They were the only recognizable, untouched part of her except for the slipper. One of the members of the search party picked up the slipper and turned it over and over in his hands studying it carefully. He then looked from the slipper to her unsinged hands realizing that they were not burned even without the protection of the slipper.
