6. The Egg-Back Mission

When everyone awoke the next morning, not everyone awoke. Most creatures stayed asleep, certainly the Gosti. Even after they’d received a downpour of water on their heads, lifted up, shaken, and even turned upside down. Those who did wake up, could take mere steps before falling down or seeking support from a tree trunk.

Dilova hadn’t eaten and drunk the same as the rest. She felt fine. Well, that was a big word, because she had stayed awake all night anxiously awaiting the mission they wanted to do today. Because of that fear, she hadn’t been able to eat.

Her father also looked sick. He smiled at Dilova and gave his usual speech about the Supreme God, but when they were alone for a moment, his face tensed.

“What if this is no test, but a sign?” he whispered.

“Wow wow wow. A sign of what?”

“That the stairs are a bad idea. That he doesn’t want us to come.”

“But wouldn’t he just make the stairs collapse then?”

“Shh,” he pressed his foot against her beak. “Don’t give the Supreme God ideas.”

He looked again at the gigantic structure they had built. Gleaming in the sun, bigger than anything those godchildren ever made. An accomplishment already worth his pride. It even had something magical, the way wood and stone worked together.

He believed in it.

“You’re right. This last bit will be the hardest, but it’s worth it. This is our great goal. Our test if we’re worthy in the eyes of the Supreme God.”

He waved at a few angry rainclouds around the stairs. “This time isn’t called the Cloudtority for nothing. We have to pass through the clouds now, and they’re doing everything, my daughter, everything to stop us. We’ll reach the top, one step at a time.”

“Be careful up there,” squeaked Dilova.

“Be careful on your mission,” said Fiante.

Dilova couldn’t wait to return to the Gigagushers, to fly again. But she also knew she had to find something better. Her eyes remained fixed on the stars, not a branch to fall off of. Flying above everything, forever—not briefly flying just above the ground.

And, of course, that little problem that the Dracs would surely label breaking into Cosmo’s throne as a crime.

She took two Equids and two Gosti with her.

“Does everyone still remember the plan?”

“Walk in, steal back our eggs, walk out.”

“No no, we want to catch Cosmo red-handed. That’s why I asked Eeris to meet us at the Gigagushers.”

The Equid frowned. “You think gods punish each other? That you can catch him, like he’s a little kid?”

“Yes. I believe in Eeris and her good heart.”

The journey to Cosmo’s throne flew by when you were carried by trotting Equids, though it remained far. All along the way, they saw the destruction the Proto-Turtles had brought to this area. The whole reason Fiante got the idea for the stairs. The reason it had to be built so quickly, before the gods came with their Dracs and their punishments.

Dilova sometimes regretted that she had said it at all, that evening when she frantically returned to say Proto-Turtles had come ashore. The entire forest was chaos, animals running every which way. They all believed the end was near, and that the gods would throw down a new asteroid to kill them any moment.

Until Fiante calmed down everyone and explained this plan. Build a staircase and flee before it’s too late. And if possible, convince that Supreme God to spare everyone.

She passed a Proto-Turtle encased by trees and bushes, who was called Abrahon by a snake helping him. It wouldn’t be long before he was free. Dilova did not want to be nearby when that happened.

The Gigagushers were deserted. No Cosmo, but also no Eeris.

The Gosti looked anxious. “You’re sure Eeris understood?”

“Yes, yes, Eeris nodded that she would be here.”

But Dilova doubted too. We can also just take the eggs and leave, she thought. That would make dozens of mothers happy.

It might have worked, had she acted immediately. Now Cosmo had already returned.

And he cried.

Behind him, the Ghostbird descended, as gracefully as it could, and landed on the furthest point of Cosmo’s throne. The violent gushers didn’t faze it. The enormous wings covered it like a lid on a pan.

Dilova and her group hid behind a little pile of rocks, crammed. She didn’t even dare breathe. She couldn’t breathe from the heavy hind paws pressing down on her belly. Only the Gosti could look over the rock.

“What should I do then?” Cosmo asked the Ghostbird. “When you’re gone? The sky is endless. The sky is empty. The sky is lonely.”

She couldn’t take it anymore. She breathed in, bulging her belly, expanding her wings a bit, and the Equids rolled off her like rubber balls.

Cosmo froze.

“Who’s there?”

No one said anything. Wings were spread. The voice came closer.

“I demand you show yourself.”

Dilova looked at everyone. No one dared speak, but she couldn’t deduce a plan from their faces either. The Gosti made all kinds of hand signs, but the other animals had no hands. As far as she understood, they wanted to do a surprise attack on Cosmo, which was a bad plan anyway.

Two feet landed on their rock. Bits of gravel rained down on Dilova.

“Final chance: who’s there? You don’t need to be afraid of me, but I have to see who’s visiting my home.”

Dilova looked up and saw the underside of his impressive beak. He scanned the surroundings. He scanned the air. He looked down.

The Gosti flew at his feet. The Equids pulled them back by the tail before they made it worse. Dilova flew away, just a tiny bit.

“Wow wow wow, Cosmo, you here, I just wanted to ask something, would you—”

He used the tip of his beak to pull everyone onto the rock. Dilova looked past his angry eyebrows at the Ghostbird. An impressive beast that slept surprisingly peacefully over the warm gushers.

“You have one chance to give a very good explanation.”

“You’re stealing our eggs,” the Gosti immediately shouted. “We want them back.”

“Chance wasted. You are banished from these lands.”

He grabbed everyone with his broad orange talons and took off. The Gosti tried to wriggle themselves free with their fingers.

“Let go!” Dilova couldn’t breathe anymore.

“You won’t do that,” sneered a familiar voice.

A giraffe neck coiled around Cosmo’s feet and held him in place, hovering a treelength above the ground.

His protective Ghostbird came to life.