Unbeelievable

The dragon bird roared and shot at Khadija, who ran like hell, still carrying its baby in her arms. She had completely forgotten to place him down and was now chased by an extremely long, feathery tail.

She ducked and slid under a thick root protruding from the earth and hid herself in the darkness, then lifted up the baby and placed it in front of her face, hoping to leverage it against its mother for enough time.

The tail hovered above her face for a few seconds and then receded back, and soon a breathtaking, majestic bird came into view. Its eyes held a serene white glow that enchanted Khadija at first glance, and in the next second she was knocked out, sleeping calmly and snoring. Then the bird softly took its baby out of her arms and turned back, deciding to spare Khadija.

Just as it was heading back, the vines above its head moved, and it looked up sharply. There was nothing, then suddenly, from behind the tree, another mad, frantic human came running and latched onto its body. Plan successful.

Now it was time for improvisation. Isra turned her head back and screamed at Khadija to get on. But she kept sleeping. After calling her a few more times and not getting a response, she felt worried and got off, walked to the under-root, and slapped her on the face. Khadija gasped and woke up, then paled.

The dragon bird now stood behind Isra, imposing and angry. Khadija raised her finger and pointed it to Isra's back.

"Don't look bac" but it was already too late.

Khadija felt dumb for pointing the finger in the first place, and now both of them laid knocked out in the under-root, sleeping peacefully.

*********

Isra woke up and found herself lifted up by her shirt, hovering in midair, facing the ground as some invisible force carried her forward. She looked to her side and saw Khadija carried the same way. She thought to herself that it must be a dream and slept back.

A few hours later, she felt something slapping at her with very tiny hands and lazily opened her eyes. It was early in the morning, and she looked at the beautiful sky, then the trees, and then at the small wooden critter that stood in front of her, huffing and angrily trying to push her gigantic face aside. It already had a huge line drawn behind it, and all the critters huffed and gestured at each other.

Apparently she was now blocking their way from collecting the fresh morning shrubs with dew drops. And as the sun was rising, the dew drops were disappearing, and that made them extra angry. Isra got up and yawned lazily, and that made each and every creature in line do a gesture of relief.

Then they marched onward. Behind her, Khadija had woken up as well and was now rubbing her face. She looked at the marching line and sighed, then looked at Isra, who smiled at her sheepishly.

"We have to replace the improvisation part with an actual plan next time," said Khadija.

"fiiinee"

They got up and walked to the flower where #212 would be resting, but the flower was open, #212 wasn't there, and neither were any of the bees. They looked at each other.

"Ahem!" A voice came from behind.

They looked back and saw a familiar figure hovering in the air with its blue-shining armor. #212 had woken up and looked perfectly healthy.

"#212!" They both yelped in excitement.

"Yes, that's me. Zar-e-zameen told me you messed with her and kidnapped her baby in the middle of the night. She was extremely angry, and it took me long hours to convince her. She was going to put you both in a month long sleep today." #212 said.

"Wait, her name is Zar-e-zameen?" Khadija asked, trying to steer the conversation in another direction.

And it worked.

"No, Zar-e-zameen is what her kind is called. They're very loyal to the piece of land they make their home on. This whole grove that you see around you was made by her. She has been residing here for centuries. They live for an extremely long time. She is this grove's protector."

He continued reading the anticipation on the girls' faces.

"And her name is Hira."