Zak Storm - The Chosen One

Something Out of Hand

"Have you never heard of the Sunbirds?" asked Ria in amazement. Zak shook his head. "I read about them, but never thought they actually existed..." Cece said. "You have to be very careful, they can easily be aggressive towards newcomers. And they're a little bit, well, sometimes... difficult." "And you're sure they can help me?" asked Zak with a slightly suspicious undertone. "Trust me, if anyone can do that, it's the Sunbirds." 

They left the Chaos and entered the Grotto of Legendary Creatures. There was still nothing to see. "Hello? Chuka?" Suddenly, behind a stone, a dragon-like creature moved. "Ria? Is that you? We haven't seen each other for ages!" The creature flew around Ria and smiled. "Who are your companions?" "This is Crogar, Cece, Caramba, Calabrass, and...-" She didn't get any further, because more and more birds were approaching. "A boy! And such a sweet one!" they shouted in chorus. Hesitantly, Zak took a few steps back. "What will it be like here when they're finished?" "Just do what they say," Ria whispered, laughing. "Let's see: Neat stature, alert eyes, good... teeth!" said a female Sunbird as she twirled around Zak's face. Cece couldn't resist giggling. "He's perfect for Ria..." "Wait... it's not like that... we have a serious request." A slightly older bird came towards Ria. "What do you imagine so little? Is it because of his gait? His neck?" she asked. "Listen... we-" "We just need to polish it up." "I don't like the idea of that," Zak said in a whisper to Calabrass. "Aye, she said they could be difficult, but not crazy." 

The Sunbirds tried to relax the mood by a small singing insert. "Don't be wimps!" "Are they always like that?" Ria shrugged her shoulders, embarrassed. "They rarely get visitors, and hey, a bit of variety and fun can't hurt." She addressed her friends again. "Folks, he's not my friend-" But the Sunbirds didn't even hear her anymore. "How long is this going to go on?" "I have absolutely no idea." 

The birds began to sing. "Join in!" After much deliberation, Ria agreed. "Zak, join in!" But he didn't move a bit. "Oh no, I'm not going to start singing now." Cece moved to the beat of the Sunbirds. "I'm just surrounded by crazy people," Zak thought half-loudly. In the meantime, his entire crew had joined in. "Come on!" Zak folded his arms. "Absolutely not! The last thing I'm going to do now is sing!" 

In Netherwhere 

Skullivar just received a message from Bones. "I hope for you, you have found them." "Found, yes, but they escaped us in a rock face." Skullivar didn't really know how to react to that. "Do you think I'm stupid?" "Of course not, Master, but they headed for a cave, and disappeared into the wall." Skullivar pondered briefly, then ordered Bones again: "Find them again!" After the conversation, he opened a map of Blazz. Maybe Bones hadn't told complete nonsense after all. They must have penetrated into the parallel world. Only where, exactly, that remained a mystery to Skullivar.