The Search for the Eoz Potion

8. Escape from the Forest

Zack nodded back toward the carriage and turned to walk on. Returning to the moment, Claire followed him, wanting again to ask how long he'd been in Yllop, to verify that he was the one Dr. Hampton had told them about. Before she could, however, he disappeared into the front compartment of the carriage. Claire went to go find Hailey and tell her about what she had seen outside, but in no time at all the griffins began running and quickly took flight. From inside the carriage it felt like they were under attack as the tree branches beat against the sides. The interior of the vehicle didn't look as much like the other one as the outside did. The main difference was that this one had windows. They were tinted to look just like the rest of the camouflage green exterior, but from inside the Searchers could see everything that was happening. There were seats to buckle into just like the other carriage, but no one did. It was more clean and comfortable inside this flying carriage as well. It made the girls think it probably had not been used as much, which made Hailey think that despite Zack's assurance that the griffins had gotten them out of difficult situations before, they had probably not gotten them out of one quite like this.

When they were up in the air, the view of the forest took Hailey and Claire's breath away. They looked over at the other searchers who were equally mesmerized. They flew far above the trees, and as they looked down, the sea of dark green waving treetops made it look almost like they were flying over an ocean. The stars were so plentiful and bright in the sky that there was more than enough light to see clearly.

The whole scene made Hailey think of the time her parents flew her on a European vacation. She had not wanted to go, but she forced herself to pretend to enjoy it. Her parents, both doctors, were presenting at a conference and had decided to make a vacation out of it. The view from their plane as they crossed the Atlantic looked almost exactly like what she was looking out at now. She remembered then that the beauty of that view had almost been enough to change her bitter attitude about that particular trip. She felt the same now. She did not understand what they were on their way to do, but all she could think about then was the view of the forest as they approached the garden.

They flew a short distance and caught up with the other members of the Searchers' Guides who were flying, not on carriages, but on individual griffins of their own. This was part of the plan Zack had explained to them, but the sight of it all still surprised the girls. Zack had said that they had animals hidden throughout the forest, but neither had envisioned this many.

As they approached the edge of the trees, Hailey noticed the same deep color green below them but now it was much further down than the trees. This was their first glimpse of the actual Garden of Yllop, and if it looked as beautiful up close as it did from hundreds of feet up in the air, Hailey could not wait to land. The starlight shone down on patches of rich color among the greenery. The reds, oranges, and blues of the flowers below were as vivid as if they had been painted into existence. But there were darker patches as well, areas that looked brown and others that looked empty. It was amazing to Hailey to see such beauty exist so close to such barrenness. Maybe this world was not so different from home afterall. Claire, however, was distracted by another sight and grabbed Hailey nervously by the arm to get her attention.

Hovering in the air just outside the Welcoming Forest was a massive, boomerang shaped aircraft with rows of tiny helicopter propellers along the edges holding it up. The ship was black with green and purple markings. It was like a heavy storm cloud hanging in an otherwise perfect sky. To the girls it looked like it had to have been at least the same size as the SG's entire treehouse headquarters. The griffins in front of them flew over the top of the ship, some of them close enough to it that they ran triumphantly across it as they flew, taking out some of the propellers with their large talons as they passed. The griffins pulling the carriage followed their lead but went high enough over it that they safely cleared the ship.