Nali’s smile grew, and she nodded. “Yes. Ruth is with Koorgan, the King of the Giants, on his Isle. Tonya is probably off sailing the seas with Ashure, King of the Pirates—and getting into all sorts of mischief with him,” she said with a rueful shake of her head.
His lips twitched in amusement, though a hint of confusion creased his brow. “That is a relief,” he replied.
Her expression sobered. “You’ve seen what the alien can do. I need to stop it. If you travel east, you’ll come to a river. Follow that river south, and you will come to a troll village. Tell Pai to take you back to the palace. You will be safe there,” she instructed.
“You plan to go after the alien alone, don’t you?” he demanded, looking from her to the woods.
She nodded. “We know from experience that the alien cannot penetrate my skin in this form. Once I have taken care of the alien, I will answer your questions, Asahi, and hopefully you can answer a few of mine,” she said, turning away from him. “Remember, east until you reach the river, then south.”
She didn’t wait for his response. Those few minutes of conversation had already delayed her. Even though she had seen what could happen in the mirror, there was still a possibility of preventing it. She spread her wings and lifted off the ground. Despite her silent promise to not look back, she did when she cleared the canopy.
Asahi had disappeared.
Chapter 4
Asahi had decided to follow Nali even before her feet left the ground. After she turned away, he silently retrieved his duffel bag, slung it onto his back, and took off at a fast jog. With the dagger at the ready in his grip, he ran along the narrow path, following a trail of broken branches and infrequent glimpses of the Empress through the canopy.
“You do realize that you are going the wrong way, don’t you?” the winged lion informed him. “The Empress said to go east. You are going west.”
“Yes,” he grunted, looking down at the talkative gold lion before refocusing on the path ahead.
He ducked under a partially fallen tree, then leaped over a log. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another fresh gouge in the bark of a tree. He was on the right track.
“How did you destroy the alien piece that attacked us?” he asked.
The winged lion clung to the dagger’s hilt as if afraid he would fall off. It snorted and whipped its tail before wrapping it around the handle again. Asahi was hard-pressed not to stop and watch the mythical beast in fascination.
“LaDonna—my creator—placed a protection spell on my dagger. The spell finds an attacker’s weakness and uses it against them. Of course, you probably think being a dagger would be enough to stop someone, but you’re not on your world anymore,” the winged lion added acerbically.
Asahi ignored the lion’s caustic remark. “Can you tell me what the alien’s weakness is?” he asked.
The winged lion smirked. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re not a talking decoration,” the creature retorted.
Asahi chuckled, thoroughly enjoying that he was having a conversation with a sarcastic magical dagger on an enchanted Isle filled with mythical creatures while following a beautiful Empress who was about to confront an alien.
He paused when he saw Nali descend through the canopy and land on a thick branch. She crouched on the limb and pressed one hand against the trunk of the tree. Curious, his gaze followed hers.
Through the thick growth of trees and ferns, he could see a pile of rocks and a slight gap that appeared to be the entrance to a cave. The pause gave him time to take several deep, steadying breaths and wipe away the beads of sweat that threatened to blur his vision.
Nali rose from her perch and stepped off the branch. Her wings extended to slow her descent, and she landed as soft as a feather on the ground in front of the cave. Her wings folded behind her, and he watched in awe as they disappeared into her back as though they had never existed.
Even with the distance between them, he could see her skin glistening like polished marble. The knowledge that she was at least moderately safe in this form was reassuring.
“So, what’s your plan?” the winged lion quietly inquired as it climbed to the top of the hilt and sat down.
“I plan to follow her and keep her safe,” Asahi murmured.
The little lion grinned and shook its head. “That’s it? Follow her and what—jump out to rescue the Empress of the Monsters like some amazing hero? I hate to tell you this, but even I, an enchanted object, know it is more likely that Nali will be the one who does the rescuing. I really think you should have listened to her. Besides, do you know what lives in caves like that? Goblins! Small, horrible, green, nasty, grouchy goblins,” the lion asserted.
Asahi looked down at the lion and frowned. “My presence has already helped save the beautiful Empress from a grievous attack. Perhaps you could explain how you know what lives in that cave?” he asked.
The winged lion gave him a pointed look. “Magic, obviously. How am I supposed to help my bearer if I can’t tell who is who and what they do? When LaDonna gave me to your grandfather, she knew that he understood nothing about the creatures who lived in the Seven Kingdoms, so she entrusted that knowledge to me,” the lion pointed out with a haughty growl.
Asahi looked down at the lion. “My grandfather—there are a lot of things that you will need to explain to me later. At the moment, I want you to be quiet,” he instructed.
“Here we go, just like your grandfather. It’s obvious that not listening runs in your family,” the lion complained.
Asahi gritted his teeth to keep from making a scathing retort. Instead, he slid the dagger back into its sheath. The lion on the top immediately froze in place, now as solid as the gold hilt—as if the last hour had never occurred.
It would appear that the magic only worked when the dagger was free of the leather sheath. Perhaps the strange markings on the sheath’s surface were another spell to keep the damn thing quiet.
He took a deep, calming breath and pushed away all the questions crowding his mind. Nali stood at the entrance of the cave. He watched with growing concern when she brushed aside a curtain of tangled roots partially covering the entrance and stepped inside, disappearing from his view.
With grim purpose, Asahi walked toward the entrance to the cave. He didn’t understand why the spell had deposited him on the Isle of the Monsters while it sent Ruth—and Tonya—elsewhere. For now, that was not important. Sometimes the reason for an event took time to reveal itself. Asahi smiled, grateful that his grandfather’s wisdom was still strong in his memories.
“I am here for a reason, Empress, and I think it has to do with you,” he murmured before he pushed aside the cloak of roots and stepped into the darkness.
Asahi stood just inside the cave’s entrance and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dim interior. Noticing a thin line of glowing green light running along the walls of the cave, he reached out and touched a ribbon of it. He grimaced in disgust when a gooey substance coated his fingers.
“Don’t wipe it on your clothing. You’ll never get it out,” Nali warned, amusement evident in her voice.
He stopped with his hand a fraction of an inch from his trousers. Nali stepped out of the darkness and grabbed his hand, guiding it back to the wall.