heat. The few surviving Fire Beetles sizzled and popped as they exploded in the remains of the once beautiful home.
“No,” Nali whispered. “Pai—”
Pai paused beside her, his eagle-eyes searching the ground for Asahi and Ashure.
“He can’t be dead, Pai. They can’t be,” she said, her voice catching at the thought.
“Hello! Uh, a little help here, please!” Ashure wildly called out. “Asahi! Nali! Pai!! Is anyone there? I’ll even take help from Mr. Gryphon! Anyone?”
Nali took a shuddering breath and swiveled in the direction of Ashure’s voice. She was half-laughing, half-crying when she saw them in a tree at the blast zone’s edge. Ashure was hanging upside down by his knees with his coat caught on a broken limb, making it impossible for him to pull himself up. Asahi was standing on the stump of a limb that had been sheared off by the explosion. He clung to the tree’s trunk. Below him, about twenty feet of the trunk had been stripped of its branches.
As Nali flew straight for Asahi, Pai grumbled, “No worries, Empress. I’ll save the King of the Pirates—you know, one of the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms and your long-time friend—even if I am only saving him from his jacket.” Pai snorted.
Nali wrapped her arms around Asahi, holding him like she would never let him go. That was a splendid thing considering that the force of her embrace had knocked him off his narrow perch and she was now the only thing keeping him from falling to his death. She kissed him hard. Her kiss conveying her relief.
When she ended the kiss, she gazed into his eyes. His expression was soft, filled with concern and another emotion that she wasn’t ready to deal with at the moment. Her heart was still pounding from fear. She leaned her forehead against his.
“I thought I had lost y—” she whispered, her voice breaking on the last word.
He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “I did, too,” he confessed before he grimaced and peered around them. “Is this—? How long—? Mr. Gryphon!” he bit out.
“Yes, I’m fine. No, it was no bother to rescue them and deplete the magic inside me. Thank you for not asking. After all, who cares about a poor animated magical object that just saved the King of the Pirates—and a human—from certain death?” Mr. Gryphon loudly proclaimed his litany of grievances.
“You will be fine, Mr. Gryphon. Though you really should be resting,” Nali soothingly said with a shake of her head.
Mr. Gryphon gave Nali a pained look. “That’s fine for you to say, Empress. You have the powers of the Goddess on your side. Me—I’m doomed to a life of pain and suffering because I was given to an unappreciative—”
The unceasing complaints had started nearly a half hour earlier when Asahi found the winged lion stuck in a rivulet of sap oozing down the tree trunk. Asahi finally sheathed the magical dagger despite Mr. Gryphon’s vehement protest that he was fine and wanted to remain unsheathed until he knew the threat was over. The resultant silence was blissful.
“Thank you,” Ashure muttered.
“You’re welcome,” Asahi replied with a slight smile.
“So, why are we walking?” Ashure inquired.
“Because the entity destroyed the transport, and Pai is getting too old to carry anyone a long distance, much less both of you,” Nali retorted.
“Pai is hardly a frail old hippogriff, Nali. As long as he takes reasonable breaks, I’m sure he could carry Asahi and me in a pinch. If he did, we might get to the mountain in time to save the lives of the unicorns. Could you at least ask him?” Ashure asked.
Nali glared at Ashure. “No, I won’t. You know what Pai would say. He would boast how he could carry all three of us with one wing tied to his side. I won’t endanger his life any more than I already have,” she growled.
“Well, we can hardly walk the entire distance,” Ashure reflected.
“We won’t. Additional assistance is coming,” she replied with a wave of her hand to a group of approaching riders.
“What do you… oh! Those are some of your prized Fire-Breathers! Oh, sweet Goddess, just look at them,” Ashure practically drooled.
Nali shook her head and rolled her eyes at the envy in Ashure’s voice. “Don’t even think about it, Ashure,” she warned as they came to a stop and waited for the approaching riders.
Out of the seven horse-like creatures, four had riders. Each horse was far more massive than the largest Clydesdale. The beautiful beasts