The Monster's Caress - S.E. Smith Page 0,53

care. I’ll summon one,” she said, walking over to the door.

“Can’t you just open a portal?” Ashure called behind her.

She shook her head. “I can’t open portals. I can only open doorways for myself around the Isle, you know that,” she answered as she pulled the front door open and stepped outside.

“What the heck could be worse than a Bogleech?” Ashure muttered under his breath.

Asahi cleared his throat. “The Adze is a vampiric dragonfly that can take over a person if it bites them,” he answered.

Ashure looked at him with his mouth hanging open. “You’re shitting me, right? Why haven’t I heard of them before?” he mused.

“Where did you learn that phrase?” Asahi asked in surprise.

“Tonya,” Ashure replied with a brief grin.

“Ah… yes, I thought it sounded a bit too human—and no, I’m not shitting you. My grandfather saw one in action at the market on the Isle of Magic,” Asahi remarked before looking up when Nali peered through the doorway.

“I’ve found one,” she called out with satisfaction.

“For once, I’m not all that excited,” Ashure muttered before he reluctantly headed for the door.

Chapter 17

Asahi rolled his aching shoulder as he stood back near the hut’s door and listened to Nali as she told Ashure how to control the Adze. The creature looked like an enormous dragonfly. On each side of the mammoth red and green body were twin sets of translucent wings and three legs.

The large, oval eyes were four feet long and half as wide. Thick hairs stuck out along its face, body, and legs. From the top of its head to the ground, the Adze was approximately six feet tall. Its wingspan was fifteen feet, and the length of its body was around ten feet. All-in-all, it looked like a flying truck.

“Whatever you do, Ashure, hang on and don’t make it mad,” she warned for the third time.

Ashure gave her an impatient glare. “I’ve got it—hang on, don’t make it mad,” he repeated.

“I’ve asked the Adze to take you to Drago. He and Orion are the most likely to be able to assist us right now,” she replied.

Ashure leaned down from where he was sitting in front of the first set of legs and caressed Nali’s cheek. He smiled when she covered his hand with her own.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” he promised.

She nodded. “Meet us on the mountain as quickly as you can,” she ordered before stepping back.

“We will,” Ashure promised. Then he gently nudged the dragonfly with his foot, and with a loud chain-saw sound, it lifted off and sped away.

Asahi stepped forward and wrapped his arm around Nali’s waist, and together they watched Ashure disappear over the treetops. Nali leaned back against him and sighed.

“He’ll be fine,” he reassured her.

She absently nodded. “It’s not him that I’m worried about. It’s what we saw in the mirror. If we don’t destroy the alien, it will destroy everything, all those worlds—gone,” she replied in a soft voice.

She slowly turned in his arms, smiling gently at the tender look of concern in his eyes.

“We’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he responded.

She leaned into him and kissed him sweetly. “Yes, we will,” she answered. She pulled away and turned to the horses. “If we ride hard, we should be at the foot of the mountains by mid-afternoon.”

“You lead, I’ll follow,” he said.

The fire-breathing horse lowered its massive body so that Asahi could mount it. Wincing when a shaft of pain ran through his shoulder, he waited until the beast stood before he reached up and gently massaged the area.

It had been bothering him since the alien knocked into him after it emerged from the Goblins’ underground tunnel. Today the tenderness was particularly uncomfortable. When the beast underneath him bolted forward after Nali, Asahi quickly gripped the horse’s long mane.

For the next hour, they followed the river. Then Nali turned northeast into the forest, and their wide path eventually became a road. The horses picked up speed on the even surface, their hooves sending up tiny sparks as they struck the gravel-strewn road. Admiration for the powerful creatures and their Empress suddenly made Asahi feel incredibly lucky to be here with her. He was glad Nali did not go ahead on her own, and he was grateful that she had sent someone for reinforcements.

His thoughts turned to what he knew about Drago, which wasn’t much. His grandfather had only seen a handful of any dragons during his travels. Most of his grandfather’s information came from