amidst the ruins. Ashure and Orion stepped out of the hoop.
“Orion, watch out!” Ashure yelled when three black shapes emerged from the shadows.
The creatures were dogs, but the alien’s liquid form rolled over their bodies. Orion and Drago turned in unison. Orion struck the closest animal with his trident while Drago released a superheated breath of dragon fire on the other two.
The alien-controlled animals screeched with fury and pain. Ashure surged forward, staying out of Orion and Drago’s line of fire, and struck each creature with the enchanted sword. Each flash of brilliant light nearly blinded him as he pierced their bodies.
He stepped back and warily looked around. Everything was dead or dying. The trees that remained standing were drooping as if in sorrow.
“The attack has begun. We are too late,” he said, his voice reflecting his shock.
Tonya….
“I have to get back to my kingdom,” Ashure said, his voice rising with panic.
“Ashure behind you!” Orion shouted.
He twisted, bringing up his sword as Marina’s father, Ariness, stepped out from behind an overturned cart and aimed a long wizard’s staff at him along with a shouted spell. Fiery explosions rained down—in the area next to Ashure—causing the tangle of thorny vines that had been reaching for him to hastily retreat into the shadows.
“My lords, you are alive,” Ariness said in a trembling voice.
“Ariness, what happened?” Ashure demanded.
“It isn’t safe here. The spell won’t scare the entity away for long. Come with me. Those of us that survived the initial attack have built a temporary stronghold,” Ariness said. A glaze of fatigue and despair coated the wizard’s eyes, and his shoulders sagged with exhaustion.
Orion and Drago warily looked at Ariness before they motioned for him to go ahead of them. Ashure followed the old wizard, with Orion and Drago close behind.
“Ariness, I don’t understand. What happened? How can the alien have spread so quickly?” Ashure demanded.
Ariness glanced over his shoulder before refocusing on the path ahead of him. “Quickly? We’ve been under siege for over a month,” he replied.
“A month!” Orion exclaimed.
Ashure’s stomach twisted. How could this have been going on a month with none of the other kingdoms knowing about it? Surely King Oray or Queen Magika would have sent a warning when they returned from his and Tonya’s wedding celebrations.
He swallowed. Seeing this kind of devastation in the mirror and in real life were two very different experiences. He wondered if, because they had intended to save time by using the portal, the thing had instead stolen time from them.
Ariness stopped and pointed his staff down the path, searching the area carefully before he nodded. Ashure frowned, trying to understand if there was a threat ahead of them.
“We placed a concealment spell around the area. The aliens can sense our magic and use it against us. They have already killed most of us. When I create an opening, we must move quickly,” Ariness instructed.
“I’ll go last,” Drago stated with a menacing growl.
Ariness nodded. “Open concealment,” he intoned.
A powerful ball of changing colors glowed at the end of his staff for a moment before it shot outward. Ashure, Ariness, and Orion sprinted forward with Drago, still in his dragon form, following closely. They were almost to the entrance when Ashure heard a loud buzzing noise behind them. Glancing over his shoulder, he glimpsed a swarm of black insects approaching them, bringing with it a sense of déjà vu from the Daktyloi hut.
Drago twisted and released a long fiery breath of dragon fire at the swarm. A vine erupted out of the ground in front of Ashure. He quickly sliced through it just as Orion blasted another vine. They were running out of time.
“Drago, get your ass in here,” Ashure yelled, swinging the blade through more vines.
“Go!” Drago roared as the swarm engulfed him.
Ashure stumbled back in shock when he caught the look of fury and resignation on Drago’s face. The Dragon King’s eyes and body glowed with his dragon’s internal fire. Orion grabbed Ashure’s arm and pulled him through the opening a split second before Drago’s body ignited into a fireball of super-heated dragon fire.
Through the concealment, he and Orion stood in stunned silence as the tiny flakes of red-hot ash floated to the ground. Drago had destroyed the alien-possessed insects and vines, but killed himself in the process. The King of the Dragons was dead.
Chapter 20
The Hive:
Valdier
Stardust, wait up for me, Phoenix breathlessly called through her connection with her symbiot.
Ten minutes earlier, she had finally given up trying to keep up