support life, yet there were just as many or more that would one day be just like Valdier and Earth with abundant life.
Mixed within the vastness, she noticed colorful threads connecting some of the worlds. She turned when she observed a flash of golden light, like a brief beacon in the inky blackness, then another and another. Tears burned her eyes as a subconscious awareness rose inside her—Aikaterina’s people.
“There are so few of them,” she murmured.
Help her, a series of voices called out, resonating in her mind.
“Who? Who am I supposed to help?” she asked, turning in a circle.
Help our sister, the voices replied.
She slowly turned. The corridor in front of her stretched out to a planet that looked eerily like Earth. It was a mirror image, connected to her mother’s world by one of the colorful threads. On the mirrored planet, she noticed a faint golden glow fading in and out.
Fading—dying, she thought with dismay.
The alien who controls her must fail, the voices urgently called.
“But, why me? How will I know what to do?” she argued.
It is time.
“Time? Time for what?” she demanded, searching for the glitter of gold among the worlds.
There was no answer. Phoenix turned around and stared at the flickering golden light again. Even in the few seconds of conversation with the beings out there, the minute speck of light had become dimmer.
She closed her eyes and focused. “Aikaterina, what am I supposed to do?” she whispered.
Be yourself, Aikaterina’s soft voice replied from far away.
Phoenix opened her eyes as the image that Aikaterina had revealed seared through her. Her body glowed with dancing flames, and her eyes blazed with a golden radiance. She was Phoenix. She was the Dragon Warrior Princess, chosen by the ancient guardians to help protect the star systems. It was time to be herself.
Isle of the Monsters
Nali landed near the edge of the cliff just as Drago transformed and plunged off the edge with a dozen gargoyle soldiers. Ross and Ashure stood on either side of Asahi with Koorgan on Ashure’s right. She didn’t see Orion, but she could hear Ross’s loud curses.
“Why the hell isn’t it working?” Ross demanded, peering over the edge of the cliff.
“What is wrong? What isn’t working?” Nali asked.
They all turned at the same time. “It’s Gem. The power she emitted destroyed the last alien. It isn’t working this time,” Ashure replied.
“Asahi…,” she gritted out with dismay, her eyes locked on his face.
“I’m in control,” he promised her.
The spider-like webs ran up his throat and along his cheeks now. His eyes held a haunted expression but they were clear. She reluctantly returned her attention to Ashure.
“Drago is laying down some dragon fire, but it doesn’t look like it slowed those things down either,” Ross commented.
“I wonder if smashing it with a rock will work,” Koorgan suggested with a grim glint in his eyes.
Asahi frowned. “It would take an enormous rock to do that,” he observed.
“I’ll find the perfect one,” Koorgan promised before he bolted toward the edge of the cliff.
“What is he—? Is he suicidal?” Asahi exclaimed in shock.
Nali grabbed Asahi’s arm when he stepped closer to the edge. “He’ll be alright,” she reassured him.
“Koorgan always had bigger balls than brains—literally,” Ashure muttered.
Together, they watched as Koorgan twisted around and faced them as he flung himself over the edge and began to grow. Asahi’s shocked intake of breath reminded Nali of the first time she had seen a giant enlarge. Koorgan’s hand, now with a palm spread of close to twenty feet across, gripped the edge of the cliff before he began descending along the sheer wall. Asahi pulled away from her and walked over to the edge to peer down at Koorgan.
“Now I understand why he’s called King of the Giants,” Asahi mused.
“It looks like he’s found a rock,” Ross commented.
Nali was about to comment when she noticed Asahi suddenly stagger. She reached for him only to stop when he shook his head. His eyes swirled with—gold.
“What is it?” she murmured.
“You must stop the alien before it reaches the Gateway,” Asahi urgently instructed with a feminine voice and inflection that didn’t sound like him at all.
“Asahi? Are you—you?” Ashure warily asked.
Asahi turned and looked at Ashure. A smile curved his lips, and to Nali’s shock, the alien’s black spider webbing turned to gold under Asahi’s skin.
“He is here, but I needed to communicate with you. There is only one way to stop this creature,” the entity inside Asahi answered.
“Who are you?” Nali demanded.
“I am Aminta. I