Asahi’s eidetic, or more commonly called photographic, memory slowly replayed the scenes from the mirror in his mind. The first had been in a cave with a dozen different golden statues standing on pillars. A long river of gold flowed through the center of the cavern. At one end, there were steps carved into the stone leading to an archway.
They had watched in horror as a malevolent shadow struck one of the statues—or what they had thought was a statue until the golden figure suddenly moved and writhed, screaming in agony as thick black bands wrapped around it. As a nearly inaudible hum of distress filled the cavern, the river of gold rose as if it were alive. Asahi was shocked at the powerful wave of grief that had filled him when the statue exploded into a million pieces.
The scene that stood out the most was the one that followed. It had shown them a battle. On one side was a man who turned into a dragon. He had ordered the destruction of the golden entity. The dark creature at his command seemed to be just like the alien the Seven Kingdoms had been fighting, although clearly less powerful given that it was taking orders. The dark creature’s master fought against adversaries that included a man he called ‘human’. There were several dragons fighting alongside the human, but Nali said she didn’t recognize any of them as residents of the Isle of the Dragons. She would have to ask Drago. Asahi looked up when Nali laid her hand over his.
“What is it, Asahi?” she asked.
He frowned as he processed the information into something that made sense, rotating the cup of hot tea in his hand as he thought.
“Given the lower status of the alien,” he began, “the way it obeyed that man, I think the attack in the cavern was in the past,” he asserted. “You asked the mirror to show you the alien—so what if it did show us the alien in that very first scene, the part before the dark entity showed up? What if at least one of those golden creatures is part of the alien now? This battle could have been essential to how it gained power, to how it… evolved. What if the alien consumed that shattered golden entity—absorbed its power—and became the version that we are familiar with today? Is that a possibility?” he hypothesized.
Nali paused with a thoughtful expression. “We know the alien can split into parts that move and speak. Theoretically, if this golden entity could do that also, then instead of dying when it shattered, all those pieces would continue to hold power and life—and they could be acquired and used, similar to how Magna was used by the alien. Given Magna’s experience, it would be reasonable to assume that the dark alien would need this golden entity to be conscious in order to derive the most power from her, so perhaps the pieces of the living statue were at least partially reassembled into larger pieces within the alien and this entity is now locked inside as captive fuel? We never spotted evidence of this golden species in any of the other aliens, though.”
“Maybe it was only in this one,” Ashure suggested.
Asahi lifted his shoulder in a shrug. “I don’t know what happened with the other aliens. Perhaps you destroyed them without realizing the golden entity was a prisoner within, or perhaps the other forms didn’t contain any of its—essence. This one appears to be heading in a specific direction with a definite goal in mind. It hasn’t tried to return to the coast or deviated to throw us off its trail. It is heading Northwest. Is there anything in that direction of potential interest to it?” he inquired.
Nali’s lips parted on a soft gasp even as Ashure’s eyes widened with a similar epiphany. They stared at each other in silent communication while Asahi studied their expressions. He leaned forward.
“What is it?” he softly inquired.
“I’m not sure if there is a connection, but—” she paused, deep in thought.
She looked around the empty patio where they had enjoyed dinner last night and started pushing their breakfast dishes aside. Ashure quickly helped her clear an area in front of her on the table. She waved her hand over the table, and a contour map of the Isle of the Monsters appeared.
“The first stag was discovered here. The second came ashore here,” she said, pointing at two coastal locations on the map. “From there, it moved inland. We located Medjuline here.”
“I first saw her somewhere around here,” Asahi added, pointing to an area on the other side of the river.
“She was traveling north, away from her village,” Ashure concluded.
“Yes, but why would the alien leave her body without harming her, unlike the Sea Stag that it killed?” Nali pondered.
“Perhaps it didn’t want to destroy the only viable body available until it found a replacement,” Asahi replied.
Nali nodded. “That makes sense. It killed the Sea Stag because Medjuline was there and the alien could take over her body,” she said.
“But—why did it leave Medjuline?” Ashure asked.
“The troll knocked herself unconscious,” Asahi answered.
Nali paused, tilting her head. “I’ve seen one of the other aliens using a dead host… someone much smaller than a troll. Perhaps size makes a difference when controlling a host that is not conscious.”
Asahi’s eyes lit up with this new theory. “That makes sense. So, then the alien attacked a nearby goblin fortress.”
“Goblins!” Ashure commented with a
