His steed started forward, following Nali and Ashure. They left the road a short distance later, wending their way around the rocks and dense clusters of trees on the slope until they came to the same deep ravine that had swallowed their transport and the alien. Nali turned her steed north along the cliff edge. Asahi looked down. Far below, the rushing river cut through the rock. Somewhere down there was an alien waiting to kill again.
Chapter 14
Valdier:
Inside the Hive
Phoenix paused just inside the cave entrance and wiped the moisture from her face. An exhausted golden seagull landed with a plop beside her and lay on its back, panting. At least they were out of the freezing wind and rain.
She looked over her shoulder. The driving rain, crashing waves, and a thick fog concealed this island off the coast. She shivered and rubbed her arms. It would have been smarter to shift back into her dragon form, but her dragon was more exhausted from their journey than she was.
She breathed a quick sigh of relief when Stardust, the living gold symbiot that was her constant companion, rolled over and flowed upward, wrapping around her shoulders like a shawl. The warmth from her symbiot helped a lot, but they both needed some rest and a chance to get dry.
We not supposed to be here, her dragon nervously whispered deep inside her mind.
“I know, but we had to come. You know that. We have to find out what is causing me—us—to feel…,” she shook her head. “How can we understand anything if we can’t even describe it?”
Mom and Dad be worried, her dragon muttered.
“I know,” she repeated with a sigh.
Well… we here, her dragon grouchily relented. I cold. Fix it.
“Stardust, help me gather some driftwood, please,” she instructed as she caressed the shimmering swath of gold enveloping her.
Her symbiot reformed as a petite Werecat. Phoenix smiled and began gathering pieces of wood dry enough to catch fire. She would put any that were still damp on top.
It didn’t take long to make a nice fire ring of rocks. Stardust padded over, a three-foot piece of driftwood in her mouth, and dropped it on the pile they had collected. Phoenix lined the bottom with several dry pieces of wood before she took the remains of a bird nest that she had found in the cave and broke it apart. She made a loose pile on top of the wood. Next, she took a few pieces of wood in various sizes and created a square around the pile, adding several layers and topping it with a teepee of smaller pieces.
She shifted into her dragon form and blew a long, fiery breath into the center. The remains of the bird’s nest quickly caught on fire. In a matter of minutes, she had transformed again and was sitting on a log with Stardust curled up next to her. She absently stroked the exhausted symbiot’s head.
“Thank you, Pop,” she whispered as she stared into the flames. Her grandfather, Paul Grove, had taught all the dragonlings how to survive in the wild.
Phoenix curled her fingers into Stardust’s soft warmth. She hadn’t wanted her symbiot to follow her. A part of her had been afraid that something might happen to it on the journey—or worse, something might happen to it here.
The Hive was a special place. She was one of the few who could locate it. Phoenix’s grandmother, Morian, was the Priestess of the Hive, and her Uncle Zoran was the ruler of Valdier; they also knew where the Hive was. Most of the others were symbiots. The Hive housed the river that the symbiots came from. All of them would one day return to it.
Phoenix, well, she was a child, and she didn’t understand how she knew what she knew or how she did some of the things that she did. Her grandmother thought she was destined to be the next Priestess, but Phoenix didn’t think that was the reason. There was something else—something deeper, but she didn’t have a name for this feeling that was thrumming inside her.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy,” she whispered, staring at the driving rain outside the cave.
Stardust lifted her head and rubbed it against Phoenix’s chest, right over her heart. Inside, she could feel the flame of her dragon trying to warm the chill from her bones—and her spirit. She hugged her inner dragon close to her heart and wrapped her arms around Stardust’s neck, burying her face against the symbiot.
“I’m never alone when I have you two with me,” she murmured, rubbing her cheek against Stardust. “Let’s rest for just a little while before we search the cave.”
Stardust melted in her arms and reformed as a sleeping bag next to the fire. Phoenix giggled when the top layer lifted invitingly. She pulled her boots off and placed them next to the log. Surely getting warm, dry, and taking a brief nap after the exhausting flight wouldn’t hurt.
It will only be for a little while, she promised her dragon, who was already sound asleep.
She snuggled down against Stardust, lovingly rubbing the soft flow of energy. Her eyelashes fluttered and she yawned. She just needed a few minutes, that was all, just a few minutes of rest.
Aikaterina? she silently called, searching for the Goddess. She hadn’t seen her for a long time, and Phoenix was worried.
A soft sigh escaped Phoenix when there was no reply—again. She frowned when she felt a distant tug on her subconscious. Someone was calling for help.
I’m coming. I’ll help you, she promised, hoping that whoever it
