“Don’t be such a wuss,” Drago growled.
Ashure shook his finger at Drago. “I know what that means. I’m married to a human too. I’m not a wuss. I’m cautious—especially when it comes to my ‘man-love.’ Neither of you has anything to worry about. You two already have kids. I don’t. I need to consider all the little pirates Tonya and I might have one day,” he defended, unconsciously dropping his hand to cover his crotch.
“He’s a wuss,” Orion dryly said, looking at Drago.
“It was more fun when you two were trying to kill each other,” Ashure muttered.
Orion snorted and shook his head. “How does it work, Drago?” he asked.
“With a lot of luck and the right spell. All we need to do is get to the Isle of Magic. Marina can help us from there,” Drago replied.
Ashure warily watched as Drago turned over the Time-Space hoop and read the etchings inscribed on it by the ancient Time Wizards. His stomach nervously clenched when the center went from crystalline to solid black.
I think riding a vampire-dragonfly and facing an evil alien may be the least of my worries, he thought a split second before Drago moved in close and dropped the hoop over the three of them.
Chapter 19
Isle of the Monsters
Nali took over the helm. With a quiet command, she ordered the enchanted sail to slow their speed. A heavy fog swirled over the water, and she knew it would stay that way until they reached land. They would complete the rest of the journey at a frustrating crawl.
“What is this?” Asahi asked, standing beside her.
She spun the wheel to the left, and the bow veered a fraction of a second before an enormous boulder came into view. The boat passed within mere inches of the massive rock that would have demolished the vessel if they had hit it head on.
“Furl the sail. The current will take us from here,” she instructed.
He nodded and hurriedly released the rigging holding the sail up. The gentle lapping of water against the hull sounded loud in the thick vapor enclosing them. Once again, Nali marveled at the fact that Ashure had navigated these treacherous waters without dying when he was nothing more than a child.
She nodded to Asahi when he rejoined her. “This is magic. The fog is alive. You’ll see shapes, hear voices, but you must not believe them. The things you perceive as real are not. They are created by spells that will try to pull you from the boat. If you fall into the water, you’ll drown,” she cautioned.
“What is it protecting?” he murmured, gazing around them.
“The Gateway to the Goddess,” she softly replied.
He frowned. “Will the others be able to get through safely?”
She nodded. “Ashure knows what to do.”
“He’s been here before,” he guessed.
“Yes, a long time ago. Trust me, this is not a journey that you forget,” she said, turning the wheel to avoid another enormous boulder.
They had only been in the fog for about twenty minutes, but the harrowing journey already seemed much longer. Asahi had taken to monitoring the sides and using one of the long oars to push away from the rocks.
After turning back to warn Nali of another small boulder ahead, he froze in shock. She was gone!
“Nali?” he called into the fog.
“It’s all your fault!” a man growled at him.
Asahi recoiled at the familiar voice.
“Father?” he said in a hushed whisper, shock evident on his face.
Hinata angrily stepped out of the fog as if he had been behind a curtain. Asahi stiffened in disbelief.
“If you hadn’t been born, I could have left without feeling guilty. I could’ve had a life!” his father shouted.
Asahi shook his head. “Whatever you are, you aren’t real,” he replied in a tense voice.
The angry visage of this father disappeared like a puff of smoke. Asahi took a deep breath of the cool mist. The sudden appearance of his father, even though he knew what he saw wasn’t real, had shaken him.
“Asahi,” his grandfather’s soothing voice came from the mist.
Asahi shook his head and closed his eyes. This wasn’t real. His father and grandfather were dead.
He opened his eyes, startled when an icy hand on his shoulder sent a chill through him. In front of him stood a youthful version of his grandfather. Aiko looked much the same as the day he had reappeared.
“You are not real,” he forced out between gritted teeth.
“Come with me, Asahi,” Aiko replied in a mesmerizing voice. “Your Baba is waiting for us. She misses you.”
Asahi involuntarily leaned toward the ghostly apparition, his mental resistance wavering. Aiko’s hands multiplied, changing from two to four, then six. They gripped his arms, hands, and shoulders, but he stumbled on something when the phantom of his grandfather pulled him forward. That moment of distraction allowed his mind to clear, and he looked down at the obstacle near his feet.
Rope. I’m on a boat… with Nali. Nali!
He needed to focus on her. She had warned him this would happen. He shook his head to clear it and gripped the boat’s gunwale.
“You are not real,” he repeated.
The figure dissolved in front of him. He swayed when the boat veered to the left and he quickly gripped the rigging that held the mast in place. All around him, ghostly figures from his past moved in and out of his periphery. It was as if the fog were accessing his memories, trying to find the one that would entice him the most to let go of reality.
“Asahi, help me!” Nali implored in a desperate, terrified voice.
He instinctively turned in the direction of her voice and gasped in horror when he saw her
