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 with Stardust in her two-legged form and shifted into her dragon. It was actually easier because her eyesight was better, and she now had four legs instead of two. Unfortunately, there was not enough room for a dragon to fly, not even one as petite as she was. She followed the swiftly moving glowing symbiot as it weaved in and out of the labyrinth of tunnels.
No worry, we almost there, her dragon said.
We should stick together! Phoenix’s unease filtered into their connection, and her symbiot slowed down enough to let her catch up. Even with her symbiot close by, she worried that they were about to face something unknown and scary alone. Maybe she should have told her family about the voice. She could have convinced them to come with her—but even she thought it sounded weird.
What would I have said? That I’m hearing a voice calling to me, asking me for help? She sighed.
She was already so different from the others. No one else saw Aikaterina when she came to visit. The thought of the beautiful alien that the others believed was a Goddess sent a wave of sadness through her. It had been so long since she’d last seen Aikaterina.
We here, her dragon murmured.
They paused in the entrance to an enormous cavern. It was just like the one she had seen in her dreams. She shifted into her two-legged form and walked around, exploring the cavern in awe.
Twin pillars, carved with images of different star systems and symbols, graced each side of the entrance. She studied each pillar in wide-eyed amazement. Her heart pounded when she realized that she actually understood what the symbols meant. She didn’t know how or why, but she knew that they were star charts to other worlds.
Stardust padded on silent feet beside her as she ambled along the wide path. Massive slabs made of granite and limestone bordered the cavern. Along the walls were more pillars. Each pillar engraved with what appeared to be different star charts and symbols, also had a flat surface on top. The flat surfaces looked like platforms.
“Gateways,” she whispered as a vision of golden figures standing on them formed in her mind.
She absently stroked Stardust’s golden head and stepped around a large rock. She gasped when she saw a river of gold in front of her. A shiver of awareness ran through Stardust.
“This is where you came from,” Phoenix murmured.
Stardust looked at her. Images flashed through her mind. It took her a moment to realize that they were Stardust’s memories. She looked at the river.
“This is the river of life for the symbiots,” she said with awe.
Fascinated, she walked over to the river’s edge and sank down onto her knees. She stared at the moving gold liquid for several minutes before she bent forward and ran her fingers through it. Warmth surrounded her fingers, and she giggled at the pure joy she felt in the golden flow.
“I can feel the energy,” she breathed, looking up at Stardust.
She gasped when she looked behind Stardust and saw a stairway carved into the rock at the far end of the cavern. A wide platform with an arched doorway stood at the top. She pulled her hand away from the river and rose to her feet. As if in a daze, she walked toward the steps.
The voice in her head was soft and faint at first. It grew louder the closer she got to the platform. She paused at the bottom of the steps and stared up at the arched doorway.
She studied the archway as she began climbing the steps. Stardust walked beside her. When she reached the top, she didn’t stop. Knowledge flooded through her mind, and she swept her hands
