Phoenix kept her gaze fixed on a single faint glow of gold. Like a beacon in the night, the pulse of golden light called to her. Shifting into her dragon form, she crossed through the doorway and disappeared.
The Isle of Magic
Ashure stood with his fists clenched at his sides until he felt Orion’s hand on his shoulder.
“We need to find out what happened here,” Orion murmured.
Ashure swallowed and nodded. He turned away from the ash that fell like snow beyond the confines of the concealment field. Unfamiliar emotion threatened to choke him when he saw the small encampment.
“This is all that is left of the residents?” he asked with disbelief.
Ariness nodded. “Yes. The aliens attacked the palace city first. The fight was over in a matter of hours. There were hundreds of thousands of the aliens. The palace forces were vastly outnumbered and quickly overwhelmed. Then the creatures swept across the Isle like a tsunami. My son, Isha, was killed in the initial attack. Mike and Marina barely made it back,” Ariness stopped and wiped a hand across his face.
“Where are they?” Orion asked.
Ariness stared straight ahead. “Marina is very ill. Cornelia and Erin are with her. Mike was… wounded,” he said, hesitating on the last word.
They followed Ariness to an open tent. Mike was sitting on the edge of a cot with his shirt open. An older woman was mumbling and holding her hands over a blackened area on his skin. He was extremely pale, sweat beaded on his face, and his eyes were glazed with pain. Ashure stopped in the opening and put his hand out, preventing Orion from entering.
“He’s infected,” he warned in a low voice.
Ariness nodded. “Yes. So far, we have been able to contain the spread within his body, but we won’t be able to do so for much longer. Its cells are multiplying at an exponential rate,” he replied.
“Ashure, Orion— Where are Drago and the others? Did they make it?” Mike asked through gritted teeth.
“Drago died battling the alien,” Orion quietly replied.
Pain flashed through Mike’s eyes before he closed them. He shook his head before he opened his eyes again and looked back at them. White lines of pain creased each side of his mouth.
“What about the others?” he demanded.
“We don’t know. None of this makes any sense,” Ashure confessed.
“What’s there to fucking make sense of? The aliens have won,” Mike harshly replied before leaning back.
“I’ve done all I can to stop the spread. The creature has connected with his cells and the magic can no longer distinguish between his body and the alien,” the old woman said.
“How long do I have?” Mike muttered.
“A few hours at best, most likely less,” she replied.
“Fuck!” Mike whispered, closing his eyes and leaning back against the post on the backside of the cot.
“King Ashure, you said that none of this makes sense. I’m afraid I don’t understand. One of your men said that the Isle of the Pirates fell nearly two weeks ago, and that Lady Tonya—” Ariness said before he pursed his lips together.
Tonya’s name sent a flare of panic through him. “What about Lady Tonya?” Ashure demanded, stepping closer to Ariness.
Ariness stared back at him with troubled eyes. “She was killed when the palace was destroyed,” he said.
Ashure staggered back several steps as if he had been struck a mortal blow. His mind rebelled at the thought of Tonya’s death. It couldn’t be true.
“Who—who told you that she was—that she had died?” he hoarsely demanded.
Ariness turned and stared at a fire pit across from where they were standing. Ashure’s eyes scoured the crowd outside the tent for his second-in-command. His attention locked on Dapier’s drooping shoulders. The perpetually good-natured pirate looked old and hollow-eyed.
Ashure pushed his way past Orion and strode across the grounds. Dapier looked up, his eyes briefly widening before he lowered them with a hunching of his shoulders.
“Where is she? Where is Tonya?” Ashure demanded, reaching out and grabbing the front of Dapier’s dirty shirt.
Dapier slowly lifted eyes filled with tears and sorrow. Ashure shook his head in denial and released Dapier’s shirt as if he had been burned. He wanted to howl in pain and grief, but he swallowed it and backed away.
“I’m sorry, Cap’n. I tried to save her. Them aliens were attacking. Lady Tonya was right behind me when the wall crumbled. She pushed me out of the way. She said… she said… to tell you—she wanted me to tell you that she loves you and that she’ll be waiting for you always,” Dapier’s voice was barely a whisper by the time he finished.
Blood rushed to Ashure’s head, and he swayed. Bending over, he placed his hands on his knees to keep from falling. How was all this possible? He had only been gone half a day. The alien had not even made it to Mystic Mountain when he left this morning. How could it have caused so much devastation in such a small period of time?
“Ashure,” Orion called behind him.
He slowly straightened, turned, and faced Orion, Mike, and Ariness. It was over. Mike would soon be dead, and this small encampment would not be able to last much longer.
He had lost everything. He slid his hand under his long coat and gripped the hilt of his dagger. There was nothing left for him to live for. He took a deep, shuddering breath.
Tonya, he whispered, remembering her lying in their bed with a small, sexy smile on her lips, her eyes warm and sleepy. My love.
He turned the dagger in his hand so that the blade was pointed at his chest. The pain was too reminiscent of the time when he had held her in his arms after Bleu shot her—only this was magnified a million times because he knew there was no hope of ever seeing her again. There was no Magna
