He nodded, sliding his hands down Carmen’s sides before he stepped away. Zoran placed a hand on Creon’s shoulder in brotherly support, then took the lead. Carmen slid her hand into Creon’s as they followed Zoran deeper into the Hive.
Isle of the Dragons:
A month earlier
The Time-Space hoop worked differently this time. Instead of dropping through a narrow tunnel, there was a dizzying perception that the world around him was turning backward on its axis. Ashure felt like he was being ripped in two. He saw a shadow of his former self standing in the Time-Space hoop in the village before he turned to dust. At one point he crossed the same thread of time and saw Drago, Orion, and himself passing through the portal.
The spinning slowed as he approached Drago’s castle. He was suddenly thrust forward when he reached the point where he and Orion were waiting for Drago to return from his hoard. He sucked in a breath when he merged with his previous self in the great hall of the Dragon’s Palace.
“Ashure, Theron said you were here on an urgent matter. Are you alright?” Orion asked, steadying him when he swayed.
Ashure held onto Orion and stared at the other man. Emotion threatened to choke him when he heard children’s laughter and Carly, Drago’s mate, calling out a warning to Roo, their daughter, to be careful.
“Yes,” he finally forced out.
“What’s wrong?” Orion demanded.
“The alien is on the Isle of the Monsters, and Nali needs our assistance,” he replied, feeling a sense of déjà vu as he repeated what he had said before.
“When did it appear?” Orion asked.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. It was important that they did not make the same mistake twice. Ashure cleared his throat.
“The morning of my wedding,” he admitted.
Surprise swept across Orion’s face. “Tell me everything,” he urged.
“I’ll tell you, but there is… more to the story,” he cautioned.
He quickly ran through what he had told Orion the first time. His voice faded when Drago walked in carrying a large round metal hoop. Fear gripped him for a second when he saw the hoop in Drago’s hand. Before Drago could say a word, he strode forward and ripped it out of the other man’s hands.
“What are you doing?” Drago snapped in surprise.
“I watched you die a few hours ago,” he harshly replied. He held up the Time-Space hoop and looked back and forth between Drago’s stunned face and Orion. “I watched you both die. Everything was gone—you, your families, the Kingdoms… Tonya. The alien destroyed… everything.”
His voice faltered as he remembered the devastation. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply to regain control of his emotions.
“What are you talking about?” Drago demanded.
He inhaled a deep breath and slowly released it. “We’ve used this already. We ended up in the future—a month from now—on the Isle of Magic. The alien creatures had already destroyed all but a few survivors. Ariness was leading us back to the last stronghold when we were attacked. There were too many of them.” He looked at Drago. “You ignited the dragon fire inside you to give us time to escape. The few survivors there were from every Kingdom. Dapier told me—Tonya was killed. Mike was infected.”
“How did you get back?” Orion asked in a somber tone.
He turned to Orion. “Ariness is a Time Wizard. He can control the Time-Space hoop. You and Mike held off the aliens long enough for him to activate it and send me back to this time,” he explained. “None of you survived.”
Ashure looked down at the hoop in his hand. It was far too dangerous to use, he knew without a doubt.
“What should we do?” Drago murmured.
Ashure thought for a moment. “I have the power of the sword that Magna gave me, and we know the entity cannot survive the combined power of Orion’s Trident and your dragon fire. We three will have to be strong enough to aid Nali,” he said. “We must, there is no other option.”
Orion stepped up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Drago nodded grimly in agreement. “Oh, we’ll be enough,” he promised.
Ashure held out the Time-Space hoop to Drago. “Please do something with this thing. It is far too dangerous in the wrong hands,” he said with a slight shudder of distaste.
“Done,” Drago agreed, taking the hoop and tossing it into the air.
Ashure retreated several steps when Drago suddenly shifted into his dragon form and blew a long, fiery breath at the hoop. The hoop turned a brilliant yellowish-red and then burst into glittering flakes of molten ash. Shards of smoldering metal dotted the carpet, causing several spots to ignite.
Orion hastily pointed his Trident at the spots, and summoned water, quickly putting out the fires. Ashure wiggled his nose when the smell of smoke and wet wool hit his nostrils. This wasn’t exactly what he had meant when he asked Drago to do something about the hoop. He had expected Drago to return the hoop to the safety of his hoard. They all turned and looked at the doorway when they heard Carly suddenly yell.
“Drago! You’d better not be burning the palace again,” Carly growled from the other room.
Drago shifted back to his two-legged form. “It was just a small one, love,” he replied with a grimace.
“So, what’s the quickest way to get to Nali?” Orion asked.
Drago grinned. “Well, I do have one more thing that might work,” he admitted.
“Really, Drago? You couldn’t have used portal stones before trying to use that manhood-shriv….” He paused when Drago glared and glanced meaningfully at his child who was watching with wide eyes. “Before you decided to use the Time-Space hoop?” Ashure amended.
“I didn’t think about it, alright? Besides, do you have any idea how much gold these damn things are costing me? At least the Time-Space hoop was already mine,” Drago growled.
“Mommy says you aren’t supposed to talk like that in front of us. I need five more big coins, Daddy,” Roo informed
