by S. E. Smith
He experienced a sense of loss when she finally pulled away. They stared into each other’s eyes, both lost in their own thoughts before he released her waist, and she stepped away from him. She cleared her throat, the soft sound echoing in the cave’s chamber.
“We go that way,” she murmured.
He bowed his head and stepped aside for her to go ahead of him. She paused for a fraction of a second—long enough for their eyes to lock—before she shook her head and disappeared into the tunnel. He released the breath he’d been holding.
This changes everything, he thought.
What happened changes nothing, Nali fiercely thought, trying to keep her focus on the task at hand and not the fiery kiss she had shared with Asahi. It was just a kiss. A nice, hot, incredible kiss.
She barely smothered her frustrated groan. Turning on her heel, she faced him and thrust out her arm, preventing him from running into her. Her hand splayed against his chest. Her fingers accidentally slid between the buttons of his shirt. She gritted her teeth at the feel of his warm flesh. She would not risk another kiss. Of course, just the thought made her glance at his lips.
“What happened back there—” Asahi began.
“Changes everything,” she finished before blinking and shaking her head. “I mean, changes nothing.”
A wicked gleam of amusement lit his eyes. “I like your first thought better,” he said.
She ruefully shook her head again. “You are a distraction, Asahi Tanaka. That can be dangerous in our current situation,” she said.
He lifted his hand and covered hers where it pressed against his chest. “Only if we let it. If we work together, we can be a formidable opponent against the alien,” he replied.
With a doubtful, searching look into his eyes, Nali murmured, “Perhaps.”
He reached out and gently cupped her chin. “This is your world, Nali, but I’m not completely ignorant of it. We will be successful,” he murmured.
For a moment, his words hung in the air, blending with the subtle sounds of the surrounding tunnel. Nali nodded, unable to hide her troubled expression any longer. She lowered her hand and stepped back.
“Thank you. I needed to hear that,” she confessed before she looked around. “We should be near the surface. If we are there before the alien, there is a chance we can stop it before it does any more harm.”
“How will we know if it’s still in the tunnel?” Asahi asked with a frown.
“I have a way,” she replied.
She hoped that what she said was true. She had the Goddess’s Mirror. Unfortunately, it tended to show her disjointed images that often didn’t make sense.
Let’s hope this time the mirror will be a little clearer than usual, she thought with a grimace.
“How do you know so much about the Seven Kingdoms?” she asked as she continued walking.
“My grandfather came here. His name was Aiko Tanaka. He passed through a portal into your world while on a fishing trip. He lived on the Isle of Magic for nearly forty Earth years. I never fully understood how he could still look so young when he returned home,” he quietly replied.
“I didn’t realize that there had been other humans here before Carly. It is possible that we age at a slower rate in this world than in yours. From the conversations that I’ve had with some of the others, we live much longer than the people in your world.”
Asahi looked thoroughly fascinated. “My grandfather said he came here to the Isle of the Monsters once. Over the years, he shared many stories about his journey and the wonders of your world. He put it all in his journal. I have it with me.”
Pausing, she turned around and looked at him. “I would like to see it one day,” she said with a smile.
Asahi nodded. “Where to now? Did we take a wrong turn?” he asked, realizing that the passage ended at an earthen wall lined with tree roots.
“No. We’re here,” she said, pointing up.
“So we are,” he said, looking up at the vertical tunnel rising a good fifteen feet above his head with a wary expression.
“Do you trust me?” she suddenly asked.
He looked back down at her with a frown. “Yes,” he automatically replied.
She grinned. “Then let’s see if your grandfather told you about this,” she teased.
Asahi wasn’t sure what to expect, but what happened next made him say a few colorful words—in his mind. Nali reached out and wrapped her arms firmly around his waist. He reciprocated the move, sliding his arms around her.
The delightful feeling of her arms wrapped around him wasn’t the part that made him nervous. He enjoyed holding her. It was what happened next that shook him.
Her body transformed from the waist down. He watched with a mixture of awe and horror as her lower limbs shimmered before changing. Her leather pants turned into thick, black scales—they felt like velvet against his palms.
He hissed in surprise, and he tightened his hold around her waist when his feet suddenly left the ground. She was growing larger—or at least her lower body was growing longer. The upper portion of her body stayed the same.
He stared into her beautiful eyes. They glowed with a golden hue. This close, he swore he could see the universe in her eyes. She blinked several times as if coming out of a trance and tilted her head back. He swallowed and looked up at the opening above.
She moved in an effortless glide up through the opening, rotating in a slow, mesmerizing circle as they passed through. Once they were clear of the hole, she leaned over the edge and released him on solid ground.
He took a stumbling step backward and watched as she rose farther through the opening. She coiled the lower half of her body around and around, pulling free of the pit.
The black scales that covered her from her waist to the tip of her tail shimmered in the late afternoon light until she twirled, her arms outstretched like that of a ballet dancer, and what had been the long tail of a snake disappeared in a cloud of golden sparkles.
“And… we are out of the tunnel,” she said with a smug grin.
“How—how did you—?” he asked, waving his hand up and down in her direction.
“Magic,” she cheekily replied.
“Magic,” he repeated with a shake of his head before he looked around.
“So, will your magic tell us if we made it here before the alien?” he asked, meeting her eyes.
She sighed. “I hope so.”
He walked around the hole, looking down inside it as he did, then stopped next to her. She had turned away from him, but not before he saw something appear in her hand. He frowned when he noticed that it looked like a mirror.
“What is that?” he asked.
She glanced at him before refocusing on the mirror. “A gift from the Goddess,” she quietly replied.
“It’s beautiful,” he responded, looking at it more closely. “On Earth, the Japanese believe that Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, gave her grandson, Ninigi, a mirror when he descended to Earth. Ninigi gave the mirror to the first emperor. The mirror has been passed down to each emperor since,” Asahi said.
She looked at him, intrigued. “The Goddess gave this mirror to the Empress of the Monsters long ago to guide her through the challenges that she would face,” she said.
Asahi nodded. “’Within the reflecting surface of the Sun Goddess’s mirror is something beyond normal understanding,’” he quoted the ancient Japanese legend.
He stepped behind her and slid his hand over hers. She started a little at the closeness, then leaned into his warmth. Together, they looked at their reflection in the mirror. He smiled when he saw her looking at him with curiosity.
Deciding not to comment on their current position, she replied, “Yes, what we will see—if the mirror cooperates—is both real and unreal at the same time. The mirror creates an interface between the physical and the spiritual realms.”
As she spoke, the image in the mirror became ominous, as if someone had blown smoke in front of it. The smoke
gradually cleared, but the image no longer showed their reflection—it showed the alien, and the creature immediately struck out at the glass. Asahi tightened his grip on Nali’s hand when she suddenly jerked backward.
“This is not possible,” Nali hissed in shock.
The creature struck again, only this time it did not stay within the mirror. The glass stretched outward as the black liquid hand tried to grab Nali.
“Watch out!” Asahi warned.
He yanked the mirror out of her hand and turned it toward the ground, quickly pulling his dagger from its sheath and swiping it across the protruding hand. The alien in the mirror howled in pain as its severed limb writhed on the ground.
“Asahi, step back,” Nali ordered.
The mirror disappeared from his hand as Nali came forward and wrapped a granite hand around the alien limb. It slithered around her arm, trying desperately to penetrate her stony flesh.
“I’d kill it now,” Mr. Gryphon suggested. “If anyone wants my opinion.”
“Not yet,” Nali hissed. “How were you able to come through the Goddess’s Mirror?”
The alien chuckled with malevolence. Asahi wasn’t sure which was more troubling—that the creature came through Nali’s magical device or that such a small part of the alien had the potential to become a separate living entity. He tightly gripped the magic dagger when he noticed that the struggling black extremity was turning to liquid. She grabbed the entity with her other hand to keep the creature from falling to the ground.
“Liqcora solidify,” Nali commanded.
Magic crackled in the air as the spell washed over the alien, causing it to harden—for a moment. A loud crack shattered the silence of the forest, and the alien mass broke free from Nali’s grip. In a split second, the creature had wound itself around her throat.
She stumbled backward, clawing at the alien band choking her. Tiny fissures appeared along Nali’s throat. Eyes wide with horror, Asahi pursed his lips in determination and moved with the skill of a surgeon, slicing through the alien appendage with the magical dagger. A brilliant light, so intense that it nearly blinded him, briefly flared as it consumed the severed section of the alien. The creature’s screech lasted less than a second before the limb turned to ash.
Nali took loud, hissing breaths of air. She violently trembled and sank down to her knees as she fought to pull oxygen into her lungs. Asahi knelt on one knee next to her and touched her throat, trailing his fingers along the cracks in her hardened skin.
“Are you alright?” he murmured with concern.
She lifted her hand to her throat. “Yes,” she hoarsely replied as she lifted her head and looked at him.
He saw the alien’s reflection in her eyes as they widened with alarm. A larger section of the being emerged from the tunnel behind him. Asahi wrapped his arm around her shoulders as it flew past them. He winced when the entity struck his shoulder a glancing blow as he rolled to the right—pulling her with him. He caught a brief glimpse of the fleeing form as it vanished into the forest.
“Let’s go,” he growled.
He released her and surged to his feet, his eyes on the forest. He reached out a hand to help her up. She grabbed it and stood.
“I will take to the air and follow it,” she said.
He turned toward her when he heard the raspiness in her voice, and he noticed that the fine cracks on her throat were already healing. She would be safer in the air than on the ground until they were healed completely.
“I’ll track it on the ground,” he said.
“Be careful,” she warned.
In seconds, her long wings appeared, and she lifted off. He watched her clear the canopy, then he looked down at the dagger. The small, winged lion was sniffing the air.
“Can you track it?” he inquired.
“Do flies like dung?” the winged lion retorted.
Asahi chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he replied.
“That way,” the winged lion snorted, pointing a front paw to the north.
Chapter 7
An hour and a half later, Nali dipped under a branch and swerved to avoid a tree before gliding over a thick covering of ferns toward Asahi. She pulled up a few feet from him, retracted her wings, and landed on the soft soil with the ease of a swan landing on a calm lake.
“It’s as if the alien has just vanished,” she commented.
“My guess is that it went into hiding. It is injured,” he responded.
Mr. Gryphon snorted. “That thing isn’t the only one feeling injured! You would think that after dismembering and disintegrating part of the fiercest foe the Isle of the Monsters has ever seen, my nincompoop wielder would give me some well-deserved rest, but oh no, here I still am, being brandished through an endless forest like I’m some common pitchfork!” the Mr. Gryphon irritably complained with a shudder of distaste.
Nali raised an amused eyebrow.
“Perhaps you could try talking to him, Empress,” the disgruntled gryphon continued. “I’ve tried to explain to him that even magic needs time to recharge, but oh no, what would I know? I’m just an enchanted dagger made by a powerful witch who appreciated and understood magic!”
“Calm yourself, Mr. Gryphon. Asahi knew it was important to destroy the alien before it infected any of the forest creatures. He couldn’t have done that without you. Asahi, you should be able to sheath Mr. Gryphon now. We will stay alert, but the dagger does need to recharge. It will be dark soon, so we should find shelter for the night,” she suggested.
“Thank you for your help, Mr. Gryphon,” Asahi said ruefully before he sheathed the dagger. The small winged lion was already curled up on the hilt with his head buried under one wing, sound asleep.
Nali reached out and gently touched the golden figure. “The magic embedded in this dagger is impressive. LaDonna was a powerful witch,” she reflected.
“My grandfather spoke highly of her,” he said.
She smiled and looked up at the sky. “There is a Manticore village near here. I want to warn them of the alien. We will request lodging there for the night,” she said.
“Manticores? Will it be safe?” he asked with a hesitant expression.
Nali chuckled and peered at him with a grin. “The only one you may not be safe around is me, Asahi. Haven’t you learned yet that I am the most frightening of all the monsters?” she teased.
“If that is the case, then I have nothing to fear, for I know you would protect me,” he calmly responded.
Nali softly smiled and caressed his cheek with the tips of her fingers. He spoke with such calm conviction. Her powers intimidated most of the men she knew. The shape she had converted to earlier—half woman, half snake—would have horrified all but a few close friends and the rulers of the other Kingdoms who all had their own unique talents. Even the monsters she cared for and protected were leery of her.
Her life was blessed and cursed at the same time. The monsters on the Isle, from the smallest to the largest, filled her heart with joy at their unique beauty. However, Nali wasn’t just a monster—she was the very essence of all monsters. She could assume the form of any of them and even create new forms. She belonged to all monsters and still none. Yet, Asahi accepted her for who she was—without fear or any qualms at all. It was refreshing. Only with Ashure had she ever felt this measure of acceptance.
With a shake of her head, she turned away. “You have given me a gift, Asahi Tanaka. I will treasure it, always,” she said.
Asahi clenched his hand around the dagger’s hilt. The desire to kiss her when she touched his cheek had been powerful. He drew in long, deep breaths and released them slowly to regain his sense of balance as he silently followed her.
She was currently in her marble form, walking at a brisk pace. The fabric of her clothes and the strands of her hair moved as if they were merely an illusion. He lifted a hand and touched his cheek where she had caressed him. Her fingers had been warm against his skin and her caress had left a tantalizing sensatio
n against his cheek that lingered long after she had turned away.
He lowered his hand and became lost in thought as they continued along the barely discernable path through the forest. The memory of a conversation with his grandfather Aiko suddenly came to mind. Incredibly, he could remember the day as if it were only yesterday. Each detail was as clear and crisp as if it had just happened.
They had been in his grandmother’s car on their way to California, the back seat filled with treasured photos, clothing, and a small box of old coins that had once belonged to his great-great grandparents. When his grandfather, Aiko, said they would start fresh, he had meant it. Aiko had sold everything else or given it away.
Twenty-six years ago:
Driving along Highway 101 in Oregon
The morning rain cleared as his grandfather drove over the Oregon state line into Northern California. Asahi looked up at the sky, squinting when the clouds parted, and the sun temporarily blinded him. He grabbed a pair of sunglasses that had belonged to his dad. As he slipped them on, Asahi had an idle thought that it was as if Baba’s tears couldn’t follow them into their new life. Even the sky proclaimed that it would be different now. He didn’t believe it though. His mind and heart were still aching from the loss of his beloved grandmother and his father. Aiko’s decision to leave everything behind as if it never existed made the pain worse for Asahi.
His grandfather had been silent throughout the morning drive, so it was a surprise when he suddenly started talking. Asahi turned in his seat and faced his last remaining family member.
“There is always a reason something happens, Asahi,” Aiko quietly explained.
“How could there be a reason for you disappearing and Baba and father dying?” he sullenly muttered.
Aiko slowed the car and turned on the blinker. He turned into a scenic overlook and pulled in between a group of motorcyclists and a Tour America RV with the imprint of a Golden Retriever looking out of the door. He shifted the car into park, but left the engine running as they looked out at the ocean. They sat quietly for a couple of minutes before he softly sighed and answered.
