Nali studied Asahi from afar as he stared out over the lake. She started walking in his direction, only to pause when Pai flew overhead and landed in her path. She softly sighed in resignation when she noticed the gleam in Pai’s eyes. He wanted to talk.
“Pai,” she greeted.
“Empress,” the hippogriff gruffly replied.
“Did you find the alien?” she asked.
Pai grimly nodded. “As your human stated, the alien is no longer in the eel,” he answered.
She frowned and looked at Asahi. Her heart ached for him. He had spent the rest of the day avoiding everyone—except for the brief time he had disappeared with Ashure.
She wrapped her arms around her waist. “The creature needs to inhabit a form. Magna told us that the alien cannot survive long on our world without a body,” she informed him.
“We se
