Streaks of Purple Saga Volume One - Heather Ray (phonics reader .txt) 📗

the dungeon. It chilled Baboo to think that he may spend all his time plotting something.

Four months... that is how long they've had this particular guest. But on the whole, conditions had gotten much better. When the Green Ranger was first captured, he awoke to find himself in the cell. With a cry of rage, he morphed and managed to break free.

Baboo nearly got himself killed, for he happened to be the guard the moment the human regained consciousness.

Fortunately, Rita was nearby, and her magical spell forced the human to surrender. With a surprising amount of effort, Rita managed to erect a dampening spell to prevent him from morphin' again.

The following week, Rita had finally figured out the key to his powers... the black brand on his palm. By channeling black magic into his body, she forced the Power to reject him. The brand suddenly became a gold coin, which Rita quickly snatched and took with her to her study for closer inspection.

Now, the Green Ranger was powerless; but he was far from helpless

.

First, he refused to eat. Both Squatt and Baboo were constantly assaulted by flying food particles and plates whenever they attempted to feed the boy. In fact, on one occasion Baboo suffered a broken nose for daring to step within arm's reach of the prisoner.

The human was resolved to die. But for some reason, Rita wouldn't allow it. So she personally made sure he ate enough to live, by casting a spell to temporarily hypnotize the stubborn human long enough for him to eat his meal.

Eventually, he learned the futility of his rebellion, and elected to eat of his own will.

But while he had gradually become quite passive, Baboo couldn't help but be terrified.

The boy's eyes sent chills up the alien's spine. They carried such bitter hatred that Baboo could've sworn he felt pain just by making eye contact.

He so hated guard duty, but there was little else to do. Especially since Rita had suspended her invasion plans ever since the Green Ranger's capture...

"Baboo? Get over here!"

Baboo jumped, genuinely surprised to hear the screeching voice of the queen in the lowly dungeons. He scrambled to his feet, and bowed as Rita passed him, carrying a meal tray.

He looked in wonder at a small crystal globe with swirling gold smoke trapped within.

"Y... yes, Your Wonderfulness?" he breathed.

"You are now off duty," she informed him, jerking her head to the exit,

"Get lost. And sent Squatt in for his shift in ten minutes." She smiled.

"I wish an audience with our guest."

Baboo frowned with confusion, but he knew better than to question the queen. He merely bowed, and scampered out of the dungeon lest he incur her wrath by delaying.

Rita painted an artless smile onto her face as she strode deeper into the dungeon.

"Breakfast time, Erol," she called.

Amazingly, the prisoner reacted to her voice. Erol sat up, and stared at the queen harshly. Still, Rita could see the surprise in his gaze.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, watching her carefully. He couldn't help but feel wary; Rita hadn't made a personal appearance since he started to cooperate.

"Just checking on my favorite Ranger," she said, a smirk spreading on her face as she pushed the tray into the cell. She watched him as he stared at the globe on the tray.

"And what's that?"

"A light source. But don't even think

about it... it can't be used as a weapon in any way. The shell is diamond, so you cannot break it to form sharp shards. And there's no heat emitted that can be used to start a fire. It's just light."

Erol snorted. "Great. So I can see the mold on the walls grow?"

Rita folded her arms. "Well, if you cooperate, maybe I'll permit you something to read."

The Green Ranger scowled as he rose to his feet. He marched toward her, stepping to the very bars of the cell. He was so close to the Queen of Evil that she could feel his breath on her face.

"You won't get any help from me. Whatever it is you're planning, I will not

help." He then smirked coldly. "Although I must admit, I'm amazed you're keeping me around. You really have no power, if you need me to help you stop the Rangers."

Rita's smile collapsed, and she glowered at the human. He didn't cringe at the hateful glare that made even Goldar tremble.

Just another stubborn man to break...

"You might as well give up," she cooed, "You won't be antagonizing me

into killing you. You're just going to sit and wait until I'm ready for you."

Erol's smile dimmed. He simply couldn't sustain the inciting banter.

"You know, the last time I came here you insisted that the Rangers would be here to save you. And now, it looks like you've... given up?"
She couldn't resist rubbing salt into the wound. Her thirst for inflicting pain was partially satiated when she saw the boy tense.

"Four months..." she droned, "That's an awfully long time. I wonder what's taking them so long? It's not like I've been attacking Earth. I guess they have better things to do?"

She then began absently examining her fingernails. "Or... maybe they just haven't forgiven you for almost killing

the Yellow Ranger? Whose side are you on, anyway?"

Erol remained silent as he picked up the tray. He took a seat in his dark corner, the glowing smoke of the crystal illuminating his face eerily.

His cold emerald eyes bored into Rita as he slowly took a sip of water from the waxen green cup.

The queen couldn't resist a smirk of triumph as she saw his fingers sink ever-so-slightly into the malleable drinking vessel.

Chapter Three

Sweat glistened on her brow, tanned slightly from months of hard work in the summer sun. Wrinkles deepened, and a low growl of fierce tension rumbled her throat.

Her fingers tensed, frozen with her knuckles bent halfway. Her hands formed claws, and smoked slightly with energy.

Then, she closed her eyes. By sealing out the outside world, she focused on the power within her.

She didn’t see the flashes of purple energy build around her body, sparking outward at random. She didn’t feel the winds gather around her, sending her flowing platinum blonde hair in a frenzied aura around her entire body.

Every muscle in her body trembled with the intense exertion. Finally, the low growl wasn’t enough to release the building power within…she parted her lips and screamed.

And in her right palm, hovering over the black brand of the Eagle, was a small sphere of purple and gold light.

Kreia opened her eyes, examining her achievement with a fierce gaze. The light swirled on its own, slowly building as it fed off the purple aura her body maintained.

She smiled faintly. Finally, she was able to make this small progression. She could manifest the Eagleheart Pulse without Morpin’, or even using a battle cry. She could fire an energy bolt and completely surprise her opponent.

Her lips quirked as she tossed the Pulse into a large boulder. The impact reduced the rock into so much dust.

“Not quite there,” she breathed, her body tensing once again. “I’ve got to go deeper

…”

Four months of endless training. That had been her response to Erol’s disappearance; or rather…abduction.

There was no proof that the Green Ranger was taken prisoner. There were no ransom demands, or even taunts to infuriate the Rangers. There had been nothing but silence from the moon forces since that horrible night that the Green Ranger unleashed his fury.

But it had to be more than coincidence that Erol vanished from the face of the Earth at the same time Goldar and Scorpina did.

The Rangers were able to witness the semi-conscious woman vanish from sight. And upon further investigation, they found the crater that was surely generated by Goldar’s battle with Erol.

Four months of mind-numbing silence. It was more than Kreia could bear.
There was no way to find Erol. After weeks of intense scanning of the lunar surface, it was concluded that Rita must have erected some kind of energy dampening field, preventing any scans from picking up her presence. Her base was either gone, or completely invisible.
In either case, no rescue could even be attempted.

Zordon had tried to infuse hope into the despondent Rangers when he and Alpha began work on a scanner that could track a teleportation spell. Then, they’d be able to discern the exact destination of a teleportation, even if it were behind a shielded moon fortress.

But no one had teleported from the moon since. All was silent.

It was maddening how helpless the mighty Power Rangers had become.

Kreia could only battle the ocean of despair by practicing. She devoted every waking moment to training, usually magical in nature.

It was her fault Erol had gone rogue to begin with…and she would save him.

Four months of diligent study had brought about vast improvements in her powers. She could fly of her own accord, even without the Power in its direct form. She could manifest the Eagleheart Pulse without Morphin’. And in her morphed state, she found she could absorb magical energy thrown at her to a limited extent, and channel it back into a reinforced Eagleheart Pulse.

But she couldn’t Ascend. She couldn’t tap into the power behind the Power Coin.

She couldn’t reach that plateau of true Power. She couldn’t even really understand how to do it.

There was so much she needed to learn. So much Regita could have shown her.

But she was forced to train for the past three months without his guidance.

“Kreia…I’m dying…I cannot imagine living for more than a few months at best.”

He couldn’t have known how accurate that estimation was.

Kreia sighed, observing the length of the shadow cast by the practice staff struck in the earth not far from her.

She frowned slightly, relaxing her tired body and gazing up at the sun directly above her head.

“It’s time.”

Chapter Four