A.N.: Two chapters in a week!

Once A Ranger
Chapter 8: Lost Among Shadows I
By Daylight

Black. Pitch-black. After a moment, Ashley realized it was only the inside of her eyelids, but she couldn't find the wiliness to open them. Her head hung, a heavy weight, her limbs limp and numb. A feeling of icy air began to make itself known. She tried to curl up against it, but couldn't seem to find the strength to move. As she started to become more aware, she began to break through the haze that enveloped her mind. Trying to comprehend what had happened, she wondered if she had been ill. Why else would she feel so tiered, so drained?

Where was Andros? For some reason, she thought he should be nearby, but there was no indication of his warm presence. Here she only felt cold. Where was he? Her mind drifted, half-asleep, half-awake.

'I'll be back in a couple of weeks. I promise.'

A memory. Andros standing there, holding her hands, pleading for her to let him go. Another mission. Another little trip across the universe to help someone somewhere. They kept getting longer and longer, but she couldn't say no. She knew he had been getting restless. Ever since Terra Venture left, he didn't know where he fit in on Earth, what he was supposed to do. So, he kept leaving. Anytime anyone asked a favor, he was gone. Any excuse to leave Earth, and her.

Usually it was just to help out on KO-35, but sometimes it was more dangerous: scouting trips into the Disputed Area, investigating strange disturbances in the Wastelands, keeping tabs on any remnants of evil that might rise up. And she was left behind worrying, wondering how even without his powers he continued to rush off to help the universe whenever it needed him.

How happy Andros had been when they were recruited to fight the demons. Finally, a real chance to make a difference and become a ranger again, while the rest of them tried to deal with the disruption to their lives, while she wondered if this would fit in with her plans for college or if everything would have to be thrown out the window. Maybe she wasn't meant to have a normal life, or a normal boyfriend.

She could remember his sad smile as he insisted he'd be back.

'I'll miss you.'

'I'll miss you too.'

His promises never stopped her worrying. He had come back that time of course; then he'd been gone again, without even a word, leaving everyone in a panic. But… they found him, didn't they? They came to his rescue as usual, and the galaxy rangers… Then there was Kendrix's passing, the dead planet, Rita's funeral, the invisible ships, Andros shot tumbling out of control…

Ashley started, becoming fully awake as she remembered what had happened. Her stomach lurched as she realized that she wasn't lying down as she had thought, but somehow strung up against a wall, her arms and legs immobilized. She fought against the heaviness in her eyelids, and blinking managed to get a first glimpse at her surroundings.

Still black. But slowly she started to see shapes, amorphous shadows moving against a dim red light, vaguely humanoid forms shifting along dark walls. And as she listened, the echo of a rough voice began to reach her ears.

"I'm waiting."

Ashley slowly turned her head in the direction of the sound. Her eyes still refused to accommodate to the lack of light, but the source appeared to come from a tall, gaunt shadow, which leered over the others.

"I'm patient, but I have no intention of waiting forever."

There was no response.

"Where is it?" came the voice again. "I will find out all you know eventually, so you might as well tell me now."

Glancing around, she tried to determine whom the figure was addressing. A sound, half coarse cough, half humorless chuckle, drew her attention to the silhouette of a crumpled form at the feet of the tall shadow.

"My dear Zedd, I was unaware that Zordon's power had caused you to lose your sanity as well as your evil spirit."

Zedd, Lord Zedd, Ashley realized, former leader of an evil galactic empire, continued to laugh, apparently unable to raise himself off the ground. "What threat do you think you can make that would frighten me?" he weakly replied. "I've heard them all before, most from myself."

"You'd be surprised." It leaned closer to him, the rough voice becoming even colder as it demanded, "Now, where is it?"

"What makes you think I would know?"

The large shadow slid back and forth across the wall, pacing. "After all those years fighting against Zordon, you must have some inclination."

"Don't you think if I did, I'd have used it myself?" replied Zedd with a snort of contempt.

"You never had the power or knowledge to get past Zordon's defenses let alone use it. Of all the evil beings in this universe, the only one who might have had that power was Dark Specter. And even if he knew the location, I doubt he would have known what to do with it."

"His power didn't do him much good in the end, now did it?"

"Dark Specter had many failings, his alliance with you only one of them. I'm not surprised they finally caught up with him."

Ashley watched as Zedd attempted to raise himself off the floor and face his capture. "And you believe you have this so called knowledge?"

"It's surprising what you can find out in ten thousand years of exile. Now are you prepared to help me now or after my shadows have dealt with you?"

Zedd shook his head. "Pointless threats, I told you. Pointless threats."

A slight wave, a flick of a wrist, and the shadows swarmed over Lord Zedd engulfing him. En masse, the cadaverous forms withered as Zedd disappeared beneath them. They appeared to be no more than black shapes, but the inchoate silhouettes drifting in their mad dance proved themselves more than mere mist and smoke as a dark hand reached out and brushed against Ashley's cheek leaving frozen fingerprints. It felt as if someone was trying to pull away part of her soul. She shuddered.

"Have you found another source of power?"

Blearily, the yellow ranger realized the tall form was now addressing someone else, but the gloomy surroundings seemed to have grown even dimmer. She blinked. The little energy she had had was leaving her. She fought to stay conscious.

"Yes, my lord, but the scouts have been unable to reach it."

The new voice was familiar, but Ashley's memories failed to place it as her mind once more drifted. Her eyes closed.

"Tell them not to leave until they retrieve it. We need to access another power source before these ones are used up."

Where's Andros? Ashley wondered. Where are the others? Her last sliver of awareness faded away as she blacked out.

Next:
Chapter 9: History Lessons
Having reached Triforia, the Earth Rangers get a quick lesson on the history of the universe.