*Rhys*
A small gasp escaped Saoirse as I nipped at her bottom lip, causing to groan in return. Her lips were much softer than I expected, and they had the sa faint taste of strawberries that her scent held.
I was suddenly hyperaware of the fact that we were currently in her bedroom.
Daxton’s mind link suddenly interrupted my thoughts. “Dr. Kane needs to see you now. He said it’s urgent.”
It was like cold water had been thrown on . Daxton would not have called unless it was sothing serious.
Even though I knew it was important, I still had to force myself away from Saoirse.
"I apologize, but I need to leave," I said. I turned and left before I could change my mind and throw her onto the bed, which was tempting in the corner of the room.
The lingering warmth on my lips was almost too much to ignore, so I turned my thoughts to Daxton’s mind. He sent instructions on where to et them. I focused on the directions and the noises around .
It still wasn’t enough to forget about Saoirse, but the distance was helping focus on the task at hand. I kept checking behind to make sure that she wasn’t following , but my abrupt departure must have caught her off guard enough that she hadn’t considered it imdiately.
I hoped she didn’t delve back into the thoughts of anxiety and guilt. I couldn’t stand to see her so upset and doubting herself. She was always strong, so seeing her upset brought out more than I could fight.
I also had many questions floating in my head. Had she enjoyed the kiss? Was she regretting it? Would she get in trouble with her father? What about Conall?
My thoughts refocused as the landscape turned hazardous. I found myself following a path down into a remote ravine that I had not co across in any of my patrols.
Along the path, I found Daxton, Dr. Kane, and a few other scientists. They were holding so fancy machines that were beeping. I didn’t know enough about them to know if that beeping was a good thing or not.
"Ah, Prince Rhys, there you are." The excitent on Dr. Kane’s face was clear.
"What have you found?" I asked.
He was certainly the best at his job if he had found sothing so quickly. Granted, he did have more advanced technology than this valley had ever seen. Maybe this would have all been discovered if there was more technology around.
"We detected a strange energy signature coming from this ravine," Dr. Kane explained. "It seems promising, but I wanted to wait for you before we continued."
"By all ans, continue," I urged with a gesture.
The restless feeling was returning as if we were on the verge of sothing huge. It was potentially sothing that could change our entire world as we knew it.
In so way, I had already expected that when I saw my visions start to co true. It was clear that sothing was at work. Even if Keelana wasn’t evil, sothing evil was at work. At least my gut was telling that, and it had been right so far.
We began our descent into the ravine. The scientists with the machines went before the rest of us, testing the area. I didn’t need the machines’ extra beeping to tell what I could feel.
The air grew heavier the further I walked. It felt as if it was pressing down on us from all sides. The absence of wildlife beca more pronounced. A charged, almost electric-type feel flowed through the air like a current, connecting us all. It beca harder to breathe.
The machines ahead started to do a long beep with no interruption. I could see a sheet of readings printing from the side. The closest scientist turned around to look at us.
"We are getting close to the epicenter," he announced, his voice carrying an almost echo-like quality.
I nodded, encouraging them to continue. We had already co this far.
We continued around the next curve and found ourselves facing a dead end, at least in one context. A massive rock wall towered in front of us, bringing the path to a complete stop. However, that rock well was embedded with luminous azure crystals that pulsed with an unnatural glow.
"We’ve found it!" Dr. Kane exclaid, excitedly rushing forward to lightly touch one of the gems as it pulsed.
"Do you believe this is one of those interdinsional portals?" I asked, stepping closer to the wall as well.
"No, no," Dr. Kane contradicted . "This is just the evidence left behind that a portal was once opened here before violently collapsing."
"How do you know all this?" I asked.
It was true that my senses told that this place was unnatural, but Dr. Kane sounded more inford than that and much more sure of himself. I watched as the doctor inspected the wall, pulling a small tool out of his belt to examine it more closely.
"You’ve seen one before," I suddenly said, realization hitting .
Dr. Kane glanced at and gave a small nod. "Nothing of this size and magnitude, though. We must start the excavation process imdiately. There could be artifacts or clues on who opened the mystical gateway or how to get it to open again."
The idea of opening it again did not sound as enticing to as I would have guessed. We had no idea what this other world could hold. Opening a bridge to it might was not necessarily the best idea. ddling with volatile cosmic forces was beyond my world’s comprehension.
Of course, the only way to prevent sothing was to know more about it.
"Very well," I allowed.
Dr. Kane wasted no ti. He started barking orders to the few scientists with him and sent one back up to bring more resources and hands back with him. This was going to be a large job. He then started to set up the equipnt and supplies he had available. It was as if he was worried the wall would vanish at any mont.
Daxton and I stepped back, letting the professionals do their tasks and staying out of the way.
"Do you really think this wise?" Daxton whispered to . "This seems pretty big, man, bigger than all of us."
"I know, Dax, but what else am I to do?" I pressed. "It will be impossible to keep this a secret. We need to learn as much about it. Maybe if we find a way to reopen it, we could also find a way to close it forever and any other paths to our world."
An anguished roar split through the air like an explosion. Daxton and I instantly jumped into defensive positions, preparing for the worst.
We weren’t prepared for a massive gold dragon erging from the ravine and soaring right at us. It had to be at least three tis the size that Keelana had been and much more savage looking.
The researchers began to panic and look for any sort of cover along the rocky ravine bed. There was none. The soldiers stood firm, ready to strike as the newcor landed gracefully just yards in front of us.
I moved to position myself in front of the soldiers. I was cautious and kept a less offensive stance. If I could reason with Keelana, perhaps I could reason with this dragon as well. Based on the tone of that roar, this dragon might have been too upset to reason with.
We didn’t have the advantage as we did with Keelana’s eggs.
The gold dragon followed closely with its eyes as I ca to a stop. I could hear the researchers still scrambling around .
A shimr enveloped the dragon’s body. I watched closely as the massive beast shifted. This ti, it was not a woman who took the place of the dragon but a tall, handso man with a bald head and piercing silver eyes.
The noise around stopped.
"Hello, Prince Rhys," the man’s low voice bellowed out. "I am Axureon."
"How do you know my na, Axureon?" I asked in reply, my voice not betraying the nerves I felt.
"That is not important now," Axureon said flippantly. He pointed over my head. "What is important is that you are disturbing dangerous interdinsional remnants. You need to cease your acts imdiately."
I glanced back at the crew behind . My eyes lingered the longest on Daxton and Dr. Kane, the two voices for my fighting halves.
"Why?" I answered with another question. "We only wish to discover more about what this evidence ans for us and our world. Do you think we are not owed an explanation?"
Axureon didn’t look angry at my questions. He seed more understanding than anything. "I can see that you are a logical man. Perhaps I could make you a deal."
"What kind of deal?" I asked suspiciously.
He was not giving the sa innocent vibes I felt from Keelana during our conversation. This man had a darker edge to him that I could not describe. Given the need, I was sure he would kill.
"I vow to share what I know of the other world as well as what I know of the magic of these portals. I will give you all the information you wish to seek with dangerous excavations." Axureon sounded calm, but I was still cautious.
"And what do you want from us in return?" I asked. "To stop the mining? But there has to be sothing else. What is it?"
The silver in the dragon’s eyes seed to flash, and his face twisted into a humorless smile.
"You are smart, aren’t you?" he conceded. "Yes. In return for my information, not only would you stop your mining, but you would also relinquish Keelana’s eggs to my protected mountain sanctuary, along with the portal shards you hold to prevent their misuse."
"Portal shards?" I asked. "We don’t have any portal shards."
"Don’t you?" The bald man raised an eyebrow at . I felt a stab of embarrassnt.
I glanced behind again, directing my eyes straight toward Dr. Kane, who just so happened to refuse to look at . Questions imdiately surfaced in my head. Hadn’t he just said he had seen sothing like this portal before? Was it possible that he had collected pieces from his discoveries?
I found it very likely.
I turned back around and stared at the dragon shifter, contemplating his terms and what he was asking of .
On one hand, it all sounded very logical. We would stop intruding, and we would get information. He also asked to protect Keelana’s eggs, which could have been a good thing. In theory, it could all work beautifully.
On the other hand, there was a chance he was lying.
I had no way to truly believe that he was who he said he was. I did not know about the dragon kind and their loyalties to each other or the outside world. He could have been lying about it all.
Maybe he wanted the power of the portals for himself to keep so sort of control over who ca and who went. What if the reason he wanted Keelana’s dragon eggs was to kill any competition that might co his way? For all I knew, dragons were territorial. Maybe Keelana had been on the run from him, which was what brought her closer to Hunter’s Glen than ever before.
I had too many questions without answers and could not find them through Axureon. I simply did not feel comfortable complying with him, and that was the honest truth.
"I apologize, Axureon, but if you have concerns, you can address the King of Egoren," I announced. "I am not at liberty to agree to your deal and will carry out what my father has instructed, which is to find out as much as possible of the happenings here at Hunter’s Glen."
The true anger that Axureon must have been feeling broke through his facade then, and he scowled angrily at .
"You will regret this decision here today, Prince Rhys."
The golden dragon roared back into existence.
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