As I get closer to the museum, I land and shift back into my human form. It is getting late, but the place is still open for now. All I need to figure out now is to locate Max’s office, or wherever he might keep important information. As I wander through the entrance, I vaguely recall seeing signs that claimed only authorised personnel could enter those rooms. That was to be my first guess of where I might find the information I was seeking. However, when finding the room again, it was nothing more than a place for resting and relaxing. I sighed but knew I couldn’t give up yet. There had to be more important rooms hidden somewhere. I just had to keep looking. Yet I was going at this completely blind. At least I could go about this without being disturbed. With my illusionary spells, the workers here didn’t even notice me. Finally, I found a room that had potential. It was quite hidden and was fairly out of the way in terms of location. However, it had many items, not on display, old
I have been through these doors a thousand times before and never felt so anxious as I have today. I am not sure how to even explain any of this, but I have no choice but to stand strong and leave nothing out or else my father will surely tell me to just forget about Max and accept this as Hafgan’s defeat.Knocking on the door, I wait for my father to answer with his permission to enter. When it comes, I open both doors with dramatic grandeur.“Father! I must speak with you on a grave matter!” I claim loud and clear. Thankfully, he and my mother are alone and aren’t currently in any sort of meeting. Though before I can say a word, my mother rushes over to me, cups my face in her hands and gives me a few kisses.“Sweetie, you’ve been gone so long! Have you been eating well? Did the mortals give you a hard time? Has Hafgan been sorted out again? And do you want your favourite festive meal tonight?” She bombards me with que
With my father agreeing to help, I sit back a little easier on my throne and close my eyes in thought. There is just the problem of carrying out our plan. The Spirits might ask for other unspeakable things if we ask them for this boon on top of the one we just ask for.Yet I can’t think of how to do either of these things Zach has suggested. I certainly do not have the powers to cast such spells, and I don’t know anyone that does beyond the Spirits themselves.A long, frustrated sigh escapes my father’s lips, bringing my attention back towards him. He has this look on his face that tells me he is annoyed, yet before I can speak a word, he says, “there is a way to awaken the dragon blood within Max. You mentioned he feels cold to you, despite being mortal. That is a hint his genetics have at least enough dragon blood for this to be possible. This would push him to become immortal, as we are.”My eyes light up at my father's suggestio
The path towards where the phoenix lived was almost akin to walking up the path to a volcano. Of course, things were not that simple here in the underworld. Had I been a mortal taking these trials, I would have had a much tougher time passing through. My only real challenge will be with the phoenix itself. As soon as I reach the top of the volcano, I take a deep breath. I have rarely ventured here. The only time our kind has ever entered the lands ruled by the phoenix has been in times of war. Although such hasn't happened in a long time, we and the phoenix are quite stubborn creatures. That stubbornness has led to many arguments and skirmishes between us, with neither side ever admitting to being wrong or seeking forgiveness. In other words, there is still no peace between our races. Even I, in my time, have done the same. Now that I need their aid, I have my doubts they will give it willingly. No doubt will they attack me on sight, or else insult me in more ways than I might usua
The further the phoenixes take me, the more the volcano shifts from rocky mounds to something more Egyptian. Each ‘building’ seems to be made of the volcano's surface itself and carvings of the sun are depicted everywhere.Given where the phoenix King once lived in the mortal world, it is no surprise to me that this is the style they would craft their home now. After all, Ra was very much revered there.Finally, we reached the Sun God’s summit in the volcano. No mortal could stand the heat here, but thankfully, being a dragon of fire, this heat is nothing to me.I cast my gaze around while making my way in and took in the craftsmanship of the pillars, along with the colourful floor designs. This place is so different from what I am accustomed to, but I can appreciate how marvellous it is in design. The throne itself has several steps leading up to it and they have crafted it from solid gold.“Why do you come here?” The figure
Words cannot describe how relieved and thankful I feel right now. That the phoenix King agreed to send someone with me to help in the ritual was not something I had any hope of. I expected my attempts would fail and I would need to fight for the right to be heard.I am probably going to get a lot of grief from the phoenix race in the days to come, while they figure out how far they can push my temper and to see if I really will uphold my agreement with them. However, I am a dragon of my word and Max genuinely is that important to me.As I wait for Ra’s chosen helper, I hold my tongue as many phoenixes come over to me. Many of them gawk and stare while others poke and prod with their words and their talons. I ignore them all, though it is difficult to not scold them for bothering me so much.I feel like one of those stuffed animals inside the museum and I know for a fact that if I scold even one of them, they will accuse me of not adhering to the deal I jus
With Masika now at my side, we opened a new portal to the mortal world. I was eager to get this whole thing started and finished, though I knew such things could not be rushed. Masika had a lot of preparation to do, and I had no choice but to let her do what needed to be done.Showing her the way was easy enough. Although she had no illusionist powers, she was easy enough to transport in her human form. With Masika preparing for the ritual, I had time to see Max alone. He was right where I had left him, unmoving and as beautiful as ever.I placed my hand as close to his cheek as I could as I whispered, “you’ll be with me again soon. I promise.” There wasn’t anything I could do for him just yet, but I had done what I had set out to do. I found a way to save him, though I still couldn’t be sure how this would all work out.I could feel my heart pounding against my chest as the anxiety overwhelmed me. I had felt nothing like this in my
After five minutes, still, nothing had changed with Max. I kept hoping that this just took time, that this was supposed to happen, but with each second that passed by, I became more and more paranoid that it hadn’t worked and that my chances to save Max were gone.I looked around to question Masika, but she was no longer there with us. My eyes widened. Had she fled back to her own world when the spell failed or had she sabotaged it deliberately?“No, no, no,” I uttered repeatedly in disbelief. I shake my head rapidly and fall to my knees. “Please, no,” I weep, tears already falling from my eyes. I can’t believe that I had been so foolish as to trust the phoenix! They would never have been so easy to persuade, I should have known!As I knelt there in despair, I didn’t know what I should do now. Max was gone, and there was no way to bring him back to me. I couldn’t bring myself t