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
I landed just outside of the tunnel that would lead to the cavern. It didn’t take long at all for Rem and his two friends to show up behind me. I was sure he was very much ready to see his destined mate again, and the look on his face was a subdued joy.Kayden glanced around as if he were looking for something or someone. He then spotted the egg in my arm and peered at it with confusion. After a moment, he looked up at me.“What’s with the egg? And I thought you had helped Max? Did you not find anything? Did he…” trailing off, Kayden seemed unsure if he wanted to suggest Max had died and thus the reason for me going home without him.It surprised me when it seemed he couldn’t read the mind of the being inside the egg. Was it not grown enough to have thoughts? Or could the being inside the egg already block their mind from the mind probe of the Ancient Ones?“This is… or hopefully, will become, Max…&
As I stepped out of the gateway for one last time, I paused and glanced straight at Rem. At first, I had wanted to mentally prepare him for what was about to come next, but then I decided it would be far more amusing to see his reaction without prior knowledge. Not to mention seeing the others as well. For the moment, I blocked the gateway so that none of them could see Zach, but as soon as I heard him step out and into the mortal world again, I stood aside and gave everyone a clear view of the young man… and the young child in his arms. At first, Rem ran over to his mate, kissing and holding him, but mindful of the little girl. Then, when Zach had enjoyed his fill of being loved on by his mate, he bashfully looked towards Rem and whispered, “Rem… uh, I have something to tell you… kind of hard to miss her, but, yeah.” I watched in amusement as Rem’s confused expression moved from Zach to Loona. Then, when I heard Kayden gasp, I knew he had gotten the information from hearing Zach’s
I knew I couldn’t put off this conversation for long, but I hadn’t expected my mother to be right THERE waiting for me to get back from the mortal world. I offered an awkward tittering laugh before holding out the egg towards her. Glancing down at it, then at me, my mother seemed unimpressed with my offering. However, she soon caved in and gingerly took the egg from me. “You realise I’ve not hatched an ice dragon’s egg before, right?” She claims as she shakes her head and heads back into the main hall of the castle. “I’m aware…” I respond softly. “But Max is in that egg… and I have no way of knowing if it is just Max or if Hafgan will return within his body, too. Or if they will even remember who they are, or who I am.” My mother nods slowly. “Your father filled me in after you abruptly left me and all that food I made for you,” she says, her tone somewhat dour. I could just imagine the expression she was making right now. “I will gladly eat a feast now that I am finished with my
It has been an Earthly week at most since I returned to Annwn. As I wait for the ice dragons to show up to the agreed upon meeting place, I smooth the top of the egg gently as it stays safely in a little ‘nest’ of a pouch my mother had made for me to wear. It seemed the egg did far better near me than any other fire dragon, and I can only assume it is because of the connection between me and Max. I still don’t know if I’m doing any of this egg-raising right, but if the egg wants to be near me, I will not complain. I am happier knowing it is safe, and that there is still some connection between us. My only actual concern is the hatchling assuming I am its mother, or rather, its father. Finally, two of the ice dragons make their way into my view. I’m not too familiar with the new leaders of their people, but they’ve long since moved on from having Hafgan rule over them. I’m not even sure if they even care or remember his name anymore. Either way, I just hope they don't think this egg
The healer had been silent for most of the trip back. She had insisted on being the one to hold the egg, under the suggestion she would be the one to help hatch it. A task she believed I could not do, and something I agreed upon. I felt if she was mistaken as the hatchling’s mother, then it was better than the hatchling assuming I was.I hadn’t expected the healer to suddenly turn and flee with the egg in hand. She had known full well that she couldn’t outpace me in a direct confrontation, or flee from me while I was fully aware of her doing so.I had been foolish to believe they would readily hand over one of their own or leave the egg in my care. I sighed as I glared in the direction she had flown, while several ice dragons tried to hold me in place.With my plans for peace, I knew I couldn’t just kill them or deal too much damage to them. My guards had their hands full trying to battle the few who had snuck up on us, but they knew my p