Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 1422 - 21 : Portals

*Rhys*

A small gasp escaped Saoirse as I nipped at her bottom lip, causing me to groan in return. Her lips were much softer than I expected, and they had the same 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 me. Daxton would not have called unless it was something 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 me 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 me instructions on where to meet them. I focused on the directions and the noises around me.

It still wasn’t enough to forget about Saoirse, but the distance was helping me focus on the task at hand. I kept checking behind me to make sure that she wasn’t following me, but my abrupt departure must have caught her off guard enough that she hadn’t considered it immediately.

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 come across in any of my patrols.

Along the path, I found Daxton, Dr. Kane, and a few other scientists. They were holding some 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 excitement 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 something 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 means, continue," I urged with a gesture.

The restless feeling was returning as if we were on the verge of something huge. It was potentially something that could change our entire world as we knew it.

In some way, I had already expected that when I saw my visions start to come true. It was clear that something was at work. Even if Keelana wasn’t evil, something evil was at work. At least my gut was telling me 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 me 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 became more pronounced. A charged, almost electric-type feel flowed through the air like a current, connecting us all. It became 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 come 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 exclaimed, excitedly rushing forward to lightly touch one of the gems as it pulsed.

"Do you believe this is one of those interdimensional portals?" I asked, stepping closer to the wall as well.

"No, no," Dr. Kane contradicted me. "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 me that this place was unnatural, but Dr. Kane sounded more informed 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 me.

Dr. Kane glanced at me and gave me a small nod. "Nothing of this size and magnitude, though. We must start the excavation process immediately. 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 me 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. Meddling with volatile cosmic forces was beyond my world’s comprehension.

Of course, the only way to prevent something was to know more about it.

"Very well," I allowed.

Dr. Kane wasted no time. 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 equipment and supplies he had available. It was as if he was worried the wall would vanish at any moment.

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 me. "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 emerging from the ravine and soaring right at us. It had to be at least three times 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 newcomer 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 me closely with its eyes as I came to a stop. I could hear the researchers still scrambling around me.

A shimmer enveloped the dragon’s body. I watched closely as the massive beast shifted. This time, it was not a woman who took the place of the dragon but a tall, handsome man with a bald head and piercing silver eyes.

The noise around me stopped.

"Hello, Prince Rhys," the man’s low voice bellowed out. "I am Axureon."

"How do you know my name, 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 interdimensional remnants. You need to cease your acts immediately."

I glanced back at the crew behind me. 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 means for us and our world. Do you think we are not owed an explanation?"

Axureon didn’t look angry at my questions. He seemed 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 me the same 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 something else. What is it?"

The silver in the dragon’s eyes seemed 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 me. I felt a stab of embarrassment.

I glanced behind me again, directing my eyes straight toward Dr. Kane, who just so happened to refuse to look at me. Questions immediately surfaced in my head. Hadn’t he just said he had seen something 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 me.

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 some sort of control over who came and who went. What if the reason he wanted Keelana’s dragon eggs was to kill any competition that might come 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 me.

"You will regret this decision here today, Prince Rhys."

The golden dragon roared back into existence.