Zenora
9. The Portal

Brocks’s point of view:

Cirilya held on to the forcefield for about an hour, draining her energy and nearly knocking her out of consciousness. It was amazing to see that she could hold on for this amount of time, but knowing what she has been capable of, it wasn’t surprising. But when she couldn’t keep going, she finally let go, hoping that it was enough.

I couldn’t believe what was going on though. I’ve never seen this kind of practice. Usually, the animal would’ve been killed because it was of no use anymore. But now this girl helped an animal which was taller than her own height and wider than those vehicles from this planet! An animal used by Orcs, an animal no one could control, not even an Orc hunter! They were tamed and broken into submission to use for riding, but never had I seen a person with a connection to a Rhydian, as she does!

But after a few more hours the Rhydian slowly rolled on his belly and tried to step on his feet. I watched Emily stay with the animal all this time, soothing it and encouraging it to heal. And when he fully put his weight on the foot, which was no longer broken, Emily cheered and jumped up and down.

“Good job Rhydon!” She said and the Rhydian nudged his head gently to her slim body, like saying thanks in his way.

She turned around and everyone was looking at her, amazed by what just happened. I looked at her as well. She was beautiful and strong and even though I will not admit it freely, she had saved my life. But… I would never let her know how glad I was that she put an arrow through that Orc. My men might think I’d grow weak if I let her have the credits for it.

I’ve been with several women before, beautiful ones too. But they never matched up to what I wanted and needed. I have never felt complete with any of them. Could Emily be the one for me? It certainly looked that way, but I don’t want to push her too much yet. She has been through a lot already and I don’t want to ruin the connection we have now. As we do have a connection, right? Or was my arrogant mind just thinking we had?

Emily’s point of view:

The dead bodies of the Orcs were burned outside and inside we ate breakfast because it was still early in the morning. We all sat quite tired, from everything that happened and the fact that we didn’t get much sleep. After that, Brock left the room to talk with Ulrick, and within half an hour they returned and Ulrick spoke.

“Due to the dangers of maybe more Orcs that will come to kill you. I will use a spell to directly bring you and Brock to the castle. But the rest of you will have to travel to the portal on the other side of the mountain and then go through it on your own. Cirilya will open the portal for you to step through.”

“But what if the Orcs attack the others?” I asked unsure and with worry. But Brock told me that my life was more important than any other life and that his men stayed with Anna and Cirilya to keep them safe. “No! My life is no more or less important than any of theirs! I will not leave them! We will go the long way as well!” I stated, getting a frown from Brock.

Brandon, Tom and the other men looked up at me with fear. No one has spoken to Brock like that before and lived to tell the tale later, I figured. But I couldn’t care any less. I wasn’t brought up with the rules and hierarchy from Zenora. And even though I never stood my ground before, as Anna always did for me, I felt the urge to do so now.

Brock became frustrated and walked up to me. But before he could do anything, Anna walked over to me. “Mills, I have been with you the last four years because I had to protect you. I’m not giving that up now. Besides, Brock and the men have been on earth for a few months, preparing for the worst, to defend and save you. We are all here for you, so let us do our jobs.” She pleaded and I sighed.

I gave in to Anna, but not happily. “But my dogs and Rhydon will go with you guys. Rhydon is fast and my dogs can protect you.” I tried for her to reconsider.

Brocks’s point of view:

I grunted, never had I let anyone talk to me like that. I always felt the need to make an example for the rest of my men, if someone rejected what I told them to do. It had been a long time since someone disagreed with me, that even my men dared not to defy my commands anymore. Which was good, I had gained their respect. But somehow, I got bored by all the people willing to do my bidding and now this fierce girl went in against my saying? Without any fear? I liked that very much… And if it wasn’t for Anna to step in, I definitely was going to tell her I did not appreciate her tone with me, just to see how she would react.

But for now, I let it be. I was going to make her mine anyway, soon.

Emily’s point of view:

I saw Brock looking angry at me. What was going on in his mind? He crossed his arms looking a bit seductive now, leaning to the wall behind him. “Your animals couldn’t have joined us in the spell anyway, Emily.” Brock said with a smirk.

Argh, what an annoying guy! He could’ve told me that up front, but I guess he just liked me being ashamed. Now I felt stupid for being angry when I said that.

“Okay well, alright then. But I want you to send in more guards towards them once we are in the castle. To guide them safely home.” I said to Brock a bit annoyed. I wouldn’t want him to think that I gave up so easily and I really wanted Anna and the rest to reach the castle in one piece.

Brock frowned at me, again, clearly irritated by what I said. It felt good, but he still didn’t answer me. “I saved your life! The least you could do is send some men their way!” I yelled.

Then Brock rushed over to me, slamming my back against the wall. For a moment the air left my lungs and I had to take a deep breath in. He had his hand on my chest and looked very angry, just for a second. But then I saw one corner of his lips lift in a slight smile and he lowered his head next to mine.

“You drive me crazy little one…” He whispered in my ear. Again, I blushed and shivers ran down my spine because his face was now so close to mine. I could feel the warmth radiating from his body. Sure, I felt like lightning had struck me when he pinned me up against the wall, but I don’t think he would actually hurt me.

He suddenly realized that everyone was watching him and Cirilya came over and laid a hand on his shoulder. He calmed at that feeling and let me go. Some of the men chuckled softly and knew their trusted leader was getting soft, just because of me.

But at last, he agreed to send in some troops to the portal and we all went outside and said goodbye to Anna, Dennis and the rest. I told my dogs and Rhydon to listen to Anna and they lifted their heads in an understanding kind of way of what I was asking them. Miles lifted his paws and put them on my shoulders while he licked my face and then walked over to Anna.

I was going to miss them dearly.

Ulrick, the old mage, set up a magical circle on the ground whilst speaking in a strange language. Runes and fog appeared where he had conjured it up and he nodded for me and Brock to step inside the circle.

Brock took my hand and pushed me against his chest, holding me tight, and if it wasn’t for the spell to get bigger, I would have been embarrassed by this action. But my feelings were distracted when I felt a strong wind swirl around us and I held onto Brock’s chest even tighter than he did with me. I held my head against his muscles and closed my eyes as the wind became stronger and stronger. Suddenly, I felt a warm glow coming from the ground and it swallowed us in. I opened my eyes for just a second and saw purple stars and bright lights flying around us. Then, I felt my feet coming off the ground just a bit, so I held Brock even tighter and suddenly it was all gone. The wind was gone, the warm feeling under my feet was gone, all of it. I stood there for just a little while not daring to open my eyes.

“As much as I like the fact that you are holding onto me, you might want to look around now and see where we are.” Brock teasingly said.

I opened my eyes and hit him on his chest for what he said and he chuckled.

Only then did I start to look around and noticed we were standing in some sort of throne room. It was a long hall with marble pillars reaching the ceiling, which was very high. The floor was tiled with the most beautiful marble slabs, the windows had stained-glass figures with more of the same creatures as were in the windows of the tower we just left from. But these windows were a lot bigger so I could see the creatures more clearly now.

I could tell that one of the creatures had the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. Aren’t they called gryphons? Hmm, I’ll ask that later.

At the end of the hall were two big stone chairs, with red cushions and on the heads were rubies embedded in gold filigree. And from underneath the chairs lead a dark red carpet one coming from each chair, going down the two steps of the little stairs that were in front of them. And to let everyone know which chair was which, one chair was slightly bigger than the other and showed off more of a masculine edge to the engravings, making me guess that’s the chair of the King and the smaller one of that of the Queen.

But as I looked further, watching through the windows, it was clear that it would turn night here soon, by the lack of light that shone through. Strange how that was because we were standing in the sun when we left from Earth and now it’s night here in Zenora.

“Show yourself!” Was yelled shortly after the big doors on either side of the room had opened up. Several guards came running in and Brock stepped into the moonlight that gave just enough light to show who he was. “No, it can’t be! General?” One of the guards asked. He suddenly bowed to Brock in recognition of his returned leader in arms. “Inform the King!” The guard yelled to his other men and one of the younger ones rushed off, towards the King’s room.

After only a few minutes, a man, probably around fifty years of age but still strong and well-built came running into the room. When he saw me his eyes grew big and tears of joy ran over his cheeks. He ran to me and held me as if he would never let me go. And only after a good hug and cupping my face in his hands, while he looked at me in my eyes, he start to talk.

“The same eyes as your mother, beautiful, just like her!” The old man said and I realised who he was.

Now I started to cry as well and grabbed the man by his shoulders, to now unleash my stream of tears. My father! I finally came to meet him. I was so happy!

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