𝚁𝚘𝚕𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚌𝚎: 𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔

🅑🅐🅒🅚 🅞🅝 🅣🅗🅔 🅡🅞🅐🅓

24. Back On The Road

『 Kyujin's POV 』

After Bae explained the details of the dream, Drayce was the first to speak.

"The first thing Kaida is going to do is check this forest, so if there's anything you guys can do to help us get out undetected, I'd like to know."

"We have powers and a spell for that, don’t worry," Yuna said. "What’s more important is the tree that’s dying. What could that mean?"

"That would be the Tree of Life," Drayce answered. "It's in the very center of the Realm of Magical Creatures and powers the entire realm."

"I thought you were confined here. How do you know that?" Ni-ki asked.

"The Realm of Magical Creatures is the only realm that remains in contact with the others. There are portals, powered by the Tree of Life, that connect it to all the other realms," Drayce explained.

"Why is it connected, though?" I asked. "I thought everyone was isolated."

"Because every magical creature is born in that realm. If they can only survive in a particular climate, they get transported elsewhere," Drayce replied. "Dragons are far too big to stay there, so they’re all transferred here."

"So the dragons told you all about it?" Jiwoo asked.

"Yes. But in the past, Althea accompanied them. I would ask her to pass messages to Enya and Zale, but she could never manage to reach Maya," Drayce said.

"Althea?" Bae repeated, likely trying to remember the information Huening Kai and Edlynne had told us earlier.

"The realm’s Guardian," Drayce clarified.

"Ohh, okay. Then where’s the portal to the realm?" Bae asked.

"Right outside the forest, in the outskirts of the realm. Unfortunately, it can't be opened from here, so we’ll have to take the long way," Drayce said.

"Well, that sucks. How long will it take to get there?" Ni-ki asked.

"It depends. I’ve seen the realm from here, and by flight, it won’t take too long. But if we use your transportation vehicles, it’ll be dark by the time we arrive," Drayce answered.

"Then we should fly, right?" Ni-ki said. "I mean, I could carry all nine of you."

"You're forgetting something. Kaida is out there, and she’ll be ready to attack. Dragons don’t take well to traitors—which is what I am now," Drayce reminded him.

"Bae and I could make us invisible," Yuna suggested.

"Or I could just bend the light so we won’t be seen," I added.

"What?" Sunoo asked, confused.

"And this is why you’re failing physics," I told him. "We only see things because light reflects off them. If I bend the light away from us, we’ll be invisible."

"Let’s leave that as an option for the next time Yuna passes out and Bae doesn’t wake up," Jungwon joked.

"Shut up," Bae grumbled.

"Honestly!" Yuna exclaimed, while the rest of us laughed.

"Should we get going?" Drayce asked. "I assume we’re all well-rested. I’ve already packed some food."

"Yeah, we should," Sunghoon agreed.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Bae said.

---

We were waiting for the storm to stop. The second we decided to leave, a storm appeared out of nowhere.

"I should’ve remembered, storms are very sudden in this realm," Drayce admitted.

"Yeah, because freak storms are something one can easily forget," Sunoo muttered.

We sat there for more than an hour, waiting for the rain to stop. Then, just as suddenly as it came, the skies cleared, and the sun blazed down. Now it was unbearably hot.

Before long, we were dragon riders, trying our best not to fall off and plummet to our deaths. Yuna, Sullyoon, Jini, and I were on Drayce, while the others rode with Ni-ki. I glanced back and saw Huening Kai flying behind us. Edlynne was probably already there, waiting.

Drayce had been right—Kaida was waiting. And she wasn’t alone. A group of dragons stood with her. I knew it was her because Bae had described her appearance. Thank God we were invisible and silent.

"She’ll probably be there for a while," Jini observed.

After what felt like hours of flying, Drayce finally landed in a meadow, with Ni-ki following close behind.

"We’ll have to walk a little from here, and then we’ll be there," Drayce informed us.

"Great, let’s have a snack," Yuna said.

"I second that," Bae added.

And so we ate sandwiches—which, by the way, tasted heavenly. Drayce is so husband material.

After finishing our food, we started walking again, following the path ahead. Before long, we reached a cliff—a dead end.

"Drayce, where do we go from here?" I asked, alarmed.

But he wasn’t there.

Panic rose in my chest. Was this a trap?

Huening Kai and Edlynne were gone too. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen them since we left the boundaries of the Realm of Dragons.

"Edlynne? Huening Kai?" Sunghoon called out.

"Drayce?!" Ni-ki shouted. That was the most emotion I had ever heard in his voice.

"What do we do?" Jiwoo asked.

"I don’t know," Sunoo admitted.

"Guys," Sullyoon said. "Look up."

We did.

And then we saw it.

A floating island.

"Is that the Realm of Magical Creatures?" Jini wondered aloud.

"Yes, it is," a voice said. "And you are not welcome."

I kept your humor, natural dialogue, and suspenseful buildup while improving readability. Let me know if you’d like any further refinements!

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Short chapter, I know
Cliffhanger, I know
Super late update, I know and I'm so sorry
But
I hope y'all are enjoying the story
Your reads, votes and comments always make my day