Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 499: Split Second ()

"Take Xenon with you. He cannot ride in his condition and I will handle myself better alone." King Jian concluded before Neveah could say anything further.

Neveah bit down on her lip, the finality in King Jian’s tone made it clear she did not have a say,

Even if she did have a say, what exactly would she say? That they two should go through and leave her to find her way? King Jian’s arrangement was the most feasible.

"Think of where you want it to take you? A place you know will be safe for you both on arrival. You know how this works, don’t you?" King Jian asked Neveah.

Neveah nodded slowly, she envisioned the city wall of the Dune City, a place that was so familiar to her now after many sunrises witnessed from that height.

The place from which she could see the vast expanse of the White Dunes and the city itself which she had come to love.

The city wall was always well guarded, Neveah envisioned the sentinels of the city guard lining the length of the wall.

It would be even more guarded now, given the threat that had breached the barrier and Neveah guessed a dune enforcer would be there in person, it would be a state of emergency with her disappearance and the city wall was Neveah’s last known location.

Neveah could picture the scene perfectly well, she could envision the tension and the expression on the faces of the city guard as one of her uncles made a ruckus at her disappearance.

"Ready?" King Jian asked.

Neveah nodded again, stretching her hand out with the gleaming shard laid on her palm.

The glow of the portal shard was even stronger now, as it absorbed Neveah’s thoughts and determined the location she wished to go to.

King Jian held his hand over Neveah’s, letting his blood drip down on the portal shard.

Neveah had not even taken notice of when he had cut into his palm.

The magic glow of the portal shard grew brighter and took on a reddish tinge, swiftly absorbing King Jian’s blood.

Neveah watched in amazement, she had never realized there was something special about dragon blood...other than the healing properties the ancient texts had mentioned.

Or perhaps it was just this dragon in particular that was different.

"Go now, Cassian will go to you." King Jian said, as he passed Xenon over to Neveah, helping her sling Xenon’s arm over her shoulder.

When it came to Xenon, King Jian never failed to amaze Neveah with how attentive and concerned he could be, even making arrangements for Cassian to receive them when he had already confirmed Xenon was only temporarily unconscious.

"Xenon...he will be fine. I will make certain of it... I owe him that much." Neveah felt the need to say something and those were the words she chose.

King Jian gave no response and Neveah equally did not expect a response from him.

Neveah’s hand went around Xenon’s waist to hold him steady and support his weight. With her free hand, she tossed the portal shard to the ground.

The portal shard crashed down and shattered, erupting in a burst of magical energy that tore a thin gap through space.

It truly would not take more than two people, just as King Jian had already predicted.

Even so, Neveah felt somewhat uneasy to be leaving King Jian behind in an obviously dangerous terrain, when he was only here in this first place because he had come to their aid.

Neveah passed a look to King Jian, unsurprisingly greeted by his ever present blank expression.

Whatever she had been about to say died on her tongue and Neveah returned her attention to the portal.

The portal that opened up was visibly unstable and flickered, Neveah could tell it would close up at any moment and so she quickly guided Xenon to the portal and stepped through it.

A rush of magic whooshed all around Neveah, lasting for what Neveah guessed was only a split second but felt like an entire lifetime.

Magic was the one thing Neveah was not certain she would ever get used to, even after all this time in the Asvarian stronghold.

Soon, Neveah and Xenon were ejected out of the other side of the portal, right on the high wall of the Dune City, catching everyone present off guard.

"Veah!" There indeed was a dune enforcer causing a rampage on the city wall like Neveah had guessed and it was Coran this time.

"Take him to the castle, summon the physician." Neveah instructed immediately.

The city guard were quick to retrieve an unconscious Xenon.

"How in the stronghold did you get beyond the barrier?!" Coran exclaimed as he hurried over to Neveah, grasping her shoulder and quickly inspecting her condition.

"It is a long..." Neveah began to say, slowly turning around.

The unstable portal still sparked, sizzling to show it was just a moment from crashing.

And through the portal, Neveah caught a glimpse of the forest she had just come from, and King Jian who stood on the other side, watching in silence.

But that was not what had Neveah’s attention, no... what had drawn Neveah’s attention with that eerie aura was the monstrous shadow beast that took form from a cloud of shadows behind King Jian,

With a tail, sharp and pronged like a scorpion’s sting piercing through the air, straight for an unsuspecting King Jian.

Or perhaps he knew what was coming, King Jian’s expression was unchanged and he just stared ahead so Neveah could not tell.

"Your Grace! Behind you!" Neveah screamed on instinct, though she knew there was no way her voice would be carried through to him.

It was a split second decision, Neveah’s legs moved before she could fully consider her actions,

There were a dozen reasons why Neveah should not have made the move she did, but all of these reasons would dawn many seconds too late.

In the next moment, Neveah lunged for King Jian, diving back into a portal that was almost fully shut down.

"Veah!!!!" Coran’s roar was the last thing Neveah heard before she was swallowed up in a whirlwind of rushing magic.