Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1567 - 9 : Skimming Over the Surface

*Briella*

I tried to pretend that Kryzen wasn’t so close to me as we hurried to the research center to find my brother. My mind was racing as I thought about what I just learned from my childhood rival and what it meant for the valley.

Celestial City and Celestial Valley were linked, running parallel to one another within their respective realms. My mother tried to explain it to me. She said the energy running through both of them moved in a similar fashion. The way the magic flowed echoed one another.

I hadn’t been able to fully wrap my head around it then, and it was only more confusing as I tried to do so now.

“Why are we looking for your brother?” Kryzen asked as the research center came into view.

I didn’t bother to look at him as I answered, “He is one of the top healers here and has been studying the energy of the diseased plants. We need to tell him what you and Prince Roy saw in the city and decide what to do from there.”

That answer seemed to satisfy him. He didn’t say a word as I pushed the glass doors to the healing center open as if I owned the place. A couple of the scientists there greeted me and informed me that my brother was in the lab. I thanked them before gesturing for Kryzen to follow me.

The research center was a brand-new building. The faint smell of paint still lingered through the white hallways as Kryzen and I made our way to the lab.

When Kai announced that he wanted a place dedicated to healing research, I was embarrassed to admit that I didn’t see a huge need for it originally. Celestial Valley’s healers were some of the top in existence. The Embervalian magic was pure and potent, and the valley’s harmonious ways only brought out the healing energy.

Kai’s passion and push toward research created a sense of urgency within the community. The researchers training under my brother quickly began to understand the need to study the magic and rituals that existed within the valley and in Embervale in general.

Thanks to Kai, we were one huge step closer to preserving the rare form of magic.

We found my brother in his huge laboratory. He was wearing eye protection made of glass that completely covered the top half of his face. He and Prince Roy were bent over some specimens they had encased in tiny, flat sheets of glass. They straightened when we entered.

“Bri?” Kai asked, removing his eyewear and gloves before approaching us. He looked between me and Kryzen. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

I considered that question, realizing that I wasn’t. I was restless and nervous. I felt sick to my stomach with what I had just learned.

“Kryzen told me that there is a plague in Celestial City,” I said through unmoving lips.

A shadow fell over Kai’s face, but he nodded. “Prince Roy told me about it. It sounds like the entire city is shut down.”

I wasn’t surprised that Kai already knew, but it did kind of annoy me that I was the last one to know. I didn’t resent my brother at all though. I just wished I had known sooner so that we could figure out what to do. “This is huge,” I said, hating how obvious that sounded but unsure how else to convey the magnitude of the situation. “We should go to Mathias immediately.”

Kai nodded. He looked between Kryzen and Prince Roy. “Would you two be willing to meet with the head priest? He should be informed of what the two of you witnessed while in Celestial City.”

Kryzen glanced at Roy before nodding seriously. “Yes, we will speak with him,” he said. I raised both eyebrows when he turned to look at me. “After all, we are working together now. It’s only right that we do our best to inform the leaders of your community.”

I blinked at him, unsure as to what he was insinuating by that. I nodded firmly, wondering if he was still wary about working with me. The thought caused me to scoff a bit internally. “Yes,” I said. “It would only be right.”

***

The four of us made our way to the temple. I looked up at the grand building. I had been there dozens of times in the past year, but the beauty of it still filled me with a sense of awe that was almost overwhelming.

The marble facade of the temple was pristine, shimmering beneath the golden light of the early evening sun. Celestial beings were carved into the front, undulating upward with the swirling spires that reached up toward the sky as if longing for the heavens. I took comfort in the structure for a moment, knowing that this was a safe space for spiritual healing and love.

Mathias was waiting for us just inside as if he had somehow known we were on the way. The head priest of Celestial Valley was just as mysterious as he was kind. Whenever I asked about his past, he often spoke in riddles, not giving away any real details. I was told that he didn’t even know who his parents had been.

One of the priestesses found him as a baby, bundled up in a dirty blanket in the middle of the forest just outside the valley.

As a child, he dedicated himself to caring for the temple.

He straightened as he looked at each of us. “I sense there is much that we need to discuss,” he said, turning his back to us and heading into the main sanctuary. “Come.”

We followed him. I could feel each of us relax, the serene atmosphere of the sacred temple immediately affecting us as we entered the main room.

It was a bright room with streams flowing across the marble in swirling shapes. Shimmering white pillars surrounded a pool with the sculpture of Eloria, the Celestial Goddess, guardian of the Embervale.

“Each of you,” Mathias said, waving a hand out with his back still to us as he crossed the room, “choose a stream and dip your fingers into it. Let this place calm your nerves and fill you.”

We glanced at one another wordlessly before obeying, each kneeling beside a different stream that branched out from the center pool. I lowered my hand to the surface of the shining water, allowing my fingers to skim over the surface.

I immediately felt the tension start to leave my body as I allowed myself to release my fears and anxieties about the whole situation.

This ritual was a sacred but routine one. It allowed all who came to the temple to become aware of the fears and doubts they held. We would momentarily be free of them to completely focus on ourselves and whatever spiritual healings we sought.

This time, however, it allowed me to think clearly and rationally as we prepared to discuss the plight that lay ahead of us.

I blew out a breath as I straightened, feeling much more at ease than when we first decided to seek out Mathias. We gathered around the head priest, who was standing on a slightly raised platform at the far side of the large sanctuary.

“Mathias, Kryzen, and Roy have recently been to Celestial City and encountered something strange while there,” I said by way of introduction. I gestured to Kryzen to continue.

Kryzen nodded to me before stepping forward. “My grandmother is a powerful magic wielder,” he said. “She was living in Celestial City when a plague suddenly overtook the whole community. She was able to leave because of her shielding abilities, but much of the city is shut down.”

Being the head priest, Mathias was very aware of the connection between the two cities. He looked troubled and shocked. “Impossible,” he said at once. “I am in contact with the elders of Celestial City and have heard nothing of this.”

Kryzen looked at me, but I just shrugged helplessly.

It was Kai who answered. “Krzyen and Roy have spoken of a dark energy that has accompanied this illness,” he said. “Perhaps it is messing with your ability to communicate with the elders.”

Mathias trusted my brother almost as much as he trusted the other elders of the valley. “That could very well be,” he said finally, his deep voice grave. He looked at Kryzen. “And how did you find yourselves here?”

“We were on our way to the temple,” Kryzen explained. “On our way there, just outside the gates, a portal appeared in front of us and forcibly sucked us in. We found ourselves here, in Embervale, just outside of your borders.”

Mathias was silent as he processed all of that. His face looked like it was carved from stone, with harsh lines blooming all over his face. “Did this portal appear to be intended for you?” he asked after a moment.

Roy nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“It is believed that Celestial City and Celestial Valley never existed without the other,” he said at last. “Due to the rare magic that permeates through the valley, it is said that it is alive in many ways, feeling and hearing as we do.”

Kai and I glanced at each other wide-eyed. We had heard that as well but assumed it was a figure of speech.

Mathias was implying otherwise.

I asked what I felt like we were all wondering. “So what are you saying exactly?”

Mathias looked over at me. The shadows in his face only seemed to darken. “This was no accident.”

We all looked at each other in disbelief.

“I will go to Celestial City,” I announced, straightening as I looked up at Mathias.

“Bri,” Kai protested, whirling to face me. “You can’t. It’s too dangerous.”

I leveled him with a look. “I have to, Kai,” I said. “Whatever is happening there could be the answer to protecting the valley.”

Kai strode over to me, his face intense as he grasped my shoulders. “You can’t go,” he repeated slowly as if I hadn’t heard him the first time. It was as if he thought saying it slower would go through my skull better. “I can’t let you. I won’t just stand by while you go waltzing into a city with a plague.”

“This is all I know how to do to help, Kai,” I said, holding his gaze, hoping he could see how serious I was. “Someone needs to go, and it has to be me. I can use my powers to protect myself.”

Kai squeezed my shoulders, clenching his jaw and looking like he wanted to start shaking me. “How, Bri?” he demanded. “We have never encountered anything like this before. You have never attempted to use your abilities on anything like this. How can you be so sure that it will work out the way you’re envisioning?”

I felt myself reel back as if he had struck me. I narrowed my eyes at him. “I can’t,” I admitted finally. “But that doesn’t matter. We can’t just wait around for the answer, Kai. We need to take action. I’m going, and I need to go alone.”

“Like hell you do!”

I thought that had come from Kai for a second but then looked over to see Kryzen glowering at me.

I raised an eyebrow at him in confusion and was about to say something else when we were interrupted by a guard who burst through the doors.

“Kai, you are needed at the healing center immediately,” he said, out of breath from presumably running all the way here.

“What’s happened?” Kai asked, dropping his arms from my shoulders and approaching the man.

“There are refugees needing immediate attention,” the guard said, his voice rising with each word.

Kai remained calm and nodded. “I will head there right away,” he said, already making his way toward the door.

I hurried after him, the calming effects from the magical streams completely gone dry.