Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1571 - 13 : Divine Craftsmanship

*Kryzen*

“Stay close,” I said to Briella and Roy as we made our way through the shimmering Celestial City streets.

It was strange being there after so many years. The last time I visited, I had been a teenager, young and brooding.

The city itself hadn’t changed much. The crystal spires and the maze of canals were the same. What did change were the people. They laughed and chatted like the ones in my childhood memories, but something was off. I couldn’t tell if it was due to being older and possibly more jaded.

“Why?” Briella demanded but she kept her voice low. “Did you sense something?”

I looked around at the sea of people in front of us and the lights bouncing off the shimmering building facades. “I’m not sure,” I answered after a moment. “I think I’m just unsettled by the strangeness of it all. We need to get to the bottom of this.”

I led the way deeper into the city, down a particularly busy street, the main shopping district. It was an area that my family and I frequented often when I was a kid. It was an array of shops that were usually filled with people. There was a candy shop that my older sister and I would spend a lot of time in. I could still recall being handed coins by my parents to spend on chocolates and caramels shaped like different creatures.

I was pleased to see that the shop was still there, but I wasn’t tempted by the sweet aromas wafting from it.

“It’s a little ways away, but I think we should make our way to the temple,” I told Briella and Roy. “We should speak to the elders about the strange occurrences.”

Briella pursed her full lips. “Do you really think they’ll know what happened?” she asked, her tone doubtful. “Shouldn’t we go to the healers or perhaps to the Alpha?”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Wouldn’t you go to the elders in the valley if something like this were to happen?”

Briella thought about that for a long moment, her lips thinning. “Yeah, but that’s mainly because we don’t have an Alpha or a head healer. The closest to the latter would probably be my brother.”

I nodded in understanding. “The elders here are reputed as the spiritual leaders of the city,” I explained. “While the Alpha might make decisions that have to do with political and fiscal means, he will still often seek out the elders for advice and guidance. That is why I believe that we should do the same.”

“They might even have something to do with the end of this disease,” Roy added with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Weren’t you at the temple when the portal opened and sent you to the Embervale?” Briella demanded. “Maybe we shouldn’t go back there, especially after that just happened.”

I shook my head, already making my way down the path that would lead to the temple. “Remember what Mathias said,” I told her. I gestured vaguely in her direction. “The two cities are alive in a lot of ways. The portal likely opened because we were meant to find you, maybe even meant to bring you here. We won’t get sucked up again.”

“If you’re sure,” Briella said doubtfully but she didn’t argue further as I led the way down the busy street.

I couldn’t help but watch Briella as we made our way through the shopping and entertainment district. The afternoon was quickly melting into the evening, making way for street performers and other forms of art.

Briella’s jaw dropped as a fire juggler threw his flaming batons into the air before catching them effortlessly, the embers fluttering down like tiny stars. Her face lit up with a childlike excitement that I found myself smirking at. A warm sensation fluttered in my stomach. I averted my gaze, confused by the feeling.

We needed to get to the temple, but I decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a bit of a detour on the way. My stomach seemed to agree as it growled viciously at me.

“Are either of you hungry?” I asked my companions.

Roy nodded. “I could use some nourishment,” he said. “None of us have eaten since leaving the Embervale. Not accounting for the strange lack of time during realm jumping, it has probably been several hours since our last meal.”

Briella looked relieved by this turn in the conversation. “I’m starved,” she announced. “And there are a bunch of food booths up ahead. I wonder if this place has festivals like this every night.”

I chuckled at that. “I believe we are here during the start of the Celestial Festival,” I told her. “It’s to celebrate the founding of the city. It usually goes on for weeks. For the next several days, they will likely have food booths and games every night.”

I could tell Briella was trying to contain her elation. Her lips were turned down, and her jaw was tight, but her bright green eyes were practically shimmering as we turned the corner where all the food booths were lined up in neat rows on either side of the street.

“What should we get, Stormfall?” she asked, whirling to face me, her face eager. I thought I even heard her swallow.

I raised both eyebrows. “What would you like?” I asked.

“You should pick what we get,” she said decisively, looking at Roy. “Right, Roy? Stormfall should choose what we get, right?”

“And how do you figure that?” I asked before Roy could formulate a response, amusement leaking into my voice.

Briella rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Because you’ve been here a bunch of times,” she said as if it was obvious. “You should know where to get the best food.”

I could have argued but relented, craving the smoked meat skewers and moonlight cakes.

About a half hour later, we were seated on a bench, enjoying the skewers. There was only one empty bench, so the three of us were seated with Briella between us. I tried not to think about how our thighs were nearly touching as I bit into my skewer.

“The meat is so tender,” Briella said, looking completely content as she bit into another meat cube. She sighed happily after swallowing. “Cooked to perfection.”

“Are you actually commending my choice, Black?” I asked teasingly.

Briella wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin before scoffing at me. “As if you had anything to do with the deliciousness of the food.”

Roy chuckled from Briella’s other side. “He did suggest we go to that booth, so we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy this had he not said something.”

Briella rolled her eyes but didn’t comment. Her green orbs rounded suddenly, and a shiver went through her. She looked around quickly.

I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong when it hit me like a sinister shadow. I looked around sharply, but the dark aura was gone before I could confirm its presence.

“You felt it too,” Briella said, watching my face carefully.

I nodded once, standing quickly. “We should hurry and get to the temple.”

“What did you two feel?” Roy asked in alarm.

I paused. The sensation was difficult to describe to those who didn’t wield magic like the prince of Egoren. “Darkness,” I finally answered. “A sinister aura. It passed over like a shadow, but it’s already gone.”

Roy cursed under his breath, and we quickly disposed of our trash before hurrying through the streets.

The temple was in the middle of a nature oasis in the center of the city. It was the only area that was full of grass and trees. When I was a kid, my parents often took me there so that I could run through tall grass and pick flowers with my older sister.

Briella craned her neck to stare up at the temple. The sun was setting, casting orange and pink lights on the marble facade. The white material was veined with threads of gold, making the structure a true masterpiece of divine craftsmanship.

We climbed the array of sleek steps up to the large golden doors. As we made it to the top step, the doors opened, revealing Ezriel, the lead elder.

“Come in, young friends,” he invited in a slightly raspy voice, stroking his wispy white beard before turning to head into the temple.

We followed the old man into the sanctuary. We all squinted at the sudden brightness due to all the gold fixtures and shimmering marble. Ezriel ascended the steps to join the other half a dozen elders on their stage. I was amazed that the elder was able to lower himself down to sit cross-legged on a thin velvet pillow.

Briella didn’t waste a second. She stepped forward. “Thank you for seeing us, elders,” she said respectfully, dipping her head in a bow. “We’ve come from the Embervale Realm, from your sister city of Celestial Valley.”

“Then we welcome you warmly,” said a female elder sitting on Ezriel’s left. “It is not often we are graced by members of the valley.”

I took that as an opening, stepping forward to stand next to Briella. “I am the grandson of Eva Stormfall,” I said. “She left the city, telling us of a horrible illness that had fallen over your city. We’ve come to aid you in any way we can.”

“We are grateful for that and honored to be in the presence of a descendent of Eva Stormfall,” said another male elder.

“But your good aid is not needed,” Ezriel said.

“Not needed?” Roy echoed.

Ezriel nodded. “We have prayed heavily to the goddess, and she has miraculously lifted the horrifying disease,” he informed us. “Celestial City is at peace again.”

Briella, Roy, and I all glanced at one another in disbelief. It was clear that we were all suspicious.

“With your permission, we would like to stay and investigate further,” I said, knowing that at least Roy would agree with my decision.

I noticed Briella nodding in the peripheral, so she was on board as well.

“Of course, you may stay as long as you wish,” Ezriel said, but it was clear he didn’t particularly see the need. “We must insist you stay in our guest house suite for the duration of your stay.”

“Thank you,” I said, bowing low. “We graciously accept.”

“That was odd,” Briella said as we walked through the gardens just outside the temple.

I nodded at her understatement. “It is odd, but I sensed that Ezriel was genuine when he claimed the Moon Goddess intervened.”

“We’ll stay and confirm that for ourselves,” Briella said, determination crossing her features.

Roy and I nodded, but I had a dark feeling come over me that things would be far more difficult than we hoped.