Chapter 53: Portal to Azra!!

**Nora’s POV**

As I woke up, Ronin had already left for the North-Western border the next day. Of course, I wanted to meet him before he left, but he must have felt not to disturb my sleep. Rorik, as usual, was sitting on a desk working on the Book of Ozarius. It has been days, yet he is to find any helpful information, but I swear to his dedication and hard work.

“Good morning, Nora”, he spoke as he caught me gawking at him.

“Ronin?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Left, but he will be back in three-four days as he wants to be by your side throughout the pregnancy,” Rorik replied.

“Okay”, I mumbled, but the word pregnancy made me kind of blush as I crawled out of bed and drifted towards the bathroom. Now that I know I am pregnant, I can observe a few changes in my body, the most prominent ones are the unexplained surge of energy and willpower.

My tummy was still not showing, and I wondered how many weeks had passed as I don’t even remember when I bled last. I need to tell Meghan as I need support. Of course, Ronin’s mom is also there, but somehow, she scares the hell out of me as if she knows all of my secrets which I swear I don’t have. I wonder why I am a witch. Is it something to do with my granny?

All these thoughts crawled through my mind as I left the bathroom and moved towards Rorik’s desk. A platter of healthy breakfast was ready, “This is all yours. Strict instructions from your to-be husband, or he is going to kill me,” Rorik smirked, pushing the tray towards me.

“Any update with the book? Portal to Azra?” I asked him carefully not to touch the book with my movements.

“Not yet; it’s fumbling my mind. The more I try to study it, the more it gets me confused. As far as a portal to Azra is concerned, there is just this picture of a circle with serpents and some text written below it which is getting impossible to decipher unless some scholar in this language guides us,” he muttered, scratching his head as I went near him to put a slice of fruit in his mouth.

“This is for you, not me”, he protested but still opened his mouth to eat.

“I know, but you are working so hard day and night without sleeping and eating properly. Ask your mom about this language; I am sure she didn’t make a mission to search this book without learning the language, whereas her tribe was of scholars,” I told him.

“Hell! Yes, why didn’t this cross my mind?” he replied, bringing his lips closer to me.

“You didn’t think of this before because your mind seems elsewhere”, came a taunted voice from the door as Rorik and I moved away from each other, visibly embarrassed.

“Mom!” he mumbled.

“Yes, mom!” She was smiling with a terrible grin on her face.

Shit! What must be she thinking?

“Please, mom, come in”, he replied, trying to avoid her graze.

“I am sorry to disturb you guys, but I just came to check on Nora”, she replied as she held my hand.

“Oh no, mom. It’s nothing like what you think. We are just friends,” Rorik spoke.

“Yes, I know but let me sneak out a small secret”, she said, winking her eyes, “There is something about Gemini twins which attracts them to the same chick. You know history is proof. Ornith and Ozarius-both liked Rebekah, your dad and uncle-both liked me, but of course, your uncle couldn’t have me. The same is happening with you and Ronin, and in your case, I believe Nora can have you both!” She smirked, stroking my elbow.

My expressions were like, ‘Say that again,’ on her stupid theory.

I was getting uncomfortable around her. It was really hard for me to believe what she just said. Rorik was also embarrassed with her attitude. I think something is wrong with her mind after her daughter’s incident, or she was like this before also?

“Mom, you came here for something?” Rorik asked impatiently.

“Oh yes!” she said as she called someone looking at the door. A woman came holding an injection in her hand. “She will take a blood sample of Nora to confirm her pregnancy”, she spoke.

I was always scared of injections, but I needed to confirm the pregnancy, letting her take my blood sample.

“Book of Ozarius!” her eyes shone in an unreadable glint as she saw the book.

“Yes”, Rorik said, grabbing the book and moving towards her to give it in her hands, but she was quick enough to withdraw her hand back so as not to touch it. I narrowed my brow as she saw me noticing her. She was smart enough to divert everything on me, “Keep that book away from Nora”, she gasped.

“Why are you saying so?” Rorik asked as we both looked at each other curiously.

“Ink used to write in this book is mixed with the potion of Immolation to keep it away from the witches. Any witch touching it can feel burns,” she retorted.

Oh, so this explains why I am not able to touch it. But why does she avoids touching it? Can it be she is also a witch? She mentioned that Gemini twins get attracted to the same girl- Rebekah, her and me. What’s common in us? Rebekah and I are witches, which makes her also a witch. Gemini twins don’t just attract any girls but to witches. But wait, how does she knows I am a witch?

“How do you know she is a witch?” Rorik asked her, looking surprised while his mind was still making assumptions about who told her this?

“The moment I grabbed her hand, I knew she was a witch,” she said proudly. Of course, from what I had read in novels and watched movies, a witch can sense another witch.

“Why didn’t you tell dad?” Rorik asked, looking at her suspiciously.

“So that he kills her,” She spoke, eyeing him warily before continuing, “Don’t you want me to play with my grandchildren? Also, this is the first time a serpent father has seeded Gemini twins. I am curious about the grand-children whose father is a serpent and mother a witch!” she said, pointing her dagger-like eyes towards me straight piercing through my heart. She is not what she seems.

“Okay, whatever, do you find the portal to Azra?” she asked.

“No, I can’t decipher the picture and text. I will need your help,” he replied.

“Okay, let me see” she came near the book, adjusting the magnifying lens near her eyes but was very cautious as not to touch the book, confirming my suspicion.

“The picture indicates the circle of celestial obsidian rock, guarded by serpents. It says the portal is a big giant hole made up of obsidian rock and guarded by poisonous serpents,” she muttered, narrowing her eyes.

“But we don’t have obsidian rocks on Crixus, whereas this whole planet is flooded with serpents and they mostly live-in holes”, Rorik replied defeatedly.

The mention of a hole with poisonous serpents strikes a chord in my brain, “I know this place”, I shouted excitedly. Rorik and his mother looked at me, waiting for me to speak.

“Remember I told you, I had these dreams of Ornith since years in which I was clinging to the edge of the crater filled with serpents, and Ornith saves me. It’s the portal to Azra at Isle of death!” I told them as Ronin’s mom’s eyes widened by my mention of dream and Ornith. I wondered what was she thinking?

“How can you be so sure?” Rorik asked.

“It’s logical. She is correct. She mentioned craters that are created from celestial objects. Obsidian rock is not found on Crixus, so it came from space. Obsidian rocks are associated with portals to another world. Centuries ago, an asteroid of obsidian rock must have struck Crixus, creating a crater that is a portal to Azra. It’s guarded by serpents which means filled by serpents,” His mom said.

“But there are like thousands of craters, so how will we know which one?” Rorik asked.

“I will recognize it if you can take me there. It has a distinct rock on its edge on which I was clung. My nail marks are there as I scratched it. Moreover, it was an isolated one.

Shit!

It was all along in front of our eyes, I was dreaming about it every damn night, yet we didn’t understand it. Granny used to say that this dream would take me to my destiny. Is the Land of Azra my destiny? I thought to myself.

I, Rorik and his mom were on the rover within the next five minutes, moving towards the Isle of Death. He stopped the rover at some distance from where the craters started appearing as the rover began vibrating, and the indicators on the dashboard began to fluctuate wildly in all directions.

“We cannot go ahead. This place’s gravity and the magnetic field is interfering with the rover’s functioning,” Rorik said, glancing over the dashboard and trying too hard to control the rover.

“Try to go slowly”, His mother replied, sounding desperate.

“No, this will crash. We will die on impact, and if not, then poisonous serpents will get us. I see that the craters here are packed near each other, so the portal should be much deep inside because it is solitary. Nora is pregnant so that I won’t take the risk,” he said, moving the rover away from there.

“Then how will we go?” I asked Rorik.

“Ronin!” Rorik retorted before continuing, “He can fly us there, and as you said, it is filled with serpents, so we can’t go inside without Ronin. The same way Ornith took Rebekah and his force inside the portal.”

“Yes, true, we will have to wait for Ronin. Inform him about this and tell him to come as this has to be done as early as possible,” Rorik’s mom muttered as his phone rang.

“Valor!? Why did you call on red alert? Is there any emergency?” Rorik replied.

…………

“Ghouls!? Inside our borders? I am coming now!” Rorik replied as he slammed the phone with a frowning face.

“What happened, Rorik?” I asked him.

“Ghouls infiltrated our northeastern border near some village in between Westfall and Zephe through an ancient tunnel led by their commander Dasan on a legendary flying ghoul.”