A Portal to Unknown!!

**Rebekah’s POV**

“Enough!” He roared, interrupting me mid-way, “Enough of your foul language and insults. If that’s what you want, then let it be. You will go to Crixus and fetch me the Prince. I will instruct Dasan to proceed. Take your birthday gift and Leave!” he motioned me towards the table.

A small jewellery box was lying on it. I took it in my hands and opened it to reveal a sparkling piece of jewellery; a crystal of crescent-shaped blood-moon was my gift—the most exquisite piece of heirloom. I snapped open the hook of the chain holding the crystal in the centre and placed it on my neck. As soon as it touched my skin, it clasped into my neck as if a part of my body. I jumped at the feel of heated tingles that shimmed up and down my body. I had the strangest feeling, as if it was communicating in some way with my blood using the veins as the passages to exchange the messages.

“A Crescent Lure- rightfully taking its place on the body of the one whose blood it consists of, my beloved”, He whispered, sending the waves of goose-bumps through my skin. At that moment, I just thought that I had forgotten to breathe, and before I got choked of hyperventilation, I rushed from there.

After some time, my raptor, which I nicknamed Crizal, came flying towards my window, bringing a message in between its claws, “Meet me now, usual place.”

I changed my dress into something comfier and simpler, covering my face.

“Going somewhere?” Vena entered my room.

“Yeah”, I replied.

“Whatever! Mother was asking for you…Whoa…Whoa…What is this shit you are wearing on your giraffe neck? Don’t tell me what I think it is!” Vena almost drooled with each word she just spoke.

“Crescent Lure!” I replied, and her lips whispered some more fucking words not advisable for sensitive ears, “You lucky bitch! Now tell me where the hell are you going and what should I tell mother?” she asked impatiently.

“You already know”, I replied.

“Why? Why? Why? I don’t understand what is wrong with you? Wait…Wait…wait…All this is his planning? Re, I am warning you, don’t try to double-cross Dark Prince and Prince of Crixus; this Dasan is nuts; he is getting you killed. Believe me, what you are wearing on your neck is more dangerous than beautiful. Don’t do that; the consequences will be bad. Trust me; you will get fucked hard from both the holes, front and back.”

“Shut up, Vena! You, mother and father, have never thought about me, my feelings, what I desire. I will do what I can to leave this place of Hell. Dasan is just helping me, and right now, you are also going to help me by making some story to cover for me while I go and meet my lover. One more thing Dasan should not know that I had told you of mine and his plans to double-cross dark Prince and Prince of Crixus. If he knows this, I will kill you before he kills me. Goodbye,” I snapped.

“Bitch!” She groaned and left the room.

I jumped out of the window and took the steps towards the ‘Temple of Sanctum’ backside. A small hole in one of the rocks leads directly to the basement beyond the temple. It took me to that part of the basement, which is rarely used and dumped with junk. I had to crawl my way through the narrow passages leading to the small room where Dasan was patiently waiting for me.

On seeing him, I couldn’t stop my desperation and jumped on him as if I was seeing him after centuries. He put on a warm kiss on my lips and twitched his face, making his already handsome face more desirable. But I could sense panic in his manner as if he was struggling to tell me something. Can it be bad news?

“See what I have got?” I smirked, showing him the Crescent Lure. He couldn’t help the urge to mouth ‘Wow’ on seeing this exquisite piece of jewellery on my neck but soon, his features again hardened as that like the stone of which this room was made up of, “What!? Please don’t kill me with suspense. What did Dark Prince tell you?” I asked him.

“We have both the good news and the bad news. The good news is what you already know; the Dark Prince is allowing you to go to Crixus,” he replied.

“Bad news?” I waited patiently, folding my hands in front, awaiting his reply.

“He has instructed that you will go all alone,” he said this sentence abruptly.

“What the fuck! Is he nuts? I have never left the Walls of ‘Temple of Sanctum’ alone. He always makes sure that I have bodyguards with me, and now he wants me to go to some another damn portal ‘All ALONE’!” I grimaced, dropping myself to the floor before continuing, “Why didn’t you tell him that I can’t do this all alone?” I asked.

“We are not his ‘Beloved’ as you. We can’t raise our head before him, let alone cross-question him. I can argue with him if you want to see my dead body,” he roared.

“Stop it! Don’t you dare say the words of death in front of me? I am…just scared…how will this happen? An unknown place, unknown people, how will I even manage to meet and convince the Prince of Crixus to come here when I don’t even know how he looks? At least he would have sent Nhala with me,” I bellowed in pain.

“I don’t know the reason why he decided to send you all alone but believe me; this will work in our favour. This will make it even easier to convince the Prince of Crixus, Ornith, that you need help. Locating him would be very easy as, of course, he is the Prince. Show him the power of your blood and Crescent Lure, and he will follow you here like a pet dog wagging his tail. I had heard about his thirst for power and desperation to defeat Ghouls. It will be too easy to brainwash him and lure him here as he is already looking for a portal to Azra. He is an easy pawn.”

“How do you know so much about him?” I asked him.

“I was groomed to be the elite warrior even before you were born. I had been sent as a spy to too many different places you can’t even imagine. This Crescent Lure you are wearing has been used by me numerous times to create portals. You don’t even remember how many times we have drawn your blood. I am much older and have seen a lot than you can imagine,” Dasan replied.

“Why does Dark prince want Prince of Crixus?” I asked.

“Dark Prince is cursed. He is a mere shadow who cannot touch you. But, there is a way around this curse. Dark Prince’s shadow can possess the body as a ghost does to its prey. He will possess the body of the Prince of Crixus to take a form so he can fulfil all your sexual desires,” Dasan explained.

“But, if Dark Prince can possess the body, he can use anyone as host, why only the Prince of Crixus?” I asked.

“Dark Prince cannot just possess anyone’s body; the person in question needs to have a serpent gene,” Dasan said.

“Okay, so Prince of Crixus, Ornith has this serpent gene. But, how?” I asked as curiosity was shitting in my brain.

“You asks too many questions. Well, I would say Dark Prince and Ornith are related,” Dasan said.

“Once I brought Ornith here, Dark Prince will take over his body. He will be able to touch me and take me as his wife. Isn’t your plan was supposed to be in our favour? I can only see Dark Prince benefitted from this,” I retorted in an angry tone because I doubted his plans.

“Fuck! Re! How can you be so naive? I plan to kill Dark Prince, which can only be done when he is in a body. Once you bring Ornith here, Dark Prince will take over his body, and we will kill him,” Dasan was already losing his patience.

“Okay, whatever, I don’t care. I am just scared that if anything goes wrong, then we will probably never meet again. And how will I return to Azra with Ornith?” I asked.

“The portal I will make will land you at someplace. That same place is a way back here, so remember that place well; mark it with stone on your brain. It’s just that without me or Nhala to make the portal, you will need the skills of Ornith as a serpent to come back. Do you get what I am saying?”

“What if I just run away after landing on Crixus, never to come back?” I asked.

“You can do that, but Dark Prince has told me to give you a message that ‘he will take good care of your family’ which looked more like a threat than a mere message”, he replied.

“Damn him! Damn you! Damn my family! And damn those idiot princes!” I whispered.

“You are leaving in some time, don’t you wanna give me a farewell fuck?” He whispered seductively in my ears as I melted in his body with our clothes falling on the floor.

As Dark Prince ordered, Dasan made me a portal that looked like a wormhole, opening in another dimension. I cried my heart out, hugging my mother, Vena, Nhala and Crizal. Of course, I will miss Dasan the most, but I can’t show my feelings for him in front of my parents and other people, whereas I was sure that Dark Prince was watching me from somewhere beyond the shadows. I whispered my final goodbye and stepped into the portal.

The portal gulped me inside it as if eating me alive. It felt like I was sitting on a steep slide that transported my body like a massive roller-coaster at a record-breaking speed, landing me directly on the surface of some rock. I was still quivering when I heard a slurping sound of a snake nearby, and without even thinking and looking at my surroundings, I took a huge leapt and my body slipped through the rock, and I was left hanging at the edge of the crater, brimming with the pool of neon serpents.

Shit! Shit! I looked above, and the view of the purplish sky and Orangish terrain added more to my misery as if I got struck beyond enemy lines, in some hostile alien planet, fighting for my life.

“Help! Help! Anyone here!”

I cried till a hand came down to me to save me from this pit of serpents.

**Nora’s POV**

I screamed, jerking out of my dream.

Shit! What was that? Another nightmare!!

I roamed my sweat laden head on all the sides seeing Meghan, Sypha and Vena sleeping beside me. Rorik, Liam and Zach were resting at the opposite side. I can’t believe this was a dream, it seemed so real. All of a sudden, I felt the urge of throwing up. I rushed outside the cave and puked out the whole dinner I had last night. I sat down, still panting and struggling to breathe. Crizal stood there, watching me.

“Are you alright?” A hand suddenly landed on my shoulder, and I jumped on my feet, looking behind. Ronin looked upon me with a slight amusement on his face.

“Maybe”, I whispered, while Ronin gave me a puzzled look as if I had lost it.