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"It wasn't the people of El Dorado. It was the One Realm cult," I clarified.
He shrugged like it made no difference to him one way or another.
I wasn't about to sit around debating with him when he could get me back to where I needed to be. "Please, I—We need to get back. Our other warriors are still there. Is there anybody here that could help us? That could go back with us to save them?" I asked, desperate for any kind of assistance.
This man, from the two seconds of conversation I had had with him so far, seemed somewhat kind. Ailsa hadn't seemed as evil as she was at first either, so I wasn't completely letting my guard down, but I was desperate.
"El Dorado's problems are not Agartha's. Regardless, I will not risk my people for their sake." He shook his head, and the opinion of him being kind evaporated.
"But the people I'm talking about are One Realm warriors. They're the best of all worlds. Surely you can ask somebody to help." I looked between Kai and Timmon before settling on Kai once more. He was just staring stoically at the other man.
Timmon looked at Kai for a moment before his gaze flicked back to me as though he didn't understand the dynamic between us. "I'm sorry, but no."
"Then could you at least open the portal so I could go back?" I asked.
"I do not think that would be wise from what I overheard. Especially if you are who I suspect you are."
I wanted to scream with frustration. It was the first time any of the leaders had recognized me out of the gate, and it was the first time they had treated me with any kind of respect, but it was the one time I didn't want them to. "And who exactly do you suspect I am?" I asked, not wanting to give my identity away.
That he was probably right about who I was was irritating, to say the least, and not only because this was the one time I needed someone to think that I wasn't important. As much as I hated to finally admit it, it was something I could no longer deny; I was important. I had three baby dragons living in my body, or my soul, whatever space they claimed when they weren't out and about in the world. I had three stones out of the four that I needed to stabilize the realms.
Everything was almost complete.
But I would give it all up for the men that I loved.
I would risk myself to go back and save them. That's how important they were to me. I'd never had anything like them before, and I knew I wouldn't again.
"I think that you are the key. That you are the child of prophecy," Timmon said flatly, evaluating me with a sweep of his gaze up and down my form. There was nothing sexual about it, nothing personal, just overly analytical. When his gaze met mine once more, the only thing I saw in his eyes was disappointment.
Before I could deny or say anything that might get me the chance to go back through the portal, Kai jumped in, "She is the key. You're correct. She needs to be protected. There are people in all of the realms that wish her dead. If we are to have any hope of stabilizing our realm and saving the lives of millions upon billions of people, then I ask you to help me protect her until the warriors from the other realms can arrive. As I'm sure they will." The last bit was directed at me. I knew that.
"Whether they do or not is of no concern to me. You will be shown to rooms. We only have one suite available." He whistled, sounding like a bird calling out. It was so convincing that if I hadn't watched him do it, I wouldn't have believed it was him and not an actual bird. People appeared from between the trees as though they had been there the whole time. I wasn't sure if they had been or if I was just oblivious. He didn't seem surprised, so I had to assume that he had been aware of them the entire time or at least as they had been appearing.
"Thank you, Leader Timmon," Kai said.
"I'm not doing this for you, outcast. I'm doing this for the key."
One of the women that stepped forward from the trees leveled a glare at me as though I was responsible for the death of a puppy or something. "Leader Timmon, I beg you, send them back. It's the night of the blood moon. This can only mean trouble for Agartha if you let them stay."
"I know exactly what night it is, Lady Murray. Trouble for Agartha or not, she is the key. She is the one that is supposed to save us all, though she looks like nothing except a child." Timmon clearly wasn't impressed with me.
"Then don't let fate linger in her hands. Send her home!"
"There's no way for me to go home," I countered, my patience more than running thin.
"Send her back to El Dorado." The woman enunciated each syllable as though it physically hurt her to say them.
"Sending her back to El Dorado would be a death sentence," Kai growled.
I wanted to yell and scream that it wasn't that bad, but the hordes of the One Realm cult members combined with the dead caretakers and the blue fire and everything else, like me entering their sacred waters, made me think that he was probably right. I may have been tortured in Hyperborea and survived an assassination attempt in Atlantis, but in El Dorado, there were hordes of people trying to kill me.
"She stays, as does the outcast. Now escort them to their rooms." Timmon's voice left no room for disagreement. They would obey or suffer the consequences, whatever they were.
Lady Murray bowed her head in submission and a chill swept through me. Somehow I knew my first impression of Timmon had been slightly off. He wasn't a good person.
I glanced over my shoulder at the portal, or where it would have been if it was open, and I had to fight to swallow the knot in my throat as tears stung my eyes. There was no way I would cry in front of these people, especially not Timmon.
Kai came to my side. "They'll be okay, I promise."
