Chapter 432 - Tomorrow, At Night

Along with her team and Enya, Adrianna embarked upon the journey to find Shang Kui. Enya created a portal and they all stepped into the desert of Far East. Enya shook her head and again created the portal. "His magic is too dangerous and it is not easy to find his abode," she muttered. 

This time they stepped back into her land even though the coordinates that she had entered in the portal were different. Somehow every time she would enter the coordinates they would change the moment the portal was created. Adrianna could see it clearly how the coordinates would move and overlap. 

"Enya, create a portal," Adrianna said. "Haldir, stand on the right side of the portal. I will stand on the left. We are going to use our powers to stop the numbers from moving."

Once again Enya used her powers to create a portal of blizzard like snow that whirled in a circle. There was so much movement of wind around it that it looked like a vortex of snow. Haldir went to stand on the right while Adrianna stood on the left. 

"Now!" shouted Adrianna. 

The two of them used their wands to stop the numbers from changing. At first they faced a lot of force that threatened to push them back but within a few minutes the numbers stopped moving. The portal steadied. 

"Mihr, enter!" Adrianna ordered. 

Along with the two Mozias, Mihr entered the portal. Haldir, Adrianna, followed them and then Enya entered. They stepped out in a forest that was covered with mist. Enya smiled. Eager to go ahead, she broke into a run. Others hurriedly followed her. As the wind rustled through the leaves, the mist became denser. There was a soft hum of the insects. The visibility wasn't good. Enya threw a ball of fire to illuminate the path and suddenly there was a cacophony of birds calling and squirrels chattering. Branches crashed to the ground in front of them. The stones or acorns got kicked as the group ran. The air was laden with smells of rotting wood, wildflowers, herbs and wild mint. 

Enya stopped in front of a tall mountain that rose higher than the clouds. The fireball cleared the mist around them. Enya pointed to the top of the mountain. "That's where he lives with his people."

Mihr became impatient. "What the hell is this place? Then let us go there. What are we waiting for?" His broom became ready for him to mount it. "Or how about we create a portal again?" 

"We are somewhere in the Far East. There is only one way of reaching that place," said Enya pointing at something. "There's a rope stairway there. We need to climb that." 

Adrianna walked ahead. "Let us find the staircase. We are running short of time." 

"Wait, my Queen," said Haldir from behind. "I will create till the place I can. Please mount your broom."

"No. First let us find where the rope staircase begins. Once we know that, you may create the portal," replied Adrianna. 

"Okay," agreed Haldir and the team moved forward. 

--- 

Ziu had watched how tightly he was being spied a day after he had performed the ritual in his gardens. So when the meeting with Isidorus and Dmitri was over, he took the opportunity and went to the lake where his father had gathered a large number of serpents from his kingdom. They were all waiting for him to give a signal. It was night but he was wary that Dmitri might have planted his spies around the lake, so he flew through the forest quietly along the lake. When he had flown almost two miles from there, he shape shifted and slithered into water. 

Under the surface of the water it was dark and silent. He glided a mile back and then heard the buzz of activity. For the next mile that he glided, he saw thousands of serpents gliding over each other – his warriors who would sacrifice themselves for him. 

At the helm of it was his father. When Ziu went to him, his father asked, "When do we attack? My serpents are getting impatient." 

"Tomorrow, at night." 

--- 

After circling for about an hour, the team found the rope stairway. It was falling straight down, steeply from somewhere higher. Haldir immediately closed his eyes and started feeling the extent of Shang Kui's magic. He created a portal and all of them flew inside it to appear almost five hundred feet below. They found the rope stairway and Adrianna was the first one to start climbing. The climb was steep and dangerous. Haldir remained right behind her. He was scared more about the baby. 

The darkness of the night around the mountain was making it extremely difficult. All of them created a small ball of fire that travelled with them lighting the way dimly. The problem was that it caught attention. 

They hadn't climbed more than hundred feet that they heard leaves rustling and wind whooshing. Suddenly a dozen men surrounded them, with wands pointing at them. 

In the dim light that flickered from the fireballs, Adrianna could see that they were masked. 

"We have come in peace," she said immediately. "I am Adrianna and she is Enya. We are here to meet Shang Kui." 

The masked wizards looked at all of them. They swished their wands in the air and created a jail of strong tree roots around the group. Once the entire group was trapped, the jail started to move up. 

"I would love to break this jail. What the hell do these minions think of me?" hissed Enya. 

"There is no point in showing off our magic Enya. This is Shang Kui's territory. He is the King of Wizards here. Please be patient," whispered Adrianna. 

Enya pounded the floor of the jail and looked away. 

They reached the top of the mountain in ten minutes and were surprised to see that there was no fort there. It was a plain, simple village – so silent that it looked eerie.