Page 53 of Real

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Page 53 of Real

That was the best way to gauge authentic reactions without influencing the outcome. It was something they had learned during the centuries of visiting other planets, and it had saved them from dealing with primitive races who weren’t ready to meet magical beings from another planet.

While everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, she didn’t think there was anything very noteworthy about the main island. Actually, everything seemed quite ordinary. Sure, there were nice lodgings, eateries, and the entertainment options, but she didn’t see anything that stood out as particularly innovative.

That made it clear they needed to explore the rest of the planetoid and see where the actual games were being played before they came to any final conclusions.

After hearing people discussing a restricted island that wasn’t open to the public yet, they decided to travel there next. Getting through the protective barrier around the island had been easy work. Once they had arrived in the restricted area, it had been like walking into the past.

The large island had been designed to resemble a human city from a different era. Jecca and Jaya had seen what Earth looked like during the 21stcentury from the historical records all Dragon Warriors had access to, so they were able to recognize a lot of what they saw.

Deciding to split up, she and Jecca started exploring different areas of the island. That was common practice for them when they were exploring a new location. That way they were able to cover twice the distance and share the information they gathered through their twin bond.

She found it slightly strange that humans had traveled lightyears away from Earth only to replicate a human city for people to play games in. Humans seemed weird and nonsensical to her sometimes, but overall, she was quite fond of them as a species. That was probably due to the fact that her older brothers were mated to a former human, and so were her cousins.

Jecca and Jaya had visited their cousins Xavier, Galan, and Katra on the planet Tartarus before they had decided to travel to Evo. Xavier and Galan Tesera, and their blood brothers Thorn and Brydan Volis, had met their mate, Alexis, while they had been visiting Earth. They had decided to move to Tartarus to be closer to their sister, Katra, who was mated to Jaden Tor, a Tarin lord.

Some people thought it was strange to have so many Dragon Warriors living on Tartarus, but for them, it was all about being close to family. Spending time with them and their babies had been a joy for Jaya, but it had also made her realize what she was missing. She felt a little guilty being envious of their happiness, but since she knew her twin felt the same way, she figured that was normal.

The city itself was impressive, though only half of it was real. A few minutes in, she’d come upon a small group of people playing a game that consisted of using sticks to knock tiny ballsinto holes in the ground on a colorful course of obstacles. She watched them struggle to send the balls up ramps and through fake volcanos and waterfalls that were set up, but she got bored pretty fast. Although she didn’t get the appeal of the miniature golf game they were playing, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Leaving them to it, she strolled down the vacant streets searching for other signs of life. After several minutes, she came upon an energy barrier that was used to separate the different sections of the city. She barely felt any resistance as she’d crossed through it. Once she was on the other side of the barrier, the streets were filled with people, making a distinct contrast from the empty section she had just left.

It was a little startling to see so many people frozen in place. When she tried to touch one of them, her hand went directly through the image. She quickly realized that almost everything she was seeing was generated using the same holo technology that made up half of the city. Fascinated by what they were able to do using lights and sensors, she began to explore the new area, but she didn’t get far.

A shockwave of power blasted through the city, strong enough to knock her off her feet. She braced her hand on the ground, catching herself before her knee struck the pavement. Rising to her feet again, she glanced around to see that she was now the only person standing in the area. Some of the buildings were blinking in and out of existence for a few seconds, then everything seemed to reboot.

Ignoring everything else, Jaya reached out to her sister. When that was met with silence, she tried transporting directly to Jecca to make sure she was okay. Alarm swept through her when that didn’t work. Since she still felt Jecca through their bond, she wasn’t too freaked out, but she didn’t like not being able to reach her twin.

She teleported to the edge of the section of the city her sister was in. That was when she encountered the protection barrier made of Dragon Warrior and Ilius magic mixed with energy-based technology. As she approached it, she was physically shoved back by the power radiating from the barrier.

She wanted to break in, to find some way through it, but something warned her that she needed to wait. She didn’t want to do anything that would potentially risk those inside the magical bubble, especially her sister.

Following the perimeter of the barrier, she looked for any signs of weakness she could exploit to slip through. When she reached the shoreline, she saw that one of the power cells that ran the city was severely damaged. A purple beam of energy was now shooting out of it, feeding the magical barrier around the enclosed section of the city.

Another beam of energy was coming out of the other end of the damaged cell that seemed to be strengthening the shield around the entire island. Testing that theory, Jaya tried transporting off the island. When she was repelled by the energy shield, she attempted to get to the power cell to fix it but couldn’t since it was within the contained area.

Frustrated, she tried reaching out to her sister again but still got no response. Shifting into her dragon form, she flew around the perimeter of the island. Assessing the strength of the energy barrier, she realized the damaged power cell had created a chain reaction that was connecting all of the cells surrounding the island.

That meant there was no getting out unless she forced it.

That was something she didn’t want to do until she had a better understanding of the situation.

And for that, she needed to speak to her sister.

She’d just made it to the other end of the island when she finally felt Jecca stirring through their bond.

“Jecca? Thank the gods you are okay. What in hellfire happened? Something is blocking me from transporting to you. Where are you?”

The words came out in a rush, but even as she spoke she felt a wave of intense agony through the bond that made her own head throb with discomfort. Jaya knew she was feeling the echo of her sister’s pain, and immediately pulled back and shut down their connection. Jecca had obviously been hurt during the blast, but Jaya was sure that her sister would be able to heal herself.

She just needed to wait until Jecca recovered enough before she reached out to her again.

Deciding to make herself useful while she waited, she landed and shifted back into her regular form. She remembered the group of people she had seen playing the golfing game earlier. If she had been knocked off her feet by the energy blast, there was a good chance the other people on the island had been injured far worse.

She’d dressed herself in her normal attire of black leather pants, a matching vest, and sturdy boots. Although she didn’t need weapons, she made sure her moon daggers were in her thigh sheaths. The daggers were made of an extremely strong iridescent crystal that was found on a moon of a distant planet. The blades could cut through just about anything and never dulled, which was why all of their weapons were made of the same crystal.

Glancing around, she realized that she was in an unfamiliar part of the city that she hadn’t been to yet. Night had fallen now that the sun had officially set. She found herself on a street filled with color and sound. Voices, laughter, and music carried on the breeze along with the tantalizing scent of food. Some of the stores on the street were closed for the night, but there were plenty of restaurants and bars still open for business.

People strolled down the street in couples and small groups as they enjoyed the night air. As she passed a café with outdoor seating, she thought it was odd when no one even acknowledged her. She wasn’t dressed like the other people on the street, plus she was the only person visibly carrying weapons.


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