Page 46 of I Married A Syllen

“Cedros, would you be able to teleport us to that location?” Maeve asked.

“Of course,” Cedros replied.

“Is it stable enough?” Mirella asked.

“Yes,” Maeve replied without hesitation. “Even though they rushed the mining, they didn’t mess up the support structure.

“Okay, good,” my mate replied.

To my shock, Maeve pulled a translucent tube from the collar of her upper clothing. It had too little prongs, which she inserted into her nostrils. The prongs inflated, completely sealing her nose. She then placed a set of glasses that also extended to the side, like the glasses I had seen the Settlers wear to go diving so water wouldn’t get into their eyes.

“There’s no proper ventilation in there, so it’s best if you don’t follow. I will be right back,” she said.

Cedros flicked his right hand, and another large window appeared directly in front of us. Seeing the far end of the cave just a couple of meters in front of me left me reeling. My shock further increased when Maeve stepped through the window, and she immediately appeared on the screen. It confirmed she had indeed traveled that great distance in a blink thanks to the Shadow Lord’s abilities.

Maeve didn’t dally. She tapped on her bracer before raising it in front of her, waving it around for a few seconds as if to catch something in the air. She tapped on it again, then marched resolutely towards the green specks. After reaching for her pouch, she retrieved a little flask and a dagger. She scraped some of the melia into it, closed the lid, and walked back out of the window. Cedros closed it behind her.

Their powers and technology are insane…

Once more, I felt completely out of my depth. We knew so little about what they could do and how it could harm us. The only thing that kept me from panicking was the brief connection I had with Maeve. Like Torokso and Birdman, she had good intentions towards us. Nothing in my interactions with the people they wanted me to be in contact with showed any of the warning signs of the former colonizers.

Maybe humans and off-worlders have truly evolved for the better.

“Okay, I have a sample,” Maeve said. “This will make it a lot easier for us to pinpoint who has been using this type of material in their products. They wouldn’t have so aggressively mined it if they weren’t making a profit with it. I have also gathered all the data from this board. We will find them. As devastating as all of this looks to you right now, I promise that the UPO and the Enforcers will do everything in their power to fix this and make things right for the Syllens.”

“Thank you, Sister Maeve,” I said with sincere gratitude.

“Yes, thank you,” Mirella echoed.

“We will speak again very soon,” Maeve said.

“Is there somewhere I can take you?” Cedros asked.

I hesitated before nodding. “It is a long ride back to the village. So fast transport through your window would be appreciated. But I would like to bring my mount along.”

“Of course,” Cedros replied.

“Here are the coordinates,” Maeve said, showing the strange symbols on her bracer to him.

He nodded and followed us outside. I called Semius, who promptly returned. He froze upon seeing Cedros. I kicked myself inwardly for not having anticipated that. I sang an enticement melody to appease him while carefully approaching. Having understood the source of my Nordjarimm’s distress, Cedros stood back. He flicked his hand, and a large window to the village appeared barely a meter in front of me.

“Thank you,” I said gratefully.

Waving goodbye to the two off-worlders, I entered the window with my mate and mount. The moment we cleared it, the window closed behind us.

We were home.

Chapter 9

Mirella

As soon as we exited the portal, I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see Maeve wave one last time at us before it closed with a swoosh.

“Your UPO has interesting people working there,” Taelen said pensively as he stared at the now empty space behind us.

“For real!” I said, still pinching myself to have met a Derakeen in the flesh. “I’m really sorry for what has been done to the land.”

“It’s not your fault. The situation angers me, but not you nor those trying to help fix it,” he said in a measured tone. “As much as I dislike this technology you off-worlders are so fond of, I better understand why you stated earlier that you would want to still occasionally have access to it. The scanner in your bracer and those snitches Maeve used helped us find the cause fast, whereas we had already spent two days flying around and failing to pinpoint the source. It probably would have taken us weeks to discover that cave.”