Isaac was the first to step into the shadowy portal once he confirmed that the other side was safe; the others moved in one by one too, Ria being the last one to enter, leaving Asher behind.
As soon as Estoria stepped onto the other side, a wave of nausea and dizziness followed, causing her to lose her footing and drop to the ground uncontrollably.
Ria caught her from behind with her right arm and Eston with her left. Estoria wasn't the only one affected; Eston was just as affected, if not worse.
Isaac illuminated the area with a crimson flame in his palm, revealing the surroundings. Tyrion and Aluxio were instantly shocked to see Eston and Estoria both unconscious.
"Don't worry, they're alright. Most of the newly awakened dragons faint when entering the portal to either side of the realms," Ria explained briefly.
Ria, having expected this, arrived just in time to catch both of them.
After a while, Estoria slowly opened her eyes. Aluxio and Tyrion were walking ahead of her awkwardly in silence under the red orb of light. The surroundings were engulfed in darkness, only revealing a close distance of their surroundings, as the walls and ceiling were nowhere in sight.
As they continued walking, Estoria noticed something peculiar. She wasn't moving her feet to walk; she was slightly floating above the ground with her arm draped over someone's shoulders.
Estoria shifted her gaze to the person beside her; it was Ria, holding her up straight and guiding her. Estoria was about to ask Ria something when she noticed Eston also being guided by Isaac on the side, his head hanging low.
"Eston," Estoria spoke in a weak voice, retracting her arm from Ria's shoulders to move over to Eston's side.
Everyone turned to the source of the voice at the same time.
"Wait, Estoria, he's fine. Don't move rashly; you'll fall. Let me remove the spell first," Ria urgently said.
As soon as Estoria moved her limbs, her vision started to blur again, so she stopped moving, listening to Ria obediently.
"How are you feeling now, Estoria?" Aluxio asked, standing close to her.
"What happened to Eston?" Estoria asked, her voice a bit clearer this time, as her feet finally touched the ground. Ria removed the spell and slowly let go of Estoria, watching her attentively.
"It's nothing serious; calm down. You both passed out as soon as we arrived here. Eston will wake up soon, just like you," Ria explained calmly, sighing in relief.
Estoria stood there in a daze for a moment before the dizziness subsided. She quickly moved over to Eston's side, looking at him with a worried expression on her face.
"When will he wake up? Didn't we both pass out at the same time? Why is he not awake yet?" Estoria asked hurriedly.
"He's okay," Isaac said, patting Estoria's head a few times.
"Okay..." Estoria felt a little calmer now.
Aluxio stood beside Tyrion as if both of them were nonexistent to the Stallions.
"Can you walk alright?" Ria asked, examining Estoria's movements.
"Yes, I can move fine now," Estoria replied, her gaze not moving away from Eston.
"Let's keep walking then; we are almost there," Ria said.
They started moving forward again until they came face to face with huge white doors with golden and blue accents. The length of the doors was unknown; you could look up until you strained your neck, but still wouldn't be able to see the other end of the doors.
"How do we open them?" Estoria had just asked this when Ria had already made her move, holding a golden sword in her hand. Ria pushed the sword straight into the door on the right, dragging the sword from the left, then overhead, and then right; she cut out a chunk of the door in a swift motion and kicked it flying.
"Let's go," Ria went in as if nothing was wrong, so everyone quickly followed behind her like baby ducks following their mother.
As soon as Ria went to the other side, she illuminated the area with at least a hundred golden orbs so it wasn't dark anymore, and everyone could see their surroundings now.
They stood in a library with lengthy shelves reaching for the skies, holding thousands of books. The side of the wooden bookshelves had beautiful carvings on them, like flying dragons and cherry blossoms falling from trees. The books were all the same red color, and the shelves were a dark brown, complementing each other quite well.
The whole floor was carpeted in red, the same color as the books. The walls were the only thing ruining the aesthetic; the stone walls reminded them that this was a dungeon deep underground. There were a few desks and benches placed randomly in the library, made from the same dark brown wood. The dungeon library was a lot tidier than Estoria expected it to be.
"Alright, let's spread out and search. We don't have any time to waste. We will split into teams of two, and each will take a side. Estoria and I will take the left side; Isaac and Eston will take the center, while you both will take the right side," Ria assigned the roles.
"Objection," Tyrion raised his hand respectfully. "Eston is still unconscious. I'll take care of him instead of Isaac."
"Issac can also take care of Eston; besides, he's awake," Ria said, her eyes moving to Eston, who had just lifted his head.
"What's going on? Why is everyone staring at me?" Eston spoke weakly.
Isaac removed the spell, and Eston found his footing easily. But as soon as he took a step, the carpet underneath his feet started smoking, raising everyone's guard.
"Eston, control your powers," Ria said in a stern voice.
"Oh, sorry, my bad mother," Eston put out the smoke with a few taps of his feet.
"We were discussing our group formations. Tyrion wants to pair with you," Estoria said excitedly.
"Alright then, I'll go with Tyrion... What is the pairing for again?" Eston asked, raising his eyebrows.
"We are splitting into teams of two to search the library. I don't remember where each and every book is, so we just have to tackle everything. I assigned the teams just now, but Tyrion said he wants to be on the same team as you, so do you also want to be with him?" Ria asked cautiously.
"Yeah, I'm fine with Tyrion being my partner," Eston replied enthusiastically.
Tyrion quickly moved over to Eston's side without a word.
"Alright then..." Ria was just about to speak again when Estoria raised her hand.
"I want to be on the same team as Aluxio too!" Estoria said, locking eyes with Aluxio, who was standing stiffly, unblinking.
Truth be told, the reason Estoria wanted to change her team too, was mostly that she was a little awkward with her parents, not knowing how she should behave in front of them, and Ria was a bit intimidating...
"Whatever, just go with to the right side with Aluxio, then Isaac and I will take the left side while you both take the center," Ria spoke, dragging Isaac away with her, heading to her position.
"Let's go, Aluxio," Estoria said. Only then did Aluxio blink and follow Estoria without a word, leaving Tyrion and Eston behind.
"So, where should we start from?" Eston scratched his head, looking at the blinding lines of books.
"Let's find a bench to sit first, and then we'll start from the first shelf there," Tyrion said, taking Eston's hand and leading him towards the bench and desk in the center he had seen before while exploring.
"Why is your hand so warm? Do you have a fever?" Tyrion turned his head, placing a hand on Eston's forehead, pushing his jet black hair out of the way.
"No, no, I'm fine," Eston said hurriedly, yanking Tyrion's hands away.
"Even your face is red. It's alright to tell me if you have a fever; I won't tell anyone else, so rest easy," Tyrion said, taking his hand again and starting to walk ahead. Eston followed behind him quietly.
Tyrion found the bench he was looking for and sat Eston down there while he went to grab many different books. Since the books had no titles and categories, they were all just the same. He grabbed a whole row of books and put them down on the long desk in front of the bench where Eston sat, looking at the rows and rows of books bigger than both of his hands. They were so thick and heavy that you had to place them on the desk, or you'd strain your hands and arms from the weight.
"Let's start," Tyrion sat down next to Eston and placed some books in front of him while opening a book with his other hand, going through the pages with a serious expression.
[22 hours left until their return]