Crossing through the dimly lit, empty tunnel, Aiden and the little adorable girl, Tolliah entered arger, connecting hall. The girl, clinging to his father''s rubbed her nose at Aiden''s side.


    "[Reptilian] What is it, little one? Don''t be afraid, those bad dreams can''t hurt you. I''m here." Sensing her troubled, shivering state, Aiden reached down and gently caressed the top of her head.


    In response, Tolliah kept on rubbing her nose against his side. Her hot breath warmed his side, wetting the white linen robe as well, staining it slightly.


    "[Reptilian] Come on, let''s go, your uncles and aunties should already be waiting for us. There''s a lot we need to discuss, you know."


    Aiden sighed and reached down to pick her up. As if she was already waiting for the chance Tolliah didn''tin, nor did she resist, but allowed herself to be lifted, and seated at her throne - around Aiden''s neck, riding his nape.


    Instantly, her sadness seems to have been washed away, a much better-sounding, soft giggle rang behind Aiden''s ears. At the same time, she kicked with her hanging little legs against his chest gently, as if urging a horse to start galloping.


    "[Reptilian] Ehehehe! Go horsie, go!" She eximed, pointing at the exit at the western side of the hall. Unlike where they came from, which looked like a naturally made tunnel, the exit she was aiming for was clearly made by artificial means. Smooth edges, forming an arching dome.


    Braziers lit the pathway along the way, with even a simple-looking rug covering the dusty ground. Still, despite the clearly better state, there were no signs of wooden doors at all. Instead like with their caves, stone bs were ced in front of the entrances acting like one.


    Noticing that her ''steed'' didn''t react to hermand, Tolliah pouted and kicked against Aiden''s chest once more.


    "[Reptilian] Come on, horsie! Go fast, go!" Shemanded, with her little right index finger pointing at the entrance-sh-exit again.


    With a warm, gentle smile stered on his face, Aiden didn''t argue, and acquiesced to themand of her mighty ''rider'' and walked towards the pointed direction.


    Calmly, coolly, the duo made his way through the hall, and a couple more as well. Along the way, they were met with several other orange-brown scaled skinks of all ages and sexes, all greeting them with a hearty smile, cheers, and even some guffaws every now and then.


    A few of the elders even dared to chip the little girl''s cheeks, making it turn pinkish with all the attention it was receiving and forcing Tolliah to once again use her ''papa as her shield, much to the foray of her would-be ''assaulters''.


    Eventually, they made their way through the slithering maze of tunnels, caves, and halls in front ofrge, probably thergest of stone bs blocking an equally wide entrance. It was sorge that the connecting tunnel itself turned wider. At the side of the walls, two bronze braziers, carved as little drakes spewing the mes to illuminate their surroundings, were adorning the smoothly polished walls.


    Even the average light brownish carpet was removed, reced with a much better quality crimson velvet. The stone b that was used all around in ce for doors was seemingly custom made, to eloquently fit its supposed slot, fitting into it like a sword to its sheath.


    It was such a smooth fit, that it seemed to protect the room perfectly. Though Aiden could clearly see on his system''s map that the 6 familiar blimps were already present inside the room, alongside a few more, specially selected individuals… not a single muffled, incohesive grunt escaped through the non-existent hair-thin cracks. Not even a strand of light could be seening through from below, illuminating the carpet''s crimson to a lighter shade.


    If not for the dragon-shaped braziers at the side, one could easily mistake this to be a simple dead end and would turn around. The craftsmanship was just that perfect, somewhat out-of-ce evenpared to the rest of the hillside base.


    Stopping in front of the door-like b, Aiden reached up for his little rider, gently picking her up and cing them down at his side. He looked at him, matching the gaze of her eyes, and whilst retaining the warm, kind-looking smile on his face he spoke in his usually calm, serene tone of voice.


    "[Reptilian] You ready, dear? We do this fast, then we can go have something for breakfast, okay?"


    The girl, looking less enthusiastic now that she lost her right-to-ride her beloved steed, nodded silently, timidly.


    As her papa, Aiden straightened his back and reached for the stone blocking their path, she was already hiding behind his legs, clinging to them as if they were trunks of a tree in a forest each.


    As if she was trying to hide from some predator, afraid to be ambushed, taken by surprise. Covering herself behind the spacious robes clinging to his calf, like a spooked little critter of the forest''s undergrowth.


    Seeing her state, Aiden could only sigh, and shake his head as he pushed against the b. He aimed for the hidden mechanism that unless you were trained for, or had a godly divine blessing, a supernatural System fused with your soul, you could not find and push it in.


    The button clicked, signaling that the mechanism activated. The b began to churn, grinding some of the powdery grains of sand and rock along the way as it slowly started to move with a loud quake.


    Arge noise echoed through the halls, shaking the halls. The brazier, as if frightened themselves, trembled as therge piece of ore slowly slid out of its holster, and as if it was a living entity slowly rolled away by itself, allowing entry once again.


    Tolliah was visibly shaken, scared at the scene, burying her face and ears deeply into the back of Aiden''s robe.


    Aiden once more reached down, hugging her gently, and patting her head, as he tried to soothe the shaken critter.


    "[Reptilian] Come, let''s go." He whispered, even his voice was kept low, not to startle the already agitated girl further.


    Taking an extra moment so she could calm down, and collect herself, hand-in-hand, the father and daughter walked into the meeting, to discuss the next steps they would need to take to put an end to this war, to this despotic rule once and for all.


    Though unbeknownst to them, at the very same time, far away from their location, at the heart of Ugburg, in the most luxurious looking temple a simr meeting was taking ce.


    After losing one of his most convenient tools of war, a certain white-robed majestic-looking elderly skink called for the rest of his generals, his warlords to simrly discuss the next steps they will take…


    ---


    >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<<


    It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova!


    nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point)


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    Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!


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