Emily's House: Book 1 of the Akasha Chronicles

Chapter 56: Dughall's Plan in Action

Chapter 56: Dughall’s Plan in Action

 With the help of Macha’s enchantments, Dughall was able to slip past any watching eyes and into the elevator shaft. He rode the elevator for many minutes as it made its way a mile underground to the belly of the giant collider. Dughall had synchronized his watch to the collider’s clock many times. He’d waited over a thousand years to achieve his goal. He wasn’t about to let a stupid mistake stand between him and the portal.

Patience was not Dughall’s forte, but the task required precision. He could wait a few minutes.

As he stared at his watch, it seemed as though time moved backwards. He waited by the door to the collider corridor for the right moment to down the draught Macha had brewed for him. He stared so intently at his watch that it almost hypnotized him. Dughall nearly missed the exact moment to drink the potion.

It is time. Dughall chugged the vile and viscous liquid down in one big gulp. Macha made this taste foul just to spite me.

As planned, Dughall waited exactly one minute then detonated the explosive he had planted at the door hinges. The small explosion was enough to blast open the time locked steel door. It was time to test whether Macha’s potion worked or not. At -271°, if it didn’t work, he wouldn’t have time to think about it.

Dughall pushed the door off of its blasted hinges. He knew as soon as he did that Macha’s potion had worked. If it hadn’t, the deep chill of the collider would have frozen him nearly instantly. Instead, it was as if there was an insulating bubble around his body that protected him from the deep freeze. But Dughall had not a second to spare. He raced down the interior corridor of the circular collider as fast as his legs could carry him. He knew that it was about a quarter mile to the five-story high mega magnet that he was looking for. He had timed himself and knew that if he ran as fast as he could, he could make it there in about two minutes.

Dughall didn’t need to search for the magnet. Dughall knew as soon as he saw it that his plan had worked. He had reached his destination. He could see the portal and there was no one to stop him.

Though he had only about one, maybe two minutes to spare, Dughall couldn’t help but stare at the tremendous sight. The giant superconducting magnet was itself enough to inspire awe. Though built by human hands, it was a masterpiece of technology and had a beauty of its own. Miles of wires, circuits and electronics bound together in a colorful symmetry.

But topping it by far was the extraordinary beauty of the portal that lay before him. In the center of the giant magnet was a small hole, no larger than a small child, dwarfed by the size of the magnet itself. A silvery mist poured from the hole. It was both ethereal and majestic. Dughall also heard a faint hissing sound, like electricity flowing through power lines built by humans to conduct electricity from one place to another.

In the few seconds that he had stared at the portal it grew twice its size. He knew that he had less than a minute before it became unstable and was gone forever. I must act now or lose the opportunity I have waited so long for.

If anyone else had been in the corridor with Dughall at that moment, they would have seen something truly rare and a bit disturbing. Dughall smiled.