At the sa ti atop an orange-brown plateau, the air suddenly twisted, contorting unnaturally. A mont later a singular dark dot appeared in mid-air, just at about an arm's length above the dust-covered surface.
Like the newborn child that was just presented with the bountiful heavenly mammaries, the nectar of its mother's teet, it began to greedily suck in the empty air further twisting, twirling the air around the mysterious singularity.
For a while, the small hole did nothing but continue sucking in the air, and -with it-, the waning, sparsely spread out essences as well. It kept on absorbing the magical particles of this deserted plane, rging it with itself, gradually gaining more and more power as ti went on.
A bit of ti passed like this before the little black dot changed its strategy and began to expand. Its mysterious ebony mass began to take up more and more of the surrounding territory, growing in size with each passing second.
The expanse didn't seem to slow down even as the little dot was no longer the size of the tip of a needle but was now looking like a small window, giving a despairing view into the dark and empty void.
Yet, its hungry conquest didn't falter, its size kept on changing, the edges of its magic-filled mbrane kept on growing, reaching out for new and new of the unclaid space around it.
The crazed expedition only began to dwindle once its claid territory reached the size of a spacious gate, reaching high up in the sky and, at the sa ti, claiming much of the plateau's ground.
Reaching its predestined size, the hole, now a literal portal to the unknown, began to calm down. Its edges no longer trembled, its desire fulfilled, its form took shape. An ard doorway, a portal, the ritual-made [Gateway] opened upon an empty plateau at the southern regions of the barren world, the Battlefield, providing an entry point to a band of misfits.
A big group of adventurers together with so rcenaries appeared one by one through the rippling surface of the dinsional traversal spell. Youths that looked to be at the age of barely reaching adulthood, appeared together with what seed to be their elders.
The rcenaries, unlike the youngsters that were wearing a shining, glamorous, and lavish-looking set of armors and clothing, were wearing age-worn, and battle-hardened attire. The sparkles have all vanished from their steel plates, replaced by scratch marks left there through monstrous claws and a slew of sharp edges.
As they appeared, the newcors stood to the side, giving space to the next mber of their colorful company to step on the land him- or herself as well. For over a minute, n and won kept appearing one by one, even a pair of black-furred war hounds followed a blond, long-haired half-elven girl.
They greeted each other with a hearty laugh, a cheer, or in so cases, a hug. The atmosphere was elated, they all seed excited, they didn't seem to be scared of the big weight, the pressure placed upon them. Nay, they all seed to be looking forward to it. Though their reasons may be different, ultimately each side: the adventurers and the rcenaries as well, saw the opportunity of a lifeti in the next month of their ti they all agreed to spend in this wasteland.
As the last of the missing rcenaries stepped out, the situation suddenly turned for the worse. The portal, the [Gateway] abruptly lost its luster, its light dimd, and with it began to lose its form, and shrink at a swift pace.
Startled by the sudden shift, the group looked worriedly at the dimming portal, nervous, agitated, and worried about the last, and probably the most important person that had yet to cross through and step over to this land.
Yet, even as the portal lost its shape, as it slowly but surely began to shrink back to its original tip of the needle shape, no ripples were made to the surface, neither friend nor foe crossed through. Nothing and nobody ca, even as the portal returned to its original size and with a plop, vanished from their sights.
"Wait… What?!" Lily asked with a shocked expression. "Where's brother?!" His tone was worried, carrying a hint of growing hysteria.
"Uhm…" Captain Don frowned, his brows danced to a somber tune creasing higher up on his forehead. "Sothing must have gone amiss. Maybe he was left behind as the portal closed for so reason?" He suggested.
His suggestion was shared by the rest of his part of the group, the rcenaries nodded at his words.
"Yeah, don't worry miss! He probably is still standing there, waiting for those old fogeys to reopen the portal so he can co through!" One of the rcenaries, a woman with shoulder-length light brown hair pulled into a small ponytail said with a compassionate tone. She smiled warmly at the worried-looking blond half-elven teenager.
To her, and the other's surprise, however, a clean gentle voice joined into the fray.
"No, that's not the case. Young Master is here in this world, in fact, he seems to have arrived slightly ahead of us." Standing behind Lily and currently busy attending to the canine brothers, Sam and Biggy, Galina spoke up. She kept her attention on caressing, rubbing the back of Sam who was visibly enjoying the surplus attention.
Her sudden, abrupt remark caused Lily to startle and jump up. Quickly she turned around and went closer to the girl. Her look was weirdly emotional, as tears were already swelling up at the corners of her eyes. Clearly, the traumas she had suffered before have not gone without doing permanent damage to her heart.
"What did you say?!" She asked as she leaned closer to the girl. "Brother is here? H-how do you know? Are you s-sure?!" She stuttered mid-way with her array of questions.
"I guess she has a connection with Aiden, Lily." Before Galina could reply, Sara who was standing at the back and so far was busy inspecting the place where the portal had just closed prematurely, decided to speak up and join the conversation. She approached the girls, taking Lily's right side as she crouched down and gently reached for her back.
"After the last few days, I have already been suspecting sothing was going on. They were strangely always in sync, knowing each other's thoughts and feelings. When he was mad, or angered, she… "Sara looked at Galina who was still looking unaffected by the proclaim. "…she also reacted similarly. Her ever-present smile souring, she donned a matching, serious outlook almost instantly."
Then as if rembering sothing, a filial smile spread across her face, she gazed at Lily's tear-filled eyes.
"In fact, I rember you have a similar connection with him. Didn't you once been taken hostage?"
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