At the same time atop an orange-brown teau, the air suddenly twisted, contorting unnaturally. A momentter a singr 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 singrity.


    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 ne, merging it with itself, gradually gaining more and more power as time went on.


    A bit of time passed like this before the little ck 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 membrane kept on growing, reaching out for new and new of the unimed space around it.


    The crazed expedition only began to dwindle once its imed territory reached the size of a spacious gate, reaching high up in the sky and, at the same time, iming much of the teau''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 armed doorway, a portal, the ritual-made [Gateway] opened upon an empty teau 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 some mercenaries appeared one by one through the rippling surface of the dimensional traversal spell. Youths that looked to be at the age of barely reaching adulthood, appeared together with what seemed to be their elders.


    The mercenaries, unlike the youngsters that were wearing a shining, morous, andvish-looking set of armors and clothing, were wearing age-worn, and battle-hardened attire. The sparkles have all vanished from their steel tes, reced by scratch marks left there through monstrous ws and a slew of sharp edges.


    As they appeared, the neers stood to the side, giving space to the next member of their colorfulpany to step on thend him- or herself as well. For over a minute, men and women kept appearing one by one, even a pair of ck-furred war hounds followed a blond, long-haired half-elven girl.


    They greeted each other with a heartyugh, a cheer, or in some cases, a hug. The atmosphere was ted, they all seemed excited, they didn''t seem to be scared of the big weight, the pressure ced upon them. Nay, they all seemed to be looking forward to it. Though their reasons may be different, ultimately each side: the adventurers and the mercenaries as well, saw the opportunity of a lifetime in the next month of their time they all agreed to spend in this wastnd.


    As thest of the missing mercenaries stepped out, the situation suddenly turned for the worse. The portal, the [Gateway] abruptly lost its luster, its light dimmed, 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 thest, and probably the most important person that had yet to cross through and step over to thisnd.


    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 came, 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. "Something must have gone amiss. Maybe he was left behind as the portal closed for some reason?" He suggested.


    His suggestion was shared by the rest of his part of the group, the mercenaries 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 cane through!" One of the mercenaries, a woman with shoulder-length light brown hair pulled into a small ponytail said with apassionate 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 ce 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 thest few days, I have already been suspecting something 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 proim. "…she also reacted simrly. Her ever-present smile souring, she donned a matching, serious outlook almost instantly."


    Then as if remembering something, a filial smile spread across her face, she gazed at Lily''s tear-filled eyes.


    "In fact, I remember you have a simr connection with him. Didn''t you once been taken hostage?"


    ---


    AN: Hey there Readers!


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