Chapter 40 - Tension

Unfortunately, his inner complaints had no effect on the soldiers. Damian and the other youths were all summarily ushered out of the room. Behind them, the alarms continued to blare as the most powerful people on the base continued to flood into the embarkation room.

The last thing Damian saw before the doors closed behind them was the appearance of a shimmering blue force field covering the Astralgate's event horizon.

Then, they were out, seemingly safe, but the alarms continued to blare.

"Stay here!" one of the soldiers growled before they all ran off to fulfil their duties, obviously having better things to do than babysitting some privileged brats.

And… that was fair. One look at the varied expressions of his so-called peers told Damian exactly how much they cared about the soldier's orders, causing him to smirk. They were absolutely not used to being ordered around by non-family members, and they had some strong emotions about this. The hallway they found themselves in quickly turned chaotic.

"Forget this! I'm getting out of here!" one of the more cowardly among them cried out, instantly beelining in the direction of the exit.

"Couldn't agree more!" another exclaimed and quickly followed, expensive clothes fluttering behind them. "I'm definitely not staying here to fight Zhra'karn berserkers or Xelthari spellsingers!"

These names sparked knowledge inside Damian's mind, as one of the things he'd done this past week was cramming himself full of knowledge about anything he might encounter off-world, including their rival species.

Berserkers and spellsingers, for example, were elite troops among them. It wasn't surprising these youths knew of them as well, as this kind of knowledge would be heavily focused on during their training for this assignment.

Unfortunately, it was hard to train or test for bravery at a time like this…

Still, only a handful more followed these two. Everyone else seemed far more excited, curious, or worried. Instead of running for the exit, they headed for the viewing room, where, for some, their family was located.

Of course, Damian was no different. And, as it turned out, neither was the Moonkin youth.

Curiosity twinkled in his eyes as he sprinted with the others toward the viewing area. Along the way, frantic soldiers ran everywhere to fulfil unknown duties, completely ignoring the youths. Alarms continued to assault Damian's ears as lights flashed everywhere and orders blared from the intercoms.

"I'm surprised you're still here, Guttersilk," a voice suddenly growled from Damian's side. "Usually, your kind runs the other way!"

Glancing to his side, Damian smirked a little at being called Guttersilk. It was a rather common slur for Bloodkin, supposedly alluding to the Bloodkin's pretention of class, despite actually belonging in the gutter.

It was the Moonkin youth who'd elbowed his way to Damian's side and now sneered at him with disdain. Surprisingly, he actually possessed silver hair and eyes, just like Luna, meaning his family had to be somewhat closely related to the main Lykos bloodline. Yet, here he was, sent on a dangerous assignment like he was of no importance.

'Curious,' Damian muttered in his mind with amusement. Outwardly, he simply smiled lightly and shrugged. "And I'm surprised you're not running on all fours like beasts usually do. I guess we're all living in interesting times, huh?" Inwardly, he chuckled softly to himself. 'I'm sure Luna will forgive me…'

"You—!" the Moonkin snarled and swiped at him, but Damian sped up to avoid the attack, crashing into the observation room. Guards standing on either side of the door nearly attacked him and immediately started yelling orders and obscenities.

Damian ignored them, however, because he knew what was behind him. Indeed, before they could stop him, ten more youths crashed through the door, overwhelming the tense guards.

"Dammit, what the hell are these brats doing here?! Can't they see what's going on?!" one yelled as he tried and failed to grab one of them.

"Just leave 'em'!" another growled as he closed the door again. "It's not worth tangling with their families. Just continue your duty!"

Meanwhile, Damian beelined for the glass, completely ignoring Lex's relieved parents and focusing on what was happening in the embarkation room. Around him, some of the other youths sought the comfort of their family, while others did the same as Damian, including the Moonkin youth.

Yet neither he nor Damian was interested in continuing their earlier confrontation. Their eyes were glued to the Astralgate, which they'd arrived just in time to witness activate.

As sound was unable to pass through the glass, they could no longer hear the thrumming, but they looked on with wonder as a kind of blue puddle formed within the Astral gate's stone ring. "That's… pretty cool," both Damian and the Moonkin next to him muttered at the same time.

Both of them glanced quickly at each other, Damian with an amused smirk, the Moonkin with narrowed eyes. Yet, they almost immediately turned back to look at the spectacle below.

After the gate opened, every soldier pulled out a similar, gun-like catalyst and pointed it at the unknown. At the forefront stood Commander Yellowmane, who held a large, two-handed hammer instead.

Damian looked at the commander's catalyst and remembered that only high-ranking military personnel could request personally crafted catalysts rather than receive generic ones.

Everyone turned their attention to the gate and the shimmering shield covering it. Supposedly, if anyone tried to enter the wormhole now, they'd simply disintegrate against the shield and die, but… no security measure was foolproof.

The tense moment continued for one second… two…

Suddenly, the shield disappeared, and gasps were heard across the viewing room. Down in the embarkation room, the commander immediately turned grim. Palming his hammer, he continued to look straight ahead while barking something into a communication device.

The viewing room watched with bated breath, wondering what would come through that gate and why the shield had been deactivated.

Another two tense seconds passed, during which Victor Yellowmane continued barking into his communication device. Yet… with every word exchanged, he seemed to relax a little more. Eventually, he put away his communication device but continued holding his hammer as he looked sombrely at the gate.

Finally, another few seconds later, two people stepped out of the portal and into the embarkation room. Damian flinched a little in surprise. He recognized them…