Standoff

The evening stretched into night, the sky bleeding into a deeper crimson. The air, instead of cooling with the descent of the sun, grew thicker and more oppressive, the strange heat at the mountain's peak only intensifying. It was a dry, scorching warmth that made every breath feel heavier.

Below, one of the guards shifted where he sat, rubbing the back of his neck. The other got up and started walking back and forth aimlessly. They no longer looked as idle - perhaps the heat was getting to them, too.

Up in the hideout, they sat uncomfortably. From time to time one of them opened their mouth to say something, but closed it resolutely after consideration. The minutes stretched into hours. The heat, and maybe something more, made them numb.

Fengyu's thoughts twisted in on themselves. His skin crawled where the creature had latched onto him. He swore he could feel it moving.

And the worst part? The grief. The ghostly remnants of the bird's agony lingered in his chest, like a distant scream that couldn't fade. It wasn't his pain, but he had felt it. Had lived it. The moment that light was ripped away, the moment its soul was devoured - he had felt it die. A shudder ran through him. He clenched his jaw, pressing his fingers into his forearm. He felt sick. He felt weak.

"Strength."

The word had been whispered directly into the marrow of his bones. An undercurrent of power surged through his veins, flooding him with clarity and awareness. His muscles tensed, and for a fleeting moment, he felt invincible. Like the weight of the world could be shifted with the mere strength of his will. He could feel it, seeping into every corner of his being, infusing him with an energy that wasn't his own.

And then, as quickly as it came, the surge of power ebbed, but he did not feel hollow any more. The very essence of the power remained within him, steadied him, grounded him.

Fengyu closed his eyes, taking in a breath.

The chaos of the recent events faded to a dull hum in the background of his mind. For a brief moment, he felt a flicker of something almost like peace.

Great, the very reason of his distress becomes the solution to it. Call it irony!

"Are you alright?" asked Kaelyn.

Were any of them alright?

"What happened to your arm? You keep scratching at it" she added.

Ah, that is what she noticed. He seemed to have developed a nervous tick.

"Oh, I think I must have touched some ingenious plant or something. I have an itch. It's just annoying." He tried to brush her off nonchalantly.

She tried to judge how serious his condition was and what it was that he was hiding.

Mokai chuckled, "Not a soldier type, eh?"

"No, not at all" Fengyu grinned at him, happy for the distraction. "So what's now?"

"Now, we are waiting," answered Mokai.

Fengyu blinked, "???"

"For the gate to find whatever destination they want."

Fengyu blinked again, "???"

Mokai glanced at him, "You don't know how to operate the gates, do you?"

Fengyu shifted uncomfortably, a bit embarrassed. "The Soliraen gate... it's a one-way ticket. We only answer. So I never got myself interested."

Mokai sighed, trying to find a better sitting position on the rocks. "When you set the gates, you need to things: the origin and the destination. To find the proper incantation for the missile, you use a complex map maintained by the Magic Guild. Sometimes something happens and the maps become unreliable. Then a different missile is sent. Just as this one, I suppose. There is another complex map for these incantations. After a few hours the wished connection is established. And soon comes the update of the maps from the Guild."

Fengyu furrowed his brow, mulling over the information. "What is that incantation like? Do you remember any by heart?"

"Yeah, why? They are numbers in an ancient language."

"Numbers? How many?"

"Normally, 16. Some more for the second, probing missile."

"And there are 16 dimensions. For the connection you need from and to, and then the incantation from the map. And the incantation is 16 numbers… only 16 numbers are needed for the gates derived from 16 to and 16 from… It's like drawing a line between two places in space! From and to define the distance between them in each of the dimensions – that gives 16 numbers."

He paused to let that sink in. "The collision moved the starting point. Now, they know where the destination is, but the gate cannot reach it because it start from a different point. The incantation needs to be calculated again!"

"Make sense," said Kaelyn. "That is why Master Lira said to set the gates to zero back then."

"Right." Fengyu suddenly remembered Master Lira's words.

"I have never considered the details of it," murmured Mokai thoughtfully. "It is a pretty complicated thing that some scholars take care of. If you pay them enough they can teach you at the Guild. But it is really expensive."

"You said that happens often?"

"What?"

"That probing." Fengyu motioned towards the gate.

"Yes, it does happen occasionally."

Fengyu's eyes widened. "Does that mean the worlds collide - or almost collide - more often than we can imagine?"

All their eyes focused on him immediately. No… That was not possible. Silence fell before they erupted.

"And all this would the magic guild held from the rest of the universe!?"

"And called it magic?"

"Why?"

"For power. How much do you pay to the guild every year?"

"That is once again one of your wild speculations. Yesterday you were suspecting the Temple, today it's the Magic Guild." Mokai scoffed. "It is not exactly a secret. But the matter is really complicated and of limited use, unless you want to join the Guild or something. I am sure someone in Solirae knows how to do it."

"But what about the bird?" Seline's voice came soft in the silence that followed the outburst.

They all stopped and gazed back at the gates.

How did the bird fit in all this? Was it really just an absurd sacrifice?

Silence fell again in their hideout.

"There was something I had not understood in that book. The need for the life force to enrich all artifacts. The best source of the life force to create artifacts were the mythical beasts. That is why they became mythical. They were hunted till they disappeared… I could not believe it."

"Every artifact?" asked Fengyu.

He reached into his robes and extended his hand holding the little jade from the Temple.

"Each and every," confirmed Seline, following his gaze.

Mokai let out a breath. "Well, at least then the death is not some absurd ritual but simply fuel. Consider it like killing a pig for meat. Everybody does it and will probably do it till the end of the universe. Should we treat the beasts differently because they are so beautiful? Should they become pets? Cuteness is the line between pets and livestock. Or will you stop eating meat?"

Fengyu frowned, gripping the jade stone tighter. "You are oversimplifying things."

"Am I?"

"These creatures are not just animals. They are something more. We just do not understand."

He felt the shimmering mark on his forearm moving just slightly.

Mokai shrugged. "We do not understand. Possibly. Yet, they were and still are, apparently, hunted. Reduced to fuel for magic. There is always a line…"

Kaelyn, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "If the line is that thin, then what stops them from using us next? What stops them from using people, when there are no more beasts? There are always people below the line - the ones that you can spare." She looked at him fiercely.

Mokai opened his mouth to respond but soon closed it.

"There were stories… old, buried stories. About artifacts stronger than anything. About power that couldn't be explained. What if-" Seline stopped herself, shaking her head.

"What if they've already done it?" Fengyu finished for her.

Silence fell again.

Mokai scoffed.

"You're all jumping to conclusions." He looked annoyed at Fengyu and then Kaelyn.

"You and you…" he pointed at them in sequence, "and your suspicious theories. Cannot you just trust in the benevolence of humanity? Balance of universe? Anything? What kind of trash will you come up with tomorrow?" He burst out.

"Just focus on returning home, ok? This is enough to have on one's head for now. Don't you think?"

He crossed his armes and looked away over the crimson mountain tops. He looked very much like a sulking child refusing to being made to do chores.

Fengyu followed his gaze.

That was right. Why did all these thoughts live freely in his mind? When did it start? He was not like this. He was carefree, not bothered about the grand scheme of the universe. And suddenly all this wild ideas started coming.

It should stop. It should stop right at this moment. He sighed and lean backwards. He tried to find a comfortable position against the rocky backdrop but to no avail.

The minutes stretched again into hours. Soon, the dawn came. Soon, they become hungry.

Just as they had decided to go down to the village and scavenge some more food, a blinding flash came from the gates. The entire mountainside was bathed in a searing white light, casting stark shadows against the jagged rocks.

They turned as one, watching as the shimmering glass surface of the gates rippled and shifted, melting into a undulating liquid veil.

The connection was established.

But to where?

One of the men sprang to his feet, wasting no time before bolting down the path. Only one remained, seated near the gate, his posture tense but not alarmed. He simply stayed put, occasionally glancing at the gates or the path.

"Guarding from what?" Fengyu muttered under his breath.

"Not us," Kaelyn answered. "We had not been discovered."

"Then what?"

"A stray animal?" Mokai's voice was low.

They have not seen any animals on the mountain top.

"Or maybe, whatever is supposed to come through that gate."

"We should go," Fengyu motioned at it.

"Are you crazy? We do not know where the gates lead to."

Kaelyn looked at him like one looks at the village fool.

"Yeah. But it is the same for this place. And there will be no better opportunity to leave this world. We don't know the coordinates, and we don't have the envelope for the missile. We should take it when the gates are connected."

He knew the idea was stupid, but staying was also stupid.

Mokai gazed at him and then at the gates.

He could not believe himself to be considering such a preposterous idea. But, to be honest, was there a better one? They should leave this world with the first opportunity, otherwise they would stay here forever.

"Let's go." Seline, up and ready, measured the rest of them with an impatient look. "Come on! Let's go home."

The way down was steep, full of loose rocks. They made it slowly, careful not to make any noise.

The guard was unalert, his attention drawn more to liquid surface of the gate than any potential danger. Routine duty, nothing more.

Mokai reached him first. He placed a hand over his mouth, his other arm wrapping around his neck in a swift, tight hold. The guard's struggles were brief, a soft grunt escaping him as he tried to free himself, but Mokai's grip held firm. Within moments, his resistance faded, and he collapsed limp.

"Why did you fussed about it?" asked Fengyu. "There is nobody here he could alert. He could have screamed all he wanted."

Mokai looked around as if surprised. "Right, I haven't thought about it. The training kicked in." He admitted slightly embarrassed.

Fengyu chucked and move past him. With the next steps he felt it. The unmistakeable pull of the connected gates. The liquid surface extended its tendrils as if inviting to come closer.

"Here we go again," he said. He felt the energy drawing him up to the liquid surface. The ground vanished from under his feet and the already known rush of motion set on.

However, the journey did not feel entirely like the last time. Colours didn't blur into a chaotic stream like before - they slowed, unravelled, each hue stretching out like threads in a tapestry. He could see every detail, each strand of light, each flicker, as though the fabric of reality itself was unfolding before him. The edges of the light bled into one another, creating patterns he couldn't understand, but they felt strangely familiar. The world around him, once a fast-moving blur, became a slow-motion spectacle. He could almost taste the air, see the subtle shifts around him, as if he was tuned into something deeper than before. He stretched his hand, amazed, trying to touch the colours. He could sense the layers, the connections, the delicate threads that held everything together.

And then, just as quickly as it had started, the sensation snapped back. The fast-moving blur of colour returned. On this background he noticed an object drifting leisurely, on his eyes level – the probing missile.

Possibly it contains information about the coordinates, his mind promptly offered another wild idea. He reached out immediately to catch it, but missed it.

The gate spat him out.

The world slammed into focus around him, his feet landing on solid ground. The dizzying sensation was gone, replaced by a disorienting weight as he tried to find his bearings. His right forearm was on fire. He doubled over, cradling it to his stomach.

Behind him, he heard Mokai rolling onto the stone floor. He turned and glimpsed something in his hand. The probe. Mokai did catch it. He managed to grin, if only in his mind. This time Mokai did not land so gracefully as before. Seline and Kaelyn appeared behind him.

Fengyu looked around, still cradling his forearm. They were in a stone chamber, ancient and worn, the walls marked by cracks and weathered edges. The gates resembled the ones they had in Solirae – a simple stone archway embedded into the wall.

Wherever they were, this was not a chamber meant for important visitors. This was a back door, a servant's entryway, tucked away from the main pathways.

The low ceiling, dark and oppressive, gave the room a cramped feel, though it was large enough to store a number of items. Old crates and boxes were stacked in corners. A rusted iron door, half-open, led to a dark passage.

He could hear indistinct voices from the passage beyond, muffled but growing steadily clearer. Someone was making their way toward the chamber.

"As I told you, Master Brug, the gates flashed all of a sudden and the connection was established. It's a probing missile, but uncertain from where. I thought it best to inform you before alerting the reception desk upstairs."

"Hmmm.." came the affirmative murmur.

Fengyu looked around for a place to hide.

"Anything coming through?"

"No, nothing before I left to inform you."

The footsteps halted, as if the approaching figures had sensed something. A tense silence filled the room, broken only by the distant sounds of movement beyond the chamber.

"Reveal."

Fengyu felt a sudden, searing heat against his chest, as though a ball of fire had lodged itself there. His hand reached for his robes, fingers fumbling for the jade amulet. As soon as he grasped it, the heat seemed to intensify for a moment before stabilizing. The others must have felt it too, as they too pulled out their pedants. Mokai a bit slower as he was busy inspecting the missile.

"Ahh, the Mytharok lot," came the voice from the passage and the door swung wide open.

In the doorway stood a mage. This time a real one. The unmistakable insignia of the Magic Guild was embroidered on the lapels of his robes, gleaming in the dim light. His bearing was sharp and arrogant, a posture Fengyu recognized from their infrequent visits to Solirae. He was not a low ranking one, which stand in contrast to his visit to this forgotten chamber

 Were they in the Magic Guild? Why was this one informed first, before making an official alert? What was the name again?

Master Brug's gaze swept over them with unconcealed disdain.

Play stupid. Play stupid. Fengyu's mind screamed.

He dropped to his knees.