All was said and done, after that heart-wrenching speech, even the overly cautious hero would drop his guard for a moment. Not that I dropped mine, but at the very least I stopped complaining.
I started making plans instead.
A contingency plan to save them all or ditch them all.
’I think I should be able to afford to save them all...’
The only downside was the backlash to using Maggie’s ability. I had tasted it twice now. The first time was vague, like a half-remembered nightmare. The second time was clear enough for me to know I never wanted to experience any of that again.
And using that ability meant making Maggie suffer such a grueling burden. That was unfair. So the thought of using [Auto-da-fé] was out entirely.
But she had other abilities, and they were disastrous too.
I was looking forward to using them.
We traveled on a carryman, as Cressida called him. It was a closed carriage, and at dawn we were already rolling out, tearing through the narrow streets of the city. Soon enough, Los Arcos fell behind us and we entered the sprawling forest that lay to the south, the packed streets giving way to open road.
Through the forest I saw several people, travelers moving in both directions. Some rode local horses. Some rode beasts, massive creatures that made my heart beat heavily just looking at them. Imagining myself climbing onto one of those things was inconceivable. Others simply walked.
Despite it being so early that people had to travel with light orbs and strange lanterns, there were still plenty of people on the road. Though not as many as an urban area with white collar jobs, where everyone waited to catch the morning bus.
Nah, this didn’t even come that close.
After a few hours, we finally arrived at our destination. The carryman rider turned to us, to Milo in particular.
"This is how far I can go."
Milo smiled back at him.
"This much is very good. Thank you Allonzo."
They shook hands and bumped shoulders, half-assing a hug before the man climbed back into his carriage and turned his horses around. The horses were unique. Coiling muscles packed tight along their haunches, like they never missed leg day.
After the carryman left, Milo exhaled. His shoulders dropped, tension bleeding out of them.
The others were stretching, getting ready in their own ways. As for me, I was looking around, a small frown beginning to pull at my brows.
I wasn’t seeing any Spirit Gate.
’I hope this is not some random ploy to sell me off?’
I knew I was overthinking. There was no way they’d try to sell me off. But not seeing any gate right away was doing bad things to my nerves.
Milo turned his wrist over and checked the leather watch strapped there. He looked up with a smile.
"Okay, we’re still on time. If we start now, we should get there in three minutes."
I wanted to question where, exactly, but knowing that Milo had just asked for my trust, I suppressed my doubts and listened instead.
Milo spoke up, flashing me a handsome smile afterward.
"In this gate, we are really against time. The purpose is to find out how fast we can clear a C rank gate. We must not slack off, and if we are unlucky... I mean, very unlucky... then the true owners of the gate would come. When they enter, they will be very furious. That’s why our excavation team has been on standby since midnight. We enter together, and as we defeat the creatures, they’re excavating the resources."
He looked around, then turned and led us further down the path.
We headed north into the forest, going deeper and deeper. The trees around us began to thicken. Where there had been one tree every ten steps, now there were ten. They seemed to cling to each other, branches interlocking overhead, trunks pressing close. Without realizing when exactly it had happened, I found myself in a different place entirely. The scenery had changed. We were walking through some kind of natural tunnel formed by massive twisting vines that had refused to separate over decades.
We walked deeper into the tunnel. After some minutes, I began to notice light.
A reflection of light, rather. Strong. Pulsing.
’Oh shit, how long have we been trekking for daylight to catch up to us?’
But it didn’t take a second after that thought for me to realize I was wrong.
The reflection of light we were seeing came from a gigantic mass of blue swirling energy that consumed the center of the tunnel, blocking any further passage.
’Ah... interesting...’
Until I saw the gate again, I hadn’t realized I’d forgotten just how intimidating a massive spiritual portal could be. The thing hummed with power, casting shifting shadows against the vine-walls around us.
There were people waiting at the entrance of the gate, pushing smaller carts on wheels. As we approached, Milo greeted them and they all responded politely. They had no direct interaction with anyone aside from Milo, but they threw glances in our direction from time to time.
Milo spent a few seconds talking to one particular man. He had short spiky hair, a mix of black and gray, with a weathered face that had seen hard years. Strong build, thick arms, calloused hands. I’m sorry to say it, but he looked like he’d been specially built for this kind of labor.
They all did.
Milo came back to us and glanced over our group one more time. Then he said, casually, as if he were commenting on the weather:
"Alright then, we will be stealing this gate now. We go in first, the excavation team flows right through. I’ve also mapped out where the backdoor will most likely tear through, so we are safe."
He paused.
"But remember this is a race against time. If I know where the backdoor is, then Manhattan probably does too. The moment they find us out, we will certainly be in a deep roll of trouble pie."