Wiping sweat from his brow, Cain hefted the lumber he was splitting apart on to his shoulder and headed back into camp. It had been two days since the group had realized they were locked inside the Gate, and the most important thing that needed to be done was to build a proper base camp. At least, that is what the civilians had decided on, and Bronn was in no position to deny them.

As such, any capable person that wasn’t needed on the front lines scouting was assigned to help collect materials. Cain had no idea why there were so many architectural aligned people inside the gate, but since he had a proper bed to sleep on again, he wasn’t going to complain. The ground had more hidden stones and bumps in it that he had thought possible, and his back ached for two days after his first sleeping foray.

“Cain! Drop that off and head to the Headquarters Building.”

Looking off to his left, Cain saw Brian waving at him. Holding his thumb up to show him that he was heard, Cain dropped off his portion of the wood and ran up the hill where the new Headquarters was situated.

“Cain Darkgleam, responding to summons.”

Dropping his salute, he nodded at Luke, who happened to be on duty again, and headed inside.

‘Poor sap, it seems like he is always on duty’

The Headquarters was the first place they had thrown together, giving Bronn an actual War Meeting room, as well as a few desks and places to sleep. There were still survivors wandering in even after two days, and until a place could be found for them, they normally stayed here for the first night.

“Looks like you’ve gained a few stats boy,” Bronn said, not even looking up from the paper he was reading.

“Hauling lumber from the forest does that I guess,” Cain responded, moving in front of the table, next to the others who were standing at attention. Off to his right stood Boulder and someone he didn’t remember seeing before today, and to his left were the leaders of the two recon groups.

“You’re too much of a small fry to actually be in here for this meeting, but I’m forced to do this because you’re currently the only one with a communication ability,” Bronn said, crumpling the paper and spitting on the floor in disgust. Cain let the thinly veiled insult pass, as there was no real way for him to refute that fact. A newly appointed four-star in the middle of a military conference when he hadn’t even passed the Academy?

In his dreams.

“Regardless, we need someone to report the surrounding area as quickly as possible so we can move out and begin looking for the exit. There is plenty of food and the like here, but people are going to lose morale really quick if we don’t do something,” Bronn continued standing up and pacing around the room.

“But before we start setting up teams, I need something from you and Boulder.”

Cain stared at Bronn, a slight shiver seeping up his spine. He knew what was coming, and he wasn’t about to enjoy it. The nightmares still haunted him. Looking over at Boulder, he could tell that he was in the same predicament.

“Plaguetooth, correct Sir?”

“Correct. We need as much information as possible. If there is no exit nearby, the fastest way to leave if to kill the boss. You saw that when you Awakened, didn’t you?” Bronn said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he spoke.

Cain gulped and swallowed nervously. He hadn’t realized that he had been associated with the event. Four-star people really couldn’t hide anything, could they?

“Yes, I did Sir. Although I was unconscious at the time, along with all the newly Awakened’s, I heard about the effect.”

“Good. Then what do you know?”

Cain sighed slightly and shivered again, closing his eyes as he began to speak before Boulder could open his mouth. The thing was terrifying, but Boulder had faced it’s killing intent head on as the read guard and it had probably scarred him mentally for the moment.

“First off, I would like to clarify I didn’t see any information with Observe besides the name. My level is too low for detailed information at the moment.”

That was a lie, but given where he was, Cain didn’t think it was appropriate to mention that right now. There were a lot of different flora and insects in the immediate area and the entrance to the forest that he had been using Observe on, and its level had grown quite a bit.

“However, Boulder and I didn’t need that skill to realize it was too strong for us. It... Plaguetooth...” Cain trailed off, shivering in place. Boulder spoke up as he stood there, startling Cain out of his own memories.

“It’s a wolf. A really big wolf. But it isn’t just a wolf. There were tubes attached to its back, connected to vials of green liquid. It looked like there was a muzzle on the snout, and from the speed it was moving, I could guess that there were chains on the legs, limiting the mobility. Otherwise there would have been no way we could have escaped.”

Bronn nodded slowly, obviously thinking to himself before turning to Boulder.

“What would you estimate the rank to be?”

“Easily equal to a Yellow Gate Boss, perhaps even closer to Green. The blood lust was definitely higher than normal,” Boulder replied, his face turning white as that memory came back to him. Cain had been at the front of the group with Maya, so he hadn’t felt it directly. Boulder on the other had had probably taken it head on and dispersed it for the group so that they wouldn’t be affected.

Nodding again, Bronn pointed at the map he had been working on when Cain first entered, which was now placed on the wall behind him. It was now filled in slightly more in the past two days, but there was still a lot missing.

“From the reports we have received after you got here, it seems the beast is moving to the south-west. I’m not quite sure why it skipped our area and turned away when it was following you, but there were minor earthquakes and terrified wild life approximately ten miles away, according to the scouts.”

Cain nodded to himself. Those signs added up with what they had experienced, but there had to be more effects than that... Unless the south-west wasn’t a hospitable area. As Bronn continued on, Cain turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

“I would say the limited mobility is a correct assumption. Ten miles in two days is extremely slow for a wolf, especially if it is the size that you estimate it to be. I will work on teams tonight, and we will head out tomorrow morning. The distance isn’t something enormous, but it is currently larger than we can travel in one day, at least when the area is uncharted. Dismissed!”

With that, the five exited the Headquarters, leaving Bronn to his own thoughts.

“A muzzle and green liquid, was it...?”

------

“Ms. Everdale, the reports you requested are here.”

Ariana waved a hand, not looking up from the piece of paper she was holding. “Put them on the table, thank you. You’re dismissed.”

As the door shut, she looked up at the setting sun and stretched her neck. Three days of research and reading, and absolutely nothing had explained this incident. The glow of the Yellow Gate against the sky pulsated, seemingly taunting her as she stared at it.

Turning away from the window, Ariana looked down at the new reports and sighed. Along with the ones she had requested, there were also papers she had to deal with from today. Picking them up, she sat back down and began reading them, hopeful none of them would require her signature. Looking at the first one, and preparing to skim it, she stopped and looked at the title again.

“Gate in Cavine mysteriously disappears.”

Ariana raised her eyebrow and turned her full attention to the paper. Cavine wasn’t anywhere near their city, but they were known for their science and experiments. There were actually a few researchers in the area that were from Cavine, which made the news all the more important.

“Disappears. Not closed, but disappeared...”