Dae grabbed the edges of his dark coat and stepped out into the hallway, following her fading footsteps.

  They reached the massive open courtyard. General Kael and the Demon Riders were already waiting, their movements efficient and silent from long practice. The two hundred elite riders sat atop their armored mounts in perfect formation.

  In the center of the courtyard stood a massive structure of carved stone and dark metal, humming with a low, vibrating energy. The teleportation gate.

  Dae walked toward his warhorse, expecting Elara to step aside and see them off. Instead, she swung herself onto the saddle of her own horse, her travel cloak settling around her.

  Dae paused with one foot in his stirrup. He looked at Kael, who stood exactly where expected, posture unchanged. The general simply raised a single scarred eyebrow.

  Before Dae could ask what was going on, the heavy courtyard doors groaned open. Lord Bealor strode out, his hands clasped behind his back.

  "Prince Silver," Bealor called out, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "The gate is aligned. It will drop your forces precisely at the edge of the border zone."

  "Good," Dae said, pulling himself into his saddle with lazy confidence. "Let's get this over with."

  "There is one final matter," Bealor continued, his gaze shifting to his daughter. "Elara will be accompanying your vanguard."

  Silence dropped over the courtyard. The Bealor guards nearby stiffened, and even Kael turned his head slightly.

  Dae frowned, dropping his arrogant act for a fraction of a second. "Excuse me? Why is a noble lady coming to an active military border where three scouting teams just disappeared?"

  Bealor didn't miss a beat. "Because, Your Highness, the Bealor bloodline controls space. Opening a long-range path requires immense preparation and power. Spatial folding is only instant if it is properly anchored. If you and your men wish to return to the capital quickly once the threat is eliminated, you will need someone on the other side capable of manipulating the space to open the return gate."

  Dae stared at the old man. The logic was sound. If they didn't have a Bealor with them, they would be stuck riding horses back for months. But looking at Elara, who was staring blankly at the horse's mane as if she were waiting for death, Dae felt a massive headache forming behind his eyes.

  "Fine," Dae muttered, shifting in his saddle to look annoyed instead of panicked. "But if she gets in the way, I'm not playing babysitter."

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  "See that you keep her safe, Prince," Bealor said, ignoring the insult. "She is the future of our house."

  Elara didn't react to her father's words. She simply raised her hand, her pale, slender fingers glowing with a faint, silvery light. The massive stone gate in front of them roared to life, the empty space within the archway twisting and tearing open to reveal a swirling vortex of dark energy.

  "The path is open, Your Highness," Elara said, her voice completely devoid of life.

  Dae swallowed the lump of pure dread in his throat.

  "Move out," General Kael commanded.

  Dae spurred his horse forward, plunging into the twisting vortex of the gate, praying his body memory knew how to survive what was coming next.

  The moment Dae's horse crossed the threshold, all sound vanished.

  There was no wind, no sound of hooves striking stone. Instead, he was plunged into a tunnel of swirling silver and black light. The sensation was nauseating—like his body was being stretched and compressed at the same time.

  Behind him, he could faintly see the silhouettes of General Kael and the Demon Riders flowing into the slipstream.

  Then, a sudden, piercing chime echoed in his skull.

  A translucent red screen violently shattered his vision.

  [ WARNING: Dimensional Tear Interference Detected! ]

  [ Spatial Pathway Destabilized. Integrity: Critical. ]

  The silver tunnel around them suddenly cracked like a massive sheet of glass.

  A violent surge of dark, jagged energy ripped through the slipstream. The spatial pressure instantly multiplied a hundredfold.

  Dae's warhorse let out a horrifying, soundless shriek. Before Dae could even react, the crushing gravity of the collapsing portal ripped the beast right out from under him, tearing the poor animal away into the dark void of broken space.

  "Woah—!" Dae yelled, his stomach dropping as he was thrown into a sudden, chaotic freefall.

  Around him, the vanguard formation shattered. Soldiers were violently thrown off their course.

  "Your Highness!" a roar cut through the vacuum.

  Dae spun wildly in the void. General Kael was diving through the collapsing silver light, his scarred face twisted in absolute focus. The veteran warrior stretched his armored hand out desperately, trying to snatch the prince out of the crushing gravity well.

  Dae's shoulder burned as he forced his arm backward, his fingertips swiping through empty air. Just an inch. A single, impossible inch separated his glove from General Kael's reaching hand.

  Before he could lunge again, a jagged red fissure tore through the space between them. The resulting shockwave hit Dae like a physical wall of heat. His ears popped, and the force violently hurled Kael backward. The general's eyes widened in raw horror just before the dimensional fracture snapped shut, swallowing the veteran warrior whole.

  Then, there was nothing. No light. No sound. No Kael.

  Dae plummeted into an endless, lightless gorge. His heart hammered wildly against his ribs, pushing so high into his throat that he couldn't swallow. His lungs seized. This is it, his mind raced, the arrogant prince persona completely evaporating. I'm getting to die!

  Then a sudden, blinding flare of silver pierced the black.

  "Prince Dae!"

  Fingers clamped around his wrist with bone-bruising force. A violent upward jerk nearly popped his shoulder from its socket.

  Dae blinked. Elara hung above him. Her heavy travel cloak was torn into ragged, fluttering strips. The dead, vacant stare from the courtyard was completely gone. Her pale face was tight, her jaw clenched tight, and her eyes burned with a fierce, blinding luminescence as she physically forced the shifting spatial currents to bend around them.

  "Hold onto me!" her voice cut through the roaring vacuum. "Tightly! If we separate now, the pressure will crush you!"