Yuriko had expected the experience of going through the portal in Synkrasia towards Siderious would have been smooth and instantaneous. After all, she witnessed the Warforged going through the portal one after the other, in quick succession. So the process should have been instant. But maybe, because those things looked practically identical to each other, she might not have noticed the gap.

Back then, she could see through the portal…or perhaps it had only been a reflection? When they went through a moment ago, it was through a hole in the air that was shrouded in darkness. She could feel something pulling her towards there though, that bump of intuition that had only grown stronger over the past year.

So when it felt as if more than an instant had passed, and they were covered in darkness, her first thought had been that something was wrong. But as the feeling of being pulled along a current, a feeling akin to floating under the River Caradec back at the beginning of the Haveenian aggression, she somewhat relaxed. But only until her perception aura began to feed her so many confusing sensations that her tummy began to churn and her head spun.

She hastily retracted all of her Anima, compressing it into a bubble of protection. Her hand still gripped Gwendith’s, and she hoped her friend had kept hold of Asami, and so on. Hopefully, they’d all arrive in Siderious holding on to each other…

And then, she felt the flow suddenly freeze. It lasted for less than a second, but her tummy definitely felt the sudden stop, and the sudden lurch into motion. She was half sure that the direction changed, but then, she’d never been through one of these before, and she definitely had never been to Siderious. She wasn’t even really sure what it was. A fortress? She had that impression from Damien’s thoughts, but nothing more than that.

The darkness receded and she could see. She was in a tunnel and all of them were floating in the exact centre. If she stretched her Anima, she could probably reach the edges, which actually looked like thick grey clouds passing by. Flickers of lightning provided the illumination, and there were constant arcs between the clouds, with some occasionally jumping across the tunnel. They were moving fast, unexpectedly so, now that she had a point of comparison. The arcs appeared in front of her, but by the time it finished its movement, it was already far behind them.

“What…?” she tried to say, but whatever was in between didn’t allow her voice to even leave her lips. She couldn’t even hear herself speak. She had no trouble breathing…? She wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t moving, either, now that she thought about it. She tried flexing a finger, but there was nothing. She was trapped. A helpless passenger in her own mind as her body careened down the portal tunnel.

For a long moment, she felt as if something was looking at the depths of her Anima, but the next, the sensation was gone.

The lightning disappeared, and the tunnel was back to darkness. She felt it twist and turn, making her tummy clench and squirm. How long has it been? She couldn’t tell. She couldn’t even blink, and her heart wasn’t beating. But she knew time passed. The tunnel twisted and turned, and she felt its every jarring movement. She felt herself grow nauseated and it was all she could do not to let her breakfast make an encore. Or maybe she wouldn’t be able to vomit even if she wanted to. Not here anyway. But after she exits the portal…she…no, all of them would probably be sick.

And sure enough, after an unknowable amount of time, the exit finally appeared. It was a circle of darkness that was nevertheless lighter than the inside of the portal tunnel, and Yuriko felt as if the space in front of her thicken. It slowed her and the others down enough that they didn’t fly out of the tunnel at speed, but it still spilt them all out in a heap.

“Blurgaaaah!”

To the sound of more than thirty men and women projectile vomiting. Yuriko barely mastered her impulses, though she did throw up in her mouth a little. The immediate stench of bile nearly undid her, but she flexed her Anima and threw herself away before she got covered

…but then, everyone else did get covered in vomit.

With her condensed aura, she wouldn’t have been soiled anyway, and their current location was pitch black. She expanded her Anima for light, feeling it strangely easy to do so. The chamber was filled with warm golden light, and the details finally appeared.

The tangle of vomit-soaked bodies lay in a heap a few paces from what looked like the portal structure. Or what was left of it. Yuriko’s eyes widened in horror as the circular structure began to glow with extreme heat, and then, started to melt.

“Gwen! Help!” she yelled.

But her friend was completely insensate, and Yuriko had to try saving the portal structure by herself. Her expanded Anima covered the metal, and she tried to pull the heat away. She failed, of course, as heat and flames were not her Ennoia. She tried to infuse Radiant energy into the metal rings, but that only increased the heat.

Helpless, she looked around for something to smother it, but the ground was solid stone. The large rings melted into puddles, but at least some of the support structures were still there.

“Oh no…” How were they going to get back to Rumiga now?

Shaking her head, she grabbed everyone still on the ground and pulled them away from the burning portal rings. A few had come to and were shakily getting on their feet. Gwendith was shaking like a leaf, and though Heron’s bronze skin looked pale, he’d gotten to his knees and was furiously scrubbing at his lips. The beastkin, Kassy, Rolland, Tuska and the rest, looked like they’d been hit with the worst effects, with nearly all of them rolling in the filth, at least until Yuriko dragged them away. The feeling Yuriko received from her Animakinesis was strange, and she felt the strain of using it like that. She had been sure to keep the weight she carried well within her established limits too.

The Imperial marine scouts, the leader of which had been the same one she’d first encountered, Seran Arkas, was the first of them to recover, but then, his face paled. Wisps of Animus bubbled out of his eyes and he stared at them in shock. Then…

“Ahh!”

Yuriko hurried next to Izna Weyr, Orrin and Braden’s friend from Haveena. The young man screamed again, as his hands scrabbled at his neck. He pulled out a pendant, from which wisps of Animus drifted out. The other Spirit Binder, one of the ex-guards from the convoy, Arman Phin, was shuddering on his knees. Wisps of his Animus were drifting out of a bronze bracer on his left arm, where she supposed his bound Spirit was housed.

The two of them weren’t the only ones. The marines looked uncomfortable, too, as did Orrin, Braden, Asami, and Saki, as wisps of Animus puffed out of their eyes. Sheamus was gritting his teeth, and his Animus was congealed around his rings and pendant.

Ancestors. What was happening?

“What’s wrong?” Heron asked Sheamus.

The older man grunted. “Somethings pulling at my reserves.”

“It’s like trying to keep water in my palms,” Braden yelped.

Yuriko exchanged glances with Gwendith and Heron. The three of them were the only ones not affected by whatever it was…or weren’t they? Pale pink Animus leaked out of Gwendith’s Anima, but the rate it…evaporated…was far less than the others. Heron’s Animus was well contained within his Anima, as was hers. Actually, she did feel a mild siphoning effect, but her Anima was too tough to allow her Animus to leak out like that.

“Gwen, condense your aura.”

“Oh!” Her friend squinted and did just that. Her Animus settled within the Anima and stopped leaking out.

“The rest of you, use the Field technique,” Yuriko commanded.

“How?” Izna grunted. “I’ve never learned that. I don’t know if Imperial techniques would help!” He swayed on his feet, “I’m feeling lightheaded…”

“Burning Moon!” Sheamus grunted. “What’s with this place? Where did you bring us?” he asked Yuriko.

“This should be Siderious,” Yuriko said slowly. “I…we’re looking for the Warforged…as well as something else…”

“Well, Ancestors! I hope whatever you find is worth it,” Sheamus grunted. He struggled to contain his Animus within his bound Spirits, but the wisps continued to puff out of him.

“I’ve got it,” Saki said confidently. “Invert the Field technique to keep the Animus completely contained. Plain Field works, but if you lose the slightest bit of control and whatever Animus you have there’s gone. Ugh, I’ve lost half my reserves.”

“I’m almost dry…” Izna moaned.

“You have to hold your Animus and keep a tight control of it,” Yuriko said as she gnawed on her lips. She hadn’t used the Field technique since just after her Atavism, but people had confused her aura enough times with that technique so she reasoned it should work. And, well, Saki proved it. She glanced at the marines and found them in seated meditation poses. All ten of them were Journeyman level, and with the Imperial Paths, their Animus should be mostly contained within their bodies by their inlays.

Another flare of light came from the side, and when Yuriko looked, it was Braden trying to keep an Animus light orb stable. It was wobbling and attenuating even as she looked, and the thing lasted only for a few seconds before the lumens burst out of his control and dissipated into the area.

“Let’s get out of here,” Yuriko muttered. Perhaps the trouble was the damaged portal. It was siphoning their Animus? She could see the wisps actually flowing towards the remnant spires and rods. The wisps clung to the tips, then began to flow downwards, into the portal base.

“No, that wasn’t it…” Yuriko muttered. When she activated Chaos Sight, she saw the Animus dissipate as it went downwards, and it never reached the portal base. Either way, they had to put some distance from where they were now, or all of them would be drained dry.

The marines looked relatively stable by now, and she saw Seran get back on his feet. He had his Plasma Caster ready, and it was interesting to note that the jade cartridge that stored denatured Animus wasn’t leaking.

She flared her Anima again while spinning on her heels to look for an exit. She found a corridor to her left and realised that the chamber was round-ish. The ground was covered in an inch of dust and rubble. Izna and Arman were still leaking Animus… ah, they bottomed out. Izna’s eyes rolled up and he fainted, while Arman, being a warrior, had probably trained to resist Animus exhaustion. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was covered in sweat, but at least he was conscious. One of the marines lifted Izna and settled him across the shoulder and they hurried away from the remnants of the portal. As they neared the corridor, Yuriko glanced back regretfully, then her eyes widened.

The loose Animus sparked from the rods, and glimmers of light collected around its vicinity. They clumped together, then, a long moment later, a rift in the air appeared. It was an ugly gash in the fabric of reality, of this plane, and beyond it, she could see flowing reds, grays, and blacks. Even worse, several rifts formed around the portal base, and then, something came out.

A massive fist clenched the rift’s edges, then another, on the opposite side. Then, it pulled the rift apart and stepped through. The creature was hunched over, with its long arms supporting its weight. It had body spikes sticking out of its back, and its fur was blood red. It was the eyes that riveted Yuriko’s. Gold and black in equal measure, and filled with cunning and bloodlust. It looked almost human save for the sloping forehead and prominent jaws. Lips peeled back and revealed razor-sharp canines. Then it spoke.

“Freedom.”

The words were Old Imperial, and the rest of the rifts tore open, revealing nearly a dozen blood-furred apes.