Chapter 44: Through the Gate
Kaelen's muscles tensed as he struggled. The Abyss Dragon's claw was squeezing his ankle with incredible force, pulling him toward the dark chasm. The blue gate glowed brightly before him, as if inviting him to enter, but he was suspended between two worlds.
"Hold on!" Caleb yelled, gripping Kaelen's arm tightly.
Emily, Ethan, and Laila had already crossed through the gate, but they hadn't moved away. They were looking at Kaelen with eyes full of terror, unable to do anything.
"I can't... it's too strong!" Kaelen said, his voice breathless from the effort. His hands were slipping on the smooth stone of the gate.
The dragon growled furiously, pulling even harder. Kaelen felt a sharp pain in his ankle, as if the bones were about to shatter. He was on the verge of giving up, on the verge of falling into the void, when something unexpected happened.
The blue gate suddenly glowed a thousand times brighter and released a powerful pulse of energy. It wasn't just energy, but a wave of pure power that surged from the gate.
The pulse hit the dragon holding Kaelen directly. The beast let out a deafening shriek, a shriek of genuine pain this time, and its claw released Kaelen's ankle abruptly. The pulse was so strong that it pushed the dragon away from the gate, sending it recoiling through the air.
Kaelen seized the moment. With a final surge of strength, he pushed himself toward the gate. He felt as if he were falling into a void, then there was a flash of dazzling blue light, and then...
Kaelen fell onto solid ground, breathing heavily. The air here was different, clean and refreshing, and it smelled of rain and flowers. He slowly raised his head, expecting to see darkness and monsters, but what he saw made him freeze in place.
They were no longer in the abyss.
They were in a glowing forest. The trees here had glowing blue and green leaves, emitting a soft, beautiful light. The ground was covered in soft grass that glowed with the same colors, and strange-looking flowers bloomed with a gentle light. Glowing insects fluttered in the air, emitting faint, musical sounds.
The sky above them was filled with shimmering stars, but they were different from the stars they knew. There were massive, brightly colored planets floating on the horizon, as if they were artistic paintings suspended in the sky.
The gate they had passed through had completely vanished, leaving behind only a faint circle of blue light on the ground that was slowly fading.
Emily, Caleb, Ethan, and Laila were standing around him, their eyes wide, their faces reflecting a mix of astonishment and wonder. There was no trace of the dragons or the Commander. They were in a completely different place.
"Where... where are we?" Laila whispered, her voice barely audible.
Kaelen looked around, and a strange feeling came over him. This place was incredibly beautiful, but it was also utterly alien and unknown. Were they in another world? And was this gate their salvation, or was it just the beginning of a bigger, more dangerous adventure?