The Portal Soldiers

Chapter XXVII

XXVII

Cold Start

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The Juniors took a long walk to go farther. Elise brilliantly suggested they should not bring horses with them. It is because if they found their own horses, they will just be having an arduous time bringing those back.

"Oh, my God, what's that?" Tom asked, glimpsed at his boots under the snow's layer, and pointed at the irregularly shaped place where there is no snow at its ground. The thick white layer of snow and the brown dirt perfectly contrasts each other.

"Look at that big spot," Lance uttered and raised his left eyebrow. "How can it be that in the middle of a terrain covered with snow, there is a spot without snow?"

"This must be the Seasonless Spot," Elise explained while twisting the handle of her axe. "The Seasonless Spot is believed to be in the Southern part of Portland Goldens. It is a part of land where... where no season occurs. We're going South and that place has no snow, this must be it. I've just read it randomly."

"That's good you know those kinds of things, Elise," Amy told her and shifted her eyes on the others. "Let's continue walking while we will be planning."

Past the Seasonless Spot, the Juniors studied two maps held by Amy and Sally. One has dark brown spots and wrinkled texture that aged maps usually have, and the other has clear lines, readable labels, and smooth surface.

While everyone is taking a look at the two maps, Lance asked, "I don't really know where we a—where are we, anyway?"

"We are close to the edge of the map," William replied with a blank stare at the new map.

"How will we go back? I promised my mom I will come back soon," Lance said. "I can't afford wasting another four years for this mission!"

"There's no way we'll spend four years searching, Lance," Sally said, drew her sword, and thrusted it into the ground.

"We will use a portal," Elise stated.

"It's just..." Lance said. "You're right. I just can't relate to your skills."

No one tried to make a response to the previous words of Lance. The coldness seeped through the tiny holes of their jackets and sweaters, knitted or not. While walking, a rhythmic sound of footsteps came along with theirs. A sharp sound of a sword crashing through a metallic plate became a reason for their attentions to see what's happening.

"H—how?" William stuttered as everyone kept silent at the sight of Lance, thrusting his sword into the fake torso of a Kininva. Lance wrenched his sword from the frozen hole of the Kininva's surface.

"A Kininva?" Sally said while yanking her sword from the ground covered with snow.

"Shh..." Amy made the sound and gestured to her team. She pointed at the group of innumerous trees at their left side. While tiptoeing through the snow, they hid behind the broadest tree. From where they are a while ago, four larger-than-usual trucks are seen after waiting for something to appear. The largest truck's door opened, then a man in a casual outfit jumped down.

As the man who jumped stood up and threw his short cigarette away, his face became visible to anyone looking at him.

"Oh, look! Look! Loo—" Elise covered the noisy mouth of Tom, who exclaimed. When Tom got everyone's eyes, Elise removed her hand off of Tom's mouth.

Again, Tom spoke what he's about to say, but this time, it's in his low voice, "Sorry for my voice—it's so, so loud. I've got to tell you that that man looks like the fake Kininva."

"Wait... what?" William questioned Tom because the clarity of Tom's voice was not clear.

Tom took an emphasized deep breath and whispered, "I said I noticed that that," he pointed at the man beside the truck, "man looks like the man who used to pretend to be a Kininva. When we are at Delle's, remember?"

"Oh," some of them mumbled in understanding while Elise and Amy were trying to recognize the man.

"Tom's right," Amy said and briefly gazed at Elise. Amy and Elise looked back at the man and the four trucks. The rest of their teammates imitated their gesture. The whole Juniors fixed their eyes upon the man who jumped down the truck. The man stepped up the truck and tenaciously pulled the door to be closed.

Within a short period of time, the trucks made their way farther from the presence of the Juniors.

"I wonder who is that man," Elise commented and looked at Amy. Amy stepped forward and led her team into the deeper part of the group of trees. Elise was the first one to follow Amy, and everyone followed them through the dense and freezing trees.

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