Gate of Dimensions

[Act 1] Chapter 21: Beyond the Gate

Guinevere sat inside an intricately decorated litter with her Silver Hand bodyguards surrounding her in a tight square formation, raising the silk banners of the Arthurian Empire, creating an almost impressive display with their gleaming armour and longswords. She didn't wear anything too fancy, only a robe thick enough and ornate enough to be considered regal, but kept her crown on her head. Vera decided to ride on top of a white horse near the litter, raising her sword high, awaiting orders, and giving herself the mien of a battle-hardened warrior.

Sera and Cara sat within Werner's roofless car directly in the centre of the square formation, both fidgeting in the excitement in anticipating to be the first dark elves to go beyond a Gate to another civilisation's homeworld, a very rare event that will surely be written down in the history books of dark elven civilisation. On Werner's suggestion, they for once dressed modestly in robes with hoods. Unknown to them, Werner simply didn't want them to look like his whores as they sat right next to him.

Elaine chose to sit in a Zündapp's sidecar, calmly sketching the exterior of the Gate in all its details as well as the German forces. She was most excited to be able to sketch out what a German city looks like, but she feared she didn't bring enough lead. It was certainly a rarity for a magician to be able to get this close to a force from beyond the Gate without them attacking them. If Werner was truly going to help her, she was going to complete her studies quicker than any student ever could to become a full-fledged apprentice.

Erenn and his contingent of knights rode upon their horses at the rear of the column, much to the Archduke's chagrin. Just as Werner instructed, he didn't bring his entire army of knights with him. Instead, he brought only a few dozen of his most high-ranking and trusted knights, mostly the ones whose armour will shine the most under whatever sky the Germans had. The worst thing that could happen is that the Germans would see him and his men too intimidating.

The Gate itself pulsed blue energy in its interior, waiting for them to approach. Nobody knew the exact background of the Gate, only that it appears every few hundred or a thousand years to bring a new civilisation over. Many who came and or have been on the Continent for a long time theorised that it was the mages of the long-running Holy State of Magic, the oldest civilisation on the Continent, to have been the ones who created the Gate, but they have since denied it outright since they themselves have been studying it. That left with the simple fact that the Gate is an unknown entity of unknown origin that exists for a purpose unknown to everyone.

Guinevere savoured the sight of the massive gate and its decorations with as much glee as possible from her litter's front window, as it was the first time in a thousand years since the Gate had opened up. Even better, she was going to be the first of the House of Arthur to ever step foot beyond one. She made every effort to make sure her entourage recorded this moment with every little detail, right down to her reaction.

"It would be best if my men took to lead," Werner told, directing dozens of soldiers to the front. "They would be expecting German soldiers to come first."

Guinevere opened all her litter's windows to get a good view of everything happening before her. Her curiosity of the German homeworld reached its peak as she saw grey soldiers marching in disciplined formation around her column. It only made her wonder how grand the German capital city was for men to suddenly show such determination when going through the Gate.

"Excuse me, Werner," Guinevere called out, getting Werner's attention, "what are we to expect of your capital city? Is Berlin . . . huge?"

Turning back, Werner excitedly yelled out, "Huge is a complete understatement. Out of all the places during the civil war, Berlin was all but destroyed after we took it back from Hitler. We had to rebuild what was left from the ground up, replacing certain buildings with stronger concrete combined with certain metal alloys unmatched anywhere in the world, pretty much remaking Berlin with many designs by Albert Speer, another released Nazi. When comparing it to Guinevere, yes, it is indeed very, very large. Larger than large. It is colossal. Right now, it stretches further than it ever did before with a population of over five million."