Unleashed (The Gate Chronicles Book 3)

Chapter 1: Warehouse

Ryder stared at the abandoned warehouse as it gleamed in the moonlight. She glanced over at her companion, then back at the warehouse. The silver tones of the metal in the moonlight contrasted starkly against the shadow the warehouse cast upon the dirt and gravel surrounding it.

"Ryder?" Her companion edged closer. "What are we going to do now?"

She was the senior agent on this mission, so she had to make a decision now, she reminded herself. "We're going to... We're going to check out the warehouse." She glanced back at her friend.

He was just a techi most of the time. Her superiors wanted him to learn how to handle being part of a field mission though because, technical wizard or no, he needed to be able to handle weapons and the real world to be of any use to them.

He cleared his throat softly and nodded. "Course... I'll go first." He stepped forward to walk into the open, but Ryder yanked him back.

"You can't just go barging out into the open, idiot!" Her voice was a low hiss. "It's a good way to get yourself killed. And you aren't going first. I am because I'm the senior agent, and I know more about this stuff. You might know how to shoot a gun, but have you ever used it to kill something?"

He blanched, but tried to paste a brave smile on his face. "There's a first time for everything."

"Well, a potentially dangerous situation isn't the best time for the first time if we can help it, Kane." Ryder glared at him. "And there won't be a first time for anything if you blow yourself to smithereens."

Kane huffed. "True. But what is a good situation for a first time if a life-threatening..."

"Kane?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up. We need to figure out whatever we can about this anomaly and report back to General Donnovan." She glared at him. "No time for squabbling about morals or the best times to do different things. Okay?"

Her friend sighed and stared at the ground. Eventually, he conceded with a short nod. "So what do we do? If we can't just go walking out there, what are we supposed to do instead?"

She shrugged. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve." Ryder pulled a sack full of sharp objects from her pocket.

"What's that for?" Kane stared at the pouch. "How is a pouch full of... what are they? Rocks? How is that supposed to help?"

"Well, it'll check for any normal land mines. Most of those are pressure activated. So if they get hit hard enough with one of these, they'll blow. And it won't blow us up..."

"But we were sent to scout out an anomaly in the Balance, Ryder. If there's anomaly, that means magic. And that could mean magical snares."

"Could... Unfortunately, I have no handy gismos to deal with this strange of an anomaly. Donnovan knows more than both of us about magic, and he couldn't determine what it was. If it's strong enough to hide its real purpose and identity from Donnovan, it can set traps that we won't be able to hinder. That's the way it is." She crouched close to the ground and tossed the first pebble out in front of her.

Nothing happened, so she stood and walked gingerly over to it. She examined the ground in front of her for any signs of fortifications or digging. There were none, so Ryder pulled the next stone from her pouch and threw it at the next spot.

They continued this way without obstruction until they reached the door. Ryder was puzzled by the lack of any sort of trap. Perhaps the anomaly was just that. An anomaly and nothing more. It had already disappeared off the map for a while before Donnovan sent her and Kane to investigate. Perhaps it was already gone.