They flew as fast as possible, but still only arrived to Flenburg when the sun set behind them.
The hippogryphs sat down near the outpost's wall, they wouldn't be coming to the other realm anyway. Bea got off of Alyrine and turned towards Kastral, who descended next to them. She reached out her hand and petted his beak.
"We will bring her back... I promise!" Kastral didn't seem to be too convinced, but nodded all the same, then turned away and flew to the sky.
"He's just angry that he can't help saving Seraphine..." Said a feminine voice inside Bea's mind. She turned towards Alyrine and scratched her chin feathers.
"Take care of them while we are away. And if things don't go as planned make sure you leave... Don't risk your entire species for us!"
Her eyes turned teary as she said it. Somehow she could tell, that they won't going to see each other for a long time.
With that done, the eight of them turned towards the outpost's main gate, where a bunch of guards looked at them with wide eyes. They didn't bother approaching slowly, everyone went as fast as possible.
The first one to arrive was strangely enough Sarah. Her transformed self changed a lot and now it incorporated the speed of lightning in itself, even she didn't know her new limit.
By the time Bea arrived with the rest, the guards were already minding their own business. This outpost was Castleburg's property, so when the princess appeared they didn't know what to do. Sarah told them that they have a hunt in the Realm of Boundless Frost, and non of them had the jurisdiction to stop her.
Without another word from anyone, even from the outpost's lead transcended... they went to the gateway.
These Realm Gates worked on a very special principle... flow. After years of trial and error the humans eventually figured out what could keep a gateway open. The first thing they noticed is that the gate won't close if something is on both side of it.
This can be any matter, or even energy. While a constant connection exists with both sides, the realms will stay connected. But the solution for the problem wasn't as easy as putting a long stick inside a gate because the portal's size will still decrease to the circumference of said object.
Strangely enough only specific kinds of energy works for it. For example light or magnetic fields don't suffice for some reason.
For them to be able to keep the gate open they needed a constant flow on every part of the gateway. It took scientist another year to figure out the method. When a gateway appeared and got secured, they built a frame around it from both sides.
These instruments had hundreds of thousand little energy transmitters, which were programmed to only send energy to specific points on the other side. It created a constant flow all around the gate and that kept it open.
'It made sense, since only people who are the best could get stationed in an outpost like this. It requires even more to get an assignment in a different realm.'
With confident steps Bea approached them and asked, "Have you seen a golden haired, white armored woman came through the gateway?"
The trio looked at each other with raised eyebrows, but didn't say a word. Bea just sighed and was about to look for someone else to ask, when a fourth person said, "Who was she?"
From the frosty air a figure appeared. He was a tall middle aged man, who has seen quite a few battles it seemed. The man expected some kind of decorum or a bow like the trio did, but Bea just stared him down, which was a bit ridiculous since the man was at least two meter tall.
The air between them started to tingle marking the possibility of conflict, but before the situation could escalate, Vicky poked her head out from behind Bea and spoke.
"She is my mother mister! If you could point us in the direction she went, we would really appreciate it!" The cold demeanor of the man quickly melted by Vicky's innocent voice, but even then there was a hidden pain in his eye.
'Sera probably killed a few of his men as well... *sigh* I hope we can still save her... I don't know what would I do if she was truly lost... Idiot! Don't even think like that! WE WILL SAVE HER!'
While Bea was convincing herself, the man answered Vicky's question.
"Yeah she passed through here not that long ago actually. We couldn't stop her from leaving towards the outskirts, I mean I could've but weren't near the base when she came out of the gate. What the reports had told us was that she left through the main gate, and headed straight to north."
'Straight to north? Isn't that where the Holy Phoenix was located?... Don't tell me she will try to fight it alone, without her wings!... We have to leave immediately!'
Vicky came to this conclusion about the same time she did, and after a quick thank you they excused themselves and went to the main gate where the others were already waiting. .net
Each knew the direction Sera went, and after a quick talk they began running the same way... north.
The Holy Phoenix was located quite far away from there, or at least it should've been. In truth the monsters in other realms acted a bit differently then on Earth. Here they liked to wander and explore, but most of all they loved to destroy.
This was one of the main reasons that a constant force was required to guard the realm gate on this side. Any monster could just either wander through or disable it completely.
And it also made the monsters' movements very unpredictable. By the latest scout report the phoenix was located about fifty kilometers to the north, but that estimate was made more than a few months ago.
But they weren't hunting for the phoenix right now, they were following Sera and since she went that way, they had to follow her metaphorical footsteps.