The teacher led the class through the winding corridors of the academy, moving deeper into sections Jelo had never seen before. The hallways grew darker, the walls thicker, and the air felt heavier somehow, as if they were descending into something forbidden.
They were heading to the highly restricted section of the academy.
Jelo could tell by the way the corridors changed. The polished, sterile white walls gave way to reinforced metal doors with heavy locks. Security cameras were mounted at every corner, their red lights blinking steadily. Guards stood at intervals, their expressions stern and unyielding as the class passed by.
Finally, they reached a large set of double doors. The teacher scanned her wrist device, and the doors slid open with a heavy mechanical groan.
They entered a courthouse-like structure.
The room was vast, circular, with high ceilings that stretched far above them. The walls were lined with more security stations, scanners, and monitoring equipment. But what caught Jelo's attention was the center of the room.
There, standing tall and imposing, were the portals.
They looked like massive, circular frames made of some kind of dark metal, each one embedded with glowing blue runes that pulsed faintly. The air around them shimmered, like heat rising from pavement on a hot day. Inside each frame was a swirling mass of energy, blues, purples, and blacks twisting together in hypnotic patterns.
Jelo stared at them.
He looked around, noticing something strange. While there was a lot of tight security at the entrance, guards, scanners, multiple checkpoints, once inside, the security was surprisingly lax. There were a few guards stationed near the walls, but they looked bored, their attention elsewhere. No one seemed to be monitoring the portals themselves very closely.
He started thinking and plotting to himself. Could he come here later on his own if he needed to eat another Dabba heart? If he could sneak past the people at the door, he'd probably be able to enter by himself. The inside security didn't seem difficult to bypass.
It was risky, but it might be possible.
He filed that thought away for later.
As they walked deeper into the courthouse, Jelo's mind was still spinning with plans. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and suddenly he bumped into someone.
He stumbled back, blinking.
"Sorry," he muttered automatically.
The girl he'd bumped into just glared at him and moved on.
Atlas appeared beside him almost immediately. "You okay?" he asked, his voice low. "You seem kind of… lost in thought."
Jelo hesitated for a moment, then quickly gave an excuse. "Just nervous about the portal," he said, forcing a weak smile. "Never been through one before."
Atlas studied him for a second, his expression unreadable. He didn't seem to fully buy it, but he nodded anyway. "Yeah, I get it. First time's always weird."
Jelo nodded and turned his attention back to the front, where the teacher was standing beside one of the portals.
The teacher raised her hand for silence. The murmuring among the students died down immediately.
"Listen carefully," she said, her voice cutting through the room. "We will be entering a Dabba-infested zone. This is not a game. This is not entertainment. You are here to observe and learn. You will stay close to me at all times. You will follow my instructions without question. If you do not, you could die. Do I make myself clear?"
A chorus of nervous "Yes, ma'am" echoed through the room.
The teacher nodded and turned to the portal. She placed her hand on a console beside it, and the swirling energy inside the frame intensified, the colors becoming brighter, more violent.
"Single file," she commanded. "Enter one at a time. No pushing. No panicking."
The first student stepped forward.
It was Mira.
Jelo watched as she approached the portal with steady steps. While the other students had slight agitated looks on their faces, some shifting nervously, others whispering to each other, Mira looked calm. Composed. Like she'd done this a hundred times before.
She stepped into the portal without hesitation, and the swirling energy swallowed her whole. For a moment, her silhouette was visible, stretched and distorted, and then she was gone.
One by one, the other students followed.
Each time someone stepped through, there was a brief flash of light, and they disappeared.
Eventually, it was Jelo's turn.
He stood at the edge of the portal, staring into the swirling mass of energy. His heart pounded in his chest. He'd never entered a portal before. He didn't know what it would feel like. Would it hurt? Would it be disorienting? Would he end up somewhere else entirely?
He looked back at the teacher, who was watching him with an impatient expression.
Then he looked back at Atlas, who was standing behind him in line. Atlas gave him a small, encouraging nod.
Jelo took a deep breath, steeling himself.
And then he stepped forward.
-----
The process was different from what Jelo had expected.
He'd thought it would be scary. Or at least traumatic, or strange. Something unpleasant. But instead, it felt… giddy.
The moment he stepped into the portal, his entire body tingled. It was like all the atoms in his body were buzzing, vibrating at a frequency he couldn't quite describe. It wasn't painful. It wasn't uncomfortable. It was almost… exciting.
The world around him dissolved into swirling colors and light. He felt weightless, suspended in nothing. And then, just as quickly as it had started, it was over.
He stumbled forward and blinked.
He was standing outside the portal.
Jelo looked around, trying to get his bearings.
His classmates were all nearby, scattered in a loose group. Some were doubled over, looking nauseous. Others were staring around in awe or fear. Mira stood off to the side, arms crossed, looking as unbothered as ever.
But it was the area itself that caught Jelo's attention.
It was barren.
The ground beneath his feet was dry, harsh sand that crunched with every step. The sky above was strange, not blue like he was used to, but a sickly, harshly colored mix of orange and gray, like something out of a nightmare. The air smelled wrong, sharp and chemical, like burnt plastic mixed with sulfur.
Everything seemed chemically tainted.
In the distance, he could see the ruins of what might have once been buildings. Twisted metal frames jutted up from the ground like skeletal fingers. Chunks of concrete lay scattered everywhere, half-buried in the sand. There were no plants. No trees. No signs of life.
It looked like there had been a chemical or nuclear war.
Atlas appeared behind him, stepping out of the portal with a slight wobble. He steadied himself and looked around, his eyes wide.
"Damn," Atlas muttered. "This place is…"
"Dead," Jelo finished quietly.
A moment later, the teacher stepped through the portal. She looked completely unbothered, like stepping into a post-apocalyptic wasteland was just another Tuesday for her.
The portal behind them flickered and then closed with a soft hum.
A pang of panic rose in Jelo's chest. They were trapped here now. If something went wrong, if the portal didn't reopen
He forced himself to breathe. This wasn't the teacher's first class here. She'd done this multiple times. They were probably safe.
Probably.
The teacher clapped her hands together, drawing everyone's attention. "Gather around," she ordered.
The students shuffled closer, forming a loose circle around her.
The teacher began to walk, gesturing for them to follow. She led them through the barren landscape, pointing out various features as they went.
"This," she said, stopping beside a twisted metal structure, "was once a settlement. A small village, maybe fifty people. It was destroyed during the early days of the Dabba invasions."
She waved her hand, and a holographic projection flickered to life in front of them. It showed what the area used to look like, green fields, small houses, people walking around, children playing.
Then the projection shifted. It showed the Dabba attack. Massive, hulking creatures tearing through the village, destroying everything in their path. Flames. Screams. Chaos.
The projection ended, and the students stood in silence.
The teacher moved on, showing them more ruins, more projections. She explained how this place had been destroyed by the war. How the Dabba had ravaged the planet, leaving nothing but death and decay in their wake.
As they walked, the teacher's tone grew more serious. "Stay close together," she said firmly. "I can only protect you if you remain near me. This area is mostly cleared, but there are still rogue Dabba that wander through. If you see one, do not engage. Do not run. Alert me immediately. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," the students chorused.
Jelo's heart was pounding now, but not from fear.
Rogue Dabba.
That meant there was a chance, a real chance, that he could get what he needed.
He just had to figure out how.