Chapter Twenty-Three: Senior Trip | Part 5
Seerla slipped out of the carriage as soon as it stopped at the portal junction. Rhea, Benn, and Thirtyx dawdled with their bags to the point where the unnamed raven returned to the doorframe, cawing impatiently.
“Settle your feathers,” Rhea snapped. “We’re running a very delicate operation, here… Emarren?”
In a blur of wings, wind, and purple sparks, the suitcases became airborne. Thirtyx and Benn managed to dodge them, but Rhea’s bag knocked her shoulder on its way out the door. “Owww!” she cried again. “I didn’t know the senior trip was so violent!”
Benn hopped out of the carriage. “It wouldn’t be if you stopped harassing people.”
“Oh, Varria knows I’m kidding. Don’t you Var—”
Both birds had vanished.
They rejoined the avian escorts at the door of a nondescript concrete building, where two different guards—not affiliated with the palace—counted the entrants on an abacus.
“Do portals always have this level of security?” Thirtyx could still feel one guard’s glare on his back as they moved into the holding chamber.
“Well, if you had taken the time to read my project on feral portals…” Benn tutted. “The guards are there to make sure everyone remains accounted for and takes the proper precautions.”
“Precau—”
Thirtyx’s question died on his lips when he spotted Professors C and Lessel offering cups of greenish liquid to students. They didn’t hold his attention long, though. He soon found himself staring at the pair of massive wooden doors set into the opposite wall, about three times his height and just as wide.
“Oh, right! This is Thirtyx’s first time off-world!” Rhea squealed. “You’re going to love it. The air feels different—especially the heat, depending on how and where the planet gets its light. And you get to look up and see different moons. How many does Vursanne have again?”
“Five.” Professor C appeared beside them with a tray of cups. “Don’t drink these until we say so. The potion needs to stay potent until you’ve walked through. It convinces the portal you aren’t hostile—because even if you aren’t hostile, feral portals are fickle.”
As Professor C wandered away, Benn eyed his cup with excitement and Rhea eyed hers with trepidation. Thirtyx felt something in between. “Did our classmates know they’d have to drink green sludge when they voted for this experience?” he asked.
“You know, it’s funny.” Rhea lowered her cup to her side so she could ignore its contents. “I’ve only heard, like… two other seniors say they picked this. Maybe they’re all lying because they didn’t want to publicly admit a feral portal sounded cool.”
“How could it not sound cool?” Benn cried. “We can’t prove a feral portal has sentience, but we can’t prove it doesn’t. And since portals aren’t supposed to have anything that resembles sentience, it’s stumped magic theorists for decades. The chance to experience one up close is… is… is…”
They never found out what it was because Professor Lessel’s magically amplified voice called everyone to attention.
“Thank you all for your patience and cooperation as we made sure everyone had a potion,” she said. “Before we proceed, I need to reiterate that you absolutely cannot pass through this portal without drinking the entire dose we’ve given you. Sure, it looks revolting—and I won’t lie, it tastes revolting too. But it will be far more revolting if the portal turns on you mid-journey, rips you in half, and sends your legs to Vursanne and your torso back here. So, no hiding your cups. No pouring it out. If the portal chooses to murder you, so help us, we will find a necromancer to reanimate you so you can explain it to your parents.”
Thirtyx and Rhea spotted each other eyeing their cups with matching looks of unease.
“That said, it’s time to drink,” Lessel continued. “The station staff will open these doors while the potions get into your system, then we’ll bring you through a few at a time. Bottoms up!” She made a show of tipping her own cup into her mouth.
