The tankard was set heavily on the table. Jessica felt the warmth in her cheek. Her head was slightly spinning. She pondered over the discussion with Chala. That felt like a ritual, like she was officially his apprentice now. She squinted as she rewatched the details. He is right, I don't know enough to make decisions. She shook her head, disgusted with herself. Me, the ex-star student of the academy, the best scholar those walls ever had, according to the Grandmaster, I've rushed a decision and action without knowing all the facts. Her face grew determined. I'll learn everything there is to know about the hunters.
Chala quietly watched Jessica. She was so focused on her inner monologue that she didn't notice the attention. He had a small, satisfied smile. After a while, the female started to show signs of weariness, heavy eyelids, and yawns. The hunter's commanding voice startled her awake. "We're not done yet. Now that the whisperer has left, I need you to use your detection ability again. Push as far as you can. Scan the whole area. Report anything you find, even if it is small, even if it is insignificant."
Her eyes grew wide, hearing the order. She was already seeing herself lying down in bed and enjoying a well-deserved rest. I just want to sleep, she thought. But even the thought felt like betrayal, and she pushed it aside. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and extended her senses far beyond what she had ever done before.
For a moment, she was lost in the feelings, feeling the trees, the small traces of life scurrying on the ground, under it, above it. That's normal, I need to go further, I need to find something. She ignored the creeping, splitting headache, she just needed to reach a little more, just a little more. And then she felt it. A place in the distance. When she touched it, it didn't hurt, it tingled in a weird numbing way. She opened her eyes and saw Chala patiently waiting. The hunter raised an eyebrow in a silent question. The apprentice's voice lacked confidence. "I think, maybe, I felt something… I'm not sure… it felt … different."
Her mentor smiled, "Then we'll go investigate. You've done what no other hunter could ever do. Well done."
The young female looked down to hide the blush that enflamed her cheeks. When she looked up, her master was already walking toward the door. She hurriedly followed. Outside, the chill of the night welcomed her in a cold embrace. She looked around, confused, trying to match the real world with what she felt using her detection senses. She closed her eyes to check and found the weird tingly place. Then she opened her eyes and looked at Chala, "I'm ready, she said. The hunter smiled, "Lead the way, I'm right behind you. Let's hunt."
They walked for a long time. Jessica didn't see where she was setting her feet. She stumbled a few times and even fell twice. When that happened, Chala would just stop and wait for her to get up. Then, as she pushed forward, he followed. The young woman no longer needed to focus. The direction of the anomaly was clear, her whole body was tingling, and the sensation increased as they approached. "Do you feel it now?" She asked Chala, "We're close." It was too dark to see Chala's expression, but she could swear she heard a frown in his voice. "No, I don't feel anything." They continued in silence. Then Jessica stopped. "It's here." She looked around, "Though I don't see anything, maybe it is just me being tired." She heard Chala sit against a tree, his voice determined. "No, we wait. It's better to arrive early before the portal opens. There's less risk of the monsters escaping. Good job, recruit, you might have saved the whole region from suffering and death."
They waited in the dark for a long time. A sliver of moon rose over the horizon. Giving a sharper edge to half-seen shapes in the dark. For Jessica, there was no silence. The tingling got so strong she could hear it. "Chala," she said hesitantly, "I think it is soon." She heard a ruffle of clothes as he got up, his eyes shining in a ray of moonlight. He said, "Get back, Jessica, it is dangerous." She stepped back a few paces behind him. The forest grew lighter, a pale, flickering blue light making the shadows dance.
Then, a few feet above the ground, crackling blue lightning shredded the air. It looked like ever-moving snakes of deep blue and white electric current. Chala said, "Electricity, I don't think I've seen this kind before." Then he took his mentor's voice and addressed Jessica, "There are all kinds of portals, all with different creatures, all with different dangers." He looked at the blue crackling ball getting bigger before continuing, "I don't know what comes out of this one. It might be too much for me. And you can't help." He took a deep breath and finished, "If I fall, you run away, you go to the hunter base and warn them. Tell them all that you saw." Jessica gaped, frozen in place. The master hunter glanced at her, "Do you understand your orders, recruit?" The words snapped Jessica back to attention. She muttered, "If you fall, I run, I go warn the hunters." Chala nodded and faced the maelstrom of electricity that looked about to burst.