Laz had no idea what was happening and that didn’t sit well with him. Not that he was overly concerned with it one way or the other as to what it was, it was simply not knowing that made him uneasy. He wasn’t about to go head long into another gate; he had already had enough of those for the time being and instead, longed to spend some time with his wives if he ever got out of here. But be that as it may, gate opening usually didn’t signify a good thing, at least when they supposedly ’opened on their own.’

And how did he know that what that feeling was was a gate opening? He had been around enough of them to know what he had sensed. It was a feeling he wouldn’t forget.

"There is no one to ask, no one to even consult with..." Laz said, his hand covering the tattoo on his chest again, trying to send his energy into it. Now that he was a bonified high level god, he could feel the traces of the channel that allowed him to connect with A’ruya. And yet, the channel was blocked off for some reason, one that wouldn’t allow him to communicate with her until he could either bash it down or get around it, neither of which he could figure out how to do.

Without anything to do like everyone else, Laz had taken to both meditation and working out to alleviate his increasing frustration. Not that weight lift would do anything for him, nor did he try. Instead, Laz spent his time fighting shadow beasts constructed in his own mind. Having fought with beasts from different worlds and having the memories of ancient asura within him, Laz used this technique to draw forth opponents that he could see and could fight him, but that didn’t exist and that no one else could see either since they weren’t real. It was like shadow boxing, only so much more real.

And he never used his power for this either, instead, choosing to fight with only his body while sealing off his senses. Taking on several at once without relying on his senses or energy meant that he often lost to the creatures within his mind. He wouldn’t get hurt, nor suffer any sort of injury, but the failure he felt was real and that was enough for now.

The large gym was really the only place he could do this and since everyone else was busy, he had the place to himself quite a bit. He first built the mental image of the gym in his head and then proceeded to fill it with opponents. Then the fighting began. For anyone who occasionally saw him, they would assume he was just acting strange, running around while jumping, punching and kicking. But Saanvi saw something different when she caught him doing it one time. She noticed a sense of points that were spread out about the room, spots that Laz reacted to and that reacted to him, as though there were things there he could see but they couldn’t. Once this thought came to her, his actions suddenly became much less random and much more rehearsed.

She waited until he was down before stepping inside. One thing they had all learned was that Laz would stop his ’exercise’ the moment one of them stepped past the threshold of the door.

"Yes?" Laz asked, accepting a towel she threw at him to wipe the sweat off his face as he had been going at this for hours without pause.

"There is an energy reading within the ice, something a ways off and in the middle of nowhere. We found it yesterday, or I should say the captain found it using tools and sensors we had never seen before. He ended up getting a message out to HQ and they are now sending people to make their way through this blizzard to get here and check this thing out, whatever it is..."

"Isn’t that dangerous considering it’s the middle of winter here?" Laz asked, thinking about what he had been told before.

"Extremely."

"And the reason I was stuck here was because there was no way to get me out of here until the spring?"

"Pretty much."

"So whatever they found was far more important than a man thawed from the ice who should have been dead, but wasn’t?"

"Seems like it, yeah. This isn’t a large base though and we could only really support about six more people as long as they bring their own food. So whatever team is coming is just a small one. I don’t know anything more than that and the captain is refusing to speak about it. The only other thing we were told is that they would be willing to bring you back with them when they left after conducting whatever investigation they are being sent here for."

"Hmm... interesting..." Laz said, wondering just what kinds of people were going to show up? Would it be chosen? Or just regular humans? Did they know it was a gate?

’If they didn’t, they probably wouldn’t be this interested in it..."

"Do you know something?" Saanvi eventually asked Laz, seeing him in thought to himself.

"I can roughly guess both what the energy surge was and why they are sending people out yeah... and nether is very good news for us."

"Is it something we can tell the others?" She asked, worried now for the first time. In fact, inside herself, she could feel the stirrings of her blood, as though something inside her had awoken for this conversation.

"No.... It’s a gate opening. The energy surge we experienced was a gate that had opened up somewhere out there, beneath the ice," Laz finally admitted.

"A gate... like those things they governments were all talking about?"

Laz thought for a second before responding as it was clear that most people wouldn’t know anything about them.

"Yes. They are just what they sound like, doors into other worlds. As for why they are here and what purpose they serve... there are many different answers. But the one thing I can tell you is that whatever is on the other side is very dangerous to this planet, in one way or another. The governments around the world want to control these gates so they can utilize their resources. The problem is gates are two way streets. We can go in, but the things on the other side can come here too. If it’s a dead world, so be it. But if the things on the other side are stronger than us, and I assure you that is usually the case, then they could potentially be a disaster to this planet as well. To be honest, I’m surprised nothing big has actually happened yet," Laz admitted as he started thinking about it.

A slight whisper came into Saanvi’s head, saying some things briefly before falling quiet again.

"The... goddess within me has said that most of the gates we encounter were placed here by those seeking refuge from the great war. Some were permitted by us, hoping to have allies if things really stretched this far. But others were built in secret for other reasons. She... doesn’t know which one this one would be..."

"So... nothing very helpful, huh?" Laz said, thinking out loud.

Saanvi suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment come over her that she didn’t actually feel before the voice went quiet again.

Saanvi could only shake her head in worry while Laz again fought with his desire to use his spiritual sense to check it out, but once again decided not to.

...

Deep in the ice, the massive amounts of liquid had filled the vast chasms and were threatening to overflow as the workers stopped their tasks, looking to the new leader who had just joined them. The person said nothing, looking at the massive forms within the ice and waited. The ice cold chill didn’t cause any discomfort among the workers who all looked on, silently. What seemed like says had begun to pass when suddenly, one of the massive pools of liquid started to drain, going somewhere at an alarming rate. The leader quickly ordered the pool to be refilled and to keep it that way. More and most figures began feeding the pool fresh liquid as it started to disappear faster and faster. Soon after, another pool began to empty, leading to figures tending to it as well.

Then another.

And another.

They had to send someone back through the gate to demand more help and more liquid.

Just as some were worried that they wouldn’t have enough people or liquid, one of the pools quite draining, leaving it only half filled while more was being added that cause it to start to rise again. The one in charged looked a the workers and ordered them to stop and tend to other pools. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

As the leader turned back to the figure above the pool, it almost fell down in horror as one of it’s massive eyes began to open.