170 Chapter twenty-two (3)

They had surrounded spring-crest pond. Truth be told, their leader did not believe for one moment that she would be inside. He wanted to call off the raid. He felt as though if she already knew they were coming, then their plan would be used against them. If they failed, that means they expose their true purpose and give her evidence; a reason to react. He somewhat understood why the Thraines insist on reacting only when provoked. It made everyone weary around them, letting them live in peace, yet maintain their strength. 

They were like the giant sleeping snake of the cosmos; many walked around them, careful not to wake them up. But orders were orders. When they stepped foot into spring-crest pond, only a maid stood at the entrance with an eerie smile on her face.

"My lady wishes you a good stay. She says; you must remember, you moved first," the maid said before fading into the night. The residence was empty.

In the face of this failure, three men met in the cover of night, outside the capital in a small shack. When they all arrived, they but glanced at each other before sitting.

"How do we report this failure?" one of them asked.

"We should have known it would not work the moment she caught me during Queen Lilith's execution. She had warned that we not try anything," another said.

"That incident, in my report I stated clearly, that she must have been the one that helped us enter Thriegor. That means she must have known our every move from the first step. But of course, the council did not care," the other supported.

"Not only did she help us enter, she probably helps everyone enter Thriegor. That is how she must be keeping tabs on who enters and why. Everyone in this world is moving at her mercy," the other said. One of them looked at the two talking, with a frown. His frown deepened at his companion's next words.

"She wanted us to expose to the world that we tried and failed. I'm sure the information that we are in Juhntt has already been passed to other realms by now. We picked up a stone and dropped it on our own foot,"

"So what? It is shameful to imagine that both of you are one of those who think our Harnian gate should not have moved against her," his frown turned to disgust, "Hermin, Gregor. Do you really believe us weaker than some girl?"

"You are young, Threo. Young people tend to disregard history. This has always fuelled your unfounded courage," Gregor said with a sigh.

"Since everyone knows of our acts now, we might as well go ahead and kill her without needing to hide. When we find her..." Threo started to say, before he paused, "This world, Thriegor, is the weakest of all the worlds in its cluster. If any world steps out, they can crush them instantly, talk more of us; the Harnian gate. History? We are talking about today!" Threo could not stand these two at the moment.

"Do you think the Harnian gate or other gates stronger than the lower realms belt?" Hermin asked,

"the lower realms belt is the council in charge of all lower realms, all lower realms have five gates in its command, and our Harnian Gate has ninety-nine worlds in its command. Do you think this hierarchy is a joke?"

"I know the hierarchy," Threo did not like being lectured on something every newborn in the Harnian gate knew of.

"The lower realm belt dare not move on the Thraines. It may look as though they are indifferent, but that is not true. My master has travelled across realms. He said that the number one taboo in the lower realms belt is; Thriegor is off-limits," Hermin said.

"Do you expect me to believe those words? For all one knows, they may be as bent as your knowledge of the Harnian gate. The Harnian gate has a hundred worlds in its command, not ninety-nine," Threo snorted.

"You really are too young. Since the end of the Thraine era, the Harnian gate has only had ninety-nine worlds," Gregor said with a sigh.

"What happened to the last world?" Threo asked with a frown.

"You are standing on it," Gregor answered, causing Threo to pause, a look of disbelief masking his face.

"How is this possible? Every world is under a gate. Every lower realm has five gates. All lower realms belong to the lower realms belt. If Thriegor is not ours, how does it rank in the hierarchy?" Threo asked.

"This is the only known rank-less world," Gregor answered.

"Why?"

"This is where history is important, Threo. It has shown us that this world can fluctuate between ranks in a short period of time. It could rise from a small world in the lower realms to a strong rival of the higher realms in so little as a few years. It has happened before.

" One Thraine did not even step out of Thriegor, yet she dragged spirit energy from the Tunsen realm to Thriegor. No one knew how she did it but, this world was overflowing with energy, it started to pulse like a world in a higher realm. Only when she dried up the Tunsen realm, did she stop. The higher realms were not happy with this. History has shown us that the Thraines could be provoked to raise this world, or just go to sleep for several centuries. So, Thriegor cannot be ranked," Gregor said.

"Is that why the Tunsen realm is the weakest realm to date?" Threo shivered at the thought.

"Yes," Gregor answered.

"I have lived two hundred years. Why do I know nothing of this?" Threo asked.

"The Gate master does not wish for the young to know. He has lived long, yet he could still be considered young in the eyes of those old geezers. But he at least saw the rise of the last Thraine to step out of Thriegor. I do not believe he would have the courage to take this action. Someone is pulling the strings," Hermin said.

"The Harnian gate is on its last life. I do not expect us to live until next bloom," Gregor said. Threo understood their fear, but he did not believe that a girl could take down the entire Harnian gate. Maybe her ancestors could, but not her.