Elias tore his gaze from the weapons around him and focused on the shimmering membrane in the center of the chamber. It pulsed faintly, as if breathing, its surface rippling with impossible light. His fingers tingled as he stepped closer.

  “How does it work?” he asked.

  Dorian folded his arms. “You touch it. Give it a mental command. It’ll take you where you want to go.”

  Elias raised an eyebrow. “That easy?”

  Dorian smirked. “Not exactly. It’s not pinpoint travel. The membrane responds to intention, but it’s… unpredictable. You could land miles away from where you actually need to be.”

  “Great,” Elias muttered. “That’s reassuring.”

  Dorian stepped beside him. “It also only works for certain people. Your father and I were among them. And since you have his blood, you should be able to use it too.”

  Elias turned back to the membrane. It seemed to be waiting. He swallowed hard. There was only one way to find out.

  He lifted his hand and, with a deep breath, touched the surface.

  He thought of his father. Not just the man, but the mystery of him—the secrets, the disappearance, the countless unanswered questions. He wanted to find him, to know the truth.

  The air hummed.

  The membrane split apart, peeling open like a wound in reality, revealing a dark, yawning void. The edges pulsed with energy, stretching into an impossible doorway. Elias stared, his heart pounding. “Is this another trick?” he asked, glancing at Dorian. “Like that creature you conjured earlier?”

  Dorian smirked. “No tricks. This is real. There’s still a lot you don’t understand.”

  Elias swallowed hard. The darkness beckoned, silent and endless. Slowly, he stepped forward, his foot crossing the threshold.

  The moment he did, the void swallowed him whole.

  Dorian followed, the faintest of smiles on his lips as the membrane sealed shut behind them.

  They emerged into a land unlike anything Elias had ever seen.

  The ground beneath his feet was cracked and lifeless, the rough terrain stretching endlessly, littered with jagged rocks. Above them, the sky burned crimson, an unsettling red hue casting long shadows across the barren wasteland.

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  Elias turned in slow disbelief. No sun, no clouds—just an eerie, suffocating red glow.

  Dorian stepped forward, his boots crunching against the dry earth. “This,” he said, “was the last known location of your father. This is where he traveled using the membrane.”

  Elias’s chest tightened. “And you never found him?”

  Dorian shook his head. “I’ve been here many times. There was no sign of him. Its as if he simply… vanished.”

  A chill ran through Elias despite the heavy heat of the landscape.

  Dorian led him forward. They moved carefully, weaving between scattered boulders, until they reached an unassuming rock formation. Dorian ran his fingers along its surface, finding a small, concealed hole. With practiced ease, he pressed his thumb inside, triggering a hidden mechanism.

  With a deep grinding sound, the rock shifted aside, revealing a narrow passage leading underground.

  Elias stared, remembering the hidden tunnel in Dorian's office. He wondered whether the design was inspired by this mechanism on the plant ?

  Without another word, he stepped inside. Elias followed, his mind racing.

  The tunnel stretched downward for what felt like an eternity, the only sound being their footsteps against the rough stone. Then, finally, light.

  They emerged from the passage to find themselves standing before a city unlike any Elias had ever imagined.

  It was enormous—a labyrinth of pathways, carved deep into the earth, with twisting tunnels and hidden corridors stretching far beyond sight. Glowing symbols pulsed faintly along the cavern walls, illuminating the underground metropolis.

  Elias exhaled. “There must be other passageways on the surface,” he murmured. “This place… it’s like an ant mound.”

  “Not just like an ant mound,” Dorian replied. “It is an ant mound.”

  A shadow moved nearby. Elias turned sharply as something emerged from the darkness—a creature that looked almost human, but not quite.

  Its arms, legs, and eyes were distinctly insect-like, its skin an iridescent black, reflecting the dim cavern light. It wore a wide-brimmed hat, tilted slightly forward, and sat atop an oversized ant, its exoskeleton gleaming.

  Elias’s breath got caught in his lungs for a moment.

  The creature adjusted its hat and spoke, its voice oddly smooth. “Where to?”

  Elias blinked, his mind struggling to process the sheer absurdity of what he was seeing.

  Dorian, however, seemed completely at ease.

  “To the Mound Inn,” he said.

  The insect-like figure tilted its head slightly. “Ah, Mr. Kael,” it said knowingly. “Still looking for that friend of yours?” Dorian only nodded.

  Without another word, they climbed onto the ant-drawn carriage, its cushioned seats unexpectedly comfortable.

  The creature gave a small clicking sound, and the massive ant began to move, its legs skittering over the stone flooras it carried them forward.

  Elias sat in stunned silence, staring out of the carriage window as more of the colossal insects passed by. Some carried single riders, while others pulled massive, multi-seated coaches, bustling with travelers.

  Elias turned to Dorian, his voice hoarse with disbelief.

  “These ants… they’re like cars and bikes here.”

  Dorian smirked. “Smart observation.”

  Elias glanced outside again, watching as a towering ant, twice the size of the others, rumbled past, pulling an enormous platform lined with seats, filled with passengers.

  He let out a short, breathless laugh. “So that’s a bus, then?” Dorian chuckled. “More or less.”

  They rode deeper into the underground city, disappearing into its maze of tunnels.

  And with each passing moment, Elias felt the world he had once known slipping further and further away.