Ch. 6.5 As Clear As Day

Finally quiet.
And there it is.
Risa took a deep breath and proceeded with caution. Hard to tell what kind of trap was placed on the opening of the portal from this side. Wouldn’t it be funny for someone to avoid being teared apart by circumventing the obvious route and then spring another trap from the seemingly safe point?
Yes, it would indeed.
She stopped in her track as she saw a tiny glint of something.
Something not magical at all.
A fishing line, otherwise well hidden, glinted in sun. Just from one angle, but it was enough.
A conventional trap? But of course it is.
Risa had a good look around. Once she looked for it, she could see the trap – traps quite well.
Not my first rodeo, she thought and got to work. Slowly and steadily. This will take some time.
It took her both quite long, as she was careful, and quite a short time – as she was not trying to establish another safe portal connection. No, not right now.
Not ever.
She swore.
Altai?
This was way out of her reach. Way out of anyone’s reach, save Wolf, maybe.
Anyone she knew.
Over six thousand effin kilemeters. And then what? In the middle of the mountains, in the middle of the winter, snow, bears (not bears, they are likely asleep, but other wild animal), avalanches, and worse.
They must have an anchor, it’s unlikely they would be able to open something so far away otherwise. Well, that’s some comfort.
But what now? She doesn’t have an anchor there, cannot open her own portal, there is no natural portal going there... using the one the enemy opened before was the only choice.
So inviting, isn’t it?
Maybe just a little bit too inviting.
Risa took a deep breath. Concentrated.
Come on, I can see stuff. That’s the one thing I am good at...
And then she saw it.

Done, need to talk, she projected when there was not much left that could be gained at the spot. Lioness will not be able to hear the words, but she gets the meaning. As well as the warning – there is danger here.
Risa headed out of the building, after restoring the place to the exact state in which she found it. She stopped at the corner and checked her map app – the same way any tourist would, if they got lost in these streets. She didn’t wait for her friends to catch up with her, shared location will take care of that. They need to get away. Somewhere open, somewhere where they can talk safely. According to map, there was some museum with a park nearby.
She popped into a small store open even today on the way and emerged with a plastic bag full of overpriced goodies, just in time to meet slightly frowning Tiger and Maddie, who shot her a quizzical look.
„Let’s have a picnic! To celebrate the New Year!“ she exclaimed.
The walls have ears.
They were obviously not the only one who got that idea. In the park there were groups of mainly young people, sitting on blankets and enjoying the sunny and rather warm (for non-Dubai citizens) weather; it could be about 16 degrees. Fortunately, so far from the main tourist season it was not difficult to find a spot just enough out of the way that would seem normal.
As she sat down, Risa rummaged in the plastic bag and took couple of cans out, claiming the orange Fanta for herself, handing Maddie a Red Bull and Tiger a Birrell.
„Pomelo?“ he looked at it disapprovingly.
„Sorry.“
It didn’t sound like it.
„Sorry for dragging you out like that. But I will not have you taking a read at that spot, because it could go kaboom quite magnificently.“
„A trap then?“ her friend frowned. „That could be expected.“
„Traps,“ Risa clarified. „Both magical and non-magical.“
„You shoulda ask for backup,“ Tiger grumbled.
„Well, considering I am still in one piece…“ Risa shrugged. „I don’t say a backup wouldn’t be handy, but it was safer to stay than to leave at that point. So…“ she pinched the bridge of her nose. „So. As expected there was a magical trap, but to get to that one, I had to deactivate a very nice, a bit of SAS-y non-magical one that would blow up the building, you don’t have to thank me. I was able to get a read on the opening of the Thessaloniki portal, which you could call a very nice job if you were a sadistic jerk, didn’t see the likes of that since Turkey. Then I had to work around the magical traps, which were set in the most fascinating way, the sadistic jerk comment still applies. One of them would snap had we jumped closer to the building than we did. Another was tied to searching for an exit portal… which fortunately I didn’t have to do, because I could see it. But that’s not the case with all the portalists. I still think this was thrown in just for a good measure. And then there is a trap on the new portal itself, which is a bit pointless, really. As if we would just reopen it and follow through… you know… you know, most of the traps seem to be put in place so they would slow the pursuers down. As we should check everything really carefully now.“
„Did you get a good read though? Can you open the new portal now, or do you need some rest first?“ asked Lioness.
„Read I did get. It was so clear I would swear it was deliberate… almost like boasting. And it seems it leads to Altai.“
„And what’s the problem?“ Asked Tiger impatiently.
„There is couple. First, it’s out of almost anyone’s reach. I mean, Dubai would be pushing it for me, had I not had an anchor… If we were operating under normal circumstances, I would be calling Wolf right away.
„Speaking of Wolf,“ Risa continued,“ all the setup in here is almost hand picked for him. The trap he wouldn’t set of, as he wouldn’t go through the original portal. Another trap he wouldn’t set of, as he wouldn’t jump too close to the opening. He could see the new portal as well… I don’t think he would miss the conventional trap… he could open an independent portal all the way to Altai. And then what?“
„He would be in Altai,“ Lioness said. „In the mountains. In the winter. After a long jump. Weakened.“
„They wouldn’t even have to bring down a mountain to get him,“ Tiger shook his head. „But he could portal out, nice and clean.“
„Unless,“ Lioness said thoughtfully, „he couldn’t. Are there places from which you cannot open a portal? Natural places at that, if there was some kind of barrier, that could be spotted.“
„Sure there are,“ Risa said, „that would be a nice trap, wouldn’t it? Another of the Trinity snatched...“
„I don’t think so,“ Lioness disagreed. „That would be way to dangerous for them. To have two prisoners who are very strong and know each other? Are used to working together? That would be asking for trouble. The other side is hardly stupid.“
„Well they wouldn’t have to capture him, right? Just get him isolated, and in a dangerous conditions as well, would do enough damage to us. Anyway...“
„Anyway,“ Risa continued, „that’s actually not a problem. Or more likely it’s another trap. As there was a second opening of a portal, masked by the Altai one. It was set up in a way it... how to explain, the exit signature kinda... bled to the visible one? I mean... nobody actually went through the Altai portal. The one they used was hiding behind that.“
„So where did they go?“
Risa made a face.
„Venice. Can read that signature from wherever.“
„And you can get there.“
„There is a lot of natural portals between Napoli and Venice,“ Risa answered and then sighed.
„I can. Barely. Still it’s quite far away, you know, it’s not like everyday you open up multiple portals leading hundreds - or thousands kilometer and... well, it’s not like I would be able to open much after this one. For some time.“
„So let’s get going,“ Tiger downed the rest of his Birell in one go and made a face.
Risa shook her head.
Venice. You’ve got to be kidding me.