Since the moment they entered Warsong Valley, Rahz had the Idea to return to Helgavall via the portal of the Fifth Gate the same way they arrived to the westside of the continent all those years ago. It was a long shot but when they went through the tunnel every now and then, they saw really bright sections followed by really dark ones.
The seamless phenomenon was the same one they had experience almost 6 years before when they had defeated Lord Darick and they immediately knew that they were being translocated to the Fifth Gate. An hour passed and they finally saw the stairs leading towards the altar which caused then to be feel with nostalgia and not even Jazz fail to increase the pace.
"So this is the Fifth Gate!" said Jazz while pulling gently on his beard.
"Yes, this was part of the Dark Elf empire that that fought against the Dragonkin during the time of the shattering".
"Woah is that Cobalt… and th… that is Elementium and so much of it"
Elune was filled with pride and gave Jazz a brief history lesson of what had happened in the passed while they moved up the sliding tube towards the Second Room where the 4 Mode Interchangeable Kinetic Cube was supposed to stop their advance.
The team didn't fear the Second Room anymore and knew that after they released the Curse, the structure should be empty of any danger and that included Master Chrysalis.
"What is that"
Snort ….Snort
"Sounds like when Jazz sleeps" said Riddick
"Bullshit, I am as quiet as a mouse"
The first person to reach the top was Xiao that flew up and quickly passed through the hole on the roof and landed prepare to fight but when he looked around there was no creature or even the vast amount structures that Rahz and the others had mention, the only sound was the very loud snort that got increasingly louder the closer to the room they got.
Riddick climbed to the top and jumped into the room producing a very loud thud sound causing the snoring to finally stop and a very poisonous voice resonated through the place.
"About time Little Fuckers, you are welcome by the way… if it wasn't for me that tunnel would not have work a second time...so let's leave this shit hole"
Rahz, Elune, and Riddick recognized the voice immediately as the entity responsible for controlling the interchangeable Kinetic Cube during their first visit and just smiled while they kept walking towards the stairs.
Buzzz…. Clink ...clink
Walls went up from the ground and stop the team in their tracks while the voice ran again, "Where the fuck are you going?… I spent 5 years moving energy into the translocation tunnel for your return and you just going to leave without me".
Rahz didn't know what to think and just said the first thing that came to his mind, "Hmm … Thanks ...I guess"
Clink … Clink
A section of the wall opened up and a structure started forming on it, it looked like the muzzle of a gun and Rahz had seen it before. It happened during his time on the second floor of the fifth gate and more specifically on the flamethrower challenge.
"GET DOWN"
WHOOSH
Blue flame came out of the little gun while the smell of burned hair permeated the air and Jazz dropped and rolled on the floor trying to quench the fire.
"You better take me out of here or I will Roast you like a Marshmallow"
"Where are you?"
"What Do you mean… You are standing on me"
Rahz lifted his foot and looked around while everyone did the same but they were even more confused than when they heard the snoring.
"Oh God… it turns out that you are blind as well..."
….
Buzzz
The floor all round them started moving and formed a cube in the middle of the floor that had runes with incredible markings and in the center they could see a stone radiating incredible white light that illuminated every nook and cranny of the structure.
A hologram was released from the cube and a gnome with a single len goggle very much like an eyepatch and a white coat appeared in front of them.
"Can you see me now?"
The team nodded their heads while Riddick step forward and move his hand through the gnome in a very slow motion before looking through his hand.
"Hey that is Rude… Had to be a Val'gun, no manners whatsoever"
"You can see my true form" said Riddick
"Can I see your true form...psh… Don't you know who I am?"
Shrug
"Tinker Springsocket…"
Shrug
"From the Gnome Engineering Group"
Shrug
Sigh…
"Cough… Cough...I am the leader of the great Gnome Engineering Group, Tinker Spingsocket but you can call me Tinker. My group was famous for creating the very first truly automated alternate space equipment capable for storing massive amount of things and then recalled them back to the owners without the complications of an enchanted pouch.... Anyways the invasion by the Dragonkin was swift and cast a shadow on all our futures, so in order to preserve my technology and help our descendant I created a copy of my thought patterns and memory and combined it with our cube technology to help the future generation".
"So Now all you need to do is grab the Cube and lets Go"
Rahz walked towards the cube and the moment he grabbed it, a light scanned his body while his vital signs were recorded. The cube then changed into a thick bracelet that looked like a handcuff which Rahz place on his wrist.
"Let's Go… I really thought I was going to rust"
The rest of the way was uneventful but not dull, the voice of tinker resounded in the empty Gate all the way to the surface of the lake.
The moment they made it up the light of the incandescent sun hit their skin and when they looked around, they saw the desert like environment and the feeling of being home started to assailed them.
It took Rahz and the others 6 months to reach the Oasis of the Fifth Gate back when they left the village of Helgahvall before but now their levels were extremely different from back then, if it wasn't for the fact that Xiao couldn't carry Riddick on his back, flying towards the village would have been a breeze.
The team try to backtrack their steps and started their journey back, even though half the strong in the realm were looking for them, they felt light as a feather as they ran through the desert and ate barbecue like back in the day.
In the meantime the relationship between Elune and Rahz solidify and the public display of affection sometimes had Jazz wanting to puke.
"How much longer do we have to go? We already ran out of Ale and we have been running through this desert for almost two months".
"We should be there soon but the last time we kind of got lost so I only remembered the general direction but I am sure It will work out".
….
On the other side of the continent the Tempering War continued but everyone knew that it was pretty much over. Pendragon didn't even meet with Degark and just send 4 boxes to his camp, each of the boxes radiated very gloomy and powerful auras and when they were opened, 4 avatar pieces laid inside.
Degark looked at the pieces and summoned some undead to pick up the chest and ported back towards Blackrock Port. He won the gamble against Pendragon but it was just the beginning of the road, the next step was to make sure their avatars were ready for the war and that was a huge undertaking.
Some of the pieces had been lost through the passage of time and only the chosen could get a clue as to their location but it took time. Many of the Erudite Historians believed that a few pieces were left behind on the other side of the Shattering Scar and they were right.
"Call the Chosen of the God of Fear, the Prince of Death, The Plague Bringer, and The Hateful One, We finally can move with the next stage of the plan"
"Sir, According to Distortion... the Chosen of Lady Louxx is the Elf Witch of the Demon Squad"
Degark heard the news and thought, " I guess you will owe me a favor Kid"