"Found an exit," she smiled mockingly.

Luckily, the stair case exited onto the second floor so the drop to the ground was not very far. Below the window the gardeners had planted rows of shaped hedges, by far the most convenient part of our journey.

I had not noticed before, since I was underground, but it was the 20th hour of Sinix. Making it just after dusk. Dark enough to cover our escape, if we stuck to the shadows. 

Saa jumped out of the window into the hedges before I could say something back. She made no noise when she collided with the bush at the bottom. I let out a sigh and climbed up onto the window sill. 

I pushed off and fell into the hedge, unlike Saa my leap was followed by a loud rustling sound. The kind you hear when a really suspicious person is in a bush. All in all a really nice sound, that definitely does not scream 'come find me and arrest me.'

"Took you long enough," Saa whispered as she stood up. "Time to go."

I nodded and stood up as well, I was shaking a little from the fall. It was still unfamiliar for me to not be able to shield myself with my own Essence. 

Saa began to walk through the courtyard while sticking in the shadows, as I followed I tried my best not to make any more sounds. 

The Gate was discovered about seventy years ago, in the highlands west of the capital. Even though I was not assigned to that particular case, I was able to obtain some good information on it from friends.

The Gate supposedly leads to another world outside of our own. The world is a lot less advanced than our own and has been nicknamed Iqira by some scholars. The natives apparently call it Anore, there are five continents located on the planet with varying biomes. It's countries are ruled by a monarch system, where sissy crybabies can be born into royalty and still rule. Wars are frequent between countries and they are dependent on an energy source called Mana, which I assume is similar to Essence.

Unfortunately, information on Iqira is hard to come by since sending and receiving messages is only possible through The Gate, which can make things difficult, to say the least. 

Thats where I'm headed. A primitive world full of sissy rulers and many pointless wars.

If it was not for the fact that I might never be able to come back to Samsara, I would be thrilled to go. 

                                      ∆

We had crossed the courtyard successfully and were now making our way to the fifth building. The fifth building acted as a case for The Gate.  It keeps people from asking too many questions.

It only took us a couple of minutes to arrive at the fifth lab. The elegant building was, like everything else, built with stone pillars and towering walls. A stunning glass dome acted as a roof, the glass was tinted jade and you could not see through from the outside. They possibly had placed a seal or charm on it. The building had significantly less windows than the other buildings and the only windows it had were sealed with bricks.

Saa did not hesitate at all and threw the doors open and rushed in. I hesitated for a second then ran into the building.

A few confused scholars leapt out of Saa's path as we made out way to the gate. I followed Saa down a futuristic hallway. I took a second to appreciate the design of the hallway, perhaps in the future Samsara's cities will look like this? 

"Hurry," Saa called out, shaking me from my thoughts. I shook my head and hurried after her. 

Saa ran threw another door, leaving a dent where her hands had collided with it.

 A blinding white light on the other side of the door left me stunned and covering my eyes. Once my guard was down a hot plain throbbed throughout my entire left leg. Causing me to drop to the ground and cradle it.