One by one, the demons walked into the purple gateway and disappeared before Praxis' eyes. Praxis quietly waited in the line until it was his turn. He'd never gone through a portal before, and the thought of disappearing from one place and appearing in another bewildered his mind.
He stepped up to the base and hesitated to walk in.
"Just walk forward as if there was nothing there," Kranis said.
Praxis took a breath and walked forward. Instantly, everything changed right in front of his eyes. The ever-encompassing cover of the blue sky transformed into the hard edges of mud and dirt. The thick, never-ending plain of grass was gone. He could feel the rugged rock and pavement on his feet.
Praxis had just traveled to a transportation hub (T.H.) in the Nest, specifically T.H. Six. It was a large dome made of reinforced mud. It had one large opening, which was both the main entrance and exit to the hub. It was one of over a 100 hubs within the Nest, all of whose purpose was to transport the demons in and out of the Empty's surface.
Praxis looked around the sight before him. While he was in the open field of the Empty, there were only about a hundred demons, looking around, there must have been thousands. The quietness of the Empty also disappeared as this place was loud and noisy, as if it were the center of a city market.
The only world he had known for the past two months was gone and out of sight. Praxis just entered what felt like a new world. He was just transported to what felt like a city full of humans again, even though everyone around him had horns and multiple limbs.
As Praxis beheld the sight before him, Kranis walked through the portal and bumped right into him.
"After you walk through the portal, you keep moving."
"My apologies," Praxis said, stepping aside from the portal gate.
"Wow, where are we, right now?"
"Stop asking me so many questions and follow me over here."
Kranis walked towards a line of demons that started near the portal, extending outwards. Kranis and Praxis got into the line, and instead of facing the portal, all the demons were facing the demons who created a similar line on the other side. As the demons continued pouring out of the portal, they came and joined the lines.
"What are we doing here?" Praxis asked.
"Just wait and see."
Praxis looked around and all the other portal gates had the demons doing the same thing. Slowly, as all the demons came out of the portal, the sounds that echoed throughout the dome quieted down.
Soon, there was a quiet that Praxis could only describe as eerie. The quiet continued and Praxis not wanting to offend a room filled with potentially thousands of demons, did not ask Kranis what was happening.
The quiet lasted for a few minutes. Suddenly, the high, brassy notes of a trumpet-like instrument began ringing through the dome. The trumpets cut out and were followed by the sound of a slow strumming of strings and the quiet, mournful sound of brass.
This was a funeral.
Out of the large entrance to the dome, individuals carrying wooden cots with cloths over them began walking in. There was no uniformity in the cloths that were used. Each cloth was different and made specifically for the person it covered. Some were just a vibrant color, while others had unique patterns and designs. When an unknown individual's body needed to be sent out, then a white cloth was placed over them.
The pallbearers came in a straight line, then split off, each walking towards a different gate. One eventually reached the gate Praxis was at and stopped before it. The line of pallbearers coming in continued as they each split and went to a different portal.
By the time all of them came in, there were about 4 lined up where Praxis was with the rest of the group of demons he came with. Some other gates had three and others had five. The music cut out and all the demons lowered their heads in silence. After a few moments, the pallbearers began walking through the gate.
Once they had all walked in, slowly sound began echoing through the dome again. One by one, the demons began scattering around.
Kranis turned to Praxis, "Do you need me to explain what that was?"
"No, I am aware," he replied.
"Good, you're picking things up. This is what happens every time we come out of the gates. It doesn't get better or worse. It is just how things are done here."
"There is a unique sense of beauty in your traditions."
"I guess so," Kranis said, looking over at the area adjacent to the large entrance gate. "You see those lines of stalls over there along the walls of the hub."
"Yeah, the ones where everyone is heading towards," Praxis responded.
"I want you to go over to that one over there. The one on the left end. Go there and stand at the back of the line. I'll get to you in a second."
Kranis grabbed his sack of soulrocks and ran off, leaving Praxis alone. Seeing his only guide and person he knew disappear somewhere in the crows of demons, Praxis decided to follow the instructions given to him. He grabbed his puny little sack and headed towards the stall.
The number of demons he bumped into was unbelievable. Experiencing the hecticness and chaos of the hub reminded him of Airth and how busy the city used to get. Growing up in the capital city of the Empire, Praxis was to crowds and pushing your way through them.
He found his way to the line in front of the last stall and got to the end of it. He waited a few minutes until people stopped coming into the line. He got to the line and began waiting. Compared to the other lines, the one he was on moved a lot slower.
Looking at the other lines, the demons were touching some orb and handing over their sacks of soulrocks to the clerk at the stall. Each interaction lasted at most 15 seconds, but Praxis' line moved every minute. He tried to look at what was happening, but there were some pretty large demons standing in front of him.
He waited in the line until there was just one person in front of him. "Next," the clerk said. Now it was only him at the front. Uncertainty and fear began rising inside Praxis. If Kranis wanted to make this grand return, this would be a great time.
"Next."
Praxis walked up to the clerk.
"Name."
"Prince Praxis..." Praxis was cut off before he could say his whole name.
"What designation would you like, Prince?"
"Designation..." Praxis said with uncertainty.
"He is designated with F23," shouted Kranis while rushing towards the stall.
"You need special permission to join that company."
"I have it right here," Kranis said, handing over a slip of paper.
"Everything's in order. Prince, place your hand on the orb."
Praxis placed his hand on the orb, and it began glowing. A slip of paper came out.
"Place your sack on the scale," the clerk said, looking in the direction of some bizarre object on the stall.
Praxis placed the sack on the scale, and the clerk said, "14 confirmed." The clerk handed Praxis the slip that came out of the orb.
"Next," the clerk yelled as Kranis pulled Praxis out of the way.
"What was all that?" Praxis asked Kranis.
"Registering you as an official soulrock-catcher. It's pretty procedural when it's your first time here."
Praxis was still unsure of what exactly had just happened, but he trusted Kranis enough to believe him. It wasn't if he had any other options in this place.
They headed towards the large entrance to the hub.
"Where are we headed now?"
"Into the actual base camp. This is just the transportation hub."