Gulamendis said, ‘When I visited the island I was shown one of their rift gates. The wards there that act as a beacon.’ He realized he was now at the very edge of his knowledge. Looking at the Sentinel he said, ‘How much do you know about portals?’
The wounded elf smiled slightly. ‘I’ve been watching galasmancers play with those things long enough to have a fair idea how they work. But I don’t know if I could find a portal that we didn’t build.’
‘Here’s what I know,’ said Gulamendis. ‘According to the human, Pug, their rifts share an affinity; if a rift exists there and you then create a second rift, it tends to follow the first.’
‘Tends to?’ asked his brother in a sceptical tone.
‘If you have a better idea, I would welcome it,’ said the Demon Master. ‘You can activate this gate?’ Gulamendis asked the Sentinel.
‘Yes,’ said Arosha. ‘That’s the easy part. Setting a different destination other than the one already cast is the hard part. I think I’ve seen it done often enough to have a sense of how to do it, but only to reach other known portals, all now closed. If I open any of them from this end…They’ll be guarded or worse.’
‘What’s worse?’
‘The portal could be buried under rock, or at the bottom of a lake.’ The Sentinel shrugged, though it made him wince. ‘I can imagine what would happen if you stepped through into solid rock.’
Gulamendis said, ‘Do you know the way to E’bar?’
The Sentinel said, ‘It is already set for the new city.’ He slowly rose and said, ‘But as I said, if we activate the portal and step through, archers will fill us with arrows before we say a word.’
Gulamendis became thoughtful and then said, ‘We change something.’
‘Something?’ asked his brother.
‘What?’ asked the Sentinel.
‘Set it just past E’bar. If Pug is correct, a new rift should form, somewhere nearby.’
‘How nearby?’ asked the Conjurer.
The younger brother fixed Laromendis with an exasperated look and said, ‘I will settle for anywhere on the same planet.’
‘As long as we don’t end up in the middle of the sea, or under a mountain…’
‘Can you do it?’ asked Gulamendis.
The Sentinel indicated that he needed help to reach the portal controls and the Conjurer put his arm around the wounded elf’s waist. Laromendis shot his brother a concerned expression and with a slight shake of his head told him the Sentinel was in worse shape than he had first thought. He helped the guardsman stand before the controls, and felt blood drenching his arm where he held him.
Runes were set in a large platter before them, several glowing with a faint light. ‘There’s magic in the device, independent of the gate power.’ He pointed to the crystal Gulamendis held and said, ‘That will get the gate open.’ He glanced around and said, ‘Let me study this while you look for another stone. The galasmancer should have it.’
‘What type of stone?’ asked Laromendis.
‘It may be purple or blue.’
Laromendis did as he was asked and returned a moment later with a purple crystal half the size of the yellow one his brother still held. ‘What is this?’
‘It will close down this portal after we go. The gate will be useless and the demons will have to find another way to E’bar.’
‘How does it work?’ asked Laromendis.
With a slight smile, the pale Sentinel said, ‘I pull out the yellow crystal, replace it with this one, hit any mark on the controls…’
‘And then what?’ asked Gulamendis.
‘It explodes.’
Both brothers were mute.
The Sentinel said, ‘We all know I’m already a dead man. I can barely stand. You’d better go now, or I won’t be able to close the portal after you. Good fortune.’
Laromendis started to say something, but couldn’t find the words, so he simply nodded.
The Sentinel placed the yellow crystal in a small depression cut in the surface of the control panel and it began to pulse with a stronger light. He struck all the runes but one, and held up his hand. ‘I’ve put in the runes needed,’ he started to sway, but gripped hard on the edge of the panel. ‘Pick any rune save that one.’
Gulamendis didn’t hesitate, he reached over, picked one randomly and pushed it. A faint hum was followed by a sudden increase in the pressure of the room, as if a huge influx of wind swept through it; then they heard a faint thumping sound. A grey void, colours shimmering across its surface like oil on water, appeared between the sides of the portal device.
‘Go, quickly,’ said the Sentinel, and the brothers hesitated for only a second, then stepped through. Certain death was their reward if they remained, so it made little difference if death also waited on the other side of the portal. But it also held the chance of salvation, and so they took it.