Laromendis said, ‘As I don’t have a better idea, can I suggest we leave now, taking the volume with us, and read it somewhere far from here at first light?’
Gulamendis was loath to leave behind such a treasure-trove of ancient human magic, but saw the wisdom in getting out of this place when activity was at its lowest point. He lifted the volume, nodded once and opened the door.
Moving slowly, but purposefully down the circular stairs of the tower, they reached its base and looked down the long hallway that would eventually lead them to the stairs back down to the dungeon, and then up to the yard. They made their way past silent doors and empty rooms, and when they were once again in the dungeon, Gulamendis risked a hurried peek through the door to the cells. The prisoners were all asleep, huddled together for warmth. There were no guards.
They moved on as silently as possible to the low door that opened onto the courtyard, Laromendis opened it a crack and peeked through. The three steps to the surface were clear and no one else was in sight.
They crept along the wall, staying against it as much as possible, despite the extra cover of darkness; loath to take even the slightest risk with the slim chance at freedom before them.
A quick stop in the storage shed had them loaded with provisions. They were only stymied for a short while when they reached the gate and found it bolted. Remembering that they had come in through the portal straight into the marshalling yard, they realized that they hadn’t thought of how to get through the gate. Logic dictated there was more than one way out, and a hurried examination of the wall led them to a postern gate behind the keep. It was unguarded, so they opened it and went outside.
‘We need to start going south,’ said Gulamendis.
‘Towards the volcanoes and the battlefield?’ asked his brother.
‘Yes,’ said Gulamendis.
With a slight nod of his head to indicate acceptance, the Conjurer indicated that his brother should lead the way. The two elves ventured into a very dark night, neither of them certain of where they where headed, but both aware they left nothing good behind them.
Dawn found Gulamendis and Laromendis sitting under the shelter of an overhang, their eyes smarting from the acidic smoke which hung on the hillside like a cloud of suffering. The three volcanoes were belching smoke and ash into the sky on a regular basis. As Laromendis had wryly observed, it would be just their luck to reach their destination as one of the three erupted and destroyed the portal. He was sure that fate’s cruel irony would have them burned alive within the portal, or have them watch as their last hope of escape went up in flames. He was inclined to think the second a more painful outcome.
His brother had merely given him a withering look and said nothing. As soon as he could, Gulamendis began reading the volume he had purloined from the ancient keep. Finally he said, ‘As I understand it, these people, called the Edhara, were just beginning to experiment with portals. They had created the one we are seeking in a cave—that I hope is not too far from here—and had already discovered a few relatively benign worlds. Then the demons found them.’
‘Found them?’
‘Remember what Pug said about the nature of rifts?’
‘Not really,’ said his brother. ‘I think that was a conversation you had while I was talking to that odd creature from that world whose name I can’t pronounce; the fellow with the blue skin and those things coming out of his neck; he could make the most stunning illusions…’
‘From you, my not-so-modest brother, that is high praise,’ said Gulamendis.
‘I’ll grant him his due; he was very good.’
‘Pug told me rifts have a loadstone quality: as loadstones draw iron to them, rifts tend to draw other rifts. So if you have an established portal from one world to the next, there’s a better than average chance that anyone casting about for a random destination will connect to a world that already has a portal on it.’
‘I wonder if that’s why the galasmancer created Hub?’
His brother shrugged. ‘As the Regent’s Meet didn’t see fit to consult with me on the matter, I can only speculate.’ His finger stabbed a page. ‘It’s written more hastily from here to the end, and reads much like the reports we received when our people first encountered the demons: massive chaotic assaults, no quarter asked or given, wave after wave of demon of every stripe.’
‘Obviously something is different,’ said Laromendis. ‘Those demons we saw being slaughtered, and those in the keep to the north are not like any we’ve seen before.’
‘This is where this gets interesting,’ said Gulamendis. ‘Let me read, “And then to our lord Hijilia came a herald of the demon kind, under a banner of truce, offering terms”.’