“A…portal.” His tone sounded far less convincing than it had the last time he answered his brother’s question.

“You do remember the one back at the fortress was invisible?” asked Laromendis.

The Demon Master pondered something for a moment, then said, “You’re the master of things seen and not seen. Do you have any means to discern something invisible?”

“If I know what I’m looking for, perhaps.”

“A portal?”

Laromendis looked embarrassed at realizing this was something he should have thought of. “It would help if I knew the general area.”

Gulamendis indicated their immediate surroundings with a wave of his hand. “If I read this correctly, the portal should be somewhere close by. It appears that they removed themselves far enough from the fortress so that if something dire occurred, they would not endanger their ruler and his court.

“This blasted countryside has been ravaged by those volcanoes for ages, so something scorching a few more hectares of land would hardly be a problem.”

“Then where would you logically place it?”

“Someplace close to an ancient road that once ran below our feet.” He pointed to a non-volcanic hilltop close by. “That may be the only remaining landmark from before the recent eruptions, but if that’s the hill mentioned in this journal”—he looked around—“we should be close. Where would you put a portal? By the road. Someplace flat. Someplace easy to observe from a safe distance…” He pointed. “Like over there.”

Laromendis nodded and walked up a steep incline and then down a steeper one to a flat area dotted with a few loose rocks. He closed his eyes and extended both hands outward and downward. After a minute he said, “No. Nothing.”

Gulamendis said, “Well, we might as well be methodical about this.” He turned and looked for another observable location and pointed, then led his brother to examine it.

Three hours later they found the portal. It wasn’t invisible. Instead it had been knocked flat by some geological shudder in past years. It was a large base very similar to those used by the Taredhel, with two slender bowed arms sweeping upward. They had to be careful getting it upright again, as there was no means to repair any damage they might inadvertently cause.

Laromendis said, “Do you think you can make this thing work?”

“I don’t know,” answered his brother honestly. “I can only try.” He consulted the book several times, then said, “Look for a recess in the base.”

Laromendis did so and said, “There’s a very tightly fitted cover.” He poked and prodded, and then the lid slid to the side. A faint humming filled the air. Inside they saw a glowing yellow crystal.

“It’s still working?”

“I don’t know,” said Laromendis. “You’re the one who read the journal.”

“We’ve both been through those portals a dozen times.”

“Yes,” said the Conjurer, “but neither of us has programmed one.”