Magnus came to his side and said, “I will look for anything that I don’t recognize.” He started with the volumes on the desk and quickly tossed those on the floor that were duplicates of those already on Sorcerer’s Island.

Soon Pug had a small stack of books set aside. He was taking one off a low shelf when a massive upheaval in the ground below the keep threw them to the floor. Dust ground from between ancient stones rained down on them and the stones of the tower seemed to undulate for nearly a half minute. When it subsided, Brandos looked out the window and said, “Look!”

In the distance the biggest of the three volcanoes was shuddering and a wave of smaller shocks was rolling through the soil beneath them, causing the keep to feel as if it might shake itself apart. Then there was an explosion of titanic proportions, a massive upheaval of brilliant hot lava, and a funnel of white steam blowing straight into the sky like the gods’ own teakettle on boil. All around rock, ash, and liquefied stone were spewing out and up at astonishing speed. Pug said, “In about one minute a wave of poisonous air hot enough to broil the skin from your bones will hit us. Grab those books!” Everyone grabbed an armful of books. “Stand close!” he instructed.

At the sound of wind rising to an earsplitting shriek, there was a sudden pulse of air in the room and less than six inches in front of Brandos’s nose a grey void appeared. Without a word the old fighter leaped into it, while others followed, with Pug pushing his son through, and suddenly they were back on Sorcerer’s Island. The hasty transport through the rift landed them hard on the ground, and Amirantha, Sandreena, and Gulamendis all lost their footing and fell. The others staggered a bit.

Pug let the books he held fall from his arms and turned. A wave of his hand dismissed the rift just as a pulse of super-heated steaming air came through, and Pug erected a shield that vented the scalding wet air around them.

Everyone could feel the heat suddenly dissipate before anyone was burned. It gave them all a queasy feeling at how close they had come to being boiled alive in their own skins.

Pug turned and said, “I think”—then his legs went weak. His son let go of the books in his arms and grabbed his father. As Pug was gently lowered to the grass, he muttered, “Damn. I so wanted to bring that gate back here.” Then he closed his eyes and fell into darkness.

Pug awoke with a massive headache. He found his son sitting at his bedside and said, “How long?”

“All night and half the morning.”

Pug sat up and felt light-headed.