“I can only imagine how strange this must seem to you,” he said, cutting the second of the sides and moving on to the third. “Warin, I shall explain for your benefit and Nigel’s that a Transfer Portal is a device whereby Deryni can travel from point to point without the passage of time. The process is instantaneous. Unfortunately, we cannot exercise this remarkable talent without a Portal—and that takes a great deal of power to construct.

“Which is where the three of you come in. What I should like to do is to place each of you in a deep trance and then draw on your strength to help us activate the Portal. I promise you’ll be none the worse for it.”

He had finished cutting the sixth side of the octagon and looked up to see Warin fidgeting in his place, obviously more than a little uncomfortable at the idea of being used in magic.

“You are uneasy at this thought, and I cannot say I blame you, Warin. But there is nothing to be alarmed about, really. It will hardly be any different from when Morgan read you, except that you shan’t remember anything.”

“You swear it?”

Arilan nodded, and Warin shrugged nervously.

“Very well, I’ll do what I can.”

Arilan continued cutting his octagon, coming down the final facet as Morgan returned with a small, red leather box. Morgan halted at the edge of the octagon and watched as Arilan made his last cut and then straightened to dust his hands against his cassock. The dagger he returned to Nigel.

“The Wards?” Arilan asked, looking up.

Nodding, Morgan opened the box to spill eight tiny black and white cubes into his cupped hand, four each of black and white, each about the size of the end of his little finger. They glistened in the wan light as Morgan extended them on his open palm.

Arilan passed a hand over the cubes and cocked his head as though listening to something, then nodded and motioned for Morgan to proceed. As he moved clear of the octagon, Morgan stepped inside and dropped to his knees to begin laying out the cubes on the grass. Arilan watched him in silence for a moment, then cleared his throat.

“Can you set them up except for the last step, and then trigger the Ward from inside?”

Morgan looked up and nodded.

“Excellent. When Duncan comes back with the candles, you can have him set one at each angle of the octagon. Nigel, suppose you and Warin come over here now and make yourselves comfortable. Kelson, would you shift some of those sleeping-furs for them to lie on?”

As the two humans moved to their appointed places, Duncan returned with the required candles and knelt outside the octagon, trimming the candles to size with his dagger. Morgan watched him for a moment, indicating where the candles should be placed, then cast a last glance at the others and returned to setting out his cubes.