Thoughts for a Portal
Thoughts for a Portal
By
Jeffrey M. Poole
www.AuthorJMPoole.com
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
This book is a work of fiction. All characters and locations appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or real locations, is purely coincidental.
Published by: Hungry Griffin Publishing
www.HungryGriffin.com
Published in the United States of America
1st Electronic Edition, April, 2015
Copyright 2015 © Jeffrey M. Poole
INSERT SSX TRICKY INSULT HERE!
For a complete list of titles available by Jeffrey M. Poole, including the best-selling fantasy series Bakkian Chronicles and Tales of Lentari, and the cozy mystery series Corgi Case Files, please click here!
Thoughts for a Portal
By
Jeffrey M. Poole
Acknowledgments
A small group of people were directly responsible for helping me create this book, and I hereby offer them my eternal thanks.
First and foremost, I need to thank my wife, Giliane. Thanks to her this book was written in only a few months. Many people may not think that writing a book in a few months is an accomplishment, but those who know me will attest to the fact that being able to release more than one book a year is simply amazing.
Next up are my beta readers. They sacrificed time out of their busy schedules to help me polish the story and catch those elusive typos and grammatical problems that always seem to creep in to a story no matter how many times you proofread it. Caroline Thaung, Cher Lashley, Caroline Craven, Scott Poe, Jason Harvill, Deb Shapiro, Elizabeth Davis, and Sharon Bobbitt. Thank you very much, guys! And I must also thank Jamie (Lia) and my mother for also taking a look for me. You guys are the best!
The Mythra Triad was hand painted by Brett Gable and is used here with his permission. Remember the Questor’s Mark from Lost City? Brett drew that for me, too. He’s a very talented artist.
Once more Rachel, aka FalyneVarger on DeviantArt.com, took up the task of painting the cover. Her husband, Richard, handled the title graphics. Together that amazing husband and wife team have done all seven covers for me. As always, you two have done a remarkable job for me. I sincerely appreciate it!
Last, and certainly not least, I have to thank you. The readers. Without you guys Lentari would have stopped with Amulet of Aria (Bakkian Chronicles #3). You guys have kept the series alive and have inspired me to write all kinds of adventures. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 – UP A CREEK
CHAPTER 2 – DIRECTIONALLY IMPAIRED
CHAPTER 3 – RUNS IN THE FAMILY
CHAPTER 4 – A BRAND NEW BELIEVER
CHAPTER 5 – MISPLACED AFFECTIONS
CHAPTER 6 – THE APPROACHING STORM
CHAPTER 7 – SIEGE ON JACKKNIFE PEAK
CHAPTER 8 – SHIFT OF POWER
CHAPTER 9 – MISCHIEF MAKER
CHAPTER 10 – AN AISLINN ALERT
CHAPTER 11 – YOU CAN RUN
CHAPTER 12 – ONE FOR THE BOOKS
CHAPTER 13 – RISE OF THE GATEKEEPER
CHAPTER 14 – NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
EPILOGUE
AUTHOR’S NOTE
FAN SUBMISSIONS
For Giliane –
You’re my life, my love, and my inspiration. Every day I thank my lucky stars to have you by my side. Love you always & forever!
Chapter 1 – Up a Creek
Great clouds of mist drifted high into the air, the result of hundreds of gallons of water splashing down every second from the nearby waterfall. Standing before the base of the falls were three people: two men and one girl. The three figures continued to stand, unspeaking, unmoving. After a few moments the taller of the two men sank down to the ground and let out a heavy sigh.
“I’m sure she’s alright,” the second man told the first, consolingly.
Cecil was in his late twenties, had short neatly combed brown hair, and was impeccably dressed. He was wearing a long sleeve, albeit dirty, button down white shirt with black trousers and matching black leather shoes. Cecil was a banker by trade and always dressed the part, whether he was behind the counter assisting patrons of the bank or relaxing with a book by the fire. This was someone that was more comfortable being inside and certainly didn’t belong outdoors, let alone traipsing around outdoors in 19th century Lentari.
Steve sighed again. They were stuck on Lentari and his wife Sarah was back on their world. She was supposed to have met up with them last night so that she could take them all back to Coeur d’Alene but she never showed. Steve felt along his abdomen and gave the small leather pouch strapped to his chest a few disconsolate pats. Nestled safely within the pouch was a special type of crystal the Lentarians called an ‘athe’. These unique crystals, Steve knew, were the power source for the portals. The dark brown crystals were extremely light sensitive. If exposed to sunlight then the crystal would shatter and become powerless. This particular crystal played an important part in his and Sarah’s future. Unless he could somehow get this crystal back to Luther, his great-great-grandfather, the manor’s portal, the very same one he had used over a hundred years from now, would never be activated.
Thankfully, Sarah could jump between worlds but now she was a no show. How in the world were they supposed to return home without her? The portal he and his wife typically used hadn’t been properly linked yet. In fact, that’s why he was here. He was trying to help his own great-great-grandfather accomplish the very task that sent him to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in the first place.
Steve nervously rubbed his hands together. What were they going to do? Sarah was the only teleporter strong enough to jump between their world and Lentari, except something had clearly happened to her. There was no way Sarah had simply forgotten to pick him up.
Compounding their troubles was the presence of a young teenage girl. Lissa was the missing daughter of Capily’s constable from his time. Her disappearance had been what prompted the king to launch an investigation into her whereabouts, which in turn had discovered the existence of the anomaly. She had been one of the unlucky few that had found the concealed portal and fallen through. Now she was stuck, just like the two of them.
Steve frowned. Concealed portal, my eye. An anomaly. What had Luther called it? An interdimensional portal? One that was supposed to have vanished after the first use? That was one point in Zevern’s favor. Not only had he created a portal to get Luther from Lentari to another world, he had created a portal so strong that it had lasted well beyond the few moments it had been created for. However, this was where the good news ended and the bad news started. The ‘temporary’ portal had remained, concealed up until the present day. It had only been a matter of time before it would have been discovered. And therein was the problem. It had been.
Steve shook his head. For all he knew villagers could have been disappearing for many years. Anyone unlucky enough to fall through that portal was supposed to be sent to his world, only Lissa’s appearance had changed that theory. Clearly the portal was dropping off villagers wherever and whenever it felt like it. The portal had ended up teleporting people through space and time. For a portal, it wasn’t
a good mix.
When Luther originally teleported from Lentari to Steve’s home world he had inadvertently been sent several years back. The king confirmed that his ancestor had only begun his journey less than a month ago. Luther, on the other hand, had been living in Coeur d’Alene for over three years now.
Steve used the portal to follow Sarah when she had fallen in. He hadn’t known what to expect when he arrived, but discovering themselves in the territory – not the state! – of Idaho over a hundred years into the past had come as a real shock. He and Sarah had arrived in the Old West! Cool as that may be, it wasn’t cause for any celebration as a new problem had manifested. There was no way home.
Bad news continued to follow this interdimensional portal. It was learned that the portal was considered one-way. There would be no using it to return home to the future. The portal didn’t appear in the same place each time it was used. That made it unstable, and to top things off, it dropped off the victim/user at various points throughout time. He had watched Sarah fall through and then he himself went in nearly thirty seconds later to try and save her. He had expected to land right beside wherever his wife would have been deposited; however, it hadn’t happened that way. Sarah had arrived six months prior to his arrival. Even if they were to somehow track the portal in an attempt to use it to return home there was no guarantee they’d arrive at the same time they did when they left.
It was enough to give anyone who thought about it a headache. No, they had to find another way to get home.
That was the first problem. The second problem was almost as pressing as the first. Steve and Cecil had gone to Lentari to retrieve a second athe crystal so that Luther’s portal could be activated. Somehow, and he didn’t know how, Luther had broken the power crystal he had brought with him, rendering the portal in the manor useless. Therefore he had to negotiate a deal with the dwarves for another crystal. Not wanting much, one dwarf, who could acquire the crystal he needed, offered a trade: arrange for his ailing daughter to ride on the back of a dragon.
Thankfully Pryllan of this time was just as caring and generous as his wyverian friend from the present. She had agreed to the ride, only a new facet of wyverian history had manifested. Dragons had the ability to heal others, and when the ailment was strong enough, a special bond called a shachar was created, forever linking dragon and the person that was healed. In this case, the person that had become bonded with Pryllan was the young daughter of Selwyn, head of security at Borahgg. The only way to abolish the shachar was if young Aislinn could somehow return the favor and save Pryllan’s life, which was as unlikely as it sounded.
With his own future in jeopardy, Steve and Cecil had journeyed to Lentari to complete Luther’s mission of linking the portals between worlds together. In doing so, he had to leave his ancestors in the care of his wife while he and Cecil made the trip (with Sarah’s help) to Lentari of the past to fetch another crystal. Now that they had acquired it all they should have had to do was wait for Sarah to return them back to Coeur d’Alene and they could all go back to worrying about how to get home. As was usual with many well laid plans, anything bad that could have happened evidently did.
Sarah had failed to meet them at their agreed upon rendezvous point. That could only mean she had encountered trouble on her end. So how were he and Cecil supposed to make it home?
“What do you think happened to her?” Lissa timidly asked.
Steve’s bloodshot eyes swung over to the teenager’s. He really could use a few hours of sleep but until he knew what had happened to Sarah, he didn’t think he’d be able to.
“I’m not sure. We can’t think about that right now.”
Cecil’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re taking this a lot better than I thought you would.”
“Oh, trust me, I really am not. I’m panicking inside, okay? Seeing how I can’t do anything about that right now we should instead focus on that which we can.”
“And that is?” Cecil pressed.
“Getting out of here and getting our tails back to Idaho.”
“How?”
“Let’s go talk to Zevern. He’s the present day wizard in R’Tal. He’s the one who created the portal that caused this whole mess. Maybe he can create another one for us.”
“Zevern? As in ‘Zevern the Magnificent’?” Lissa all but cooed. “I’ve read about him. He’s supposed to be one of the most powerful wizards that ever lived. Are we really going to meet him?”
“I’m going to meet him,” Steve clarified with a scowl. “You’ll get your chance provided I don’t throttle him first.”
“Throttle him?” The girl looked over at Cecil. “What does that mean?”
“While I don’t know what ‘throttle’ means, I’m sure we can speculate about its definition. You see, this wizard –”
“Enough, Cecil,” Steve cut in. He looked at the young future healer and gave her a fleeting smile. “It means I’ll do my best to prevent myself from knocking out his two front teeth.”
“Oh. You don’t like him?”
“Not one bit.”
“Do you know him?”
Steve shook his head. “Not personally, no.”
“Then how can you say you don’t like someone if you haven’t met them yet?”
“It’s a long story.”
Lissa batted her eyes at him. “Well, it’s a long way to the castle.”
Steve gave a sidelong glance over at Cecil, who was silently doubled over with laughter. He pointed at a nearby tree, and when Lissa turned to look Steve reached behind the girl and smacked Cecil on the back of the head.
“Uh, sure. Where shall I start?”
“From the beginning, of course.”
Steve swallowed nervously. Where was Pryllan when he needed her?
“Mm-hmm. Well, it’s like this…”
****
“What do you mean you’re stuck here?” Kri’Calin demanded the instant they were brought before the Lentarian king in the Great Hall. “Did you not claim your wife was a teleporter?”
“Yes, but –”
“And was she not capable of jumping between worlds?”
“Yes, she can, but –”
“But what? What has happened? And who is this girl?”
Steve hooked an arm through Lissa’s and pulled her up to his side. “This is Lissa. She’s one of the missing villagers from my time.”
“And you found her here? In Lentari? Shouldn’t she have been found on your world?”
“You would think, and I would think, but apparently not.”
“This makes no sense whatsoever. Zevern assured me his plan was foolproof. That portal, he assured me, would drop whoever used it on another world. It wasn’t supposed to drop anyone here in Lentari.”
Steve bit his tongue and tried to keep his voice as neutral as possible. “Why don’t we ask him? I’d love to run a few things by him.”
“Oooo, I’ve so been looking forward to this!” Lissa all but squealed excitedly in his ear.
“You’re gonna be sorely disappointed,” Steve whispered back. “History books have a way of only focusing on a person’s strong points. Flaws and weaknesses are seldom recorded for posterity.”
“Flaws?” Kri’Calin repeated, overhearing Steve and Lissa’s hushed conversation. “Weaknesses? With Zevern you’ll find none.”
“Then could you please call Mr. Perfect out here? It’s high time we got him involved with this mess.”
Kri’Calin motioned a young page over. “Inform Zevern his presence is requested in the Great Hall.”
The young boy of ten or eleven bowed. “At once, your majesty.”
After the boy had scurried off, the king rose from his seat on the throne and approached Steve. He laid a fatherly hand on his shoulder.
“You fear for your wife. I can see it in your face.”
Steve nodded glumly. “She wouldn’t miss a rendezvous. She knew the only way we’d be able to return home was by her jhorun. Without her here I really d
on’t know what we’re going to do. Something has happened to her and I can only assume it’s bad. However, I can’t do anything about it until we get back. That’s why we came here. I can only hope that your faith in your wizard isn’t as misplaced as I think it is.”
“Do you have a particular aversion to wizards?”
“Lately I do,” Steve admitted. “The wizard from my time is powerful, but he’s a little unorthodox at times. Then there’s this other wizard that gets his kicks out of messing with people. He once put my mind in a dragon’s body and my wife’s in mine.”
The king managed to hide his smile.
“You don’t say? That must have been an experience.”
“While it was fun to be a dragon for a little while, I wouldn’t recommend trying it anytime soon.”
Kri’Calin nodded. “Acknowledged.”
Ten minutes later a loud fanfare of trumpets caused both Steve and the king to jump.
“I really need to speak with him about that,” the king muttered. “His arrival into a room should not be more grandiose than my own.”
Steve turned to see two trumpeters, three serving boys, and a half dozen men ranging in age from early twenties to mid sixties sweep into the room and spread out. The two trumpeters raised their horn to their lips and prepared to let out another blast. Thankfully the king was quicker.
“That will be quite enough, thank you.”