Chapter sixty-three

The Inner Portal

 

Kath slipped the straw key into the keyhole on the pillar. It slid in with a small satisfying click. After that it was easy for Potentilla to slide the pillar across. It was made of ply wood or plaster, or something similar, and was set up with a wheel inserted into its base so that it could be moved easily.

They all crowded round to see what was below. It was slightly disappointing – there was a hole with a ladder attached to one side of it, leading down into the darkness. They lit a torch and held it against the hole, but all they could see was what looked like a dark floor about ten feet below.  Potentilla climbed down it before Viola had a chance to tell her she shouldn’t.   

They all followed the lieutenant into the hidden floor below. It was an exact copy of the colonnade above, running along from the ladder onwards. It even had pillars in what seemed like exactly the same places as those above. The only difference was that it only ran one way, further down the colonnade in the direction that they had come.

Kath climbed back to pull the pillar back across – it had a key hole on its underside where it locked into place. She pulled it to from the ladder and it clicked shut. She checked that it could be opened again with the straw key and then she left it closed and locked. She wondered how long their enemies would take to work out where they had gone.

 They moved slowly forward in single file. They extinguished the torch as it made far too much smoke in the enclosed space. Hardacre, weary though he was, had enough energy to force light on to the end of Potentilla’s sword. It was enough to see the way ahead. She led the way, squeezing past the pillars, which sometimes left only a foot or two’s gap between them. This way was clearly not intended to be used very often.

No-one said a word and they travelled on as quietly as they could, given the mixed nature of the party. After about twenty more pillars the pillars stopped and the corridor was just plain and white. Hardacre extinguished the light on the end of Potentilla’s sword.

‘There’s a glow’ he whispered, eyes straining in the half-light.  Viola focused on the faint orange patch of light.

‘It’s some sort of gateway – an arch filled with light’

 ‘Is it a boundary light? Is that what you mean?’ Hardacre was now standing right next to Viola and their voices were barely audible to their companions.    

‘What’s that?’

‘A light that triggers a magical effect if it is breached’

Viola shrugged.  ‘I have no idea, but I think it could be...’

They walked towards it as slowly as they could. As it got closer they could see that it was a plain arch thrown across the corridor. It seemed to be no barrier to their progress, except that it was covered in a skin; a membrane that shone with a shimmering pink-orange light.  Kath’s stomach jumped – this looked like something that no-one would want to walk through without considerable preparation. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Hardacre and Dom were putting their heads together, while Viola had stood stock still examining every part of it with her extraordinary eyes. For a moment she felt proud of their collective skills.

Sadly, no-one had communicated this sense of caution or competence to Lieutenant Potentilla who simply continued walking until her still outstretched sword hit the membrane.

A huge dissonant chord bounced out of the entranceway and sent them all flying backwards. It was the most musical explosion they had ever experienced, but it still hurt a lot. Viola, relatively unhurt, scrambled up and ran over to where Potentilla was lying. Viola’s voice was stern but concerned.

‘Are you injured?’ she asked. Potentilla mumbled, put her hands on her back and rubbed.

‘Only a bit...’

Viola wondered briefly whether this might be a good moment to give her lieutenant a piece of her mind, but she knew it would be a total waste of both of their time.

‘Just stay where you are until you’re sure you’ll be steady on your feet’

The party brushed themselves down and stood up. The witch and the ‘prentice mage returned to their ruminations. Everyone else retreated a little way back down the corridor.

Hardacre and Dom walked right up to the membrane. Both of them were now weary and neither of them could think of any useful spells, but they did the best that they could and scraped something together. They had a brief discussion and then walked back to the others to report. 

‘It’s not a fatal trap...’ said Dom

‘...which is a good thing’ continued Hardacre, glancing for only the smallest possible fraction of a second at Lieutenant Potentilla.  ‘It is powerful magecraft, but neither of us has any idea what it is for. It appears to be a membrane that will yield to someone or something, but we have no idea what or who. So, we discussed the possibilities and then Dom came up with an excellent idea, which I will let him describe’

Dom’s smile was thin lipped. He tilted his head to one side as if inviting acquiescence.

‘We should try walking through it one at a time, just in case it might let one of us through’

Without a word they all glanced up at Viola. She frowned and took a step back, further away from the arch.

 ‘Well, perhaps I should go first, then’ she said, her frown showing no sign of fading from her face.

Hardacre shook his head.

‘No, madam’ he said, ‘you should only go through when we are sure that it’s safe. Let me go first ’

The others murmured their support for this idea, except for Potentilla, who looked for a moment as if she going to ask for another try. Everyone else was grateful for Hardacre’s bravery.   

He approached the arch very slowly, scanning every inch of it as he moved forward. He could see the passage way behind the membrane quite clearly; it appeared as plain as the way behind him. He stopped just in front of the arch, looked round to ensure that no-one had any final words of warning or advice, and then pushed his left hand into the membrane. It felt very strange. At the first touch the membrane pushed back against his hand. The harder that he pushed the harder the membrane responded.  He turned to his companions.

‘That explains why the lieutenant was pushed backwards so hard; the membrane seems to counter any attempts to penetrate it with an equal force’ He thought for a second, remembering some schooldays physics, ‘in fact with the double the force...’

  He stepped back and nodded at Dom.

‘Mage Shavosky?’

Dom nodded back. He breathed in deeply and then crept forward. He repeated exactly Hardacre’s approach, pushing his hand gingerly into the membrane. He braced for the force to push his hand backwards but no force came. He stared quizzically at his hand and then down at the membrane. To him it looked like diffuse orange smoke.  He turned back to the others.

‘Something’s happened to it’ he said, ‘it’s started to dissipate...’

Hardacre scanned at the membrane intently. He looked puzzled.

‘It looks the same to me’ he said, stepping forward. He pushed his hand in again, but with the same result – his hand was pushed back. Dom glanced backwards and forwards from his own hand to Hardacre’s.  One hand was pushed through the smoke, while the other remained stuck outside it. He knew what he had to next – he took a step forward. And then he was on the other side; the membrane had no power over him at all. 

‘Stay just there’ commanded Hardacre – Dom had no plan to move at all.

‘That’s really strange’ said Kath, walking forward, ‘why would it do that?’

She peered at Dom through the orange gloom. She tried to reach him through the membrane but her hand bounced off its surface.

‘Can you put your hand through?’ she shouted through the archway. He extended his hand and it pushed back through the fog. Kath held on to it. ‘Try pulling me through’

He rocked backwards and tried to drag her through. As he pulled the pressure pushing her away from him increased, until it was too much and he had to let go. She fell backwards on to the floor. They stared at each other, wide eyed and bewildered.

‘Come back through, Dom’ said Viola, ‘this is all too strange...’

Dom strolled back across the threshold as easily as he had gone in. Potentilla came over and held his hands in hers, as if checking that he were still corporeal. 

Viola shook herself, sighed deeply and walked straight through the archway. She never had any doubts that this would happen, but the fact that she had been right did not bring her any satisfaction. At least the naga must be near.

‘Can you disrupt it?’ she asked, looking back through the portal.

Hardacre shook his head.

‘I can’t, and if I could, l surely wouldn’t’

Viola stood in the glow with her hands immersed in the orange smoke.  She was torn between looking forward to the past and looking behind to the future.  She was in equal parts terrified and elated – it felt very strange.

The others all turned to confront Dom. He blanched under their prying eyes.

‘I don’t know why’ he said, ‘I really don’t’

‘Are you an archaic elf?’ asked Kath, ‘and if you are, is Viola one too? Is that it?’

Dom shook his head and then a sudden fear struck him. He looked through the arch; there was no sign of Viola.  She had gone on without him.

‘I need to help her’ he murmured, and, ignoring the protests of his friends, he let go of Potentilla’s hands, and hurried through the archway.  A second later they could see nothing but the impassable orange skin, and the empty corridor beyond it.