The Gate - An Ancient Connection Read online

  “Impossible. You know that orc will see us if we attempt that. I need to shoot from the tree line and hope for the best. You guys can prepare the darts for me while I take the shots. I fire until I hit or until we are discovered. If I hit, we sprint for the wall, if we are discovered we sprint away. Sound like a plan?”

  It sounded like a desperate plan to Vik but it was always going to be that way. He nodded his agreement and they both turned to Trent. He shrugged and then nodded.

  They carefully walked to the edge of the trees and the shortest distance to the tower. They maintained slow small movements not wanting to be discovered before even getting a shot off. Jaz loaded the tiny crossbow and took aim. Vik tapped her on the shoulder and pointed out the pacing orc, reminding her to wait til he was halfway down the wall. She looked annoyed at him as she nodded her understanding.

  The orc was silhouetted against the eerie purple light emanating from the Gate within the fort. He would pace the tower at random and keep an eye on the northern and the western boundaries of the fort. Vik couldn’t see his face but he judged the orc to be very alert.

  A few tense moments went by before Jaz fired. The dart went well wide and imbedded into the towers wooden support beam. The orc appeared to stiffen and took a step closer to the edge of the tower. Jaz loaded the second dart right away, took a moment to aim and pulled the trigger.

  The orc grabbed at his neck and then collapsed. With a quick look down the wall to make sure the pacing orc hadn’t noticed, Vik sprinted for the wall. He was first to arrive and jumped up high, grabbing hold of a sharpened angle log and flicked his legs up onto the wooden platform. Trent did the same but Jaz but was a few paces behind as she had to pin her crossbow to her belt.

  She jumped but didn’t get the needed height and so she fell back down. Vik and Trent leaned over the edge and held their hands out to her. She jumped as high as possible and gripped both their arms and walked up the log wall.

  Once she was up, Vik turned his attention to inside the wall. It appeared as though they hadn’t been heard as there was no movement from within. Seems the orcs had absolute confidence in their guards.

  The Gate caught Vik’s attention. It was about twenty paces away from them. It looked to be a much darker shade of purple than he remembered. Thinking back to what Master Pilk had told him about the colour of magical gates, Vik realised that this meant it was now more powerful.

  Not wanting to try his luck any further, Vik lowered himself from the platform and dropped gently. The other two followed suit and they all quietly stalked towards the Gate.

  A few moments later Vik stepped through the purple swirling energy and his heart sank when he saw what was on the other side.

  A Hostile World

  O’tukka had relieved the Gate guards on both sides. Once they had gone to get some rest he had returned to his own small room to wait. He didn’t really understand why the guards were needed anyway but it had been a direct order from the fierce one.

  He didn’t dare lie down on his bed, which was a straw-filled mattress on the ground, in case he fell asleep, so he took the time to study one of his many ancient books. This one in particular had been written by Sylestra’s head scribe on Aleri, the mother world. It had given him very little insight on the workings of the world to world gates as Sylestra and her goddess Nefari knew nothing about magical gates. Nefari herself had not been permitted through the great gates that were created by the other gods as she had been the one to unbalance the powers on Aleri which led to its destruction.

  Despite that, O’tukka knew that Nefari had somehow managed to go through as she was present on Ki’arantha and very powerful. In all the books he had read, he found no mention as to how Nefari achieved this and when he had questioned Supreme Mistress Sylestra on the matter, he was punished for not minding his own business.

  The book still gave him a lot of insight as to life on Aleri before it was destroyed by the dragons, and since coming into contact with the humans on Ka’ton, it started making a lot more sense. He was convinced that Gr’guck and the human gods had ensured that each race was sent to a different world to start anew.

  Since Supreme Mistress Sylestra had made it through one of Gr’guck’s gates with many humans in tow, the human gods were forced to send a part of themselves to that world to watch over them — or at least this is what O’tukka suspected.

  He had also read about orcs that had been bred as slaves. These smaller and less intelligent orcs had been abandoned in the hasty evacuation of the world by their masters. They were thought to be destroyed along with the world, but O’tukka now knew better. Those orcs had somehow managed to make it through a human gate and ended up on this world of Ka’ton which forced Gr’guck to send part of himself here.

  The ramifications of this were obvious to O’tukka, who was well versed in the magic of the gods. With the gods so divided, the power of magic would have lessened significantly. Since coming through the Gate to Ka’ton, O’tukka had noticed his magic slowly become more powerful and assumed this to be the result of the segmented gods reuniting. Another thought had struck him profoundly when he had first thought on this — what of the goddess Nefari? If she was not present on Ka’ton, Supreme Mistress Sylestra would likely have no magic on this world. He knew that she was right when he had mentioned this to her in the throne room; even without magic, she was formidable indeed as she had been training for many centuries in all forms of combat, but the absence of magic would still weaken her significantly.

  * * *

  Supreme Mistress Sylestra untangled herself from the two naked women in her bed and retrieved her silk nightdress. She had arranged for a servant to wake her an hour after midnight and the woman had done just that. With one last longing glance at the beautiful women who were sleeping soundly, she walked into her dressing room where two servants were waiting to assist her in getting dressed.

  Once dressed in what she deemed to be travel clothes — tight fitting, black leather slacks and top, a custom made belt full of wands, potions and hidden weapons, a thin stylish jacket and knee-high boots — she retrieved a small plain bag off a nearby table and hurried to O’tukka’s bedroom. The six orc guards she had arranged were already waiting within and had bags of equipment and supplies at the ready. They all bowed low to her as she walked in until she asked them to rise. She walked over to the small plain bed, sat down on its edge and waited.

  * * *

  As Vik came through, he knew their troubles weren’t over yet. Under the light of a large full moon, Vik could see that the orcs had been busy on this side as well with a lot of recently constructed buildings among many large tents. He also understood where they were getting the stone from as he saw some fresh excavating work over on a high rocky wall.

  It was significantly cooler here, Vik noticed as his heart continued to thump away in his chest. He noticed some hesitation from his two friends as they took a look around.

  The encampment was well lit by torchlight but Vik didn’t notice any movement. He couldn’t see the entire encampment from his position however, so they would have to tread carefully.

  Not wanting to stay in the one spot for too long, Vik chose a direction which appeared to be the most likely way out. The ground underfoot was solid and mostly rock, so walking quietly was no problem at all.

  He ducked around the corner of a stone building and waited in the dark shadows until Jaz and Trent came up beside him. He pointed in the direction he planned on taking them and they both nodded. As he was about to dash in that direction, he detected some movement.

  An orc had come out of a nearby tent and walked off to the edge of the encampment. Vik crouched low and signalled for the others to do likewise. The orc disappeared from sight and decided he should wait and see what this orc was doing before making any move.

  A moment later he heard the unmistakeable sound of someone urinating from the direction the orc had gone. Sure enough the orc soon returned and re-entered his tent. Vik decided to
wait a little longer to allow the orc to get re-settled.

  It was fortunate that he did as he sensed, more than saw, movement near the Gate. He chanced a quick look around the corner of the building to confirm his suspicion and sure enough an orc had come through. The orc appeared smaller than most he had seen so far and was wearing light garb instead of heavy armour.

  He suspected that the orc was a shaman and this was soon confirmed. A smaller magical gate appeared near him and a moment later someone stepped out of it.

  Vik rubbed his eyes in disbelief as he saw the human woman. He thought the woman must be a captive until the orc shaman bowed to her. She was followed through by six orcs in armour and they also appeared to be subservient to the woman.

  The orc shaman closed down his small gate and led the new group through the larger one. The encampment once again seemed motionless. Vik wasted no time at all in leading his friends on. A short time later they had left the encampment behind and were trying to navigate their way out of what Vik suspected to be a canyon.

  * * *

  As soon as O’tukka had led the Sylestra and her entourage through the Gate to the new world of Ka’ton, he constructed another small gate and stepped through it ahead of the group.

  He exited in sheer darkness as he’d expected, so he was quick to enact a small spell which made the end of his wooden staff glow faintly. While the rest of the group came through, he set about lighting the torches that he had placed in this cave earlier. Once they were through, he immediately closed it, not wanting anyone in the fort to notice.

  “I hope this will be to your liking, supreme mistress.” O’tukka bowed his head slightly as he addressed her.

  “It will suffice, O’tukka. Where is it and where are the dwarves located from here?” Sylestra slowly paced around the shallow cave inspecting it.

  “We are at the foot of the southernmost mountain in the Jasper Ranges, the mountain range belonging to the dwarves. The edge of Bilwarks Grove lies just outside this cave and the Gate is a short distance southeast of here. If you follow the base of the mountains north you will find the entrance to the dwarven city. The large doors are well guarded and do not be surprised if you see patrols roaming the mountains.” After lighting the last of the torches, O’tukka dismissed the spell on his staff.

  “I know the habits of dwarves very well. You may leave now and be sure to return tomorrow night at the same time,” said Sylestra firmly.

  “As you wish, supreme mistress.” O’tukka created another gate leading to his quarters in the new fort and entered.

  * * *

  When O’tukka left Sylestra ordered the six orc soldiers to guard the entrance to the small cave. When they were out of sight she opened the plain bag she had brought and extracted an orb the size of a coconut.

  She felt the overwhelming power contained within the orb and called to it gently with her mind as she held it firmly in both hands. A black swirling mist started to form around her hands and wafted upwards ever so slowly.

  It began to form a shape — a humanoid shape.

  As the mist continued to spew forth from the orb, the shape above it became more detailed; long straight hair formed on top of a delicate and yet powerful looking face. The deep-set eyes stared back at Sylestra as the ‘shaded’ creature continued to form.

  Sylestra had seen this shapely woman form many times but still marvelled at her perfect structure. Even though she was colourless and incorporeal, the beauty of this goddess could not be denied.

  A thin strapped, low cut dress formed over the shapely body, clinging tightly to her waistline and flowed freely over the shade woman’s long seductive legs.

  The powerful image of Nefari stood there expectantly.

  Sylestra bowed low. She knew that only a small portion of the goddess possessed the orb and yet the power contained within was more than Sylestra’s fragile, mortal frame could hope to control. The orb in itself was powerful and had been created and enchanted by Sylestra many centuries ago when she was at the height of her power. It protected her powerful goddess as she travelled through magically created gates which connected worlds. Without this great artefact, Sylestra knew that her goddess was stranded on whatever world she was on.

  “Welcome to the world of Ka’ton, Nefari great goddess of dark magic.” A devious smile appeared on the face of the goddess.

  * * *

  “Search the area! They can’t be far away,” shouted Krak’too. The orc almost cowered at his feet and then sprinted away. Krak’too looked down at the sleeping orc once again and then shifted his gaze to the cleverly designed dart.

  He took a step to the edge of the tower and gazed into the trees as the darkness of the night began to fade. He didn’t expect to see anything but he was trying to make sense of it. That the intruder, or intruders, had chosen the western wall to infiltrate did not surprise him; it was the obvious choice. But the purpose for the infiltration and the use of a sleeping toxin rather than something more lethal eluded him.

  The orc general shifted his gaze northward and noticed a dart protruding from the support beam. Extricating it and holding it up for inspection, he saw the small vial was empty on this one also. Had it only taken two attempts for the intruder to hit their mark? How had they fired this projectile and from how far back? The general assumed it had been from the tree line so the shooter could remain out of sight — not an easy shot to make.

  A thought came to him suddenly. He yelled out to the closest orc to arrange a search on Ki’arantha. Meanwhile he set off to talk to the captain of the guard.

  * * *

  Pilk awoke to a loud knock on his bedroom door. Another loud knock sounded before his feet even touched the ground.

  “I’m coming,” he shouted through the door.

  “Jaz and the boys are gone,” said Cressida in a panicked voice when he opened the door. Her eyes were red and her hair dishevelled.

  “They have likely just gone off exploring the city,” reasoned Pilk.

  “This early, and without leaving a note?” His sister’s voice sounded incredulous.

  “You expect the young teenagers to think of leaving a note?” Pilk had to admit to himself that his explanation was unlikely, but he wanted to calm his sister down.

  “Well, no, not really I guess. But they made no mention of leaving early yesterday.” Cressida’s tone and posture relaxed ever so slightly as she brushed her hair back out of her eyes.

  “They were in bed when you arrived home and I spoke very little with them myself as I had plenty to do. Give them a few hours to arrive home. I’m sure they’re fine.” A knock at the front door had Cressida turning around and heading for the staircase. Pilk shook his head as he realised he was destined for an early start this morning and then he followed after his sister.

  He was approaching the front door as Cressida opened it. He could tell she was getting ready to blast the kids for leaving the house without notice and without a key, but her posture soon relaxed when she noticed it was Decker and not the kids.

  “Why are you visiting so early?” Cressida’s voice was firm. Her tone and blunt question obviously took Decker by surprise as he raised his eyebrows.

  “It’s nice to see you too,” said Decker as Master Pilk stepped up beside his sister still in his night robes.

  “It is nice to see you, but you know what I mean — it’s very early.”

  Pilk feared he knew the reason for Decker’s visit and realised that his news would be ill-timed but remained quiet while the ranger answered.

  “A messenger visited me very early this morning and told me Duke Angus wished to see me at once. The duke requires me to do some scouting beyond the Gate.”

  Pilk watched his sisters face go red with anger.

  “Is he insane? That’s a suicide mission, and why you? You’re a ranger, not a scout.” Cressida barely took a breath in between questions.

  “I am used often as a scout and that’s mostly because of my ranger skills. I can hide where mos
t cannot and that is why the duke selected me.” Decker glanced at Master Pilk while he spoke and Pilk sucked in a deep breath waiting for the inevitable.

  “You knew about this!” screamed Cressida as she turned to face him. “When were you going to tell me about it? Was it your idea?”

  “Calm down, Cressy. Yes I knew of it as it was discussed during the meeting I had with the duke. Decker was not mentioned as the scout to be sent but I’m not surprised he was the one that was chosen. He is the best choice and the one most likely to succeed. He will not be going alone. He will be accompanied by Mistress Cali who is skilled with the invisibility spell and is a very capable wizard,” explained Master Pilk in a calm voice.

  “I will also go then. Cleric skills may also be needed.” Cressida’s tone was determined as she set her feet firmly on the floor and crossed her arms.

  “Three will prove to be too many. It’ll use up more of Mistress Cali’s power that she may well need for other eventualities.” Pilk put his hands firmly on his sister’s shoulders. “We need to know what is on the other side, Cressy. Have faith that the two that are most suited to the task have been selected.”

  “Can Mistress Cali fight as well as me? Why can’t she make Decker and I invisible and let us go through?”

  “Because she may need to re-cast the spell if it runs out, or if it fails. I have a theory that magic cast on this side may not carry over through the Gate as it relies on the power of the gods.” Pilk realised he had said too much as his sister’s eyes lit up again in anger.

  “So you’re saying that her magic may be useless on the other side if the goddess Tybressa is not present there?” Cressida almost screamed at him.

  “It is a possibility but one she will be able to quickly determine. If it is so, they’ll be able to come back through immediately where she can once again make them invisible while they make their escape. That is why it must be her to go and it must be Decker as there is no one with his knowledge or abilities in the wild.”