Of the known portals existing in Earth Kingdom, only a few remain accessible. For a complete listing of these portals, see Appendix A.
I flipped to the back of the book, stopping at section A.
Most of the portals were in extreme remote locations in faraway places. Bangladesh, Wales, Scandinavia, Nova Scotia, Borneo. Oh boy. I stopped halfway down. Utah. At least it was in the US, even if it was eighteen hundred miles away. Rifling through the book, I looked for anything else I could find about the Utah portal.
I stopped when I found the chapter about portals in the Earthen wilderness.
…and another portal that uses the magic of Earth Kingdom as its only source of power, which the dragons left untouched but for a masking spell, under the arches of the prehistoric wilderness…
Arches. Was there a portal somewhere in the Arches National Park? On the next page, my hypothesis was confirmed when I saw an inked drawing of one of the familiar arch formations.
At least I knew where we needed to go. Standing, I tucked the book under my arm and faced Kull.
For an instant, the presence of him in my bedroom stirred my emotions, making me feel exposed as he stood facing me and holding the sword.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Yeah, we’re going to Utah.”
He scrunched his brow.
“It’s to the west,” I said. “And it’s not close. We’ll have to fly if we want to get there in any reasonable amount of time. Do you still have that passport Brent gave you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. We’re lucky Brent has access to IDs that look halfway like you. Just hope he doesn’t get found out for loaning one of them to you.” I sighed. “Flying won’t be cheap.”
My head spun as I calculated the cost of two plane tickets. My meager savings wouldn’t be enough. I’d have to call on the powers of my trusty credit card with its awesome nineteen-percent interest rate. Yippee.
“Let’s go,” I said as I brushed past Kull, trying to ignore that fluttery feeling in my stomach as my shoulder touched his. He followed me back to the front door where Brent waited.
“Can you drop us off at the airport?” I asked. “We’re going to Utah.”
“Utah? You’re sure?”
I nodded.
“There isn’t anywhere closer?”
“No, but it’s better than traveling to Nova Scotia.”
After we exited my apartment, I locked the door behind us. Not that it would do much good at this point—the place had already been trashed.
Kull and I reached Brent’s car and climbed inside. When I scanned the parking area, I couldn’t see any sign of the elves. Had we eluded them?
“They’re still out there,” Kull said as if answering my thoughts.
“How do you know?”
He shrugged. “Call it a premonition.”
As we drove away from the building and onto Seawall Boulevard, I couldn’t help but agree with him. Queen Euralysia was too smart to let us go, especially when her people had failed to turn up the sword. They were out there somewhere, and they had the advantage. The elves had full use of portals and we didn’t, meaning they could disappear and reappear whenever they chose. Although the portals hadn’t been working well for me, the elves had more powerful magic than I had; they’d have no problem traveling between worlds. This really wasn’t looking good for us, but for now, we had no choice but to keep moving forward.
The drive was quiet except for the whirring of tires on the asphalt. An unspoken tension filled the car as we crossed the causeway, the gray water spreading out beneath us toward the horizon, the sun hidden behind a mass of thick clouds.
We drove toward the heart of Houston, then took the exit toward Hobby airport.
Everything seemed to be happening too fast. Last night, I’d finally gotten Kull to open up to me, but it had ended on a sour note, and he’d only said a few words to me all day. I knew he was in pain, and last night had only deepened his wounds.
Crossing through the portal to Faythander would hopefully be the solution. I was optimistic that the crossing would remove the spell from Kull’s mind. If not, I wasn’t sure what else to try.
Brent drove us to the terminal. Hobby was thankfully Houston’s smaller airport, and although there was still a bit of a crowd, at least I knew my way around.
We exited the car and removed the luggage from the trunk. I faced Brent as we stood behind the Honda.
“You’ll take care of Han, right?”
“Doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice, but yes, I’ll take care of him. Your cat will be fine.”
“Thank you, Brent. I’ll be back really soon.”
Brent frowned. “You sure about that?”
I didn’t answer, because I didn’t want to lie. “Bye, Brent,” I said bravely, as if this was just a brief good-bye and not an I’ll-probably-die-and-never-see-you-again farewell.
He must’ve known there was a possibility we’d never see each other again because he leaned in and hugged me. I hugged him back, feeling tears misting my eyes. Darn it all, why was saying good-bye, even to someone you were on lukewarm terms with, so hard to do?
When he pulled away, I grabbed my suitcase’s handle and stepped onto the sidewalk. Kull followed me. Brent got into his car and drove away.
That was harder to do than I thought.
“You care for that man?” Kull asked.
“Yeah, I guess I do. Weird, I know, to still care for a guy you pretty much used to hate.”
“That’s because you have a kind heart.”
I turned to him.
“You know he doesn’t deserve your attentions, but you also realize he is a person just like you, who has feelings just like anyone else.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. He’s also the only person who puts up with my crap. On this planet, anyway. You ready?”
Kull eyed the long line of glass doors leading inside the airport. “Yes. I’m ready to leave this world once and for all.”
As we walked inside, Kull flexed his empty hands. He’d stored both Gnat Biter and the fake Madralorde sword inside the luggage, but I knew he didn’t feel comfortable without a weapon. Inside, I found a kiosk and purchased two tickets for standby seating. I tried not to faint over the amount I was adding to the balance on my credit card. And the stupid thing was almost paid off, too.
With tickets in hand, we headed for security. The airport was a typical steel-and-glass affair with the exposed ceilings and wide, tiled floors of alternating black-and-white patterns. Ads were posted on the walls and throughout the hallways, displaying chewing gum or the latest vacation specials. The echo of voices reverberated throughout the large space, and sunlight streamed from the glass windows, painting bright splotches on the floors.
Kull followed me without speaking. His eyes were wide with wonder as he looked from the airplanes outside, to the people walking past, to the escalators and Segways.
“I’ve read about places like this, but never have I seen any place so wondrous.”
With the crowds and my growing headache, I wasn’t sure wondrous was the word I would’ve used.
I found our terminal, and we sat facing the windows overlooking the tarmac. Kull got restless and stood by the windows, pressing his hands to the glass as he watched a jumbo jet taxi past. His fascination with airplanes gave me wild ideas. We could move to Earth and he could be a pilot. He could retire from the whole king thing, and we could live like normal people here in this world. Maybe we’d vacation in Faythander now and then. But with the impending arrival of an asteroid I would use to destroy the planet, I wasn’t sure how realistic I was being.
My daydreams were broken up by the sound of our names being announced over the speaker as standby passengers ready for boarding. I stood beside Kull. He didn’t turn to me as his gaze lingered outside.
“You ready?” I asked.
He only nodded, then followed me past the information desk and into the hallway
leading to the fuselage. When we entered the plane, Kull had to duck to get inside, and he attracted a few stares. Even in modern clothing, he couldn’t hide the warrior. He looked like he’d come straight from Asgard. Judging by the curious stares of most of the females on the airplane, it looked like they all thought the same thing.
Kull and I found two seats in the back, and since we were the last people to board, we didn’t wait long before the plane started taxiing toward the runway.
I’d been on planes enough times not to be fascinated with them anymore, preferring to sit and read a book while we flew, but watching Kull as he stared out the window, looking in awe at the cloud tops and fields spreading out beneath us, I wondered what it felt like to see the world from up here for the first time. He’d ridden dragons before, but they never achieved altitudes this high. It must have felt akin to seeing magic for the first time.
I had the urge to reach over and take his hand, but I wasn’t sure how this Kull—Cursed Kull—would take it. I would most likely be giving him the wrong impression. I prayed that crossing through the portal removed the curse. If not, I didn’t know what I would do. Would he ever love me the same way? Although he’d wanted sex, it didn’t mean he loved me. His feelings now were based on lust, and that wouldn’t last long.
The flight passed in silence with the occasional quiet conversations or cry from a baby. When we landed at the Salt Lake airport, we didn’t hang around for very long before changing planes and heading for the Moab airport.
When we arrived, it was well past midnight, so I relied on my trusty credit card once again and rented a room at a local motel. We passed out as soon as we got into the room, so spending the night in the same place with Kull wasn’t as weird as I thought it might be.
Since I’d rejected him, he was nothing but a gentleman and respected my privacy, which I secretly hated, but it was what it was, and I’d already made up my mind about our current status. Right now, we were business partners, and I refused to let it get any more complicated than that.
Early the next morning, I rented a Jeep, bought a map and a few backpacking supplies, which Kull helped me choose, and we set off on Highway 191 toward Arches National Park.
By the time we arrived, the sun was climbing into the sky, burning bright over the breathtaking vistas and rock formations. After parking the Jeep, we climbed out and strapped on our backpacks. Kull found his sword in the luggage and quietly pulled it out. His face lit up as he held it once again, its blade gleaming in the sunlight.
Glancing around the park, I saw only a few hikers milling about at this time of the morning. There was no sign of the elves, but I also didn’t expect there to be. If they were trailing us, we’d have no way of knowing, especially if they were using the portals to track us.
After buying tickets, we set off down the trail, red rock and arch formations spreading out before us, hauntingly beautiful in an altogether Earth Kingdom sort of way. The air bordered on cold, but we’d come prepared and wore thick jackets, although my cheeks and nose stung with the bite in the air.
Crowds gathered around some of the more notable formations, and I spied the most famous formation—Delicate Arch, but we bypassed it to make our way to a lesser-used trail.
The path sloped downward, and we followed it into a canyon. Wind howled through the tall rock formations. When we reached a precipice overlooking the canyon, I pulled out the map I’d bought from the gift shop and removed the Faythander atlas.
Kull looked on as I tried to decipher the map and the drawing in the book.
“We need to find a formation that looks like this.” I showed him the picture in the book. He studied the inked image, and then glanced out over the canyon. After studying the map for a moment, he reached in his back pocket and pulled out a brochure. Opening it, he scanned it, then looked at me.
“It says there are approximately two thousand rock formations in the park.”
My heart fell. “Two thousand?”
He nodded.
“How are we supposed to find the right one?”
He studied the drawing in the Faythander tome. “This formation is odd, with two arches beside one another, almost like the eye sockets in the face of a skull. I think I remember seeing something like this.” He scanned his brochure once again and pointed at an image. The familiar curve of the twin arches looked similar to the drawing in the book.
“You think that’s it?” I asked.
“I believe so, but if it is, it won’t be easy to get to. This particular formation is accessed by one of the steeper trails and labeled as off-limits to the general public.”
“But we don’t have much of a choice. We have to get there.”
“I agree.” He folded the brochure and stuck it in his back pocket. “And we need to get there soon.”
The two of us hiked along the trail until it branched, taking the path leading up the steep side of a cliff. Below us, the sheer drop spanned hundreds of feet. I did my best to put one foot in front of the other and not stare down into the gorge below us.
Besides being scared out of my wits at the prospect of falling to my death, it was actually quite breathtaking. In the distance, a mountain range capped with snow stood out against the faded blue sky, and around us, the red pillars rose like steeples.
When we climbed to the top of the ridge, the trail ended with a sign that read NO ONE BEYOND THIS POINT.
Ignoring the sign, we climbed up the ridge, and then down through a maze of walls and half-formed tunnels. We only stopped to rest for a few sips of water, and then started once again.
An arch formation came into view as we rounded a bend—with two arches beside one another to form two open spaces, like the eye sockets in a skull.
“I think that’s it,” I said excitedly as I rushed toward the formation. Kull followed, and we stopped at the base of the twin archway. It must’ve stood seven stories tall—the tallest formation I’d seen so far.
“The book said the portal was hidden by a masking spell.” As I circled the pillars, I couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary, but I wasn’t sure what to look for in the first place, so I pulled my backpack off my shoulder and removed the Faythander text. I flipped through the pages until I found the picture of the formation.
Scanning through the text, I looked for anything that would tell me where the portal was located.
…formed as the world’s continents drifted asunder, the sandstone formation gained magic as the Earth powers pooled into the arched opening, like the opening into another world, for which it was. What was one now became two as the dragon’s spell masked the portal from all prying eyes.
Confused, I re-read the passage, trying to make sense of it, and then I handed it over to Kull. I stood and studied the formation. What was one now became two…
Hiking up to the formation, I climbed up until I could reach the rock between the two archways. As I felt the stone, magic tingled beneath my fingertips.
Bingo.
“I think I found it,” I called down to Kull.
“Up there?”
“Yeah, I can feel a spell working in the stone in this spot. I’d bet this isn’t two separate arches, but one. The stone connecting them is a masking spell hiding the portal. I’m not sure how to get through it, but at least we know where it’s at.”
I searched the magic, feeling the characteristic green of dragon powers, and finding a simple masking spell keeping the portal hidden. Usually, unraveling a masking spell was a simple enchantment, but since I had no magic, I wasn’t sure how to remove it.
I climbed down and made it to the ground. Sitting on a rock, I hefted my pack and searched inside until I found my mirror. The pink plastic and scrolled lettering glittered in the sunlight.
“What is that?” Kull asked, sitting beside me.
“It’s a magical box of enormous power.”
He eyed the mirror, but he drew back as the box started speaking to us.
“You’re beautiful! Inside and ou
t!”
“Is it powered by some sort of dark powers?” he asked.
“Yeah, something like that,” I answered. “I’m going to try to activate the magic in my box so I can lift the masking spell. Since I don’t have magic on my own, I’ll steal the magic from the box. It won’t give me much power, and there’s not enough to open a portal, but it should be enough to remove a masking spell.”
Kull eyed the box. “With that?”
“Yes. Is something wrong with it?”
“It looks like a child’s toy.” He reached for it, but I pulled it out of his reach.
“Don’t touch. It’s a powerful magical tool. Looks aren’t everything.”
“Where did you find such an item?”
I sat up straight, trying to maintain my pride. “The dollar store. I was having a bad day and feeling very frustrated over losing my old mirror case. Plus, it spoke to me. Literally. Don’t judge.”
“Was your old mirror like this one?”
Sighing, I wished we could change the subject. “No. It wasn’t at all like this one.”
Turning away from him, I positioned the box on my lap and focused on the mirror. Bringing up my old box stirred feelings of regret, and I couldn’t help but see the metaphor of the situation, as if I’d lost a part of myself the day I’d lost my old box.
This all felt so wrong with this stupid Barbie nail polish kit turned mirror case, but I wasn’t getting my old box back, so I had to make do. Might as well get used to the thing. Pressing my fingertips to the screen, I called on the power within. A faint blue glow ignited around the glass. I felt its power flowing weakly, like water in a slow-moving stream, yet it was there, and it was more than I’d had before.
While still holding the box, I stood and faced the rock formation. Magic hummed beneath my fingertips. With one hand holding the plastic casing, I reached out with my other and channeled the energy through my body. I grasped the power and conjured a spell, then released it through my fingertips.
Controlling the magic was a problem as there wasn’t much to use in the first place, but as I watched the waves of blue light flow from my fingertips and into the stone separating the two arches, I knew it was working. The rock shimmered like waves rippling on a pond, and then, the rock between the two arches disappeared altogether.
Deathbringer Page 21