***
“So what do we have to do?”
“The two of ye sit there,” Maelnar instructed, indicating two wooden stools with worn, leather cushions. Taking their places, both humans waited as the dwarf withdrew a felt, drawstring pouch. Reaching in, he pulled out a sparkling crystal key, but this time it was purple! A deep, rich amethyst embossed with several ancient symbols that weaved themselves together, resembling several Celtic patterns Sarah had seen before.
“It’s purple!” Sarah was delighted. This was much better than the green key from before!
“Why’s it purple?” Steve wanted to know. “Will it change color once it’s tuned to our world?”
“The green crystal from the previous key was not ready for harvesting. The purple was in abundance, so I used that. I do hope that ye do not have a problem with the color, ‘cause that is what ye get, human.”
Elbowing her husband aside, Sarah let out a shout. “Don’t you dare change the color! I love purple!”
Grinning from ear to ear, Maelnar chuckled to himself. He had grown quite fond of these two.
“Now,” the dwarf began, “I will need ye to focus on the gate on yer world. Picture it as vividly as ye can. Hmmm, Sarah, maybe ye should be the one to do this.”
“Hardy har har,” Steve grumbled, but obligingly pulled his stool farther away so as not to disturb his them.
“What would you like me to do?” she asked the dwarf craftsman.
“Come sit next to me, lass.”
Sarah pulled her stool over to Maelnar’s work table. Pulling out the purple crystal key, he laid it down on the surface and pulled out a complex set of tiny tools. Laying the instruments all about the table, he started making adjustments on several of them.
“Now, I need ye to vividly picture something from yer world in yer head. Ye mentioned before ye might be able to visualize the portal gate itself. Think ye can do that, lass?”
Sarah nodded, bringing up a mental image of the carving spanning the two massive doors back home in Idaho. The Kingdom of Idaho, she thought wryly. Sure enough, the image formed.
“I have the gate pictured,” Sarah reported, eyes closed. “Quite clearly, actually. The portal is off. I mean, the doors to the room are closed, no portal.” In her mind’s eye she could see the intricate details on the gigantic double doors. There, as before, was the beautifully carved castle. Was her mind playing tricks on her? She could actually picture the green crystal key sticking out of the window/keyhole.
Seeing her expression change, Steve stood. “What is it? You’re frowning. What’s wrong?”
Keeping her eyes closed, she shook her head. “It’s nothing. I was just mentally picturing the door, and I can imagine that green key is still sticking out of the keyhole in the window. Remember that?”
Forgetting that his wife’s eyes were closed, Steve nodded. “Rather hard to forget.”
“Anyway, I can actually see it in the keyhole. Makes me think that I could teleport the crazy thing here.”
Inexplicably, the infamous green key appeared in her hand. Sarah shrieked, dropping the key on the ground. It clinked several times before it came to a noisy stop, resting up against her foot.
Steve had leapt to his feet yet again. “What is it? What’s the matter?” His gaze dropped to the floor where it landed on the key. “Is that what I think it is?”
Tentatively, Sarah stooped down to pick it up. Holding the familiar key in her hand, she turned to stare at her husband, whose shocked expression mirrored her own.
“It’s the key! What the hell! How did you get that thing here? What did you do??”
Maelnar walked over to speechless human female and took the key from her. He hefted it in his hand, and then held it close to his face, studying it meticulously. His sharp gaze found Sarah’s. “This is the key I crafted for the Scribes! If ye could have teleported it here at any time, why the ruddy hell did ye have me craft another one?”
“Like I knew I could do that!”
Steve took the key from the dwarf. Holding the blasted thing in his hand, he turned to his amazed wife. “So we just risked our lives for nothing? We could have gotten this damn thing at any time?”
Sarah shook her head, taking his hand. “No, I’m pretty sure we could not have. Until we learned how to use our jhoruns, I would never have been able to teleport this thing here. I had to be able to clearly see that key in my mind. Until I could picture what I wanted, I wouldn’t have been able to retrieve it. I had to learn how to do that.”
“You know what this means? We can go home!”
“Not for another two days yer not,” Maelnar gruffly corrected. “Ye asked for this cursed key, and ye will get yer damn key. Then ye can go.”
The Prophecy Page 49
