The Portal

by Brock Deskins

  “All they can do is try. You know they’ll never just roll over and take it,” Ted sighed.

  Their surroundings began taking an air of familiarity as they started coming near the original portal location. A large portion of Lord Darkrell’s army had just reached the bottom of a small flat area between two very low hills when Captain Lucien came riding back as fast as his mount would carry him. His horse was in a lather as he reined up hard next to his master’s carriage.

  “My Lord! We are under heavy attack at our head and front flanks! The way was not clear as the scouts reported!” Captain Lucien said in heavy breaths.

  “How much trouble could a bunch of rangers and a few pathetic druids give an army this size!” the furious lord demanded to know.

  “Milord, it’s not just rangers. A large force of King’s men seems to have joined them. Their numbers are nearly equal to ours from first estimates! Most of my cavalry are scattered chasing down their harassing forces, and most have not reported back, sire!”

  The door to Lord Darkrell’s grand carriage flew open, banging hard enough against the side to break one of the polished bronze hinges and causing it to hang askew.

  “Order the reserve forces to surround us, Captain. You! Children! Get off those horses, now!” he commanded, his face burning in outrage.

  The young men and woman quickly obeyed, not wanting the fearsome lord to shift his ire toward them. He ordered the huge ogres to lead the fore while he and his young charges followed behind, surrounded by the vicious looking orcs and a score of elite human guards. As they topped the first rise, they could see the ranger’s and the king’s infantry desperately engaged in battle with Lord Darkrell’s forces.

  Cavalry under the command of Captain Acadis broke from cover and plowed deeply into the evil army’s left flank, carving away a large piece of Lord Darkrell’s army and separating it from the main force. Another heavy force of General Haskin’s footmen crashed into the now vulnerable group of foes and quickly forced it into a rout.

  “This is intolerable!” Lord Darkrell screamed in rage. “Captain Lucien! When a breach presents itself, you will command my forces to hold it open while my reserve force charges through the middle and holds the portal location!”

  How Captain Lucien always seemed to be at hand when his master called was inconceivable to the adventuring group. Captain Lucien quickly relayed his master’s orders to his men. Lord Darkrell reached down, grabbed a handful of small stones, and began spouting spidery words of magic as he gazed intently at the titanic battle that raged below.

  Midway through his casting, a spell so complex that Ted could not even begin to fathom its intent, the stones in his skeletal hand began to glow a fiery red. The stones shone so brightly that even in the bright daylight, the evil wizard’s gnarly old bones shone under the red tinged luminescent skin. As his spell hit its crescendo, he threw the stones up into the air. Instead of lobbing out into the troops below, they streaked high into the sky and disappeared.

  Drew and his friends stared anxiously between the sky and the forces in the small valley, waiting for something to happen. Bright, flaming orbs streaked down from the sky at great velocity. The small, fiery stones had grown in size until each was its own small meteor. The blazing rocks crashed mostly into a line of General Haskins’s infantry, creating a massive breach in his forces.

  Lord Darkrell’s army wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity and quickly filled the breach, creating a nearly undisputed path to the top of the hill and the portal site that lay just beyond.

  The dark master ordered his personal force to charge forward, prodding along his captives to keep up. The young humans were amazed at the speed the wizard’s spindly legs seemed to tirelessly propel him down one hill and up the other. Once they gained the top of the far hill, more of the General’s forces slowed their headway. Lord Darkrell ordered his ogres to clear another breach and surround the small area just beyond.

  The huge ogres, specially trained and equipped as the wizard’s personal guard, quickly waded to the fore and struck aside their human opposition with their huge swords and heavily armored bodies. Captain Lucien and a few human guards prodded the captives forward behind their evil leader.

  Lord Darkrell came to a halt in a perfectly circular patch of ground completely devoid of plant life. It looked as though someone came through and swept the area clean on a daily basis.

  He pulled the book stuffed with the pages containing the spell from a leather satchel and thrust it hastily into Drew’s hands. “Do it now, quickly!”

  “Um, I need to draw a circle and pentagram and trace it with salt!” Drew shouted nervously.

  “There is no time; stand aside!”

  The baleful wizard raised his arms and began another casting as Drew looked around and saw what had him in such a hurried frenzy. The King’s forces were hard pressing his personal guards. Heavily armored knights battled the hulking ogres just a few yards away with massive two-handed swords and pikes.

  The ground before the group flared up in a brief but intense blaze of fire, scorching a perfect circle and pentagram on the ground. The points of the pentagram continued to burn with a small flame, an apparent replacement for the candles Drew had previously used.

  Lord Darkrell turned his smoldering eyes from the results of his spell back to Drew and spoke coldly. “Cast the spell, child. You have no need of salt. The earths own minerals and ash are a suitable substitute.”

  Drew swallowed hard and read the spell from the paper that shook in his quaking hands. A small breeze began to pick up and steadily grew stronger. As Drew continued chanting the words to the ritual, a faint light began glowing softly in the center of the large glyph and steadily grew brighter. As he neared the completion of the spell, the glow turned from a faint luminescence to a brilliant glaring aura of incandescence.

  “I need a knife or something to shed a small amount of my blood to open the portal,” Drew shouted above the whipping wind and the din of battle.

  Captain Lucien strode forward with his dagger in hand, grasped Drew’s wrist roughly, and drew the blade swiftly across the startled young man’s open palm. A virtual torrent of blood welled up from the needlessly deep gash and ran onto the ground. Drew had to jump back with the book as the wind turned into a swirling vortex within the confines of the pentagram. This time, however, the portal remained stable and did not forcefully attempt to pull him through.

  “I have to go through last because the portal will close behind me,” Drew shouted in warning. “Take my friends through, and I will follow after you.”

  Lord Darkrell stared a moment at Drew in distrust before nodding his head. “Very well. Captain Lucien, ensure that he and as many men as can break away follow us through immediately,” he ordered his commander.

  “It shall be done, My Lord,” Captain Lucien assured his master.

  Lord Darkrell began roughly shoving his captives through the portal, although they hardly needed any encouragement. He spared a brief second to look back over his shoulder before jumping through himself. Captain Lucien looked to see if he could pull any of his men from the fray, but quickly determined it was going to be impossible to rescue any of them. Only a thin line of his fighters kept his foes from overrunning him and following his master through the portal.

  Lucien grabbed Drew by the front of his shirt and made to pull the boy behind him through the portal when an arrow took the Captain in the back of his thigh. He cried out in pain as he stumbled and grabbed at his wound with both hands, releasing his hold on his prisoner.

  Drew turned and saw Brody reach for another arrow to take a second shot at Captain Lucien. Lucien grabbed a piece of Drew’s shirt again and started to stumble toward the portal. Drew raised the thick tome and brought it hard across the side of the Captain’s head.

  Captain Lucien stumbled to the ground and Drew jumped through the portal without him. The magical gate snapped closed with a thunderous crack and disappeared from view, ins
tantly leaving only a scorched pentagram and a furiously swearing former commander pounding the ground in rage with his fist.

  As the last of Lord Darkrell’s personal guard force fell to Captain Acadis and General Haskin’s army, with the help of the rangers and druids, the rest of the invading army was quickly routed and fled the battlefield as swiftly as they could. Rangers and cavalry continued to press and harass them, chasing them for days, until the survivors managed to escape into Storm Peak’s Pass.

  Once the route was well under way, Elderin approached General Haskins. “It looks as though your army was victorious, General.”

  “With the help of your rangers and druids,” he said with a nod to the elder druid. “What about the situation with Lord Darkrell and the portal to that other world?”

  Elderin took a deep breath and sighed. “Lord Darkrell was able to get through, but only with the young people of that world. Your soldiers and my rangers were able to tie up his guards enough to prevent them from getting through. One of my rangers also managed to bring down his military commander and prevent him from following his master, so Lord Darkrell will be by himself in that world. Whether that will hamper him enough to prevent him from successfully executing his plan, I do not know. He is a remarkably powerful and resourceful man.”

  Elderin paused a moment to think about this last statement. “Although a great deal of the power he relied on may not be available to him in that world. I wonder if he knows that.”

  “Only time will tell, I’m afraid.”

  **

  The party of adventures burst into the dimly lit room of the old abandoned house, one after another, each bumping into the previous person as their momentum propelled them several steps into the room. Lord Darkrell appeared with Ted firmly in his grip before the others were able to shake off the disorienting effects of traveling through the magical gate. The sinister lord even seemed to shake off his vertigo before the youths preceding him. Gabe was still holding his stomach and drooling, trying valiantly not to throw up when Drew burst through the gate clutching the book to his chest.

  “Where are we?” Lord Darkrell demanded.

  “We’re in an abandoned house a few blocks from my home,” Drew replied, still dizzy from his travels.

  “I did it! I made it!” he cried almost gleefully. “Where is Captain Lucien? Why did he not follow you through the portal?”

  “He didn’t make it. None of them did. Your guards were busy holding off the other soldiers, and Captain Lucien took an arrow in the leg and fell,” Drew answered.

  “It does not matter. I made it, and that is what is important. Take me to your home, and you will advise me from there,” he ordered.

  “Taking you home was not part of the deal!”

  Lord Darkrell increased the pressure of his grip on Ted’s arm and pulled out a gleaming dagger from under his robes. “You will do what I command! You will provide me with whatever information I require to make contact with the mercenaries and weapon makers or sellers of your world! Do I make myself clear?”

  “Fine, I’ll take you home. I should be able to find out something online, but then you leave me and my friends alone forever.”

  “Once you are of no further use to me, I will gladly depart your company and return to my world as the greatest conqueror in history!” he cackled with in delight.

  Drew led the way down the stairs of the abandoned house and out the back door. He and the others pulled up in surprise as they rounded the corner of the house and saw the flashing lights of two police cars behind three police officers and nearly all of their parents. Then everyone started shouting at once.

  “Mom, Dad!” Drew shouted.

  “Drew, Josh!” Drew’s parents shouted together.

  “Mom, Dad!” Gabe cried.

  “Oh thank the Lord, Gabriel!” Gabe’s parents shouted.

  “Ted!” Ted’s parents shouted.

  “Mom, Dad!” Ted shouted.

  “Mom, Dad!” Phil and Felicia shouted in unison.

  “Kids!” their parents shouted back.

  “Mom, Dad! Did you bring any pizza?” Chuck shouted.

  “Charles! We’ll order some as soon as we get home, I promise!” Chuck’s mother shouted back.

  “Oh crap, I hope the cops aren’t here for me!” Chase shouted.

  “Freeze, sheriff’s department!” the cops shouted as they pulled their pistols and pointed them at the robed individual holding Ted in one hand and a large knife in the other.

  “Damn it all to the abyss! None of you move, or I’ll slit this little rat’s throat!” Lord Darkrell threatened.

  There was a great deal of shouting going on and more than just a little confusion. Lord Darkrell switched his grip to hold Ted around the neck with the arm gripping the dagger so his other hand was free to cast one of his deadly spells.

  It was a perfect example of pandemonium. The deputies continued to train their guns on the kidnapper while trying to talk him into releasing his hostage, the parents cried out in fear and outrage, Ted’s friends alternated between pleading and threatening the evil wizard to let Ted go, while Lord Darkrell babbled out the incoherent words to one of his spells. A strong bolt of electricity shot out of the evil wizards hand and struck one of the sheriff’s deputies in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

  “He’s got a Taser!” one of the deputies warned as he glanced at his partner rolling onto his knees, quivering and groaning from the jolt.

  “What in the abyss?” Lord Darkrell cried.

  He did not understanding why his spell had not turned the man and half the people around him into piles of ash. Ted immediately understood what had gone wrong. Their world was nearly magically barren, a secret he had intentionally kept from his captor in hopes of catching him unprepared.

  “Bah, enough of this! I’ll end this now!” the incensed lord snarled as he reached into his robe and drew forth a powerful, rune-inscribed wand.

  Ted was certain the wand would work as designed since the rod itself contained the power necessary to release its destructive spells; much like an arcane battery just waiting to unleash its pent up energy.

  He felt the wizard’s grip around his neck loosen a bit when Lord Darkrell pulled the wand from his robes. Buckling his knees, Ted let himself fall straight down. Lord Darkrell’s arm scraped at his nose and forced the glasses off his head, but his unexpected escape attempt succeeded in taking him out of the cops’ line of fire.

  Everything seemed to happen all at once. Lord Darkrell brought out his wand, Ted slipped down out of his captor’s grip and rolled away, and Darkrell brought the wand up to unleash its assault with a single word of command. One of the deputies cried out “gun!” as the wooden rod was pointed at him, and another deputy fired his Taser into Lord Darkrell’s chest. The dark lord fell to the ground in a spasm and screamed shrilly. The kids all ran to their parents, with the exception of Chase.

  “Taze him again, he cut Drew with a knife and touched me in my no-no parts!” Chase cried, egging the cops on, even giving the helpless wizard a kick in the backside.

  The deputy glanced at Chase and apparently shocked the wizard again as Darkrell started cursing and writhing on the ground once more before the second deputy could handcuff him and search him for more weapons.

  “Oh my God, Drew, what happened to you all?” Drew’s mom asked tearfully as she embraced him and his brother. “What happened to your hand?” she cried out frantically as she saw the blood soaked strip of cloth he had wrapped around it.

  “It’s a long story, Mom. I’ll try to tell you all about it later. How long have you been waiting out here?”

  “We just arrived with the police a few minutes before you came around the side of the house. We found your note less than an hour ago. We were all so worried,” she tearfully replied.

  Ted looked over at Drew while his parents hugged and kissed him mercilessly. “Time is kind of weird when you travel like that. I’ll try to explain it later.”

 
Drew just nodded as one of the deputies walked over. “We’ve got the suspect in custody now, folks. Are you kids all right?”

  “Tired mostly, but otherwise we’re ok,” Drew answered for the group.

  “That’s good. I know you have all had a rough time, but we need you to come to the station and fill out at least a preliminary report for now. We can hold off on the details until you have rested a bit.”

  “Right now? Can’t it wait at least until tomorrow?” Gabe’s mother asked, still crying over her formerly missing son.

  “We really need to ask a few questions while their memories are still fresh, ma’am. I’m sure we can keep the interviews short for now and get into more details after they have rested up,” he assured all the parents around him.

  “It’s all right, Mom and Dad, we’ll go make a statement,” Drew said then turned to address the deputy. “Make sure you take everything from him, he’s really tricky. He said he has magic rings, necklaces, and stuff. It may be nothing, but they may be trick stuff to help him escape. I know he has a bunch of secret pockets in his robes where he pulls all kinds of stuff out.”

  “We’ll look into it, thanks for the heads up. You can all just follow the cruisers to the station.” The deputy then left to confer with his fellow officers.

  “Can I ride with you and Josh, Drew?” Chase asked, the only one who did not have a parent there.

  Drew’s mom looked at Chase and smiled. “Of course you can, Chase. We tried to call your mother, but she wasn’t home.”

  “That or passed out, it’s pretty much a fifty-fifty chance as to which,” Chase replied with more ease than he felt.

  “What the hell are we going to tell them at the police station?” Josh whispered to Drew once they were packed into the back of their car. “If we tell them the truth, they’ll either think we’re nuts, or they’ll make us show them how we did it.”

  “Do what works best in these kinds of situations—lie,” Drew said simply. “Tell them we were playing Dungeons and Dragons when this creep came in and kidnapped us at knife point.”