CHAPTER XV

The moment they were ready to travel, Corolon opened a gateway to take Raine, Lyra, Talion, and himself to the mountain he had been shown. From the outside, the volcano hadn’t looked dangerous, but this changed when they entered the great cavern. Lyra and Raine knew exactly where they were headed, and, as they led Corolon and Talion farther into the interior, Raine explained, “As long as the conjuring hasn’t been disturbed, the books will be safe. The moment Lyra and I touch them, however, things will begin to change.”

Lyra continued, “It is why we mentioned that the second portal needed to be opened quickly to get us out of here.”

Corolon and Talion could tell there was magic at play inside the mountain. The temperature should have been hot enough to eviscerate them, yet it had no effect. It was why Talion commented, “When Lyra and you take the volumes from their resting places, the temperature inside the mountain is going to skyrocket, am I right?”

Lyra nodded. “As rain. So, the minute we have those books, Corolon has to open a gateway to get us out. Do you think you can do this, Corolon?”

Corolon answered, “I already have the picture of where we are going in my mind. This shouldn’t take much. My energy level is high, at least for the moment. I will need to take a day to recharge when this is over though. I will admit, I never expected the access to available magic on this side of the boundary to be so low. I am not sure what is causing the imbalance.”

Lyra looked thoughtful and then asked, “Could the closure of the portals be the cause of the interrupted flow of magic from one side of the world to the other?”

Corolon shook his head and answered, “No. There is more to this than the obvious. This has to do with the life-force of the planet as a whole.”

Talion quickly put an end to the conversation for the moment, for they had reached the entrance where the books were held, and it was time for them to act.

The magic that flared to life at Corolon’s command was impressive to Raine and Lyra, although they noticed Talion didn’t seem to think it was anything out of the ordinary. The four Elves had gone from the ski resort where they had spent the night, to the mountain, where they entered the interior through a small crevasse. They had to then walk across a portion of a bridge Corolon conjured from Lyra’s imagery. It had taken less than an hour to reach the books, and, the moment they had them in hand, Corolon created the gateway they needed to leave the area. The exercise had taken all Corolon was capable of doing at one time, and, as he followed Talion, Raine, and Lyra into the lush primal forest of the island they had chosen, he collapsed.

Although Talion had felt Corolon getting weaker, he hadn’t expected the Elven Wizard to topple over when he released the conjuring. Talion, however, was quick enough to catch Corolon, allowing his friend’s weight to pull him down. Lying on the floor of the forest, he looked around to check on everyone else. Raine and Lyra were also lying prone and in a state of exhaustion, but they would recover after a rest. Feeling assured of the well-being of those who were with him, Talion used his last bit of energy to weave a protection spell around them, and then fell asleep.

When Talion woke, the first thing he became aware of was the canopy of trees overhead. He also could feel signs of his exhaustion pulling him back into slumber. Talion hadn’t thought he had been as affected by the transfer, but it seemed he had erred in his thinking. They had arrived mid afternoon; now it was late evening. To make sure his safeguard was still in place, Talion let his power flow out across the area where they rested. The moment he was certain all was well, he moved to Raine’s side, gathered her into his arms, and conjured a cover for the two of them to share. Through it all, neither Lyra nor Raine woke, and Talion could only wonder if something about the forest was robbing them of energy.

Corolon, however, had roused. Noting Talion’s concerned expression, Corolon explained what was going on. “It is going to take slightly longer to recover from the double jump than I thought. Coming out of the mountain was taxing in the extreme as the power of the volcano was pulling us back toward it. I had to fight the lure, as well as hold on to the conjuring of the portal.”

Talion nodded as he continued to fight the lethargy threatening to overtake him. He got the feeling there was more to this story than what Corolon was telling him and he wanted to know what it was. “What else caused this? I think there is more to what happened than you are telling me.”

Corolon’s brow furled for a moment as he thought about the matter, then he answered, “It could have been the phosphorus fumes from the lava that added to the effect. The atmosphere on the island should help clean the poison out of our systems. It will take time. Hopefully not too much though.”

Talion’s next concern was barely murmured loudly enough for Corolon to hear. “Did it affect Lyra and Raine in the same way?”

Corolon nodded, although he doubted if Talion could see the movement in the growing darkness. “I did what I could to protect our Life Mates, although the combined power of the two of us was barely enough to counter the effect of the poisonous atmosphere inside the mountain. The air in the cavern would have killed us if we wouldn’t have acted as quickly as we did.”

Talion asked, “So, what do we do now?”

Corolon replied, “Breathe deeply of the cleansing air that surrounds us. The forest will replenish our energy. In the morning, we will use some of what our bodies absorbed throughout the night to gather food while we travel to the coastline. If what the women told us is right, we should be able to bring our power and energy levels back up to normal fairly quickly, or at least fast enough to make our next portal in a reasonable amount of time. I want the next jump to take us a lot farther than the ones I have done so far.”

Talion continued to fight the fatigue as he asked, “How far do you plan to take us?”

Corolon answered, “Into the frozen mountain range where we will find the Blue Dragon. I am not sure if we will reach our goal, but it will be close enough for us to reach him on foot if we don’t. The land will replenish our energy when we get there.”

Talion muttered, “I can barely wait to get home.”

Corolon shared Talion’s feelings, for he was finding this part of the world to be extremely taxing on his system. It was going to be good to feel normal once more. Even as Corolon followed Talion into sleep, his mind rested on what was happening in the Elven Empire. Emperor Lothriel was planning something big that was going to take a lot of energy and power, and he could only wonder what this was going to be.