The Mages' Tower. Night.
Mirena had not slept in two days.
The artifact sat on the workbench before her, its surface cracked, its pulse weak. The mana stones were scattered around it—raw cores, harvested from the creatures the guild had been culling for weeks. They glowed faintly in the dim light, their energy waiting to be used.
Alistair sat across from her, his back bandaged, his face pale. He had insisted on helping, despite the healers' warnings. The hunters' claws had torn deep, but he was stubborn.
"The spatial resonance is stable," Mirena said, not looking up from her notes. "The artifact's internal structure is damaged, but the folding mechanism is intact."
Alistair nodded slowly. "And the ritual?"
"The ritual requires power. More than we have. But if we combine it with the artifact—use the artifact as a focus, the ritual as a channel—"
"You're talking about blending two different magical systems."
Mirena met his eyes. "I'm talking about making them work together."
---
The hours passed.
Mirena calibrated the crystals, adjusted the lenses, arranged the mana stones in a circle around the artifact. Alistair assisted where he could, his hands steady despite his pain.
"The artifact creates stable portals," Mirena said, more to herself than to him. "But they're brief. Seconds, not minutes. The ritual creates unstable portals, but they're self-sustaining. If we can combine them—"
"The artifact's stability with the ritual's duration."
"Yes."
Alistair was silent for a moment. "The power required will be immense."
Mirena looked at the mana stones. "We have raw cores. Dozens of them."
"Raw cores are unstable. We need refined stones."
Mirena picked up one of the cores. It pulsed in her hand, dark and warm. "Then we refine them."
---
The refining process was slow.
Mirena had learned it from Alistair, who had learned it from the old texts. Raw cores contained raw power—unstable, unpredictable. Refined stones were pure, steady, safe.
One raw core produced three refined stones.
The guild had been collecting cores for weeks. Grog's hunts had brought in dozens. The adventurers' contracts had brought in more. The tower's stores were full.
Mirena worked through the night.
By dawn, she had refined enough stones to test the theory.
---
Alistair watched her arrange the stones around the artifact.
"Thirty refined stones," he said. "That's a fortune."
Mirena nodded. "Thirty gold coins. Three hundred silver. The cost of opening a portal."
"And the duration?"
"If the theory holds—twenty-four hours."
Alistair stared at her. "A full day?"
"The artifact provides stability. The ritual provides duration. Together, they should hold."
"And if they don't?"
Mirena placed the last stone in the circle.
"Then we try again."
---
She raised her hands.
The crystals flared. The stones glowed. The artifact pulsed—stronger than it had in weeks.
The air in the center of the circle rippled, then split.
The portal opened.
It was stable—not flickering, not shrinking. The edges were clear, the surface smooth. Beyond it, Mirena could see... another world. A forest, different from theirs. The trees were taller, the leaves were blue, the sky was purple.
"It worked," Alistair whispered.
Mirena stared at the portal. "It worked."
She stepped back. The portal held.
"The artifact alone," she said, "could only open a portal for a few seconds. Enough to jump through, but not enough to return. This—" She gestured to the circle. "This can stay open for a full day."
Alistair moved to stand beside her. "The cost?"
"Thirty refined stones. Thirty gold coins." Mirena looked at the stores of raw cores. "We have enough for a dozen portals. Maybe more."
Alistair was silent for a moment. "And the destination?"
Mirena shook her head. "The portal goes where it wants. We can't control it. Not yet."
---
The portal closed at midday.
The stones were spent—cracked, dark, dead. The artifact pulsed faintly, its energy depleted.
Mirena sat at the workbench, her head in her hands.
"We did it," Alistair said.
"We did it."
"Grog will want to know."
Mirena looked at the artifact. "He'll want to use it."
Alistair nodded slowly. "To find Aldric."
"Yes."
"And if the portal leads somewhere else? Somewhere dangerous?"
Mirena was quiet for a moment. "Then we deal with it."
---
That evening, Mirena wrote her report.
She described the breakthrough, the cost, the limitations. Thirty refined stones per portal. Twenty-four hours of stability. Random destinations.
She calculated the cost in silver and gold. She listed the number of raw cores in storage. She noted that the artifact could still be used for quick jumps—seconds, not hours—but the ritual blend was better for extended exploration.
She signed the report.
Then she went to find Grog.