Alora: The Portal (Alora 2)

“How long is Steven staying here?

Wesley shrugged. “No telling. He abandoned his research to come, but he’s always been flighty like that.”

Alora’s cell phone vibrated with Beth’s reply: Awesome! I wish I could be there.

She showed her phone to Wesley, who stifled a laugh, shaking his head.

“You know Steven will want to go to Laegenshire and see it for himself, right? He hasn’t asked yet, but he will.”

“I’ve already transported with him outside the house and back. So he knows we’re telling the truth.”

“It’s not that he doesn’t believe you. He wants to observe and take notes or do some kind of experiment, I’m sure. He’s way too curious to be satisfied with our descriptions.”

Right on cue, Steven motioned toward Alora. “I think I’m ready to visit this new realm now. Let me make sure I have everything I need. I know my cell phone won’t work, but surely the camera will function…”

“You can’t take your cell phone or any other kind of camera.” Wesley answered before Alora could decide how to respond. “You can’t take anything metal on a transport. It just gets left behind. So we take ceramic knives, and I take my compound bows because they’re made of a composite instead of metal.”

“No metal will transport?” He ran his fingers through his unruly locks. “But my pants have a zipper, and the zipper didn’t stay behind when Alora transported me.”

“We think maybe small amounts of metal, like zippers, will transport.” Alora had been always been a bit confused about this issue. “But I know cell phones don’t go, because I’ve tried it.”

“Ah! Then it’s probably stainless steel that won’t transport.” Steven paced, musing aloud. “So any metal with iron in it. Zippers are made of other metals—aluminum and nickel, I think. If stainless steel won’t transport, I can’t take a watch. Darn, I wanted to see if there was a shift in the time measured on two identical watches if one transported and the other stayed behind.”

Alora whispered to Wesley. “He’s awfully smart, isn’t he?”

Wesley rolled his eyes. “Believe me, he lets me know how smart he is all the time.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Alora asked Kaevin, who sat with his arms crossed and a surly expression on his face.

Kaevin responded with a sharp shake of his head, pressing his lips together until they blanched.

“But touching metal or holding metal won’t prevent a person from transporting?” asked Steven.

“Not unless the metal tightly encircles a part of the body,” Graely explained. “Warriors will wear a belt of iron to prevent an enemy from transporting them against their will. And a prisoner in shackles cannot be freed by transport. Yet an iron ring will simply slip off the finger.”

“They have all kinds of magic over there,” Wesley added. “It’s kind of like Tolkien, with wizards and such. And some people can tell if you’re lying. And some people are strong like Hercules. And some people can open locks with their bare hands…”

“We didn’t call you home so you could study another realm.” Brian grabbed Steven’s arm, stopping him in midstride. “We want to solve the mystery about Daegreth and how the two of you look so much alike. We want to know if he could possibly be related to our family.”

“Well, I suppose we could send off a couple of DNA samples and see what we have in common.” Steven chewed on his lower lip.

“Rather than determine why you look alike, you should find a way to save his life.” Judging by the shocked looks on his audience’s faces, Kaevin’s emphatic words seemed to take everyone by surprise. “Can you not find a way to remove Daegreth’s bloodbond with Vindrake? Can some of your fancy things with lights and buttons do something to his blood? Something to take away Vindrake’s power over him?”

Alora’s sharp intake of breath coincided with a drink she’d been swallowing, causing a coughing fit. Since when is Kaevin concerned with Daegreth’s wellbeing?

“A ‘bloodbond’ you say? Maybe it’s something circulating in his blood. I read about a blood filtering process… I think they called it plasmaphoresis.” Steven pursed his lips as his eyes narrowed. “It could be worth a try, right? But we’d have to find a doctor willing to do the filtering without asking questions.”

“Blood filtering… What is this blood thing you speak of?” Daegreth spoke up for the first time, appearing less than excited about the prospect of having something done to his blood.

“No worries, Daegreth.” Steven clapped him on the shoulder. “They just pump your blood out into this machine that filters the bad stuff out, and puts it back in. That’s all. No big deal.”

“You have done this thing to yourself before?” Daegreth asked him.

“No way. Not me; I’m afraid of needles.” Steven cackled with laughter as Daegreth furrowed his brows.

“You should call Doc Sanders, Charles. I bet he could help us,” Brian suggested.