Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #21 December 2015 | Page 40

“Maybe.” Jake sat down on the table. “Is it
wrong to hope that she’s alive?”

made without the caster’s knowledge.” Lucas wanted
to be mad. This girl knew who helped Zetal kill
Margo. But her next sentence made him reconsider.

“It’s not wrong to hope for the best, as long
as you prepare for the worst. You taught me that,
remember?” Patrick wrapped his arms around Jake in
comfort.
The doorbell snapped all of them out of it. Jake
and Patrick climbed up the stairs to find Lucas staring
at a small screen next to the door. “It’s the singer from
the bar, at one of the front doors.”
“Lindsey?” Jake walked over to Lucas and
pressed a small red button. “Lindsey? What are you
doing here?”

Patrick was already moving through the house,
gathering things. In three hours, he was casting a spell
involving several runes, a potion that required cooking
around twelve ingredients, and a spoken verse. The
runes around the stone glowed again. A large sign
materialised out of thin air—a rigid spiral forming a
teardrop shape.

Lindsey heard Jake’s voice as if he was
standing right behind the door. “Let me in, I can help
get her back.”
“What?!” Jake pressed the small crystal on the
door several times, until he got to the door Lindsey
was in front of, grabbed her hand and pulled her
inside.

“That’s the mark of Baburas!” Jake piped up.
He was sitting next to Lucas on the couch. “It’s a
gladiator dimension,” He laughed in relief.

“I can help.” Lindsey took off her coat, sat
down on the couch, and rifled through her bag. “I have
something that will, at least.” She pulled out the small
grey stone. “This can mimic the dimension magic that
opened the portal if you can cast a strong enough spell
through it.” She handed the stone to Patrick, who had
sat down opposite her. He hovered his hand over it
and concentrated. The stone glowed with blue light.
“This is... I have no words, but I can tell
it’s legit. This stone would only mimic a specific
dimension magic caster, the one with whose blood
it has been infused with. Malik spoke of such stones
in one of his journals, they take around a decade to
make. Where did you get it?”
“I can’t tell you. I would be betraying a trust.”
Lindsey turned to Lucas and Jake, who were standing
behind her.
“But if this stone is so powerful, it couldn’t be

“I can say that I would not be here if that
person wanted Margo dead. I’m not saying they are
the paragon of all that is good and holy here, just
that they are not the spawn of all evil either. They’re
certain Patrick would figure out a way to channel the
stone’s power,” Lindsey turned to Jake. “And this way
they repay me for a favour, and I repay you for helping
me put my life back together.”

“How is that good?” Lucas asked.
“That means she is alive! Everyone who
enters Baburas gets their wounds healed and can’t
die permanently while there! It also explains why the
daggers and amulet went to you, it’s protected from
them.” He proceeded to elaborate on the dimension
itself. “ It’s a constant battle, and you move up the
ranks by killing opponents. Margo will fit right in.”
Jake’s face then darkened, and he sat down. “But
there isn’t a spell to open a portal to there, aside from
challenging a collector, which apparently is what those
runes on the jackass’s skin were for. And the only way
to exit is to win, which no one has ever done as far as
I know.”
“I might be able to open a portal with this,”
Patrick picked up the stone. “Or turn a one way portal
into a two way one at least.”
“So, that means we would need to challenge
Zetal,” Lucas got up. “Alright. Patrick, how soon can

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