Chapter 2

They shared a few seconds in close contact, letting thoughts and feelings flow freely through the touch of body and mind. Clay felt his brief flare of irritation release and ebb away. All Aron said was true. They were partners, not competitors.

They needed to learn to work smoothly as a team. If that meant Clay had to slow Aron down at times, he’d do so. Their bond was still new and not yet completely solidified. In time, they’d both be at ease with it. Sharing danger and difficulty would help the cement set faster, but meanwhile they should be attentive to one another’s every need, desire and state of mind.

Clay slid his arm around Aron’s waist and squeezed. “True, we’re building the unit of us. The progress can’t always go without a catch or bump, can it? Especially when there’s so much pressure, such need to do many difficult things quickly. We share a heavy burden here, one of duty and leadership, but believe me when I say I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have at my side or standing back to back with me in this fight.”

Aron brushed a kiss against Clay’s temple. “I would say the same. From the first, I knew we belonged together, were destined to be partners, mates, lovers and the closest kind of friends. We’ve both been solitary much of our lives—it’s a huge change to be so close to another suddenly.”

After a brief silence, they began to climb again, Aron pacing his gait to match Clay’s so they almost moved as one. In about fifteen minutes, they reached the crest of this particular ridge and paused to take stock of the terrain. Rugged was almost too mild a term for the jagged canyon-cut region, littered with sharp, broken rocks, and spiked with cactus waiting to pierce the unwary passer-by. Still higher, Santiago Peak, the region’s tallest, loomed above them. From its top, one could see a good chunk of New Mexico, West Texas and well into Mexico also. However, the peak and its view were not their goal for now.

Aron scanned the area in slow, steady sweeps. “Now if I was a secret gate to other dimensions, where would I be?”

His murmur reached Clay as much through telepathy as sound.

“It’ll be hiding in plain sight,” Clay responded. “In fact, aren’t we’re close to the spot you sensed now? I think we need to take care not to stumble into it.”

Aron turned to shoot him a keen glance. “You think?”

Clay grinned. “Yep, a kind of off the wall hunch just hit me.”

After a moment, Aron returned the grin and nodded. “I think you might be onto something. I’d say we look for cliffs, man-high or a bit more with cracks and perhaps caves—but the gate itself may well look like solid rock.”

“Just subtly different. Maybe if you squint at it sideways not quite solid, not quite stable…”

Aron nodded. “You’re catching on fast. It’s your Elven blood.”

Clay had almost stopped bristling at the notion his long lost sire really was an elf. The kinship felt more real and right all the time. Still, he had to banter back. “No, I’m just absorbing elf-ness from you by osmosis.”

When Aron socked him on the shoulder, it was not hard enough to hurt, more a rough caress. “Hardheaded Texan fool! You know what’s true, even if you insist on denying it.”

They both spotted the area at the same time, two sets of gray eyes snapping around to study a rocky outcrop about a quarter of a mile away, across a small branch canyon and slightly higher than the spot where they stood. Weathered ivory-tan cliffs stood, and though eroded by wind and time, still held solid, as if they were a dike against the crumbling descent of the higher terrain. Both men’s attention zeroed in on a patch of rock, a subtle shade different in color, with texture not quite matching on either side.

“What do you want to bet you can walk right through that spot, not into the mountain, but into somewhere far away?”

Suiting action to words, Aron strode off. “Let’s go see.”

* * * *

They approached the spot at an angle, edging up to the base of the cliffs. As they neared the cliff face, Aron held out a cautioning hand, using telepathy instead of speaking aloud for the sake of safety. ::Wait. Let’s watch a bit and explore this with our senses before we get too close.::

They certainly did not want to blunder into a trap or accidentally find themselves shuttled to another dimension. ::Some gates are one-way, or so I have read,::he continued. ::Most allow passage in both directions, but usually passage one way is easier or less tricky than the other. And to close one, you need to be on the powered side.::

Clay shot a keen glance his way. ::You mean we might have to go through and work from the other side if the power’s there? How would we get back?::

Aron chuckled. ::That’s the fun part, the trick of it. You have to set the spell and then pass back through with the final word and gesture right before it closes forever.::

Pausing about ten feet from the spot, they sat on a slab fallen from above to rest and watch. Nothing happened. Up close, the patch seemed less conspicuous, more difficult to see even a hint of a shape or space. Clay dug a granola bar out of his pack to munch, and they both drank from their canteens.