Double-Dealing

As the afternoon sun was starting to set, the team arrived at the location of the portal. After dusting away the dirt on the circular brown stone, the engraved formation on it became clearer. 

Samar studied the formation and failed to understand most of its intricacies. However, his knowledge of Runes was enough for him to understand that it was an ingenious link up of Vyom Rune and Earth Rune. 

The Vyom Rune helped open a fissure in the mirror dimension and the Earth Rune helped the fissure stabilize, anchoring itself to a location in another dimension. 

As he traced the runes, his eyes moved to a circular, fist sized socket at the center of the altar. The socket was marble smooth all over except for three tiny grooves and two bumps. It was a mysterious addition, that made the entire formation like a lock, that could not be opened without the corresponding key.

Seeing the socket, Samar's eyes lit up.