The first thing I did was get the buck out of the water, knowing he was on land made me feel better. Not that there weren’t monsters outside the river, but still. In retrospect, maybe it was even good that the carcass was frozen, who knows what other animals the trail of blood would have attracted to me.

The meat had thawed by now, and it was time for a barbecue. I gathered some dry wood and used magic to light a fire. While it burned down, I found some nice straight twigs and fashioned them into kebab skewers, which I placed over the embers using forked branches. It would be great to have some salt, but by now I was so hungry I didn’t care.

The roasting meat secreted a heavenly smell and my mouth watered. To distract myself, I went to the river again and dragged the dead monster to the shore. It looked really repulsive and the charred hole in its side didn’t make it any prettier. There was no way I was going to eat it, but I was interested to see if a magical animal had a visible magic core in it. I cut the fish open lengthwise and poked its guts with a stick.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to look far; the walnut-sized blue structure was easily visible in the magical vision. I cut it out and rinsed the slippery fish remains off of it in the river. The magic core was firm, yet elastic, like a ball of silicone. I put it in my pocket, for now it was dinnertime.

The skewers were far from perfectly grilled, burnt in places and not well done everywhere, but today I didn’t want to be a restaurant critic. I wolfed down the food, as hot as I could stand, and a satisfied grin appeared on my soot and grease smeared face. A nap would make me even happier, but alas, there was no time for that now.

I made my hauling aid ready for use again and put the antelope on it. Then I gathered a good load of firewood and packed it with it, there were only a few bushes next to the den. I made sure the fire was out, drank copiously from the river again and filled my water bag, then I tackled the last leg of the trail.

When I arrived at the cave, I found Orthok asleep again, but the mud ball had broken open and all that remained of the duck was a pile of bones. This was a good sign. The hunter looked very emaciated, but his face was no longer so pale. He was clearly on the road to recovery, which made me very happy.

As long as he slept and I was unobserved, I wanted to strengthen my magic core further. After the experience of the previous day, I did not immediately reach for the most strongly charged stone, but first looked for a piece of bone that gave off only a faint magical glow.

I took the bone in my hand and looked at the magic core. The mana used up in battle had replenished in the meantime, and the indicator was at 48/48. I changed the mana color back to brown and then imagined myself carefully drawing magic from the piece of bone. The numbers changed at intervals of a few seconds, 49... 50... 51. Then nothing else happened. Looking at the bone in my hand, I noticed that it was no longer glowing magically. Its surface was covered with cracks and it looked very old.

I felt inside and could not feel any side effects, so I reached for the next piece and repeated the procedure. This time I got four mana in addition and stood at 55. More bones brought me to a total of 73, after which there were only stones left, four in number. I didn’t want to use them yet, though, because my magic core had heated up a bit in the meantime and was sending pulsating waves of heat through my body. This worried me and I didn’t want to make the situation worse.

Instead, I went outside and built a campfire away from the cave entrance to roast more parts of the antelope. I had just cut off one of the hind legs and was about to remove the bone from it when Orthok came out of the cave. He still looked very weak and could barely stand on his feet, but he greeted me with a big grin, “Jason, I’m glad you’re okay!”

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“Glad you can walk again,” I replied. “How are you feeling, Orthok?”

“My leg is like new again, but it took a lot of strength to heal. Thanks for the duck, it saved me from starvation, except I need some food again.”

“That’s no problem, sit by the fire, we’ll have an antelope roast in a minute!”

The hunter gratefully settled down on a flat rock next to the fire and watched me cook while he gave me good advice. Later, we ate together and I told him about my adventures in the Devastation. In the process, I had to reveal my magic skills to him. I saw no way to hide it from him without lying through my teeth, and I certainly didn’t want to do that. We were in a situation where one had to rely on the other, and that was not possible without mutual trust.

Orthok looked at me thoughtfully, “Well, now I understand how you survived in the Devastation. I haven’t seen many mages in my life, but I think your magic sight is a rare talent, no one I knew had it. It will serve us well in the future.”

He was silent for a moment and then unexpectedly added, “You’re from another world, aren’t you?”

This came as a surprise, but there was no point in denying it, “Yes, that’s so. How do you know?”

“Well, it was impossible not to notice that you hardly know anything of our realities. Even a man from the mystic islands would not have such gaps in general knowledge.” He winked at me. “Don’t be alarmed, visitors from other worlds are not commonplace with us, but neither are they entirely unknown. Portals to other dimensions, sometimes open in the Devastation, and occasionally intelligent beings, come through. Most of them fall victim to the Devastation, but there are also some who make their way to civilized lands and settle there. I myself know an elf who runs a magical artifact store in Harthum.”

“I’m glad you’re so cool about it, Orthok. But I’d still ask you not to make a big deal about it.”

“That goes without saying, Jason. I hope my secrets are as safe with you as yours are with me.”

I nodded and continued to tell him about my adventures of the past two days. When I told him about the unsolved mystery of the gate, he interrupted me. “Wait, wait. You say the elements were fire, earth, air... Let me guess, did water and light come after that?”

“That’s right,” I confirmed. “Do you know this riddle, for instance?”

“No, not directly. But it reminds me of ‘The Creation of the Elements,’ a children’s story that I’m sure is well known in the South Islands,” he teased me.

“Then why don’t you play the good father and tell it to me, please?” I paused and asked, already serious, “Do you actually have a family somewhere? Kids?”

He shook his head and a certain longing sounded through in his words: “No. As a young man, I once left to come back with fame and fortune and start a family. But the return never happened... just like fame and fortune...”

“Hey, Orthok!”, I tried to cheer him up. “You’re still in your prime, and with a strong mage by your side, fame and fortune will fall into your lap like a ripe apple.”

I received only a wry smile in reply. Then he cleared his throat, “All right, ‘the creation of the elements’... My days as a child were long ago, but I’m trying to get it together in meaning. They say, long-long ago, our world was a gigantic ball of fire in the void and devoid of life. At some point, the fire cooled down and earth was formed. When that time came, a portal opened and Thelde, the First Mage, entered our world. He needed to breathe, so he created air, and when he got thirsty, he created water. Not liking darkness, he conjured light, and when the elements and light met, life was created...”

“Of course, life, it must be!” I jumped up excitedly. “Orthok, I want to go back there tomorrow and open the gate!”

“I see, I can’t talk you out of it. But please be careful, the gate will surely be only the first hurdle, who knows what traps are waiting for you on the property and in the building. I will not be able to accompany you, I am still too weak for that. Are you sure you don’t want to wait two days for me to regain my strength?”

“No, absolutely not, I’m too curious for that. I’ll take care of myself, I promise. You’re well taken care of now, so I won’t have to go hunting tomorrow, what else am I going to do all day?” This was slightly deceiving. I could very well have engaged in magical experiments and quizzed the hunter about his world, but an entire estate full of unimagined treasures and artifacts, who would resist?

While we talked, I roasted most of the antelope meat on the fire. It should easily keep for a day or two in the cool cave, and we didn’t want to stay here longer than that, anyway.

As I lay down on the hard ground to sleep, I consoled myself with the idea of the luxurious beds waiting for me in the mysterious house.