The group drank late into the “night,” as the members slowly collapsed into a booze-fueled slumber. Jasper stayed up, keeping watch just in case the creatures returned. But the city streets remained silent and empty. Time passed slowly, and eventually was forced to pace back and forth in front of the inn in an attempt to remain awake, so it was a relief when Ihra showed up. “Go grab some sleep; I’ll take over for now.”

A few hours of dreamless slumber later, he was awoken by the buzz of conversation around him. He yawned, stretching his arms wide as he shook the drowsiness off. Omez waved at him. “Ah, you’re up. Come, have a seat.”

A man and a woman stood with Omez, and as he joined them, he saw the three of them were huddled over a handful of scrolls. He hung back slightly, not wanting to impose, but Omez waved him closer. “No need to be shy, lad. We’ve been scouring what ritual manuals we have, looking for a way to break out of the void. You’re a mage, correct?”

Jasper nodded. “Yeah, but I’m not very experienced, truthfully.”

Omez shrugged. “Eh, none of us have any experience at escaping an extra-dimensional space. This is uncharted territory for all of us.” He clapped a giant hand on Jasper’s shoulder, with a force that made him wince. “Perhaps you’ll have some useful insight that will break us out of here, lad.” He leaned closer, lowering his voice a bit. “And even if you don’t, at least you’ll get out of chopping old furniture into firewood.”

Omez boomed with laughter as he pointed to the two mages with him. “This lassie is Yariha. She is a lunar mage currently, although she aspires to walk the path of the Spectral Spiders. And this man here is the true feather in our cap. Somehow Ga’on managed to talk the only available runic mage in southern Sapiya into coming with us on this trip. If anyone can get us out of here, Koāhu can. Lastly, there’s just little old me. I’m not strictly speaking a mage, but as a warrior priest of Tsiāhu I know more than my share of magic. What about you, lad?”

Jasper's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. “I really just know a few fire spells.” He paused, remembering Eternal Night. "And a stealth spell, I guess."

“Eh, nothing wrong with that. You may not be the prince of the study hall, but you’ll end up a terror on the fields. Am I correct in thinking you’re only on your first class?”

Jasper nodded.

Omez laughed again. “Well, we’ll just have to make sure you live long enough to get your second.” He turned to the others with a more serious expression and nodded at Koāhu. "With any luck, this one here has a plan that will work."

The runic mage cleared his throat. “As I was saying, I think I have a way out of here. I’ve never actually used it, but many years ago I found a ritual book in the ruins of Is̆dul. It contains a ritual to create what it calls a ‘threshold,’ which I believe - at least I hope - is a portal. The ritual was always too expensive, and to be honest, too dangerous, to try before, but given our current situation, those are no longer a concern.”

He pulled a grimoire out of his bag and laid it on the ground before them. “This is what we need.”

The ritual was far more complex than anything Jasper had seen Aphora use, and the next few hours were spent laboriously replicating the complex rune in the inn’s courtyard. Every detail had to be checked and rechecked. The runic mage’s face grew more and more dour as he poured one expensive vial of material after another out on the ground. When the rune was finally completed, the mage looked as if he was ready to cry.

Omez patted Koāhu on the back. “Don’t worry. If we get out of here, I’m sure the guild will pay you back for the spell. And if we don’t, well, then I guess it doesn’t matter.”

The runic mage slowly shook his head. “They better repay me - that’s ten years’ worth of wages scattered on the ground.” He turned to the group. “As I said, the ritual is both expensive and dangerous. There’s the expense,” he waved at the rune, “but the danger still remains. In order to power this spell, we need the blood of a full-grown mage.” He hesitated for a moment. “All of it.” His eyes lingered on Jasper a little too long, before darting away.

Omez growled, his hand reaching for his mace. “That sounds like forbidden magic, Koāhu. Dark magic.”

Koāhu held his hands up in a placating gesture. “No, no. If I thought it was dark magic, I would have turned the ritual book into the guild long ago. Runic formulas are always very carefully worded. If the ritual required us to sacrifice a mage, it would have said so - but there is no mention of killing. Over the years, I’ve pondered the requirement, and I think I've come to understand it."

"The ritual needs a certain amount of essence-infused blood - the amount that a full-grown mage would have - but nothing says that all the blood has to come from one person. It was probably meant for a larger group to cast, but we have four magic users here." He paused and looked at Omez. "I know you're not technically a mage, but if my theory is correct, your blood should be sufficiently essence-rich to work. If we all donate a portion - a significant portion,” he admitted, “of our blood, I believe it will fulfill the ritual without any loss of life.”

Omez relaxed his grip on his mace. The thunderous look on his face eased, but tension still creased the corners of his eyes. “That’s a dangerous line to walk, Koāhu. I hope your interpretation is correct.” He sighed, massaging his temples with a weary look. “Very well, I guess we’ll have to try. The monsters may have temporarily left us alone, but I doubt that will last.”

With the plan agreed upon, they gathered four large basins, setting one before each of them. Koāhu approached him, knife in a hand. “Just hold your wrist out.” Jasper's mind flashed back to the Tower. Had it all really been just one night ago? The feeling of powerlessness swelled up within him as his pulse pounded in his ears.

"Jasper, you okay?"

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Omez' voice broke through the haze. Swallowing hard, Jasper closed his eyes and held out his arm. It’s the least I can do to atone.

He gasped as the blade sliced through him, and the blood gushed out. He kept his eyes clamped tight, refusing to watch his life spill into the bowl once again. His head grew dizzy, and he fought to remain standing, when a large hand grabbed his arm, wrapping a bandage around him. “That’s enough, Koāhu. You’re going to drain him dry.”

Omez wrapped the bandage tight and muttered a few words under his breath. A pulse of energy surged up his arm, and he felt the bleeding stop. “Healing's not really my strength, but what sort of priest would I be if I couldn't do a little? That should patch up the worst of it." He patted Jasper on the shoulder. "Have a seat, lad.”

Each of the three mages followed his example, and Jasper felt a bit better about his performance after Yariha fainted, and the runic mage fell to the ground, unable to remain standing. Only Omez was apparently unaffected by the blood loss, although his skin was a bit paler than before.

Eventually, Koāhu summoned his strength. He set the four basins of blood to face each of the four cardinal directions, and drew the last set of runes around them, connecting them to the larger formation. Standing up, Koāhu gave it one final inspection, nodding his head in satisfaction. “Everything looks alright. All we need to do now is power it up. If each of us pours our essence into one of the bowls, we should have more than enough power to activate the formation.”

Jasper wearily walked over to the bowl of his blood. Two successive days of being bled was really starting to get to him. Grimacing in disgust, he plunged his hand into his blood, forcing his essence out in a wave of blue flames. The runic formation begin to glow as the first hints of a breeze slithered through the courtyard. The winds quickly picked up their pace, howling as they tore at the walls of the inn and the courtyard. Large chunks of rock and mortar were ripped from their perch and pulled towards the center of the formation into a tornado of broken fragments and debris. Slowly the shape of a large arch emerged from the maelstrom.

When the arch had fully materialized, the winds fell silent. The four mages slumped over, utterly drained of essence. Eventually, Koāhu recovered enough to examine the portal. His voice shook with excitement as he inspected their handiwork. “I can’t believe it really worked. I never thought I’d get the chance to do magic on this scale - a portal?" He shook his head, running a trembling hand down the side of the arch. "That's the sort of thing you read about in books, that only the ancestors of old got to do.” Pressing his hand on a rune at the base of the arch, he fed a trick of essence into it.

The portal activated immediately, briefly giving them a glimpse of a city, but almost immediately a wall of light sprung up, filling the arch. Koāhu frowned and tried to shove his hand into the light. His hand bounced off, and he wrung his fingers, cursing. "Selene's Grace, why isn't this working." With a growl of frustration, the runic mage pounded his fists against the wall, his swings growing increasingly frantic. "Let me out!"

The others watched in silence as he wailed on the barrier, but the wall of light didn't budge. Eventually, he dropped to his knees, cradling his now bloodied fist. He leaned his head against the barrier, muttering to himself. “I don’t understand. The ritual worked; the portal formed; Gis̆-Izum should be right there. Why won’t it let me through?”

Omez finally reacted, all trace of his former hearty cheer now drained from his voice. “So there is really no escape from the void.”

Jasper sat quietly against the wall, his head still pounding from the double whammy of bloodless and mana exhaustion. Somehow, the outcome didn’t surprise him. It had just seemed too easy, after all.

His mind wandered as despair washed over the group. He wondered what separated this void from Kas̆dael's realm. Her realm was cold and dark, but there was nothing sinister about the darkness. He shuddered as he remembered the insanity lurking in the clouds above them. At least it's warm here, he comforted himself.

Suddenly a memory returned to him unbidden, a few fragments of a conversation he had once had with a mage player back in the original game. Jasper had never rolled a mage character, so the lore about magic hadn’t mattered much to him then, but a friend of a friend he had delved with a few times had been really into it. And as he pried the memories loose from his mind, the pieces started to fall into place. “Where exactly did you try to open the portal?”

Koāhu blinked, shaken out of his misery. “I’m sorry, what?”

Jasper repeated himself. “Where exactly did you set the coordinates for the portal? Gis̆-Izum proper, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, a long time ago, I remember having a discussion with a friend about cosmology. He argued that our world is modeled a bit like the solar system.”

Their eyes glazed over at the unfamiliar reference. Shaking his head, he moved on.

“The world we all live in is the inner, or central, dimension. But the inner dimension is orbited by a bunch of small outer dimensions, pocket universes, and other spatial anomalies. For some reason, the void is blocking us from going home - going from an outer dimension to an inner dimension.”

He gestured at the wall of light filling the portal. “But sometimes restrictions have loopholes. What if, instead of moving vertically, we tried to go horizontally? If we could portal from one outer dimension to another, less hostile dimension, maybe from there we could get back home.”

Yariha interjected. “Why not just try to portal directly to the Sanctum? If the fire mage’s idea is right, it would count as an outer dimension.”

The light in Koāhu’s eyes rekindled. “That might work. At the very least, it’s worth a try.”

He scurried over to the formation, and carefully amended a few lines. “Now we just need to feed our essence in.”

The four took their positions and tried again. The arch shook violently as its sides twisted and contorted, the wind whipping furiously around it. But after a moment, it stilled. The door was subtly different, slightly smaller, and definitely less ornate than before. With shaking hands, Koāhu slowly cracked the door open. With a shout of joy, he flung it wide. The soft sunlight of Sanctum streamed through the portal. “It worked. It really worked.”

Their cries of joy brought the others running, as the group celebrated in the courtyard.

Some of the members started to run towards the portal, but Ga’on shouted at them, calling them back. “Stop. Three of our crew are out scouting for supplies. I know we all want to go home immediately, but we’re not going to abandon them. We go home together.”

His sharp gaze swept over the crowd and slowly, begrudgingly, they backed away from the portal. Ga'on walked over to the group, an unquenchable grin on his face. "Well done, Koāhu, well done." His eyes fall on Jasper, and he nodded in his direction. "I see Omez was right about you," he admitted. "Thanks for your help."

Jasper shrugged modestly. "No need to thank me; we all want to get out of here." He glanced around the courtyard, looking for Ihra, but there was no sign of her. A hint of worry sprung up in him. "Is Ihra one of the scouts?"

“Yes, she insisted on going out to look for supplies.” The leader saw the look of worry on Jasper’s face and clucked his tongue softly. “There’s no need to worry about her, lad. For the time being, the creatures have disappeared, and there’s not too many other threats in the lower city. She’ll be fine.”

They had to wait a few hours for the three scouts to trickle in, and the crew waited on pins and needles, only Ga'on's firm command keeping them there. But, finally, the last of them - Ihra - walked into the courtyard. She stopped dead in her tracks as she stared at the glowing arch, and the soft sunlight dappling the worn cobblestones.

“Selene’s Grace, that’s an impressive work of magic.”