My mother raised one eyebrow. “Oh yes, let’s do, Nai. I’ll teach you how to create a portal at will. That way, you’ll never be kept from your mate again.”
A triumphant thrill rushed through me, and then we got to work. She walked me over to a quiet stretch of beach where a sharp cliff face rose into the air over twenty feet.
“Did you know all of the permanent portals were created by a high mage of spirit?” my mom asked.
I shook my head.
She nodded. “Only those who can spirit walk the worlds can create them. It’s true Kian and the other high mages on the council can close, open, or even destroy portals, and they can create temporary ones, but those are only good for them to walk through, but then they close. None of the other high mages can ever create new, permanent ones.”
Whoa.
I inched closer. “How do youmakeone?”
She nodded. “I won’t be able to create one here because it’s against the rules.” She pointed to the white castle where the Keeper lived. “But I can show you how to with an illusion, here in the Realm of the Dead, and you can practice for real when you get home.”
I rubbed my hands together, 110.4% ready to nail this new gift so that nothing could keep Rage and me apart.
“Have you spirit walked yet? You must’ve when you passed your spirit test,” she said.
I nodded. “Hey, how did you know I passed?”
My mom grinned. “Dad keeps me posted.”
My heart pinched at the thought that Gramps was keeping her informed, and through him, she was watching over me.
“When creating a portal, you’ll need to go into spirit form like this.” Suddenly there were two of her.Twoghost forms.
I leapt backward into the sand, and if I had a heart in this form, it would’ve been racing like lightning.
Mom—both of them—smiled. “This is just an illusion to illustrate to you. Pretend one is my human body and one is my spirit.”
Freaky.I nodded, creeping closer.
“For you, you’ll have your human form in one world, let’s say High Mage Island.” She pointed to her duplicate soul, which was still smiling at me creepily but thankfully not talking. “Then you’ll send your spirit form to the other place, wherever you want to create the portal between the two places. Let’s say Shifter Island.” Her duplicate soul walked into the rock face and disappeared.
No. Way.
Shocked, I blinked, but creepy duplicate Mom was really gone … through the rock. Facing my mom, I tried to put my muddled thoughts into words. “So you’re saying I spirit walk to the other place I want to go, and then…”
My mom nodded. “Then you mentally merge the two while using your spirit magic to open a space between your two halves. I can’t do it down here, of course, but it would look something like this.” She clapped her hands, and a shockwave burst out of them, knocking into me.
“Sorry.” She winked. When she opened her clasped hands, I gasped. A hole inside of the rock face was starting to open too.
What the…?
The hole opened wider as her hands moved farther apart, revealing her creepy duplicate spirit standing inside of the rock like in a cave.
“Whoa,” I breathed.
My mom grinned, and it was shocking because she looked so much like me. I totally had her smile. My mom then walked into the cave to join her duplicate self to symbolize walking into a portal. Her ghostly body disappeared, and she stepped out of the cave and faced me once more as it poofed closed behind her. Just an illusion.
“See. Easy enough. Now you try.” She pointed to the rock wall, now flat and cave-free.
I frowned looking down at my spectral body. “I’m not sure I can … my body is back in the spirit pools.”
My mom nodded. “It’ll just be practice. Anything you can think of here, you can create. One of the perks of being in a spirit realm. It’s like an illusion, but it’ll work pretty much the same in the real world. Now, you give it a try.”
“Okay…” I closed my eyes and envisioned my soul splitting in two, and then I opened my eyes to see my mom wincing.
