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strange place. It was a large cave and there were no exits. I figured that this must be Master Egam’s home and that the Door worked, so I figured I would come back and tell you. When I tried to open the Door it wouldn’t open, so I tried the other Doors. Two of them, I just walked through and came out the other side. The last one took me to a strange room filled with books and flasks. It was sort of like Jenneva’s laboratory only much smaller. Then a man came in and he was angry. He started yelling at me and I got scared, so I ran back through the Door and slammed it shut. He started pounding on the Door and I was afraid he would break through. Then I came back to this Door and tried it again, but it still wouldn’t open, so I started beating on it.”
    Jenneva gave her old Master a quizzical look and Egam explained. “The Door is a two-way device, but it has a safety feature. If you don’t want to allow access to your side for some reason, you can just close it. If your side of the Door is closed, no one can come through, they can only knock. Shanor must have gone through to Lord Habas. He had no way of knowing who she was and figured someone had discovered my cave by accident. I should go through and assure him everything is okay.”
    Jenneva held Shanor while Egam stepped through the Door and disappeared. Within moments he reappeared with Lord Habas. “Shanor, this is Lord Habas. He is an old friend of Jenneva’s and mine and he means you no harm. Shanor, you must learn that loved ones can be counted on at all times. I really appreciate what you were doing for me and I know it took a lot of courage, but it is better for everyone if we are honest and forthcoming with one another. I told Jenneva of my plan to use the Door because I trust her and wanted her to know exactly what I was doing. You have to have the same kind of love and trust in us.”
    “I’m sorry, Master Egam. I was afraid something would happen to you and you wouldn’t come back.”
    “I know, Shanor, and I appreciate your love and devotion to me and Jenneva, but I would rather take that risk myself than to live with the thought that my actions caused the loss of you. You see, if you didn’t come back it would have been my fault for bringing the Door here. Jenneva understands that there are risks associated with experimentation. She wasn’t happy with the thought of me not coming back either, but she understands that I must perform this experiment and, therefore, she was willing to accept the consequences. Your thoughts were well intended, but your methods need improvement. You must promise me that you will not do any more experimenting without approval.”
    “I promise, Master Egam. I’m sorry, Jenneva.”
    Jenneva held the girl tightly. “It’s all right, Shanor, but you must listen to Master Egam. He is wise beyond his years and always knows what is best.”
    Egam brought Lord Habas up to date on events and the three mages discussed the ramifications of the portal discovery. Lord Habas asked how the Doors work and why they work.
    “I don’t know,” replied Egam. “It is like much in this field. We know how to do something, but we have little understanding of why it works. I’ve run across several mentions of Doors to faraway places and have been experimenting with them since before Jenneva first came to me. This is the first time that I even felt I was close to accomplishing anything.”
    “It seems to me,” offered Jenneva, “that the Doors are largely symbolic. The ability to teleport has now been proven to work. If we can isolate what causes the spell to work on the Doors, we will be able to teleport anywhere. It is apparent that you, Egam, as a spell caster created a portal between two places. This portal is useable by anyone, as Shanor demonstrated. She did not even have to know where the portal would take her. She knew that the first Door would take her to your cave, but there was no way for her to know where the second