A Warrior through and through

Plan

"The first part is hard enough but doable. The energy needed to transport a small piece of paper to a specific position in the deadlands is more than the gate has stored in the past twenty years. If we manage to find such power, The runes will overheat, meaning we will have to wait before reusing it to transport both of you to devil's pass. And remember, the gate will not have the energy to transport you two anyway," Everard explained, a thoughtful look still on his face.

"But last time-,"

"Last time the gates were damaged beyond what I could repair. These things are ancient, and all the information about them was burned by the church," Dara cut Clementine off, the anger in his voice filling the room like heavy smoke. It was a dark time for mages, and he saw the horrors of that war, unable to help anyone or do anything.

"I have a half solution," Everard said after a moment of pin-drop silence.

"A half solution you say?" Dara asked, mildly interested.

"If all of us place our energy into the gate, it might just be enough to take a message to his wife," Everard answered, his tone more like a scholar suggesting an experiment.

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Dara asked once more, now more than mildly interested.

"It's rather simple really. Most of the runes on the gate are feeding runes, designed to take energy from the atmosphere and surroundings in order to power the gate. Raw mana should suffice, there are converter runes next to the feeding runes," Everard explained.

"How long will the gate take to cool down?" Clementine asked.

"About three days, maybe less if the temperature around the gate is lowered," Dara answered.

"That's too long a wait," I said, my frustration creaping into my voice. I could not afford to waste any time getting to my wife. Especially if she was near Tor. Black flame suddenly lit up my right hand. Everard stared in wonder as the flames harmlessly licked the sleave of my shirt.

"We have no choice," Clementine told me softly as she held my reached for my hand. Her fingers gripped mine tightly, extinguishing the flame.

"There's an alternative," Dara said while leaning slowly back onto the seat.
"But I have to make sure. Spend the night here. The preparations will take some time
It will be best if we started tomorrow when you have had a good night's rest and a belly full of food. I have a feeling that will be the most you will get in a while," he finished as he filled a pipe with a black powder.

His argument was sound. My joints ached in strange places due to the hard ride.

"What is this alternative?" I asked as he lit his pipe and took in  a deep puff.

"I think you know who it is," he answered, shooting me a knowing look as silver smoke streamed out of his mouth. I shivered as my nostrils caught the scent of the smoke, an odd sweet smell that tended to linger. He could not be serious. That crazy old hag?

"Don't tell me it's that woman," Clementine said, a look of pure disgust on her face. Dara flashed a rueful grin, confirming our suspicions.

"If you have any other ideas, me ears are wide open," he said.

Unfortunately, we didn't.