Free The Way of the Brother Gods by Stuart Jaffe Page A

you back, none of them could be repeated, not exactly as before. But a stable portal, one that can be opened and closed at will, one that can be controlled and relocated, one that won't rip apart a world and mutate its creatures — that's far more difficult."
    He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he placed his hands in the air as if on a glass window. Then he spread them apart and the emptiness between opened up into another world. Malja's astonishment could not be hidden. Harskill held a portal between his hands right before her eyes.
    "This world is called Sheng-Lo," he said.
    The portal opened onto a sunny day by the ledge of a valley. Lush, green hills rolled into the distance, a few dappled with hefty, grazing animals. Below, in the cool shadows of the valley, soft plumes of smoke rose from a bustling town. Birds rode on the heat. The air was quiet and peaceful.
    "This world was learning portals when I arrived. I offered my 'assistance' and in doing so, I was able to lessen the damage of their experiments. They learned from their mistake, they understood the danger of what they had embarked upon, and they wisely gave it up. As a result, instead of a world destroyed, they live in a world of gentleness and sufficiency for all."
    "It's beautiful," Malja said.
    "I've often thought that if I ever live long enough to become too old for my work, this would be a wonderful world to end my days upon."
    Harskill brought his hands together, closing the portal. He concentrated again, spread out his hands, and opened another portal. The world Malja saw consisted of endless towers reaching into the clouds above. People were everywhere. Noise was everywhere. But it wasn't ugly or undesirable. Like the town on Sheng-Lo, this city bustled with vibrant energy, a lifeforce all its own. It smelled fresh as if a warm rain had washed through, leaving the world cleaner than before.
    "This is Wodros," Harskill said. "There's a lot of fun to be had here. All kinds of exciting, strange, and unique people. You can see just from this little bit that they have a lot of technology. Where Sheng-Lo focused almost exclusively on magic, the people of Wodros relegated magic to the realm of religion and healing. Everything else they do for themselves without magic. They chose to make this distinction because they had begun to play with the idea of portals. I arrived and since they fully accepted me as I am, I was able to show them directly what horrors they would unleash. They turned away from portal research and have prospered for a long time since."
    He closed the portal. "One more," he said, and after a moment, opened another. This time, Malja saw a land as wild and free as Corlin. Except there were no cities, no towns, no villages. No ruins of anything either. Just a lush forest filled with the sounds of animals unseen.
    "This," he said, his body dazzling with the light from the portal, "this is Ti. And as I'm sure you've noticed, there are no people here. I did that. I came to this world to find it like this. Virgin from humankind. I spent a few years here, basking in the freedom of its wilds. Its unadulterated world. No governments, no economies, no religions. Just the simpleness of the wild. And then I found a few isolated tribes of people, too primitive to be considered human by our standards. Every time I discover they have made an advancement, I retard it. I stop them from ever becoming more than animals. They are being given the greatest gift — the purity of the wild — and they will never know how lucky they are to have encountered me."
    Malja must have grimaced because Harskill brought his hands together with a sharp clap, closing the portal, bringing them back to the dull office. He looked disappointed in her, at first, but then shook it off. "You have a lot to learn," he said. "The Gate are a special people. We have special skills, special knowledge, and special responsibilities. But