199 The Valley's Gate

When he saw the gate at the end of the narrow pass in front of them closed, Elder Naran calmly turned to the mage who had changed their appearance. "Remove the illusions."

The man quickly did as told, undoing the spells he had used on the group at the Soaring Sun camp. He removed the illusion he had used for himself last, a wistful smile appearing on his lips as his hair turned gray and the wrinkles returned to his face.

While the mage removed his illusions, Elder Naran reversed whatever method he had used to suppress his size, and within moments he had regained three feet of height. Then, he changed into another robe — one that not only fit his normal size but also featured elegant golden embroidery.

"Now let's see what weight our status as Elders still carries," he said, stepping forward into the narrow pass.

Arran followed behind the others as they headed toward the closed gate that lay at the end of the pass, over half a mile ahead of them.