We made it back to the exit quickly and headed towards the car as the screaming and shouts of panic rose. Lights were on in many of the buildings and I could see more of the glowing blurs. They all moved at walking speed, but I also noticed that these seemed to be moving slightly faster.

“Quick, hurry.” Jat kept his eyes moving, and his rifle ready, though I didn’t think bullets would help.

I placed Gary, Ashley, and Rell into the trunk, and wrapped each in a construct of soft force. Then I took my seat, and Jay spun us onto the road. We raced down the street, and everywhere I looked I saw more blurry figures, and I managed to see what happened when they touched someone, to my misfortune.

A teen ran around a corner and right into one of the figures. He ran right through it, and for a moment I wondered if that was it. But then he fell to his knees and began to scream. The sizzling sound which seemed to be constant and unceasing rose as his flesh began to burn and blacken. His hair caught fire as did his clothes, and thankfully Jay didn't stop so we were saved from seeing the whole thing. But I could make a guess as to what would happen, and now that I knew, the piles of ashes I spotted, made me want to puke.

“Oh my god, look!”

I followed Zara’s finger and saw a group of the figures, but this batch seemed to be fast walking. No, not just them, but all the figures. “They're speeding up,” I said, turning to Jay. “Full peddle!”

Jay hit the gas and our speed increased. So far none of the figures were on the road, but eventually, once we arrived back near the center of the city, we came upon a problem. Cars. Some people had left their cars and for good reason. We watched as the figures moved through cars and the metal began to burn, to sizzle. There must have been dozens of cars in the process of burning, and even more people.

“Where are they coming from?” I asked, trying not to look at the people on the ground, screaming as they burned.

“The ash,” Zara said. A nearby pile of ash began to shift, and rise into the air. It swirled in a small tornado, and at its center, a small blur formed and grew into a humanoid shape. Once formed, it turned in our direction and started towards us. “Will the car's magic do anything?” I asked,

“We’re about to find out.” Jay hit the gas and the two cars in front of us went sent flying away. I leaned out and began using force to push cars out of the way, and experimentally, tried to push one of the figures. Instead of being pushed, it moved right through, and I gasped as I felt my force wall burn. “How?”

I sensed Zara’s mana, and a moment later a streak of blue light shot from her plan. It passed right through the nearest figure. “It burned the magic.” She sounded as shocked as I was.

“Focus on helping me clear a path,” Jay shouted, and Zara and I nodded. Zara used basic telekinetic spells while I used force walls, however, my mana well was nearing empty. I pulled a vial out, and download its contents. “How long till we get to the compound?”

“Who knows,” Jay said. “It’s gonna get worse when we hit downtown. God, but I don't know if the compound will be safe.”

“Safer there than here,” Darrin said from the back.

Or in my pocket. I could open a portal to my pocket, but then we’d have to wait. I needed to get to the compound and get everyone in my pocket, secrets be damned, but only if the underground defense didn't work.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“What's DOSA doing, or the arcane eye?” Zara said more to herself than anyone

“I don't know,” Jay answered anyways. “I— oh shit.” We swerved as a blurry figure ran in front of the car. My head hit the back of my seat before I rocketed forward. I pushed a hand out so I didn’t hit my head, but as I did, I felt a wave of heat pass through me.

“Shit, what did it touch?” Jay asked.

“I think it's just one of the headlights,” Darrin said, looking out the other window.

I felt it and knew what was happening even before the sizzling sound came.

“No.” The word was a whispered plea, and I turned and found Zara staring at me, tears forming in her eyes. The others quickly noticed, and I grit my teeth as the pain began. I didn't know what to say, but I did know what to do. I pushed open the door, and flung myself out as I began to burn in earnest.

“Rick!”

I let out my scream and began to writhe as my flesh burned and blacked. The heat was unlike anything I'd ever felt, and I began to roll around, and flay, banging my fists and legs on the ground. Scream after scream tore itself from my throat until the burning reached deeper, but it was a nightmare. I should have died after minutes, but even as I become nothing more than chunks of flesh and bone, I could still feel it so sharply. Soon, it was nothing but pain. Endless agony took me into its embrace, and then, I felt it. I watched the pile of ash that had been me began to rise. I had no body but somehow I could see it. I felt a tugging, and moved forward, but stopped as another tug began to pull me in a different direction.

Back and forth I went, until the ash fell, and faded, and I was tugged backward. I couldn’t muster any coherent thoughts as darkness took me.

****

All across the city of Portland, people burned, and from their ashes rose their tainted souls, given a muddled form to seek more flesh to burn. Whether human or not, young and old, everyone burned, and for long after they should have passed. Fires began and spread, smoke rising and clouding the sky. A sky with a tear in it. A sky open to the void, for unbeknownst to the people of Portland, something was staring down at them, working away at the bars to its cell.

In disrupting the ritual, the wrong prisoner had been set free, though not completely. A way had opened to the prison, but it was not Alariea, the forgotten mother of witches and traitor to the Tuatha De Danann that had come through, but another far more eldritch entity, not belonging to the Prime or any plane for that matter.

Over it all was the sound of sizzling. Rising and rising, until it would drown out everything, and the world would burn to ash. Or at least, that would have happened, if the prime had not been defended.

The moment the tear had opened, contingencies had triggered, and old powers had stirred. The prisoner watched as a light rose from the west, and with it rose power; power to match its own. Even greater. A symbol formed in the sky, opposing the tear. An eye surrounded by runes and blazing with light.

Then came another power from the north, a golden light, and a second symbol formed, a circle of light, and within it lay smaller symbols, all of different religions worshipping the same god. The Almighty. The Conqueror.

The prisoner was incapable of feeling fear, but it could sense the danger. Its power flooded from it and the sound of sizzling grew, but it was not enough. Blue and golden light converged on the tear, and the prisoner let out one final scream as it was shoved back into its cell.

The sizzling ended, but the screaming did not. For its children were still in the Prime. The blue and golden lights shone down, and it seemed as though the world itself shook for the briefest of moments before light engulfed the burning city of Portland.