In the depths of Midnight, the Bane known as Decay relaxed under the black, starless sky, idly flipping through the pages of a book with his lengthy claws. Despite the lack of illumination from above, the landscape was lit in dull reds, shining up from below through small fractures in the rocky, lifeless ground. Not that Decay particularly needed the light; the book had been read often enough that he could recite every word by heart. The pages were dog-eared, the spine threadbare, and the entire construction was held together more by hope than by any remnants of its original bindings. Nevertheless, he read it anyway, because Midnight didn't exactly have much in the way of alternative entertainment.

The Banes didn't really have the imagination for such activities as creative writing, so the book supply was restricted to whatever drifted in from Earth, and despite the great sacrifices of his peers, that supply was a mere trickle. Thankfully, there weren't too many of those peers who cared to read, so there wasn't a huge amount of conflict over the limited goods.

Decay sighed as a face leaned in, upside-down, peering at the book and blocking his view.

"Dunno why you spend so much time staring at those squiggles," said the face. "They don't look very interesting to me."

"No, I imagine not. Words are little use without the imagination to build them into a living world. But I doubt you're here to discuss my choice of pastime. What do you want, Envy?"

"Is that any way to treat an old friend?" sniggered the Bane known as Envy, rotating his neck through a hundred and eighty degrees as he ceased bending over his peer and straightened back up to his full three metre height.

"No, it is not," agreed Decay, who certainly didn't consider Envy a friend.

To be fair, he didn't really consider anyone a friend, nor did any of the Banes. As a general rule, their grasp of friendship was even more lacking than their imaginations.

"Well, I just thought I'd stop by to let you know that the rift has reopened."

Decay frowned. "So, Panic is dead, then?"

"So it seems. He certainly didn't come back through the rift."

"And so our numbers diminish once more. What a waste."

Envy sniggered. "He believed he could win. The Big D gave him permission to try. He turned out to be wrong. The weakling deserved death, failing after all that confident bluster."

Decay shrugged. "Had he known his limits, he would still be alive. He didn't, and now he's dead, having achieved nothing. I'd call that a waste, but you're welcome to call it whatever you like. I care little, for you or for him."

"Know his limits, huh..." echoed Envy, his fanged maw twisting up at the edges. "Like you, you mean?"

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean, 'old friend'," growled Decay, snapping his book shut as he climbed to his feet, claws scratching at the grey rock and chitin clicking as plates slid past each other.

"Now, now. No need to get all defensive. Heck, I even heard a rumour that the Big D himself has read your research, and was most impressed with it."

"What?! Why would he even... Wait... Does that mean...?"

"So impressed that he's picked you to be next to cross the rift, or so the rumour goes."

Decay froze, his grey skin shifting to a sickly green. "That... makes no sense."

"Why not? You impressed him, and now he wants to reward you appropriately."

"Reward? How is that a reward? I will die out there! If he's read my research then he'd know that. He should seal the rift, not send more of us through it!"

Envy sniggered. "I think that's the point. I never said he was impressed with the contents of your research. More the cowardice of it."

"But... we can't win. We literally can't win. It's not a question of the strength of... of... them. Their strength will always grow to the point required to beat us. If by some fluke we kill one, then more will be recruited, and they will be stronger. The world itself rejects us."

"Excuses of the weak," sneered Envy. "If those human kids are really so strong, why do they feel the need to gang up on us? The rift is only wide enough for us to cross one at a time, but they always operate in a team of four. They never fight fairly. If it was me, I'd try to catch them while they were alone."

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

"If you're so certain you'd beat them, then why haven't you volunteered?"

"I have. Alas, there are just so many volunteers, my chances of being chosen are slim. So I'm sure you can imagine how much everyone hates you right now, being chosen despite not even wanting to be."

"So that's what this is about: Envy is envious. Big surprise there. If you want to go in my place, feel free."

"If only that was an option. Well, like I said, it's all just a rumour. Who knows, there may be nothing to it."

Still sniggering, Envy stalked off.

Decay stared into the distance. The castle in which their lord and master resided was easily visible, the red stone walls standing out against the dark landscape and the tall towers stabbing like fangs into the pitch black sky. "Punishing me like that is indeed the sort of thing he would do," he muttered to himself, tapping a claw against a horn in time with his thoughts. "Nothing I can do about it. Oh well. I've lived a long life already, and who knows, maybe I'll get lucky."

The tapping continued for a few moments longer.

"Nah. Who am I kidding? When have I ever been lucky in my life? Everyone who's ever stepped through the rift no doubt thought the same thing, and where did it get them? Isn't there anything I can do to win?"

Alas, no matter how long he considered the task, he simply could not foresee any path to victory. Their enemy wasn't those pesky human children, it was the entire damn planet. That wasn't a euphemism for 'everyone on the planet', either. No, it was literally the planet. The thing had a will and power of its own, and it did not appreciate the invasion of the Banes. The children were merely an outlet for its power. Tools for it to wield.

By the time the summons to the castle arrived, he was resigned to his fate, but that didn't mean he was going to accept it in silence. If he was going to die anyway, what reason had he to be polite?

"And so I order you to cross the rift, to the realm known as Earth, and from there widen the rift," declared the Devourer of Light as Decay knelt before his throne. "I do not require you to fight those little humans you are so terrified of. You are free to flee from them, to hide from them, to cower and tremble at the thought of them. Just turn that pointlessly large brain of yours towards something that's actually useful, and widen the rift enough for me to cross. Then you will see how much of a threat your so called 'will of the world' really is. Any questions?"

"Yes, actually," answered Decay without looking up. "How are you such an imbecile? Seriously. How can the undisputed master of Midnight be so bloody stupid? Were you dropped on your head as a child or something? Did a famished imp fly into one of your ears and gobble up everything it found inside? It's a good job you never bother with clothing, because I can't imagine you ever successfully working out which limb goes into which hole. When you eat, do you struggle to remember which orifice the food is supposed to go into, and accidentally shove it up your..."

"Enough!" roared the Devourer, rising from his throne. He reached Decay in a single stride, picking up the creature in a single hand and yeeting him clean out of a window.

'Well, that was cathartic,' thought Decay as he flew. 'Probably not the best idea I've ever had, but still cathartic.'

Following that, he mostly thought 'ouch', not so much on account of the defenestration itself, but more because the window in question had been on the fifth floor. Although, every cloud had a silver lining, and in this case it was the fact that the high window meant he went sailing over the castle wall instead of hammering straight into it.

"Most people use the gate," sneered Envy, who'd been waiting outside the castle.

"Oh, it's you again. Come to rub it in?"

"Yes," easily admitted the Bane. "Enjoy yourself over there. An all you can eat buffet, more squiggles than you can ever read, and, of course, a few oh-so-scary girls."

"I... actually might..." answered Decay, who was in the middle of a rare moment of inspiration. His master had said there was no need to fight the children, but Decay knew full well that wasn't an option. They would find him, however hard he tried to hide. After all, the world itself would tell them where he was, and how could he hide from the planet he was walking on? Nevertheless, it had conjured up the seeds of an idea.

He thought back to the research he'd conducted into the Will of the World. It was an entity with power on the same level as the master, who protected and nurtured the mere mortals that dwelt on its surface. It possessed incredible magic, but that magic obeyed rules. After all, it never personally killed the Banes. It could only act through the children.

His research had indicated that there was no way he could ever win. Even if the master himself was able to cross, victory would not be assured. But... even if he couldn't win, perhaps those rules meant that there was an opportunity to not lose. If he couldn't beat them at their own game, he'd just need to overturn the table and play something else.

"What are you grinning about?" asked Envy, Decay's sudden good mood sapping at his own mirth.

"That's for me to know, and you never to find out," answered Decay, marching towards the shimmering rift. 'And the best part is that this isn't even a betrayal,' he continued in the privacy of his own head. 'If this plan works out, no more of my peers need to die. Yes, the master will be pissed, but... well, I was already sold on this plan even without that little bonus.'

"Tch," spat Envy. "What's with this sudden boost of confidence? Oh well. I'll just have to imagine your reaction the moment before the girls kill you, when you realise that whatever plan you just concocted has failed, and you're going to die."

"Oh? You mean to say that you do have an imagination after all? In that case, feel free, if it gives you pleasure. It's not like it affects me. We shan't meet again."

"No. No, we will not."

Envy fell silent, leaving Decay to continue his march toward the rift. A small, unstable thing. Only large enough to admit a single Bane at a time. Once one crossed, no more could follow until the first either returned or died.

And now Decay was that one.

One more step took him through it. The black sky became blue, the sun blazing above. The air full of the tantalising scent of human life, ripe for harvest.

The Bane shrunk, wrapping himself in the guise of a human. Muscular, not quite two metres, with dark eyes and black hair. A smart suit. A disguise that would let him walk around with impunity.

At least until he fed for the first time, and the Will of the World noticed him.

"I drank enough before leaving Midnight that I can last a few days," he mumbled to himself. "I just hope that gives me enough time."