It is interesting, the way the world worked back then. The rulers held command from their thrones without being able to do anything significant in terms of combat prowess. The ordinary people were weak and helpless, and the few who were able to fight against the forces of Despair were called Adventurers. They are our ancestors, after all, only those who could fight were able to survive the cataclysm.

But I digress, I have strayed from my point. The nations and their people back then relied on Heroes, powerful beings summoned from other worlds to fight the King of Despair and his creatures. It is uncertain if the Heroes were naturally powerful, or if they were given their power by the summoning rituals used to bring them here. I can only speculate as to the answers, but I hope to find out someday.

* Excerpt from the introduction to the tome “Age of Summoning: Findings on the inner workings of Heroes.”, written by the renowned Professor of ancient history, Sethustra.

It all started as a normal day for Laurence and his patient. No, the day had been going extremely well. Laurence had woken up with a full night’s sleep for once, and when he had walked to the house next door where his patient lived, she was still in the house. For once she wasn’t breaking anything or assaulting pedestrians or the police with thread cutters. All this was made even better by his patient agreeing to finally start writing in her diary like Doctor Wolstadt wanted her to.

Laurence got to have a seat after administering her medication, and sighed happily as she started to write in her diary. His patient, an elderly woman named Ethel, had snow white hair that clearly showed her advanced age. It was short and curled, courtesy of Laurence who had to do Ethel’s hair every morning. Her features would have marked Ethel as a looker back in her youth, but now she held little of that youthful beauty. Her once small cute nose now looked too small on her tired, wrinkled face. Her bright, dazzling, deep blue eyes, were now dull and light in color, and they were almost always squinted to see better.

However, the face of Ethel was not the only thing that time changed. Her personality also soured somewhat. It had been noticeable how angry she had been until a few years ago, but it all changed when Ethel got older. Laurence sighed; it was truly sad. Ethel had been a strong-willed old woman, but now she had dementia and needed a caretaker to keep her safe from herself.

Laurence groaned and stood from his spot at Ethel’s dining room table, where he had sat watching Ethel begin writing. It was time to feed the cat. That blasted cat had been the only downside of the day. It had somehow raided the fridge for food during the night, and on top of that, it had also shredded all of Ethel’s couch pillows, leaving a mess in the living room that needed to be cleaned.

Ethel of course claimed that her little ‘Bitsy Pookums’ could do no wrong in the world, but Lawrence knew better. He was convinced that the cat was out to end humanity, starting with Lawrence. Bitsy was a demonic little hissing creature that hated the poor caretaker as much as Laurence hated it, but Lawrence couldn’t do anything to the cat because there was a chance that it would further hurt Ethel’s mental health to have the cat removed.

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Laurence moved mechanically as he put the cat food in Bitsy Pookums’ bowl and proceeded to grab the vacuum to clean up the mess from the pillows. Thankfully, after the cleanup the day proceeded without a hitch. By the time lunch was over, Ethel was done with her first diary entry, and had handed it over to Laurence for him to read and make observations on Ethel’s behaviors in his own notebook.

Ethel retreated to her favorite chair with Bitsy Pookums to listen to her favorite opera singer, and Laurence followed. Things started to go downhill from there.

“Mrs. Ethel? I need to remind you that you have another appointment with Docter Wolstadt later this afternoon. Can we get you ready to go?”

Ethel looked at him and snorted.

“What? You want me to leave the opera? After I paid so much to get this VIP booth? Nonsense! I don’t know any Doctor Wolstadt anyway.” Ethel proceeded to close her eyes and ignore Laurence.

He had worried about this. It had been going too well today, and it was almost impossible to separate Ethel from her chair at this time of day when she was listening to her opera. Laurence thought for a moment, then spoke cautiously, in a respectful manner.

“Well, madam. I apologize, but your escort has arrived. We need to make haste to arrive at our destination soon. We have received an invitation to go to a party at a fancy hotel. So we must go now.”

It was unfortunate, but it was clear that things were getting worse for Ethel as time wore on. Which was why Laurence decided it was probably time to have Ethel permanently moved into an assisted living facility that specialized in helping those with dementia.

“In fact, Mrs. Ethel, we may have to remain at the hotel, as it is quite some distance from your home. So please, come get ready to depart.”

It didn’t sit entirely right with the young man to trick Ethel, but it was for the best. She would cause less trouble for everyone if she didn’t know the truth. Thankfully, Ethel was convinced by his act and agreed to go. It was after they were finally ready and about to leave that the day proved to be the worst day in Laurence’s life.

He was about to open Ethel’s front door and escort the old woman out to his car, when a brilliant bright light started to shine, engulfing the two in its blinding radiance. Ethel started yelling about the press taking her photos, and Laurence grabbed onto the old woman in an attempt to keep her safe from whatever was happening. Bitsy Pookums heard her mistress’ yelling and ran to protect her human. She arrived at Ethel’s feet and jumped into the old woman's arms, assured that by her presence, the humans would be safe.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, and then they were gone. The light faded, and the house was empty. Elsewhere, Laurence opened his eyes and looked around at the strange room that he found himself, Ethel and Pookums in. People in colorful robes surrounded them and were yelling excitedly, pointing and speaking in a different language that Laurence had no knowledge of.

After a final look at the room and making sure that Ethel was okay, Laurence sat down and groaned, running his hand through his hair. If he and his patient had to have been kidnapped and brought elsewhere, of course that blasted cat from hell had to have tagged along. He would never be rid of it at this rate!