The workers grumbled as they cleaned up the warehouse. The investigation had gone on for weeks. How an undead outbreak could spread throughout the capital city. How the Kingdom could have nearly fallen. And, most curiously, just what in the nine hells was the creature that had been found in the warehouse, staked to the center of the summoning circle with his heart torn out.

Whoever set this all I motion, however, didn’t account for the Order of Primordium. An order of powerful Paladins, Priests, and Inquisitors that were highly effective in combating the undead. They wiped out the risen bodies, killed the skeletons, and massacred the abominations quickly and thoroughly.

Then they had found the warehouse.

After a quick discussion, the destroyed the circle, removed the body and evidence, then turned it back over to the owner for cleaning. That was where the warehouse crew came in. They were, even now, picking up shattered crates and scrubbing the blood from the floors.

Steve sighed and straightened his back. The blood stain he had been working on was a stubborn one and wasn’t likely to come out without cleaning magic. Something his employer was loathe to pay for, the cheap bastard. He was about to continue scrubbing when the deep sound of shattering glass caught his attention.

Turning, his eyes went wide with fear as he saw a black and green portal rip open near the location of where the body had been removed from. What stepped through… was not fucking human.

The creature was nine feet tall, easily. Covered in thick, scaled armor with more spikes jutting out of it than should have been possible. The limbs were long, armored, and ended in gauntlets that seemed to be curved claws of some kind.

The thing was terrifying.

Steve scrambled to his feet and began to run; he pulled air into his lungs to shout a warning to the other workers in the warehouse. Something struck his back, causing him to stumble to the floor, the warning dying on his lips. Desperately, he tried to pull in more air. He had to let the others know something else had appeared. Something far more dangerous than simple undead. But he couldn’t do it. Some part of his brain then realized there was something on the floor in front of him. Even as his vision dimmed, he realized it looked a lot like his body. His last thought was that something like that wasn’t possible.

The insane looking amalgamation of spikes and death spun, launching a dozen more long sharp weapons from its body. Each one was meticulously aimed and, upon impact, spun violently while ripping its target to shreds. Every worker within the warehouse was rapidly dispatched identically utilizing the violent and gruesome manner.

Once everyone had been killed the spiked being froze in place, not even its chest was moving. After a full minute the creature rumbled, “Location clear. All potential combatants have been eliminated. Awaiting orders.”

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If anyone had been watching, they would have thought the creature insane to be speaking to nothing around it. That is, right up until a second portal ripped open with the same sound of shattering glass. Three far more humanoids stepped through and quickly began examining the area.

“The target and Courier were here,” said the first.

“The target has long since left,” confirmed the second. “The Courier has perished.”

“Temporal distortion has caused us to miss the target,” grumbled the third. “We must recover the Courier.”

Each of the heavily armored humanoids spread out and made a thorough and exhaustive search of the warehouse. Eventually one stumbled upon the broken crate that had been the center of the Courier’s attention.

“The Shard,” whispered one in awe.

“The Shared,” confirmed the second no less reverently.

“The Shared,” confirmed the third, fury building in its voice. It turned to the spiked construct, “Bring the Hunters through. Destroy the city. Kill everything and retrieve the Courier.”

The second looked pensive, “Is that necessary? The rules state we are not to interfere in lower lifeforms way of life.”

The first shook its head, “Once everything here is dead there will be no lower life forms,” it validated.

“Good point,” the second agreed.

The third snapped its fingers, “The Shard was here. The target took it.”

The first and second beings growled, a perfect comparison to nails on steel. “It must be recovered,” growled the second.

“It must be recovered,” confirmed the first.

“But where has the target gone?” wondered the third. “He is not within the prime universes.”

The trio continued their search of the warehouse, even as more portals opened and dozens of the spiked creatures began streaming out of the warehouse and into the city. Screams could be heard from outside, but the trio never paused.

Then the third stopped in front of a large pile of crates. “Here. A portal. A… fascinating,” it whispered. The first and second made their way over and stood by him as they examined the residual energy from where the portal had opened.

“The target left here. Something went wrong,” said the second, far more technically proficient than the other two.

“Agreed. But what?” wondered the first.

“It was The Shard,” growled the third. “It distorted the portal. Tracking is not possible.”

“Has it awakened?” asked the first, panicking.

“No. It remains dormant. Only one Shard was present,” said the second, causing a sigh of relief to escape from the first. “But it was used. I can feel it.”

The third reached out and grabbed the residual energy and pulled. The world around them groaned, however the portal refused to open.

“Establish a hub here. Research the portal. Find a way to open it. Then we will pursue the target,” ordered the third. It turned to the first and second beings. “We must find the target. He must die. If we fail, if The Shard awakens, everything will perish. The target knows not what it does.”

“Find the target. Eliminate the target. Recover The Shard,” said the first and second in harmony, slamming a fist to their armored breastplates.

Third growled and nodded, “Yes. Find the target. Eliminated the target. Recover The Shard. The Mage must not be freed. Defend The Shards. It is the only way.”

“It is the only way,” said the first and second in unison before springing into action to complete the thirds orders.

“The Mage must never be freed,” third said, as its oddly sky-blue irises blazed with an unholy green flame.