There’s an impressed pause as the spiders clear out a second time in the hour.

Jonson’s numb, cold sweat and inward churnings distract him only a moment from Chaos’ slow golfclap.

“Well, you certainly are quite the legendary wizard, aren’t you?”

It takes a moment for Jonson to right himself to his full height. It was such an unbelievable, horrible rush, he can hardly believe it was real.

“Did I… was that me?”

Chaos nods. “Correct: simple ethermancy is all you need to temporarily mix around some ones and zeroes.”

Jonson glances to Chaos as he approaches with the lantern. “Wait… what?”

Chaos waves him along. “All questions as we move forward, legendary wizard.”

“What did I just do?” Jonson asks as he starts forward immediately.

“You temporarily lifted the boundary of reality as this world knows of it.”

“I don’t think I understand at all…. Is this is what I need to become a true hero?”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The mysterious overlord laughs. “With what you will be going up against, you’ll be needing all the help you can get… A matter of fact….” Chaos looks behind them back towards the city.

“What?”

“One of said opponents will be passing our way soon… ah, and there he is, good day!” Chaos says with a grin as he waves to the trees. Chaos watches the trees to the back closely, and then his gaze steadily moves across their side and then ahead of them. “Must not be in the mood for a chat. What a shame.”

Jonson crosses his arms in bewilderment. “This is horrible.”

Chaos nods as he peers down the path, squinting his great glowing eyes as he considers something that Jonson is afraid he’ll never understand. “If you see it that way, certainly,” Chaos says simply as he reaches into his mouth and flick out a small sheet of paper. “Looks like one of our other rivals needs a good turn.” Chaos writes something small on the piece of paper, folds it into a dove, places the pen in the dove’s talons, and speaks a few words into it. At once, the paper dove animates, grips the pen, and with a literary coo, takes off down in their direction of travel.

“What was that?”

“A show of good faith. He does not know it, but he too is working toward our purposes.”

Jonson raises a brow. “Who and what purpose?”

Chaos nods. “Fair questions. Whether or not he knows it, that Inklend analyst Kell will see himself completing our own goal of separating the dimension, tearing it asunder returning it to a better state.”

“Will this… destroy the world, instead of save it?”

Chaos nods again. “It will be the end of what we know as this world, but trust me in that you will think it a vast improvement.”

The two set off down the road, Jonson’s thoughts deeply on the subject of his world’s authenticity to these strange, otherworldly invaders.