Apparently everyone going out to lunch together on Monday wasn't just a one-time thing when new enchanters joined the team; we did it again later that day, my one-week anniversary at Dyralight. I asked Kayla about it and she said it was basically a weekly thing, a tradition for our team.

Unlike all the getting-to-know-you questions last time around, there didn't seem to be a set theme for the conversation this time; we just sat around chatting while waiting for our food. People talked about books and movies they liked, hobbies, Feurdanf stuff, and of course politics, with everyone kicking in their own two copper's worth on the Transformationists' little stunt over the weekend. But the part that really got my attention was the footage Kelamek pulled up on his phone.

"Hey guys, check this out! Ya heard there's been wild magic around here?" Everyone nodded. "Well have a look at this!" He set his phone on the table and put it in projection mode, and the scene played out above the table: a park, a bunch of kids running around playing, loosely supervised by a handful of adults. Kids climbing on playground equipment, swinging on swings, or just running around. Off to the side, a few people looked to be grilling some meat.

Suddenly heavy clouds of thick, violet smoke began to billow from one of the grills, enveloping the guy standing over it before he could run away. As people began to panic and flee, four hellhounds emerged from the smoke and began chasing after them. Right as it looked like they were going to be run down and devoured, and I was seriously wondering why in the world Kelamek was showing something like this right as we were all about to eat, a familiar-looking figure in battered armor suddenly appeared, about 20 feet into the scene where he hadn't been there the instant before. Throwing lightning bolts from his hands, he drew the hellhounds' attention, then pulled a longspear out of nowhere and began to methodically skewer them as they rushed him.

As more hellhounds began to emerge from the cloud, he quickly chanted and drew glowing sigils in the air, conjuring up a powerful wind that dissipated the smoke cloud. He proceeded to make short work of the remaining hellhounds, then ran up to the guy who'd been trapped inside, who was looking pretty gruesome now, lying on the ground covered in bite marks and bleeding heavily. Grasping the victim's arms, the man's whole body began to glow as he chanted in Ancient Arcana, slowly healing the other guy's injuries.

"Woah," Irgos said. "And we thought that paladin girl was a real badass?"

As the injured guy recovered, he looked up at his rescuer with recognition in his eyes. He started to stand, or perhaps to kneel, but the warrior vanished from the scene as abruptly as he had arrived. The guy just sorta lay there, gaping for a moment, then looked directly at whoever was holding the oculus. "Did you see that? Like... did that actually happen?"

"I know, right?" came a stunned feminine voice from behind the oculus. "Hellhounds came out of nowhere, and then Meþas himself came to save you?!?"

"Sure looked like it," the guy said, slowly getting to his feet as the scene faded out.

Well. Now I at least had some idea of what Gareth Meranas was up to. I just wish I knew why!

"I recognize that place," Kade said. "That's the park on 38th. I used to go there with my son when he was little! And now we have wild magic there, and gods walking among us?"

Kayla let out a little scoff. "I don't think that's a god. Didn't he look familiar to you?"

"Looked like the Imperial Builder god to me," Apogee said. "A familiar enough sight in the Empire."

Kayla frowned slightly and she looked a bit confused. "No, I mean... didn't we..." She glanced over at me. "Didn't you..." I gave her a quick, subtle head-shake, hoping she'd catch on. Her eyes widened slightly in recognition. "Not sure. That just feels weird," she said, while giving me a very clear we'll talk later look.

"...whatever," Ampha said. "So there's someone high-level around here who's into religious cosplay. Wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's ever happened in Chitothia."

Joanna laughed. "Wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's happened here this year, for that matter."

"Brad, you're Meþasite, right?" Torrin asked. "What's your take on this?"

I shrugged, trying my best to stay neutral in the conversation. "Could be a cosplayer," I said. "Could just be that's just how the guy looks. The thing I really notice is that he didn't say anything, other than magic chanting. No 'I am Meþas, worship me,' or anything like that. Just show up, take care of the problem, and gone again. So we really don't know anything about his motives." I thought about it for a second. "Actually, can you send me the address for that video? I've got a friend who'd get a real kick out of it." I doubted that's how Felicity would characterize her own response to it, but sometimes you just say what you need to say.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Kelamek nodded and I pulled out my phone. He sent a bond from his to mine and transferred the video address over. "Thanks."

He just grinned. "Anyone else wanna share this around?" About half the team ended up asking for it.

After lunch, back at our desks, Kayla scooted her chair over by mine and asked, in a low voice, "wanna tell me what that was about?"

"Not particularly."

"Come on, Brad. Something crazy's going on, and it feels like you and I are the only ones who noticed. There was another person in that dungeon with you, and none of us realized how crazy that is. Feels like none of them even remember it now, and I can barely recall what he looked like, except that video sure looks familiar. But you remember."

"Yes I do. And I wish I didn't. And..." I hesitated, trying to think of a diplomatic way to say this. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but you don't exactly strike me as someone who would refrain from spreading around juicy tidbits."

She shrugged. "Hey, I'm not gonna get mad at you for telling it like it is. Bards gonna gossip."

"Well... look. I only know a little bit, but whatever that man's story is, it caught the Big Guy's attention, and he kinda told me in person that this is something he specifically does not want people gossiping about."

That got a reaction out of her. "I knew he was at the office today, but... is that what you got called away for earlier?"

"Yeah. Again, don't wanna talk about it. And knowing this, you really don't either."

She nodded. "I hate to say it but I think you're right. Anything that can worry a dragon is a bit above my pay grade."

Well, that's one minor crisis averted, at least.

* * *

In movies and stories, they say when bad stuff happens to you, you end up having nightmares. When you do bad things yourself, you're supposed to find it hard to sleep at night. But so far, none of that had happened to me.

Dyralist's description of fractured reality, though? Apparently that made my subconscious totally blow a rune-seal, because I spent the whole night being tormented by dreams of myself, but other "me's."

There was a me who was a fisherman just sitting on a dock, pole in hand, feet swishing lazily in the water, without a care in the world even as the sky on the horizon turned orange with flaming explosions.

There was a me in a Feurdanf, pedal to the floor, speeding across a deserted highway, frantically trying to escape some shadowy, half-glimpsed assailant that could run fast enough to keep up with a car.

There was a me lying on the floor of a dimly-lit dungeon, all by myself, bleeding out.

Me back home, sitting at the table with my family, arguing with my little sister about her insipid plans to skip college altogether in favor of trying to become a fashion influencer.

Me standing beside Gareth and Felicity at the head of an army, raising an ornate staff high as we led a charge against, of all things, a horde of goblins with Vivian leading them!

Me at a wedding, my wedding. To Felicity.

Me at Felicity's wedding to some guy I didn't recognize, with my girlfriend Joanna at my side.

Me with our team in their adventuring gear, in a dungeon together, desperately trying to hold off a wave of assassins, every one of whom had my face.

Me in a prison cell, curled up on the floor, sobbing, begging for anyone to just please recognize that I didn't mean to do it.

Me in some sort of dojo, wearing a gi, sparring with Kade, who was intentionally holding back when he could have wiped the floor with me.

Me standing on the floor of the Council of High Lords, testifying about relevant facts in a high-profile car crash.

Me in a dragonsaddle, flying on the back of Dyralist in his dragon form.

Me sneaking into Chancellor Rosocress's bedroom in the dead of night, a dagger in hand.

Me reading a spell from an ancient tome, chanting the runes it described as quickly as I could, because a me with a sword was rushing towards me, trying to prevent me from finishing the spell.

Me with a sword, trying to stop the insane me with the tome from destroying everything I had worked so hard for three years to accomplish.

Me with the rest of the team, watching in horror as a simple disagreement between Kelamek and Torrin escalated into a shouting match, and then to a full-on brawl.

Me back in school, only this time I was a teacher, helping train the next generation of enchanters.

Me facing off against Gareth, both of us bruised and bloody, in the ruins of a city aflame as ash falls from the sky around us, angrily accusing each other of being responsible for the devastation.

Me standing in a ritual circle with Joanna and a handful of people I didn't recognize, as we prepared a powerful, dangerous spell to breach planar seals and communicate with the one being who could make sense of any of this.

Me holding Vivian in my arms, overjoyed that she had changed her mind and decided to come back to me.

Me with the team at a fancy restaurant, celebrating the successful launch and a hefty bonus for everyone that came along with it.

Me with a sledgehammer, half-exhausted, frantically beating on a dungeon core that just wouldn't break!

On and on it went, throughout the whole night, stark and vivid and clear in a way most dreams never are, waking me up multiple times, leaving me to toss and turn and try to find some way, any way, to just get back to sleep again so I'd be OK in the morning. It didn't help. By the time Tuesday morning rolled around, I was feeling half-dead and thoroughly freaked out.

I probably should have called in sick.