He frowned at the clouds overhead. Wind tugged on his green tunic, and wide

brimmed hat as the air moved toward the giant turmoil in the distance. He tested the pull of his bow, and the ease of draw of his sword as he waited.

He stood on a roof in the middle of a human city. Ocean and rivers surrounded the island with water. All around him, humans and their champions prepared to fight the invasion ahead.

He would have to fight too, but his battlefield was the roof he stood on and the surrounding area. His princess was there, and he had to be there to protect her.

He glanced at his princess. She stood radiant among the humans that had gathered to throw their might into the fray. Her gold and silver adventurer’s clothes stood out among the black favored by the magicians. She regarded the oncoming universe with amethyst eyes and a frown on her narrow face.

“Threat,” said one of the many sprites that circled him. It pointed at another roof across the road. “Threat.”

He drew an arrow and rubbed the head with his fingers before putting it on the string of his bow. He took aim at the trees coming out of the roof door across the way. He counted five of them before he shot. His arrow caught fire as it streaked through the air. It struck the leader of the strange creatures, but nothing happened.

He would have to switch weapons if he wanted to do more than that.

“Arrows not doing anything?,” said an old man who had come with a butler. He stood on the roof with a sword in hand. He wore a plain tunic of a darker green than the archer’s own. His eyes were the brown of mud.

“The one didn’t,” he agreed. “I still have some tricks.”

“Threat,” said various members of his entourage. They pointed in different directions.

“It looks like we have a crowd coming in,” said the archer. He looked around. Some of the trees had mounted flying carriages to attack the roof.

“I had better get to my side,” said the old man.

He walked around the crowd of magicians, spinning his sword to test the grip. The archer wished him the best of luck.

The carriages vanished from the sky. He didn’t think the magicians had spared the energy to knock them down. One of the faster champions must have done it while he was concentrating on keeping his roof clear of the riff raff.

He reached into his hip bag. He pulled out one of the bombs he had made with the help of his entourage. He lit the fuse with a rub of his fingers and then threw it. The black sphere sailed across the road and landed on his target roof. The trees didn’t pay attention as it rolled into their midst.

The explosion sliced at the bottom of the moving trunks. Fire gouted from the

wounds. He supposed that was why his arrow hadn’t worked. He frowned. Maybe he could put their fires out with the other arrows he had in his quiver.

He decided to hold on in case he had to shoot at closer threats.

“Threat!,” said his whole entourage at once. The cloud of fairies pointed at the big spinning cloud that denoted a door to another plane of existence. One tugged on his pointed ear and said threat in such a way to indicate they expected him to hack the cloud apart from where he was standing.

He couldn’t do that on his best day.

The cloud separated downrange from where he stood. A giant tree with a crown of fire stepped out of the cloud. It held up one hand and burned the human in its grip.

“She just burned up the Mark,” said one of the magicians.

“Hold steady,” projected the spirit in the middle of them. “We have to be ready

to push.”

“That’s going to take a lot of pushing,” said the magician.

“The Lamplighters are almost ready,” said one of the women. “Ishmael reports

they are putting the last connections together.”

He watched the massing trees on the other roof. He knew they wanted to get to his roof. The magicians here, and at the other roof closer to the cloud, had to be stopped before they could work their magic. He and the old man were there to make sure that didn’t happen to the group on this roof.

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He had just reunited with his princess. He wasn’t going to lose her again.

Giants appeared out of the sky. They engaged the giant tree at close range. He doubted they would do anything, but it was an effective stalling tactic as far as he was concerned.

If they happened to kill the beast, that would make things that much easier for

the gathered magicians.

The trees decided to form a bridge to get to his roof. Three braced themselves on the other roof. The others grabbed each other in a living chain to hurl at him.

He drew one of his arrows and rubbed the stone head with his fingers. Frost fogged the air around it as he drew the missile back on the bow string. He shot one of the trees in the middle of the chain and watched it freeze over in a coat of ice.

The shot trapped the trees in the middle. The one on his end of the bridge grabbed the rampart to pull itself on the roof.

He pulled his sword and hacked off the limbs of the thing before it could pull out of the grip of its frozen comrades. Then he stabbed it in the face and let the flame out of its body.

The base trees had to haul their frozen links back, or drop them and think of

something else. They decided to drop them to the street below.

He waved at them in a casual salute.

He wouldn’t have done that, but he couldn’t fault them for freeing themselves up for some other scheme.

A wingless dragon took shape on the road. He stepped back as it roared its challenge at the tree. Then it attacked with tooth, claw, and fiery breath.

“Marty,” said one of the magicians. “What have you done?”

“Ishmael says they are firing,” said Ishmael’s woman. “This might our only chance.”

A blue flame ripped through the dark sky above. He blinked and looked away from the fire as it hooked the roof where the Lamplighters worked to the giant tree. He didn’t have to check to know the blow had struck home from the reactions of the magicians in their circle.

“Shut the door,” commanded the spirit.

The magicians bent their will to the task. With their enemy mortally wounded, there was nothing to block them. He kept an eye out for trouble as the almost tangible push washed over him.

He spotted more trees coming up on the other roof. These seemed to be armed. He couldn’t allow them to harm the magicians while they were still working their spell. He would have to go over and handle things if he wanted to stop the enemy.

‘

He hated to leave the princess, but he had to do this to protect her.

He pulled a claw on a rope from his bag. He flicked his wrist and the hook grabbed a post on the other roof. He yanked on the rope and the cable retracted to the claw. It dragged him along across the space between buildings.

He pulled his sword and sliced around him, using his shield to block blows from the wooden fists. He had to hold on until the spell was done. After that, the magicians could deal with things in their own ways.

He left chopped bodies around him as he tried to force the trees off the roof. He saw more of them coming up the access stairs. He would be overwhelmed if he didn’t retreat.

And he couldn’t retreat just yet.

He still had to buy time.

A glowing woman dropped down in the melee. She flung one of the trees off the roof with an almost gentle wave of one arm.

“Need some help, elf boy?,” said the woman.

“YES,” said half of the fairies floating around him.

“NO,” said the other half.

“It would be appreciated,” he said. He stabbed one of the trees to make sure it wouldn’t get back into the fight.

“That’s good,” said the woman. She smiled as she raised both of her hands. A jet of blinding light ripped down the access stairs. She stopped after a second to see how much damage she had done.

The inside of the space was melted into a burning heap. None of the reinforcements remained after the display of power. He took one of his arrows and armed it. He dropped it down in the glowing mass. Ice covered the display and turned to water, then to steam.

“It’ll be a while before that cools down,” said the woman. “By that time, all of

this will be over, one way or the other.”

“Thank you for your assistance,” said the archer.

“Thank you,” said the woman. She took to the air in an aura of flame like a miniature star.

He made sure all of his enemies were dead before using the claw and rope to get back to the magicians. They seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

“The rift is closing,” said Ishamael’s woman. “It looks like we won.”

The princess smiled as the humans looked dazed by their victory. He admitted he hadn’t expected their plan to work, but it had. He could add assistance in killing a practical god to his resume.

“Tenacan, this is Mister Multiverse,” said the princess. She indicated the spirit as they joined the archer where he stood. “He is going to help us to go home.”

The archer waited.

“I can do this much for you before I leave,” said Mister Multiverse. “I have enough power to assist you.”

“The kingdom will not be as we left it,” warned Tenacan. “We have both been away for a long time.”

“I want to see what’s there,” said the princess. “Will you go with me?”

“Yes,” said the archer. “You know I will.”

“I wish the both of you the best of luck,” said the spirit. Tenacan noted that the center spot on his chest linked to another spot on his shoulder. The rest of the lines and circles moved around until those two spots almost touched.

A cloud spun into existence. The princess raised one hand. The signs that she had gathered together glowed on the back of it. She smiled.

“Thank you,” she said. She stepped into the cloud.

The archer nodded, made sure his weapons were still ready to draw. He followed her.

Mister Multiverse looked around as his map of everything reverted to normal. The danger was over. He broke apart and scattered into the ley lines of the city, and the world beyond.