Morning sunlight gingerly tiptoed across the horizon as a careful as a child opening a cookie jar. The shafts of radiance found the inhabitants of Oranza bustling with such energy that ants would have been green with envy. Cracked roof tiles being replaced, walls mended, and homes aired out from the ordeals of the Golden clan occupation.
While the other members of the adventuring party took a well-earned rest Gus and Mrs. Strawberry were already up and circling the boundaries of the city.
“I love the texture of rocks like these, so very pleasant.” The fungal knight said while trailing his fingers across the rough surface of a boulder. A mushroom with red rings on the cap started to grow beneath his fingertips.
“What will those do?” The cook asked, she had seen various other mushrooms, but this spore was new to her.
“It’ll create a wall of interwoven mushrooms that is twelve feet tall and nigh to indestructible. It’ll be a safe and beautiful for people to put down roots and live out their lives growing and building.”
“A genius builder who doesn’t enjoy the things he builds.” Mrs. Strawberry observed. “Feels like there is a story there.”
The purple skinned fungus took a moment to pluck a blue and white striped mushroom off his shoulder, he planted it into boulder. As the mushroom took root pale threads of fungi merged with the growing all of spores. The blue mushroom grew into barbed monstrosities “I love creating things, but I also happen to love exploring, adventuring was the best of both worlds. I get to travel and build things for those in need. If I had stayed home would have been stuck making pretty towers that would elicit a cursory glance.” He swept his hand towards the growing wall of mushrooms. “But here, this, this matters. This humble structure will let a child sleep safe at night.”
“On behalf of all grandma’s I thank you for keeping our children safe.”
“It’s what anyone with half a brain cell would do.”
The two chatted as Gus completed the defenses for the city borders. On their return they found the other members of the party peering over a map.
Devourer waved at them excitedly “We’re in luck, using information from the people here we were able to find where the Realm Ripper is hiding. We should be able to hit him before nightfall and wrap up this little side quest nicely.”
The stone within his pocket loudly announced “It is now Wednesday, you have four days left before Strawberry is returned.”
“I am fully aware,.” Devourer grumbled “You don’t have to remind me.”
Tracy was looking over the map, jotting down rough terrain and places to ford a river as he asked. “Is this Realm Ripper evil?”
“They’re different.” Descendre explained absently, she was focused on the leather map before her, watching the scout/hunter work “Realm Rippers don’t have to travel over miles and days to get somewhere, they simply cut a hole and step through it.”
“Now that is what I call traveling in style.” Devourer murmured with a hint of awe in his voice.
The Derkaz shot him a look before continuing her explanation “Realm Rippers are born without the hardship of travel, if the land they are on is scarce of food or water they just step into another realm that is bountiful. They don’t have to deal with the normal day-to-day challenges of life and it makes them indifferent towards others born without their benefits.” The cat pressed the back side of a nail into the leather, indicating a place that had a possible magical threat that was on a different map. She tucked the secondary map away and looked at the hunter “Realm Rippers believe themselves to be superior to others. They reason that if other species just worked hard enough to learn teleportation magic those other species would be on the same footing. They reason that others don’t do that is because the species are lazy. They miss the part where they are born with a magic that is impossible for most species to learn. They didn’t have to study, didn’t have to work to earn it. It was handed to them on a silver platter. If someone were take their pretty little keystones away they would discover what it is like to have to live like the rest of us.”
“They sound like jerks.” Tracy stated with loathing.
“Eh, some of them are jerks, like the one we are hunting.” Descendre agreed. “Most are relatively decent, if clueless about how the real realms work.”
-
The team gathered their supplies, said their farewells. They borrowed two covered wagons from the city folk and hitched the ant-horses that had once belonged to the Golden clan to the front of them. The creatures were placid as they clopped along the road at a quick pace. Grabbing random bugs from the air to munch on. At one point a swarm of insects sent the steeds off chasing them much to the horror of Devourer as his carriage was carried away with wails of terror.
Shortly after that Devourer could be heard griping “Don’t know why we couldn’t walk, it’s undignified for a Auris to be atop a mount.”
Descendre ran beside the ant-horses “Stop whining, nobody is gonna know you rode a steed.”
“This is bordering on sacrilege,” the dapperly dressed creature gave her an unhappy face “If a ten-ear saw me on here I would be blacklisted for eternity.”
Onion plucked off a leaf that had been starting to droop “We could also just tell the next travelling bard.”
Devourer was horrified “You wouldn’t!”
Just as the sun was drifting behind the clouds on its journey to set the antenna of the mounts started to swivel in every direction in agitation. Turning their heads to try to watch something hidden on the forest bordering the road.
Descendre padded up to the rolling wagon carrying Gus and Mrs. Strawberry “Sentries, look to be big bugs, mean ones.”
“Ah! Arthropods.” Onion announced with an upraised leaf finger.
Gus leaned forward to rub the armored head of his mount “Ours ant-horses should be able to counter them.”
The feline did not look so convinced “These bugs are pretty big. I’ll be right back, going to let the rest of the team know.”
“Descendre.” Gus turned in his seat atop his mount “Star pattern if things get dicey.”
The cat raised an eyebrow “Interesting, I’ll relay that message to.” She slowed her pace to let the other carriage catch up to her.
The fungal knight leaned over to the cook “Just stay close to me if we call out Star pattern.”
Strawberry could see the large creatures moving in the shadows, keeping pace with the wagons. The further in they traveled the more of the oversized insects started to appear. Eli was riding on the back of Mrs. Strawberry’s carriage seat; he made a low rumbling growl that had the odd effect of calming the fidgeting ant-horses. Mrs. Strawberry leaned back and rubbed his head “Good boy.”
The Frozen Death kept up the rumblings, though there was a hint of happiness in his sound at the attention from the warrior cook.
The wagons came into a clearing, the knight leaned down to lay a hand on the side of his mount to calm it, giving him a chance to look behind him as well. “They just closed off our path back.”
Mrs. Strawberry rested her hand on her frying pan.
Eli’s rumbles grew louder.
As the party moved into the middle of the clearing more beetles emerged and blocked the road moving forward. Others stepped from the concealment of the forest all around, ringing in the small caravan. The arthropods didn’t make a sound, simply as still as statues. As the sun’s light faded mushrooms on Gus’s body grew, opened and sent thousands of tiny spores that floated upwards, each one twinkling with a calming orange light. The seedlings settled in trees, growing in brightness until the entire region was illuminated.
The bugs remained unmoving.
The adventuring group waited.
And waited.
And--
The beetles parted to let a short squat beetle through. There was a hastily built throne that was covered in gold and fine fabrics. Gus leaned over to offer information to the cook “Those are Eulb beetles (not from this realm), usually they are running amok and destroying things. That beetle is riding is their king. He is what is keeping them so quiet.”
The Eulb beetle stopped twenty feet from the group and purple crystal shards abruptly tore through the fabric of reality above the insect. A foxlike creature hopped through hole in the realm. On his left paw was a large uncut gem that rippled with stars beneath the surface.
The gem on his paw iced any questions that Mrs. Strawberry had. This was the Realm Ripper. When he turned small sharp stones growing along his spine sparkled with the same light. The Realm Ripper’s sneer made it clear how he felt about the rest of the world. He was superior. His voice carried that pompous view “What are travelers doing in my land.”
The Mottoy knight nudged the ribs of the ant-horse with his knee to move it forward as he announced. “We were just passing through.” He made a large show of looking at all the Eulb beetles that surrounded them before adding “Mighty fine army you have here.”
The Realm Ripper’s pose exuded pride “Yes, they obey to a word,” he lifted his paw and barked a command, the beetle king raised himself higher so his front claws were barely touching the ground. He made a loud buzzing rumble, the surrounding beetles turned clockwise in an eerie precision that robots would have envied. The long-tailed Realm Ripper dropped his paw, his eyes travelling across the ant-horses that hadn’t shifted an iota from the thunderous display of the Eulb beetles, flicking their antenna casually as Eli’s rumbles kept them calm. The Realm Ripper’s voice dropped from haughtiness into something that almost bordered on respect “It seems your steeds are equally well behaved. I’ve never seen a beast of burden that didn’t bolt when I did that little parlor trick.”
Gus’s gaze stayed on the creature covered in purple shards, his tone still confident “We could trade knowledge on our parlor tricks if you would like. Mister…?”
The Realm Ripper hesitated for a moment “You can call me Light Step. You!” he pointed at Mrs. Strawberry “I notice you have a frying pan, are you any good with it.”
Devourer grinned brightly, tapping his hat dramatically “She would knock your socks off with her pan skills.”
“I have had some pretty amazing dishes from multiple realms.” He appraised the woman thoughtfully “What is one of your signature dishes?”
Without blinding an eye she replied “Braised duck with red curry, with a coconut sweet drink—"
“--that’s not bad.” Light Foot interrupted with a tone of contempt. “But—"
“--as the appetizer for the nine-course meal.” The cook continued as if she had not been interrupted. “Next it would be—”
The Realm Ripper waved his paw “Fine, you get to live, the leashed cat too. The rest of you get to pick who dies first.”
“Not going to pretend to let us live.” Gus observed.
Light Foot flicked his long luxurious tail “I did at the beginning, enjoyed watching the horror grow in their eyes as they realized they were going to die.” He waved his paw with the keystone and a tiny tear opened from him to pull out a roasted poultry leg and tear the meat from the bones in seconds. He casually discarded the remains. “That has become boring, now I enjoy watching my victims rally to fight the Eulb beetles and fail. I hope you will make your deaths entertaining.”
“Ah. How kind of you to let us entertain you with our lives.
Light Foot beamed at the mushroom man, “I knew I liked you, you appreciate how magnanimous I am.” He tapped his paw on the beetle king’s hard carapace “Others don’t show proper gratitude for my benevolence.”
“You said we could pick the order we die in, do you mind if I confer with my colleagues for a moment.” Gus asked, his voice dripping with geniality.
The fox circled his hastily crafted throne and settled down with a sigh of contentment before acknowledging the question “Fine, fine. Just don’t take too long. I want to have this slaughter done in time for my new cook to make me that nine course meal.”
The group drew together as the Mottoy dismounted from his steed. He spoke quickly, “There is some sort of mystical barrier around Light Foot and his beetle. You can see where the dome is at by the way the grass leans outwards just a little bit all around them. If you decide to move in his direction, be sure to watch for that, don’t need anyone breaking their bones or getting flash fried.”
“So, direct squashing is out.” Mrs. Strawberry analyzed “Any ideas on how to get rid of the barrier or wipe out the beetles?”
Descendre scratched her ear using the motion to hide her words from Light Foot “If we can’t attack him directly, we can destroy his gateway.”
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
“Gateway?” Devourer muttered.
The Derkaz kept her head down “Realm Rippers plant a crystal gateway when they decide they want to stick around in a realm for a while. Giant batteries that absorb magic for the Realm Ripper to tear open realms with their keystone. They are just super careful about where they plant them. Take a long time to build and a gate breaking can wipe all their magic for years.”
“Break the gateway, he loses his magic to teleport and we wipe him and the beetle army out in one fell swoop.” Devourer said with relish.
Strawberry looked at the beetles then at Gus “The mushroom lights you created, can you turn them off all at once and leave the beetles blinded?”
Onion perked up at the question “Insect’s eyes don’t have to adjust to abrupt changes in light and dark like us, they wouldn’t be phased at all.
“Great.” Devourer grumbled to the oblivious Silken.
Gus looked at the Realm Ripper that was starting to grow impatient “Best we start fighting, who wants to go first?”
“ME!” Onion shouted as he hopped down from the carriage.
“Very well.” Light Foot said in a bored tone, he gestured towards the cook and the feline “If you would follow that beetle, he will take you to the kitchen/ living area. See to it that you create something that is worthy of my refined palate. Otherwise, you will share the luck of the last cook and become the main course of my next meal.”
“Understood.” Mrs. Strawberry responded but the foxlike creature had already turned his back on the two. His attention on the Silken in the center of clearing with a spear held between his teeth.
A pony sized Eulb beetle rushed the plant mage. The cyan skinned scholar nimbly hopped out of the way, and lashed out with the spear, the blade bouncing against the insect carapace.
The Realm Ripper flashed his teeth as he cheered “Tear him limb from limb!”
Onion dodged again, getting knocked to the ground when he miss-timed his step and was slammed by the claw. He let out a screech and Light Foot and the beetles all rumbled in anticipation.
Mrs. Strawberry looked back with concern at the screeches “Can we really leave him?”
Descendre leaned over “That screech is his version of belly laughing. As long as his leaves don’t start wilting he’s fine. The only one that is gonna suffer any damage is gonna be Devourer’s ears.”
The woman and cat followed the bug down a well-trodden path, beetles were performing various tasks; some were stripping bark from felled trees, others were digging ditches. The cook looked at the arthropods as she mused to the feline “Gus said that these creatures were usually blood thirsty ravagers. I wonder how Light Foot got them to obey.”
Descendre peered over her shoulder towards the battle zone they had left behind. Concern in her voice “Onion hasn’t made a noise in a while… Maybe we should—”
A blood curdling screech reverberated through the forest, causing birds and smaller game animals to bolt in terror.
The Derkaz visibly relaxed and turned back to the beetle that had stopped to clack his mandibles threateningly towards the two females. The cat flicked her tail towards the beetle before she answered Mrs. Strawberry’s musings about the subservient beetles. “For some reason the king beetle is obeying the Realm Ripper. And all the beetles obey the king.”
They stepped into a clearing with a makeshift mansion in the middle, ‘makeshift’ was being generous, it appeared that different houses had been torn apart and then put back together in some sort of Frankenstein’s monster manner. There was a small cottage that had been shoved onto the top of the abomination as part of the roof, beside it was the shingled roof of an inn. Finely carved beams of wood helped form the sides of the house, right beside rotting pine trees. There were large ornate walls with windows beside an outhouse with a moon shaped hole cut into the door. Descendre’s sneer was sharp enough to split stone. “I’ve seen better work from a hyperactive spidermoth caught in its own web.”
“Gus would have a migraine seeing this.” Mrs. Strawberry agreed. “It looks like it is all glued back together with…what is that stuff?”
The feline sniffed the air “I believe that is dried beetle spit. Apparently, it has bonding properties.”
They were nudged quite forcefully by the Eulb beetle into the jigsawesque building. The cook was directed into a spacious kitchen that had clearly from a very wealthy mansion. White tile floor that had some gaps in places from being moved to this location. Beautifully crafted beams of exposed wood that stood out in stark contrast from the white ceiling, the only place where it was discolored was in the places where the smoke rose up from the spacious fireplaces and stoves. “This is impressive.” The cook admitted. There were well built pots and pans throughout the kitchen, most of them still on hooks, some on the ground, dented and trampled by beetle claws. The other tools of a master cook were populated throughout the rest of the kitchen. She ran her hand along the lip of a gigantic pot, her mind for a moment caught up in what she could cook. “Pssst.”
The warrior cook turned to see Descendre more excited than the woman had ever witnessed before. “What?”
“I know how Light Foot the Realm Ripper is controlling the beetles.” Her words victorious “Really ingenious, has all the intricacy of a villain with spells and traps and boiling magma.” The cat added with hint of admiration.
The cook lost all interest in the kitchen “Descendre, what is it?”
“He has the Eulb larvae here as hostages.” The cat explained with that same excitement returning to her voice. She flicked her tail against the large guide beetle that followed her into the room. “If Devourer were here, he would suggest we squash them and be done with it.”
“We could.” Mrs. Strawberry agreed, she held up her hand before the cat could implement the action, “But then the beetles would just go berserk and start destroying the kingdom.” She tapped her chin in contemplation as she looked at the agitated beetle behind the cat. “If these larvae are so valuable…”
“Yes!”
“I have a thought…”
-
“What is taking those two so long?” Onion grumbled as he did a roll beneath a gigantic mandible that shook the earth. The Silken was bored. The beetles were easy to evade, even with six of them attempting kill him it was child’s play to dodge and make it look like a ‘near miss’. The new magical leaves and berries that had grown during the battle had been exciting, but they were now dwindling in their growth and his attention with them. He was able to keep up with the beetles attempting to crush, slice and dice him, but it was becoming less fun and more work. As it became less fun the ‘near misses’ were not a ploy, they were a legitimate miscalculation on his part due to his drifting attention.
He was atop one of the Eulb beetles punching it in an eye when he heard a commotion beyond the ring of beetles. Hope filled his heart, was the boredom finally over?
Mrs. Strawberry broke into the clearing with a whoop. She rode atop a charging beetle, using her pan as a makeshift rudder lodged in the beetle’s horns. Descendre shouted out the Silken “We found the gate! Get serious!”
Onion grinned with glee as he grabbed six red berries, crushing them he whispered, “Chaos mother and whispering father, heed my call!” spectral arms blazed into life from the rootfire. The flaming limbs tore three of his attackers apart instantly.
Not one to be outdone by his companion the Auris shook free his ear blades. “Time to make sushi out of you!” Devourer shouted charging towards the largest beetle guarding him. The beetle’s pinchers clacked together to bisect the behatted gentleman. The Auris moved in his intricate dance his ear blades slicing through the arthropod’s front legs, he was already onto the next enemy as the beetle toppled to the ground with a thunderous crash.
Echoing that booming noise two beetles slammed their pinchers to the ground repeatedly as they circled the fungal knight. Gus lowered himself into a defensive crouch as the beetles charged him. He grabbed a mushroom from his shoulder, it formed into a spear as the paladin made a high-pitched hissing noise, his steed nimbly dodged around the oversized beetles and made a beeline to its master. The knight leapt into the air, landing atop her with practiced ease. He drove the long lance through the closest arthropod’s exoskeleton skull and out its back. He pointed the spore lance at his next enemy as he roared “May death move upon swift legs!”
“Evade the legs!” Onion shouted as the newest behemoth of a beetle attempted to run over the Auris. The Silken launched himself at oversized monstrosity, he wrapped his roots around the many legs, leapt into the air and dove beneath the surface, slamming the beetle into the ground with such bone jarring force that its shell shattered.
“Stop showing off!” The three-ear retorted as he finished the beetle off in a whirlwind of slicing blades.
On the edge of the clearing the rest of the Eulb beetles were agitated hissing and clicking in place. Waiting for their king to let them tear apart these tasty morsels. The king was unmoving, his multi-faceted eyes fixed on the larvae in Mrs. Strawberry’s possession.
“How did you get those!?” Light Foot snarled; all boredom wiped from his smug face.
“You’re less clever than you think.” The cook answered.
“Do you know what you’ve done! These things can’t be controlled without those!” There was a dawning fear in the Realm Ripper’s eyes as he ordered. “Put them back!”
The king beetle made an ominous buzz and took a threatening step towards the cook. When nothing happened, he took another more confident step, by the third step he leaned forward and charged at an unexpected speed ignoring the Realm Ripper screaming orders atop his armored back.
The beetles at the edge of the broke ranks.
Mrs. Strawberry yanked her steed around to evade the large royal beetle’s grasping claws.
Realm Ripper realized there was no reasoning with the cook or the beetle king and tore open a purple portal in front of the cook. He leapt through it with a wide-open maw aimed at her throat.
Murderous hunger in his eyes.
From the trees a shadow leapt with slashing claws and whipping tail. Light Foot used another portal to avoid the deadly slices of Descendre, instead spinning through his new portal slamming to the ground with a vicious series of wounds along his shoulder and ribs. Light Foot’s pupils had dilated in shock as his dark purple blood oozed from the wounds. His eyes staring up at the at the predatory feline cloaked in shadows. “You, you cut me.” His words were confused. It was as if gravity had abruptly stopped working and he couldn’t process the paradigm shift. A mere Derkaz had wounded him. “You can’t do that!”
“I can’t? Who’ll stop me?” The Derkaz languidly stalked from the gloom, a malevolent creature of darkness. She licked her lips with her forked as she eyed the blood of the Realm Ripper. “I don’t think you can. You’re wounded, and the way your stones are acting it appears you are almost out of juice, That means no more power to open realm tears.”
Light Foot drew himself up with a wince and growled, “Take another step and my army will decimate you all!”
“We’re killing your beetle army as we speak.” She purred, her tail swaying back and forth, the claws on the end dripping with poison. In the distance the sound of fighting could be heard. It did not sound like the beetles were winning. “A Realm Ripper running out of power and losing his beetles too. What are you gonna do without your army?”
“I just need to charge my keystone at my gate. I’ll still destroy you.” His eyes met hers, any logic or strategy wiped from his mind as his indignant rage bubbled up, “I am better than you all, I am a Realm Ripper!”
The Derkaz dramatically raised her tail like a cobra ready to strike, her evil grin spreading across her face. “You will not be the first to foolishly claim my destruction. And like the rest you will die with those words upon your lips.”
He leapt backwards his keystone flashed, the shards spun around him creating an instant tear in reality, a moment later he landed onto a tree above her panting from the effort, his stones flickering feebly.
“An instant tear, don’t those take an immense amount of power? That leaves you with what? One more jump?” She grinned up at him, her voice a sing song yowl “Runaway little tyrant, no more army, no more army. No. More. Army!”
“DIE!” The Realm Ripper snarled.
A tear opened above Descendre, and a slimy water monster fell through with a surprised bellow. The Derkaz sprang away from the plummeting behemoth, barely avoiding be squashed. The cat landed well out of the range of the deep red creature and yowled above the animal “Still no army!”
Light Foot hissed in the treetops “We’ll see about no army!” his crystals flickered for a moment, then the lights flickered out.
The Derkaz leapt atop the same limb as the Realm Ripper, her tail lashing back and forth slowly, hypnotically. She prowled towards him as she licked her lips “A little tyrant without his army, without his power and soon without his life.”
The Realm Ripper’s eyes dilated so large that the cat was reflected in them like a mirror. He backed away and gulped twice before he could weakly say “But, but, I’m a Realm Ripper, I’m better than you all…” his eyes pleading.
“Of course, you are.” The predator purred licking her teeth.
-
Through the trees rushed a pony sized beetle and Mrs. Strawberry atop it. She yanked her frying pan to the right, swerving the beetle away from a giant outcropping.
“Run faster!” Onion shouted as he surfaced from the ground like a jumping dolphin, he dove back down and emerged ahead of them to shout “He’s furious!!! And we can’t slow him or the army behind him down!”
As if to drive the words home the furious king erupted from forest slamming into trees with such force that they were uprooted. The Eulb royalty had multiple cuts and dings across his armored carapace from the root attacks of the Silken.
Gus rode his ant-horse alongside the arthropod jabbing at the insect with his spear, most strikes were deflected though he did land a hit that caused the king to swing his gigantic beetle body around in an attempt to crush the annoying fungal knight. The Mottoy paladin hissed and his steed abruptly changed directions making a sharp turn that a barrel racer would have envied. The king’s pincher attack whistled harmlessly overhead and with another hiss the horse galloped at full speed to catch up with Mrs. Strawberry. “What’s the plan?”
“JUST FOLLOW ME.” The cook shouted back. “WE NEED THE REST OF THE EULB ARMY THOUGH, WE ONLY GET ONE SHOT AT THIS!”
There was a thunderous rumbling that could be felt in the bones as the rest of the beetles tore through the forest behind their lord and king. It was an awe inspiring sight to see some many giant beetles moving as one towards a common goal. It was horrifying to behold when the goal they were focused on was the stout woman and her companions.
The team broke from the tree line and made a mad dash towards the Realm Ripper’s gateway.
“THAT’S IT?” Onion shouted upon seeing the large structure. The gateway was simply an empty arch, made of beetle saliva and random materials assembled by the beetles. It didn’t look like anything special.
“WHAT’S THE PLAN?” Gus yelled above the thundering feet of the beetles.
Mrs. Strawberry slowed her mount as her eyes searched the area. “We’re waiting for a signal! Onion, I need them slowed down!”
“WHAT SIGNAL!?” Onion shouted as he drove his tail into the ground, crushed two handfuls of berries and started muttering a spell. Ethereal arms composed of rootfire shot up beneath the charging army, grabbing legs and torsos. It didn’t stop them, it barely slowed them. “I CAN’T DO THIS LONG! WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING!”
“There!” the cook shouted as the gateway flooded with purple light and twinkling stars. A moment later it tore apart the fabric of the realm. She shoved forward with her cooking accessory, sending her captive mount charging towards the new realm. It was a stark place; with desert sands, buttes made of a yellow rock towered high overhead, and more of the Eulb beetles emerging from the sands as the gate opened. The cook rushed through the gateway and with a large twisting heave threw the giant bag of larvae into the desert realm. She spun the beetle around as she shouted at the Silker “Let them go and run!”
Onion let out a relieved sigh of exhaustion as he released his magic. The beetles now freed charged en masse. The plan mage looked at the imminent death rushing towards him and sank into the ground with a rude gesture directed at the insects. Meanwhile Gus and Devourer rode the armored steed at breakneck speed to escape the danger.
Mrs. Strawberry exited the gateway and yanked her beetle sharply to the right to avoid the trampling Eulb beetles as they rushed through the gate to their freed young. In moments every beetle was on the other side of the gate.
“Easier than expected.” Descendre purred as she emerged from the shadows. The words weren’t as legible as they usually were, because held between her teeth by the scruff of his neck was Light Foot. The Derkaz shook her head, causing her captive canine to make a yip of fear. “Give her the keystone, or else we return to my other option.” She looked at the cook and added “Trick is turning it counterclockwise.”
Mrs. Strawberry took the crystal as the cat tossed the canine on the other side of the gate. “I don’t think I’ll be able to cook that meal for you, Light Foot. Maybe your new friends will be able to accommodate you.”
Mrs. Strawberry pointed the keystone at the gate and turned it counterclockwise. The Realm Ripper’s eyes grew wide as he realized what was about to happen. “NOOOOO—”
The gate slammed shut on the incredulous face of the Realm Ripper.
Mrs. Strawberry smiled as she held up the stone “That worked exactly as I had hoped.”
Onion looked at the others “That was the plan?”
Descendre grinned widely “It was Mrs. Strawberry’s idea, use the babies as bait for the beetles. Then we find a way to catch the Realm Ripper and force him to open the gate.”
“He’s trapped in that world forever?” Gus asked.
“At least a month, maybe two, until he grows another keystone.” The Derkaz flicked her tail. “The long-term solution is that we give the keystone to an official gateway Realm Ripper. They would be interested in his murderous rampage and will be able to find him using stone.”
“How does that work; they just follow his scent somehow?” Devourer queried as he approached the group on foot, not willing to stay on a steed any longer than was necessary.
Descendre shot him a conspiratorial wink “Nope, turn the keystone clockwise three times. The gateway opens instantly to wherever its creator is standing.” Devourer chuckled. “Now (before we head off to fight the Colligere) I know a place nearby where we can drop off that keystone at an official gateway—"
Mrs. Strawberry held up her hand “I actually had a thought on that…”