The antique silver mirror loomed ominously today. In reality, it was the same as it always was, but it just felt imposing. The room that had been set aside for it, creatively dubbed the Mirror Room, saw the “expedition party” gathered along with a few others. Hermes was going to bring myself, my Master, and Janice through the mirror and into the Realm of this mad deity attacking our town. I think all of us were nervous, except Hermes. The crowd that gathered to see us off had gotten pretty large. Cheryl, Mandy, Ro, Roffil, Jared, Alice, and Elsie were all here, watching with varying levels of unease and jealousy.

Elsie looked around, perhaps feeling out of place. “Oh geez, are you three gonna be all right, going out there all by your lonesomes?”

Hermes gave a pouting expression, as exaggerated as everything he did, prompting Janice to speak up. “Well, we do have a literal god as a chaperone, so… hopefully?”

Resting a hand on the hilt of the sword at her hip, Mandy tensed as she struggled to keep from rushing forward. “I still say you should bring some more people along. Two mages and a dragon, what if you need someone with a proper sword? If magic doesn’t work?”

The pouting was gone, replaced with a wide-eyed smile. “Your bravery is commendable, Miss Mandy! Sadly, it is not to be. I am able to bring Mister Tola, Miss Janice, and Miss Princess because they have a ‘connection of Fate’ with our malefactor. Bringing anyone else would require tremendous energy that I simply cannot spare, if I am to also ensure a safe return. Mortals generally… do not fare well within a spiritual Realm. Perhaps it is luck that the three in question are also Stormtouched, as you call them, as it also makes this an easier process.”

That got me tilting my head up at the gold-skinned man. “Wait, it does? How?”

Hermes chuckled lightly, kneeling down and patting my head with a robotic motion. I flinched at it, since it felt so condescending. “You three have already bathed in the Chaos and managed to resist it once before. No small feat, that. Anyone else, I would have to keep them protected much more thoroughly.” He stood up and regarded the three of us, hands on his hips and grinning. “Shall we be off?”

Master grumbled, the tip of his tail flicking lightly as he glanced over at the gray haze the mirror’s surface currently showed. “Waiting any longer doesn’t get us anything. I’d rather get this settled as soon as possible.”

Janice nodded approvingly. “The people of the town won’t last forever under this Storm. We’ve been able to supplement our supplies and resources with magic, but that too will only stretch things out so far. We need to put a stop to whoever’s behind this.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Elsie nudge Cheryl with an elbow, leaning in to try to whisper. “Do you know why he has a tail now?” Cheryl shook her head in response, frowning a bit. I made a mental note to fill them in when we got back, I didn’t like the pang of guilt I felt at the thought of having left close friends out of the loop like this, even if things were so hectic.

The lack of emotion from Hermes felt somber, considering the way he was constantly acting over the top with everything else. He approached the mirror, placing his hands on the frame, and the surface darkened into what looked like swirling clouds. An inky mess that shifted and rippled. “Very well, enter and I shall follow immediately after.”

Janice was first, followed quickly by Tola, and so I rushed to follow. As I passed through, the world plunged into darkness, my body feeling weightless before sinking heavily, like plunging into dark water that threatened to swallow me instead of letting me float to the surface. Suddenly the sensations broke, and I found myself gasping for breath, standing next to the other two who looked similarly rough.

It was dark and gloomy, like a night with a full moon shining through a cloudy haze, casting enough light to see but still leaving an oppressive atmosphere. We barely had time to start taking stock of our surroundings before Hermes joined us, appearing to step through a wrinkle in space and onto solid ground. Ground that looked like a paved road, surrounded by what looked like regular buildings. In fact, I recognized them from the days after my arrival to Ida Grove. They were the ones that lined Main Street, several restaurants and other businesses, except these looked like empty shells with blank signs. Just bare concrete with empty interiors, and holes where windows and doors would be.

The others were looking around as well, confusion clear on their faces. Master glanced over at Hermes once he arrived, waving a hand towards the buildings. “What is all this? Where are we?”

Hermes wasn’t shy about showing confusion as well. “We are definitely within the Realm we sought. But I do not know why it appears this way. A deity can shape their Realm as they please, but this seems… hardly shaped at all. However, we should move, I believe. It is possible our foe has sensed our intrusion, and will be searching for the point of entry.”

“I thought we wanted to face him,” Master said with a low growl, flexing the claws on his changed hand.

“Yes, but we do not yet know the key to his defeat. We may be able to discover something that will shed light on the nature of your Fate, and give you the advantage.” Hermes was making a show of looking around, but it was the same three head movements in sequence.

Janice nodded, perhaps the most uneasy of all of us. “Yeah, this… this is creepy. Everywhere I look is giving me a… a knot in my stomach, I can’t explain it.”

And so we began walking down the road. Everything was similar, but odd. An uncanny valley version of the town we were just in. Streetlights that were not quite straight poles, road signs that were blank or had squiggles and gibberish, and an overwhelming feeling of emptiness everywhere we looked. No cars, no people, no animals, and no sounds aside from our steps echoing off flat gray walls.

Rounding the corner of what I think was 4th Street brought us face-to-face with a rather gruesome sight, though. A man in normal Earth clothing, stumbling about as if in a daze, but they were missing an arm. All of us stopped in our tracks, and I took up a position in front to defend everyone. Moaning into the air, not directed at anyone or anything, the figure groaned out, “Horgust…”

Janice covered her mouth with a hand, fighting the urge to vomit. “Urk! Hermes, wh-what the heck…? That’s… What’s happening? Why is he… saying that?”

Hermes stepped forward, standing beside me, studying the figure intently. “Ah. This is one of the stolen souls. The recently deceased are often disoriented, especially ones who met a violent end. Once he has had time to process what has happened, he should be able to reassert the form of his soul and his arm will return. He just needs to… ‘pull himself together’. Ha, it is funny, is it not? The phrase applies in two ways!” He then began giving an exaggerated belly laugh at his own joke.

“Hermes!” Tola’s rebuke was harsh in tone. “A man is dead! Can you not show an ounce of respect? Would it kill you to show some genuine emotion for once?”

That seemed to surprise the messenger god, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open, partially covered by a raised hand. Then he shifted to his normal, neutral expression. “My most sincere apologies, I did not intend disrespect. He is ‘dead’, yes, but the distinction bears little difference to deities such as myself. He will recover, and be as ‘alive’ as any other soul, simply comprised of energy instead of physical matter.”

He then placed his hand on his chin in a thinking pose for a moment before continuing. “And to answer your other question, I am afraid I cannot show ‘genuine emotion’. I created this body to serve as my Avatar in order to be able to interact with you, but it is not ‘alive’ in the sense that your body is. It does not act or react on its own, I must constantly ‘puppet’ every aspect of it. To aid in this, I have imbued it with sets of movements in order to display emotions, but I must consciously choose them every time. In the past, I have found this to give much better results than foregoing such displays entirely. Beings tend to react better if they have more than mere words to communicate with.” Looking down with an overdone “glum” look, he added in a hurt tone, “I had believed I was doing a good job of conveying feelings.”

“Oh, ah, I didn’t realize.” Master stumbled over his words, the revelation having caught him off-guard. “I mean, you definitely convey feelings, it’s just that they can feel… artificial. It makes them feel like you don’t mean them, like you’re putting on a stage performance.”

I chimed in. “So you’re like a visual novel character? You can only use pre-defined poses and animations?”

Hermes regarded me with confusion. “I am not familiar with these ‘visual novel’ things, but yes, you are correct. This is how it works for any constructed body.”

Janice tore her gaze away from the stumbling victim. “Didn’t that Mandy girl say something like that? About the ogres? She said they moved like they were from a video game.”

The “thinking” animation played out on Hermes once again. “Then it would appear that our foe did not bring these ogres from another world. He created them out of whole cloth, imbued them with movements and directives, and sent them forth. He might even have been controlling one or more of them directly at times. It is surprising, I would not have expected him to be able to have so much energy to expend. Perhaps he Ascended earlier than we had realized.”

“But what can we do for him?” Janice waved in the direction of the man, who had now just stopped in place, completely catatonic. “We can’t just leave him like this.”

Hermes regarded the victim again, shaking his head. “I am afraid we can do nothing but ‘just leave him like this’. The road to recovery is completely within himself, only he can walk it. He will recover when he recovers, the process can be neither aided nor impeded by outside forces such as us.”

“Horgust… He… He took…” The man didn’t seem to be able to form the complete thought, but he was getting something, at least. He was still standing in place, staring at nothing.

I fought to keep from tucking my tail between my legs, running out of the ability to tolerate the disturbing scene. “Do you think maybe ‘Horgust’ is the name of our…” I couldn’t quite settle on a word, running through a few in my head. Foe? Target? Nemesis? “…The one we’re after?” That’d have to do.

Master nodded, glancing at Hermes who didn’t seem to react. “I would suspect that to be the case, yes. I don’t recognize the name, myself. Do any of you?”

Janice and I shook our heads. Hermes simply responded, “I do not. He did not give his name when confronted previously, after all.”

We watched the victim for a moment, uneasy. Spurred into motion by some unknown force, he began his stumbling again, and proceeded to walk through a wall into a building. Janice shuddered at that, whispering under her breath, “Rest in peace, I suppose.”

Alone once more, we continued our exploration. I suppose we had gained some information, but it didn’t do much to answer questions. Why was this “Horgust” attacking us?

“Wait, look at that!” Janice pointed out an unusual sight in this gray wasteland, a building that looked much more “complete” than the others. This one had an actual sign, with windows made of glass. “Frankie’s Candy Shoppe” was written in a flowing script that reminded me of calligraphy. There were even lights on inside, illuminating counters bearing displays of sweets of all types.

Both Master and I had our tails swaying in sync with each other as we regarded the store. Tola glanced around at the other buildings, but they were all the same plain gray as the rest. “Huh. What is this doing here?”

Janice was also looking at it, lost in thought. When she spoke, it was slow, speaking through a flood of memory. “I remember this place. I used to come here all the time as a little girl. I haven’t thought about it in years, though.”

Clearing his throat, Master looked pointedly at our guide. “Care to explain how a shop from our city is present here?”

Hermes shrugged, the contrition exaggerated as always, but at least now we knew he couldn’t help it. “I do not know. It should not be.” Narrowing his eyes, he looked like he was trying to see through the wall itself. He must’ve found something, as he gave a display of surprise. “Oh! There is a soul inside! Perhaps it bears investigating?” Sure enough, seated on the floor and leaning against the wall opposite the counter, we could see the figure of a woman calmly licking a lollipop.

“Perhaps.” Master approached the door, hesitantly reaching for it, but the handle was solid and harmless. Pulling it open, he gestured for us to enter. “Ladies first. Ladies and gods, I suppose.”

Hermes gave him a puzzled look at that, but only briefly. Regardless, he followed Janice and I into the store, my claws clicking on the checkerboard tile. The door closed behind Tola, as we beheld the place in more detail.

The woman inside stood up when Janice entered, her hand stopping mid-wave when she saw me follow. And then it fell to her side at the sight of Hermes and Master. “Oh, hey, uh… Huh. Well, I guess if ogres are a thing, dragons are too. Want some candy? The displays just sorta… reset after a bit, so they don’t run out.”

Janice looked at the counters as they were mentioned, still sorting out the flood of questions in her mind. Turning her attention back to the girl, she settled on, “You seem… lucid. Do you know what’s going on? Who are you?”

“Debbie, Debbie Tanner. And not really. It’s still kinda fuzzy, but I remember there were these ogre things running around, there was screaming, people were running…” Her gaze turned distant, staring not at the lollipop in her hand, but a thousand yards through it. “I tried to run, but… I think they caught me, I remember pain, a lot of pain, and then things got… cold.” After a pause, she seemed to recover, snapping back to the present. “And then I woke up here in this place. Not this shop, but in this… not-town. I wandered until I found this shop, it’s the first sign of life yet. I figured it was as good a place as any to wait for someone to show up.”

We couldn’t help but grimace at the recounting of events. Except for Hermes, who barely acknowledged it as he picked out a piece of candy, popping it into his mouth and letting the wrapper drift to the floor. Tola took a deep breath before letting it out softly in a sigh. “Miss Tanner, I… I don’t know how to say this–”

“We’re dead, aren’t we?” Debbie interrupted whatever speech Master was beginning to prepare. “Ogres caught you, too? You’re that interim mayor or something, right? Miss… Hearthboom or something?”

“HearthBLOOM.” Janice stressed the second half. “And, um… Well, I’m not dead yet, but I’m afraid you are, yes.”

The woman nodded thoughtfully, as if she had expected to be told this. “Figures. It was the only thing that made sense. But if you’re not dead, what are you doing here in Purgatory or whatever?”

“This isn’t Purgatory, or Limbo, or anything like that. This is, uh, well, I’m not really sure exactly what it is, but the guy who sent the ogres, who sent the Storm, he’s here somewhere. We think his name is Horgust. We’re trying to track him down and put a stop to him.” Janice looked over at Hermes. “Can you help explain things?”

Hermes was popping another piece of candy into his mouth, discarding the wrapper again. When I followed its path down and watched it land, I noticed the first one faded out of existence as the candy restocked itself. Once he was done chewing with a swallow, he gave an exaggerated bow. “Certainly, Miss Janice.” Turning to Debbie, he held his hands apart, spreading them to indicate the surroundings. “Our attacker, possibly named Horgust, is a minor deity, and this is his Realm. He has quite rudely stolen your soul after he killed you. As for this Realm bearing such a resemblance…” With the thinking pose displayed, he continued, “It is possible the stolen souls are influencing it. If our rogue deity is not exerting much control over the Realm, the souls themselves could shape it. I have never seen it happen, but I have also never been in a Realm this new before.”

Debbie grew increasingly nervous at the explanation. “There’s… There’s Gods? Plural? A-and you’re going to fight one? If gods are real, why isn’t the real God doing something about this?”

At that, Hermes put on his “offended” look. “Miss Debbie, a ‘real god’ IS ‘doing something about this’. I have recruited these folk, who have a fated connection to our miscreant. They are our best hope at resolving this situation.”

“You’re God?”

“I am A god, yes. I have had many names, but my favorite is Hermes.”

The answer was not what Debbie had expected. “Like, from Greek myth?”

Hermes gave his standing ovation clap again, smiling. “Oh, the Greeks! Yes, they were wonderful people! I quite liked a fellow by the name of Diogenes, he was most amusing.”

This time, Debbie looked towards the rest of us, incredulous. “Is this… real? This can’t be real, right? I’m hallucinating, bleeding out on the pavement.”

I stepped forward, nosing lightly at her hand to offer my support. “I’m afraid it’s real. I mean, I didn’t realize he was THAT Hermes, but I suppose I should have. It’s okay, he’s friendly, just don’t mind him being a little odd.”

The touch made her jolt, staring at me for a moment, before cautiously reaching down to pet me. It was an odd sensation, her hand had resistance, but it wasn’t quite solid. “Huh, sorry, I didn’t expect you to talk, I guess. I was just getting a handle on things, and then you guys came in and… Wow. But… If you guys beat this other god… What happens to me? To this place?”

That was a distressingly good question that I didn’t have an answer for. “Ah. Oh, um… Hermes? Do we… bring them with us, somehow?”

Hermes waved a hand, as if dismissing the concerns as completely unimportant. I really hoped that was just a stock animation and he didn’t have one a bit better for this. “Do not worry. I will personally see to it that any souls in this Realm are brought safely out. There are a number of deities who like to ‘collect’ any ‘unclaimed’ souls and help them reach a proper destination. The others will be given time to recover, and each of you will be able to reach the Realm most suited for you.” He put on his best “warm smile” expression and continued. “I dabble in this sometimes, but if you would rather not go with me, I can guide you to Anubis or one of the others. …I like Anubis, he is quite friendly once you get to know him.”

“What about, y’know, God? My God, the… the Christian God?” Debbie was still uneasy at this talk, and I suppose I understood why.

Hermes paused for a bit, thinking. “Ah! Jesus Christ, yes? That is the thought I am picking up from you. He is a pleasant one as well. We do not talk much, but I am sure you will reach him if that is your choice.”

Debbie seemed more relieved, though still in a bit of shock. “Oh, th-thank you. Sorry, I’m just… I mean, I wasn’t exactly the most devout, but hearing all this is… Is pretty wild. Like, you guys think it’s a lot, right?”

Master and Janice both nodded, giving overlapping responses of “Yeah”, “Definitely”, and the like. I simply sat and let Debbie pet me as long as she needed to. “It’s a lot. Just take it one step at a time. After all, time is definitely something you have now.”

It took her a few minutes to process that, eventually coming out of her stunned silence to look at the lollipop in her other hand. “Yeah, I suppose. Time and candy.”

We took a small break in the shop, since we didn’t want to leave poor Debbie alone just yet. And the candy was nice, even for me. It actually tasted how I remembered candy tasting when I was a human, which was surprising. As a dragon, I couldn’t usually get as much flavor from “sweet” things.

Debbie didn’t have much information for us that we didn’t already know, however. So when the break was over, we continued on our way.

Once we were out, I couldn’t help but ask what’d been bugging me about that exchange. “Hermes, what did you mean by ‘the thought you were picking up from her’?”

“I thought that would be self-evident. It was the thought in her mind. She was quite intently focused on it.” The golden-skinned god spoke with a tone that indicated he thought it was the most obvious thing in the world. Or worlds, perhaps.

But I wasn’t about to let it go. “So, you can just… read thoughts?”

He took on a look of confusion before switching to his thinking pose. Finally, returning to neutral, he spoke. “No, that is not quite accurate. I am able to sense thoughts on the surface of a mind. I am also able to sense certain other things, but it is not true to say I can read thoughts. For instance, I am able to see heavily-used structures of thought, such as language. That is why I am able to speak your English, I examined the structures of the mortals around me after I incarnated this Avatar. I also supplement this by reading the intent you form in your mind as you speak, and placing the intent of my words onto your mind as I speak. Though, having spent enough time on Earth, I do not need to rely on this now.”

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The three of us were staring at him. I really didn’t like the idea of him being able to put thoughts into our heads.

“I do not have the ability to ‘put thoughts into your head’, Miss Princess. I am only able to sense the thoughts you are already forming with the intent to share, directed at me.”

I jumped, wings half-spread as I let out a growl. “I wasn’t…! I didn’t say– You just read my mind!”

Hermes nodded. “Yes, but you were considering saying it out loud to me, so I was able to sense it. Had you been considering saying that to Mister Tola or Miss Janice, I would not have sensed it. Similarly, the most I could give you is the sense that I wanted to say a sentence.”

I was figuring out how to word my question when I suddenly imagined him saying that mortals tended to find it rude, and so he avoided doing that without speaking. Oh. I still huffed in annoyance.

Our exploration continued, with me doing my best to avoid thinking too loudly in Hermes’ direction. Maybe if he annoyed me again, I’d start thinking annoying songs at him.

“Something the matter, Princess?” Master’s voice broke the uneasy silence as we continued our exploration.

I looked up, tilting my head. But my wings were rustling, a way of fidgeting. “I mean, other than… everything? This whole place is giving me the creeps. It’s… It’s like a Dark World version of Ida Grove, but why?”

Janice looked up at the sky. “The lack of a sun is pretty strange, but I guess it’s not really required. Physics in general seems to be almost a suggestion. Or… is ‘dark world version’ a thing in magic?”

“Eh, not really, I was referencing a video game, actually. Legend of Zelda, the Super Nintendo one, specifically.” I forgot sometimes that my knowledge pool wasn’t the same as everyone else’s.

That only made her more confused. “Dragons play Super Nintendo games?”

Ah. Crap. This was going to be awkward. “I can have interests…” Think fast! Maybe I could claim to have watched Master play it? But then she might ask him questions, and if he hasn’t actually played it, that could be a problem.

Clearing his throat, Master came to my rescue. “I mean, you keep looking off to one side. And you’re more ‘on edge’ than usual. Is something the matter?”

Was I? I hadn’t been aware of it, but… I thought for a moment, trying to analyze what I was feeling, what instincts were trying to tell me. “Yeah, there’s…” What was it? Kind of like a current in the air, but static electricity? How could I put this into words? “You don’t feel it? Like a pull, or a… a flow! That’s it! There’s something going on, the magic in the air is… ugh, the ‘feel’ of it is so ‘wrong’, it makes my scales itch, makes me sick to my stomach!” Now that I was aware of it, I found it easier to pick up on. My paws were already starting to step towards the source of it, wings rustling again as my tail lashed.

With a flourish of his hand, Master gestured in the direction I was already facing. “Well, lead the way, girl.”

That was all the urging I needed, my walk picking up into a light trot. The only thing that kept me from taking off at a full run was having to wait for my two-legged companions to follow. I wanted to try to figure out where in town this corresponded to, but with almost every building being so nondescript, it was difficult. And it was hard to really pay attention to my surroundings, the sensation of foulness growing stronger.

I did slow down when I realized one of the buildings we were passing was a pile of rubble. None of the others had been like this, they’d all been so plain and featureless, not a single crack or dimple. I felt like this had to mean something. Janice and Hermes were looking at me expectantly, but I wasn’t sure what to tell them.

“Huh.” Master said, sizing up the rubble. “This is the bookstore.”

Once he said it, the surrounding buildings and roads snapped into place in my thoughts. “Holy crap, it is! Of all the buildings to detail, though…?” I looked over at our divine guide.

Hermes simply shrugged. “Perhaps it is merely coincidence? Perhaps our host was simply testing himself, or playing, or amusing himself?”

Janice crossed her arms. “Maybe it’s something else. Frankie’s closed down years ago, maybe this is copying something else in the past.”

Master simply frowned instead of replying. That usually meant he wanted to argue, but didn’t feel confident enough to state a firm claim. “Is this the source of the feeling, Princess?”

Oh, right, that. “No, I just got distracted. We’re getting closer, though.” I waved a wing to encourage the others to follow again, resuming the hunt for the source of the… Well, I didn’t really know exactly what I was homing in on.

But after another block or so, I slowed down again. This time it was the ground. Like the buildings, it had been mostly featureless. Not smooth, not rough, just… “existing”. But now it was taking on the rough texture of actual road, the flat gray darkening to black asphalt with faint lane markings in the middle. The buildings, too, were faintly detailed. “What…?”

Janice pointed forward. “Look at that! People! I think…? They don’t look dead, though.”

Sure enough, there were a couple faint, ghostly figures walking the sidewalks. We walked slowly towards the source of whatever I was feeling, watching them. They didn’t seem to react to our presence, however, and were too hazy to make out any details. One pointed at a building, and they seemed to be having a conversation. The other even pulled out a ghostly phone for a bit, and put it away. It was surreal to watch, but then they crossed the street to enter the gray, blank building pointed out, the sign too faint to read.

Not as surreal as when a ghostly car passed through us, startling us but driving down the road as if nothing happened. Janice shook her head, moving to the sidewalk before that happened again. “Let’s keep going.”

I let out a soft whine as I resumed leading. But the next corner brought us face to face with a massive castle that I hadn’t seen before. I was pretty sure I’d seen all the castles in town, and this dwarfed even the Skate Palace. “What…? This is new, right? Whatever we’re after, it’s in there, I’m sure of it.”

Janice slowly nodded, looking around. The neighboring buildings were more detailed, even though the castle overlapped them, making it look incredibly odd to see half a building sticking out of a castle wall. “This… This is downtown. This castle is where City Hall is supposed to be. Those ghosts earlier… Are we starting to see the actual town? But how?”

Hermes, appearing as undisturbed by everything as always, looked around. “I… regret I do not have a movement prepared for this. But I find myself shocked, possibly even horrified. This Realm, it is… overlapping your section of Earth. This is unheard of! Stealing souls was bad enough, does he intend to steal the living as well?”

Janice reached out and grabbed his arm, gripping tightly. Through gritted teeth, glaring at the deity, she managed to get out, “Are you telling me Horgust is somehow stealing an entire CITY? The one under MY protection? He’s, what, pulling it through space?”

Continuing with his neutral expression due to his lack of a prepared emote, Hermes simply nodded. “Well, with the Storm around it, things like ‘position’ do not function the same way. So, yes, he does seem to have carved out a section of the universe and is somehow bringing it into alignment. But I do not understand the reason for it. Perhaps this was the method he planned to use to destroy you, Mister Tola?”

Master scowled, looking up at the castle, then around at the town. “Seems rather… convoluted. But you did say he was insane… Well, I doubt we’ll get any answers without going inside.” His tail whipped from side to side, and I saw him flex his clawed right hand.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’s not home right now.” Janice sighed.

Nobody else moved, though, so I stepped forward and leaned against Master’s side, my shoulder pressed against his hip. “I don’t have hands, so you’ll have to open the door.”

“Yeah. Guess it’s time to do this.” Stepping forward, Master gripped the handles, pulling the heavy wooden doors open, the hinges creaking with a sound straight out of a movie.

Once the way was clear, I slinked forward, leading the way once again. I sniffed at the air, even though the “magic sense” wasn’t really smell. Still, maybe I’d pick something up. But no, not even dust. The front entrance led to a large, wide hallway, with doors along either side, but our target was straight ahead. When Master pulled these open, it revealed… a large courtyard? An open area of grass and flowers, beautifully sculpted, but I hadn’t expected it. Should I have? This was a pretty big castle, after all. Oddly, all I could smell was fresh-cut grass, none of the flowers seemed to have a scent to them.

In the center, where I would’ve expected a statue, or a fountain, or something at all, was just a black pillar. But it radiated waves of energy, in a way that made me feel sick. Even Master and Janice seemed to react to something. It felt like the Storm around the town. No… It was the “malice” feeling from the Storm, concentrated. I didn’t even notice I was growling quietly until I realized Master was, too.

We approached it slowly, the square obelisk about as tall as a human, with a pyramid cap. Obsidian or similar, the air around it distorted and Wrong. There was no sign of any god coming to stop us, but it was still hard to will our feet forward.

Master shuddered. “This is… It’s binding the Storm, it’s what’s making it surround Ida Grove, the real one. Somehow this ‘overlap’ is letting him affect both. I think you were more accurate than you realized, Princess, with that Dark World comment. But there’s… not even any runes.”

Hermes shook his head. “It is a manifestation of his intent. This entire Realm is a representation of his thoughts and being, after all. He does not need runes to use magic here, he simply IS magic.”

The thing still resonated, each pulse feeling like the lapping waves of an ocean, pushing out and pulling in, over and over. I dug my claws into the dirt as I took another step forward. “We have to destroy it. And… if that’s how these Realms work, then I’m gonna ‘manifest my intent’ the only way I know how!”

I had no idea if this would work, but I put as much willpower as I could into the thought of striking the pure black pillar with my claws. Would anything happen? Would my claws break? Would it strike me with lightning? I didn’t know, but I knew this thing had to be destroyed in order to save the town. The people in it. Cheryl. Elsie. Mandy. Ro. Jared. Even Roffil, as much as I disliked him. Leaping through the air, I slashed with my claws at the obelisk, roaring as I did.

And I was rewarded with a set of jagged red lines on its surface, the gouged-out areas glowing with a pulsating light! My chest was heaving with the effort, the emotion, and seeing the results made me elated. I stepped aside, grinning and showing off my work, getting a jubilant cry from the two humans.

Master was next, following my example to hit with his claws, but they just scraped against the surface. Janice gave it a heavy kick, the air shuddering as a chunk was torn free. The pieces disintegrated, leaving a red wound on the pillar. Master looked down at his claws and pouted. “Hey, how come she can do that and I can’t?” Already, the damage inflicted was starting to seal up, the material filling the gaps.

I gathered my thoughts again. “I think… you have to focus on protecting the town? Saving the people? This thing represents his desire to destroy it with a giant Chaos Storm, you have to oppose that directly, not just the symbol itself. We gotta keep it up!” I wasn’t sure how I knew it, I just felt it, the way I felt any other magic. But this was so concentrated, maybe that was why I could feel more than simply its presence. Or maybe it was because it was so raw, instead of bound in runes. Whatever the case, I was grateful for it, as I shot my jaws forward, tearing out a piece of the side and spitting it out on the floor.

“Maybe it’s not claws I should be using.” Master growled again, loudly, slamming his right palm against the surface. I felt him pouring his energy through his arm, clashing against the not-stone. It blasted a hole clean through, the spraying rubble twinkling out of existence before it even hit the floor, leaving a sickly-glowing tunnel. The hole in the pillar was closing, but slowly. We were making progress. I could almost feel it seething in hate as it tried to repair itself. But the use of magic cost him, making him hiss and grab his arm, scales covering the hand and spreading up past his wrist.

“Master!” I couldn’t help but cry out. He was only afflicted because of me… Because we had to combine energy, to stop… the damned Storm! Rage was building up inside me, burning up within me. “Rrrgh, get back… you two!” It was all the warning I could spare, the words barely recognizable through the deep growl as the flames licked at the corners of my mouth. I could barely hold back long enough to see them step back before I let it out, jaws opening wide and wings spread out, unleashing Flame and blasting this horrible thing with everything I had. Crackling flames, the rushing of heated air, my own roar, and the sharp cracks of stone filled the air.

When I finally ran out of breath, I gasped for air, eyes having to focus again as I tried to see the results. The entire obelisk was covered in bright glowing red spiderwebs, the surface radiating heat with a dull red. “Hnnh… No… Damn you…!”

Janice rushed in, drawing her foot back before kicking, like she was trying to punt a football. “You’ll leave my town ALONE!” Her leg swung in an arc with all her strength, hitting the base of the pillar, the weakened material shattering completely as pieces were scattered everywhere with a massive thunderclap. The shockwave plowed through the room, sending us tumbling backwards.

But as we picked ourselves up to our feet, it was clear that the oppressive malice in the air was gone. The base of the obelisk remained, but the red glow faded out, and the stump faded out like the rest of the pieces until only a square patch of dirt remained where it had stood.

Catching our breath, we looked around, to confirm what we were seeing. We… won?

We didn’t have much time to bask in our victory. Energy began to build, wind whipping at the air, a dark haze clouding the air. We stood at guard, as best we could, but we weren’t sure what was happening. Even Hermes adopted a pose of bracing himself against an incoming attack.

The doors on the opposite side of the courtyard from where we entered burst open, the wooden doors thrown open so violently that they echoed the initial sound with a pair of claps as they hit the stone wall. The dark mist swirled around the opening, coalescing into a human-shaped figure that floated across the grass, a being of darkness with glowing red eyes. Horgust himself? When it reached the inner circle of the courtyard, it stopped and hovered a few inches in the air, regarding us with disgust. Wisps of dark mist clung to its form, as jet black as the obelisk had been. The voice was less like spoken words and more like a rumbling in the air that formed sounds. “Who DARES invade MY domain?”

Hermes stepped in front. Finally, we would get to see a Deity unleash his power. Raising his arm, he pointed at the figure. “You… have been exceedingly rude! This whole business with using the Void to attack an innocent town? And stealing souls that do not belong to you? You have no respect for how things are done! You simply do not DO these things, it is not proper!”

…And that was it. Hermes just stood there, still pointing.

The figure spoke again, shaking the air with its voice. “I care not for you. My domain is mine, your domain is yours. You don’t… come into my CASTLE! And tell ME what to do! I am… am… I am the great… Horgust?” Sweeping with an arm, an invisible force flung Hermes backwards, all the way into the courtyard wall, where he crumpled to a heap. “Horgust!”

The three of us were left to face down this monster. With no idea of how we’d do it. Master took the lead, with me on his right and Janice on his left. “Well, Horgust, we’re here to put a stop to you.”

Janice struck a determined pose, pumping a fist in the air. “That’s right. And we won’t let you hurt our town. You got a problem with us, you take it up with us, not a town full of innocent people who have nothing to do with this!”

Horgust seemed to barely be able to comprehend we were even talking to him, or that he was present. He let out a guttural scream that shook the castle, which seemed to restore lucidity, at least for the moment. Regarding us again, he glared at each of us in turn. Finally, he reached out and pointed at Master. “I don’t… know who you are. Dragon-man. You are not… part of MY town! It belongs to ME! The PEOPLE belong to ME! You… I don’t want you!”

He went to send another blast, sweeping his arm across, but Master had formed a shield of energy in front of us, a curved wall that deflected the force of the impact. But the longer he held it up, the more scales worked their way up his arm, the pained grimace on his face revealing a longer fang as he snarled in focus. The force finally abated, and he sagged, grabbing at his changing arm with his human hand. The right hand was now mostly paw-like, the fingers barely able to move at all and the thumb gone.

But Master raised the paw again, tail lashing in anger. “And we’re telling you, they DON’T!” The runes burned in the air, the clean lines ragged, looking like slashes rending the air as if drawn by sharp claws. Purple blades of force sliced forward, streaking through the air as they raced through Horgust’s form, separating it into pieces. The backlash drove Master to one knee, hissing in pain and gasping.

The pieces of Horgust simply floated where they were, like pieces of a cloud. And just like a cloud, they simply drifted back together as if nothing happened. That wasn’t good.

If he didn’t have a physical form, if he was just mist, maybe I could burn it away? Would that do some damage to him? I took a deep breath, letting my fire build within me again, talons curling into the dirt of the courtyard. Opening my maw, I let out a mighty blast of flame, but it simply parted in half around the figure. He didn’t even seem to react until I stopped, growling loudly and lashing my tail. Those eyes, pulsating with the same red glow the pillar had, simply glared at me. “Beast. Cease.” The voice made my head hurt, overlapping itself multiple times at slightly different speeds, like different sections of the wind were forming it at once.

Janice was checking on Master, the panic rising visibly on her face. “I don’t… think I can throw anything at this guy that’ll hurt him! What do I do?”

Hissing, panting, Master was on his feet again. Unsteady, but standing, his breath heavy as he grit his teeth. “We gotta do something…! Where’s that useless twit?”

Horgust raised his arms again, and all three of us stood, unsure of what was about to happen. But the attack didn’t come. Instead, he seemed to tremble for a moment before letting out another scream, which felt like the entire world itself was screaming around us. Perhaps it was. For the moment, he didn’t even seem aware of our existence, which bought us some time.

Master started to weave runes in the air, with an Ice Rune in the center, but it was clear to me that he was having trouble with it. The pain was distracting him badly, and the energy didn’t feel right. A cold mist was starting to form around Horgust. Master seemed to be trying to encase him in a block of ice, which might trap him if nothing else. But a strangled cry spilled from him as he faltered, the casting halted as he struggled to keep it from falling apart completely.

But our time was up, as Horgust regained his focus. Bringing his hands together in front of him, he pulled them apart, and the motion caused Master’s runes to be ripped apart and shattered. The black god floated towards us, approaching the weakened mage, but I rushed in the way. I wasn’t going to let him get close. Maybe… Just maybe, I could do like I did with the pillar, the Storm Anchor. If I focused my intent, perhaps I could damage him. It was all I had left.

Towering over us, Horgust let out a snarl of anger, the world shaking again. But this time, it was like the air was getting heavier, like gravity was pressing in all around us. The figure’s hands were spread wide, but he was slowly bringing them together. He was trying to crush us! It was so hard to move, to push through the air that felt like molasses. Time itself seemed slowed down as I leapt, slashing with my claws at the mist-shrouded form of our attacker. For a moment, I felt resistance, like I had caught something. But just as soon as I’d felt it, it disappeared, leaving me to land with him barely aware I had attacked at all.

The voice surrounded us again, even as the crushing weight grew stronger. “Lousy beast…! You cannot harm a GOD! Miserable worms, all of you! Enough of your presence!”

I was struggling to stand, and the others weren’t faring much better. I heard Janice cry out, but I could barely keep my eyes open, straining under the weight of simply standing and getting air into my lungs. No! I had to… I had to do something! There had to be something! I wouldn’t let him win, not like this! I couldn’t let him hurt Master!

I didn’t see what happened, but suddenly the intense pressure was gone. Opening my eyes, I saw a glittering golden shield around us, surrounding us. Hermes had recovered and was now standing with us. Finally, we stood a chance!

The golden god stood upright, while Master and Janice were getting back to their feet, though their stance was much less assured and confident. “Horgust! Cease these attacks immediately! This is the last time I will tell you, this rudeness of yours will not be tolerated. Apologize at once, to all of us!”

I couldn’t keep the incredulity from showing through. “Seriously? He’s trying to KILL us here! Do something!”

Ignoring Horgust’s scream, Hermes simply looked at me, and then put on his “confused” expression. “But I am. I am defending you and reminding him of the proper way to have a discussion about this dispute.”

The glittering of the barrier was intensifying, becoming lightning that streaked across the surface of it. Or cracks. The view of the courtyard and castle was becoming distorted, some of the pressure seeming to leak through. Perhaps that was just my own anxiety. But it was looking more like death would be moments away. I was reminded of the lost soul we encountered here. Would we be stolen by Horgust as well, trapped in this dark world for eternity?

Horgust’s wail was growing more intense. Unceasing, without being limited by the mortal need for breath, it rose louder and harsher as he piled on the pressure. How long before this barrier failed? “Filth! Vermin! Interlopers! Maggots!” Words picked their way through the noise, the sound of raw anger and hatred assaulting us from all sides. I couldn’t even hear anything else anymore, my voice swallowed by it all when I tried to scream.

With a thunderous shattering noise, Hermes’ barrier failed to hold it at bay any longer. The sphere around us imploded, with us inside, collapsing to a single point within the span of a single heartbeat. But surprisingly, we were not dead. The world outside had been replaced with swirling Chaos, and a moment later we found ourselves being thrown through the mirror back on Earth. Master, Janice, and I were all sprawled across the floor, as Hermes simply stood in front of the mirror with his standard neutral expression. Aside from us, the room was empty.

We were catching our breath, taking stock of what just happened, and processing the fact that we were breathing at all. Master was actually the first to his feet, walking to Hermes and standing directly in front of him, his face barely an inch from the golden-skinned god’s with an angry snarl. “What was all THAT? We’re supposed to FIGHT that? What about that ‘Fated Connection’ or whatever? And how come you didn’t throw a single punch? You nearly got us all killed, because… because what? It would be ‘rude’?”

Hermes, unperturbed as ever, simply nodded. “Yes, it would have been rude for me to attack him. That is simply not how disputes between gods are handled. It also would have been useless for me to attack him in his own Realm. I have no connection to him. It was all I could do to shield you as best I could.” He waited to see if Tola would calm down, but if he was feeling any emotion, he was not choosing to show it.

I was worried Master actually would strike him, but after a tense couple of breaths, he backed off, growling. The changes to his face were visible, now that he was facing me. It was the beginnings of a draconic muzzle, his bared teeth pointed and sharp, and a horn was sticking out through his hair. Spiraled, it reminded me of a unicorn’s horn, but pointed backwards. His entire arm was covered in scales, and from the way his human hand was grabbing his right side, I figured they were spreading much further underneath his clothes.

Finally, Master spoke, his voice struggling to keep itself even. “I can’t even do magic like this. Whatever it is I’m ‘fated’ to do, it’s not happening. I need to get this fixed, now.”

Before we could speak any further, the door was thrown open, two of the police officers pointing their guns through the opening while Alice stood behind them. “Who’s in–! Oh! Stand down, men!” The intern pushed past them to come into the room, clearly excited to see us and stopping just short of hugging Janice. “Oh, thank God you’re all right! Or, gods?” Hermes’ presence seemed to be a reminder that she would have to update her worldview.

Janice nodded, still winded from the ordeal. “Yeah. We… We didn’t succeed. But we’re alive. Thanks to Hermes.”

At that, Alice seemed surprised. “But the Storm, it… it’s gone? We… thought that meant the mission was successful?”

Finally, some good news! I let my tail wag as I sighed in relief. “The Storm is gone?” The officers still seemed to get started by hearing me talk. And they were still wary of Master.

“Yes, ma’am. About an hour ago. I’ve been trying to field calls non-stop now that phones are working, but I don’t know what to say… Miss Hearthbloom, if you could…? Or, do you need me to tell people you need rest?”

Janice closed her eyes for a moment, sighing. “I’ll be right there, Alice. Thank you.” When she reached the doorway, she stopped and turned back to face us. She bore a sudden look of coldness, her voice sharp and icy. “As for you… We need to have a talk about Horgust. As soon as I can peel myself away from the phones and press. Don’t go anywhere.” The word “talk” was especially dripping with seriousness. But she disappeared into the hallway before we could ask any questions, her escort leaving with her and leaving the three of us alone.

I looked up at Master and Hermes, but they didn’t seem to understand what that was about either. “Well, if we got rid of the Storm, at least that’s a start?”