Chapter 3
Somehow, impossibly, more alarms were sounding, interspersed between the klaxon's wail.
In the span of a few meager seconds, Grimm's world had devolved into a world of shit.
**Orlag event... Moving to the front of the queue... Gold Level Threat** flashed across the screen as Grimm, with a wave of his paw, batted at the notification.
It moved to the upper right hand corner and tried to continue its distraction, though its demands were futile.
There was a greater horror playing out. The Erkrandir was in mid-pounce as Riley appeared in full halo, spectral wings outstretched, reaching into the very walls.
Willa thought she had cracked.
Monstrous shadow beings and now angel bunnies? The stress was getting to her, clearly.
That, or she had been shot by a mugger and was bleeding out; this strange reality, one last hallucination before the lights dimmed for the final time.
"So much for moving out west," she said to herself with a sigh, accepting her fate.
"Take the child and run! I'll hold it off," The hare's voice boomed with all the urgency of an incoming nuclear strike.
Strangely the beast pulled back, landing just short of Riley and Willa, and cocked its head, distracted, seeming to sniff at the air.
It didn't have a nose or anything, really, save glowing yellow gems for eyes, yet it still had the appearance of an animal.
Spurred on by her words, Willa gripped the arm of the crying six year old and yanked, pulling her towards her chest as the beast snapped in their general direction.
Riley, with a flick of her paw, slapped it with a bolt of life magic, the essence of creation.
The Erkrandir's yellow eyes flashed to red as it howled, giving Willa all the more reason to run.
Holding the child in her arms, she sprinted like a running back for the apartment entrance before setting down the child and turning back.
"Run upstairs, tell your Mommy to call 911, go now!" She barked. The child, white with fear, bolted away as Willa scanned around for a weapon, any kind of weapon that she could find, her eyes landing on an old pipe.
"I'm already crazy, so what's it matter?" She laughed to herself, terrified, but she couldn't let the angel bunny face it alone.
"Celestial... Foooood..." The Erkrandir intoned their words, a projection of magical intent instead of sound. They washed over Riley like raw sewage before the foul unlife went back into a pouncing position, launching with all the force of its hind legs, just as Riley strengthened her wards.
The air turned opaque around her as Willa came screaming around the corner. The attacker exploded into purple fire, passing through Riley's defenses like they were nothing, jaws open, striking the hare in the throat, sucking down the very energy that allowed her to manifest and be.
Her spirit flickered, becoming unmoored from the tapestry as she felt her very self being taken from her. Memories and will sapped, flowing out of her consciousness like a sieve.
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In those final moments, she thought of what had led her to this fate, those moments of sacrifice, holding tightly to the image of her last great run against the hawk.
As it was now, it was then, the child would live, life would continue, so it was all a fair trade.
"Weird..." she thought; true oblivion felt a lot like dying.
That was something she knew how to do, die well. It was what her species did, after all.
Willa was in mid-swing. The pipe passed through the Erkrandir only to melt away, evaporating in a strange black mist, granting it a new target to feast on.
Its now red glowing eyes snapped on her as it let go of the abused spirit of the partially devoured hare. Bits of Riley's essence dripped from its jowls like blood as it gained, for a moment, greater definition. The barest hint of fur and teeth flashed into and out of existence, like a jump cut in a film as it focused on its next meal.
Willa looked dumbly at the melted pipe as it continued to eat away in her hand. Her courage faltered in the full light of the futility of her action; turning to run, she felt the Erkrandir move through her as, for the first time, she saw her body fall independently of her spirit.
Pinned down, the beast's jaws pressing into the back of her spirit's neck, she watched the light go out of her body's eyes as she screamed.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light as a half dozen beings with black wings and even blacker metal armor appeared in a circle around the gory scene of spiritual mayhem, drawing gleaming scimitar-shaped swords, holding them aloft towards the heavens.
The Erkrandir turned to snarl as a white beam descended like a particle cannon from the sky, slamming it to the ground through the spirit of Willa as she felt more of herself being burned away to spectral ash.
"Sleepy..." were her last words, as even that became strange, a disparate ball of memories, experiences, and perceptions sparked like the last lights of a dying power cell as Alaric flipped up the shield over his helmet.
"Grimm!" He bellowed as the wolf appeared by his side.
"Yes, sir?" The wolf asked, looking back towards Riley's remains.
She was a quirky one, but she had been his pack mate, someone to talk to...
He whimpered low while looking down at the ground.
"What is the meaning of this? You were told to not get involved," Alaric raged. The rest of the Celestial support team vanished without a word, leaving the wolf with his supervisor.
There were other realities in need of saving, after all.
"Riley did not think this reality would survive the wait, so she attempted to stall for time. Shortly after, the Orlag Alarm sounded, and you arrived. I remained at my station, as ordered," Grimm reported, feeling numb, ineffectual, and cowardly.
They weren't even twenty years into their assignment. Wasn't this reality supposed to be boring?
"At least one of you listened. You will remain here. I'm not done with you yet," Alaric turned, focused on the remains of Riley's spirit, and whispered an ancient spell.
Threads of coalescent energy became visible; one was coming off of Grimm, undulating between silver and gold, as was Alaric's
Each piece of the victims had their own thread that pulled towards a center mass, becoming coalescent. Strangely, Willa's and Riley's both moved towards each other before intertwining, heading off towards the sky.
"Well, that's odd, but no matter," reaching up to the air, Alaric, with a flick of his wrist, pulled down a pair of silver scissors from the ether, his annoyance riding high, and went to cut the threads where they intertwined.
It was up to the fates now to reweave them into the tapestry, as their beings had become unmoored. Whatever was left of them would go on to create new beings, and things would fall back into balance.
If the thread would just cut.
"I don't understand," A puzzled look crept across Alaric's face as he worked on the threads of spirit, but they would not sever until, finally, the blades shattered.
The threads turned a brighter gold at the sound of a ringing, cheap as dirt cell phone went off within a pouch on his belt, where his breastplate met his greaves.
"Damnable low magic worlds. The indignities I have to put up with," already in a sour mood, he retrieved the device, flipped it open, and pressed it to his ear.
"Yes, what is it?" He snapped.
"This is Calypso, Weaver Central- Operator Badge # 5592113697521. You're out of pattern," she reported, sounding bored.
"Me, out of pattern?" As if to demonstrate her authority and knowledge, Calypso said the words along with Alaric.
He got the point and fell into a chilled and terrified silence.
This was not going to look good on his next performance review.
"Orders?" He asked, knowing his place.
"Good Boy. Those two have a destiny; their threads, as a result of their choices, are now destined to converge. Put them together, drop them in the astral, and let fate take its course. The wolf will serve as a guardian. Don't make me call back," The connection clicked off as Alaric looked back towards Grimm.
"It's really not my fucking century," Alaric complained.