David approached the flat stone he had laid Maddy upon. He had lit a few lanterns to illuminate the cave. The fire light flickered, reflecting beautiful golden and red off her brown hair. Her face was serene, and she seemed to be in a restful sleep. That only reminded David of the truth, and anger surged through him again.

'No.' He told himself, pushing the anger away and keeping an oath he'd made. Never in front of Maddy, never in front of her. His anger was for others.

David gently placed the Lians-thrak egg on Maddy's chest and wrapped her arms around it in a gentle embrace. Her body was warm. So was the egg.

"There. Now, you two can keep each other warm while I am out hunting."

David took a step back and looked at Maddy and the egg. 'Perfect.'

As he turned to grab his bow, quiver, and pack, the jingle of a bell sounded out in the cave. David spun. His eyes quickly scanned toward the sound. In the middle of the cavern chamber, just under the highest ceiling, what seemed to be a child was looking around. But as David's eyes focused on the small figure, he realized it wasn't a child at all, but a miniature version of himself, complete with his gear and even his currently sunken face.

The figure paid no heed of David and just continued looking around. After a moment, the person or thing began to mumble to itself. It was quiet and clearly not meant for David, but he was still able to make out the words.

"Really? What kind of world is this you've made now? New low. What in the hand-holding, easy-mode world is this? No castration, no tongue removal, no replaying memories of killing your own family... and no true, perfect evil. You've gone soft. Gross." The figure waved a hand and then appeared to stare at something in space. "Oooh. That must be why I am here. Bad agreement you made with yourself, you stupid fuck. I still-"

David cut off the small copy of himself. "Who the fuck are you and why are you here?" David's tone was harsh and threatening, yet it seemed to have little effect on the figure.

The copy turned to David and lifted a single finger. "I'll be with you in a minute. I'm speaking with our God right now."

"Our... God? Do you mean the One Above All?" David suddenly straightened. If this thing had a direct line of communication with the One Above All, David would do everything he could to have Maddy resurrected.

The figure stared at David in disbelief for a few seconds, then doubled over in laughter. After a he had laughed himself to tears and then it finally subsided, he straightened and cleared his throat. "No... oooh, absolutely not. That's cute. I say God with a lot of sarcasm. Feel free to slap a little disgust on there if you want. No, no." Jingles gazed upward and spread his arms. "One Above All? Really? You pretentious fuck." Jingles turned hateful eyes to David. "No, no. We're all just puppets in the sick fuck's game."

"What... puppets..." David began.

The miniature copy of David put a finger to his lips. A bracelet with a bell jingled at the movement. "You shush now. I wasn't done speaking to the trashcan responsible for all of this." The figure then stared upward. "What happened? Suddenly you go soft? I liked it a lot better when I was greeted by the smell of rot and burning corpses every time I stepped into one of your creations."

Realizing the strange doppelganger was wasting his time, David let his anger take over again, and without a second thought, he'd loosed an arrow.

The figure caught the arrow that David fired and looked at it casually. "Probably should have just made that not exist before it landed. Damned ADHD." The figure shook a fist into the air. "I get that from you, you know. Bastard." Then he looked at David and pointed at him. "You stop that now, before I send you to the worst place he's ever created. He technically won't let you die there, but you can experience death, over and over and over. I told you, wait your turn. I'll be with you in a moment."

David just stared at the creature in disbelief. He was so certain he was having some sort of dream that he decided to just watch as things played out. There wasn't any point in trying to fight a dream anyway.

Then the being gave him a curt nod, looked away into the space in front of him, and flicked his hand. As David's small copy stared into empty space, David could only assume it was looking at a status page of some sort.

Without looking away from the empty space in front of him, the small figure pointed at David. "My name is Djinnghouls, so introductions are made. I can hear your thoughts, and you referring to me as a small copy of yourself is getting damned annoying."

"Jingles?" David asked for clarification, still certain it was all a dream.

"Why does everyone... You know what, close enough, now hush." Jingles placed his hands on his hips and continued staring into empty space. Then he began mumbling again. "Oh boy. You really did go soft." Jingles kept staring into the empty space but took one hand from his hip to start picking his teeth. "Yep. Totally understand why you don't want me here. But you made the rules, fuckwit, now didn't you?"

Jingles suddenly spun to David. "Well, let's get started. David, is it? As I said, I'm Djinnghouls, but you will probably continue to call me 'Jingles,' because he hates me." Jingles jangled the bell at his wrist, making it ring out. He smiled wildly. All of the teeth were razor sharp. "Fitting enough, I guess."

David stumbled in retreat at Jingles' smile, his back landing against the stone where Maddy lay. "Who-Who are you?" David asked. Goosebumps rose on David's arms as he truly saw Jingles.

The pupils of Jingles' eyes looked like someone had combined the vertical slits of a snake or cat with the horizontal, rectangular pupils of a goat, creating a cross shape in the center of the iris. The way he smiled at David with shark-like teeth, as he slowly approached, was sinister. And all of it was painted onto a mirror of David's own face.

"Well, I am the devil, of course. At least as close to one as our creator will ever have." Jingles grinned wider with the answer.

David tried to keep his breathing steady and regain control. He forced himself to speak levelly. "What do you mean creator?"

Jingles had closed the distance between them and crouched to meet David's eyes. "Oh, this is just a sick puppet show for his amusement, my boy. Just a single puppet show among many. All made in the image, or shadow at least, of a being none of us should seek to emulate. And see, I am a just puppet, too. But when I was created, I was made into something greater. I am the chaos he created, beyond even his control, guided by pure chance. I was made to oppose his will. Anywhere he is, I am. Every universe that has been created, every single story, every moment, every breath, every word... I am there. Waiting."

"You're insane." David answered, but he kept his back pressed against the stone.

Jingles smiled brighter. "Sure am. That's my job. That's why I was created."

Forcing himself to be brave, David clung to the last thing Jingles said. He pulled himself straight and forced determination onto his face. "For the record, I think you're full of shit. Maybe you're just insane. But if we are just the creations for some sick Creator's entertainment, then that's all you are, too." David pushed himself to his feet and stood straight. "For a moment, you got into my head. But you're just a nutjob."

Jingles stood and leaned in close, never taking his eyes off of David, staring up like some demented child. The grin stayed glued on Jingles' face as he stared up at David. "You're kind of right. I'm just a shadow, just like you. But the difference between us is that I was made to exist beyond his control. And here I am, to free you, too." Jingles suddenly turned his back to David. "...Yeah, now things get fun. First, let's take a little field trip." Jingles extended a hand and snapped his fingers. A folded, origami fortune teller, like those junior high girls played with, suddenly appeared in Jingles' hand.

Jingles brought the folded paper toy close and squinted at it. "Really?" Jingles sighed and held the paper properly. His shoulders slumped as he stared down at the paper. "Why couldn't I have just gotten a pair of dice, this time. This is getting to be a lot of work."

Jingles straightened and turned back to David. "Well, we use the tools we're given. So...no colors. Instead, we have 'truth, despair, vengeance, and mercy.' You know what, you will definitely only pick despair or vengeance, so let's wait for the coin toss."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"What...what are you doing?" David asked. He shifted uncomfortably at Jingle's suddenly bizarre behavior.

"I'm showing you. Now hold on." Jingles pulled a coin from a pocket and flipped it, closing his eyes. When the coin finally landed, Jingles' eyes snapped open. "Heads for despair. So that's..." Jingles' fingers began moving the fortune teller. "D. E. S. P. A. I. R. Okay, now you're supposed to pick 1, 2, 5, or 6." Jingles said after he'd finished, looking up at David expectantly.

"Wait... why am I picking?" David asked, completely lost on where Jingles was going with things.

"You know what, let me help you out. You won't choose 1 because, to you, that means being without Maddy. You won't pick 5 because that reminds you of the group you resent so much. So it's either 2 or 6... but let's be honest, we both know which one you'll pick and why."

David stared at Jingles in confusion, anger, and frustration, but answered anyway. "Okay, fine. Two. And you know why."

Jingles just nodded before moving the fortune teller. "One and two." Jingles looked up to David. "Same choices. Same answer?"

David just stared down at Jingles in disbelief.

"Ah, you're considering switching from two to six now...coin toss it is. Heads it is two, tails it is six." Jingles quickly used one hand to pull another coin from his pocket and flipped it. It landed heads up. "Well, let's see what you end up with." Jingles folded back the paper and read the word written there. His grin spread wide with malice as he looked back up to David. "The worst of them, purely by bad luck. This universe has no official name, but I call it Grimworld."

"Okay... so what does that mean?" David asked.

Jingles stared David in the eye. With a wicked grin, he raised his arm and jingled the bracelet on his wrist.

Then David was somewhere else. He had no body, but his vision was locked on the horrific events in front of him. They only lasted a second before he was suddenly back in the cave, vomiting.

"Put things into perspective for you?" Jingles asked with a smirk.

After David finished retching, he finally spoke. "Why wou... those boys were only... they were so young... why-" David began retching again.

"Do you see?" Jingles bounced up and down and spun in a circle in glee. "He made me and gave me this power. This promise."

David finally caught his breath and forced himself upright. "No. You're some demon sent to tempt me or something. Maybe some very intelligent Denizen." David spat at Jingles feet. "That vision you showed me... that was horrific. Even if, and that's a big fucking if, we're just a creation for the creator's amusement, there's no way someone or something could create anyone as beautiful as Maddy or how I feel about her and also be capable of creating that horror."

"If you say so. But... and trust me, I hate to defend the guy... he doesn't get off on it. They're just sad realities within the worlds he's created." Jingles' eyes shone like fire as he looked to David. "But, I'm not here for exposition. I'm not here for you. I'm here for myself. And I do so very much hope that later, you'll call out my name and beg me to return. But for now, I'll leave you with a demonstration."

Jingles disappeared, and David immediately heard a jingling bell behind him.

David spun to see Jingles standing on Maddy's stone platform, his feet to either side of Maddy's head, leaning over the egg David had placed there.

Straightening, Jingles gave David a wicked grin. "Heads, it actually bonds to you, which is impossible, and tails it bonds to Maddy, which is equally impossible... and then you'll have to kill it to ever get near her body again."

Before David could move to grab Jingles, he had flipped a coin and disappeared, but David saw as the coin landed on top of the egg. For a moment, David's heart stopped. Then he saw the results were heads.

A jingling came from behind. "Well.. lucky you, I guess." Jingles said in a cold voice. "Guess we need another coin toss. Heads nothing finds this cave, tails and the trolls find it tomorrow, and you spend every waking moment for a week defending it or Maddy becomes a warm snack."

David spun to face Jingles, but the demonic creature was already gone. Instead, he only saw as the flipped coin hit the ground, rolled in a tight circle for a few seconds, and then landed on tails.

A jingle sounded out across the room again, and David spun to see Jingles' satisfied gaze. He leaned casually against the far cavern wall. "Ahhh. Tough luck. You can't win them all. But we still have one more coin flip." With that, Jingles flipped the coin.

David sprang toward Jingles, but the world slowed as he lept. David saw as Jingles winked at him and then disappeared. The coin rotated in slow motion in the air where Jingles had flipped it. David dreaded what the results of the toss would be.

Then Jingles' voice was in David's mind, as the world continued in slow motion. 'Will you come calling my name? You know, bringing her back is as easy as the flip of a coin for me... well, 50/50 chance, at least.' Jingle's laughter rang inside David's head. 'You'll never find any One Above All. I'm pretty much your only hope. So I say, heads you come begging and tails you spend your whole life stuck loving a corpse.'

Then, with the chime of his bell, Jingles was gone and so was the power slowing the world down. As time returned to normal, David stumbled in an attempt to regain control, but landed flat on his stomach where Jingles had been. He quickly recovered and attempted to catch the coin before it landed, but the coin seemed to have disappeared, too.

David rolled over onto his back. "What the fuck was that?" He hoped it was all some hallucination caused by stress, grief, and lack of sleep. Yet, another part of him hung onto Jingles' words. If he could bring her back... it was only a 50/50 chance, but... If David couldn't bring her back any other way, it was still an option.

After a while of laying on his back, weighing the options, David finally got to his feet. He didn't trust Jingles one bit, but if what he had said was true, David had to get ready to fight trolls.

But in the back of his mind, he couldn't shake the question. Had the last coin landed on heads or tails?

----

Paige slung her pack over her back and turned to Levi. "You ready?" She felt great after spending time hunting with Mama-cat. She felt loose and coiled to strike, all at the same time. It was like she had liquid electricity flowing through her veins.

Levi groaned as he threw his pack on. "Yeah, I guess it's about time we get going."

Paige grinned at Levi. "Age catching up with you?"

"Ha. Ha. Laugh all you want, but Mama-cat went easy on you. Pretty sure she was just trying to play with me until I died and then got bored before she was finished."

Paige only grinned wider. "Yeah. I don't think she liked you at first. But at least you figured out how to use your new resource pool."

Levi passed Paige, taking the lead on their way to the portal. "Well, the need to survive is, unsurprisingly, great motivation. Plus, it works way more intuitively and efficiently than stamina and mana. I have to work some stuff out, but it honestly seems easier to use. And... I named it 'Go.' Just call it that."

"Yeah... I'm not calling it that. It sounds stupid," Paige answered as she followed.

"Well, that's what it is named. What else do you plan on calling it?" Levi asked, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"To be honest, my plan was to just avoid referencing it as much as possible until I came up with something to call it that didn't make me cringe every time I said it."

Levi was about to turn to glare at Paige when he saw someone ahead of them through the undergrowth of the forest. He tensed, and his vision sharpened, but he couldn't make out who it was. He heard Paige inhale deeply through her nostrils before grabbing his arm.

"Relax. It is just Joe and Grace," Paige informed him.

As they drew close, Joe waived. "I figured you two would try to slip away. That's why I asked Grace to have her familiar keep an eye out."

"Traitor." Paige said, glaring at the crow on Grace's shoulder.

"Not traitor. Am Master's special boy," the crow answered.

Grumpy cawed a wordless disagreement from behind Paige.

"Come now," Grace said, opening her arms wide. "I think we at least deserve a hug before you leave us."

Paige gave a reluctant nod before giving Grace a half-hearted hug. Grace wrapped her up tightly and whispered something into her ear. Levi thought he heard 'I was wrong' in part of it but couldn't be sure. Either way, Paige wrapped Grace in a tight, genuine hug after that.

Once Paige pulled away, Grace turned to Levi and spread her arms again. "Come on now," Grace said.

Grace squeezed him tighter than Levi had expected when he'd leaned down for the hug. He noticed she held him so he couldn't escape as she began to whisper to him. "You've been good for her, after all. Don't fuck it up, okay. You still have my Witch's favor, and I'll make good on that one day... but you just keep being good to her and I'll owe you double." Grace pulled away and patted Levi's shoulder. "Be safe out there."

Levi turned to see Paige releasing Joe from a hug.

After they finished, Joe turned to Levi and extended his only hand. Levi took it and shook firmly. With his other hand, Levi pointed to the still empty scabbard at Joe's belt. "Still haven't gotten a new sword."

Joe gave a small shrug and a sad smile. "I only have one arm, now. I can't carry a shield and a sword. I guess I took that as God telling me it was time to choose between the two. I chose the shield," Joe answered. "Plus Iara says she'll be enough sword for the both of us. I made her a lieutenant in the guard."

Levi nodded and released Joe's hand. "Good choice."

"It would have been you if you weren't leaving." Joe's tone was matter of fact.

"Have to," was all Levi could say without his voice breaking.

Joe gave him a stiff nod. He didn't say anything for a few seconds and then swallowed and cleared his throat. "Be safe out there. And... the council wanted me to be the one to give you this." Joe reached into a pouch at the back of his belt and produced a hand folded and wax sealed envelope. "It's a request for an alliance and trade agreement for the other safezone. Give it to their leadership when you get there."

Levi took the folded letter and tucked it into his pack before returning his gaze to Joe. "I'll make sure it gets to the right people.'

Joe gave him another nod, face grim. "I have no doubt. And I'm sorry for any doubt I ever did have... Be safe out there, okay."

"Always," Levi answered with a smile that felt both genuine and a little forced.

It was hard as Levi turned away from Joe, facing the direction of the portal, but it still felt right. "Paige, you ready?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Paige's voice was quieter than usual.

Levi hated how subdued she sounded, so he did the only thing he could and led the way with confident steps. He didn't allow himself to look back.

They walked through the forest in silence until they stood before the portal.

For a while, Levi just stared into it, trying not to replay everything that had happened. Then he felt Paige's hand find his and their fingers interlock.

"On three this time?" Paige asked.

Levi couldn't stop the small laugh as it escaped. "Yeah, on three."

----

Paige didn't even have time to look around after going through the portal before a hot gust of wet air blew into her face.

'Hello, my human friend. I have been waiting.'

----

THE END OF BOOK 1.