"What in the absolute BLAZES??"

The sound was enough to rouse Giles from his slumber. He groggily rose from his bed and reached for his sword. A solitary magic circle flickered to life before his eyes, enhancing his vision in the dark—unless, of course, he banged his head like the last time. It had been a bother to learn, especially for someone like him, but he'd managed.

He made his way to the mage's room, the source of the commotion. Opening the door, he dispelled the vision enhancement rune as the room was already bathed in light.

"Cedric… are you quite alright?"

"Oh, by the long and arduous grace of Thalador…" Cedric muttered as magic circles blazed on the wall before him, shifting and whirring with each passing second.

"Cedric, I swear, if you blaspheme one more time—" Giles began, but was cut off by Cedric's frantic shouting.

"OH CRIKEY! OH CRIKEY! IT'S CRACKED! THAT LUNATIC'S GONE AND DONE IT!"

By now, Giles could hear the others stirring in their rooms too. Cedric's outburst had woken everyone up. What in the hell was happening? It was past midnight!

"What in the world is going on, Cedric?"

"Oh, don't tell me you lot didn't feel it!"

"What's going on?" Beatrice's sleepy voice echoed as she peeked into the room, followed closely by Lavinia, who took one glance and immediately turned her gaze away.

"What in blazes is happening? And why am I being subjected to the sight of Cedric's bare posterior?"

As if Giles had any clue. He watched Cedric muttering away while the magic circles spun before him. Cedric was...eccentric, but he was still a top-notch mage. A graduate of the Grey Tower, no less—how Giles had managed to snag him as a teammate was still a mystery to him.

Soon, the magic circles faded, and Cedric plopped down from his bed. "Holy Thalador and his mighty co—"

"Cedric!"

"—uteau, damn it, Giles. I don't know if it went back, but the breach is healing."

Giles hastily handed him a pair of shorts lying by the bed. "Put these on first."

Cedric obliged, sitting down, as both Beatrice and Lavinia finally entered. Giles couldn't help but notice the look of barely contained disgust in Lavinia's eyes.

"Now then, do tell us, what's got your knickers in such a twist?"

"Someone's tried to summon a bloody NetherBeast!"

A hush fell over the group, a stunned silence before Giles broke it. "Here? In Randall?"

Indeed, they were in this quaint little town near Alcor, on a commission to escort some merchants. The thought that someone might be dabbling in illegal summoning was a bit much for Giles to swallow.

Cedric nodded all the same. "Somewhere nearby, but I can't pinpoint it without heading out first."

"Isn't that, like… illegal?" Beatrice chimed in.

Even Giles, someone not exactly well-versed in the magic arts, knew that anything breaching the 'Parda' had been banned almost three years ago in the empire.

"For those of you daft enough not to know summoning arts, allow me to elucidate," Cedric said, adjusting his shorts. "Illegal doesn't even begin to cover it. Even before all manner of summoning was outlawed, Nether summoning was still considered forbidden. Why? Because all NetherBeasts are barmy! Anyone who managed to connect with that realm went stark raving mad within days. It was the stuff of nightmares, even for summoners. There was an unspoken rule: don't muck about with the Nether. Not for studies, not for research, just a big fat no-no."

"So, whoever did it just now…"

"Probably dead. Probably worse if the NetherBeast actually got out."

"Hold on a tick! What do you mean 'got out'?" Lavinia interjected, eyes wide.

Cedric chuckled, "Exactly what I said. Someone not only managed to pry open the gates to the Nether, but had the audacity to let it actually cross the threshold. So, the NetherBeast is either back home after gobbling up that poor soul, or…"

"Orrr?" Beatrice swallowed hard.

"Or it's on this side, likely on a mindless munching spree."

Giles felt his sweat turn to icicles. "Bloody hell, Cedric! Why didn't you mention that earlier?"

"Because I wasn't certain, mate. I don't know diddly-squat about Nether! I'm just making an educated guess here."

Giles nearly facepalmed. He had to remind himself that it was Cedric making the guess. Better to trust him than regret it later.

"Just tell me one thing, Cedric," Giles started.

"Hmmm?" Cedric raised his eyebrows.

"Is it worth reporting to the guild?"

"Well, I didn't just make an educated guess about someone opening the Nether gates—that actually happened and it was illegal. And there's the slight possibility of a NetherBeast lurking about. So yeah, we ought to inform the guild and alert Alcor's authorities."

Giles nodded before turning to Beatrice. "Beatrice, head to the Merchants. They always have those communication crystals."

"But how will that help us contact the guild? Aren't those crystals fixed to a single location?"

"Don't fret about that," Cedric grinned, "I can tweak the base magic code so we can reach the guild."

Giles nodded, attempting to exude a smidgen of confidence he didn't possess. This was supposed to be a simple escort mission, just guiding these folks around and shielding them from bandits and monsters. Plus, these were wealthy merchants, so the journey had been rather plush. How in the bloody hell did a NetherBeast get thrown into the mix?

Giles felt a tear roll down his cheek as he turned away.

So much for a vacation!

***

The chill still lingered in the air, but it wasn't quite as biting as before. I finished cleaning up as quickly as possible. Despite erasing the ritual lines, the entire circle left the ground scorched, making it impossible to hide.

With the mirror and cauldron hastily shoved back into the box, I grabbed my crossbow and dashed back towards Randall.

The ritual had gone suspiciously well. Not that I was complaining, mind you, but something was setting off my paranoia. I half-expected an ambush with a "Surprise! We detected the ritual; you're under arrest."

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But no, that didn't happen. Instead, I found myself... knackered. I grabbed a nearby tree for support, wheezing like an old hag after a marathon. I frowned, trying to catch my breath. It wasn't like I'd been running a marathon. Normally, I could sprint to Alcor and back without breaking a sweat! So why was I all tuckered out from a wee jaunt through the woods?

I glanced at the 'tattoo' of runic symbols on my wrist. Could it be a side effect of the ritual? Had I somehow drained my energy?

No time for pondering. I needed to get home, and fast. If anyone in Randall had picked up on my ritual, they'd be hot on my trail. Getting caught would be a right disaster.

Taking a few tentative steps, I broke into a sprint. The old mill loomed in the distance, visible through the sparse trees in this part of the forest. Yet, several times I had to pause, wheezing like a blasted old hag.

Before exhaustion could claim me, I managed to put some decent distance between myself and the ritual site. I reckoned I could afford a little rest. Setting my box down, I leaned against a tree. The moon still hung overhead, casting a serene light over the scattered trees. My breaths came in fits and starts. I closed my eyes, trying to steady them.

Somehow, I must've drifted off, because the next thing I knew, I was greeted by Lotte. Her immense serpentine hood shifted as I blinked awake, leaning over me with a massive claw.

"Well, you're back early," she intoned, her voice resonating directly in my mind as usual.

I frowned. "I certainly hadn't planned on it."

A soft snicker echoed in my thoughts.

"No, Lotte! I'm serious. I don't know what's been happening to me. I've never felt this exhausted in any sense! And now I'm quite literally dozing off somewhere in the forest!"

Her velvet voice responded with a singsong quality, "Sounds like it took the bait."

"Bait? What bait?"

Her serpentine visage just stared at me, her scaled face devoid of the humour in her voice. And by staring, I mean… she was looking behind me. I didn't fully turn around; there was no need. I could see a massive shadow looming just behind me.

If I could sweat inside a dream, I would have.

A fundamental feeling of wrongness washed over me. It had always been just me and Lotte in this dream, as far back as I could remember. The mere thought of something intruding here set off all sorts of alarm-like emotions, the primary one being sheer anger. I didn't know why. Just a deep, burning contempt towards whatever was encroaching on this sacred space.

But once more, Lotte's soothing voice resonated within my noggin. "Close your eyes, Jade," she purred. I obliged without a second thought. The next words, however, weren't her usual comforting tone within my mind, but her rather grating voice emanating from her colossal serpentine head.

"Oh my, oh my, it's been an age since I've had the pleasure of showing a Nether rat its proper place."

What ensued can only be described as... well, silence. The peculiar sort of silence that rings in one's ears, making you wonder if you've gone completely deaf. Like being ensconced in a cabin, utterly cut off from all sound. Lotte had instructed me to close my eyes, so I was blind to everything around me.

So, I waited. What else was there to do?

I think I grasped what transpired, albeit not entirely. It must've been that entity I summoned. When Lotte mentioned it 'took the bait,' it was clear she had anticipated this very moment the second she handed me the ritual.

But why? And 'how?' That question lingered too, though I suspected I wasn't quite capable of comprehending it at present.

Before long, Lotte's voice returned. The eerie silence didn't even last a full minute before it shattered.

"You may open them now."

I did, and immediately regretted it.

"Lotte?"

"Yes?"

"When, pray tell, did we find ourselves inside a volcano?"

"My sincerest apologies for that. I know you had quite the affection for this particular hill, but alas, I couldn't prevent this... collateral damage. Not to worry, though! I know of a few other spots that might tickle your fancy."

That wasn't the issue. I gawked in utter bewilderment. Surrounding me was scorched earth—quite literally red-hot and burning. The ground sizzled and cracked, molten lava oozing in places, casting a hellish glow across the landscape. Jagged rocks, turned black from the intense heat, jutted out like the teeth of some monstrous beast. The air shimmered with heat waves, distorting the view and making the scene look even more surreal.

Oddly enough, the heat wasn't as oppressive as one might expect, a small mercy given that this was, after all, a dream.

An unseen force lifted me, gently placing me onto Lotte's back. With a powerful sweep of her enormous wings, she parted the smoke and haze, and we took off. I clung to the spines on her back, questions bubbling up inside me, but I decided it was wiser to wait until we landed before asking them.

Once we were airborne, I finally grasped the full extent of the devastation below. As far as my eyes could see, the land was a patchwork of red and black—scorched earth and molten rock. The sheer scale of the destruction was staggering. The fact that Lotte had wrought this havoc in mere minutes was a sobering thought.

If she existed in reality, I could scarcely imagine the destruction she could unleash. But I knew she once belonged to this reality. Lotte rarely spoke of it, and I never pried. I was content with her companionship, trusting that if it were important, she would tell me.

From her tone and the knowledge she had imparted to me, it wasn't difficult to piece together certain assumptions.

The flight was swift and almost silent, save for the occasional powerful beat of Lotte's wings. The landscape below gradually transitioned from the charred, smoking ruins to a more familiar, verdant terrain. Eventually, we reached another hill, far away from the devastation. Lotte descended gracefully, landing with a thud that sent a small tremor through the ground.