Margulis sat with her palm to her temple. She exhaled slowly, her other hand clenched tightly.

“I knew I shouldn’t have let you off that easily this afternoon.” She said quietly. Horatio looked away with a shaky chuckle. “No matter how you look at this, I’m the one at fault.” She said.

“That’s not true, I-”

“Please don’t Horatio.” She cut him off, lifting her head and making eye-contact, “You mustn't forget that you’re here on my invitation.” She said. Horatio looked at her quizzically.

“But I invited you here.” He said.

“Not to the park, idiot. To the Toldaap family.” Margulis corrected. She sighed. “You’re lucky to have been under the protection of a family when you did that, otherwise, you would have bounty hunters sent to capture you.” She said.

“Wait really?” Horatio asked.

“Oh yeah. You must not forget that all Voidwalkers live for the sole purpose of protecting compatibility. Your actions today were an affront to every single Voidwalker in existence.” She explained.

“I guess I didn’t think of it that way. But what’s this about families, wasn’t it just Toldaap?” He asked.

“There are much more than just Toldaap, thousands of families, though only four can compete in size. But now is not the time for a lesson in the Voidwalker families, as I’ve said before, you’ll get your answers in time. For now, you need to think about the rift we’re going to be working on tomorrow.” Margulis said.

“Wait, tomorrow? Why so soon?”

“Because we have to get you ready in time for the rift that opens on Monday, and you need to demonstrate your loyalty. This is a residential area, any mistake can lead to both compatibility drops and loss of human lives.” She said. Horatio nodded.

“I guess so.” He said and sighed. “I hope we can do it right, I don’t want to lose any more people close to me.”

Margulis sat silent, his words brought her many questions but she did not want to pry. “We’ll be alright. You’ll get the gist of it once you close a rift yourself.” She said and stood.

“Well then it’s about time I head home. I’ll send you the location of where we’re meeting tomorrow. Remember to get there before noon.” Margulis said and walked away. She drove off, leaving Horatio in the park all alone.

He sighed, thinking ‘all’s well that ends well’ and started walking.

Night turned to day, reviving the sleeping city. The rising sun spilt golden rays over the rooftops. It sprawled though the suburbs, uptown and downtown, a gentle reminder of the coming day, and this soft sun showed the peaceful calm of the weekend.

Nora’s eyes fluttered open, slowly she was acclimated with consciousness. She lay on her bed for minutes more then gingerly got up and out, took a sip of water from the glass at her bedside and went to freshen up. The first step came with a sharp remembrance from the day before, Horatio Peppingar.

She stopped, for a moment, the realisation that she had still not spoken to him after yesterday worried her. She did not understand fully what had happened yesterday but had a feeling that a certain memory from years past could have something to do with it. She continued normally, keeping the thought in her mind.

In the room next to Nora’s Horatio sat up on his bed. He took a look the window he had had to climb through to get in last night. He knew for a fact Sylvia would let him have it for returning far past midnight, even thought she said she wouldn't mind. He groaned, rising to his feet. He had brushed away most of his worries yesterday in favour of some form of hope that they would magically disappear on the morn. He realised that was not just wishful, but stupid. Coming to know that if he did not do anything about it, his relationship with Nora would be in jeopardy.

Horatio’s phone buzzed on his night stand. He moved to check it, finding a message from Margulis. It contained a GPS location and the words “Change of plans, get here ASAP.”

Horatio put the location data into his phone’s GPS app. “That’s like four kilometres from here!” He exclaimed. The next bus was due in fifteen minutes. Horatio cursed, stepping into his bathroom. “Guess Nora will have to wait.” He thought.

Horatio managed to get ready in ten minutes, leaving just enough for him to get to the bus stop if he ran. Desperate not to get held up by Sylvia he once again took the window, sprinting down the sidewalk.

Nora sat on her bed running a comb through her hair. She did not know what to do with Sylvia. She had began to understand what had happened yesterday. She was unsure where this knowledge was coming from but she knew now that the events from the day before were not just a coincidence. Him meeting with Margulis and his late arrival were inextricably linked to what had happened in the afternoon, and how nobody seemed to remember it, not even the wildfire of social media posts that that spark on tinder would have caused.

She thought for a second, a feeling within her telling her Sylvia would understand. She was unsettled, unsure what even was going on but she knew for a fact that Sylvia would understand.

Nora dressed and left the room. She would make breakfast and when she and Sylvia were eating, she would tell her about Horatio stopping the car.

Horatio disembarked on the bus’ last stop near the edge of town, leaving him with a kilometre and a half to to cover on foot. He pulled out his phone, checking the location once more.

Deep in the wilderness, in a thick wood that was just a bit away Margulis would be waiting. He nodded and began walking, shooting a text to Margulis, “I’m almost there.” It read.

Sylvia sat across from Nora, noticing her badly hidden looks as they ate. She would wait, hoping her discomfort would go away, perhaps her mind was only wandering. Yet nothing changed even as she moved to take the plates away.

“Um, Nora?” She called her attention. Nora finally let her gaze rest in response. “What’s the matter sweetie?” Sylvia asked.

“Well, you see...it’s kind of hard to explain.” Nora said. She couldn't believe she was about to say something this crazy to Sylvia. “But...” She thought, the voice within her told her Sylvia would understand, that it would all turn out right. Just as her father had said that day. He had put it in her palm and told her everything would turn out right.

“You can tell me Nora, how much worse could it be than anything Horatio says?” She said.

“That’s the thing...this is about Horatio.” She said.

Horatio sneezed. Trekking through the woods he had come to notice a thick aura enveloping it. He wondered if that was the rift, if the entire woods were from another world. If that was the case, what would happen if they closed it? Would the entire woods disappear? Would that not raise questions among the humans? He was full of questions he knew would only be answered once he met Margulis.

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“Isn’t this exciting?” He asked the Analyst.

“The potential for new discoveries does sound promising, but you must not lose sight of what’s really important.” It advised.

“Yeah,” Horatio said, “Closing that rift near our house, would hate for it to swallow up Nora or Sylvia.”

“That rift poses a great threat not only to our family, but to all the people in the neighbourhood.” The Analyst said.

“You’re right, we wouldn't have made it this far if the neighbours hadn’t supported Sylvia to take care of me.” Horatio said. “What’s up with you today? I’ve never had you so chatty.” He asked.

“Understood, you prefer for me to be quiet.” The Analyst said.

“No, no. Ah forget it, I was just making an observation.”

“We have reached our destination.” It said and went quiet. Horatio shook his head with a chuckle.

Horatio walked forwards into a clearing. It took only a second for him to realise everything within the clearing was dead, several rotting critter carcasses laid strewn about. The grass was deathly ash, and the air was stifling. He looked around, the trees just outside were fine, flourishing even but anything that came in the clearing promptly died. He stepped back.

“The energy won’t kill you, you’re not bound to the forest.” He heard Margulis’ voice from the opposite edge of the clearing. She walked into it, beckoning him with one hand. “Though the discomfort cannot be ignored.” She said.

Horatio came closer, entering the clearing he felt an oppressive energy touch at him and another one invade him. In a moment he felt his energy changing and stepped back out.

“What’s wrong?” Margulis called to him. He looked at his hands, his body was changing as he got close to the rift, his fingernails had turned a deathly black.

“I think I’m absorbing the rift’s energy.” He guessed. Margulis scoffed.

“That sounds impossible, but with how anomalous you are, I can’t cross it out.” She said, “So why did you go back?” She asked.

“I don’t want to turn into a monster.” He replied. She laughed.

“You don’t look like one. If anything, you look more human with your hair black like that.” Margulis said.

“Eh?” Horatio fished his phone out of his pocket. Using the front camera as a mirror he looked at his face. Just as Margulis had said his hair was coal black, unnaturally so, and his eyes were abyssal pits of black.

“I guess we’ve found your void gift.” She called to him. “Now come over and let’s close this thing. We have to hurry though, its begging to turn anomalous, if we don’t close it soon the destructive field around it could grow and strengthen.” She said.

Horatio nodded and entered the clearing once more. He felt the energy being funnelled into his body. He held back the urge to grin, he was just getting stronger every day.

“Nora? You don’t expect me to believe a word of what you said do you?” Sylvia asked, her brow twitching. “Horatio has magic powers and you can see into the future? You can’t be serious.” She said.

“I am serous. In just a few moments you will understand, I can feel it.” Nora said.

Sylvia looked at her like the had lost her mind, she shook her head. “Please tell me you and him aren’t doing any drugs.” She said sadly.

“Fine, don’t believe me. I know what I’m saying, you can just ask Horatio-”

“Don’t make her do that.” Sylvia said, her tone was different. Nora looked into her eyes, they were different, fierce and focused.

“Sylvia?” Nora called, feeling the air around them turn chilly. She gulped, watching the person before her, the woman who spoke now was not the Sylvia she knew.

“Listen Nora, I don’t have much time with you here, so listen very, very carefully to what I’m about to say.” Sylvia said. Nora nodded slowly.

“So what you want to do, Horatio, is to focus your energy on the weakest point of the rift and force it open, doing that will put us in the neutral plane, the world between worlds where we will-”

“Excuse me Margulis.” Horatio cut in, “I understood that explanation the first three times.” He said.

“Are you sure? because this is very important.” Margulis asked. Horatio sighed.

“I would like you to stop treating me like an idiot Margulis. I remember ever word you’ve said this week, verbatim. Please, do not talk down to me.” Horatio warned.

“On a dime.” Margulis noted then shook her head. “Sorry, I was just making sure. Then, just in case, can you relay what I just said to me?” She asked.

“Alright, you said, and I quote ‘Rifts are the physical representation of the realms’ stress, they act as unintended portals between realms. You can focus on the energy given off by a rift to find its location due to the immense energy they use. To close a rift, you must first open it and defeat whatever is causing it to be formed in the first place. So what you want to do, is to focus your energy on the weakest point of the rift and force it open. This will put us in a neutral plane, the world between worlds where we will do battle.” Horatio said.

“You also said that the neutral plane is invisible to anyone who was not aware of the rift or who does not have the requisite connection to the void. Also that it only lasts for about twenty minutes, so fights have to be quick in order not to let humans find out.” He added, “And finally, you called me ‘Your cutie’ throughout each repetition, I only removed them to avoid lengthening the recount. Does this suffice?” He asked.

“That should do wonderfully, my cutie.”

“Stop it please.”

“Well, the time has come for us to begin your debut mission. Are you ready?” Margulis asked.

“Very much so.” He replied.

They moved to the weakest point in the rift, a nearly invisible shimmer in the air. Horatio put his hand to it and focused his energy. He gathered a great amount and gripped at it, he pulled it out of the air and began the process.

The rift broke open. A glassy shattering was heard, like breaking glass underwater and the space around them was swallowed by another darker space. The realm they were being invaded by was Umbra, the same one that was creating a rift at his house.

In a moment, an ear-piercing howl rang about the dark space, followed by another overlapping with another. In all, eight terrifying howls were heard.

“Get ready,” Margulis said. “They’re coming.”

Horatio put his hand on the combat knife Margulis had handed to him. He pushed his energy through it like Margulis had thought him to and it came to life with a black glow lighting up the inscriptions on the blade.

Pattering footsteps were heard coming from a single direction. They fanned out as they approached, making to circle them.

“Direwolves.” Margulis announced, stepping before Horatio. “Follow my lead.”

Margulis set a sigil before her. Horatio saw them easily through the darkness, large furry beasts that superficially deserved the name they had. They looked like wolves, incredibly large and dripping with ferocity with two bat-like wings jutting out from their sides. He also noticed a black substance dripping from their jaws. He stepped behind Margulis and as she began to cast her spell, he poured the energy he had plundered from the realm into the sigil.

“Shine forth, with direct justice, Light Javelin!” She chanted and the sigil turned white, depicting holy arrows. The energy mixed with it and from it four lances of dark and light energy flew out. Two pierced through their respective direwolf, impaling it down its length and killing it while the other two were dodged as the wolves took to the skies.

“This’ll be difficult.” Horatio said, coming out with his weapon ready.

“Just be careful, that thing dripping from their mouths is what poisoned the forest.” Margulis warned and began setting up another sigil as the wolves swooped in. “Here they come!”

Nora lay on her bed with her eyes closed. Though her eyes were closed she saw many things she did not understand. Sylvia, or rather, the one who was inside Sylvia had spoken to her about many things and had thought her the basics of what she had. She told Nora of an ability she would have, explaining that that was the gift her father had given to her before she died. She had also been instructed to keep everything she had heard and seen a secret from Sylvia herself as it would interfere with their plans.

Nora did not understand any of this. Frustrated, she shut off the feed and opened her eyes. Though it was down, she still felt the future, and saw Horatio step into the house through his window. She stood, making for his room. She was also to keep him in the dark, but at least she did not need the future to make up with him, she only needed to talk.

Nora knocked on his door. “Horatio I know you’re there, open up, I want to speak with you.” She said.