The portal had no edge.
That was the first thing Grazim understood as they approached it.
Every doorway they had crossed since awakening upon the mountain had been made by someone. Stone framed a passage. Timber supported a gate. Even the strange doors of the Labyrinth of Wicked Souls had possessed hinges, seams, or symbols that announced where one place ended and another began.
This was different.
The air itself had been torn open.
Red light pulsed at the center of the chamber, but other colors moved beneath it—purple, green, blue, flashes of white electricity twisting through mist that appeared and vanished without ever touching the floor.
Beyond the opening, another place existed.
Then it did not.
For a heartbeat Grazim saw broken stone beneath a dark sky.
The image vanished.
Then trees appeared.
Then the broken stone again.
The portal pulsed.
The entire chamber answered.
Dust slipped from the walls.
Isamu watched the ceiling.
“It is getting worse.”
Nethnarel stood several paces behind him, violet light already moving around her fingers.
“That depends upon what it is trying to do.”
Fendor drew an arrow.
“It is a hole between places filled with lightning.”
“Yes.”
“I am comfortable calling that worse.”
Kaylor moved to the front.
The heavier sword rested in his hand.
His other blade hovered near his shoulder, point angled toward the portal as though the weapon itself disliked what waited there.
Hexen glanced down.
Fang crouched beside his boots.
The giant squirrel's fur stood on end.
His tail had become nearly twice its normal size.
“I would like it recorded,” Fang said, “that I strongly disapprove of this.”
Leonidas looked at him.
“You followed us here.”
“I can disapprove of my own decisions.”
“That explains a great deal.”
Pete was nowhere visible, which meant little.
Leonidas had sent the familiar ahead moments earlier. His eyes had gone distant while he looked through Pete's sight.
Now they focused again.
“There is movement.”
Kaylor tightened his grip.
“Where?”
Leonidas pointed toward the portal.
“Everywhere.”
The red light changed.
Something came through.
At first it resembled ash carried upon a wind.
A black cloud spread from the opening, rolling toward the ceiling.
Then the cloud broke apart.
Wings.
Thousands of them.
Butterflies poured through the portal.
They were beautiful for approximately one second.
Their wings shimmered with impossible colors. Red bled into violet. Blue became silver. Each movement left thin trails of light behind them.
Then one crossed near Kaylor's shield.
The edge of its wing struck metal.
A bright line appeared across the shield's face.
Kaylor stared at it.
“That is not a butterfly.”
Hexen stepped backward.
“That is exactly a butterfly.”
“It cut my shield.”
“A dangerous butterfly.”
The swarm descended.
“Move!” Grazim shouted.
The chamber disappeared beneath wings.
Fendor fired first.
His arrow passed through the leading edge of the swarm.
Three butterflies burst apart.
Dozens more filled the gap.
He fired again.
Then again.
The arrows were not enough.
Nethnarel thrust both hands forward.
Magic slammed into the center of the cloud.
A cluster of butterflies vanished in flashes of violet light, but others wheeled around the spell and rushed her from both sides.
Isamu intercepted them.
His blade moved once.
Then twice.
The movements were so small they barely seemed attacks.
Four butterflies fell in pieces.
A fifth slipped beneath his guard and cut across his shoulder.
Isamu looked at the blood.
Then at the insect.
He struck it out of the air.
“They are sharp.”
Fendor fired past him.
“Yes.”
Hexen lifted both hands.
Green light spread across the floor.
The wolves answered.
They emerged around him in a rush of gray fur and teeth, snapping at the lower edge of the swarm.
It seemed absurd.
Wolves fighting butterflies.
Then one wolf leapt and caught several of the creatures in its jaws.
The insects burst into black fluid.
Hexen nodded.
“Good.”
The butterflies descended upon the pack.
“Less good.”
The wolves scattered.
Kaylor charged.
The dancing sword moved ahead of him, spinning through the swarm. Each sweep cut several creatures from the air while Kaylor's larger blade smashed through the denser clusters.
The insects struck him from every direction.
Their wings sliced armor.
Their bodies burst against his shield.
He continued forward.
The portal brightened.
Another shape stepped through.
Fendor saw it first.
“Center.”
The others looked.
Something stood within the red opening.
Not behind it.
Within it.
Its outline shifted whenever the portal changed color. Sometimes it appeared humanoid. Sometimes its arms seemed too long. At other moments wings spread from its back, though whether they belonged to the creature or to the swarm surrounding it was impossible to tell.
The butterflies moved around it.
Protecting it.
Grazim understood.
“That is what holds them here.”
Leonidas raised one hand.
Dark energy gathered around his fingers.
“Then let us make it stop.”
A mark settled upon the creature.
Hex.
Leonidas released the second half of the spell.
Eldritch energy crossed the chamber and struck the figure in the chest.
It staggered.
The portal shuddered.
“Again,” Kaylor said.
Leonidas smiled.
“I had intended to.”
The creature lifted one arm.
The swarm changed direction.
Every butterfly in the chamber turned toward Leonidas.
“Oh,” he said.
Fang pointed.
“You have angered them.”
“I noticed.”
The swarm attacked.
Pete appeared for half a heartbeat beside the creature's head.
The tiny familiar bit it.
Leonidas stared.
Even in the middle of battle, he seemed offended.
“Pete.”
The familiar vanished again.
The creature turned, apparently more confused than injured.
Fendor released an arrow.
It passed through the exact place Pete had occupied an instant before and struck the creature high in the shoulder.
Fang looked at Leonidas.
“Your invisible flying creature has questionable judgment.”
“He learned from me.”
“That explains a great deal.”
The butterflies reached them.
There was no longer room for conversation.
The chamber became motion.
Isamu fought without retreating.
His weapon moved in short arcs, knocking insects aside before their wings could reach flesh.
Fendor abandoned long shots whenever the swarm closed around him, using his bow almost like a staff to clear space before firing again.
Nethnarel's magic flashed between them.
One burst.
Then another.
Tiny darts of force curved around Kaylor and struck insects he could not see.
Her wand remained raised.
Another volley flew.
The swarm recoiled.
Nethnarel grinned.
“I like this thing.”
“Behind you,” Isamu said.
She ducked.
His strike passed over her horns and split a butterfly in half.
“I also like you.”
“Focus.”
“Less charming.”
Hexen changed.
The man disappeared beneath expanding muscle and fur.
The bear roared.
Butterflies scattered from the sound.
Then the animal charged through them.
Claws tore glowing wings from the air.
Jaws snapped shut upon a cluster.
Black fluid covered the bear's muzzle.
Fang stared.
“I can also do that.”
No one answered.
Fang drew his knives.
One still looked suspiciously like something stolen from a dinner table.
He rushed forward.
“Fang!” Hexen roared.
The squirrel ignored him.
He leapt onto a fallen slab, launched himself into the air, and struck at the swarm.
One knife missed.
The second hit.
A butterfly fell.
Fang landed upright.
He looked delighted.
“I killed one!”
Fendor fired over his head.
“Retire undefeated.”
“I have only begun.”
That was when the larger swarm descended.
It came from above.
They had been watching the portal.
None of them had noticed how many insects had gathered along the ceiling.
Thousands released at once.
The air turned black.
“Down!” Kaylor shouted.
Everyone moved.
Fang looked up.
Too late.
The swarm struck him.
His knives vanished.
His tail disappeared beneath wings.
Hexen lunged.
The bear's paw tore through the insects.
He found fur.
Then lost it again.
“Fang!”
A small body fell from the swarm.
It struck the stone.
It did not move.
For one instant Hexen stopped fighting.
The bear stared at the fallen squirrel.
Then the portal-creature attacked.
Energy crossed the chamber.
Kaylor intercepted it.
The blast struck his shield hard enough to slide him backward.
His boots carved lines through the dust.
“Hexen!”
The druid turned.
The creature was coming through the portal.
Fully now.
The swarm gathered around it like armor.
Hexen's grief became violence.
The bear charged.
Kaylor moved with him.
His dancing sword reached the creature first.
It struck once and rebounded.
The larger sword followed.
The creature blocked with one arm.
Kaylor's blade bit into it anyway.
Radiant light exploded across the wound.
The thing screamed.
Nethnarel's magic hit it from the side.
Fendor's arrow struck immediately afterward.
Then Isamu was there.
He passed Kaylor without touching him, stepped beneath the creature's extended arm, and drove a precise blow into the joint.
Something cracked.
The creature staggered.
Hexen hit it.
The bear's entire weight drove the thing backward.
Its feet crossed the threshold of the portal.
The red light flared.
The creature shrieked.
Not in pain.
In fear.
Grazim heard it.
Whatever stood inside the gateway did not want to go back.
“Keep it there!”
Leonidas fired.
Dark power struck the creature's chest.
Fendor's next arrow entered the wound Kaylor had opened.
Nethnarel released another burst of force.
Isamu struck again.
Hexen clawed at the creature's legs.
Kaylor raised his sword.
The swarm descended upon all of them.
Grazim stepped forward.
His holy symbol burned against his hand.
He had used this prayer in the streets.
Against the dead beneath the city.
Against the worms.
Against things that had forgotten they were supposed to die.
The words came easily now.
Not learned.
Remembered.
A bell sounded.
There was no bell in the chamber.
The sound came from somewhere beyond it.
Deep.
Final.
The creature froze.
Grazim pointed.
“Toll the Dead.”
The second bell struck.
The creature convulsed.
Cracks of black light spread through its body.
The butterflies stopped moving.
For one impossible heartbeat every wing hung motionless in the air.
Then the creature collapsed.
The swarm fell with it.
Thousands of butterflies struck the floor like dead leaves.
Silence followed.
Kaylor remained with his sword raised.
Isamu waited.
Fendor had another arrow drawn.
Nethnarel's wand stayed pointed at the portal.
Nothing attacked.
The red opening flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then violently.
Leonidas stepped away.
“That seems new.”
The portal narrowed.
Beyond it appeared the place they had crossed from.
Clearly this time.
Broken stone.
An empty stretch of ground.
A distant wall.
Then the image vanished behind red mist.
It returned.
Closer.
Gone again.
Nethnarel stared.
“It is collapsing.”
“Did we do that?” Fendor asked.
“No,” Grazim said.
Kaylor looked at the dead creature.
“We killed whatever was keeping it open.”
Another pulse ran through the chamber.
The portal contracted.
Stone groaned.
Dust rained from above.
“We should move,” Isamu said.
Hexen did not.
The bear had already vanished.
He was kneeling beside Fang.
The giant squirrel looked very small now.
His fur had been cut in dozens of places.
One knife remained near his hand.
The other lay several paces away.
Hexen touched Fang's chest.
Nothing.
“Grazim.”
The cleric heard something in Hexen's voice he had not heard before.
Not fear.
Something quieter.
Grazim crossed the chamber.
The portal contracted again behind him.
“We need to leave,” Leonidas said.
Grazim knelt.
“How long?”
“Moments,” Hexen said.
Grazim looked at the body.
There was still time.
Barely.
He opened the pouch at his belt.
The diamond was small.
Far too small, it seemed, for what he was asking of it.
But power had never cared much for appearances.
Grazim placed one hand against Fang's chest.
Hexen looked at him.
“Can you?”
“I can try.”
Fang's blood stained Grazim's fingers.
The cleric closed his eyes.
He spoke the prayer.
Revivify.
The diamond cracked.
Light entered Fang's body.
Nothing happened.
Hexen lowered his head.
Then Fang coughed.
The sound was tiny.
Grazim opened his eyes.
Fang coughed again.
His tail twitched.
Then his eyes opened.
He looked directly at Hexen.
“You let me die.”
Hexen stared at him.
Fang's voice was weak.
“But I killed one.”
Hexen laughed.
It began as a single breath.
Then another.
He picked Fang up carefully.
“Yes.”
Fang rested against his chest.
“I was magnificent.”
“Unquestionably.”
Fendor retrieved the second knife and held it out.
“You dropped this.”
Fang reached for it.
His paw failed halfway.
Fendor placed it in the squirrel's harness.
“I will deny doing that.”
“Your reputation is safe.”
The portal screamed.
Every color inside it appeared at once.
Red.
Blue.
Green.
Purple.
White lightning filled the opening.
The image beyond returned.
The place they had come from.
This time the heroes could see it clearly.
For only a moment.
Kaylor stepped toward it.
“Could we cross?”
Nethnarel watched the edges collapse.
“Possibly.”
“That does not sound reassuring.”
“It was not intended to.”
Leonidas looked through the opening.
Then at the chamber around them.
“We have several seconds.”
“Enough?” Kaylor asked.
“For what?”
“To decide.”
The portal narrowed again.
No one moved toward it.
Grazim stood.
The ancient Book of Craven seemed suddenly heavier among the things they carried.
They had come into the broken city because people were dying.
They had found monsters beneath the streets.
Worms beneath the earth.
Dead men walking with things inside them.
A house that had survived when everything around it had fallen.
And inside that house, a book.
Craven.
A name from a dead language.
A name connected to experiments performed upon living beings.
A name that had survived when an entire city had not.
The portal contracted to half its size.
Kaylor looked toward Grazim.
“The book.”
“Yes.”
“You believe it matters.”
“I believe someone worked very hard to ensure it survived.”
Nethnarel lowered her wand.
“That is rarely encouraging.”
Fendor watched the collapsing gateway.
“Neither is jumping through unstable portals.”
Isamu nodded toward the book.
“We have one path that is closing.”
Then toward the city beyond the chamber.
“And one that is not.”
Hexen adjusted Fang beneath one arm.
The squirrel's eyes were already closing again.
“Then we follow the path that remains.”
Kaylor watched the portal.
The other side appeared one final time.
For a heartbeat it looked almost peaceful.
Then red light crossed the image.
The opening folded inward.
There was no explosion.
No wave of fire.
No final creature.
The tear simply became smaller and smaller until it was a line of red light suspended in the air.
Then a point.
Then nothing.
Darkness filled the chamber.
For several breaths, nobody spoke.
Nethnarel summoned a small flame above her palm.
Its violet light revealed the others.
Bloodied.
Exhausted.
Alive.
Mostly.
Fang opened one eye.
“Did we win?”
Kaylor looked at the place where the portal had been.
“Yes.”
“Excellent.”
The eye closed again.
“Wake me when there is treasure.”
Leonidas laughed.
Pete appeared upon his shoulder.
The familiar looked at Fang.
Fang did not open his eyes.
“I can feel it looking at me.”
Leonidas scratched Pete beneath the chin.
“He is impressed.”
“He should be.”
Grazim examined the stone where the portal had vanished.
Nothing remained.
No scorch mark.
No rune.
Only dust.
Whatever passage had connected the two places was gone.
Fendor lowered his bow.
“So.”
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed toward Grazim's pack.
“We have an evil book written by a dead people, filled with drawings of experiments upon living creatures, carrying the name of someone none of us remembers.”
“Yes,” Grazim said.
“And the convenient portal out of here has disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“And we are standing in a dead city full of things that have repeatedly tried to eat us.”
“Yes.”
Fendor nodded.
“Good. I wanted to make certain I understood our situation.”
Nethnarel's flame brightened.
“I think the book is the important part.”
Kaylor turned toward her.
“Why?”
“Because everything else tried to kill us immediately.”
She looked at Grazim's pack.
“That waited.”
No one answered.
From somewhere deep beneath the ruined city came a distant sound.
Stone shifting against stone.
Isamu looked toward the passage leading out.
“We should go.”
Grazim rested one hand upon his warhammer.
The portal was closed.
The village had time now.
Perhaps days.
Perhaps longer.
But the question that had brought them into the city had changed.
They were no longer asking what had awakened beneath the ruins.
They had found something older.
Something patient.
A name buried in a book that should not have survived.
Craven.
Kaylor started toward the exit.
The dancing sword followed.
Fendor fell in behind him.
Nethnarel extinguished the flame and replaced it with another that burned brighter.
Isamu moved without a word.
Leonidas followed with Pete upon his shoulder.
Hexen carried Fang.
Grazim came last.
Before leaving, he looked once more at the empty place where the portal had been.
They had awakened upon a mountain with no memories and no understanding of why they had returned.
Since then, they had broken chains.
Defied a queen.
Crossed a kingdom beneath the ice.
Walked through a labyrinth built around wicked souls.
Faced the dead beneath a ruined city.
And closed a doorway that should never have been opened.
Each victory had answered one question.
Each answer had uncovered something worse.
Grazim turned away.
Ahead of him, the others were already disappearing into the broken passage.
He followed.
Behind them, the chamber remained dark.
The portal did not reopen.
But the name traveled with them.
Craven.
And somewhere beyond the ruined city, something still remembered it.