Derek hated that he was driving. Evelyn had pulled her mom’s car into Jose’s parking lot, then Rafael and Nick went to get horchatas. Despite Walt giving Rafael plenty of passes, there was a good chance he’d still check up on the story. They needed Rafael’s nat twenty performance skills against Walt as much as they possibly could. Especially with June being their new deadline.

  Everything came out. Now that Grizzizzik admitted that it was Chaos, Nick could tell everyone what happened. Derek stared in horror at his friend’s story, at the double life he was forced to live. And yet what shocked him most of all was his meeting with both Order and Chaos that apparently took place only hours before.

  “We’re ending Neal’s contract?” Tyler asked, the confusion on his face as Derek drove to the spot Clarissa told him to.

  Nick closed one eye. “There are things in place that… if we make certain choices, we have the option of also ending Neal’s contract.”

  Tyler stared ahead, horrified.

  “No pressure, right,” Derek muttered as Tyler whimpered, covering his face.

  Hraktar had to sit away from Grizzizzik as they drove because of how much it looked like he was going to strangle the rogue. Derek couldn’t believe the insane month Nick had. Derek thought getting kidnapped was bad, but he couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to be so alone while doing things that could very well make Walt blow up.

  “And to be clear, the thing you said to Alejandra? About her having brain damage after getting hit by my dad?” Rafael asked.

  Nick was in the middle of drinking when he glanced over at Rafael. There was deep confusion in his eyes. “Damn, it’s still doing it.”

  “Doing what?” Evelyn asked.

  “I… don’t understand what you said. Whatever I said to Alejandra, it…” Nick circled his fingers around his skull. “It changed. Chaos changed it. For whatever reason I don’t know what Alejandra heard, but it isn’t what I said. It was me attempting to say what was going on between Grizzizzik and I.”

  “That is… so odd,” Rafael said.

  “It’s because he’s still under the contract and so Chaos is keeping some things from him and goddamnit why do I finally get a hint about what’s going on?” Tyler shouted the last part before covering his face in his hands again.

  Despite everything, Nick chuckled before taking another sip of horchata. He seemed to be the only one in a lighthearted mood. In fact, Nick hadn’t stopped smiling since coming out of Jose’s with his horchata as everyone else looked like they were hit with existential dread.

  Derek was no different. Chaos had changed Nick’s very words. Kept Derek from hearing the truth. Forced Nick’s words and demeanor to change so it fit with the narrative that Chaos wanted. Chaos was that powerful.

  “We’ve got to think of a code word in case something like this happens again,” Derek said.

  “Yeah,” Tyler said, dropping his hands. “Something like ‘sounds like the situation Nick was in,” or something like that.”

  “It’s a good idea, but it’s not going to work,” Nick muttered. “If Chaos or Order really don’t want anyone to know, none of us will know. I already tried. It’s why I mentioned the possible sixth person in the group, to make you remember how much our brains could be altered by them if they really wanted it to.”

  There was a pause. Derek could feel his eyes popping out of his skull. He finally pulled over to the side of the road, set his head against the steering wheel, and screamed. Once he was done screaming, Derek lifted his head, and the only sound was the blinker as he eased back onto the road.

  Nick chuckled. “Well, thanks for pulling over.”

  “God, Nick,” Derek said as they drove down the quiet road outside of town. “I knew something was up, but I… never would have imagined this level of mind melting stuff.”

  “Which is why I don’t hold a grudge against anyone for thinking what they did,” Nick said.

  Evelyn whimpered, leaning her head against his shoulder.

  Tyler shook his head. “I still want to apologize, though.”

  “You did,” Nick said.

  “I’ll let Alejandra know what happened,” Rafael said.

  The silence trickled into the van. Hraktar was glaring so darkly at Grizzizzik that the rogue was pretending like the fighter didn’t exist. It was necessary for his own survival.

  “Is… Alejandra okay?” Nick asked.

  “I’m sure she will. Once she knows the truth,” Rafael said.

  That was a lie. One that twisted his gut and made him feel guilty. Derek wasn’t sure what the truth would do to Alejandra, but she would definitely not be okay after hearing it. Derek glanced in the mirror to see Rafael and Nick exchanging a glance. They knew that was a lie, too, but neither one of them knew how to handle the truth.

  “There they are,” Tyler said, pointing a short distance from the road to three fires placed in a triangle. Derek eased off the road, and Tyler lifted a hand. “Since we still don’t know how horrible these gray marks can get, I suggest the earthlings stay in the van, and the Shrouded Domain characters head on out.”

  “I’ll stick with Grizzizzik,” Hraktar said before grabbing the rogue by the cloak and dragging him out of the van. Grizzizzik didn’t even get a word in.

  Derek rolled down the windows, eager to hear the conversation. Milo placed his dark goggles on, the bouncing lights on the mask keeping his face illuminated.

  “Hello!” Ezekiel called out to the cultists. “May we ask what you’re doing?”

  “Preparing a ritual to find out if our God wants to enter this realm.”

  Derek squinted into the darkness. There were three cultists, standing in the middle of the fire.

  “I hope this isn’t the kind that take a blood sacrifice, is it?” Ezekiel asked.

  The silence from the cultists was answer enough, but Ezekiel waited patiently all the same.

  “Only from a fair virgin,” one of the cultists said before eyeing Clarissa up and down.

  Clarissa glared, then pulled out a scimitar. “I’m not a virgin.”

  “Oh,” the cultist said, his shoulders sagging.

  “Fear not, my children,” the fourth member said, materializing out of the darkness. Derek was pretty sure he would have seen the leader if he had dark vision himself. “We’ll find one.”

  Hraktar gave Grizzizzik a gentle shove closer to the flames. “He’s not fair, but he’s a virgin.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Grizzizzik swore under his breath before pulling out his rapier and facing the leader. “Our entire group believes you are too dangerous to keep you alive.”

  “Already on it,” Milo said starting to carve his cannon.

  Time slowed down, and Derek started to get a bit nervous. This was actually a fair amount of guys, and he was quite sure that leader was a level six. Sure, Milo was now a level six, but he didn’t feel like he got a ton of upgrades with one more level.

  Except for more hit points. Fifty-five hit points was always welcome.

  Derek grabbed the d20, slightly relieved. They could still roll this close, and after everything they experienced, Derek was quite happy to remain in the van.

  Twelve. Not too bad, but there was no way he’d go first.

  Hraktar unsheathed his great sword and did not waste a moment of time. He swung his sword at the mage, who backed away from it easily enough. The mage about said something snarky when Hraktar swung again, hitting the mage hard and slicing his shoulder. The mage cried out in pain, blood pumping out of a deep gash in his side, his shirt filling with blood.

  “Save some for the rest of us, will you?” Grizzizzik mumbled.

  Hraktar glared at Grizzizzik. “Do yourself a favor and don’t talk to me when I have my weapon out.”

  The leader brushed his cloak back before shooting his hands out, chanting in a dark language. A blast of sand came out of the leader’s palm, hitting all of them. Derek winced.

  “They’ve got to be better spaced out,” Derek said. He then used the frozen time to curse after failing the save.

  Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much damage. Derek winced when he watched Milo’s hit points drop to eighteen, then gasped as he saw Clarissa and Grizzizzik fall to three.

  “Did we all just fail that save?” Nick asked.

  “I… think so,” Evelyn said.

  “Where’s my dice jail when I need it,” Derek grumbled.

  They all looked bad, their skin shredded from flying sand. One of the fanatics turned to Ezekiel and tried to touch him, chanting something that made his finger turn red. Ezekiel dodged it, eyes wide before clasping his medallion, muttering a prayer. Once again, figures appeared slightly translucent. Derek was super curious, and only recognized a few figures in the dark like Aragorn and Hermione Granger.

  “No comic books yet?” Derek asked Rafael.

  “He’s getting there. It’s hard to stop him from re-reading Lord of the Rings after every other series.”

  Two bursts of radiant damage hit the fanatic and the leader, both stumbling back in pain. Grizzizzik started chanting, pointing right at the leader, mumbling something.

  “Oh, right,” Derek said. “That’s right! Grizzizzik had eldritch blast this whole time. I can’t believe that guy never used it.”

  “Dead giveaway,” Nick said. “Though… he’s not using eldritch blast.”

  A crack of lighting burst out of Grizzizzik’s hand and smacked into the leader. The leader screamed, then dropped to the ground, dead.

  Tyler let out a sigh of relief. “Good. I did not want that leader casting invisibility and getting away.”

  The followers started panicking when they saw their leader go down. One by one, the bonfires went out, and Ezekiel’s guardians turned toward one of the followers, slamming radiant damage on him. The follower, in a panic, struck at Milo with a glowing red hand. Milo thankfully dodged it before shooting him twice with the cannon and the crossbow. The follower shrieked in pain as his shoulder was completely burned to a crisp. Milo held up his smoking cannon.

  The follower paused, then glanced up at the storm clouds Clarissa was creating. He didn’t have time to dodge before the lightning shot right through him, and he collapsed to the ground, dead.

  Clarissa placed her hands on her hips. “Shall the lesson here be to never assume elf maidens are virgins?”

  Milo shrugged. “I mean, in their defense, you were a virgin for over a hundred years.”

  “Eh,” Clarissa said, flicking her wrist. “It was time for a change.”

  Their leader was dead, as was one of their followers. There were still the two followers left. One of them walked forward before he, too, was smacked by Ezekiel’s guardians. The follower shouted in surprise but regained his composure to grab Clarissa’s shoulder. She stiffened before her eyes rolled up and she collapsed.

  “Shit,” Milo said, reaching out and grabbing her around the waist. “Ezekiel!”

  “She’ll… be fine. Hopefully,” Evelyn said.

  Hraktar let out a roar, bounding over to the follower that hurt Clarissa and brought his sword down hard. The man found himself without an arm before he also found himself without legs. The follower was dead before he hit the ground. Grizzizzik looked a bit uncomfortable at how easily Hraktar killed him, and it didn’t help when Hraktar glared at the rogue after.

  The final follower standing got a blast with the guardian’s light. Seeing all his people were dead, he turned around and started running.

  “No, no, no. That’s my experience points,” Grizzizzik complained as Ezekiel ran to Clarissa, wrapping his arms around her and muttering a prayer. Clarissa gasped as seventeen hit points filled her bar.

  “Oh, hi,” Clarissa said, smiling up at him.

  “Hello yourself.”

  “Seriously! My experience points!” Grizzizzik shouted before shooting the escaping follower with a bolt of purple lighting. The follower shrieked, but kept running.

  “I got you,” Milo said, pointing his crossbow and his cannon at the escaping cult follower. A blast of white energy raced the crossbow bolt, both smacking into the follower and causing him to drop to the ground, dead.

  “Ha!” Milo shouted, lifting his dark goggles before dropping them back over his face. He did that a few more times. “They work amazing! I love them!”

  Grizzizzik glared at Milo, though folded his arms and muttered his thanks. Evelyn opened the minivan door and stumbled out to check on Clarissa. When Tyler opened his door, Derek assumed that was the go ahead that things were safe.

  By the time they caught up with the group, Ezekiel had helped Clarissa to her feet and was kissing her softly. Derek walked up to Milo, high fiving him as seven hundred and thirty experience points filled up his level six bar. He was quite sure everyone else would hit level six now.

  Ezekiel, Clarissa, and Evelyn were talking to each other. Rafael stayed his distance as Nick walked over to Grizzizzik. Nick didn’t say anything, though Hraktar was brushing himself off, glaring at Grizzizzik the entire time. Tyler walked up to Milo, reaching out to touch one of the antennae.

  “Nice job making that.”

  “Thanks. Do you want to try them on?” Milo asked.

  Tyler tried to hide his excitement. “I mean… I’m sure there’s something about the two worlds colliding, and I don’t know if I’m quite the one who’s suited for the whole thing, but if you insist.” By the time Tyler was done talking, Milo had already taken it off and Tyler snatched it and placed it over his eyes. “Dude, sweet!” Tyler said.

  “They work pretty great, don’t they?”

  “Yeah! I mean… this is as clear as noon day!” Tyler said. He took them off, gesturing toward Derek. “Wanna try?”

  “Absolutely I do,” Derek said, grabbing the mask and placing it on his face. He glanced around. “Sick!” It was as Tyler said. Perhaps he expected some green night vision, but Tyler was right. It was like it was noon day. He could see everyone. He could even see a bit into the distance, where a lone, cloaked figure was walking right toward them.

  Wait a second.

  “Who’s that?” Derek asked, pointing.

  “Huh?” Milo asked.

  He took off the mask and handed it to Milo. Milo put it back on, looking. “Uh… stay behind me, just in case. We don’t know what’s out here.”

  Clarissa, Hraktar, and Grizzizzik turned to where Milo was pointing.

  “Shit,” Nick said, backing away. “It’s…”

  Nick didn’t finish. Derek could feel it, the energy of the air changing. Something beyond powerful and ancient was walking toward them, and the way Tyler stiffened made Derek realize it was Chaos. The perfect, personification of Chaos was headed right toward them.

  “Don’t look into his eyes,” Nick whispered, his gaze dropping as Derek noticed the dark cloak coming into the light. “His gaze will drive you insane.”

  It was the last thing anyone spoke as silence fell over the group. Chaos walked into the cultist flames, hands behind his back, a smirk on his face. He said nothing, but Derek felt his nerves rolling in his stomach.

  Chaos walked up to Grizzizzik and held out a hand. Grizzizzik kept his gaze downcast as he unsheathed his rapier, holding the handle out for Chaos to take. The being grabbed the hilt, holding it up. With one hand, Chaos created dark energy as the sword sucked it up, a slight black flame appearing around it before it disappeared. The rapier had a slightly darker tinge to it before Chaos handed the handle back to Grizzizzik.

  “It is as we agreed. A sword to permanently kill Akshi, crime lord of Osvoroth,” Chaos said.

  “Thank you,” Grizzizzik said, taking the sword.

  Chaos then turned, and Derek noticed Chaos’s feet were pointed right at him. Derek ventured a glance, every hair on his arm rising as he saw Chaos looking at him. Chaos raised two fingers to his forehead and saluted, a smirk on his face. “I enjoy your work, Derek Perez. You are one of my favorites to watch.”

  Derek wasn’t sure if he was supposed to react. He also wasn’t entirely sure it was a compliment. Though with a being above good and evil, perhaps Chaos was simply stating something that was. The memory of randomly kissing Emma to shut her up came back to him. He did do rather chaotic things.

  Chaos walked away, and once he passed the light, he disappeared. It wasn’t until Derek felt the energy of the air return to normal that he let out a breath.

  “Oh my god.” Evelyn stared at Nick, eyes wide. “Oh my god,” she said again.

  Nick said nothing. Instead, he lifted his horchata and gave a final sip before staring at Grizzizzik. “I assume we’ll never see that guy again?”

  “You assume correctly.” Grizzizzik still had his sword out, a smile on his face as he looked at it gleaming in the moonlight.

  “Good.” Nick headed back toward the van, checking his watch. “We better get back. My curfew is close.”

  Derek blinked as he watched his friend walk past him. He couldn’t help but think that Nick calmly walking away from a being that almost destroyed his life had to be the most badass thing that happened tonight.