(Day 178) Aprilis 23rd, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment

Raphael hurried into the observation room of the God’s domain, stepped forward, and bowed, “Master, I have news!” he said with some trepidation.

“Let’s hear it,” the God said

“Michael has reported that Chaos has been utilized to destroy Johnathan’s Place of Power. Unknown to the residents of that Universe a recently created nexus of all eight primal spheres of power has been ripped asunder by chaos. The explosion within the Universe was catastrophic. That is of little or no concern. What is concerning is that the very fabric of the Universe at that nexus has punched a hole through the membrane of the Universe and is leaking into chaos.”

“And this is important why?” the God asked.

“It would seem that the abattoir no longer holds the ancient enemies' interest and it is making its way towards that leak as if it can sense it.

“How long until it reaches the leak?” the God asked.

“As you know our two universes are pretty close in this region of chaos. Should nothing else divert the enemy's attention, a couple of years at most?”

The God looked to Raphael then focused his will and sent a summons, “Lady Serena, Arch-Angel Michael, I require your attendance.”

Almost immediately two golden portals opened. As Michael and the Goddess Serena stepped out they were treated to a sight of the cosmos displayed before them. They seemed to be in a room floating in space that was gradually turning to allow anyone that stood before the giant window their summoner stood in front of to look out and see into infinity itself.

Michael bowed and Serena nodded her head in deference to the God’s power within his domain.

Thank you for coming. “Lady Serena, Raphael has brought me disturbing news concerning your Universe. I thought that I should share this with you so that you might prepare the other divines in your realm. It would seem that our ancient enemy has grown weary of the abattoir and is making its way to your Universe.”

“If I might ask, what has caused this change after so long?”

“As I’m sure you know, being the Goddess of Knowledge, your cleric Adamantadine’s Place of Power was attacked and destroyed” What you may not know is the mage that made that attack used a forbidden spell to do so, “Summon Chaos.”

Michael winced and the Goddess Serena paled. Serena composed herself quickly and then asked, “What has happened?”

The God paused before continuing, “A couple of things. First, the ancient enemy that has been lured to the abattoir is moving toward your Universe. You will need to share this knowledge with your fellow divines so that they might prepare. As you know the only way to survive an all-out attack is to flee. Second, the ancient enemy is being drawn towards your Universe because the spell punched a hole through the membrane of your reality at a nexus point of eight spheres of power. Had it only been one or two of the primal spheres leaking into the realm of Chaos it might have ignored the leaks for the plentiful bounty of souls that have been provided to it. Eight, it seems, is too large a bounty to pass up.”

“Has there been an effect at the site of the explosion?” she asked questioningly.

“There is a very small leak from the ley lines, not the Universe. When the ancient enemy arrives the weak point in the fabric of your Universe will be the point it attacks first. That might keep its attention for a while but as you know a leak from ley lines can have disastrous consequences. As the magic is siphoned out of your Universe magic will begin to fail and that effect will spread. When the powers that hold your universe together reach a critical point the barrier that protects your Universe and all the realms within will pop and chaos will flood in.”

“It seems that we have our work cut out for us. How long do we have before the ancient enemy arrives?” Serena asked.

The God paused for a minute then looked thoughtful as he spoke, “As your Universe is one of the closer ones to the Abattoir, no more than three years, probably less. After that, how long it will take the ancient enemy to destroy the membrane of your Universe will depend on how fast it feeds. It hasn’t had a bounty as rich and flavorful as this as far back as I can remember and that is a very long time. After that, the area of the leak will begin to decay as all the primal forces are sucked out in an ever-expanding circle. It could take its time or it could feed quickly, there is no way to know. I would count on two years to find a way to finally defeat the ancient enemy or begin the evacuation process.”

“Understood, is there anything else I need to know” the goddess Serena asked.

“The final thing you should know is that Adamantadine survived. As Michael left the Tower one of the gifts he was given converted his Place of Power into a Pocket Universe. I have detected his portal use to that pocket Universe but do not know its location. It does not seem to be within the bounds of the Multi-verse.” The God wriggled his hands then continued “It would seem that after all this time, even I can be surprised. It would also seem that there is a power at play that even I do not know about yet. This could be both a good and bad thing. Good in that we might be getting help with our ancient enemy. Bad in that the status quo that has existed amongst the eldest of us may be disturbed. An event that hasn’t happened since well before your universe came into existence,” the God said thoughtfully then finished, “this Adamantadine may be more important than we know.”

The Goddess Serena looked thoughtful then said, “I will pass on what you have said and begin preparations for evacuation. As you know there is almost no way to save everyone but we will try. One of the primary issues we will face is of course disbelief by the divines themselves. Not many of them will believe that there is an Ancient Enemy that can destroy them so easily. By your leave, I would like Michael’s assistance when required?”

“You will have it.” the God stated decisively as he looked at Michael, who nodded.

“Then I believe I will be on my way if there is nothing further?”

The God waved his hand and both the Goddess Serena and Michael vanished.

“My Lord, what would you have of me? “Raphael asked.

“Continue doing as you always do. Also, reset the eye for Abattoir. It would seem that the souls there may once again pass on. There is no need for them to be flung endlessly into chaos.” the God stated.

“As you will,” Raphael stated as he turned and left the observation room.

The God wondered where Adamantadine’s Tower had ended up then realized that one of the questions he’d always had might have just been answered, then he smiled.