I struggled to lean forward out of my chair and carve in the last runes connecting the tapestry covering the walls.

The witches standing around me in their heavy robes were gasping for air as sweat trickled down their faces.

We were almost two miles beneath the surface of the earth, the trip down having taken over an hour with an improvised lift system.

I finished the connecting rune and a flash of energy ran over the walls, instantly cooling the scalding stone to a tolerable level.

Cracks and snaps like those of a frozen lake rumbled behind the walls as they contacted with the warm material.

“Okay, that’s better.” I said with a sigh, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

“Get to work.” I ordered the witches quickly scampering about drawing lines on the floor using chalk, silvery specks glittering in every line they drew.

A shadow rolled me over to a spot on the floor surrounded by a circular engraving. I tested the runic sigils beneath my feet, running a small current of power through them, and they responded, lighting up evenly.

The witches finished their work and stood silently staring at me. I waved a small notebook and their selected representative stepped forward, apparently chosen through brutal challenges that reminded me of the huntsmen.

She carefully took the book from my hand.

“Page thirty six, line eight, don’t be nasal.” I reminded her. “You.” I pointed at one of the witches standing near the circular drawing on the floor.

“Scuff that line by your foot.” The witch looked confused, but the longer I looked at her, the more she understood not to question and simply do as she was told.

She scuffed the line of chalk, breaking the containment spell, rendering it useless.

The witch in front of me looked on in worry, a silent question on her face, but I ignored it.

“Begin.” I growled, making her flinch and hurriedly run over to her sisters.

I opened my domain and armored drones shoved out a vampire in chains, its skin ripping and tearing as glowing deep violet light shone through from within.

It growled and hissed at me before turning its attention to the witches.

One thing I’d praise about this bunch was their composure. They could lose an arm and keep chanting if need be.

Didn’t know whether that was due to conditioning or their shared psychopathic traits.

They didn’t acknowledge the vampire’s presence, which only seemed to incense it’s natural arrogance even more, but it was firmly held in place by my shadows.

The one holding the book began to chant, calling names and ranks of chaotic entities unknown to people this side of the Planes.

Halfway through her chants, my shadows brutally shattered the vampire’s humerus and forearms, before moving on to its shin and thigh bones, crippling it.

They then proceeded to throw the energy rich offering into the summoning circle like a limp sack of meat.

As the witch leader finished her incantation, the circle lit up, sigils floating off the floor and hovering in the air.

I drew back every shred of active energy with my scent of darkness on it, just in case word had spread this far.

The offering shouldn’t be worth more than a lower caste, any greater chaotic entity would have to spend more energy coming here than they’d gain from it.

But the broken containment circle meant this wouldn’t limit them to doing someone’s bidding or brokering a deal.

They’d be able to break free and wreak havoc without fear of being sent back, an enticing prospect for most and something worth using their own energy on.

And sure enough, it wasn’t a servant answering the call, but a lower soldier, the cost of bringing such an entity here easily a hundred times the offering supplied.

It stood at a height of eight feet, elongated limbs tipped with four clawed fingers and a starved torso, it had no eyelids or lips, sharp and broken teeth lining its wide maw while dull tar-like eyes shimmered with violet energy from the offering.

It snarled hungrily, looking over the witches before looking up, surprised at my presence, not having sensed me before its arrival.

I smiled back with a similar hungry expression, confusing the dumb beast for long enough that one of my chains could wrap around its leg, its head snapped down with abnormal suddenness, as it moved in sudden bursts of speed, lunging at the chain around its leg.

Clawing at it, doing more damage to its own appendage as a result.

Another chain snaked its way up the Chaotic entity’s body before tightening, the creature now furious as it tore at the bindings shackling it.

Worry and panic appeared on its alien features as the chains went taut and began to pull it back towards the darkness rising up behind it.

It clawed at the floor beyond the circle before disappearing into the black void.

The witches sat shaking and quivering with wide eyes.

“Again.” I ordered, making them flinch.

***

“TIE HIM DOWN!” Naomi barked as several people in hazmat gear were trying to overpower the delirious Thomas.

It took ten people to finally restrain him, although Naomi wondered whether it had more to do with the leaking blood vessels in his eyes as the infection had worked its way deeper into his skull.

She looked through the transparent side of the field containment tent as the doctors injected him with every sedative known to man, their goal more so finding one that works on the afflicted than keeping him alive.

He’d become a guinea pig now. His only worth was as a test subject, which might be what he deserved. Naomi hadn’t forgotten the four corpses, just one tent over.

His team’s little excursion to the badlands had started bloody.

It was obvious to Naomi where they’d be heading, and she made sure there was constant drone coverage of the sight. The moment she spotted the team exit the remains of the facility, she sent every available unit under her command to go apprehend them.

Although she made sure that evasion and escape from the abnormalities came first and foremost.

Which was why it had surprised her when the teams returned with a clearly infected individual howling in a pain and on the brink of coherency.

Finding out it was Thomas had been even more troubling.

Naomi turned and left the tent marching towards the portable interrogation quarters, but as she put her hand on the handle, a commotion stopped her, bringing her attention back towards the front of the camp.

Several tinted SUVs came howling down the road, passing checkpoint after checkpoint, a black helicopter following closely behind them. It all screamed special something.

Naomi had no doubt the first words out of their mouths would be an acronym of some sort.

The motorcade pulled to a stop in front of her and a man wearing a suit and coat stepped out, frowning briefly at the mud on his shoes before looking up at her.

“Naomi Winters?” It was less so a question than a rhetorical statement. He knew who she was. “We’re with the ASD.” He said, as if explaining exactly who or what they were doing here.

“We’ll be taking custody of your prisoners, along with any materials they may have had in their possession.”

“What?! On whose authority?” Naomi challenged.

“On the authority of the Department of Abnormal Defense. Your Division has been restructured and you are to report to HQ for your new assignment effective immediately.” The agent announced, handing her a bundle of documents.

“You have been relieved of duty, Agent Winters. Stand down.” He said, stepping past her.

***

All around me laid passed out witches, many bleeding from their noses, some even from their eyes, the intense strain of twelve hours of summoning eventually getting to each of them.

It had been a good haul, the level of output steadily rising. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before I could collapse a true core into a singularity.

But more would always be better. An unending source of energy wasn’t the same as an unlimited one after all.

I snapped my fingers and gestured towards the unconscious bodies of the witches, several armors rising out of the nearby shadows, grabbing them by the scruff of their robes and unceremoniously dragging them along as we moved towards the lift before returning to the surface.

The Armors and I parted ways at the top as I moved outside. Day had turned to night, and the lights were on in the cabin ahead of me. A familiar town car was parked in front of it.

“Huh, wonder what Katya wants.” I said as my shadow wheeled me towards the house.

As we neared, I heard voices speak inside.

“What you want to do is keep a few beads of silver with you at all times, maybe a few trinkets, too.” Katya explained.

“And that will keep them away from me?” Agda asked worriedly.

“No, that will make them more inclined to listen to you. You might have to go through a few before you find one particularly susceptible to bribes, though. But none of that will work as long as you’re at odds. You need to be at least amicable.” Katya replied.

As I rolled inside, I saw Agda sitting at the dining table, her clothes slightly dirtied and ripped in places.

I chose not to linger on that fact and turned to Katya.

“You’ve been visiting an awful lot lately.” I joked. In truth, I’d been enjoying Katya’s drop-in visits.

“Well, with the amount of work you create for me on a daily basis, a cop of coffee and some light conversation seems the least you can do... Besides, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t felt the same pull that Agda feels towards a new Heir,” Katya retorted.

“Speaking of the trouble you make on a daily basis; what have you been up to lately?” Sophia said, walking over with a couple cups of steaming liquid smelling absolutely divine.

“Just the usual.” I replied as she was about to set down the cup of caffeine in front of me, pulling it away at the last moment.

“You’re lying.” She said, narrowing her eyes at me.

“So what? I’m always lying.” I replied, reaching out for the mug, but she pulled it further out of my reach and simply stared at me.

“Okay, I’ve been working on a project with the witches.” I added, holding out my hands for the mug, beckoning it closer.

“Oh? What kind of project?” Sophia asked as she sat down with my mug in front of her.

“If I tell you, will you promise to give me the coffee and not yell at me until I’ve gotten at least two sips in?” I asked in defeat.

“Sure.” Sophia lied sweetly, pushing the mug over to my waiting hands.

“I’ve been making them summon chaotic entities to fuel my expansion and preparations. They’re sleeping it off... Or they’re dead, one or the other.” I ended indifferently.

“What?!” the women at the table exclaimed.

“I think I’ll take this to go.” I said, as I willed the shadow to pull me away from the table in an attempt to flee.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Sophia said, grabbing the armrest of the chair, the metal whining as the shadow pulled against her.

“Aleks, you summoned demons in the valley. I thought we’d been over this?!” Katya admonished.

“Define In the valley.” I replied, taking a sip as Katya narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously.

“Explain.” Katya demanded.

“I dug down one and a half miles at an angle away from the valley and then proceeded to tunnel for a fair bit as well. Figured with all that’s been going on, it’d be best to be careful, just in case.” I answered.

Katya got up from her seat and grabbed her coat off the rack.

“Wait, where are you going?” I asked, confused.

“You’re going to give me a tour of every single tunnel you’ve dug in and around this valley.” Katya ordered strictly.

“Uhm... That might not be feasible.” I hesitated, Katya pausing halfway through the opening the door.

“How much?” She sighed without turning around.

“How much of my valley have you tunneled under?” She asked in disbelief, probing my mind as she turned to face me.

“Rough estimate? A couple square miles.” I said absentmindedly before noticing the looks I got, “But that’s across eight levels, including tunnels!” I hurriedly added. “In actuality, it doesn’t spread beyond a couple of miles from this location, except for exploratory tunnels!” continued.

Katya let out a weary breath.

“It’s like every single thing you do ends up in absurdity.” She complained.

“Oh, come on, it’s not like I sneeze diamonds and turn things to gold with a touch. I just dug a hole.” I argued.

“Is it at least structurally sound? Parts of my valley won’t just disappear into the earth all of a sudden?” Katya asked.

“More than any other in the world, I can guarantee that, and I’ve kept it away from populated areas. It’s mostly in and underneath the cliffs.” I reassured.

“In the cliffs?” Katya asked before shaking her head. “You know what? I don’t even wanna know anymore.” She announced before heading out to her car.

I looked at the people around my kitchen staring at me as if I’d someone done something wrong.

“What?” I asked defensively.

“You’re kind of a lot of work... you know that?” Sophia said disapprovingly.

“I, for one, believe you’ve done nothing wrong. It might prove useful to-” Agda began.

“The drones are workers. I have enough work cut out for me busting the occasional union. I can’t be seen taking sides on this one.” I interrupted, and Agda looked defeated.

A high pitched chirping sound could be heard outside as if calling someone out. A drone was clinking three bottles together as red pixilated eyes glowed wherever you looked.

“Jesus, what the hell did you do to them?” I asked, looking shocked at Agda as the half a millennium old Sentire Matriarch whimpered at my dinner table.

***

A shadow pushed my chair down the hall, whispers echoing from beyond.

“Don’t step out yet. It’s still watching.”

“Wait until it’s clear, then cross.”

“Take this with you, give it to Josephine. I’m trading.”

I looked ahead, the unnaturally thick cover of darkness parting to reveal the six rooms ahead, a figure sprinting across the hall, walls covered in claw marks from pouncing attempts at catching the little mice.

“Don’t get comfortable, its trying to lull us into a false sense of security again.” The Lead witch warned.

“Not this time.” I corrected, the corridor going deathly quiet.

“First room on the left. Both of you come with me.” I ordered sternly, the two witches practically jolting out of the doorless opening, wide eyed.

“Follow.” I said before the shadow turned my chair around and pushed me back down the hallway towards an empty workroom.