Our story thus far: “We’re OK so far,” said Seth the Dragon. “The Evil One always announces its arrival with the Chime of Doom.” As if on cue came the thunderous clang of a bell overhead, as if from a mutant Liberty Bell a hundred times larger than the original. And on the other side of the fence, next to the dragon, an inter-dimensional portal reappeared.
“I don’t think our ‘secret weapon’ will work this time,” Dejah said ruefully.
Sure enough, as before, a huge, scaly foot began to emerge from the portal. It was still ghastly, still gnarled, and still looked more like a tree trunk than animal skin, with three clawed toes.
And this time, when it reached the ground, the foot found purchase, not dog poop. And then, a second foot came through.
“The Evil One, I presume?” I said, and suddenly realized that Grenn the elfin being was no longer in sight. “Oh! Should we run?”
“Get in the house,” said Seth the Dragon. “I’ll handle this.”
I made my way to the stairs, checked the bottom of my shoes, climbed up and looked back. Seth had unfurled his wings and reared back on his hind legs. Dejah was underneath him, staring at the spectacle.
“DEJAH!” I screamed. She looked up at me and blinked.
“Oh, dear. Coming!” she said and scampered to the deck as quickly as an 11-year-old golden retriever is able.
Summer dashed inside as soon as I slid the patio door open, and Dejah waddled in behind. As soon as I got the door closed, we heard a humungous whooshing sound and the daylight grew brighter outside.
I ran over to the living room windows facing the back yard and saw Seth the Dragon standing at the fence. Whatever came through the portal was huge, perhaps 20 feet high and almost as wide.
Sadly, I had no idea what the creature looked like in its prime, because all that remained was a 20-foot-high pile of blackened ash. Seth took a deep breath and blew, and the ash dispersed across the septic mound on the other side of the fence.
“It’s OK,” the dragon called. “Show’s over.”
“I missed the whole thing,” Summer said.
“Me, too, it was pretty quick,” I admitted. I opened the patio door and yelled, “Isn’t the portal still open?”
“Yeah, but worblatts don’t run in packs,” Seth said. “There won’t be another one of those things coming through anytime soon.”
Grenn reappeared next to the garden shed.
“That was a big one,” he said.
“Yep,” was all Seth said in reply.
“What else is on the other side of that portal?” I asked.
“Wanna see?” Grenn asked.
“No!” Summer cried.
“If it’s all the same to you,” I said, “I’d prefer to stay on this side of the portal.”
Dejah rumbled down the stairs, went to the fence and sniffed in the direction of the blackened ash.
“I’m surprised that something called the Evil One isn’t more durable,” she said, perhaps a little too haughtily.
“That’s because the Evil One isn’t a worblatt,” said the elfin one.
“What?” Dejah looked a tad surprised. “I though that big bell sound was the Chime of Doom.”
“Right, it was,” agreed Seth the Dragon. “That just means the Evil One is in the neighborhood with a minion or two.”
“Or three,” agreed Seth.
“Or four?!” I asked warily.
Seth and Grenn looked at each other. “No,” the dragon said finally. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it traveling with more than three minions.”
Summer ventured out onto the deck at last and stood as close to my knees as she could without tipping me over. “I thought you said there wouldn’t be any more creatures coming through the portal?”
“No more worblatts, for now,” Grenn said. “That much is true. But —”
Just then, a buzzing sound came from the inter-dimensional portal, and a second later a swarm of insects surged through.
