“It’s called the Apeiron.”
Dawn was glad she didn’t have to write it down. She had enough jokes about the word being written as ‘ape iron’.
“It’s a...vault, in the simplest of terms. Stuff gathers there. Getting in is nigh impossible. That’s why THIS-” The rod of blue metal. “Was literally scattered across dimensions. And the door? Or rather, doors? Equally hard to find. But it’s worth it.
“The items said to be in there...are absolutes. And considering the utter mess the attempts to find Neeko’s people are becoming, there’s an item in there that will cut through all the nonsense.”
“You may want to tell them why we need to jump through more hoops.” Vent said.
“...perhaps the rarest item there was called the Fate Locus. It was literally a book that knew everything. Mother...kind of stole it. For a time. Whatever forces are around the place, they don’t like my family. Or anyone connected to them. So we kind of have to...sneak in through a back door with a key. But it’s all right. I’ll just find what I need and use it and get the data and put it back and we’ll leave and EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE…”
“But first, we need to find a door. And as you may have guessed, these aren’t remotely normal doors. They might be here and then gone again when you look away. So we have to split up and look for a few...strong chances, you could say.” Vent said. “There’s likely to be danger, nothing like this ever manifests in a peaceful place.”
---
"I'll ride down the road and call the guard. It won't take long."
The villagers, huddled together, watched the blacksmith, who had lost weight and looked pale, ride into the fields for about ten seconds. They watched as something pulled him into the rows.
They watched until one of them stepped forwards.
"...are you alright?" He had the tone of voice of someone who didn’t want to know.
"I'll rrrride down the rrrooAD AND caaallll the GUARD. IT won't take Loooong."
The voice wasn't the blacksmith's. It wasn't going to be. It was the voice that people had been hearing in their fields for the past week. And then in their barns for the past four days. And now it was outside town.
Dumbly, they went home. They hung garlic over the windows and tucked their children in, and got old weapons from forgotten wars down from above the fireplace.
It didn't help.
