Despite the warnings, Theo wanted Golem Hives in both his and Tresk’s throne rooms at the minimum. After observing the hive on Erradon for a while, he believed their power outweighed the risks. Although they didn’t have access to more of the alloy, they had plenty of powerful metal to create more hives. The alchemist started with his own realm, ensuring it was implanted with all the stipulations the one on Fenian’s planet had, before moving on to Tresk’s world.

Soon, both their realms were defended by the powerful golems. It was a comforting thought, but Theo was reluctant to do the same thing for the mortal world.

“Ethics be damned!” Tresk shouted. She stood knee-deep in the mud of her own world, and it didn’t seem to bother her at all.

“Ethics have nothing to do with it,” Theo said. “I’m not putting a hive on the mortal plane, since I don’t know what’ll happen when I hit the big red reset button.”

“Okay, fine. But we should put at least one in Khahar’s world.”

Theo frowned at that idea. “I can already hear him in my head. He’s grumpy enough as it is, so I don’t want to stir the pot.”

“Why, because the idiot got himself stuck on Khahak?” Tresk asked, spitting into the mud. “That’s what I say. Homeboy bound himself too tightly to his world. He’s gotta live with the consequences.”

Theo rubbed his face, watching as a frog swam through the muddy water. “Remember, he did things in the order he did them for the sake of the world. The only way he could get the Thrones of Power to show up was by breaking the Ascendant system. And the only way to do that was to ascend.”

“Bah. Hate when you’re right…” Tresk pulled one foot from the mud, earning a squelching sucking sound for her efforts. “Ew. Anyway, what are we gonna do? I’m officially bored.”

Theo tapped his chin. “Well, let’s go over our list. We sorted the gods out.”

“Well, the Warriors of the Shard did that for us.”

“Uh-huh. And we fixed the energy so the system isn’t freaking out.”

Tresk shrugged, making a sound like a deflating balloon. “That was one of the most boring things we’ve done in recent memory.”

“We’re part-dragon. Maybe we can do something with that,” Theo suggested. “But I’ll remind you, everything we do should be something that makes it better on the other side.”

“Let’s see… I bet if we go to Pogo, she’ll have something cool for us to do,” Tresk said. “The Dragon Flights are weird, so maybe some organization will do them good.”

“We used the storm potion, and you think the dragons will do anything but go into their corners?” Theo asked. “Pogo was unaware of what the Storm Flight was doing, so I doubt they’ll work together without some serious prodding.”

“I got it,” Tresk said, snapping her fingers. “Something dangerous, and completely fun. Are you in?”

“You haven’t told me what we’re going to do, so naturally I don’t want to agree,” Theo said.

“Come on!”

Theo rolled his eyes, sensing her plan. It was stupid. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“Yeehaw!” Tresk shouted. “Hop on my back. Let’s go.”

Theo gave her a flat look.

“Metaphorically hop on my back. Don’t do it for real,” Tresk said, jerking her head to one side. “We’re leaving the kid here, don’t worry. Where we’re going, there’s not enough room.”

Theo metaphorically jumped on Tresk’s back, which meant that he allowed her to fold the void. A moment later, they were standing in pitch darkness. Of course, the marshling was quick to withdraw the extremely bright lantern from her inventory, illuminating the cave around them. The cavern was massive, with gray stone walls stretching as far as he could see.

Letting out a low whistle, Theo looked around. The energy in the surrounding rocks was strange. They were infused with a potent form of magic, but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. “What kind of magic is that?”

Tresk rubbed her hands together. “Time magic. I think. Or space magic, maybe?”

Theo narrowed his eyes at the walls, taking in more of the energy. “Which realm are we in?”

“I dunno. It tastes like pennies, though,” Tresk said, getting on the ground and licking the floor. “Pennies and tar.”

Digging through Tresk’s memories, Theo figured out where they were. He didn’t know the name of the realm, but it rested in a graveyard of similar realms. This was one of the old godly realms, but not one from his time. It was far older than that. It was something the people from the old world would call and Elderling realm, which the alchemist took to mean was a realm of great power. Death’s realm fell into that category.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Why did you bring us to the caves, though?” Theo asked. “Doesn’t this place have a throne room?”

Tresk shrugged. “Maybe it does, but I can’t find it.”

Tresk might’ve brought them there, but now it was up to Theo to figure out exactly where they were. He started with their immediate area, taking readings of the latent magic in the walls. For the first time, he could claim he was getting quite good at it. If the magic was related to concepts of time, he couldn’t even guess. But as a man who regularly bent space to his will, he could agree that they were infused with space-related magic with a hint of dimensionality.

Theo folded the void, bringing them to a spot that radiated power within the world. The pair appeared in a spartan room with a stone throne on the far end. The walls were made from hewn stone, and the floor matched. It was almost completely bare, with only the throne, a small banner behind it, and a few tables scattered around the area.

“Woah, how did you find it?” Tresk asked.

“I looked,” Theo said, approaching the throne. He placed his hand on the surface, and while he half-expected a system prompt to appear, nothing came. “I suppose we can make a potion from the throne and see what happens. But, tell me the truth. Are you trying to go back in time? Maybe forward in time?”

Tresk offered a heavy shrug. “I don’t know! I just thought this magic would be pretty rare, so we should check it out.”

With no interest in going on a time-traveling adventure, Theo took caution. He studied the room and the energies that flowed through it before he gained some understanding of the place. He determined it was older than the Elderling realms, and completely unused. The other realms he had investigated, those of the fallen Ascendants, had a thread of something interesting attached to them. There was a clear connection to anyone who had ever sat upon those thrones. But this one was bare.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise when a familiar voice squeaked out within the room.

“Nope!” Fate called, rushing over in a huff. “This is the worst one!”

Theo gave her a confused look, turning to find the young elf in a floral-pattern dress. She had her hair up in two buns and a very annoyed look on her face. “The worst one of what?”

Fate sighed, reaching into the air and plucking at nothing. She drew it toward her, revealing a glittering golden thread suspended in mid-air. “The worst fate. I’ve kept a close eye on this one for a while, and you’re finally here.”

“Make the potion, Theo,” Tresk said, rubbing her hands together. “Let’s tempt fate.”

Fate shot daggers at Tresk before huffing again. “In the future where you mess with this realm, things go sideways. Do you know how the gods work out in the wider universe?”

“Not a clue,” Theo said.

“Here’s the quick version: they have tiers. In any sector, you can have Billy, the god of crochet. He’s really low on the tier list. You can also have a local god of death.”

“Francis,” Tresk said. “Francis, the God of Death.”

“Yeah, sure. Francis would be higher up, but he still isn’t at the top,” Fate said. “There are gods who have influence over both universes. They are at the top of the top. And if you gain their attention… Well, I’ve seen the future. It isn’t good.”

Theo weighed his options. They were really only there to sate Tresk’s curiosity. If the marshling got what she wanted, they wouldn’t even need to make the potion. “What kind of calamity are we talking about? World-ending?”

“Sector-ending,” Fate corrected. “There’s a primordial god out there that watches time itself. I observe fates, which can go into the future, but this lady watches all of time. Have you ever seen a Time Mage?”

Theo shared a look with Tresk. They both said, “No.”

“Because she kills them or steers them off that path before they become Time Mages,” Fate said. She pulled the golden thread tighter, revealing that it was dissolving in her hands. “The fact that we’re still talking means that you don’t intend to make that potion, which is great. I’ve spoken to this time god before, and that is just some heat we don’t need in the sector.”

Theo tapped his chin, going over a few things Fate had said. “Wait. Two universes?”

“Ugh. Why do I have to explain everything?” Fate asked. “Yes. The God of Time split the universe into two to correct for an error. We’ve only had one breach in our space-time bubble, but we’ll see some more once the barrier drops. Now, are you two going to promise not to mess with time?”

Theo looked around at the throne room. He imagined it was a place where an Ascendant planned to screw with time. Perhaps this God of Time had swooped in, destroying them before they could go through with it. “We should collapse the realm,” he said after a long pause. “We should actually do that for a lot of the realms out here. Is that something the gods can help me with?”

Fate tilted her head to one side, as though considering the option. “Well… We’re supposed to work with the throne-people… But everyone is so busy.”

“Why aren’t you busy?” Theo asked.

“Only two heavenly realms passed the test,” Fate said, puffing with pride. “Fate, Omen, and Hallow.”

Theo barked a laugh. “The pacifist passed the test? Okay, now I’m interested.”

Fate giggled. “He had siphoned all his energy into a massive army. But he refused to kill anyone, and ended up taking all of the Warriors of the Shard that attacked him prisoner. Meya was very pleased.”

“What about you and your brother?” Tresk asked.

Fate laughed again. “We saw them coming. So, we just left our realm empty. There’s no way anyone in the Warriors wants to sit on a throne for the rest of their life, so they gave up.”

“I guess that’s one way to do it…” Theo trailed off. He really wanted to destroy these dangerous realms. The system might recycle them during the reset, but then again, what had the system done that gave confidence to that idea? Some things fell to the Throne Holders and the Gods. “Let’s go get Hallow. These realms have gotta go.”

Fate considered the offer for a moment, before eventually shrugging. “No need. Omen and I have enough power to help, and we’re the only ones that can leave the heavens without special permission. My brother won’t be happy about it, but he’ll lend his destructive power to the cause!”