The man stood by the pedestal, his body was like a ghost, monochrome blue and semi-transparent. He wore the same clothing that I had seen depicted, though less flowing, a uniform consisting of an apparently seamless one-piece suit, a scarf and a knee length cloak, seemingly stiffened at non-articulate areas. Though it wasn’t discernible due to the grainy image and monochrome, it seemed to be made of the same material throughout.

“Who of the Depths are you?” Aon asked, warily eyeing the man, she backed up a step, forcing the others to step back as I weaved past her through the entrance. The man watched me as I stood, considering the pedestal and the book from afar.

Fralator grunted, “You are of the Brigade I gather, those clothes are highly distinctive, though rarely seen.” He peered toward the image, as Aon and Jubin made way for him. “This is a communicator then, where are the other members of the Brigade?” He asked, his voice tinged with urgency. He came to a stop before the man.

“Sadly you will not be able to speak to them. What is held within the “book” is a soul vessel, specifically mine. You are currently within an annex connected to Brigade headquarters in Laroanther.” He replied, fluidly, and paused in anticipation.

“Wait just a moment, Laroanther is on the other tiding side of the planet, in the middle of our largest desert, how in the Depths could we be there?” Aon interjected, her arms outstretched.

“Iocenes, our Reaver worm, brought you here.” The man answered light-heartedly, smiling from ear to ear. “No doubt you’ve heard the stories, exaggerated as they may be.”

Fralator stared at him flatly, “You mean to say that we entered the mouth of a Reaver worm, whose face incidentally looked akin to a door and had a carpet tongue, and it excreted us into the hallway behind us, with no ill-effects at all.” His eyebrow twitched. “Truly?” The ghostly image nodded with a jovial smile as a blustering sigh escaped Fralator’s lips.

“Your reactions are very refreshing to watch, it’s been quite a while since I had the honour of surprising our new members.” His face then grew stern. “To the point, I am conscripting you into the Auxillary Corps of the Brigade. I fear that the Brigade has committed to mutual extermination.”

“A month ago the Adversary’s presence was detected.” A globe formed in his hand, and a patch of fog covered an entire hemisphere. “This raised concerns, for the usual signs that accompanied it were completely absent. More worryingly, the presence had solidified immediately,” As we watched, the fog gathered together, forming a pillar over a spot on the globe itself. “which normally signified the climax of the Adversary’s manifestation, alongside mass Annihilator groups.”

“The Brigade, and the Auxiliary Corps’ combat force was immediately dispatched, with all members converging at the location.” His eyes held ours. “Less than a week later, what you now call the Collapse occurred.” The pillar shattered, and the shards rained down in an arc, penetrating the globe. “Their communications stopped abruptly. Iocenes has scoured both the globe and the veil beyond, and found no trace of them.” A loud unearthly whine resounded within the chamber, and I turned to see a single large eye staring at me from the wall. “I can only assume they all perished at the convergence point, where Iocenes cannot tread.”

“Wait, there are places a Reaver worm can’t go?” Jubin asked, leaning away from the eye blinking at us unnervingly from the wall as he stared at it, incredulous.

“Yes, they traverse along the aether within the Magi plane. Any change in property, or in this case density, of aether will prevent locomotion. The barrier we created against Reaver worms used this quirk as well, though Iocenes was excepted from its effects.”

“I will require you to enter the convergence area, assuming the area isn’t covered in a death field, and check on the status of the Adversary and its armies. I have no reason to assume armies are still active, considering the lack of full scale incursion, but the continued silence regarding the situation unsettles me.” He says quietly. “If possible, we’ll also have to recover their articles.”

“How exactly are you going to follow us?” Jubin asked, now comfortable enough that he was poking the incorporeal form of the Brigade member, who watched him with amusement. “I mean, that is what you intend to do correct?”

“The book is used to keep my soul vessel in a way that prevents harm and also makes it easy to keep track of, the actual vessel is about the size of a fist.” He said, curling a hand into a fist to demonstrate. “Simply press here, and twist this out and I can follow you.”

We followed his instructions, revealing a dull blue orb, which we put into a satchel apparently made for its transport. Iocenes materialized once more, this time as a cave entrance instead of a door. “By the way, my name is Oroc. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Wait a moment, what about our tasks? As Menders we are obliged to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the Collapse. We cannot simply abandon our posts.” Fralator suddenly remarked, as the rest of us were about to enter the gaping maw of the Reaver worm.

“If they followed the protocol we outlined, another team of Menders is already on its way. You were selected for your combat experience alongside magic ability, or rather, you should have been.” He eyed us critically, “We also asked for three, so who’s tagging along? Probably you then, the man silently eyeing me who wears what I would describe as medieval peasant wear.”

I nodded, putting myself into a natural stance, while mentally mapping exits in case I needed to escape as quickly as possible. Though as of now there was only one exit, and I’d likely be chased by something that apparently existed in people’s nightmares. Wonderful.

“You look like you’re about to bolt, what kind of people do you think we are? Iocenes will return you to the city, there’s no need to worry, you haven’t exactly seen any of our secrets.” The man shrugged. “However, your wounds might make that difficult. Why do they still persist, considering that you travel with three Menders of considerable skill?”

The Menders quickly explained their dilemma regarding my injuries, to which he looked thoughtful. If he had any light to shed on the subject, he didn’t use it. Ushering us instead into the Reaver worm. We exited a moment later within an armoury, and a person who nearly jumped into the air at the sight us seemingly materializing from thin air.

“You must be the quartermaster correct?” The girl nodded, mouth agape at the incorporeal member of their illustrious Brigade. She stared for a moment longer before Oroc leaned forward to snap his fingers before her eyes.

“You’re looking for weapons or armour?” She asked, pulling her arms closer and lowering her body unconsciously, her voice tentative. Oroc smiled, a wide grin from ear to ear.

“Why yes, for these gentlemen and the lady.” He said, gesturing to us. “I clearly have no need for new armour, and a weapon would clash so with my wardrobe, what with me not being physical and all.” She smiled uncertainly at us, her eyes darting to and fro from Oroc to our group. “Oh, yes, this is a good chance to get to know what combat you’re all familiar with, come on, fire away.”

“Ryvian nobility, and thus a career soldier. I’ve never seen combat, but I’m confident in my training.” Fralator began, picking out a set of ballistic armour, what appeared to be an assault rifle, a pistol, along with a set of bullet clips, which he then went to the back to don.

“I was trained in similar, though I was part of mandatory national service rather than nobility, since we don’t have that there. Do you have Trebian gear by the way, I’m not trained for the standard gear for Ryvians and Wveri.” Jubin said with an easy smile. The quartermaster nodded, ushering him to the back to pick out his gear.

“Well, in mah case the Touched get selected for specialized training, meant for mixing magic and equipment for the best results, kinda like a cocktail. So considering you’re with the Brigade and all, you wouldn’t happen to have the Torcean Rave gear would ya?” She smiled as the quartermaster brought her to the back as well, assuring her of the availability.

Oroc gestures for me to step into another room as the others prepared themselves. “You’re not from this world are you?” He says, his voice a low whisper that only I can hear. I grimace. “Don’t worry, I’m not accusing you of anything, I was once like you.” He says, and as my eyebrows shoot up in shock he sighs.

“I thought you were with the rest of the troupe, I mean, I haven’t heard from Leeroy and Garoth in years. People like us have always been caught up in some of the most interesting situations, or so I’ve heard.” Oroc whispered, concern on his face. “You’ve never met any people who claimed to be affiliated with the Rift?” As I shook my head he continued. “How many portals have you been through?” I pause, raising three fingers. He cups his chin, and after a second looks to me. “I have a favour to ask of you, accompany the team, and I will teach you how to use your abilities properly.”

“You just talked about some supernatural army being in that location. I’ve barely even used guns before.” I shake my head vehemently. “It’s not worth it.”

“The army should be scattered or even outright destroyed. The others should be able to take them out with minimal intervention.” Oroc says, “I can teach you to focus your abilities, grant you an edge, all I’m asking in exchange is for you to help me with those same abilities. I can even give you some lessons on using guns.” That’s one big favour you’re asking still… I click my tongue.

“Fine, but whatever I learn from you had better be worth this.” I say, letting out a sigh.

“Good, now… tell me about how you normally fight.”

Oroc picked out a set of gear meant for scouts, emphasizing mobility and camouflage rather than protective ability, upon hearing a brief summary of my travels. He explained that I was going to be a mid-range sniper, who was going to have to be calm, careful, but cowardly. Hopefully suited to my skills and traits. I also received a rifle, which I was quickly coached through the basics of use and maintenance. Oroc also convinced the others to try out the practice range, helping me get some practice in so I wouldn’t be a total disappointment on the field.

“A headshot, good, try again with the moving target eh?” Oroc said with a grin, the practice range was apparently huge, and a single person could have quite the amount of area to practice in. It helped a lot to practice sniping at moving targets. Having a person coach me through the breathing methods also helped, with Page giving me reminders every now and then when I slipped up. “You learn alright, there weren’t any real glaring errors, though your reload could use a little more speed.”

After that was group practice, which was intimidating. Fralator and Jubin moved with catlike tread, silently seeking cover and taking aim at superhuman speeds to eliminate their targets, occasionally slipping out a grenade for groups. They synchronized easily, adjusting almost instinctively to the other’s rhythm. Aon was a wholly different matter, she weaved her own shields when out of cover, her bullets punching through cover, seeming to curve in their trajectories, or even blossoming into small explosions when facing groups. She was notably slower in her movements, though her versatility quickly made up for that. I practically faded into the background of gunshots and cordite.

Oroc surveyed the carnage we had wrought upon the passive, hapless targets, nodding with an openly impressed face. “Looks like they didn’t disappoint. That’s some serious skill you’re all packing.” He turned to me, whispering, “That’s one hell of a bar to catch up to though, good luck.”