Thadeus drives his knees through the mud, shoulders hunched, every breath a sting of lake water and grit. The portal still flickers ahead, thin as a wound in the air.
Behind him, Chaos splashes out of the shallows, closing fast. His scythe hangs low, not yet swung, as if he is measuring the last few yards.
The broken sword handle lies half-buried by the pedestal, useless now. The unstable rectangle of forest light shivers harder, its edges stuttering like a signal about to die.
Thadeus Jovanović
Three yards. Maybe less.
Chaos
Still running, Thadeus?
Thadeus lunges again, dragging himself toward the threshold as the lake ripples behind him. The portal brightens for one sharp beat, then narrows, demanding a choice right now.
✓ Quest Accepted
Escape the Eternal Corridor
✓ Quest Accepted
Return to his own reality
“Thadeus realizes Chaos will reach him before he jump through the portal. In a last ditch effort, he whips out Peacebringer in its chain form, and cries out for its strength. Thadeus begins to levitate off the ground, the energy coursing through him. His eyes begin to shine bright blue, then his veins in his arms. Then more light shoots out from his feet. Thadeus screams, light expelling from his mouth. Chaos stops chasing, feeling the energy coming off of Thadeus, the ground beneath beginning to break away.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Thadeus plants his feet in the mud and hauls the Peacebringer up in chain form, the links flashing blue-white in his grip.
Thadeus Jovanović
Now.
The weapon answers his call, a surge blasting through his arms and chest as he lifts off the ground, suspended above the shore.
Blue light crawls over his eyes and veins, then spills from his boots and mouth in hard, violent bursts.
Chaos brakes in the shallows, scythe lowering as the mud around Thadeus fractures and spits outward.
Chaos
That is not human power.
A shockwave tears from Thadeus and rolls across the lake edge, flattening the ripples, shuddering the pedestal, and driving Chaos back a step.
The force costs him, too, burning through his throat and leaving the portal flickering thinner, the opening now only a knife-edge of light.
Thadeus leaves Blue Lake behind and arrives at Reality of open space.
“With the energy built up by Peacebringer, Thadeus twirls the chain in front him, faster and faster until it explodes a thunderous burst of power towards. Chaos quickly deflects the energy away, dryly laughing. "Again, human, so foolish to think you can hurt me with such..." Chaos stops speaking when the deity realizes his hubris. The blast launched Thadeus through the remaining gap in the portal, just before closing. Thadeus finds himself falling endlessly through a reality of open space.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +3)
The lake is gone. Thadeus drops into black openness, where there is no ground, only distance and a cold scatter of dim stars that do not move like stars should.
The portal snaps shut behind him with a wet flicker of blue, and the last seam of shoreline blinks out, leaving him tumbling alone in the open void.
Thadeus Jovanović
No wind. No up.
A thin trail of blue-white links unspools from his hand, then gutters, as if the Peacebringer is holding onto something that cannot be seen.
Chaos
Human. What have you done?
Chaos hangs at the edge of the vanished threshold, one hand lifted against the closing tear, his scythe angled low as the opening shrinks to a pinprick.
Chaos
No...
Quest Complete
Escape the Eternal Corridor
New Gift: Corridor Architect
Quest Complete
Return to his own reality
New Gift: Reality Anchor
Thadeus leaves Reality of open space behind and arrives at Thadeus's bedroom.
“Thadeus, having launched through the portal, is now falling through what appears to be a void, with shimmers of paths all around him. He sees one shimmer that looks like an image of his bedroom. It is! He aims himself as much as he can towards the shimmer, hopefully to finally return to his reality.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +4)
Thadeus hits his bedroom floor hard, then rolls free of the landing, his shoulder scraping carpet instead of void. The room snaps into focus around him, dark and familiar, the broken edge of reality sealing behind his back like a held breath released.
Thadeus Jovanović
Bedroom. Real carpet. Real walls.
He catches sight of a shimmer in the air by the dresser, and inside it, a clean image of his own bed and bedside lamp. The opening steadies as if it recognizes him.
Thadeus twists mid-fall, drives his weight toward the shimmer, and lands through it with his boots skidding on his bedroom floor. The void is gone.
The Peacebringer’s blue links collapse into a handful of sparks over his palm. A low click answers from somewhere in the room, and the air goes still.
On the bedside table, a thin seam of light winks out beside a phone that buzzes once, then falls silent.
Thadeus stands inside his own bedroom, breathing hard, while the last shimmer fades from the wall like a closing eye.