Tai Rone seemed to always be in the business of ‘getting in too deep’. Being on a quest right now to assassinate a political figurehead, in a city he’d never been to, in a possibly interplanar portal was bordering the edge of his comfort zone- but the fact that he had made the conscious decision to pose as a professional exorcist in order to gain entry to a strangers house for really no good reason was definitely a mistake of his own making. It was in Tai's nature to be curious, to question pretty much anything and everything and sometimes he’d have to deal with the consequences of taking his inquiries a step too far. It had seemed like a cool idea to him and Corvus to check out what the glowing powerful light emanating in the backroom of some random citizen’s house was, but now he wasn’t so sure.

  Because right now, he was standing on literally nothing.

  The portal was gone, and although he could recognize Momo, Pan, Corvus, Mbaya, and Aritian standing around him, nothing else made much sense. Bright lights that looked like massive stars convulsed and moved across the sky above, flashing a nice emerald green. All around them was a nearly infinite black void with what looked like absurdly huge watery spheres in the distance. It was too much to take in. After a few moments, Tai thought he was going to go mad.

  Then, a booming voice brought him back to reality, or whatever reality this was.

  “WELCOME PUNY MORTALS, welcome!” boomed an intense, manly and excited voice.

  A few feet ahead of them, purple vapors and dust condensed to create the shape of an animal of some sort- a tiger, in fact, as large as a horse carriage. Its mouth was enormous and sharply fanged, but the strange entity spoke with such wit and interest that it was somehow difficult to feel threatened by the massive feline. Then again, as a cleric, Tai knew that some deities had the ability to affect the perceptions and attitudes of those who entered their domain; which given what he was witnessing, is exactly what Tai suspected.

  “I am Cloudor, God of Chaos, and a great enjoyer of games! You adventurers who have found yourselves here are invited to participate in a contest of my own design! Win, and I shall grant you an item of great power!” he announced vibrantly.

  Although Tai was familiar with several deities that were prevalent in Yilan, Cloudor was not a name that he had heard of before. Or if he had, he certainly didn’t recall anything right now.

  “Um, mister Cloudor, is it?” chirped Momo, scratching the tip of his beak-mask. “What happens, ah, if we lose the game?”

  Cloudor’s ethereal body flashed red-hot, moving forward. “Then you DIE!”

  The group of adventures flinched back a few steps in fear.

  “Kidding! HA! Just kidding!” jested the god, “No, if you lose- well, I guess you’ll have to find out.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” said Corvus, “but if it's only a game we have to play for treasure, we shall play.”

  “We? Woah, woah, woah, I never agreed-” stammered Tai.

  “FANTASTIC! Then get ready!” yelled Cloudor.

  From nothingness, a straw dummy clothed to look like a soldier appeared before them.

  “The game is simple- you will all take a turn making a single strike with a weapon of your choice against the target! Whoever does the most damage to it, wins!” explained the misty beast.

  “First up- Corvus! Take your best swing!”

  From his backpack, Corvus unslung his large greataxe, a formidable 6-foot long iron pole with a double-edged blade at the top. Taking a moment to focus his breathing, he approached the dummy after a short run and put all his force into a sideward swing aimed at its neck.

  The straw target suddenly, to the surprise of everyone, leaned back significantly, bending at the hips to dodge the swipe completely.

  “WHAT?!” exploded the half-elf, “Did it just MOVE?!”

  Corvus, nerves building across his neck, turned to Cloudor, who was floating above looking quite pleased.

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  “I suppose it did move. I mean, I never told you it wouldn’t move, did I?”

  “But targets don’t move by themselves! EVER!” bickered Corvus.

  “But that would make it too easy,” retorted the mystical tiger.

  “I’ll go next,” declared Mbaya, guiding back Corvus carefully. Aritian did his best to assure Corvus that if he were to try another attack at the dummy now that he knows it can move, he’d surely hit it.

  In the blink of an eye, Mbaya’s boarding axes were both in hand, one made of mighty polished iron, the other of an auspicious golden material. He studied the dummy as if it were prey cornered in a forest.

  “Cloudor. You said we get one attack- but what if I strike with both my blades at the exact same time? Would that be allowed?” asked Mbaya.

  “Hm… I don’t see why not,” smiled Cloudor.

  “Good,” said Mbaya as he prepared his stance. He placed both axes together, side by side, so that his attack would strike simultaneously on the target if he hit. However, after a swift dash forward, he separated both his hands and instead swung in a cross swipe, one axe going left and the other right moving oppositely.

  The dummy tried a similar trick as before and shuffled back a step to move out of the path of danger, but Mbaya was quicker- the golden axe of his ripped through its chest, spewing a violent stream of feathers and straw into the air.

  “Good hit!” commended Cloudor, “To be expected of a learned slayer.”

  Tai whispered back to Aritian and Corvus beside him, “What the hell’s a slayer?”

  “Slayers train to be precise hunters,” described Aritian, “their expertise lies in tracking their quarry, studying them for weaknesses, and delivering a quick killing blow. Only someone so violent-minded could be an effective slayer…”

  “Oh! Me next! Me!” crowed Momo, as he approached the dummy, who had freshly re-formed its wounded section so that it no longer was ripped. Pan snarled impatiently and placed a paw by the tengu’s leg.

  “Um, Mister Cloudor, Pan here is wondering if she can attack the dummy too? Or would it not be allowed since she’s my companion?” inquired Momo.

  “Either you or the panther can make the attack on the dummy, not both,” explained the god.

  “I guess you can go then, Pan. Give it your best shot!” cheered Momo.

  Without a second to spare, Pan eagerly leaped at the straw man and mauled it with both claws. It seemed whatever forces that were controlling its movement didn’t even have time to react, as it failed to dodge whatsoever. When the fragments of dust, feathers, and straw settled down, there were two clear tears down the sides of the dummy, claw marks left by a savage attack. The adventurers collectively winced at the devastation left behind by the dark cat.

  “Leave it to a fellow feline to be so strong and accurate! Now, who’s next?” prompted Cloudor.

  Aritian bit his lip doubtfully. “I can’t do anything as destructive as that. I’m more of an aide in battle than a fighter. How about you, Tai?”

  Tai wasn’t so sure either that he could execute an attack that injurious. But there was something he was capable of that the others hadn’t necessarily accounted for in their strikes.

  “Yeah, I’ll try.”

  The cleric moved forward to the dummy and unsheathed his two-handed greatsword. Moving his hand across the blade, he whispered a spell’s incantation- “Sun Metal”. Invigorated by the fury and prowess of his patron deity Gorum, Tai’s heavy sword was now set alight with orange flame that neither harmed the weapon nor its wielder.

  “May a glimpse of Gorum’s strength flow through me!” cried Tai as he swung deep into the target. The straw skin and feathered insides had a terrifying reaction to the flaming blade as it exploded outwards in several plumes. Aritian and Momo cheered in celebration while Mbaya grunted in displeasure.

  “WOAH! Incredible job if I may say so!” congratulated Cloudor as he floated down to the same vertical level as the group, “which makes the winner of the game no surprise… Tai Rone! And as for your prize, here you are…”

  From nothingness, Cloudor summoned forth a translucent crystal, jungle green in color, about the size of a squash fruit. There were various oohs and ahhs from the group admiring its beautiful luster.

  “Thank you, oh-benevolent host,” praised Tai, “I’m sure this gem will be worth a lot of gold…”

  “What?” exclaimed Cloudor, “No, you cannot sell this crystal. Keep it,” he said as the ethereal cat tucked it away into Tai’s belongings, “There is much more than meets the eye in it. Well, until next time, I’ll bid you goodbye, and good luck on your adventures.”

  “Next time?” said Corvus confusedly.

  But the environment was already warping, changing color and shape until Cloudor no longer was in front of them, and the log-walled kitchen of the rich kobold’s house became their new surroundings. They were back in Garaizan now, from wherever in gods’ name they had come.