Page 87 of Chaos Carnival

“Come on,” I whispered to the night, my energy leaking out like a fresh spring of water. “Follow the breadcrumbs, boys.”

The first hunter materialized, weapon drawn, eyes glowing with righteous purpose. The second appeared three feet to his left, while the third hung back, thinking himself hidden. Their confidence rolled off them in waves. Three elite hunters against one hybrid abomination.

In their minds, it was already over. And in truth, too—but they couldn’t begin to grasp how far off their version was.

“The traitors' pet witch,” the first hunter sneered, his blade glinting in the night. “All alone and out of bounds.”

I laughed, the sound rippling through the air. “Oh, sweetie,” I purred, watching him flinch as my voice seemed to come from every direction. “I'm not exactly what you think.”

I let them begin their choreographed performance, watching their movements with something like pity. They were so… confined to linear time and space.

Time to show them what real power looked like.

“Shall we play a game?” I asked, weaving threads with my hands. This night was about to take a very interesting turn.

The first hunter lunged, blade singing through air that somehow wasn't there anymore. I let the air ripple around him like water, watching his eyes widen as the ground beneath his feet began to writhe. Tree roots that existed in another dimension entirely burst through and reached for him with insatiable hunger.

“What the fuck?” He gasped, phasing backward. But I was already weaving the next illusion, pulling threads from a thousand realities to create horrors his mind couldn't process.

The second hunter's blessed chains coasted through the space I'd been, as I stepped sideways through another plane of existence and back out again. “Having trouble?” I asked, myvoice echoing from every direction. “Maybe you need a better view.”

I reached into the ether and pulled, tearing the sky open above them like a suture. Ancient creatures peered down with eyes of fire and void, their wings spanning over them like a dragon towering over a trembling mouse. The hunters' fear spiked into delicious ambrosia as vicious darkness dove at them, screaming with voices outside of time.

“Stop these tricks!” The third hunter revealed himself, energy flaring impotently.

“Tricks?” I laughed, the sound fracturing into a thousand echoes. “Oh, darling. You haven't seen anything at all.”

I let them see me then—small, vulnerable, apparently trapped against a tree. The perfect target. They took the bait, all three converging on my position with weapons raised and triumph in their eyes.

At the last possible moment, I pulled three ribbons at once.

The resulting explosion of light and power sent them sprawling, their weapons clattering to the ground as the universe itself seemed to shatter around them.

I stood in the center of the chaos, letting them see what I'd become, a being of infinite possibilities, each movement rippling through countless dimensions.

“You're not hunters,” I told them, watching terror replace confidence in their eyes. “You're toys.”

I reached into the threads and began to pull—one, two, three… four!—watching with dark amusement as the first hunter's eyes widened in horror. The air around him began to crystallize, forming jagged spears of frozen matter that sang with my voice.

“What is this?” he demanded, his voice cracking as he phased backward. He found himself surrounded by mirrors in the darkened sky.

“This?” I gestured lazily, making his reflection reach for him with hands made of claws and hunger. “This is what happens when you chase something that’s… bored now.”

The second hunter tried to flank me, but I was already gone, leaving him grasping at the lies and echoes. I phased behind him, my laughter bouncing between his ears like a demented symphony.

“Would you like to see what lurks between worlds?” I whispered. “The things that swim in the void between my fingers?”

Before he could answer, I pulled another thread, and the sky above him ripped open like wet paper. Ancient beings that had never existed in this timeline peered down with eyes made of galaxies and teeth forged from dead stars. Their wings spanned the horizon, made of darkness older than time itself.

The third hunter, still thinking himself clever in his hiding spot, raised his blade. “These are just illusions!”

“Are they?” I smiled, letting the air ripple around us all. “How can you be sure?”

I reached out with my power, weaving them into their futures. The clouds above began to reach down with hands made of storm and lightning. Trees uprooted themselves, their branches becoming tentacles that writhed with impossible life. The ground beneath their feet turned to glass.

The first hunter tried to phase away, but I caught him in a web of visions, showing him every death he'd ever feared, every nightmare he'd ever had, all at once. His scream echoed across dimensions as he burst into blue flame and vanished, banished back to Hell.

“One down,” I sang, my voice harmonizing with myself. “Who's next?”

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