at Midnight

"Open up you two timing scumbag!" Bethany continued to bang and shout on the door of her boyfriends small tenement home, unconcerned with the ruckus she was making or what neighbors she may be annoying. "Answer me you Pozdok!"

"I don't think I know that word" Zok commented, calmly watching the spectacle with you and your cousin.

"Trust me, it's not a kind one" Your uncle, Senna's father, was foul in the mouth, and is where the three of you had learned it: A disparaging slur to insinuate the person was a child of an incestuous union.

"Oh" He nodded along, not asking further "Your sister must be really angry than."

"Well" You retort "she's been cheated on, apparently. Most people would get angry about that."

"Reminds me of my brother" Zok began "I had to break the door to his home open once after he was caught breaking his marital vows. He had to answer to the Priestess of Quargh for that, let me tell you"

You looked behind you, ensuring there were no other witnesses, before looking at Bethany still stubborningly banging the door. "I don't suppose you wouldn't mind doing that again, would you?" You asked. You'd hoped that the Orc could get there on his own, but needed some time to work it out.

"But, he's all the way in -" Zok stopped himself, having realized what you were asking "Oh, Right, That Door". He moved without another door to help, giving you a free moment to give your cousin a curious look, genuinely surprised at her choice in men.

"Excuse me miss" He said kindly. Beth immediately silenced herself, taking a few steps back to give the hulking green mass space. He took a short look at the door before raising his foot suddenly, bringing it down near the handle. As his enormous weight from his body bore down, the door splintered open. He promptly moved back, allowing access to the space. She stormed into the room, her bright red skin a stark contrast in the darkened room. The rest of you stayed back, agreeing without needing to speak that whatever happened next, she should have her privacy. Either from the prolonged silence, or the gaping broken door, time seemed to drag on.

"She's been in there a while" You remarked first "Kinda weird if no one's here."

A moment or two later, Beth walked out, a scrunched look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Senna asked

"It's like an entirely different space. Nearly everything is gone, and that's not the oddest part..." Without asking, she lifted her arms to show an large, ominous black book. "Only thing in there other than the bed." There was some form of writing in an impossible alphabet, inscribed in gold "I don't wanna be the first one to say it, but this looks like seriously bad stuff,".

Senna looked over the book with some worry. "If this is what it looks like, than we've got bigger problems than infidelity. Allanathras could be the center of what we've been looking into,".

"The center of what?" You asked, unfamiliar with her topic, before Zok piped up.

"Allanathras? Isn't he that guy about to buy the place we were just at?"

All eyes turned to him with stunned and worried looks. "Say that again Zok." Bethany prodded "What's going on?"

"A week ago I heard someone by that name yammering a lady's ear off at this tavern I was working. He was saying he was going to own the Extra Ordinary by the 15th. Was being obnoxious, and we had to excuse him out."

"What did he look like?" Your sister inquired, getting increasingly concerned.

"He was short for a human. Scrawny, black hair, brown eyes."

"Well, that sounds like him. Physically, at least. He never said anything about trying to get into business, let alone buying the Extra Ordinary. Don't even know where he would have gotten the coin to do that."

You felt your mouth dry up and your throat tighten, the words getting increasingly hard "I don't think that was his plan." You struggled to get out "Tomorrow is the 15th, meaning if he's going to do anything, it has to happen tonight."

"He's not big on honesty, clearly" Bethany was doubtful

"I'm not ready to leave that up to chance. We need to get to the bottom of this." Looking at Senna and Zok "All of us,". A sudden flash of dread came through your mind. "Harlihn was going to stop by the Ordinary tonight, I've got a bad feeling. We gotta back, now!"

It seemed like you ran faster now than you ever had before, and for greater distance. Out of practice, you could feel the burn in your legs and lungs, the sweat forming on your body in the warm evening air. Most of all, the constant heaving of your large, heavy chest as you ran was incredibly uncomfortable, but even that you were able to bare through in order to get back as soon as you could. The ordinary was pitch dark by the time you returned, which didn't indicate anything either way. You had looked for any signs of anything off as your compatriots caught up. Just as they started to get up to you, you barreled in, pushing the door open with both hands. As you enter the Ordinary, you see a dire situation. The tables and chairs are gone to make room for a ritualistic sacrifice, with Allanathras standing at the center, and poor Harlihn on the floor, laying on his back, a circle or grim purple and green energy glowing around them.

"Bagh! It's the whores!" He called out as he saw you come in, followed by your sister "I never could tell either of you apart, and it doesn't matter now. This is the beginning of the end. The End of All Things."

"Heretic!" Harlihn called out, mustering his last bit of energy for a moment of defiance, before a dagger of energy cut into him.

"No!" You shouted out. As you rushed towards him, he vanished in a plume of vial black smoke, leaving you alone with your victim.

"Harlihn?" You called out as you knelt down "Can you hear me? Can you speak"

The old dwarf grabbed at his chest, his gray beard turning red with blood "Once again Tiff, I think you're walking away looking better than me"

You let out a small laugh among the grief "Oh shut up. We gotta figure patch you up, this is hardly the time for jokes" You looked around for something to use for the wound, coming up short.

"This is all the time I got left" He groaned and coughed "can't hold onto it for later, can I?"

You quickly realized the futility of any attempt to save him, a fate he seemed resigned to as well "Harlihn, I'm so sorry. I should have been here. I could have"

"Not another word out of you on that!" He refuted "You'd have just been another corpse. You gotta pick up where I left off, okay? You got your sister, and your friends. You'll figure it out. Just promise me one thing"

"Anything" You nodded along, fearing the inevitable.

"You make that Heretic bastard pay. Let all the gods suffer him."