“In any case, Helian, if you’ll humor me – let’s discuss the ‘novel’ in more detail. Who wrote it, and how did you end up reading it?”

  “It was written by a good friend of mine… I mentioned I was pretty bored, since I was stuck in bed with nothing to do. They promised to write something for me, if I agreed to read it.”

  She nodded. “I see. Was it any good?”

  I laughed. “It was garbage, if you ask me. Even so, it was fun to read. They knew me well, so the characters fit my tastes exactly, or were at least fun to hate.”

  Coroban’s pitch-black eyes twinkled. “I hope I was in the former category, Helian?”

  “I’ve no comment on that question.”

  “Back to the subject… if you don’t mind me asking, how did the novel end?”

  “I don’t know. I never got to finish reading it… my encounter with Atropa is the last part I remember. It’s possible there was more after that, if they kept writing.”

  I had a feeling they would have stopped, even though they had a devoted fanbase.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  No accounting for taste, I suppose.

  “Were you the only person who read it, Helian?”

  I shook my head. “No, they released it to the public. A few thousand people read it, I think. I looked at the comments once and they were fairly positive for some reason.”

  “Comments? What does that mean?”

  “Oh, right. So, we had a way to share words and images across long distances… and if you shared a story or a painting, other people could tell you what they thought of it.”

  “This raises a possibility, Helian, though you may not wish to hear it.”

  I had a bad feeling about this. “… go ahead.”

  “You see, the ritual used to summon one from another world required the concentration of a great many magicians to perform. As such, were it possible to send a person to another world, it would be similarly difficult. While you and I practice magic differently, for most it requires recitation - words that embody concepts - to bring those concepts into being. Do you follow me so far?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “When you first learned to read as a child, did you read out loud, Helian?”

  Oh, no. “… yes, I think so.”

  “Most do. And even once they stop speaking the words aloud, the words still take form within the mind, do they not? At least, it was that way for me. Like being able to hear your favorite song in your head, even if the world is silent.”

  “Are you saying the novel was a ritual?”

  “Quite possibly. The most important question, I think, is whether it was performed on purpose. If it was, we can’t rule out the possibility that they had a larger plan in mind and could be carrying it out even now. That could be the cause of your current predicament. Helian, what was the author’s name?”

  “Their name was-”