Several weeks have passed since the mission that resulted in several powerful witches turning traitor, and the coven has been hard at work ever since. They were all ordered to return to base immediately, and upon arriving they found that they were not allowed to leave under any circumstances. The matriarch has been planning something big, and not only does she need as many witches as possible to get everything prepared within a reasonable timeframe, but she also isn’t willing to risk anyone else joining up with that filthy Athena and sharing what she’s been up to.

 

The preparations are finally complete, however, and every witch in the coven has gathered at the large hall in the centre of their headquarters, standing in a circle around a complicated runic circle that fills most of the room. The matriarch watches from high on a raised platform that reaches over the border of the pattern like a dock reaching over the shoreline. Null stands at her side, peering down at the arcane drawings below.

 

“Matriarch,” The red headed witch begins, “If I’m allowed to ask, what’s the purpose of the ritual we’ve been preparing?”

 

The matriarch sighs quietly. “I suppose there’s no harm in divulging the truth at this point, it’s too late for anyone to stop us when we’re so close to performing the ritual. Do you remember that false witch Athena?”

 

Null looks down at the nub on her right arm that once was a hand with disdain. “Of course I do.”

 

She remembers Athena quite well, and how could she not? The infamous, accursed doll who grew jealous of its own witch and stole her powers. It now lives in a forest on the border of the coven’s territory, taking joy in kidnapping any poor soul who enters, using them as test subjects for twisted experiments to make herself stronger.

 

Null had almost been one of those victims herself when she was a child, and the evil doll had already taken one of her hands by the time the matriarch, who happened to be nearby at the time, was able to save her. Null swore that one day she’d find that Athena and get her revenge, it was her reason for taking up witchcraft and joining the coven in the first place. Few in the coven would dare speak the name of that despicable being out loud, but all know to avoid the forest under any circumstance.

 

“We’re finally going to put an end to that heretic.”

 

“Really?” Null says in surprise. “How are we doing it?”

 

“What I’m about to tell you is something you’ll never find in any book, it’s a closely guarded secret passed down by the most powerful of witches. There’s a being that we call ‘the ancient one’ that exists in a dimension beyond our own. It possesses incredible power, and its form is one that defies all comprehension. It is said that countless millennia ago, it briefly visited our universe, and the energy it left behind still lingers, even if it’s impossible for most humans to perceive. In truth, that energy is what we witches tap into when we use our magic. This creature is the closest thing to a god that has ever existed, at least as far as witches are concerned.”

 

“That’s a lot to take in…” Null says as she continues to watch the circle from her vantage point. “So is the point of this ritual to harness enough of that energy to strike Athena down?”

 

“Even better…” The matriarch grins wickedly, which Null takes note of. She can’t recall her ever having smiled at all in the years that she’s been in service to her.

 

“We’re going to summon it. Have it kill the doll, and any others who stand with it.”

 

“I see…” Null assumes the ‘others’ she mentioned are the failed experiments that roam the forest in search of prey. “Of course someone as powerful as you would know how to perform such a ritual.”

 

“There are few records of this ritual ever having been performed in the entire history of witchcraft, but there’s enough surviving information that someone adequately versed in the topic could recreate it. Summoning the ancient one allows the one who casted the ritual to use the creature as they wish for a short time, but it comes at a great cost.”

 

“What sort of cost?”

 

The matriarch glances down at the witches gathered below. “There’s more than one reason I wanted all of my witches here, although they’re unaware of that for obvious reasons. That doll’s actions have had a significant impact on our numbers, but sacrificing this many witches should still be enough to accomplish what we need.”

 

“What if it’s not?”

 

“Well, Null. I do not wish to sacrifice you as well, it would take quite a number of years to find another with as much natural talent for magic as you possess, but if your life is also needed to complete the summoning then I will not hesitate to offer it up. One as powerful as you should more than make up the difference.”

 

“Of course, matriarch.” Null crosses her arm across her chest in salute.

 

“We went far too long without realising exactly what sort of threat we were dealing with, and now we’ve lost some of the most important witches in the entire coven. Furthermore, that doll has grown too powerful to be dealt with conventionally. This is going to end right here, before the situation gets even further out of hand. I’ll do whatever I need to in order to wipe that mockery of a witch and its ilk off the face of the planet, even if I have to rebuild the entire coven from scratch to do so. I created it once, and I can do it again.”

 

The matriarch holds one of her arms out in front of her.

 

“The time is now, my coven. Begin the ritual!”

 

At their matriarch’s behest, all the witches beneath her start pouring their magic into the runic circle, and it starts to glow an otherworldly green. A strange energy creeps into the room, sending a shiver up the spine of many of the witches, but not much else seems to happen.

 

“Is it working?” Null asks. “Do you need me to-”

 

“Don’t be hasty.” The matriarch replies curtly. “We must be patient, none of them have even dropped dead yet.”

 

“Keep going!” She calls out. “Feed it more of your power!”

 

The coven continues pouring everything they have into the portal, some witches are starting to strain themselves as they approach their limits.

 

Suddenly, the circle gives way as a massive portal opens up in its place, sending a shockwave of magic through the room and bathing it in an arcane green light. Currents of otherworldly energy stream through the portal, weaving through and around everyone present. Sparks of incredible power erupt like thunder and lightning in the air around them. Ancient, unknowable energies from another dimension fill the room, and begin seeping through the closed door behind the matriarch to spread to the rest of the building.

 

“Yes, YES!” The matriarch yells as she approaches the very edge of her platform. “Hear me, ancient one! Heed my call and rain death upon my enemies!”

 

The hall begins to rumble, something is coming through the portal. The matriarch watches several witches fall to the ground as they writhe in pain. They’ve already run out of magic, but the ritual has already begun, and it will continue for as long as the matriarch wills it to. Once their magic runs dry it starts draining them of their souls, their very essence, the only energy left to take from them.

 

But… something seems off. That part of the process is meant to go by quite quickly, a witch’s magical reserves are far more plentiful than their life energy, so those who have already run out of the former should be dying within moments, and yet none of them seem to have stopped moving. They’re still breathing, still struggling on the ground, some of them are even calling out to be saved as tears stream from their eyes. More and more witches use up the last of their magic as the seconds go by, and they’re all showing similar symptoms.

 

If the matriarch didn’t know better, she’d almost think they were…

 

It’s… almost like… they’re…

 

Dear god…

 

They aren’t being drained of their life force, a lot of them might not have even run out of magic. They probably aren’t even in pain right now… At least not physically…

 

They’re crying.

 

“Ngh, m-matriarch…” a voice calls out from behind, and she turns to see Null on her knees, clutching her head.

 

“Who… What am I…?” Is all she manages before falling unconscious. Whatever is happening is having a much harsher effect on Null compared to the rest of the coven.

 

This isn’t how the ritual is meant to go. Something is wrong.

 

“Everyone, stop!” The matriarch calls out. “Close the portal!”

 

Those who are still standing stop feeding the portal, but nothing happens. The portal remains open while the remaining witches succumb to emotion one by one. Why didn’t the portal close? If anything, the rumbling has only gotten stronger. The slightest hint of panic creeps into the matriarch, her witches stopped giving the portal power, so it should have closed. What’s going on? The only possible explanation is that…

 

…Something else is keeping it open…

 

Just as the matriarch starts to connect the dots, six large tentacles of varying colours shoot out around the edges of the portal. She looks on in shock as they rise up and then lay themselves out along the ground, any witches that would have been in their way being harmlessly pushed aside by the currents of magic that continue to spill out. The matriarch doesn’t care about whether her witches are okay, however. She’s more concerned about what the tentacles are doing. It seems as if whatever is on the other side of the portal is getting ready to pull itself through. 

 

“No, no!” The matriarch yells. If the ritual went wrong then there’s no reason to believe the ancient one will listen to her, if they’ve even summoned the correct being in the first place. She’s in danger, her headquarters are in danger, and the entire world could potentially be facing unimaginable levels of destruction if something isn’t done. She can’t rebuild her coven if there’s no one left to recruit.

 

“Get out! Out of my headquarters!” She sends a powerful blast of energy at one of the tentacles, strong enough to kill the most ferocious of animals, but it dissipates harmlessly upon making contact, seemingly not affecting the beast at all.

 

A moment later, the tentacles all tense up, and the rumbling grows even more intense. The matriarch continues her assault, wanting the invader out of her domain, but her attacks continue to prove ineffective. It doesn’t take long before something else starts coming through to this plane of existence.

 

Slowly, but steadily, a large mass of flesh, tentacles, eyeballs, and yet more flesh starts to rise up from the portal, each section of the being writhing and pulsating in an irregular fashion. The matriarch desperately continues trying to attack as dread overtakes her, but her attacks continue to prove ineffective, and the otherworldly green glow grows ever more intense for every inch of the beast that crosses over. Part of her wants to run, but her pride won’t allow her to admit defeat, not even when facing off against an ancient god that has only invaded this world thanks to her own hubris.

 

The mass of flesh continues to rise from the portal much like a cake rises from the tin while baking. There’s no way of knowing how large the entire thing really is, and how much is still waiting on the other side, but it suddenly starts to shift. It stops moving upwards as a single unit, and instead the centremost part of the monster starts stretching upwards, with the rest of it slowly following behind in a spiral formation.

 

The matriarch, too exhausted to continue her assault, just watches as the pulsating mass reaches towards the ceiling, only slowing down when it approaches the same elevation as her to form a horrible spire in the middle of her hall. There’s only one thing left that she can think to try.

 

“I summoned you here! Will you do my bidding!?” She asks, the fury still in her voice despite the futility of her previous efforts.

 

The creature from another dimension starts to glow brighter, and then she hears what almost sounds like a gentle chuckle, but it doesn’t come from the monster or the portal. It comes from everywhere at once, but also nowhere. She hears it inside her own head, but also from an unfathomable distance away. It’s deafeningly loud, but also imperceptibly quiet. Then the creature goes silent, although the room is anything but, thanks to the sounds of the incomprehensible power that fill the room, combined with the pained sobs of the witches below.

 

Moments later, the glowing light that emanates from every crease of the creature starts to focus itself, and waves of energy travel up its body, converging at the top. The very tip of the mass starts to enlarge with each pulse as the waves of light reach it, until it starts to resemble a large, glowing bulb, more than capable of illuminating the massive room all on its own. Then, as if it were a flower, the fleshy bulb starts to peel outwards, revealing what lies within.

 

The matriarch can’t believe it, she takes a few steps back, trying to steady herself, but she finds it impossible to take her eyes off of what has just bloomed out of this bulb of meat.

 

“No! No! It can’t be!”

 

There, protruding out of this mass that could likely overrun this entire building if it continues to come through the portal, is the upper half of a wooden body. The same green glow of unimaginable power can be seen coming out of every seam and joint that isn’t submerged in the flesh, but it shines brightest in the wooden eyes that now stare right through the matriarch’s very being.

 

All the matriarch can do is stand there in disbelief as her very being is assaulted with sound once again.

I’m afraid it very much can be. I’d say it’s about time we finally met, wouldn’t you agree?