Outbreak

Damage Control

Day 4̶͓̦̍̿̾7̶̩̀͝

Sabre's P.O.V.

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I have never been so grateful to see the sun, unless you count the time I finally came out of the darkness' reach and into the Rainbow Hub.  I could still hear Shadow taunting me, but his voice grew muffled as I replaced the stone and dirt blocking the sword's chamber, blocking his face from view.  I'll admit, I took pleasure in burying him again.

"We should hit the one by the Rainbow Kingdom first."  M is saying, scribbling out the plan in a notebook.  "Since we know where it is, and it's close to a large steve population.  Even if the kingdom members don't find it, lots of steves come in to trade, and they'll be at risk."

M had suggested that we start by trying to destroy the Demon Steves' portals.  It might not do much about the reality warping, but at least it would stop Steve's from stepping inside.  It feels kind of pointless to me, since I'm not sure any steves are actually going to find the portal, but I can't think of anything else to do.

"There might be one by the village I trade at."  Thera points out.  "They've had a missing steve problem, too."  I glance at him in surprise.  I completely forgot about that.

"You think that's the...things?"  I barely stop myself from saying the Demon Steves.  Origin, I'm going to have to watch myself more carefully.  "Because those steves still seem to remember a little bit.

"Some of that depends on how much the missing people are thought about."  M explains.  "And whether they walked through a portal or were just taken."  We're all huddled over the shadow sword's hiding spot at this point, and I hope that wherever the Demon Steves are, they're still repelled enough to stay back.  "I don't know.  We don't have it down to a science."

"Fair enough."  Thera concedes.  "Let's go!"

The only problem with M's plan: We don't exactly know how to close a portal.

Once we're in the cave, staring at the swirling red light, we all send each other confused glances.

"Uh, M?"  I ask.  "What now?"

"Don't touch it."  he says slowly, which is kind of unhelpful.

"How do we break it?"

"...Try throwing something?"  he suggests, although the high tone of his voice doesn't sound very confident.  Thera takes an apple out of his inventory and lobs it toward the portal.  It sails straight through and into the other dimension.  The portal keeps swirling, undeterred.  I hope at the very least, the apple bonked a demon in the head. "Hmm."

He begins to look around the cavern for ideas, although it's hard to see anything in the dim lighting.  "What's that thing?"

"What?"

"Over there."

Thera turns, trying to figure out what M is talking about.  Once his back is turned, M quickly throws a fireball into the portal frame, shattering it.  Smooth, M.  Smooth.

"AAAH!  What happened!?"  Thera yelps as the cave is plunged into darkness.  I'm startled by the high pitch of his voice.  Is Thera scared of the dark?

"Oh look!  It went out!"

"C'mere."  I say, walking toward his voice and managing to grab his shoulders.  "It's alright."

M manages to find me in the dark, teleporting all of us out of there.  In the light of day, Thera looks bewildered, clutching onto me tightly, before loosening his grip, blinking as his eyes readjust to the sun.