"I am hearing an awful lot about how magic can be used in war and how we want to control it. I would like to know how it can be used civilly. Can we improve our energy output, clean our environment? Can we use it for hospitals or social services? Can we use it for agriculture and preservation? These are questions I want answers to and would love to talk to experts about." - Representative Brooke Beck (I-SC)

Heaving a sigh, Kurt took a long sip from his coffee. He set the mug back on the table and looked to Val who sat on the couch next to him. She did not look happy and her ears laid flat against her head displayed her displeasure.

"Was it really that bad?" Kurt asked, looking to Kristi for support.

"Yes, Kurt. It was that bad." Val said. "You have no idea what it's like to watch you writhing in pain and not making a sound. Its creepy and scarry and-and… I am just so scared, and I don't know what to do."

She began crying again, having barely stopped from when he had woken up to her, clinging to him and bawling her eyes out while Kristi rubbed her back. The dragoness hadn't been exactly stoic in her vigil and had broken the arm rests of the chair she sat in while they watched him.

That was why they were in a cuddle pile on the couch that morning and still mostly undressed. Kurt's only activity besides stoking the fireplace had been to find a blanket big enough for them all to snuggle in. The current arrangement had him wondering if they made three person Snuggies.

"Well, I didn't feel any pain and don't feel anything now other than maybe a little extra hunger." Kurt said and pulled Val into a tight hug while Kristi's tail snaked around both of them. "How about I tell you what I saw?"

He recounted his dream for them, starting at his return to the cave and the first sections being lit and unmoving. The other wolf once more just watched from its corner, not engaging in any other way. Kurt had nothing else to do but move to the next section.

The panel Kurt stood before began to move, showing the stylized wolf head descending on the small village. The next panel showed that same village in the day with its people emerging from their huts and gathering around the figure standing beside the central fire. He recognized the figure as the man from the first two sections, the Origin.

The next panel showed those same villagers, led by the Origin, now changed into werewolves and hunting in the forest. Their prey wasn't depicted, and it seemed that they were just running to run. There was an odd sense from his instincts that said 'practice'.

Kurt moved to the next section and the first panel there. This time the village was larger, with several more huts and many more people around them. Once more, they all congregated toward the Origin.

He moved to the next panel and saw the people all dispersing, the huts being somehow shown as empty. Every group that left carried their belongings and walked in a separate direction. Each of the groups appeared to be a family, judging by the sizes of the people depicted.

The last panel in the section was divided in segments like a pie chart twisted to overlay a map, each showing one of the groups of people arriving at another settlement. While they were all met with caution and speculation, most were accepted while very few were turned away. In all this, the Origin remained in the small village with a handful of others around him.

Turning to the next section, Kurt stepped forward, anticipating it to remain dark but was surprised when it lit up. This time the first panel wasn't a recap, instead it showed the Origin standing on a cliffside overlooking a valley. Above him there was the impression of several things that he couldn't quite see and felt like the harder he looked, the more they faded. The only reason he felt there was something there was because of the strange light radiating from that spot.

What the Origin was looking for was lost on him as well. For all that he could tell, the man was just staring at a valley. His face didn't give much away, but Kurt knew he wasn't looking over the area in a sense of wonder or appreciating the scene.

Moving to the next panel, Kurt saw that the people of the first village had multiplied and that the villages they had gone to were now larger, almost approaching towns. People interacted with them in casual and friendly ways, and they seemed to be perfectly integrated into the community.

Then in the third panel, which showed a farming community at night, something changed. There was a sinister presence that Kurt could almost taste lurking in the shadows at the edge of the village. But the walls of the homes were not all that kept the dark at bay. Standing in a ring around the outside were the werewolves, shifted into their hybrid forms and standing guard over their people.

Kurt wanted to rush to the next section, but it failed to light up for him. Instead, he stepped back and looked at the sections that were illuminated. He hadn't noticed it before, but the art was subtly changing, morphing from a crude approximation of cave paint to something a little more refined. It took him looking at all the panels from a distance to actually appreciate the effect.

Suddenly, there was a sensation on his shoulder, and he felt his body being moved slightly. He heard the whisper of his name and knew it was time. With one final glance toward the wolf in the corner, Kurt awoke.

By the time Kurt had finished his retelling of the dream, Val had calmed down again and was once more pressed in tight to his side. Kristi was on Val's other side and was gently running her fingers through her tail while her own scaly appendage was wrapped over both of them.

The sound of a door opening and closing made Kurt look over to the breezeway entrance where he saw a familiar face poke out from gap in the door. Penny rapped her knuckles on the door frame.

"Knock, Kn- Oh. You are up already." She said while looking at them all in a pile on the couch. "Did you get the message?"

They all looked at each other before realizing they had left their phones in the bedroom. "Umm, no." Kurt said after a few seconds. "What's going on?"

"New rift incoming. I wanted to give you the heads up and see if you needed help with anything." Penny explained. "What's with the snuggle pile?"

"It was a rough night again." Kurt sighed.

"Ah." That was all Penny could say. They had filled her in on what had happened, since she was part of the team. Val had at one point mentioned the dreams that Kurt had which he was fine with, but the girls were freaked out about.

"I already put it in the tracker." Kristi said before slowly getting up. She stretched after standing, the motion lifting her, formerly Kurt's, t-shirt and flashing them all with a view of her panties. Penny blushed and turned back to the door at the sight.

"Well, it should be attaching in an hour or so. I will be setting up so you can… do whatever it is you do to get decent."

The comment made Kristi suddenly remember that she was only wearing two pieces of clothing, and she blushed before excusing herself. Val tilted her head up and shared a kiss with Kurt before she too got up and followed after her scaley companion.

"Welp, here's to another one." Kurt muttered to himself and drained his cup before shuffling off to the bedroom to get dressed with the girls.

*****

In his time in the army, Kurt had done many things while wearing armor and equipment. He had cooked in it, he had driven a vehicle in it, he had exercised in it, even conducting his morning ablutions while wearing it. The most common thing he did and once more found himself doing was waiting while wearing it.

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"I thought there was a rift attaching?" Kristi said from her spot on the couch.

Penny frowned and checked her tablet. "Yes, a rather high energy one judging by the sensors and info I have gotten. It's attached but the portal hasn't formed quite yet."

"Do we know when that will happen?" Kristi once more asked while looking out the window at the rain that had begun to fall, leaving little trails down the glass. "We have been waiting for it to open for over an hour now."

"Here, let me." Kurt said and stood up from his chair. He unbuckled and unzipped his vest before taking off his boots. He neatly stacked them in the corner and sat down again. He adjusted a little, making sure he was comfortable and resumed his wait.

"What are you doing?" Val asked, looking at him like he was crazy.

"Old trick, tempting fate." Kurt explained. "Once you say something along the lines of 'looks like the rain will hold off' or 'I don't need to keep the instructions' is when suddenly it rains, or you need the warranty information. Respectively, of course."

Val scrunched her face in thought. "I don't think that's ho…"

"Oh, looks like it finally formed. We are good to go." Penny said suddenly, cutting off Val.

Kristi laughed while rocking forward to stand. "Haha. Perfect."

Kurt just smirked and went to get his gear back on. The old adage of 'just when you get comfortable, it's time to go' worked out again for him. After a couple minutes, Kurt was once again ready, and they walked out to the hub and took a look through the portal.

So far, the monochrome image of the other end of the rift portals had displayed a normal looking forest, a cave and a not so normal forest. This time, the trio was presented with what looked like a sitting room in some sort of high-ceilinged mansion or palace.

They shared a quick look and a once over of their gear before stepping through the portal while Penny watched from her desk. Once again, they were met with the unpleasant sensation of something crawling over their skin which was halfway between static cling and cobwebs.

"It's a parlor?" Val said while looking around.

The room they had emerged into was a rather large, open room filled with Victorian décor and furniture. The walls were covered in rather glossy, decorative wallpaper and the trim was all a rich, well carved walnut. The flooring in this room seemed to be made from stone but the ceiling, some dozen feet above them, was brightly polished metal squares.

The walls were decorated with paintings that looked like an AI was asked to 'make a painting of a 1800s family' and not double checked. There were oil lamps, lit and glowing on their brackets but not actually adding to the surprisingly bright room. The trio of windows were darkened, not showing anything beyond them, even when Kurt shone a light through them.

"It's like it's just empty void out there." He said while clicking off his light.

"It might be exactly that." Kristi said while studying the sole door that lead from the room. "If the rift based itself off a mansion, it likely didn't consider the grounds in the equation."

After one more look around, they made their way to the door and opened it, taking a peek down the long hallway. At the far end, over thirty yards away, there was another door but nothing in between, except for the strange lamps on the walls.

They made their way along hallway at a quick pace, keeping eyes on the door at the far end. Kurt had shared his theory that the altars made a sort of connection that would attach to the rift. All the evidence they had seen in the four rifts pointed to the start location being forced to be off a hallway and be a safe location. Neither of the girls could disagree based on their shared experience and thought it was a likely explanation.

When they reached the door, Val was the one to crack it open and peek through, casting an illusion to mask the movement and give her time to survey the area. She looked around for several seconds, even sticking her head all the way out at one point before pulling back and closing the door.

"Well, creepy mansion is definitely the theme for this one." She said after making sure the door latched firmly. "I saw a rather large foyer with a few rooms on the close side before it opened up farther in. There was a grand staircase at the far end leading up to what looked like floor two of three."

"Any clues to what the creatures are in there?" Kurt asked.

Val shook her head. "No idea, I didn't hear anything either."

"Then we will have to press onward." Kristi said and hefted her machinegun, tucking the stock under her armpit to shorten it up.

Once more, Val led the way and put up an illusion before opening the door. They all entered the foyer and immediately crossed over to the other closed door. Kristi had posted up on their starting side and waited for them to assess the doorway then set up to provide overwatch. She was just making sure they didn't get jumped or caught between enemies.

When Kurt made a soft snap sound with his fingers, Kristi glanced over, and he nodded while taking up the task of overwatching the large space. She trotted quickly and quietly across then stacked up behind Val as she pushed the door the rest of the way open. They all entered and Val shut the door behind them.

The door opened to a smaller room that appeared to be a sort of waiting room. It had some low benches and chairs along the walls. Tall windows showcased the vast nothingness beyond them, and the wall lamps were accompanied with a hanging chandelier. All this was naturally secondary to the two creatures standing at the far side of the room.

They were mostly humanoid but had hunched backs and long arms barely contained beneath their suit jackets. Their hands ended in long, clawed fingers where every knuckle stood proudly against the split and desiccated skin. Their heads were in a similar state of decay with hair missing in chunks and scabs covering their necks and faces.

The faces were hideous in their own right. The skin hung in strange ways, both loosely on the bone but tight with decay and rigor. The eyes were bloodshot red to the point the pupils and iris were lost amongst the blood vessels. Their mouths were filled with broken teeth that seemed to all come to jagged points. The split and gouged lips barely containing the rattling hiss they made upon noticing the trio.

Kristi didn't hesitate and opened fire, cutting loose with a long burst from her underarm position. She walked the impacts up their torso's and into their head and face, causing them to burst apart before both of them collapsed. The passthroughs had made a mess of the walls and décor, splintered the wood and knocked down chunks of the plaster. The string of fire ended abruptly, and both Kurt and Val pushed further into the room, checking behind the couches on the far side of the sitting area.

Kurt stopped and kicked on of the monsters, rolling it over to look at what remained of it. "What are these things?"

"Ghouls." Kristi said flatly. "Horrible undead monsters. I am unsure of how this works in the rift but on my home world, they were the favorites of necromancers and lesser vampires. They are both fast and resilient. I would recommend shooting them in the head."

"Lesser vampire?" Kurt asked. He had never heard that term before despite meeting real vampires in the past. He only got a shrug from Val, confirming this was the first time she heard of it.

While turning to orient on the door, Kristi explained. "The lesser vampire is more monster than man. Those that have given in to their base urges and let themselves indulge more than they should. They are many times worse than a normal vampire in terms of their hunger."

Val and Kurt had moved back to the door. "What makes them worse?" She asked.

Kristi looked at her for a moment, hesitating a fraction of a second before replying. "Because they have no sense of self preservation. They will do anything to get their next meal. Including creating armies of undead from their victims to sweep through entire regions, killing and draining everyone they come across."

Kurt saw a look on her face that said she had witnessed firsthand the scene she was describing. He moved over and placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched slightly before turning to him and they shared a quick hug, made slightly awkward from their equipment.

"We got this." He said in a whisper. "Let's just put these monsters down and be done with this place." She nodded and took a deep steadying breath.

Val darted in after Kurt broke away and gave her a hug, whispering some reassurances of her own. When she broke away, she went to the door and went through the routine of peeking again. The next door was across the open area once more to their original side.

Once more they pushed out, moving as quickly as they could while staying quiet. The door they were going to was nearly at the end of the wall where the foyer opened up into what looked to be the wings of the manor. Thankfully, nothing stopped them on their trip to the door and they once more pushed inside.

This time they encountered a trio of ghouls. Again, the monsters were in similar tattered clothing that looked like it was once formal wear. They were all put down within moments of them entering the room and closing the door.

After dealing with the threat, Kurt noticed that the room was the same sort of sitting room with nothing in it besides some benches, chairs and the occasional couch. It appeared to be an inverted version of the room they just came from. He would liken it to a software developer reusing a resource and inverting it to its mirror image to just make it slightly different.

"Shouldn't we be seeing a wall or something? The hallway we came from is directly on the other side of that wall." Kristi said while walking up and tapping on the windows.

"I think this is the altar up to its tricks." Kurt said. "I am thinking of it in relation to the Order headquarters where things are connected in ways that don't make sense logically."

Regardless of their theories, they had no way to confirm anything and once more moved on to their task at hand. Kurt was anxious to see what the rest of the manor or palace opened up to. Once more they prepared themselves by the entrance and moved out into the main hallway toward the open area with the balcony and staircase.

When Val ducked into an alcove behind one of the decorative pillars, they all halted and pressed themselves against the wall, attempting to gain some cover. After a second, Val made a hand gesture before waving them forward and Kurt got his first look at the rest of the ground floor.

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