Ko, Katsuki, Emiko, Rin, and the outer space aliens described in this story are from the Science Fantasy novel, They Left Magic in Their Wake, by Marilyn Peake. The magical items are also from this novel.
The librarian, Dr. Henry Armitage, is a character from H. P. Lovecraft’s novella, The Dunwich Horror, which is in the public domain. Cthulhu is a character from H. P. Lovecraft’s short story, The Call of Cthulhu, which is also in the public domain. The giant penguins and protoplasmic shoggoths are from H. P. Lovecraft’s novella, At the Mountains of Madness, which is also in the public domain.
Get They Left Magic in Their Wake here:
Marilyn Peake’s website:
After your guests have been sucked into a Lovecraftian nightmare, try plying them with sugary confection. That seemed to be the advice DM Max had received from the RinthCon management for his final gathering of players in D&D Room #5 at Dave’s D&D Cavern & Watering Hole.
The players were seated at the long rectangular table with a map at its center, chatting with each other. A woman dressed like a mermaid, glistening turquoise tail swaying behind her, wheeled in a tray loaded with desserts. This included a thickly frosted five-layer cake topped with the words: May we meet again somewhere in the multiverse.
Everyone had shown up except for Adelina. Her friends from post-apocalyptic Japan whispered to each other about their concern. Adelina was clumsy as all get-out. They couldn’t imagine her surviving what they’d all been through without a massive dose of PTSD.
When Adelina finally showed up, Katsuki ran over and gave her a hug, accidentally knocking her chair on the floor behind her. “You made it!”
Adelina gave her a puzzled look. “Of course I made it. Why?”
“Oh, no reason.” She glanced at the friends with whom she’d traveled to RinthCon. “We were just afraid we wouldn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”
Adelina brightened with a smile. “No worries. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
Max placed his hands on the table. His DM screen with the snowy, cloud-rimmed mountain, dragons circling overhead, lay flat on the table next to him, no longer needed, now that RinthCon 2324 was coming to an end. “I hope you’re all doing OK. Yesterday was…something. Everyone OK?”
Murmurs and nods followed. If Max was looking for ironclad certainty that everyone was all right, he wasn’t going to get it.
Leaning forward, he continued, “The RinthCon organizers asked me to extend their sincerest apologies. We had no idea fictional characters could travel through the multiverse to get here, or that we could end up inside book locations in a similar way.” He gestured toward the metal tray. “Anyway, here’s a peace offering…”
The aliens were the first to accept the invitation, heaping colorful desserts onto paper plates after carefully studying their choices.
After everyone had helped themselves, there followed a pleasant time of winding down. The D&D players spoke briefly about their experiences inside the world of H. P. Lovecraft horror stories, then changed the subject to less disturbing things. They chatted at some length about their lives back home. Most expressed interest in visiting each other in their home worlds if they ever found a place other than RinthCon to travel through the multiverse. All agreed, shakily, to attend RinthCon next year and to look for each other there.
Adelina left the get-together with Katsuki, Emiko, Rin and Ko. When they’d traveled a fair distance through the tunnels of the gaming pits, she handed a package wrapped in rainbow-swirled paper and tied with a fancy curled bow to Katsuki. “This is for all of you.”
Katsuki blushed. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know we were exchanging gifts.”
Adelina chuckled. “Well, we’re not exactly. Go on, open it.”
While Katsuki opened the box, her friends watched with curiosity.
There, resting on white tissue paper, was a glowing black rod around three inches in length and half an inch in diameter. Katsuki lifted it carefully. “What is this?”
Adelina looked around furtively. “I won it in a card game with a bunch of orcs. It has magical properties. Watch this…” She took the item from Katsuki’s hand.
Pulling a glowing yellow sunspot bomb from a pocket in her shirt, she pushed it into the right end of the rod. She then pulled a blooddrop bomb from a different pocket and forced it into the opposite end. The rod began sizzling with current, which soon quieted down to a mild hum.
Emiko asked the same thing Katsuki had asked. “What is it?”
Adelina shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure. It’s cool, though, don’t you think, the way it glows black and makes a humming noise?” She placed the item back in the box where it hummed against the tissue paper.
Emiko stared at Adelina. “Is it dangerous?”
Adelina stared back. “I don’t think so. It’s a magical item, but it doesn’t have much power. The orcs used it to change the numbers on their playing cards, same as we used the bombs to change the outcome of our dice throws. Watch…” Sitting on the ground, she rummaged through her backpack until she found a deck of cards. Spreading out four tens in the shape of a fan, she passed the bar over them. They glitched and vibrated and then… “Four Jacks! What do you think of that?”
Emiko laughed. “Whoa. That is pretty cool. Thank you so much!”
The group hugged Adelina, the half-human, half-faerie woman with stunted wings and a kind and generous soul.
Rin said, “We’re going to miss you. Here…” Rummaging in his pocket, he handed Adelina a sunspot bomb and a blooddrop bomb. “A little something from us: a couple more magical bombs.”
Adelina smiled. “Thank you. I’m going to miss you, too!” Wiping a stream of tears from her face, she added, “Well, I’m headed home. Walk me to my portal?”
“Of course!” Everyone agreed.
Before she entered the portal bridge, Adelina waved goodbye, sweeping her arm in a wide arc, then blew kisses.
As she turned around, her friends spotted a tentacle slide up Adelina’s back and crawl into her backpack.
Ko ran forward, stopping only when Adelina disappeared on her entry into the multiverse. His stomach muscles tightened as he returned to the group. “You don’t think…I mean, you don’t think…that was from a Lovecraft story, do you?”
No one answered.
A man walked hurriedly toward them. He looked very similar to Dr. Henry Armitage, the librarian they’d met the day before in the horrifying Lovecraftian world of monstrous penguins and protoplasmic shoggoths. He wore a similar old-fashioned suit and coat and also carried a pile of books in his arms. “Don’t worry. We’ll clean up loose ends. I’m a librarian here at RinthCon. I’m dressed like Henry Armitage, a Lovecraft librarian, but that’s just a costume. I’ll make sure your friend is OK. Cthulhu has been such a problem!” Muttering to himself, he walked away without waiting for a response.
The group stared after him as he took off, taking the same bridge Adelina had used.
Emiko was the first to speak. “Leave it to librarians to clean up the mess.”
Rin laughed. “Let’s hope he’s a real librarian.”
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