Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen When we met Jack, I told you of Rez, THE ancient, a force of evil from our dimension. But this book from Evi makes clear the legend of Rez existed here on Earth, too, not just in the monster dimension. The book calls Rezo one of the cosmic terrors from the Cosmic Beyond. Bardle says, ".e...c. is the greatest of the Cosmic Terrors. But there are others—creatures nearly as

powerful and dangerous as him." "Is everyone who comes from your dimension a Cosmic Terror?" I ask. "Are you?" Bardle shakes his head. He looks offended that I would even suggest such a thing. "The Cosmic Terrors are pure evil. And they are not just from our dimension—they are from all dimensions and, at the same time, from no dimensions. Immortal, endless—the Cosmic Terrors live in the space between space." "According to this book," Quint says, "some people on Earth worshiped them thousands of years ago! They claimed to have once made contact with one of the Cosmic Terrors. Look..." Quint flips the pages of the book until he comes to a large drawing.

I gasp. "A portal. We've seen something like that before. With Thrull!" Quint nods. "Right. Apparently, these worshipers had some success. They called themselves the Cabal of the Cosmic." "Cabal?" I ask. "What's that?" "It means, like, group," June says. "A tight group." "A clique..." I growl. "I hate cliques." "What about Blarg?" Dirk asks "And the King Wretch?"

"Yeah," I say. "They have that evil stench that makes me know they aren't like the other good-guy monsters. And Thrull had it, too! Are they Cosmic Terrors?" Bardle says, "They are Servants of the Cosmic Terrors. Any creature can be a Servant—they need not be from a specific dimension. They must only commit their lives to aiding .e...c. in his quest to take over worlds. And the foulest of the brutish beasts—the Dozers, the Winged Wretches—they are Soldiers of the Cosmic Terrors." Quint looks at me. "Are you confused, Jack?" I nod. "Little bit." "Me too," Dirk says. June holds up her hand. "Hang on. I think I got it. It's kinda like school..."

You got the principal up top-Then the vice principal, and then the teachers and they're all ruling over us. The kids. Rezois like the principal. He's got a bunch of vice principles. And those are the rest of the cosmic terrorists and the teachers. Those are like the Cosmic Servants Blog, Thrall, the king wretch, the winged wretches and dozers are like teachers, helpers, And we're, well, we're still the kids. I guess I'm starting to get it. And I don't like it. "So Evie —she's a loony tune who decided to be a Cosmic Servant, too, huh? Well—big-question time— WHAT DOES SHE WANT?" "Based on her notes in the margins of this book, she intends to bring a specific Cosmic Terror to

Earth," Bardle answers. "The book speaks of him as Ghazt the General." Quint shakes his head sorrowfully. "What kind of a villain writes in a library book?!" "Ghazt the General..." Dirk says softly. "Sounds bad." "Well... HOW is she going to bring this Ghazt terror here?" I exclaim. "If we know her plan, maybe we can stop her!" Bardle taps a page. "According to the symbology here, she is following a specific, ancient, three-step ritual. Step one of three: 'Recover an Artifact that has destroyed a Servant to the Cosmic Terrors.'" I look down, thinking hard. My eyes trace the cracked, splintered tile floor. I remember what Evie said, when we first encountered her. "It has begun." I lift my head. I see my friends. It hits all of us. A horrible moment of revelation and absolute terror....