Good Ogre by Platte F. Clark Page B

unexpected cliff. Several other houses were likewise ripped apart, and whatever was left of Max’s neighborhood had disappeared into the thick forest hundreds of feet below. Max found a spot and took a seat, looking through the Codex for anything useful, while Sarah and Melvin picked their way through the house’s remains. The others watched the great storm slowly churn in the distance.
    â€œThis is strange,” Sarah announced as she steppedover the rubble from a collapsed wall. “There’re no electronics left: no televisions or appliances or anything like that. Not even an old clock.”
    â€œIt’s part of the Cataclysm,” Wayne replied. He was sitting in his chain mail, his shield at his side and his axe across his knees. He wore a dark expression that seemed to mirror the storm. “Those things unique to the Techrus will not survive.”
    â€œDude!” Dirk exclaimed, jumping up. “He’s talking about game consoles! And satellite TV!”
    â€œNone of that matters,” Megan added. “It’s the people who used to live here—that’s what we need to be worried about.”
    â€œHey, Dwight,” Dirk called out, “how you going to order those old-timey Sears Toughskins if there’s no Internet?”
    Dwight grunted. “I told you not to talk about my special pants.”
    â€œGuys, let’s try and stay focused here,” Max suggested.
    â€œSure thing, Gramps,” Dirk added. Sydney giggled before clapping her hands over her mouth and looking horrified that Max might have heard her. Maxscowled—it was hard enough walking around in a dress, but the whole white-hair thing was starting to bug him.
    â€œListen here,” Max said, turning to the Codex and reading:
    On the umbraverse

    EVERY PLACE OF SIGNIFICANCE WILL have a part of town worth avoiding. In Wallan, it’s the Inflatable Pigpens of Zerhem; in the Mesoshire, it’s Spenderwick’s “One Day from Retirement” Café; and in the Techrus, it’s Arby’s. Slightly worse than those, however, is the umbraverse—a mysterious nether plane where the well-established rules governing decorum and good taste don’t apply (see also “New Jersey”). Because of the umbraverse’s habit of bending time and space, many time travel enthusiasts do their best to get there. Such interdimensional pursuits have generally been disastrous, albeit a financial windfall for the warlocks who sent them there (all fees are due prior to departure).
    As a result, the Wizard’s Tower declared such expeditions criminal and possibly world-ending, theorizing that should the barrier between theumbraverse and the three realms be broken, the umbraverse (being older and more dense) would seep into the other realms with disastrous results.
    In the unlikely event that Shadrus magic is used to penetrate the barrier between the umbraverse, a truly horrific event called the Cataclysm may ensue. If you’re reading this because you’re facing said Cataclysm, best to close the book and give it as an offering to whatever shadow-based overlord is set to rule. You may spend the rest of your days as a slave, but better that than a long and torture-filled death.
    â€œWell, that wasn’t very helpful,” Melvin said, watching as Max put the Codex away.
    â€œYeah, tell us something we don’t know,” Dirk replied, motioning toward the old book. “It’s a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, then covered in old newspapers and buried under a broken garden gnome in my neighbor’s backyard.”
    â€œThat’s awfully . . . specific,” Megan said.
    â€œGuys, I think we have other problems,” Sarah announced. She had moved to a section of the wall where five long gouges ran for several feet. They tore across the drywall before ending in a mangled pile of wood where a door used to be. The others moved in for a closer look,but it