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It takes a while to settle down "Thanks," I say when I&039;ve stopped chuckling "You saved ht I was done for There were so many of them" I frown "That wasn&039;t the demon universe, was it?"

"No," Art says "I told you ould not be crossing to their real there?"

"That world was deo," Art says "They h recently I wouldn&039;t have come this way if I&039;d known"

"Even so, how could so many" I stop as the answer pops into my head "They opened a tunnel between their universe and that world"

"Yes," Art says

"The sky demon," I say slowly "Did you see it?"

"Yes There were ?"

"Other worlds" Art sighs "There were stones ofbeneath it You call them lodestones We set such markers in place on all the worlds we visit They help us hold the Deive the inhabitants of the planets a chance to evolve

"The defensive power of the stones fades e move on As the safety net crumbles, demons seek to open s and tunnels If they succeed, they wipe the world clean Then, in most cases, they return to their own universe But sometimes on a world where lodestones are plentiful, they use it as a base to launchfor neighboring worlds, using the stolen, corrupted ic of the lodestones to sustain them It will take millennia, but they are patient The poill drain from the stones eventually and they&039;ll have to return hoht not be foras the stones hold, they can stay in this universe?" I ask, feeling sick

"Yes"

"How far is that sky demon from Earth?"

"Billions of miles It will never trouble your people"

"But if it was setting off from a nearer world, like Atlantis, it could descend on us one day, carrying hordes of demons?"

"Yes," Art says

"Is our universe full of sky de their way from one world to the next?"