“Everything is as it should be,” it said. “The Key is valid. Do you want to claim your privileges now?”
“Privileges? Why, I love privileges,” Zach said, grinning. “Yes. Give me all of those.”
“Done,” the entity immediately said.
“Can I unbar the gate now?” Zach asked.
“Yes,” the Guardian of the Threshold confirmed. “Do you want—”
“Yes, dammit, yes!” Zach said, voice full of exasperation. “Do it now.”
“As you wish,” it said. It paused for a few moments, silently performing some kind of task again. “It is done. The gate is now unbar-ar-ar-ar-ar-ar—”
Zorian watched in growing horror as the Guardian of the Threshold suddenly started twitching and stuttering as if it was having some kind of seizure. Its head rolled around at impossible angles, rotating a full three hundred and six
