Chapter 30

Carl and Donut escape the flooded necropolis by battling a massive janitor shark underwater, using Donut's resurrection magic to create explosive decoys. After reaching shore and regrouping at the town of Pandinus, Carl deciphers a letter from the Mad Dune Mage revealing how the Gate of the Feral Gods operates and hinting at dangerous possibilities for opening portals to other locations and dimensions.

Carl retrieves Donut from underwater where she has panicked after waking submerged. A massive shark begins circling them as they try to escape the necropolis. Carl convinces Donut to cast Hekla (Second Chance and Clockwork Triplicate) on a dead Bubble Beluga corpse, sending three copies at the shark. The explosions from the clockwork creatures attract two Concierge Sharks that attack the original shark, allowing Carl and Donut to swim to the surface. They escape in a kayak and paddle to shore, both vomiting water upon the scroll's expiration. At the base in Pandinus, Carl examines the note taken from the Mad Dune Mage's corpse. The letter details how the Gate of the Feral Gods functions: dialing time on one watch to represent a destination, placing both watches in the winding box to activate it, and waiting for synchronization before removing the watches to open a portal. The note warns that portals to the Nothing are extremely dangerous and will attract feral gods or creatures from that dimension. It reveals the mage attempted to use the gate to reach a banished god named Yarilo but was tricked by Psamathe. The letter ends abruptly on a missing page. Katia notes the letter contains coordinates for locations near Larracos on the ninth floor. Mordecai warns that crawlers cannot hop floors and that opening such a gate without the proper precautions would allow catastrophic creatures to escape into their bubble. An illustration in the letter suggests a specific configuration using both watches and the box inside a portal could open a gate without releasing monsters, though Mordecai dismisses this as a waste. Carl focuses on another scenario depicted in the drawings, clearly troubled by something he notices. The team has just over four and a half days remaining.