A Visitor

So this morning, I was in the cathedral of Sanctum, training with Lasciel. She's a hell of a fighter. She's proficient in the use of Dao, Chinese broadswords, and wields two of them at once. She kept gaining the upper hand during our sparring match. It was pretty one sided.
Meanwhile, Adon and Onre were discussing something from a distance that I couldn't make out. Onre kept glancing my way the whole time. It had me worried.
At some point, Nick appeared in the room, with another man accompanying him.. Someone I had never seen before. Lasciel and I paused our fight as they approached Adon.
The new man was about 30 years old, give or take, and looked Asian. He was dressed in blue jeans and a loose coat that looked easy to slip out of in a tight situation. All he had on underneath it was a tank top.
“Adon,” Nick said. “This man has requested an audience with you.”
“And you brought him here?” Adon asked.
“He didn't give me much of a choice,” Nick said.
“I see,” Adon said, turning to the man. “Might I ask your name?”
“Ren,” the man replied.
“Ah, yes,” Adon replied. “I've heard of you.”
“I doubt you've heard everything,” Ren said.
“So what is it you wish to speak of,” Adon asked.
Ren glanced in my direction, then turned around.
“I'd like to discuss this somewhere more private,” he said.
Suddenly, the air in front of him began rippling, then tore apart, opening a rift into another world. Beyond it, I could see a forest of dense, black leaves. The Path. The Slender Man's domain
Ren turned to Adon and said “Not scared, are you?”
Adon grinned confidently at him.
“Should I be?” he asked.
“Come, then,” Ren said stepping through the gate.
“Nicolai,” Adon said. “Stand by.”
Nick lifted up his Trinket in front of himself.
“Will do,” he replied.
Adon stepped through the gate, which closed behind him. As soon as it sealed shut, Lasciel spoke up.
“So, does anyone else get bad vibes from that guy?” she asked.
“Yeas, Onre and I said simultaneously. Nick just shuddered.
“You didn't have to walk with the guy,” he said. “He's definitely missing a few screws.”
Suddenly, Nick's Trinket flashed a golden light. He sighed and sent some kind of red light through it.
“There's definitely something off about him,” Lasciel said. “I don't trust him.”
“He's a proxy, right?” I asked. “how else could he open up the Path Of Black Leaves?”
Nick's Trinket flashed again, and he sent more red light through it.
“No, he's not,” Nick said. “I talked to him. He's actually Slendy's enemy.”
“Then how does he open the portals?” Lasciel asked.
Nick repeated that thing with his Trinket twice more as Onre spoke.
“Ever heard of the Thorned Prince?” he asked.
“No,” Lasciel and I said.
“It's complicated,” Nick said. “But he has access to the Path because he's connected to it.”
Nick did the Trinket thing three more times, groaning in frustration as he did.
“The Path isn't exclusively Slender Man's domain,” Onre said. “Not anymore. Things have been becoming strange lately. The Streams Of Destiny becoming corrupted. The Rake's domain is falling apart.  The Bleak Shore has changed...”
He looked up at the walls of the Sanctum uneasily.
“Even Sanctum feels different...”
He was right. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it felt like things were changing, and I don't know why.
Nick's Trinket lit up one last time.
“Oh, come on!” he snapped, sending a final wave of red light through it.
A few moment's later, the path opened again and Adon stepped out. The rift closed behind him. Nick lifted up his Trinket, looking annoyed.
“That's eight!” he snapped.
“I know,” Adon said. “I was counting too.”
“So what did he say?” Onre asked.
“He offers his help in exchange for ours,” Adon said.
“I don't trust him,” Lasciel said. “He's insane. I can tell just by looking at him.”
“He is but a man driven to the edge of madness by the pain of lost and the sting of betrayal,” Adon said, glancing sideways at her “Something you of all people should be able to sympathize with.”
Lasciel fell silent at that.
“We will await a word from him,” Adon said. “In the meantime, back to your training.”