After I got the required oaths from the rest of the people in the bar, the Constable showed me to an office area where I could work. Her attitude toward me was still chilly but I didn't care.

I looked at the assorted weapons before me. It was a motley collection consisting of a few swords that were probably older than my father, a couple of hunting bows with an assortment of arrows, and one war hammer that looked like a cheap knock-off. I sighed.

I wasn't even sure if most of the items could hold up to the magic. Ranged weapons would be ideal to deal with this creature but the arrowheads were the cutout hunting style ones, leaving little material for adding the inscription. The shafts of the arrows weren't much better. Most were a carbon, or carbon composite. Good for strength, but any modifications from carving into them would weaken the shafts.

That left the aluminum ones. There were about a dozen of those. I would have to be very careful carving the runes into them, the aluminum tubes were really thin. I got to work carving in only the runes for spiritual siphoning. My first attempt ruined one of the aluminum arrows. After that, I was better able to gauge how deep to carve and the last eleven were finished.

My attempts to add runes to the screw on tips failed. There just wasn't enough room for the runes, at least at my skill level. I would just have to hope that the enchantment carried over from the shaft. Even if it didn't, just touching the arrow should harm the creature.

I added the same runes to the bows and the one crossbow. Since this was my first time working with ranged weapons so I didn't know if this would work either.

The rest of the weapons went quickly and I finished in under two hours.

"Weapons are done," I said, walking out of the office, "One thing before I hand them out. Rember I said I had help?"

"Yea?" Sally said.

"Well, my friend... is a ghost... A specter actually."

I got a few blank looks at my announcement.

"What do you mean a specter? Are you in league with the Banshee?" Sally said, her words getting heated.

I wasn't sure how this woman ever made constable with her temper.

"If you would stop and think for a second you would realize how stupid your questions are. If I were in league with the Banshee I wouldn't be here helping you and Arman."

Martin had to hold his sister back from doing anything rash. "Calm down, Sally, you know he's right. We've seen weirder stuff than a ghost companion since the world ended. If Paul says it can be trusted I think we should believe him."

"She."

"Huh," Martin said looking at me.

"The specter is a she, and her name is Fiona."

"So, where is this so-called friend?" Sally asked in disbelief.

"She is seeing if there are any more people to save. Since nobody else has entered the bar since I got here I would guess this is it. Plus there is some sort of magical field protecting the building."

"Uh, that would be my doing," Martin added.

I just nodded. Martin and Sally handed out the weapons. It was enough to arm seven people. I let them choose the best people for the job. I also suggested everyone find something to block their ears from the Banshee's attack.

It took a bit of work to find things to either cover their ears or plug them but eventually, everyone was ready.

"I'LL GO OUT FIRST TO MEET WITH MY FRIEND," I said, loud enough so even the people blocking their ears could hear.

Martin had to stay behind because of the shield, but his anger management issue sister was right behind me.

We exited the bar and I could hear the Banshee wailing in the distance. I quickly made my way to the last location I saw Fiona at. The others waited nervously outside the bar.

"Fiona," I hissed quietly, having pulled one of my earplugs out.

"What?" I heard her say next to my ear.

"You can turn visible I told them about you?"

"You sure, they look awfully jumpy."

"Yeah, just keep me between you and the group... I did give their weapons the spiritual siphon enchantment."

"I suppose you kind of had to, not like we could have taken the creature down alone."

I nodded and gestured for the others to approach.

Some looked at Fiona with fear, others with awe. Fiona just stared back dispassionately.

"Everyone, this is Fiona, my spectral companion."

"Well, I'll be damned, she is real. Here I thought you made her up," Constable Sally said.

I guess she didn't take her brother's word at face value. Whatever, as long as they didn't try to hurt her, I wouldn't be forced to hurt them in return.

"Come on we don't have time for this, we have a town to save," Fiona said, eyeing Sally.

Sally laughed, "I like her, all business."

We ran after Fiona as she led us toward the Banshee. We were forced to dispatch a few groups of husks on our way. Well, I was. The others were too hesitant to kill people they once knew.

One intersection held the remains of a large battle. Husk bodies littered the space. I counted forty-five in total. In the center of the corpses was a body of a large bipedal humanoid with pig-like features.

"Joshua," Sally said.

"We'll bury him later, let's keep moving."

I pulled my staff from my storage ring as we got closer to the screams. The Banshee was wailing on something in frustration. When I peeked my head around the building I saw what it was.

Two people were trapped under a slowly shrinking dome of power that kept the terrifying creature from getting to them.

I quickly motioned for the archers.

As soon as the archers stepped out from behind the wall the Banshee stopped attacking the dome and turned toward us. It let out its deathly howl and charged.

Two of the archers froze up, their ear protection not enough to defend against the attack. The other two got off shots, only one managing to hit the creature. It paused as if stunned that it got hit, the arrow floating in mid-air.

It reached around and yanked the offending arrow out, tossing it to the ground. The archer pissed himself and ran. I didn't blame him. The Banshee had let out its Aura of Terror.

The other six managed to fight off the effects enough not to run. When the two archers finally were able to move again they fired off their shots. Each one struck the creature sending it into fits of rage. Mist started to form around it as it picked up speed and barreled towards the group.

It dodged the next round of arrows as it swiped its sword at one of the unfortunate archers.

The man flinched in terror, about to be run through when Fiona blocked the blade. The man had enough time to take a step back and breath a sigh of relief when his leg shattered. He screamed as he fell to the ground. The mist washing over him before I could get there to save him. When the mist retreated the man was frozen solid.

"Don't touch the mist!" I yelled.

Even with my Elemental Defense buff, the man had stood no chance.

Fiona kept clashing with the creature as we backed away. The mist eventually faded as the spell ended. It was finally time for the melee fighters to move in.

I Blink Stepped in with Impact and Flurry active. The creature remembered me and took a swipe at me, only to have it blocked by Fiona.

I only managed three of the strikes from Flurry as the Banshee's form faded, only to reappear two feet farther away. The man with the war hammer was surprised as the creature stuck its hand in his chest and pulled.

He tried to swing the weapon but it fell limply from his hands as the creature pulled out what I could only assume was the man's soul. It shoved the glowing mass into its mouth causing its wounds to heal.

Fiona got there in time to leave a glowing cut on the creature before it retaliated in kind. The two moved off as they engaged in combat once more. One of the women with us let out a grief-stricken moan. Sally stopped her from going to the man. She knew what he would turn into. I ran over and stabbed my staff down into the creature.

I could hear the woman screaming at me to stop but there was no way to bring her love back. I rushed toward the battle with Fiona and the Banshee.

Sally had to drop the inconsolable woman. There were more important issues at hand than one life. She didn't know how Paul could be so clinical about killing someone. Sure she had helped rid the town of the cartel but they had been terrorizing them for years.

She ran forward, picking up the hammer Simon dropped. She would at least let his death mean something. When she had a clear shot she whipped the hammer at the Banshee.

Fiona had to duck out of the way as the enchanted hammer tore through the undead creature and kept going.

The Banshee arched its back in pain and turned on the town leader. Paul was there to stop its advance with another flurry of blows.

The creature wailed in pain and tried to back away but Fiona was there again, slashing at its unprotected back.

Sally joined the fight, stabbing her sword into the creature. Its arm lashed out and grabbed her by the wrist. She let out a pained howl as her wrist started freezing.

I lashed my staff down across the Banshee's outstretched arm, my attack blowing through the incorporeal form. Sally lurched back and fell to the ground as the Banshee screamed and held up its missing arm. It raised its sword to strike me down when an arrow thudded into its head, followed by another.

I glanced back to see the mourning woman holding her dead lover's bow.

The Banshee gave out one last pitiful wail before it faded.

I watched the woman's level jump from level seven to level ten from this one monster. Even Sally gained a level.

I let them loot the remains, although, I did keep another Essence of Life that got stuck to my staff during the fight.

With the creature defeated, I pulled the improvised earplugs out and tossed them to the ground. Fiona had already faded from view. It was probably for the best. No need to remind people with weapons that can harm you that you are also undead.

I walked toward the two trapped in the dome. It must be soundproof because they didn't hear my tapping. and they had their eyes closed.

Sally walked up a few minutes later.

"Any idea who these two are?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yea, they are Clem's wife and kid."

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Fiona and I will clear up any husks we find around town."

She nodded sadly as she looked at the now fatherless family.

With Fiona's help, I was able to quickly dispatch husks. She could locate them, even inside buildings, making the job much faster.

I stopped in front of a tattoo shop. I examined the building from the outside. It was a three-story building near downtown. The bottom had the shop and the top two floors were apartments.

I checked the door and found it unlocked. The inside was covered in dust, nobody had been in here for quite some time. All of the tools still sat in their drawers.

"Why are we here?" Fiona asked.

"It might make a good house, thought I should check it out."

"Well, it's empty of husks."

I nodded as I walked up the back stairs to the apartments above. It turns out the previous owners had opened up the two top floors and made it one large apartment. It was way more than I needed but I liked it. I would let Sally know when I returned to the bar later.

We continued our sweep of the surrounding buildings. More than one had to be cleared of husks. I marked each one with an X on the door. The town had suffered catastrophic losses to one creature. It just proved that the world had changed and there was no true place of safety anymore. I doubted the Fox Valley or even the idiots in Chicago could have dealt with this threat in a reasonable amount of time. If it wasn't for my previous encounter with ethereal undead I would have been just as dead. I somehow doubted Second Chance would restore my soul.

When I got to the bar, I found it empty. A sign taped to the door read All survivors please meet at the hotel.

I headed over to the hotel, turns out more people had survived than I had first thought. The main room was filled with over a hundred people. I avoided any conversation as I made my way through the crowd. I stopped toward the side of the room.

Sally took in a deep breath as she walked up to the raised platform. It had been originally constructed for small shows or performers hired by the hotel. Now it acted as her podium to address the crowd.

"Quiet down, people!" she yelled over the din of conversation.

She waited for the noise to settle down before she continued. "Our town has suffered another tragedy but thanks to the efforts of the brave people behind me we have vanquished the creature that terrorized our citizens," she said gesturing to the five remaining survivors.

'I wondered what happened to the one that ran. I also noticed she didn't mention me, typical politician,' I thought, not bothering to correct the woman.

Someone from the crowd yelled, "Who brought this evil upon our town?"

Murmurs of agreement filtered through the room.

"We're not sure yet, an investigation has been launched to find the perpetrators of this crime. They will be punished accordingly when they are discovered."

Another round of murmurs filled the room as people eyed each other suspiciously. A few gazes floated my way but a quick glare turned them away.

Sally answered a few more questions until the crowd filtered out to head home. They were all left with a warning to watch for more husks.

I stepped up to Sally, "Congratulations on freeing the town from the evil," I said dryly.

"Yes, well, the people need to know their leader is strong. Not that they needed outside help. What do you want Paul?"

"Oh, I'm just here to claim my reward. I want the building with the tattoo studio in it."

"That's too much, can't you pick a smaller house?"

"No, I already chose that building. This was just a courtesy to let you know."

"And what if that isn't acceptable?"

I snorted, "you're more than welcome to try and kick me out." I said with a smile.

She glared at me before responding, "fine, have it. I think the family that lived there was on vacation when the System hit anyway."

"How generous of you," I said, my words laced with sarcasm.

I didn't wait for her response as I left the hotel and headed to my new home.