Rory’s idea was pure genius. He usually wasn’t one to pat himself on the back just for a job well done, but for once, he felt he deserved it. Thanks to his bridges of ice between roofs and windows, they avoided ever needing to go down and confront the monsters at street level.

Of course, that didn’t mean their travels were perfectly smooth. The roofs and the occasions they travelled through the buildings instead of on top of them made navigation difficult. Several times, they were forced to stop as Trish did her best to recalibrate their general direction towards where she’d seen the group of Wraiths carrying in Alves.

“I see Belleview,” Trish said at the top of one of the restaurants.

Rory got into position next to her. Belleview was rather stylish, built to resemble a pavilion with its large dome and windows. A horde of Wraiths surrounded the restaurant, so many that Rory was convinced this was the ground that had captured Alves.

“There’s a lot,” Evelyn said. “How are you planning to get through them?”

She was right. There were too many, even for Dez’s blasting black flames. Rory wasn’t sure another distracting tactic would work.

“We can take a lot of them from up here,” Dez said. “Now that we’re not in any danger of being immediately attacked. Well, much less than when we were at the station.”

“Oh, that’s true,” Rory said. “We just need to get closer.”

“I’ve got that covered.”

Trish led them along the rooftops again. Rory had to create a few more ice bridges for them to get into the best position for the ranged assault on the Wraiths.

They didn’t have a ton of Mana left, but Rory hoped there was enough to last them until they freed Alves.

“Good enough, right?” Trish asked when they reached the final roof.

Rory swallowed. “Too good, maybe.”

This close, the Wraiths could easily see them if they wanted to look up. They had seen some in windows or trailing roofs, so Rory kept feverishly jerking his head around as though a Wraith was going to pop up and scream at them from nowhere.

They were close enough for Rory to see the other kind of monster—Ghouls, according to the Sigil of Knowledge. They looked like zombies, but much more upright, skeletal, and covered with flesh that had turned the consistency of old rags. Their eyes glowed with dead, green light. Rory’s Sigil said they hated fire. Well, they had spades of that.

“Let’s get started,” Dez said. He seemed calm, but it was like that of a storm, heralding his firepower. “Trish, get ready to get down and go in once we’ve created an opening.”

Trish nodded. Her Sigils flared to life on her hands’ backs, though she didn’t create anything with them just yet.

Taking a deep breath Rory took his position a few feet away from the group, just as Dez did in the opposite direction. They were going to need space to cast their Sigils’ powers. Hitting each other by accident would be disastrous.

Dez started off the assault. He balled his hands to fists, his Abyssal Inferno soon smothering both hands in swirling miniature maelstroms. Then he punched the air with both hands at the same time. Giant, dark fireballs streaked through the air, bombing down on the unsuspecting Wraiths, black-and-blue fire splashing over the unwary monsters.

Their screams pierced the air. Those not hit immediately started hunting for their attackers, taking mere moments to locate Rory and the others on the rooftop.

That was the signal for Roy to get started. He stabbed his staff to shoot out bolts of icy blue into the mass of Wraiths and Ghouls below. With Dez taking care of the monsters nearer at hand, Rory used his greater range to handle the ones farther behind. He froze several and slowed quite a few more, his chilly aura warring with the destruction of Dez’s dark flames.

Rory switched Sigils next. There were still too many Wraiths and Ghouls, and their building would soon be swarming with the monsters. So, Rory started casting his Sigils of Frozen Lightning next, trapping the building’s entrance and the roof’s doorway.

“You want to make it a competition, old man?” Trish asked.

Rory tried not to let his attention falter. “What?”

“Let’s see who hits more monsters.” She threw a small javelin she had crafted, piercing a Wraith in the distance, which went down with an unearthly scream. “You’re game, right?”

No, Rory was too busy trying to figure out if they’d survive. Trish, apparently, wasn’t interested in his response. She started pelting more little javelins, taking out a Ghoul here, a Wraith there, and more monsters besides.

Rory finished setting the traps up before the first monster got to them, so he switched back to the Rending Blizzard. If he had been able to practice throwing out his wintry storm, this would have been a lot easier. No matter. Rory kept throwing out the icy bolts to freeze the monsters in place.

“I think that’s good enough,” Dez said as the first monsters got caught in Rory’s lightning-and-ice traps. “Trish, you ready?”

She’d been about to chuck another little spear at a Wraith on fire, but then her grin sobered. “Right, my turn. Thanks for the opening. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Rory wasn’t sure if it really was a proper opening just yet. Dez had set many monsters ablaze, the burning Wraiths screaming out into the air. Black pyres dotted the ground, glints of blue sparking in them all. More of the monsters lay frozen here and there, thanks to Rory.

But despite all that, there were several who were still unaffected. They were preparing to carry out a sortie at Rory’s position. He sighed. Trish would have her work cut out for her.

Not that she cared. With a whoop, Trish jumped down and used her Sigil of Concrete to cushion her landing, quickly extricating herself before the grey liquid solidified. Then she hared into the chaos of ice, black fire, and ghastly monsters.

“We need to support her,” Rory said. “There are still too many of them.”

“On it.”

Dez raised his fists high into the air again, dark flames swirling around them. Then he hammered them down as though thumping a table. Huge bolts of his Abyssal Inferno streaked through the air to burst on the monsters in Trish’s path. Rory tried to keep up as well, once again targeting the Wraiths and Ghouls farther out with his ice.

Miraculously, Trish made it through without mishap. Of course, charging through like a fully armoured barbarian made it less of a miracle. Nevertheless, Rory’s heart lifted to see her crash her way past the monsters and into the restaurant, thanks to some fiery and icy assistance.

“What do we do if she doesn’t come out?” Evelyn asked.

Rory grimaced. Great, now he was worrying that Trish wouldn’t be exiting the Belleview Luncheonette anytime soon. “We charge in.”

“Can you jump down from the building too?”

“No.” Then he realized what exactly she was referring to. “I remember where the—”

There was a vicious scream from the restaurant’s interior.

That did it. They hurtled down the stairs as quickly as they could—Rory told the faster Dez and Evelyn to go ahead and not worry about him—and rushed towards the restaurant. Rory wheezed as he made his way out of their building’s entrance.

Dez had the cleared the way, striking down every Wraith and Ghoul that tried to get him and Evelyn, leaving Rory with a clear path forward. So, he surged on, ignoring the frozen and burning monsters.

When he finally reached the restaurant, heaving in deep breaths and holding a stich on his side, Rory came to a stop just behind Dez and Evelyn.

It was as much the heavy, gloomy pall pressing them down as the senseless scene before him. The restaurant had been turned upside down. All the furniture were broken into kindling, all the plates and cutlery shattered and strewn across the floor, all the food tossed away to stain the walls and pool on the floor. At least Rory saw no bodies lying dead or decaying.

Trish was standing frozen a few feet ahead, glaring ahead with her whole posture screaming out in silent rage and frustration. Rory swallowed when he saw what had them rooted to their spots.

Another monster was sitting on a large dinner table near the back of the restaurant. He appeared to be a well-built man dressed in kingly robes that hadn’t been washed in a while or mended from all the times it had been frayed and cut. A rusty crown sat on his old, bearded head, and eyes littering like emeralds shifted across them all. His skin and eyes glowed ethereal green.

Beside him, a living man was tied over a table with ethereal green rope. Rory hadn’t gotten a good look at him before, but it had to be Alves. He looked alive. They weren’t too late.

Though that could change at any moment with this monster so close. Rory’s Sigil of Knowledge said he was a Wraith Lord, a creature that ruled over Wraiths, Ghouls, Wights, and various other undead creatures. Like with the lich, he was tied to his subjects. A part of everything they fed on always transferred back to the Wraith Lord, helping him grow stronger.

And what they all fed on were souls.

Despite the gruesome information, Rory once again appreciated how impressive his Sigil of Knowledge was. It helped that he was getting better at discerning the bevy of information into useful and relevant chunks.

“Welcome!” the Wraith Lord said, his voice holding the same ethereal quality as his subjects but sounding much closer and real. “I am always open to receiving more food that walks into my home.” He frowned at Trish. “That one disagrees, however. So insubordinate. We must teach it a lesson.”

“We’re not food, you geezer,” Trish said. Her voice was choked. She was struggling to even speak. “Let Alves go. Now!”

“And waste a good meal? Why would I ever do something like that?”

“Because if you hurt even a hair on his body, I’m going to turn you into mincemeat with this axe.”

She hefted her axe higher, the blade catching the Wraith Lord’s green glow.

The monster shook his head. “Ah, but I am already hurting him. His soul is spicy. The taste of a warrior. It’s faded, though, and disintegrating fast. This one hadn’t seen a true battle in quite a while.” The Wraith Lord’s eyes glittered. “But I suppose you all must have.”

The monster’s deadly essence sank into Alves, who was motionless and limp despite having his eyes open, then returned to the Wraith Lord in lines of green light.

Rory grimaced. He really was feeding on the poor fellow.

But they couldn’t help Alves yet. Any move they might make put him in danger as the Wraith Lord might just kill him instantly. They were stuck.

“There is nothing you can do here,” the Wraith Lord said. “Why don’t you surrender? It will be easier on everyone if you do.”

“Maybe,” Dez growled. He was breathing a little hard. “But think about this. At this rate, your hostage is going to die soon. And then we’ll tear you apart bit by bit and shove your own arm down your rotting throat. You’re the one who’s going to ultimately die. Think you want that?”

The Wraith Lord laughed. “Such brazenness. You must see how amusing it is that you think you can best me. My magic cannot be defeated by the likes of you.”

“Want to put that to the test?”

Apparently, the Wraith Lord liked challenges, since he let go of Alves and stepped over.

“Let us begin then,” he said, raising his hands high. “You will rue the moment you decided to face me.”

Without preamble, Dez and Trish attacked. A barrage of black flames accompanied two javelins, aimed straight for the Wraith Lord.

They didn’t work. The monster’s green aura intensified and negated the dark fire before it could reach him, while a quick swipe of a sword that suddenly appeared in its hand shattered both mini javelins.

Trish and Dez tried to attack again, but the deadly aura pressed down even harder. Rory felt as though skin was being slickened up. Dez was bowed to the ground. Trish tried to stagger to the Wraith Lord and swing her axe, but he parried easily and pushed her back. She attempted to attack again, but soon faltered and halted. Evelyn had fallen to the ground beside Rory as well, her hand raised as though she had tried to use her Pyroclastic Hellfire.

The aura wasn’t as bad on Rory as it seemed to act on the others. Blessing his stats, Rory stepped forward and shot a flurry of icy bolts at the Wraith Lord.

Unfortunately, the green aura made the blue magic evaporate long before they could reach him. The fingers on Rory’s free hand curled into a fist. They had failed. The monster’s aura was now sinking into both Trish and Alves.

“You see!” the Wraith Lord crowed. “You cannot hope to—”

Loud honking interrupted him. They all turned to see the Spyder barrelling down the road, pummelling aside any unfortunate Wraiths or Ghouls in its path, heading straight for the Belleview Luncheonette.

Rory only had a second to dive to his left before the car crashed through the front entrance, accompanied by wild screaming and yelling from Ned and Allen.

The Wraith Lord tried to get away, throwing Trish back and diving just as Rory had done. Ned and Allen rammed into him and barrelled farther into the restaurant.

Rory didn’t see where they ended up. A storm of dust blew in everywhere at the subsequent impact, the car’s engine dying as the green aura was dissipated. Discarding all worries and stomping hard on his shock, Rory threw himself to Alves’s table and quickly freed the man by Weaving away the binds.

Trish, Dez, and Evelyn helped him pull Alves to his feet and they began making their way out of the restaurant’s destroyed entrance. Then the Javelin’s horn blared up again.

“What are you all doing?” Ned shouted through the gloom as Allen backed up the car. “Get in so we can get out.”

So, without further ceremony, Rory and the others dumped Alves and then themselves into the cramped space of the convertible. Allen drove like a road-raging maniac, not even seeing the debris in his path before the car either drove right over them or shoved them aside. Within moments, they were back outside, the tires screeching as Allen performed a quick U-turn.

And then they were off, hurrying away from the home of the Wraiths and the Ghouls.