“It’s him,” the man at the back said, his voice panicky. “That’s the monster who’s been kidnapping everyone.”

His fingers were curled to fists, and he looked as though he wanted to punch the daylights out of the Wraith Lord, but he didn’t take a single step forward. His son was up too, eyeing the monster warily while keeping a strong grip on his father’s shoulder.

“You brought him here?” Bo asked, swivelling his gun between the monster and Rory’s group. “You’ve killed Alves too!”

Rory quickly held up a hand, his heart thundering as though there was a Thundershell living in his chest. He could feel Dez and the others tensing up. This wasn’t going well. “We have nothing to do with this, I promise. It’s a trick.”

“A trick!” The Wraith Lord looked around, green eyes glittering with malice. “Such deceit wafting through the air everywhere.” He focused on Rory, his beard wisping as he smiled. “Why lie to them? Tell them the truth. I only spared you so that you could carry me to where you all were hiding away from me. I’m offended.”

Bo hefted his gun so that it was pointed at the monster, but at an angle so that shooting through the Wraith Lord would hit Rory’s group as well. “You traitors. You’ll pay for this.”

“He’s lying,” Dez said. “We fought this monster to rescue Alves. He must have used some kind of magic to hide in Alves’s body.”

The Wraith Lord’s green aura was active again. It was subtle now, barely there, and Rory could only see it because he knew to look for it. His heart stuttered every now and then, his breathing got difficult, and his skin prickled all over. The deadly pallor was hardly noticeable, but it was killing them all the same.

A sudden gunshot made Rory’s heart try to climb into his mouth. They all turned to see that the old man had fired a small pistol at the monster, who looked supremely unhurt and bored. Despite his age, the old man’s grip on his firearm didn’t shake.

The Wraith Lord bared its rotting teeth in a devilish grin. “Come now, your mortal weapons can hardly tickle me.” He poked in the hole in his chest and drew out the small bullet. “Such a pitiful little thing you mortals fall to. I may have underestimated your fragility.”’

“Oh, yeah?” Bo raised his semi-automatic rifle. “Then why don’t you get a load of—”

“It’s not going to work,” Dez said, stepping forward with his fists burning with his Abyssal Inferno.

The sight of the dark flames made everyone in Alves’s group cower. April pulled her children close to her, and the older man and his son pressed themselves flat against the far wall.

Even Bo’s eyes widened. “You can use the same powers as the monsters?” He swallowed. “What are you even?”

The Wraith Lord laughed. “Oh, this keeps getting more and more amusing.”

Dez looked as though he wanted to shut the monster up, but he didn’t move. Rory was starting to get just how precarious the situation was. With the Wraith Lord standing in the middle of the room, they couldn’t attack in the cramped quarters in fear of hurting others. The monster had them trapped.

But worse, the Wraith Lord was passively murdering them already.

“Do you feel that?” Ned asked.

“We need to get out of here,” Evelyn said. “Before we’re all killed where we stand.”

They were trapped, though. Sure, they could use the ladder to exit the bunker, but that meant leaving the ones here to their fate with the Wraith Lord. The very idea of abandoning them was unthinkable to him, no matter how poor of an opinion they held of Rory’s group.

If they couldn’t fight, then there was only one recourse left to them.

“What do you want here, Wraith Lord?” Rory asked, stepping forward.

The monster was taken aback. “What is this? You know of me? Pray tell, how do you know me, mortal?”

“I know a lot. What I don’t know is what you intend to do here.”

The monster waved a thick hand dismissively. “My intentions are simple. All I want is to devour more souls and continue to survive.”

“And you think coming here was a good idea to do that?”

“I see nothing wrong with it.”

Rory shook his head. “Then maybe you should open your eyes some more. You can’t win here. If you attack, and maybe even kill one of us, the rest will stop you easily. You’re the one who’s trapped here.”

“Is that so? Great words from an insignificant mortal. Do you not already feel me killing you all?”

Bo gasped. “Is that what I’m feeling?”

Rory grimaced. The deleterious effects of the Wraith Lord’s aura on Rory grew heavier. He was blinking more now, a drowsiness working up from deep within, all of his limbs feeling heavy as lead blocks. All the while, his breaths were coming in harsher and faster.

It was worse on the others. They looked one step away from unconsciousness, their faces pale and drawn, some of their limbs shaking.

“Then we’ll just have to start carving you into mincemeat now, won’t we?” Dez said, stepping forward with his fists drawn up like a boxer. His face set with worry, with grim determination, a man at the end of his rope.

“Come, come.” The Wraith Lord grinned. His large sword shimmered into existence behind him, and he pulled it forward. “I relish a challenge, however measly it might be.”

Rory dragged in a reluctant breath. One silver lining was the feeling of tension was overriding the monster’s drowsiness. He could focus, and he could see this was deteriorating into something he didn’t want at all. The first spark in this fight was going to make this entire bunker come crashing down.

Just as Dez looked like he was about to launch himself at the Wraith Lord, Rory stepped forward and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s talk for a moment,” he said. “I think we can come to an accord that doesn’t involve trying to kill each other outright.”

The Wraith Lord turned his rotting teeth onto Rory. “You think your words will stop me when you have no power to do so on your own?”

“You look like you’re more intelligent than the other monsters we’ve been forced to kill so far. Why not at least try to use it instead of giving in to your instincts? I’m sure there are things we know that you need. For instance, did you know about the war starting soon?”

The Wraith Lord had been pulled his sword up to charge and slice at them, but now he let it drop as he straightened. Rory had struck a nerve, just as he knew he would.

“This place is going to become a part of the battlefield between the Homeworlders and the Otherworlders,” Rory continued. “Neither of them takes kindly to monstrous presences. You think you can gather enough power to protect yourself by kidnapping all the mortals you and your minions can find, but trust me, it’s not going to be enough. I’ve seen them in action. You are less to them what we are to you.”

That last bit drove it home. The Wraith Lord peered at Rory closely. But before he could say anything, the man at the back stepped up.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, the note of panic edging his voice now sharp as a knife. “What’s this war? I can’t take this anymore. What’s going on?”

“Dad,” the younger man said. He tried to pull his father back, but the older man wouldn’t budge, glaring at them all with open animosity. “Try to calm down. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“It’s way worse than it looks. People murdered right in their homes by these… creatures. Men, women, even children, all slaughtered everywhere. Business burned down, cars and buses overturned, it’s all madness everywhere. They’re trying to murder us all. We can’t get away from them, no matter what we do.”

“Hear, hear,” the old lady chimed in, coughing a couple of times. “I saw Betty get plucked by this giant monster bird and she screamed and screamed, and I’ve never pissed myself like I did just then. Wonder how I’m still alive and standing on my own two feet here.”

“Everything’s going to the bloody dogs,” the old man said.

The others muttered angrily too, but they couldn’t keep it up for long. This deadly aura would do them in soon if Rory couldn’t make the Wraith Lord stop in time. The monster himself was staring at the others surlily, and Alves was stirring just a bit at his feet. There was no time to lose.

Besides, this was an opportunity for Rory to draw the others towards him in a favourable light.

“This apocalypse began when some Planes collided together,” Rory said.

He went on to quickly explain all that he’d learned about Planes, their Rulers, and how the system was manipulating things so that the settlers from other worlds in the warring Planes were trying to make their home on their world. Sadly, the presence of monsters and limited supply of Mana meant only one group could survive for long. Or at least, that was the supposed reason.

Rory wasn’t sure how much that was true or factual. The more he thought about it, the more he figured there were pieces missing that would explain why there needed to be a literal war.

Something to ask Arelland when they weren’t busy not dying.

“So, you see,” Rory said. “We’re all in a precarious position here, caught in the crossfire between the Homeworlders and the Otherworlders. But we can help each other survive through it if we decide to work together.”

“Why would we work with a monster that’s been hunting us all down one by one?” the man at the back asked. “How can we ever trust something like that?”

Rory felt like putting a clamp on his yapping mouth. “We can’t just yet. Establishing a working, trusting relationship takes time. But we can’t get there if we don’t give each other the opportunity to do so.” He turned to the monster nearer at hand. “So, what do you have to say, Wraith Lord?”

The monster surveyed them all for a while. His shimmering sword had disappeared. Rory was glad to see that, unlike most of the others here, the Wraith Lord was considering.

“What do you think we can do for each other that we cannot do on our own?” he asked.

“Well first of all, you can turn off this aura of yours,” Rory said.

The Wraith Lord grinned again. Rory breathed easier as the aura’s effect lifted, the weight disappearing off his shoulders. He was tempted to cough and clear his sinuses but thought better of it.

“Now what can you do for me?” the monster asked.

“I can help you against the Homeworlders and the Otherworlders,” Rory said. Monsters hunted people for Sigils, but he felt there was more to the Wraith Lord than that. “As a Weaver, I can create some Sigils that can help obscure your presence from aggressors. Also, I’m going to establish myself as a legitimate, system-approved merchant, after I get the Safe Zone running. You can be a part of that.”

The others immediately protested. It wasn’t just the new people—most of them looked flabbergasted, probably wondering what Rory was even talking about. Dez whirled around and asked him to rethink his offer, Ned counselling caution against the monster. Only Evelyn was silent.

Through it all, the Wraith Lord’s voice cut in like scythe. “You would make me a part of your business? How preposterous!”

The Wraith Lord looked around at the rest of them. “Why, all this, of course.”

Ah. So, the monster was worried that, no matter how much Rory might be willing to work together and cooperate, he’d be vetoed by those he was responsible for. At least it was a fair point of contention.

“We’d be mad to work with you,” the old man spat, pointing his gun at the Wraith Lord again. “Git outta here before I blow your brains out.”

“My brains are nothing more than a rotten pile of pus. You are welcome to them.”

The old man spat in disgust. “No brains? You want to work with something like that?”

Rory sighed. He got the feeling arguing wasn’t going to do him any favours. “I’m not staying here any longer,” he told the Wraith Lord. “What do you intend to do?”

“Hmm. The restaurant has been destroyed, more or less. And besides, it was never truly wraithlike.” The Wraith Lord looked around. “This place, however, is quite nicely necromantic. I think it will make a fine abode for myself.”

“You can’t just take over our home,” Bo said. “We—”

“Well, I’m not kicking you out. You’re welcome to stay however long you wish. I will not be moving, however.”

The man at the back whipped his head to Rory. “First you kill one of our friends, then you hand over our home to this… thing.”

“He’s alright,” Evelyn said. She was kneeling beside Alves, uncaring of the Wraith Lord standing right next to her. Rory was impressed at how unruffled she was. “Just needs some rest.”

“Who are you to—oh.”

It wasn’t hard to recognize Evelyn. She was the only one helping the town’s best doctor, her husband, after all.

Rory faced Dez and Ned. Dez had a hard look on his face, but it slowly gave way to something like acquiescence. He told Ned to help Evelyn with the partly-unconscious Alves, then started harrying the others out of the bunker.

They were reluctant to move, some of them openly arguing, but the point that the bunker was now compromised started to sink in. All arguments evaporated against that fact. Soon enough, they were all starting to grab what supplies they had and head out, guided by Dez’s implacable will.

Rory approached the Wraith Lord while the others were too busy to argue or even throw him nasty looks. “So, it’s settled then. Do we have a deal?”

“I know not what your terms are, mortal.”

“I want to expand how much we help each other and cooperate at some point, of course, but initially, let’s keep it simple. I’ll get you some Sigils that can hide your presence and provide sustenance without the need to devour souls, and in return you can help us defend our home against other monsters.”

“You want me, personally, in your home?”

“Well, your minions, then. So long as they mind their manners.”

The Wraith Lord’s beard moved on its own, as though the long hairs were tiny living tentacles. “Then a deal is struck.”

Rory noticed the back of his hand flashing. His Sigil of Mercantilism had activated, registering the deal as it did so often. Once more, he wondered what sort of benefit he would see once the deal was complete.

The Wraith Lord stuck out a desiccated, rotten green hand.

“I’m not shaking that,” Rory said.

The monster laughed. “So be it. I look forward to our partnership.”

Rory nodded. “As do I.”