Now, Manila

The fog-shrouded street was quiet as Eron cautiously approached the block.

This area of the city had been newly-built in the months leading up to the spires’ appearing over a decade ago.

The buildings were mixed use. The first level, abutting the street, was for commercial use: bars, restaurants, retail stores. The above levels were for residential units.

Glowing yellow script on the walls and doors of the corner building stood out in the gloom.

Eron was relieved to see them intact.

He never knew if the sigils would be there whenever he went to check on one of their sanctuaries. The few times that he had found them dark had hurt him on a deeper level than anything in the past. It had meant that he had failed to protect more people from the fog.

When Eron stepped within ten feet of the building the fog’s presence completely vanished. He immediately felt lighter. The multitude of eyes watching him were no longer present. He tightened his grip on the refrigerated carrying case and shifted the negligible weight of the large pack on his back before opening the door and stepping inside.

The interior was once a restaurant complete with a bar at the far end.

The lighting was appropriately dim to cultivate an intimate romantic mood. The soft music and the lit candles further accentuated it.

He could picture couples eating, sipping wine and generally having a good time at the tables and booths. He was almost taken back in time. If only the entire place wasn’t completely empty.

The absence of human beings made it all the more glaring.

Eron strode toward the bar and the refrigerators behind it.

A rustle of soft silk tickled the back of his neck.

He spun and found himself eye to eye with perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He took a step back.

“Is that for me?” the woman leaned forward and pointed at the case in Eron’s hand. The front ties on her thin robe were already loose.

It took an enormous amount of effort for Eron to keep his eyes forward and up. He repeatedly reminded himself of the woman’s Class. “Please tell me that you’re not walking around the kids wearing that.”

“This?” the woman twirled around. Her long, luscious silver hair danced past Eron’s face. The most appealing scent filled his thoughts.

The robe was much too short and much too diaphanous. Perfect curves were fully on display. He felt the heat rising within him. It was a bit unfair. Like standing in front of a supermodel, but dialed up to eleven and that wasn’t accounting for the magic and Skills.

“Don’t worry, I’m sticking to our bargain. I keep contact with our kiddies to a minimum and I do nothing to ‘corrupt’ them,” the woman’s ruby red lips pouted, “this is all for you,” she smiled demurely.

Eron thrust the case in front of him, like a talisman to ward off an evil spirit. “And this is for you. I also keep to our bargain.” He forced himself to stare into the woman’s perfect, haunting eyes.

Sheer willpower versus something magical.

“You’re no fun,” the woman dropped the act with a shrug, which naturally made the robe slip off the side of her left shoulder. Tantalizingly dropping low, but not low enough to reveal everything.

“Not going to happen,” Eron gulped. “You want your stuff or not?”

The woman sighed and took the case from Eron, not bothering to fix her robe. She went behind the bar and started transferring the small bags of red liquid to refrigerator. “You know I’ve still got plenty, right?”

“A deal is a deal.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the woman waved a hand dismissively. “You keep me safe and fed. In return, I keep those alibata letters filled with my mana, protect the kiddies and most importantly don’t feed on anyone.”

“Those letters are baybayin… you should know that you’re the one from here,” Eron sighed. “She’ll get mad if you keep calling them the wrong word.”

The woman shrugged, causing the right side of the robe to slip lower down her shoulder. “Okay, whatever… these letters are old as dirt. I and every other Filipino in like hundreds of years use English.”

“Even I know that’s wrong.”

“Spanish and English,” the woman waved her hand, “who cares? I don’t.”

“She cares and she’s the only one that can create those sigils, which are the only thinking keeping us safe from the fog.”

“I know,” the woman stuck out her tongue, “lighten up. You’re too tense. Maybe you need a massage. Release those big, strong muscles of yours,” she leaned forward on the bar.

Her honey-colored skin practically glistened in the lighting over the bar. Eron had a feeling that it’d look just as perfect underneath even the harshest spotlight. There was a lot of bare flesh on display.

“It’s almost amazing how you can go into the temptress act in a split-second.”

“Oh… it’s not an act and we both know that’s why it gets you so hot and bothered,” the woman winked.

“And we’re done,” Eron moved toward the back door and to the stairwell that would lead to the upstairs levels only to find the woman suddenly in his way.

“Oh, don’t be like that. It’s late. The kiddies are sleeping and do you really want to wake them up with your face looking like that?” The woman pulled Eron by the arm, gently, but without any ulterior motives to the back of the bar. “So, obviously you didn’t make it… want to talk about it.” She wet a towel and began cleaning the dried blood off Eron’s face.

“Same as always. Got close to the edge of the fog. Promptly beat up and was beaten up by the ghosts of my relatives.”

“I don’t know what they are, but I don’t think they’re just ghosts. I’ve got a sense for this sort of thing and I’d bet they are more your actual relatives than simple echoes.”

“Confirmation would be nice.”

“Sorry, but I can’t give you anything more than that, besides not part of the deal,” the woman smiled and sent butterflies frenzying in Eron’s stomach. “So, what happened this time? Your tito hit you with a truck again?”

“Threw me into a building,” Eron said. “Fortunately, I woke up before a swarm of extra giant rats could eat me and as an added bonus a hospital was on the way back, so I picked up your stuff. Then I went to the grocery store for the kids,” he glanced at the large pack on the bar top.

The woman found a plastic baggie, filled it in ice, wrapped a clean towel around it and pressed it against the ugly bruise on the side of Eron’s face.

“Thanks…”

“Eh… not a big deal. Even I can recognize the work you’re doing for me… er… us… all of us,” the woman cleared her throat, “I notice that your shirt and pants are all cut up, but there’s only dead blood, no fresh cuts?”

Eron’s non-swollen eye narrowed. “Disappointed?”

“No, I told you—”

“Right, right, dried blood is dead blood,” Eron said flatly. “You’re not getting my blood, Cherry.”

“Are you sure we can’t work out a deal?”

“And that’s the end of this conversation.” Eron grabbed the pack. “This stuff is going to melt if I don’t get them in the freezer.”

Cherry regarded the pack with a scrutinizing gaze. “None for me?”

“I thought you don’t eat food?”

“Food isn’t necessary. That doesn’t mean I can’t eat, nor does it mean that I can’t enjoy the taste.”

“Huh? Did not know that.” Eron opened the pack and held it open for Cherry. “Take a couple.”

“Oh!” Cherry’s smile was breathtaking. “Ube macapuno swirl and coffee ice cream for me! Thanks!”

“Uh, a weird combo, but… you’re welcome.”

Eron left the delighted woman to enjoy her dessert and— other stuff.

The second level contained a few apartments, just like on the third and fourth.

He knocked twice on the door closest to the steps and waited a few moments. “Kobe, Avengers, Rizal,” he said

The locked clicked and the door slowly opened to reveal the barrel of a shotgun pointed in his face.

“I have visual confirmation,” Eron said after examining the thin, paunchy fifty-something man behind the gun.

“As do I.” The man lowered the gun and stepped back to let Eron into the apartment. “Jesus! You look like you ran into a car… still not the worst I’ve seen you looking.”

“Honestly, feels like the worst one.” Eron locked the door behind him and went over to the refrigerator to unload his haul. “Got a bunch of ice cream, Dr. Rufo. What’s your favorite?”

“Selecta Halo Halo.”

“Weirdest…” Eron muttered, but he located the flavor and tossed it to the doctor.

The man wasted no time in grabbing a spoon from the drawer and digging in.

“Good thing I decided to empty out the freezer section.”

“I haven’t had this since the fog rolled in,” the man savored each spoonful, “over eight months.”

“I don’t know what we’d do if we didn’t still have control of key stores,” Eron said.

“We’d find a way to survive, like we have been.”

“I don’t think it’s enough… we can’t stay like this indefinitely, but escape doesn’t seem possible. They keep showing up exactly where I go.”

“So, as we’ve theorized. The shades can appear anywhere in the fog. In an instantaneous matter.”

“That appears to be the case,” Eron sighed.

“And help from the outside? It’s been almost a month since you reached out. Any new messages from your brother?”

Eron shook his head. “The last one said he had gathered a team and was on his way, but who knows how long that’ll take.”

“I can’t even imagine how they’d travel from the States. A plane? But is that even possible anymore?”

“My brother could fly here by himself, but it’d be pointless if he didn’t have an actual plan. Otherwise, as soon as he steps foot inside the fog… there goes the powers.”

“He’d still have strength, durability, like you?”

Eron nodded. “Don’t think he’s on my level in that regard though. No… he’ll need an actual plan to get us out.”

The doctor placed the tub of ice cream on the counter and waved Eron over. “Let me get a look at you.”

“No need.”

“Just let an old man feel useful. I need to be more than a babysitter. ‘Get those levels’ as the young people say.”

Eron protested.

“C’mon! I actually got a Babysitter Class the other day.”

Eron smiled then winced at the pain.

“I turned it down of course. I am Doctor, not a Babysitter.”

“Smart choice… if a level cap exists then you don’t want to pick up useless classes that don’t have synergy potential with your main ones—”

“Yes, yes,” Dr. Rufo said. “I heard all of you talking about that. Now, don’t move,” he grabbed Eron’s head and pulled it down. “Diagnosis.”

The doctor’s eyes glazed over then subtly shined with a weak light.

Eron wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t bent down staring directly into the doctor’s eyes. He knew that it’d take a minute for the Skill to work, during which time the doctor was lost to the world, so he resigned himself to wait.

Two minutes later the doctor snapped out of it and released his hold on Eron’s head.

“Well, how am I doing? Wait— let me guess— I’m fine.”

“No,” Dr. Rufo said flatly. “Swelling in the brain, probably a concussion. Your nose was broken, but seems to have been set. You’re missing a tooth, which seems to be in the nascent stages of regrowth. A multitude of bruising, surface level and internal organs. Some internal bleeding, appears to be healing. Your entire skeletal system is a spiderweb of microfractures. Several ribs are broken. All are cracked. Ligament damage, tissue damage. All appear to be in the process of healing to varying degrees,” he sighed.

“Luckily, my body generally seems to know how to heal properly… had to reset the nose though. That sucked,” Eron said. “Your Skill seems to be growing. That’s a pretty impressive scan.”

“Yes. I’ve leveled up quite a bit in the last few months treating you, your cousin and the others,” Dr. Rufo smiled sadly, “unfortunate that.”

“You’re doing your best. Like everyone else.” Eron awkwardly patted the man on a bony shoulder. “Speaking of my cousin… she’s not here is she?” He hadn’t detected her presence. He strained his ears to listen. Aside from the kids sleeping in the two bedrooms of the apartment there was no one else aside from one girl upstairs sitting motionless. Of Cherry on the first floor there was no hint of a presence, but that was normal. “Where is everyone?” he felt the heat rise in him. This time it was anger.

“Madalena took everyone out to ‘gain levels’,” Dr. Rufo threw his hands up. “She said you were coming, so it ‘wasn’t a big deal’.”

“They’re supposed to protect the kids… and you.”

“I know, I know,” Dr. Rufo agreed. “Instead, they left us alone with that— woman— downstairs.”

“Doc, how many times have I told you. Cherry’s okay… probably. We’ve got a deal and she hasn’t done anything to lead me to think we can’t trust her… as long as I keep bringing her blood.”

“Exactly, she’s an aswang—” Dr. Rufo gaze at Eron expectantly.

“What?”

“I was waiting for you to laugh. Every other time I’ve said that word you snickered like a teenager.”

Eron shrugged. “Got to grow up sometime, right?”

“That thing came up here today,” Dr. Rufo hissed.

Eron’s eye’s narrowed. “What’d she say?”

“Er… nothing in particular, just inquiring on the children’s well-being and Lilah’s.”

Eron glanced at the ceiling. “And how is Lilah?”

“Don’t try to change the subject. The aswang is dangerous. She might be content to play along for now, but one day—” he shook his head, “they’re evil creatures. They can’t fight their nature.”

“That’s what the myths say, right? I mean you know more than me, since I wasn’t born here and no one ever told me the stories, the folklore.”

“A pity.”

“Agreed, but that’s not the point. Myths and stories aren’t reality. Cherry is the way she is because of the Class. Lilah confirmed that. We were there when she did.”

The doctor shook his head. “Everything about that woman is a calculation. Even her name. Unless you think ‘Cherry’ is her real name. She is doing everything she can to ingratiate herself into our good graces.”

“That’s the rational decision, which suggests she is a rational being. Not an evil shapeshifting spirit creature. This isn’t D&D, Doc. No one is locked into an alignment.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I get your meaning. Just— keep a close eye on her.”

“That’s kind of the problem,” Eron sighed. “About more important things…”

The doctor scowled and ran a hand through his thinning gray hair. “Lilah is up in her apartment meditating. She said she needed to gather her mana before you took her out there,” he frowned, “another thing I have a problem with. A twelve year old girl has no business being out in the fog. Yes, yes,” he waved away Eron’s protest, “only she can maintain the sigils at the other sanctuaries. Have you considered moving the others to this location? This block has more than enough vacant apartments.”

The same argument.

“Then the fog will be able to focus its attention on one location. It’s better to keep things spread out. That way we have multiple fall back spots,” Eron said. “Did Madalena say where they were going?”

The doctor shook his head.

Eron ran the possibilities through his head. There were several locations he picked as likely. “Can you tell Lilah we’ll have to push plans back a couple of hours?”

“But the other sanctuaries—”

“They’ll be fine. This is why we schedule these things in advance. The wards will hold even if we’re a few days late.” Eron walked to the door.

“You might consider picking up a weapon,” Dr. Rufo called after him. “The bones in your hands are covered in microfractures. They can shatter the next time you hit something tougher than you.”

“Thanks, doc.” Eron grabbed a large, two-handed sledgehammer resting next to the door. “Make sure Lilah knows I’m sorry and that I should be back in a few hours at most.”

Now, Southern California

The drive was long and boring.

That was a good thing.

Their convoy consisted of two SUV’s with plenty of extra fuel so that they wouldn’t have to stop.

That was a prescient decision.

The tiny communities along the 5 as they traveled north were abandoned. Refueling at the gas stations would’ve required gaining control of them first, which meant fighting monsters, the boss, then secret boss. It probably wouldn’t have been too difficult with Cal and his dad present, but time was precious.

So, they zipped past everything at close to a hundred miles an hour.

Drakes occasionally dived at them, but Cal swatted them away with a giant telekinetic hand. The creatures were lucky to be able to limp away.

The only problem for Cal was when they reached Stockton.

He had his telepathy stretched out in order to detect threats, which made for an uncomfortable ride given that the roiling thoughts of over ten people swirled in his own mind.

Some people had dirty minds… constantly.

Everyone, except for one young man. Finley Stone or Ghost Sorcerer, his ridiculous ranger name, was a blank. There was a wall around the young man’s thoughts. Except he was only a mage.

Cal was certain that the young man didn’t have psionic powers.

It probably had something to do with that strange object inside Fin’s chest.

A question that needed an answer at a later time.

“Anak? You okay? You look like that time you ate that balut.”

“One time, Dad… one time and the damn thing had feathers and a beak,” Cal shook his head. “I distinctly remember the ones you guys got didn’t have either.”

“You picked the wrong end of the egg to crack. That’s all. And you wanted to see it. There’s a reason you’re supposed to eat it in the dark.”

“Well… maybe next time,” Cal shook his head. “Stockton.”

“Huh?”

“My problem is Stockton.” Cal pitched his voice lower. “Thoughts. I’m picking up thoughts. There are a lot of people being… abused in Stockton.”

“Gang-controlled territory,” his dad nodded. “We should stop.”

“No, we need to get to Eron. It’s taken too long already. We’ll have to come back later.”

The guilt ate away at Cal all the way to Sacramento where he finally filed it away in the same location in his mind that he placed all the things that brought him shame.

The SUV’s turned into a police substation parking lot. They were southeast of Downtown Sacramento.

A handful of people Cal hadn’t seen in years were waiting in front of the doors.

“Officer Lawrence, Detective Ordonez, Jake, Officer Ron,” Cal smiled as he hopped out of the SUV, “I’m sorry I don’t remember your names, but I do recognize you,” he added to the rest of the group.

“It’s Watch Captain Lawrence now,” the tall, athletic woman scowled. She looked much as Cal remembered, just older. “The two you don’t know are Max and Alexa. They’re senior members of the Watch, like Ron and Rebekah.”

“I remember her,” Cal remarked. He introduced his father, Sgt. Butcher and the rest of the rangers.

“I hope you haven’t been waiting out here too long. It looks quite cold,” Cal’s dad looked up at the dark gray skies.

“Nah, we just came out right now,” Jake pointed a finger at Detective Ordonez. “Detective’s intuition… or something.”

“So… how are you guys?”

“I thought you were in a rush, Cruces,” Detective Ordonez practically growled at Cal.

Cal nodded. “Yeah… your last message said everything’s ready. So, maybe a quick bathroom break and we can head on up to the airport.”

“I’m required to tell you that the governor would like to meet, but he understands the demands of your schedule if you aren’t able. Though he’d take it as a personal favor if you do deign to meet with him, briefly,” Detective Ordonez looked like she was chewing on some week old tuna salad that had been sitting in the sun.

“Going to pass on that,” Cal said.

“Great! Now that business is done…” Jake grabbed Cal in huge hug. “Bro! How you been? I heard you went to an alien world. I saw some of that gear you brought back. I’m totally jealous. You think you can score me some of that high tech shit!”

“Gates!”

“Sorry, Detective. We can catch up later,” Jake whispered to Cal.

Once they were back on the road Cal found himself stuck next to Jake, who had managed to pluck that prime position.

Cal could tell that both the Watch Captain and the Detective had questions for him. The former would have plenty of time for answers later. It was unfortunate for the latter that she would have to wait much longer.

Jake pressed Cal on the cool gear and he had to let him down with the explanation of how advanced off world items were priced exorbitantly when it came to actually bringing them over to the lower level world.

He speculated that now that the ten year tutorial period was over and that the spires’ marketplace had opened with more functionality then perhaps he could send a message to Remy to try sending or selling Threnosh gear. The latter option came with a glaring issue. Anyone with the points could buy the item in question.

Like Ebay.

Fortunately, that seemed to mollify Jake and talk turned to the Threnosh, which was when Detective Ordonez had enough.

She flicked the back of Jake’s head to shut him up. “Cruces, these Threnosh. The suits are finally ready to open up a dialog. That’s what the governor wants to meet with you about.”

Cal cursed internally. This was important, but he weighed it against Eron’s safety.

“I don’t really care. Aliens on another world seem too far to worry about when we’ve got a fishman problem just across the river,” Detective Ordonez continued, “when are you going to handle the cult and their god?”

“Don’t you have a peace treaty?”

“Yes, but you don’t.”

“My only focus right now is helping my brother,” Cal said. “Once Eron is safe, the Deep Azure and its cult are next on the list. As for the diplomacy stuff… I’ll send a message to Remy. He’ll facilitate with the Threnosh since he’s currently on their world.”

Detective Ordonez nodded and fell silent.

Cal wondered if it was the detective’s Skills or skills that informed her that further conversation on these topics was a closed path for him at the moment.

He also wondered if his dad was dealing with the same level of questioning from the Watch Captain in the other SUV.

“Thanks for agreeing to help. I appreciate it, Watch Captain Lawrence,” Cal’s dad said.

“Your sons have done a lot for us in the past, Mr. Cruces. You can call me Demi.”

“Phillip… still you’re risking your lives on this mission, Quest.”

“It isn’t entirely altruistic or plain gratitude. We need to gain levels, which means throwing ourselves into exceedingly dangerous situations. Getting this plane ready to fly to the Philippines was one such example. We had to clear the airport first. It took over a thousand fighters, mostly from the state government. The Watch is a lot smaller. Hundreds died in the attempt,” her voice took on a hard edge.

Phillip’s smile fell away. “I’m sorry they had to do that for my son.”

“Not at all. The survivors leveled like they had never before. Five, six, seven, a few got ten levels. It took years just to get into the mid teens. Killing monsters and doing the small Quest that occasionally popped up are like a leisure walk. These dangerous Quests are like strapping a rocket to your back.”

“Walking’s a lot safer when that rocket has a fifty percent chance of exploding.”

“Right and even if it does work… you still might get plastered against the side of the building,” Demi agreed. “Still it’s our only chance. The Deep Azure showed us that the slow and safe way is untenable. We can’t rely on exceptional individuals like your sons forever. We have to become exceptional.”

Phillip regarded the Watch Captain. “Even at such a high price?”

“Death isn’t the worst fate. Another thing the Deep Azure rubbed our faces into.”

Phillip couldn’t dispute that.

The Cabal’s actions.

The Vitiator nearly subjecting his wife and nephew to such a fate.

He could only nod in agreement even if it made him exceedingly sad at what the world had become.

Was Eron currently suffering a fate worse than death?

Was Cal about to join his youngest brother?

What about his wife, Rayna and Rynnen?

Where they safe without him there to protect them?

They were all strong.

He hoped that it would be enough.