They were captured very professionally. The Homeworlders grouped up Rory, Ned, and Arie, then proceeded to walk them down the street. They kept up a rather punishing pace, the Homeworlders not caring at all if Rory’s old legs could keep up with them or not. He suspected that if he fell, Thomas would simply hoist Rory onto his big shoulders and carry him aloft.

Of course, they made sure none of Rory’s group could use their Sigils. There was a strong chance that Ned could have pulled out his Burnwing appendages and flown off, if the Homeworlders hadn’t taken strict precautions. All of them had their Sigils active, different images glowing on the backs of their exposed hands. There was a strange forcefield around them too, and Rory suspected it was made to suppress Sigil usage.

But all of that was enough without a customary verbal warning.

“I get even a hint of you—any of you—trying to use your Sigils,” Linda said, mimicking Thomas but with an even more vicious glare. “And I’ll cut off your hands. Then I’ll let Tommy do whatever it was he had threatened. That way, your Sigils will be safe with us while you die.”

Rory blinked. Aside from the severe change in Linda’s demeanour from how she had acted in the palace, the threat was intriguing. It sounded like they just needed someone’s hand to extract a Sigil. Was that where everyone’s Sigils were located? What about people who had lost their arms for some reason? This made it sound like disabled people couldn’t use Sigils to begin with.

No. That didn’t sound right. It was more likely that they needed any body part from someone to extract a Sigil from them. Though that supposition was frightening too.

Most of all, Rory simply wanted to know how exactly they thought they could remove his Sigil. It could be that they had come across a Sigil of Transfer as well, and that they hoped he’d cooperate and use it to remove his Sigil of Weaving.

They eventually reached a warehouse at the end of Alimony Road, about seven blocks away from where they had been near the end of Wither Elm. Rory wondered if part of the reason they hadn’t taken any vehicles was to prevent anyone from noticing them.

“Inside,” Aaron said. “And not a noise.”

It sounded like he was warning his people as much as he was warning Rory’s group.

The interior was a dingy place. Dust and cobwebs ruled the day, cloth-covered boxes creating a miniature white mountain range over the whole place. Rory tried not to breathe in too deeply. His old lungs wouldn’t be appreciating the scenery here.

They took some stairs to the right. Rory, Ned, and Arie were deposited against the far wall. Linus produced strange chains made of yellow energy and took turns wrapping the prisoners’ arms with it. Apparently, trust was in short supply. Go figure.

After that, the Homeworlders spread out in a practiced formation. Rory noted the locations of the ones he could see from his spot. Shen, Linus, and Sylvia were all sent downstairs, but Aaron kept Thomas and Linda nearby. The big guy stood guard at a window, but Linda stuck close to Aaron.

And to Rory.

“Alright,” Aaron began, all trace of humour and goodwill gone from his voice. “Now that we’re here, let’s begin.”

“Do I take their arms off?” Linda asked, a near-manic light shining in her dark eyes.

“Not yet. It depends entirely on how our guests choose to act.”

“You won’t get away with this.” Ned tested his bonds by briefly struggling, perhaps emboldened by the fact that there were only two Homeworlders nearby, not six. He gave up when it proved futile but did throw their captors a strong glare. “You’re only digging your own graves.”

“Ned, that’s enough,” Rory said. There was no need to tell the Homeworlders anything more than they strictly needed to know.

“Oh?” Linda ignored Rory and stepped closer to Ned. “And who’s going to make us pay, huh? Tell me, who is it?”

Ned clamped his jaw shut. Rory held back his sigh of relief. At leas Ned had seen the bait and refused to catch it.

Aaron sighed. “You don’t have to tell us anything, you know. We’ve seen a lot. We’re well aware of your… many friends.”

His eyes fell on Arie, whom he regarded with obvious distaste. Of all of them, Rory was frightened for her the most. He could easily see Linda or Thomas deciding that monsters weren’t supposed to be their company and immediately kill her. Forget Rory and his Weaving, the former Neophyte was the one who was in true danger here.

“You’re accusing us of conspiring against your enemies,” Rory said, looking Aaron straight in the eye. “And yet, I’ve been hearing how you’ve made a deal with a faction of the very people you’re so desperately fighting against. Why, you even used the very monsters I was about to go to help and trapped us. Doesn’t that feel a teensy bit hypocritical?”

Aaron meant to speak but Linda shoved her face at Rory first. “Means to an end. Once we’re through dealing with them, they’ll be driven out of our homes along with every other invader. Not that you’d understand, you traitor. All you want is your new business.”

Once more, Rory had to wonder how much the Homeworlders knew about him and his dealings. It had to have been the rebel Otherworlders who had informed them about… everything.

“We’re just looking out for ourselves the best way we know how,” Ned said. “What good reason is there to fight when you can at least try to coexist?”

Wrong thing to say. Linda laughed, and Aaron’s eyes sharpened. Even Thomas stared from his position by the window, looking at Ned no differently form how he viewed Arie.

“Coexist?” Linda asked. Rory winced. Her voice so shrill, he was sure anyone outside ought to have heard it too. “You want to coexist with monsters that stole our homes? That killed our friends and family? That are trying to eradicate us off the face of the world? Are you insane?”

Ned didn’t back down. “Who says you have to fight a war?”

“Don’t paint it like some crazy conflict between big governments with us little people caught in the middle. This isn’t that, you dirtbag. Every single person left alive is in danger. Everyone. And they’re all fighting to survive. Our way of life, our very existence on this world, all of it, is at stake.” Linda twisted her head at Aaron. “Can you believe these shitheads?”

Aaron looked thunderous, the first time Rory had seen him actually angry. “You’re all fools if you think you can simply go your own way without losing anything. You may have given up on the world, but we persevere. We fight not just for our lives, but also for the sake of humanity itself. Do you have any idea just how many people in the whole world are fighting right now while you all lazy about in your little palace paradise?”

When Rory hadn’t been busy, he had occasionally wondered what the rest of the world had gone through. There were assumptions he could have made, of course, considering what had happened to Dwellmont and everywhere else he had heard of so far. But that was not at all the same as knowing the truth of the matter.

And he had no idea what that truth was.

“Looks like you don’t,” Aaron said. He made a dismissive sound. “Our efforts aren’t localized here, you know. We’re coordinating with people all over the world who want these Otherworlders to disappear back to wherever they came from. We’re not about to give up on our homeland without a fight. This land is ours. Cooperating is accepting that those invaders have a place here. That’s unforgivable.”

Rory was a little cowed. He hadn’t expected the people of Mirrorend to be in contact with those beyond their borders. But then, things at Mirrorend had been strange from the beginning. Rory was starting to think that there were Homeworlder entities who had seen the apocalypse coming and had prepared accordingly. That early response from the Mirrorend people had been suspiciously fast, after all.

“Do you know about the Plane Rulers?” Rory asked.

“What about them?” Aaron asked.

“What do you know about them?”

“We’re not here to give you and education. We—”

“You’re being manipulated.”

Linda stepped forward and leaned down so fast, Rory barely realized what she was doing until her hands had closed around his neck. She squeezed, Rory’s breath cutting off immediately as a band of pain erupted around his throat. He struggled, Ned and Arie shouting in alarm and dismay as they fought against their binds to no effect.

Then Linda let go viciously, throwing Rory backwards so that his head hit the wall hard. He groaned in pain. The world was going woozy in his vision.

“Listen here, you old fart,” Linda said. “You mock our purpose again, and you won’t be speaking another word ever again. You got that?”

Rory had to blink before she came back into focus. He wished he hadn’t. Her face was dripping with cruelty, a promise all on its own that she wouldn’t hesitate to carry out her threat.

“The Plane Rulers,” Rory continued anyway.

“Rory,” Ned yelled in alarm. “Just leave it.”

No. Rory couldn’t leave it. If they were so insistent on shoving their truth at people, then they could shut up and accept others’ for a change. “The Plane Rulers are causing this. All of this.” He had to cough. Talking made his throat clench painfully, and he was having a hard time not glaring at Linda. “They forced the Otherworlders to invade, and they made sure the Homeworlders were at least somewhat prepared to defend their homes.”

“You’re insulting us again,” Linda said, her nostrils flaring in rage. “How dare you. We didn’t take the handouts from some idiotic Otherworlder god to get to where we are now. We worked hard to establish ourselves. We fought, survived, and won. As if you would understand.”

“I’m not denying anything you’ve done or gone through. Your efforts were great, I’m sure. But you need to understand that the Plane Rulers orchestrated all this. They’re the ones who placed this system of Sigils and Mana, they’re the ones who made the Otherworlders invade, forcing you all to defend. They have a conflict that they’re resolving though you and the Otherworlders.”

Linda’s anger hadn’t diminished but there was a strange, considering look in her eyes. Rory knew there had to be some sign of influence from the Plane Rulers, even at Mirrorend.

But Aaron crushed the opportunity to show them the real truth.

“There’s no point in continuing this conversation,” Aaron said. “We’re here to get a Sigil of Weaving. Are you going to give it to us willingly?”

Rory stared them both in the eye. “I will not.”

Aaron took a deep breath, then sighed. “Then you’ll just have to die.”

“And how are you supposed to extract my Sigil after I’m dead?”

“We have our means.”

“Speaking of the dead,” Linda said. “You stole the corpses from the sewer dungeon, didn’t you? Don’t worry, we know all about your little fight with the Revenants. But yes, those bodies were members of Mirrorend. We’ll be taking them back soon too.”

Rory tried using his Weaving, or at least testing to see if it worked. As threatening as it was to use a Sigil, he figured he’d need it sooner rather than later.

But it didn’t work.

Rory had to work not let his surprise show on his face. He attempted again and found that his Sigil wouldn’t activate at all. This was insane. The bindings could be some sort of Sigil-suppressing ability.

Unless…

Rory looked around. He tried to see if there was any Mana anywhere, but he couldn’t see any, not even on the Homeworlders. Rory’s and Ned’s pouches had been removed earlier. He swallowed. Of course. That was the simplest way to remove any threat of Sigil use. Just remove Mana. All Sigil users would be crippled then.

Clearly, the glowing chains wrapped around his hand didn’t need a continuous supply of Mana.

Linda laughed. She’d been watching Rory’s face , apparently amused as Rory had come to the demoralising conclusion of his powerlessness.

“There’s no point in thinking about escape,” she said. “You’re not leaving until you give us what we want.”

“Why do you need the Sigil of Weaving? Rory asked. “I thought you guys were winning.”

Aaron exchanged glances with Linda. “We are, for now. We’re not fools. The Otherworlders are a lot more advanced and have more power behind them they just haven’t brought up yet. The tables are going to turn again when we don’t have surprise on our hands anymore. Your Sigil of Weaving would give us another powerful boost.”

“The powerful boost,” Linda added. “With it, we can make exactly what we need to get rid of those bastard invaders for good. We can kiss all our limits goodbye.”

Rory shook his head. “If you think Weaving will solve your problems, you’re sorely mistaken. There’s a lot I can’t create because I have to work within limitations too.”

“Regardless,” Aaron said. “We need it. It’s the one thing that can guarantee us victory over anything else.”

Linda nodded vigorously. “Can’t wait to show the Commander what we’ve got. They’re all going to be so surprised when we bring a Sigil of Weaving in.”

Another intriguing nugget of information, another moment when Rory had to school his expression. He tried to look neutral. Linda’s words had given him some hope, however. It sounded like their superiors didn’t know about this direct assault. Something Rory could potentially take advantage of later.

“Hey, we’ve got company,” Thomas said all of a sudden, his voice urgent.

Aaron spared Rory a last look before heading over. He and the big man conversed for a while before Thomas quickly headed downstairs, shooting Rory a venomous look too. He didn’t care. Meeting Arie’s and Ned’s eyes, he tried to give them a hopeful smile.

“What’s going on?” Linda asked Aaron quietly.

Aaron stared at Rory again. “We’ve got a rescue party to deal with.”