Before they returned to the palace, while Viv and Dez joined up and took Arelland and his captive to the jeep, Rory hung back and decided to meet up with Truck. The donkey didn’t like the Otherworlders—not that he liked the Homeworlders in particular either.

“My dear man,” Truck said. “I cannot express how grateful I am that you chose not to forget me.”

Rory tutted. “I just want to know how in the world you got captured by the rebels. I thought you never wanted to get caught up in any of the Otherworlders’ business.”

“Ah, it is quite a long story. It seems I was spotted on my journey to make preparations to call the Invigilator. These rebels watched me from afar before executing a stealthy manoeuvre, much as you used to surprise them in turn. Ironically fitting, I should say. I applaud your effort.”

“I can’t believe you’d be careless enough to get caught.”

Truck shook his head sadly. “It is unfortunate that dealing with mindless monsters tends to make one forget about the ingenuity of other beings.”

Rory wasn’t sure he liked the condescension there, but he decided not to make too much of a fuss over it. He had lost a lot of time already, and it was getting late. “Have you finished your preparations to call the Invigilator?”

“I’m afraid not. I was interrupted before I could set up the proper ritual space. I suppose you wouldn’t wish to wait, would you?” He looked up, ears drooping at how the sky was darkening every minute. “It is getting late.”

“We decided to go with Arelland and see if we can talk with the Invigilator through their Overseer.” Rory frowned. There were a lot of puzzle pieces floating around in his head, and he didn’t appreciate all the questions his mind was trying to fling at him. “Tell me, did you meet any Wraiths? Did you send any message by them?”

“I did not.”

A chilly fist started tying Rory’s guts into knots. The Wraith that had contacted them about Truck’s condition hadn’t come from the donkey himself. They had warned them about Truck because they’d been told to by the rebels.

“The answer seems to have upset you.” Truck peered at Rory intently. “What does it signify, Rory?”

Rory took a quick, deep breath, then explained his suspicions. He had a bad feeling about the Wraith Lord’s supposed disappearing act. “It sounds like the Wraiths aren’t really helping me anymore.”

“That is unfortunate, yet I do not doubt the veracity of your suspicions.” Truck shook his head sadly. “Unfortunately, betrayal is far too common an occurrence in the dance of survival. I am surprised it took this long for you to meet it face to face.”

Rory sighed. “I just wasn’t expecting it from him. He seemed… genuine.”

“You will learn and grow, my dear man.”

Truck almost looked like he was about to reach up and pat Rory on the back of his head, but Rory turned away. It was high time they got going. But there was one last thing he had to take care of.

“Can you continue to make preparations to call the Invigilator?” Rory asked Truck.

“Why? I thought you wished to avail the services of the Otherworlders?”

“I do, but…”

Truck considered him for a moment, his donkey eyes big and wide. “Allow me to assume. Now that you’ve faced your first case of betrayal, you no longer hold faith in certain things, one of which includes your dependence on your Otherworlder friends. As such, you’re making sure you have multiple avenues to pursue your goals through.”

Rory frowned. He wasn’t sure he liked being read so easily and thoroughly. But ultimately, Truck wasn’t wrong. “I’m just making sure I’m not stumped any more than I need to be.”

“Smart move.”

“Thanks. But it’s time I got going. We’ll be leaving for the Otherworlders’ base tomorrow to meet with their leader.”

“I will keep an eye out and make sure you return in one piece.”

Rory laughed a little. “I doubt they’ll do anything drastic, even if they didn’t seem very favourable, which they don’t. It would put them in a lot of trouble. I’m a system-approved merchant now, remember?”

“And the Homeworlders sought to kidnap you once. One thing the Otherworlders would never do is stoop to their enemy’s level. A fascinating culture in certain ways, if I do say so myself.”

Rory wondered once more what Truck’s frame of reference was. Truck’s people must have had a culture. Rory would have enjoyed learning what sort of values had shaped who the talking donkey was today.

“Farewell for now,” Rory said, waving his goodbye. “See you soon.”

Truck brayed his goodbye. Rory left and soon found the others waiting for him beside the road. It was time to get going.

#

They didn’t actually wait in the palace long. After they returned, Rory and the others had a quick dinner, then settled down to sleep.

Before that, Rory had taken some time to inform the others what had happened back at the gas station and their intentions regarding visiting the Otherworlder base soon. They took the news with appropriate excitement.

Some were afraid of any unintended consequences, though. How far could they really trust the Otherworlders? Rory could be in danger there.

They discussed the matter with Arelland openly. Of course, no one suspected things would be as dire as it might have if they visited the Homeworlders. At least, the Otherworlders had never tried to outright kidnap Rory. But it was still better to take the necessary precautions.

“As your host, I can guarantee your safety,” Arelland said. He didn’t seem that surprised at the lack of trust. Maybe he had even expected it. “However, if you wish, you can bring in as many of your group as you desire. There are no real restrictions save for acting according to the rules and laws in Sanctorum. I will provide more guidance when we arrive there.”

Rory wasn’t sure he wanted to risk too many people, just in case, but the cat had been let out of the bag. A lot of people got sparkles in their eyes at the prospect of visiting the Otherworlder base. All the wonders they could see, all the marvels of not one, but four different alien cultures they could experience in one location. Rory understood the lure of fascination all too well.

“Thanks, Arelland,” Rory said. “We can’t take everyone with us, but I’ll see how many of us are willing to go. And then we’ll decide among ourselves what order would be best.”

They cut their meeting short and went to bed early. Rory asked the others to think on whether they wanted to go or not, reminding them that not all of them could fit in the vehicles.

Rory was awoken early again. He rose by himself mostly, a single nudge from Viv enough to get him up. The world was still dark, the dawn’s rising light sluggish just like him. But alertness was coming on rapidly.

Today was the day he visited the Otherworlders at their base, after all.

They had a quick breakfast and then began filling the jeep and the pickup to get started on their journey to Sanctorum.

Rory was going to take the jeep, but this time, they decided it was best if Viv remained behind. Ultimately, they were headed to a place that was protected against the Misericords. They shouldn’t take people who had Sigils that could help against those monsters.

That meant Dez, Trish, and April were all staying behind with Viv. That was fine. Rory would take Miles, Ned, and Allen with him in the jeep, piling Arie, Samson, Alia, Ferdous, Melvin, Lucy, and Evelyn in the pickup truck.

That was a big party to take to the Otherworlders, but Rory didn’t begrudge anyone who wanted to come.

“Stay safe out there,” Viv cautioned, directly to Rory first, then to the others with him. “All of you.”

Arelland had piled up Stormvir upon his shoulder. The rebel elf didn’t protest at the indignity. Rory had to wonder how they had passed the night in each other’s company. Not pleasantly, no doubt.

“Worry not,” Arelland said. “Rory and everyone else will be treated with honour and dignity, and they will be returned safe and sound. This I swear on my honour.”

Viv looked like she wanted to say she didn’t think much of the Otherworlders’ honour, but she stayed silent. Maybe she was thinking something similar to what Truck had said. The Otherworlders had a strange code they stuck to, no matter what. They might not be able to understand it, but they could trust how it worked.

“We’ll stay safe,” Rory promised.

“That’s right,” Miles said with habitual exuberance. “We’ll keep Rory safe. If needed, we’ll even give our lives to make sure he comes to no harm.”

Rory rolled his eyes. “None of that, now. We’re going to visit friends and allies.”

“Just keep in touch,” Viv said.

“You too. We’ll give you a call every hour, but you need to tell us if the Misericords show up again.”

“Of course.”

Once everyone else had finished exchanging goodbyes and taken supplies aboard the vehicles, they all piled up and left. Rory glanced back and hoped that the Misericords would continue to remain absent. At least, until he got back.

Arelland and his captive led the way. The vehicles could accelerate to a speed that was eventually faster than the elf’s mech suit, but Arelland’s top speed was pretty good compared to what they could achieve on the jeep and the pickup. They had no trouble following the elf and maintaining a good pace.

Rory was surprised to see how different Hillhard was in the direction they headed. There was far less destruction. The Corebeast hadn’t come this way, thanks to Rory and the others leading it in a different direction. But there weren’t many signs of other monsters either. Abandoned houses littered the area, but they weren’t damaged or broken down here.

Soon enough, they passed into the countryside. The trip to Sanctorum was going to last them a few hours, so they had decided to pass the time like it was a little picnic trip and not a strange visitation to a new land full of aliens.

Allen and Ned decided to fling songs from their teenage years, exciting each other with the similar bands they used to follow. Rory didn’t understand the genre. Nu metal? Deathcore? It all sounded quite strange from the jazz he used to zone out to at their age.

They had even brought some food. As the morning properly rose into view and started to pass on towards noon, they shared some of the lighter snacks they had brought along for the trip.

A part of Rory felt like he was still stuck at a few weeks back, when eating anything mere hours after having a meal that was supposed to last them a third of the day would have been “wasteful”. That wasn’t the case now, with their careful produce and latest round of grocery trips.

So, Rory munched on a granola bar while the hilly countryside rolled past them. Eventually, the hills gave way to green plains. Everything looked so normal, Rory could easily have been fooled into thinking there was no apocalypse going on.

That was, until Sanctorum came into view.

“Holy…” Allen had jutted his head between the two front seats to stare at the city in the distance. “That’s the Otherworlders’ base? Sanctorum? It doesn’t look anything like Dwellmont anymore.”

He was right. The city before them was a strange metal-scape. Fifty-foot-high walls surrounded the area, blocking off their view of its innards. But its central towers rose like metal fingers pointing accusingly at the sky, surrounded by strange pipes and walkways. Shorter towers surrounded them, each tower connected to another by large metal tubes hundreds of feet aboveground.

When they finally reached the gate with two, hexagonal seventy-foot towers on either side, Arelland bid them stop.

A couple of giants were standing guard on the outside, on either side of the gate. Tall as they were, they were easily dwarfed by the monstrosity just behind them. They were armoured though, covered in red plates and carrying spears bigger than lampposts.

Upon seeing Arelland, the giants had performed a strange salute with their huge spears. Then they turned and ceremonially faced each other. A moment later, the gates started to slide open. There wasn’t any big grinding noise or anything of the kind. Rory actually marvelled at the engineering that allowed those enormous barriers to slide away behind the walls in such silence.

Several Otherworlders came out, a mix of kobolds, elves, and dwarves all attired in the same mix of dark uniforms and armour. They relieved Arelland of his burden and took Stormvir into custody. The rebel made no protest at all.

“Time to move inside,” Arelland said once the Otherworlders had departed with their captive. “Welcome to Sanctorum.”