“Becka?” Glenn whispered.

She couldn’t be here, not in Wolfpine. She was all the way off in Evolan, a zone away. Was she a Mindbender illusion? Had Jahid escaped the barracks?

The young woman he still loved completely ignored him and stared at Brennon. “Two high Level Blazers are even now headed here on the Safe Road, including a Sharpshooter who can track you all the way back to Frostford. Your best play, now, is to surrender and testify against Ethan Bronzelight at his upcoming trial. Do that, and you might still be young enough to Level when you get out of prison.”

“Who are you?” Brennon demanded.

“Rebecka Coldbreaker?” Leo asked, eyes wide.

Leo could see her too? So either they were all simultaneously seeing the same illusion... or Becka really was back. Here. In Wolfpine.

Becka looked to Leo. “It’s just Becka. Jenny said to let you know she’s now contacted the real Brennon in Aquarine ... he’s safe ... and that your friend Tom is still doing shows for which he’s not getting paid. I trust that’s enough for you to trust my words?”

Leo pulled his gleaming [Steel Spear] off his back and spun to point its tip at “Brennon.” He then took two steps back, eyes hard. “Even if the Blazers don’t arrest you, four Town Guards are more than you can handle alone. Surrender. Now.”

“Now hold on!” Joanne shouted. “Is this guy an imposter or not?”

Anna struggled desperately in Seth’s grip. “Everyone get back right now! This man isn’t any normal Adventurer! He’s a—”

“Deathcaster,” the man said, and reached for his [Unfilled Bag]. “So you see why I can’t just surrender.” Before anyone could take even one step, “Victor” pulled something out of his bag.

A rotting corpse the size of a doll rapidly grew in size the moment it left Victor’s pack, followed by another. By the time the two Monsters slammed into the town square on either side, each had grown as tall as The Mead Beast. Their unseeing eyes stared at nothing. They were Mountain Trolls, fierce Level 30 Monsters Glenn had only heard about in books, and they were obviously dead.

Which explained how this man had managed to hide them in his [Unfilled Bag].

Leo effortlessly slipped back to avoid the hurtling fist of the first troll that slammed into the square. “Get the Townsfolk to safety!” He sent his [Steel Spear] hurtling at the lumbering troll corpse, but the weapon simply embedded itself halfway in without blood.

Glenn’s mind caught up at the sight of that bloodless wound. These weren’t Monsters. They were dead Monsters. Living Monsters could never enter the walls of a Gods-blessed town, and anything living in an [Unfilled Bag] would soon die. But these...

Glenn’s shock lasted only long enough for a dead Troll to get in one futile swing. He leapt into action beside Joanne as Seth lifted Anna off her feet and sprinted away. Linda did the same with Alan and Zack, both of whom hollered in alarm as the Town Guards got them clear.

Glenn swung with all his might, slamming his [Guardian Mace] into the side of the nearest Mountain Troll. Bone snapped and flesh squished, but the already dead Monster didn’t react. As Joanne came in from its other side, the troll kicked her enough to send her flying across the square.

Then, the dead Monster turned on Becka.

Glenn’s world slowed as a huge troll thundered toward Becka. She crouched low, eyes focused on her opponent. She tossed a glistening white bottle with impressive accuracy, one which exploded in the Monster’s face. That took its attempt to clobber her off target, and then Glenn swept her into his arms. He raced away from the town square with all the speed of his [Fleet Boots].

“You have to stop the Deathcaster!” Becka shouted. “The trolls are just his puppets!”

Glenn set Becka down at the edge of the square and spun to see Seth and Linda hard at work. Each faced a two-story tall Monster protecting the single man between them.

Glenn worriedly searched for Joanne, then found her. She lay embedded in the second story window of the barracks, so she’d be out of the fight until she woke up. She would wake up.

“Corpses aren’t Monsters,” Becka continued grimly. “The dead are outside the Law of Consent and all laws of the Gods. You might as well be hitting wooden dummies until—”

“We take out the Deathcaster,” Glenn agreed, as he watched Seth and Scott connect with swing after swing. “I remember.” No matter how badly they damaged those trolls, their giant corpses would keep walking around even with every last bone in their bodies broken. “I’ll handle it.”

“And we’ll make sure no innocents stumble into the square,” Becka said. “Now go get him!” And with that, Becka slapped him soundly on the rear.

Despite the horrors in the square, the danger to his fellow Town Guards, and his worries for Joanne, who still hadn’t moved, Glenn couldn’t help but grin. Becka was back. She was here to help him. And now, he had a Deathcaster to arrest.

“Go for the Deathcaster!” Glenn shouted to this fellow Town Guards. “Ignore the trolls!”

Sadly, they three of them soon found such was easier said than done. Even as Glenn sprinted forward the imposter, the man reached into his [Unfilled Bag] once more and tossed out another Monster. A spider. A massive, cart-sized spider with rotting brown skin and legs like swords. Gods, why did it have to be a giant spider?

Glenn veered sideways as he sprinted back into the fight, yet the long-dead spider was shockingly fast for its size. It skittered into his way and battered him with both mandibles and legs. Each hit came hard enough to send him stumbling backward. He kept his feet only with great effort and when he finally got a swing off with his [Guardian Mace], the spider ducked away. He hit nothing but air.

Three corpses. This Deathcaster could simultaneously control three Monster corpses, but that had to drain his Blood like any caster, didn’t it? No one, not even a Level 35 Deathcaster, could use a Skill without paying some sort of cost. So if they could simply keep the corpses busy long enough...

“Redwood!” Leo shouted from behind him. “To me!”

Glenn danced back as the spider once again charged with mandibles and legs, yet the horror didn’t pursue him. It skittered back to protect its master. How did the man plan to escape?

Glenn glanced behind him to find Leo huffing hard and holding his spear. He looked again to Seth and Linda, who were still holding their ground against two now badly battered trolls. One trolls’s head was entirely concave, yet the corpse kept moving. It swung away as heavily and clumsily as it had since it left the imposter’s bag.

Leo rushed to a stop beside him. “After I leap, I need you to boost me as high as you possibly can with your shield. Don’t worry about hurting me. My armor’s thick.”

Glenn glanced his way in alarm. “What do you mean, boost you?”

“With your help, I can jump over all three corpses and land my spear on the Deathcaster from above. I can knock his puppets out just long enough for you to get by.”

Glenn briefly considered all the ways this could go wrong. “So you’ve done this before?”

“Once,” Leo said.

Glenn looked again to the three dead Monsters that could break away from his fellow guards at any moment and tear apart Wolfpine or, worse, trample some poor Townsfolk. He had to protect Wolfpine, and Leo would help him do that. “You’re on.”

Together, he and Leo rushed the giant undead spider once more. Yet before they were close enough to engage, Leo shouted. “Now!” He leapt.

The moment Leo went airborne, Glenn summoned all his Town Guard Strength. He smashed the flat of his shield into the bottom of Leo’s boots. Leo huffed as Glenn’s strike sent him flying straight up, far higher than even a Skirmisher could manage on his own.

The spider skittered backward and crouched as if to leap up in response. Glenn scowled and once again tossed his [Guardian Mace]. His hurtling weapon clocked the spider directly in the eyes, rocking it backward on all eight of its legs before it could leap.

From high in the sky above, a single [Steel Spear] rocketed earthward with incredible speed ... right in the center of the three Monster corpses.

A human shriek sounded at the same time the undead spider shuddered. The trolls dropped to their knees. As the spider dropped flat, legs splayed, Glenn caught a glimpse of “Victor” stumbling backward with Leo’s spear imbedded in his shoulder.

The man’s Health Bar was barely charred—perks of being Level 35 or above—but a moment without the protection of his three undead minions was all Wolfpine’s Town Guard needed to end the fight. Seth slipped past one troll and tackled Victor hard enough to knock him to the ground. Even as the spider tried to scramble to its feet, Linda sprinted around the other troll and brought her [Guardian Mace] down upon the spider’s center. She hit hard enough six legs snapped right off its rotting body.

As Seth wrenched the still snarling Victor to his feet and immobilized his arms, Glenn reached back for his [Lawgiver Cuffs]. He roughly snapped them on the man’s wrists and locked them. That would end the use of all Skills and the benefits of Blessings.

The savaged spider corpse collapsed. The trolls, which had just started to rise again, collapsed. The sickly sweet smell of death wafted through the square with such force that Glenn gagged inside his helmet, but that was simply more confirmation the threat was over at last.

But Leo! Where was Leo? Glenn looked up just in time to see the man land in full armor. He rolled forward several times before he once more came to his feet and turned to face them. He calmly strapped his spear one more across his back.

Leo had dropped from dangerously high up! Skirmisher Blessings truly were something else, and Leo was one of the most talented Glenn had ever seen. Not that he’d seen many.

“That’s it!” Glenn shouted at their newest captive. “You’re under arrest for ... everything!”

The Deathcaster they’d just arrested simply glared in silence.

Seth cleared his throat. “You tell him, Redwood.”

Belatedly, Glenn glanced to the second story of the barracks. The broken window was still there, but Joanne wasn’t. The barracks door slammed open as Joanne Dewcrest, brushing off splinters of broken wood, marched back into the town square as confidently as if a giant Mountain Troll hadn’t punted her across it. With all combat over, [+Regrowth+] had likely already healed her wounds.

Joanne looked around at the two massive troll corpses, the spider corpse missing most of its legs, and a random cart crushed in the commotion. “Everything under control here?” She nodded as if today was a normal day. “Good. Good job, everyone.”

She was fine. Glenn breathed out. Everyone was fine and the Deathcaster was in custody, somehow. Had he really just fought a giant dead spider?

At his side, Zack popped out of [-Shadow Walk-] and thumped his arm. “Nice throw.”

“You okay?” Glenn asked worriedly. “Is everyone else okay?”

“They’re all fine. Anna’s fine. My only regret is I didn’t get to chuck Leo into the sky.”

The clatter of armor announced newcomers to the square. Glenn glanced behind him to see Chelsea jogging into the square with another guard he immediately recognized as Scott. Yet Glenn had eyes for no one save Becka, who was approaching with a satisfied smile on her face.

Joanne turned toward her. “Hey, Becka.”

“Hey yourself.”

“You plan to explain all this? Because you obviously know something about it.”

“I do,” Becka said. “But first, why don’t you see our new friend to his nice new cell?”