They finished planning around the same time that the first of the monsters started arriving. Good thing, that. Rory wasn’t sure his old heart could take the anxious waiting any more. It was time to execute what idea he had coughed up.

“Everyone,” Dez shouted. “To your stations.”

He didn’t add the obvious exceptions of May, Rory, Truck, Evelyn, and Jerky but those went without saying. Viv and Sue were coming with them, just to ensure protection in case of any surprises. Though, as the others made their way to where they needed to be, the rest of them had to move as well.

After Sue gave her sister a hug, Rory tapped May on the shoulder. She turned to him, looking without really registering. “Come on. Let’s get you someplace safe.”

They made their way to the office with the strange metallic chest. If only there had been power. Then Rory could have waited in the room too, watching the battle proceed via the security cameras and monitors. As it was, he needed to keep moving.

“Stay here,” Rory told Sue. “Keep them safe.”

“We’ll be fine,” she assured him. “You two just make sure you don’t fall off the roof.”

As Viv and Evelyn exchanged goodbyes, Rory nodded, then eyed the donkey. He looked miffed for a second, then brayed his assent. Rory smiled briefly before leaving. It was nice to see him cooperating instead of trying to keep an eye on the “entertainment”.

Rory and Viv went down the narrow hallway and soon found what he was looking for. A thin door opened onto a stairwell that he took upwards, reaching the flat roof of the substation that was bounded by sloped shades. They quickly reached the edge of the roof and looked out onto the battle below.

Dez was taking pot shots at the oncoming Thundershells with his Sigil’s black flames. The monsters tried to shoo him away with lightning bolts, but he used a rubber shield to deflect the electricity with practiced ease, striking back with his increasingly powerful Sigil. Rory needed to figure out what it was.

Several Thunderheads had been reduced to nothing more than burning chunks of metallic rocks, blue light flickering in the smokeless dark flames. Dez had the front gate covered, though more monsters were coming in droves.

“I wish I was down there,” Viv muttered.

Rory found himself grinning at her. “What? Tired of me already? It hasn’t even been forty years!”

She snorted, then dug an elbow into his side. It hurt more than normal, which he blamed on his age, but he wasn’t about to admit that out loud.

The others were handling the flanks well enough. Ned and Miles had teamed up on the left. While the manic younger man threw his flames around like a pyromaniac, Ned was finally trying out his Sigil of the Hooktongue. It had granted him two, rocket-ended appendages bursting out of his back, and the only good thing was that his uncontrolled flight saved him from any lightning blasts.

On the right, Trish and Allen were working well together. Allen was a little farther behind, doing something strange. It looked as though he was shouting encouragement at Trish. Rory was nonplussed for only a second before he remembered that he had a Sigil of Support. Maybe screaming was how it worked.

They had used their Sigils in combination to craft a crude axe with a large, steel blade and a rubber grip to prevent electrocution for Trish. She swung it around with vicious abandon, cleaving through the Thundershells and using her rubber shield to ward off any electricity they tried to land on her.

They couldn’t fight back either. The steel javelins she’d stuck to the ground acted like lightning rods, drawing away any harmful electricity.

Rory’s breathing settled into a more regular tempo. Things were going fine, for now.

Though, perhaps he shouldn’t have thought too soon.

The Thundershells were swarming Dez now, intent on taking him out. His black flames could only be applied in point blasts or direct streams, not the waves or floods needed to take on a multitude of enemies at once. He was starting to fall back before he was overwhelmed, though fighting tooth and nail to make the monsters pay tenfold for every inch of ground they took.

The situation was similar on the flanks as well. Near both walls, the Sigil users were falling back towards the substation’s main building. Miles used his fire to grant them some extra time to escape. Ned left a pool of water with the faint hope that it would slow down the Thundershells, but it didn’t do much.

They were safe, though, which was all that mattered. Everything else was going perfectly according to plan.

Rory had to take an active hand to coordinate the rest of it. He leaned over the edge of the roof. Hopefully, none of the Thundershells would try to shoot lightning at him. “Corral them in and hold them inside,” he shouted down at the combatants, watching them lead the monsters to the front of the substation’s main structure. “Ned, bring Miles to the roof.”

Ned didn’t jump to it immediately. He waited until they had reached the building’s front door, making sure the others could keep the monsters’ attention while he and Miles took off vertically. Smart of him.

Miles saluted when he landed on the roof. “Thanks, rocket man.”

Ned rolled his eyes. “I’ll be off then. Good luck.”

“Good job out there,” Rory said to his departing back. “Remember to use the water.”

Viv grunted in amusement. “Who’s got the ability to drink in the middle of a fight?”

“It’s for the cement, Viv.”

“I thought it was concrete.”

“… Same thing. Now onto the next stage. You ready, Miles?”

He joined Rory at the edge of the roof and looked over. “You bet, though I haven’t used it at all yet.”

“You could have practiced a bit on the Thundershells.”

“I panicked.”

Rory nodded. “Fair.”

He looked down with Miles and Viv, noting how the monsters were throwing themselves into the building, following everyone who had rushed inside. These things were clearly relentless hunters. Was the lure of Sigils that strong to Otherworldly monsters?

“Look, they’re slowing,” Viv said.

Rory had noticed it too. The Thundershells were no longer entering the building as quickly as they had been. Part of it was no doubt because of the lack of space. Only so many creatures could fit into the main hall. But with the next stage of their plan underway, he had to wonder if they were starting to get wind of the humans’ intention.

“Keep an eye for when they reverse direction,” Rory said. “When the first monster starts backing up, that’s when you know you have to trap them all inside.”

Miles nodded. “Got it.”

“I’ll take care of the roof’s supports.”

Viv squeezed his forearm. “Good luck,”

Rory shambled off. Counting on Ned was dangerous. It wasn’t that he doubted the lad’s capabilities. No, it was more that the very plan they had concocted involved a high-risk manoeuvre that could very well see them dead. That was partly why Viv was here, to help them in case things went awry.

Ah well. Rory and everyone else were committed. Now to see it through.

He had noted down where the columns connected to the ceiling, and now he approached each area to carry out his Weaving and weaken the structure fatally. It was easy to make sure if he was at the right location or not by seeing what Sigil options he got.

The first was fine—he got the same Sigil options of Steel, Concrete, and Support as he had done with the pillars in the hall—and so was the second. He made a mistake with the third, where he didn’t get any Sigil of Support. So, he had to shift his position until he found the right combination of Sigil options.

Rory did his best to hurry. The sounds of fighting from below were still ongoing, but he was sure his slower movements meant Dez’s group would finish up their end of the plan before Rory did.

“It’s time,” Viv said all of a sudden. “They’re trying to get out.”

As they had planned, Miles used his Sigil of Earth. A terrific rending went up all around them as he ran along the outer length of the roof’s edge.

Rory didn’t need to see what was going on, instead, focusing on what he needed to get done. He could imagine this part of the plan easily enough, having seen it outside the substation—the wall of broken rocks jutting out of the ground, the same thing that the Thundershells would now be facing courtesy of Miles.

“And done.” He stopped, gasping in hard and fast breaths and bending over with his hands on his knees. “Bastards won’t escape now. How are you coming along, gramps?”

“Almost there…” Rory said.

Ned flew up a minute later just to inform him that his fears had come true. “The cement is in place.”

“Concrete,” Viv corrected.

Ned glared at her. “Most of them are stuck. Can’t get out. So, the only thing that’s left is this.”

“And… done.” Rory stepped back, trying to step carefully. “We’re good to go.”

The roof felt a tiny bit saggy, so Rory was glad he didn’t need to step any more. With his Burnwing appendages firing, Ned simply approached Miles, allowing the younger guy to grab onto him and be lifted away from the about-to-collapse roof.

Viv grabbed his hand. “You ready?”

“Let’s go,” Rory said.

A quick slash of her sword sent a crimson arc shooting into the ground. Just before impact, red energy flared, and Rory found himself on the ground. The sensation was strange. He hadn’t felt a single thing other than the sudden appearance of the lower level.

Ned dropped Miles before they’d reached the bottom, which his passenger didn’t really appreciate.

“Hit it!” Rory shouted.

Dez noted their signal. Just for a second, Rory was able to gawk at the mess inside the building. The whole hall was flooded with cement—no, concrete—and the Thundershells were floundering in it, their electricity dampened by the concrete clogging their metallic-rocky bodies. Dez and the others were afloat on the furniture, keeping tense balance on a table and a chair.

Rory didn’t get to see how they executed the next bit of the plan without harming themselves. Viv grabbed him and teleported away again, while Ned whisked Miles away as the few Thundershells outside scuttled towards them.

Then the building exploded.

The plan was, ultimately, rather simple, as the best plans tended to be. Dez and the others had lured the Thundershells into the main hall of the substation, where Rory had weakened the columns supporting the roof. After using copious amounts of concrete to lock the monsters in place, they were to then destroy the pillars entirely and bring the whole roof crashing down on the monstrous army.

Which is what proceeded to happen.

“Woo!” Miles yelled as the roof started sagging in like an invisible giant was sitting on it. “Look at it go.”

If Ned added anything to that, it was lost in the subsequent crash. Besides, he was probably too busy trying to control his burdened flight.

The thunder of the crash deafened anything the monsters had ever let loose. As the roof crumbled and crashed onto the hall below, a great plume of dust went up, the screams from all the Thundershells within the substation cutting out as quickly as they had started.

Even though Rory was floating over twenty yards aboveground, he could see how the ground trembled, worse than the irregular thunder-quakes that had been feeling so far.

New Achievement!

Massive Annihilation! You’ve defeated your first horde in a spectacular fashion! Be proud. You have a 100% successful plan execution rate.

Rewards

Looter Perk: You are now automatically granted the Sigils you would have looted as rewards

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Magnetism. Attraction is a state of the mind, except for you.

[Argent I] allows magnetism manipulation in a 5-meter radius.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Argent I [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [25%]

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Mythic Electrium. Rare material that generates electricity under the presence of sunlight.

[Argent I] allows creation and manipulation of element in a 1-meter radius.

Stats

Type: Element

Rarity: Mythic

Tier: Argent I [0%]

Efficiency: High [65%]

Rory’s backpack was suddenly heavier all of a sudden. He was going to have to check out the new Sigils later.

Once the noise and tumult died down, Rory realized he hadn’t planned where they would rendezvous. They had been thinking solely of execution, of the climactic finale, not the resolution to their story.

“Can we get inside from the back?” Viv asked.

“I’m not sure,” Ned said. “But it can’t be too hard to find one.”

Miles was staring at the front, where a few Thundershells were staring abjectly into the dusty chaos. “There’s still a few left. We need to take them out.”

“Right, but we need to make sure the others are alright too.”

They made their way to the back, where Viv broke open the locked door and they entered into darkness. The oncoming dusk was making its presence felt. Thankfully, the building wasn’t large. Serenaded by rumbling thunder and after only a couple of wrong turns and stumbles, they found Dez’s group, flickers of ghostly blue light glinting out of Dez’s hand.

“Finally!” Rory said with a huge smile. “Excellent work out there.”

Dez bared his blinding white teeth in a big grin. “Yeah, well, the plan was yours, so congrats to you, man.”

“Anyone hurt?”

“Where are the others?”

“No one’s hurt. They’re checking out the garage and moving the injured workers.”

Sharp clanging interrupted them. Trish was hammering away at the metallic chest with a sharp, knife-like she had probably carved up with her Sigil of Steel.

“Argh, it won’t open.” She jabbed the slim, pointed end into the keyhole and twisted it. Nothing happened. “This isn’t fair.”

Allen looked like he wanted to stop her but was afraid of getting stabbed. “I don’t think that’s how locks work…”

“Wait, you didn’t get the key from the Achievement?” Rory asked.

They stared at him blankly.

“I got an Achievement for the monster killing and a few new Sigils,” Dez said. “But no key.”

None of them reported having received any key. That was worrying. Maybe Miles’s theory of needing to beat some kind of boss Thundershell was truer than he had thought.

“What now?” Viv grumbled as she made her way out.

Dez was kinder, and he pulled Rory to his feet before they made their way out. Truck was frowning, and that sent Rory’s guts sweeping out from under him. This wasn’t good.

They made their way to Ned who was frozen on top of a pile of debris, a Thundershell’s rocky limb sticking out a like a drowning person’s hand. When Rory had climbed up behind him and was able to see through all the dust, he could finally make out what had everyone alarmed.

A monster was approaching, one that reminded him of the ones they had killed, but upright and far larger.

The Thundershells’ boss was here.